When Namgung Il opened his eyes, the surroundings were thick with fog.
‘…Where am I?’
His last mory was of a sword piercing his abdon.
In that state, he had squeezed out his last bit of strength to defeat Gok I-hyeon.
He didn't rember exactly what happened after that, but he had no mory of coming to a place like this.
Swoosh—.
Namgung Il caressed his abdon with one hand.
He thought it was strange that he felt no pain, but there was no blood on his hand, and his clothes were clean.
‘What is this?’
Namgung Il couldn't understand his current state at all.
He had been pierced so deeply by a sword, so how could he be perfectly fine without a single wound?
It was one thing for his clothes to be clean, but it was truly strange that he felt no pain at all.
“……”
Even when he lifted his clothes, his abdon was clean without a single scar.
The sword wound he had received back then was by no ans a shallow wound that could heal without a trace like this.
Rather, wasn't it a wound that would have surely led to death if not treated imdiately?
But to open his eyes and see not even a trace, as if he had never been stabbed by a sword in the first place… It was truly a situation where even a ghost would cry.
“Ah… so that’s what happened.”
A mont later, Namgung Il muttered as if he had realized sothing.
Why was he perfectly fine despite having suffered a fatal wound?
The answer was simpler than he thought.
“……”
He had died on the spot.
It would have been unreasonable to hope for outside help in that situation, and even if it ca, wouldn't it have taken ti to arrive?
In the end, he had died from the deepening wound before any outside help could arrive.
‘Then this place… is it the afterlife?’
Namgung Il didn't know what the world after death was like.
This was his second ti eting death, but he had never had an experience like this before.
Assuming he was dead, it made sense that his body was so perfectly fine, which was why he thought this was the afterlife.
“……”
If he just stood here, would a grim reaper co?
Namgung Il crossed his arms and stood still for a while, but soon, as if bored, he began to walk.
‘If they’re here, they’ll find on their own.’
It didn't suit his temperant to just stand still in such an unknown place.
The surroundings were still thick with dense fog, but Namgung Il carefully walked forward, following the ground visible before him.
‘How far does this go on?’
It felt like he had walked quite a distance, but instead of the fog clearing, it felt like it had gotten thicker.
He couldn't seem to find anything that stood out… Namgung Il was gradually getting tired of this continuous scenery.
*Whoosh—.*
Just then, a rough wind blew from the front.
It was a gale so strong that it was hard to even open his eyes properly, so Namgung Il covered his face with both arms and looked towards where the wind was coming from.
‘This wind…’
It felt quite unnatural to be considered a natural wind.
At that mont, his eyes widened as if he had discovered sothing.
Simultaneously, the wind weakened, so Namgung Il lowered the arms that had been covering his face.
‘That’s…’
The wind just now had cleared away a good deal of the thick fog.
Thanks to that, his vision was now sowhat clear.
Namgung Il could see a pavilion standing in the distance.
‘A pavilion?’
It felt like a single pavilion was placed in an empty space.
The surroundings were dark, so why was only the pavilion there so conspicuous?
Namgung Il had that thought for a mont, but when he considered that this was not reality but the afterlife, he could roughly understand and move on.
‘Well, I’m dead, so what does it matter.’
In a place like this, there would be too many things that couldn't be understood with the common sense of when he was alive.
In the first place, the fact that he, who was dead, was conscious and walking around like this was strange in itself.
Namgung Il decided to approach the pavilion he saw over there.
“……?”
As he got sowhat closer, a question arose in Namgung Il's eyes again.
Soone was sitting in the pavilion over there.
Who on earth was sitting so calmly with a cup of alcohol in a place like that?
While observing carefully with that question in mind, Namgung Il realized sothing and couldn't hide his astonishnt.
*Phat—.*
At that mont, Namgung Il hurriedly ran towards that place.
And as he climbed up to the pavilion in one breath and confird who the person was right in front of him, Namgung Il's eyes grew even wider than before.
“……Jeong-ung.”
Even as he said it himself, Namgung Il couldn't believe the current situation.
On the other hand, a person was looking this way from the opposite side with a very calm face.
Just as he rembered him from the past, Namgung Jeong-ung was sitting there.
“It’s been a while.”
“……”
“Care for a drink?”
Namgung Jeong-ung asked, holding up a bottle of alcohol.
To think that was his first word after reuniting after so long… It was eccentric, but it seed like sothing Namgung Jeong-ung would say.
“……”
Namgung Il walked forward without a word.
As he sat down facing the alcohol table, Namgung Jeong-ung's face beca closer.
Namgung Il looked straight at that face and carefully opened his mouth.
“Is it really… Namgung Jeong-ung?”
“Then who do I look like?”
“……Namgung Jeong-ung.”
As Namgung Il answered, Namgung Jeong-ung chuckled and held out the alcohol bottle.
Right in front of him, a cup was placed as if he had known Namgung Il would co, and Namgung Il picked up the cup and received the alcohol Namgung Jeong-ung was pouring.
*Trickle—.*
It was a truly nostalgic sight.
A drinking session with Namgung Jeong-ung, which he had thought he could never have again.
As it was unfolding right before his eyes, Namgung Il could only think that this was a dream.
“Namgung Jeong-ung… is this a dream?”
“Why do you think so?”
“Because you’re already…”
“Isn’t it the sa for you?”
At that answer, Namgung Il looked as if he had realized sothing.
Co to think of it, wasn't he also already dead and here?
If so, it wasn't strange at all to et the dead Namgung Jeong-ung again like this.
“Then I really am dead.”
“……”
“What, so that’s what it was.”
Namgung Il said and laughed.
If this was really the afterlife, it ant that the Namgung Jeong-ung in front of him was not a fake, but the real Namgung Jeong-ung.
More than the fact that he was dead, Namgung Il was happier than anything else to et his friend again like this.
“Namgung Jeong-ung, you haven’t changed a bit even after dying.”
“On the other hand, you’ve changed quite a bit.”
“You’ll be really surprised if you hear why I’m in this state.”
“I’d love to hear it.”
Namgung Jeong-ung said and raised his cup.
“Before that, let’s have a drink since we’ve t after so long.”
“……Sounds good.”
Namgung Il also smiled and raised his cup.
The cups clinked.
As if they had been drinking and talking together like this just yesterday, the two continued to exchange cups and talk excitedly.
“So I entered the Flying Dragon Academy again.”
“The Flying Dragon Academy?”
“Yeah. I wanted to experience academy life while being called ‘Young Master.’ But do you know who the headmaster is now?”
“Who is it?”
“Seo Saeng-won! Seeing that guy as the headmaster, I thought a lot of ti had passed.”
“That’s sothing I can’t even imagine.”
“Right? I had a hard ti keeping a straight face when I first saw him.”
The two's conversation showed no signs of ending even after a shichen (two hours) had passed.
The one who mostly started the conversation was Namgung Il.
Since so many things had happened, it seed that even a whole night would not be enough to tell every single one of them.
“Are you satisfied with your academy life?”
“Yeah, it was fun.”
“……”
“There are a lot of peculiar guys. When I’m with them, I don’t know how the days go by.”
“……I’m glad you’ve made a lot of good friends.”
As Namgung Jeong-ung said that, Namgung Il stopped the cup that was heading to his mouth.
He stared silently at Namgung Jeong-ung, who was drinking, and then said with a playful smile.
“What, are you jealous?”
“Perhaps I am.”
“A guy who’s old enough to be old is jealous. How childish.”
“……”
“Don’t worry. My best friend is you.”
Namgung Il said and drank his cup.
As if a little surprised by that remark, Namgung Jeong-ung stared blankly at Namgung Il.
Soon, a smile appeared on Namgung Jeong-ung's face.
“……It’s the sa for .”
“……”
“I also think of you as my best friend.”
“……What, don’t be shy. Say things like that after we’ve had a few more drinks.”
Namgung Il, as if embarrassed, filled his cup with alcohol again.
Namgung Jeong-ung was still watching him with a smile, and soon, the smile disappeared from his lips and was replaced with seriousness.
“So you must go back.”
“……What?”
“You are not soone who should be here yet.”
“What does that…”
As Namgung Jeong-ung said that out of the blue, Namgung Il couldn't say anything.
Why was the guy who had been laughing and chatting with him just a mont ago saying that to him with such a serious expression?
You are not soone who should be here yet. Namgung Il couldn't understand the aning of those words.
“……Let rest a little now.”
“……”
“I’ve killed the Blood Demon twice. Of course, the Blood Dragon Cult is still left in the world, but the remaining guys will sohow manage.”
By getting rid of the Blood Spot Grass, Namgung Il thought he had done all his part.
However.
“Do you really think so?”
“……What?”
“I’m asking if you can really prevent the Blood Demon’s resurrection with that.”
As Namgung Jeong-ung asked that, Namgung Il's expression darkened rapidly.
He had eaten the Blood Spot Grass, the ans to resurrect the Blood Demon.
Since he had died after swallowing it, wasn't the ans for the Blood Demon to be resurrected gone?
Namgung Il had thought so until just a mont ago, but due to Namgung Jeong-ung's question, a doubt couldn't help but arise in that thought.
“Jeong-ung, what on earth does that…”
“……”
“Are you saying there’s more Blood Spot Grass in this world?”
That was certainly a part Namgung Il was missing.
In the first place, he hadn't thought there would be several herbs in this world that could save a person.
Namgung Il asked about that part, but Namgung Jeong-ung ultimately didn't answer.
“Jeong-ung!”
“……I believe you can do it.”
“……?”
What on earth does that an?
As an answer unrelated to his question ca out, Namgung Il looked at Namgung Jeong-ung with eyes that couldn't understand at all.
“Because you are the hero who saved this world, and the friend I cherish the most.”
“What does that…”
“I was happy to talk with you like this, even for a short while.”
With those words, the surrounding fog suddenly beca thick.
Simultaneously, Namgung Jeong-ung's figure gradually blurred.
Namgung Il hurriedly reached out his hand towards that place, but the more he did, the farther Namgung Jeong-ung moved away.
“Jeong-ung!”
In the end, Namgung Jeong-ung's figure completely disappeared into the fog.
It was the sa for Namgung Il's figure.
Only Namgung Il's desperate cry, calling out for Namgung Jeong-ung, echoed through the fog.
(End of Chapter)
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