Absolute Regression Chapter 463

463
I don’t know that day.

Only when time passes and you look back do you realize it.

Ah! My life changed that day.

That day of the brave name was also that kind of day.

It’s not just because I saved someone’s life from certain death. It’s because my attitude toward life has changed.

“Back then, I was always confident.”

In fact, it was understandable. He was young, smart, and good at business, so he succeeded in everything he did.

“I didn’t even have time to sleep. There was money everywhere, and if I didn’t pick it up first, someone else would.”

In his youth, he was completely absorbed in the pleasure of making money, to the point where no other emotion could overcome that joy.

“I had success after success. It seemed like the world’s fortune was focused on me. But I wasn’t arrogant. Instead, I was more humble and worked harder. But the misfortune that was coming eventually came.”

Yongjamyeong looked down at his glass in silence. His younger self appeared in the reflection of his glass.

* * *

“Your Majesty, you will become the god of the upper world!”

Manso said with a big smile.

“Don’t put gold on my face for no reason.”

Yongjamyeong shook his head and smiled. His smile that put people at ease was still the same as when he was young.

“It’s not gold. Do you know how many merchants I’ve met? Just wait and see, I’m sure you’ll become the best merchant.”

It had been about three or four years since he had met Manso. He had been making a living by doing various jobs around the merchants.

He would look up product information, introduce workers, and connect ronin to the upper ranks. To put it nicely, he was multi-talented, and to put it badly, he took on all the odd jobs. He would step up and help out with the upper ranks as if it were his own work, so everyone in the Galaxy Upper Ranks liked him.

Then one day,

“We have arrived.”

Two people entered the small manor.

The reason I came here today was to introduce Manso to someone.

“Now that the top is in place, it’s time to bring in the drones. There’s no time to delay any longer.”

Even before Yongjamyeong had formed a relationship with Baekjong, there were no warriors belonging to the upper class at this time.

Transporting goods was done through the flag carrier, and the upper-level work was done by people who had been doing it for a long time. Sometimes, when an escort was needed, the work was done by introducing a person who was unmanned through Manso.

However, as the size of the upper floor grew, the need for unmanned personnel also increased. The value and quantity of goods handled also increased. It was not a problem that could be solved by just having men take turns guarding the front of the warehouse.

But Yongjamyeong couldn’t make a decision easily.

What if those drones change their minds?

This worry never left my mind.

It was because of his personality that he didn’t trust others easily. Then, he eventually decided to meet Go Soo after Man So’s persuasion.

“Who is the person you would like to introduce?”

“He is a trustworthy person. If you don’t like him, you don’t have to make a decision.”

If Manso believed in someone, he could trust them. He had never let him down before.

But who knew that disappointment would come today?

The first impression of the unmanned man I was waiting for was not good. His sharp eyes gave off a s*xy vibe, and he had a somewhat cunning impression. He even had scars on his face and twisted lips.

“nice to see you.”

The warrior smiled brightly at Yongjamyeong’s greeting. Seeing that smile made him feel uncomfortable.

Yongjamyeong looked at Manso, who was standing next to him.

‘You introduced me to someone you can trust?’

Manso was smiling as always. Just when he felt that his smile was strangely unfamiliar today, Muin opened his mouth.

“Is it interest?”

Yongjamyeong’s heart sank at those few words that seemed to contain impure intentions.

The man picked up the bottle of alcohol on the table, drank it all, and threw the documents next to him on the floor.

“Sign it.”

* * *

Once again, Yongjamyeong returned to reality.

“It was something that Mansoran did by dragging that unmanned person into it. Do you know what I was really afraid of back then?”

Geommugeuk asked as he poured alcohol into his glass.

“What is it?”

“It was that my death would be a dog’s death.”

Geommugeuk understood exactly what those words meant.

“They weren’t after that much money.”

Yongjamyeong nodded.

“The money they were trying to steal was only a few thousand nyang. Of course, it would have been a lot of money to some, but for me, who was solidifying the foundation of the upper class at the time, it wasn’t that much money. It was probably just a plan to embezzle the goods that came into the warehouse. It would have been possible if there was a document with my signature. Manso often helped us with our work.”

“Would Mansoran have been roughly aware of the state of Danju’s finances?”

“I guess you got it.”

“Why not go for bigger money?”

“The warrior I worked with was no ordinary person. He was a notorious blood demon at the time.”

Bloodthirsty devil.

He was a notorious pervert in the martial arts world at the time. He raped and murdered all kinds of women regardless of age, and was listed as a martial arts hero by the martial arts alliance.

“At that time, he was running away from someone in a hurry. He joined hands with Manso while trying to quickly raise funds for the escape. The two had known each other for a long time.”

All of those facts were revealed later.

“Can you believe it? I’ve never had anything to do with a pervert my whole life, but I never thought I’d get entangled in this.”

Geommugeuk listened to him silently. His role now was to listen.

“I asked Manso, ‘Don’t you have a rough idea of ​​how much I have? Why did you do this for just a few thousand nyang?’”

Yongjamyeong’s face came to mind as if he was remembering that moment.

“Then he smiled shamelessly and said, ‘Then give me more.’”

Anger appeared on Yongjamyeong’s face.

“I was really angry. I wasn’t angry at him, I was angry at myself for being fooled by him. He was such an ugly person that he hung out with a pervert, but I didn’t notice it at all.”

“So what happened?”

Yongjamyeong drank the wine, and Geommugeuk poured him some more wine. It was something he couldn’t say without alcohol.

“First, they beat him up.”

* * *

Thud! Thud!

Yongjamyeong shouted at the continued torture.

“I will sign it! I will sign it!”

The person who beat him up was not a swindler, but Manso.

He pretended not to hear and just kept beating me up. I knew he was trying to break my spirit.

Even merchants sometimes need to discourage their opponents when trading. He chose the most extreme and quickest method.

When someone who has never fought before is exposed to violence for the first time, they tend to easily give in. They are surprised, hurt, and scared. Are they really going to get beaten to death? Their hearts break in an instant. It is a fear that those who have not experienced it will never know.

“Please! Stop!”

Yongjamyeong crouched down and covered his head and face.

He despaired. Not because he was right. It was because they showed their faces and did things in the open.

‘It’s going to kill me in the end.’

Manso, who had stopped beating him, suddenly stood up and lifted Yongjamyeong up.

“Okay, sign.”

The brave man knows that the moment he signs, he will die.

“I’ll give you more money. A lot of money… … .”

puck!

Manso’s fist flew again. The beating started even more severe than before. Manso knew the name of the brave man well. He was a smart man, so he wouldn’t sign easily. That’s why he wanted to beat him up and make him lose his mind.

Even as he screamed, Yongjamyeong only had one thought in mind.

‘I have to live. I don’t want to die to this guy!’

The bastard has raised his voice again.

Meanwhile, the bloodthirsty demon was looking out the window. He looked anxious, as if he was being chased by someone.

“Hurry up and do it!”

At his words, Manso urged Yongjamyeong to follow suit.

“Sign it.”

“I’ll give you everything I have. So… … .”

Thud! Thud!

Even pain could not overcome the fear of death.

Tears flowed from Yongjamyeong’s eyes. He cried because he was in pain, and he cried because he was wronged.

How hard I worked. I worked while reducing my sleep. I tried my best to treat the people above me well.

Is this the end result of all that effort?

I shouldn’t have trusted people. I said I didn’t trust them in words.

‘You will become the god of the upper world!’

It was the result of being intoxicated by those sweet words. I was deceived by people and when I came to my senses, the situation was over.

What if the choice was between losing all your money or not?

Would that make you feel any better?

‘Please save me.’

I prayed to the heavens. If there is a god of merchants, I prayed to that god.

‘If you spare me! If you spare me!’

The door opened, even though I hadn’t made any appointment yet.

* * *

Yongjamyeong said with a moved face.

“That’s where the guy came in.”

The sword dance brought back memories of that moment. The image of a young father.

“When that person came in, I felt the air in the room change.”

Yongjamyeong closed his eyes and recalled that time. If the memories before were painful, from now on they were memories of joy and longing.

“How should I describe this man?”

Geommugeuk smiled as he looked at the troubled Yongjamyeong.

It won’t be easy to express it in that brief encounter.

“First of all, I thought he was handsome.”

“Better than me?”

Yongjamyeong nodded firmly to Geommugeuk’s question.

“I think you’ve forgotten who I am for a moment.”

“I’m sorry, but you are my benefactor.”

“I understand that the silver points have been added.”

Yongjamyeong smiled at my joke. Now that it was a fun story, he was relaxed.

“He was handsome and strong. He was also cold and proud somehow. I don’t know how to describe him.”

I miss seeing my father when he was young so much. I wish I was there then.

“The moment he saw him, the demon trembled. I have never seen such extreme fear on someone’s face before. I could tell that he was the reason he had been so nervous the whole time he was there. And then it was all a moment. There was a bright flash of light, and the lecherous bastard disintegrated into unrecognizable pieces. You, the uninhabited, may like to hear such stories, but in truth, I saw nothing.”

Judging from the fact that he was torn to pieces, it seems that he had angered his father. He probably raped and murdered a woman from the Cheonmasingyo cult.

“So what did you do?”

“At first I was frozen and couldn’t say anything. When the man turned to me, I shouted, ‘Please save me. I’m not in the same league as these guys.’”

Yongjamyeong returned to that day and place in the past.

* * *

I still remember the look in his eyes as he looked at me.

The eyes were asking why. Why should I trust you, why should I save you.

Yongjamyeong intuitively felt that his answer would determine his life and death. What should he say? He was thinking about it in his head, but his mouth was already speaking. Hopefully his instincts worked properly.

“The author who tried to kill me always said that I would become the god of the upper world. I want to make that happen.”

I don’t know why I said that. It just came out without me knowing.

The man didn’t do things by feeling alone. He went to the table and looked at the contract lying there. Judging from the contract, he could see that it was a situation where he was trying to force me to sign.

This time the man looked at Manso.

“The author is lying. The author… … .”

The man waited, but nothing came out. Manso had the eloquence to make up a plausible story even in such a situation, but today was different.

The moment she met the gaze of the man who was staring at her silently, she strangely became speechless.

He had lived his whole life in hypocrisy and lies, but in this final moment, he died truthfully without telling a single lie.

His body was torn in two with a flash of light.

“Please tell me your honorable name.”

But the man left without saying a word.

“I will definitely repay you by becoming the best merchant in the world!”

I did something to that man that I couldn’t promise to heaven.

It was a pity. I wish he had at least said something to show his displeasure, or at least smiled at me.

He left just as suddenly as he had come.

* * *

“This is what happened that day.”

Geommu-geuk raised his glass to him. Yongja-myeong toasted the glass. The two drank in silence.

For a moment they thought of the same person.

“You kept your promise to become the best merchant in the world.”

“But doesn’t he know?”

That was such a shame. I wanted to meet that person and tell him.

Do you remember? He is the one who saved my life back then. As I told you, he became the best merchant.

If I could just say that, I would have no regrets. It was something I could just say, ‘I was lucky,’ and move on, but for some reason, I couldn’t stop thinking about that person. It was to the point where I felt like I was entangled in a chain of fate.

“I tried everywhere to find Eun-gong, but I couldn’t find him. No one said they saw him. Sometimes I think that way. Could it be that I was dreaming?”

It was such a pity. Year by year, he grew older like this. He must have aged too. How would he have changed? What would he be doing?

“Do you have a portrait of him?”

Then Yongjamyeong took out a piece of paper from his bosom. He took it out very carefully, for fear that it would break if he touched it.

“He always carries it in his arms.”

The paper folded carefully inside the silk cloth was old and discolored, and the edges looked ready to tear at any moment.

“This is the original drawing I did at the time. I made hundreds of these to try to find him. I thought it would be a burden to him.”

Geommu-geuk saw a face drawn on old paper. The colors were faded to the point where it was unrecognizable to a first-time viewer, but Geommu-geuk saw his father in it.

father.

This is what it was like for my father when he was younger.

“I can’t remember his face very well now.”

I thought I would never forget it. No, I was sure I would never forget it. Like the paper on which the portrait was drawn, it gradually faded away as time passed.

Yongjamyeong looked at the sight of Geommugeuk looking at Yongmopagi.

I saw longing in his deep, clear eyes.

‘Why are you looking at me like that?’

The next moment, Yongjamyeong flinched.

The man’s face, which had been fading away as if in fog, began to appear.

It was a face that had been fading away lately, but it came back to me clearly as if it had happened yesterday.

‘Thank you!’

I was so happy when his face came to mind so vividly. It was as if he was standing right in front of me.

‘Why on earth?’

What does the reason matter? What matters is that you are happy.

‘I am so old, and you are still the same. Eun-gong, where are you now and what are you doing? Are you having a hard time because you don’t have any money? I have a lot of money. Come find me and repay the favor I did you back then. Please do it!’

Then, I happened to look at the sword dance without thinking.

“!”

I got goosebumps all over my body. It was because I thought that the Eun-gong I had back then and the sword dance in front of me now felt similar. It was as if the person from back then was sitting in front of me now. Although their appearances were definitely not that similar.

At that very moment!

“……no way?”

In his youth, a person’s face began to overlap Eun-gong’s face.

The face of the person who called you here.

The face of the absolute being of this era.

In this way, the face of the Demon Lord, Geum Woo-jin, overlapped with the face of the young Eun-gong after many years.

The two faces became exactly one.

Absolute Return Episode 464