Absolute Regression Chapter 48

Episode 48: Why am I lonely when I live alone?

The surrounding objects began to ripple as if they were alive. The desk, the display case, the sword and fan on the wall all flowed down. It was as if they were melting and flowing in the hot heat.

The floor also rippled as if waves were crashing. It seemed impossible to even use the method in this place where it was difficult to walk.

The walls and ceiling were also shaking, and checkerboard-like lines were appearing, blurring the view.

The voice of the Sub-Honmazon echoed deeply as if it were inside a cave.

“The world you lived in was an illusion. This place you are seeing now is the real world.”

Naturally, the Heavenly Horse Guardian Sword was activated. If I hadn’t learned the Heavenly Horse Guardian Sword, I would have already started to lose my mind to him.

However, it was not a situation where we could escape the crisis by just attacking.

Because the Sub-Hon-Ma-Jon standing in front of me must be an illusion.

I was able to control this situation because I hadn’t yet unleashed my strongest sorcery. I calmly controlled my spirit and spoke.

“It’s a world where you can save money on alcohol. Even without drinking, you feel dizzy and like you’re drunk.”

When he saw me, who should have already collapsed, calmly joking, the Sub-Honmazon made a surprised expression.

The next moment I heard him whisper in my ear, a multi-layered voice like that of several people whispering together.

“The rumors were true. It was said that Lee Gongja had become a sleeping dragon and was beginning to ascend to the heavens.”

Before I knew it, he was next to me.

I couldn’t tell if the man standing next to me was an illusion or real.

I guess I’ll have to try to find out, but I’m starting to doubt whether I can actually cut him down. I thought this even before I pulled out my sword, so if I were to fight him, it would be a really tough fight.

I could clearly see why my father had come to me and warned me.

Even though the Heavenly Demon Guardian Sword has been activated, I am still so absent-minded. If he attacks me at this point, how on earth can I defeat the Heavenly Demon Lord?

I turned my head towards the Subhonmajon standing next to me. His face was so ordinary that it actually seemed extraordinary.

“I have no intention of ascending. I want to be thin and long, enjoying this world for a long time. That’s why I want to become strong.”

To be exact, it was the life that the Subhonmajon pursued. He was thin and long, and survived until the end. He left behind many words before he died, and the following were also words he often said.

-The reason I’ve worked hard my whole life to become strong is so that I won’t be killed by anyone.

He was a person who truly valued his own life. The Simhon Daebeop was also an expression of that self-love.

The demon lord looked at me and smirked.

“That’s a great idea.”

At the same time, the rumbling around stopped. The surroundings darkened and then brightened again, and before I knew it, the surroundings had changed.

The space that seemed to make me go crazy had disappeared, and now a wide plain had spread out before me. It was a sight that made me feel good just by looking at it.

The Subhonmazon was standing in the middle of the field far away.

I shouted at him.

“This is truly an amazing martial art.”

Originally, if I wanted to twist his mind, I would have said sorcery or deception instead of martial arts, but I didn’t do that now. In his world, it was a wise choice to give in.

“It’s a martial art that only I can perform in the world.”

He said it proudly. But it wasn’t true.

The leader of the Fengchun Sect can also perform the same martial arts. This was something he had learned in the past while saving the Yin-Rao Sect. The roots of the martial arts they had learned were in the Blood Sect’s magic arts.

“What do you think? Don’t you want to live in a world like this?”

He was standing far away, but the voice was right next to me.

“If you teach me, I will be grateful.”

Then, the Sub-Hon-Ma-Jon suddenly appeared in front of me again.

“You’re more sinister than I thought. Trying to eat the world’s divine power for free.”

“Can’t you get me thanks to you?”

He looked into my eyes. His dark pupils shrank to dots.

“I can see right through you what you’re thinking. You can fool a bloodthirsty fool like me, but you can’t fool me.”

“What am I thinking about?”

“He wants to shake my hair and slap me in the ear. He slaps my cheek and says, ‘You idiot, why don’t you listen to me?’”

“Similar, but different. You idiot, what are you to kill someone? Let’s take out your heart, which has no conscience! What do you think? It’s a little different, isn’t it?”

The Demon Lord of the Underworld was not angry. He was confident that he could kill me, so he showed his composure as a strong man.

“You’re the son of a cult leader, so it must be hard for you to die. Is that why you want to die by my hand?”

“That’s not true. Wouldn’t a third-rate person be better off alive than a dead best in the world?”

This was also something that the Demon Lord Seophon often said.

I thought the expression on the Sub-Honmazon’s face changed strangely.

His black pupil, which had shrunk to a dot, returned to its original size, and his ghost energy was also completely taken away.

The surroundings returned to normal. Once again, we were facing the room of the Sub-Hon-Ma-Jon.

“What I just showed you was just a taste. If I wanted to, I could open up a hellish place and keep you from leaving for the rest of your life. Aren’t you afraid of me even then?”

“I’m scared, I’m scared. So, aren’t you going to convince your father?”

The Sub-Hon-Ma-Jon, who had been staring blankly at me for a moment, laughed loudly.

“Ha ha ha ha ha.”

Even his laughter was not ordinary. His laughter was a strange laughter that tore at the hearts of others. It made my insides shake and my stomach churn.

“I guess I have to admit it. It was indeed worth it for Doma to try to cut through the line.”

He was also keeping an eye on my relationship with Doma. Of course, it was the same for not only this Subhon Ma-Jon, but also the rest of the Ma-Jons.

“Look here, Lee Gong-ja. You may go back now.”

“Please refrain from doing so for the time being, even if it is just to see your father’s face! Then I will step down.”

Since it was a threat to my father, it would work for two or three months.

“If you see me again, you will never return to this world.”

I walked out without saying anything, since I was done with the verbal conversation with him.

* * *

Seo Dae-ryong, who was waiting outside, asked me.

“Did the matter you came to resolve successfully?”

“If it went well, it went well. If it didn’t go well, it didn’t go well.”

“I think it’s a good thing that Your Majesty has come to find that scary Sub-Hon-Ma-Jon and tried to find a solution. Whatever it is… … it’s something that no one has ever done before. I think there’s meaning in that.”

What a consolation for this dark and twisted fellow.

“Are you very angry?”

“Do you see it?”

“yes.”

“I was really angry when I first saw the body, but I’m okay now. I’ve already made up my mind.”

Seo Dae-ryong, who had been looking at me for a moment, started walking again.

“Are you going to leave without hearing the answer about what the decision is?”

“I’ve already heard. It’s the look you’ve always shown me. The look you showed me before you accomplished the impossible.”

I smiled awkwardly.

“That’s why you absolutely must have a right arm.”

“You keep calling me your right-hand man, but isn’t your right-hand man this man?”

“Ian? Isn’t Ian your right-hand man?”

“So, I am the right-hand man who has defeated this unmanned person?”

He was slightly expecting it.

“The right arm is right, but it can’t get rid of Ian.”

“What does it mean?”

“Ian is my heart, my heart.”

“I feel sad even though it’s my right arm now.”

I laughed out loud and Seo Dae-ryong laughed along.

“I’ll buy you a drink today.”

“Really? Are we finally going to the highest level of Kiru?”

“This is a Pungryu tavern.”

I stuck out my mouth, and Seo Dae-ryong shouted, “Park Bong.”

“Okay, then since it’s the first drink our detective Jjandoli has had in a long time, let’s call everyone, including his left arm, his heart, and his left wing, to drink.”

“The left arm would be the Demon Lord, and the heart would be this unmanned person, so who would be the left wing?”

“Okay. Okay, let’s go.”

I walked briskly. I looked back at Seo Dae-ryong as I was walking ahead.

“Aren’t you going?”

At that spot, Seo Dae-ryong spoke with an apologetic expression.

“I’m sorry. There’s nothing I can do for you. I wish… … .”

“Do you feel like it?”

He looked at the dwelling of the Sub-Hon-Ma-Jon. It was a look in his eyes that made him want to go in and drag the Sub-Hon-Ma-Jon out by the hair. He felt the heat of the thought that he would have done so if he had been strong.

Our eyes were entangled in the air.

I’ve been relying on this little, gloomy guy quite a bit lately.

“Just accept my heart.”

“That’s right!”

After leaving Seo Hwan Jin, we headed to Pungryu Tavern together.

“I think it’s going to rain.”

Indeed, the dark clouds were thick and it looked like it was going to rain soon.

“You caught me well. It’s raining and the drinking expenses are going to be a bit high today.”

“It’s okay if it’s at a bar. There are no women, so there’s no point in spending money.”

“Ah… … This is such a sad story. This won’t do. I’ll have to buy the drinks.”

“Your Majesty, you don’t have any women either, do you?”

“I have Ian, right?”

Seo Dae-ryong blinked, not knowing Ian would show up.

“Isn’t it an escort? If you put it that way, then I too… … .”

“You had that junior back then?”

Seo Dae-ryong’s face turned slightly red.

“That’s not my junior!”

We took the widest seat on this floor of the Pungryu Inn.

“Welcome, my lord.”

These days, I am the best customer for the owner, Cho Chun-bae. He said that thanks to the Hwangcheon-gak branch, sales have doubled. He also said that life is more enjoyable because the tyranny of the unmanned people has decreased a lot.

“Don’t worry today. The table won’t break.”

“Haha, what if it breaks again? As long as no one gets hurt, that’s fine.”

“Look forward to it. This guy here, it’s the day his hidden pocket money comes out.”

“I will make it delicious and upload it.”

Before Jo Chun-bae brought out the main dish, he brought out some alcohol.

We drank quietly for a while without saying anything. Seo Dae-ryong and I each lost ourselves in our own thoughts.

The Subhon Amazon came to mind.

Whenever I think of him, a fierce anger surges up, along with the desire to kill him.

If it were me in the past, I wouldn’t be drinking like this on a day like today. I would have run to the training ground and swing my sword nonstop.

When I was young and faced with setbacks, I spent all my heart and soul trying to overcome the difficulties. I didn’t know then that when people are desperate, they can escape through effort.

But that’s not the case anymore.

The more angry I become, the more I try to calm down. I now know that drinking with my people is as much a way to make me stronger as practicing.

At that time, Seo Dae-ryong said.

“But I feel a little strange today. My heart keeps pounding.”

“Have you seen any pretty girls? Where are they?”

As I playfully looked around, Seodaeryong laughed.

“You don’t even like women?”

“Who said that? I hate women.”

“Isn’t that so? I thought you weren’t interested in women.”

I’m a woman. I’ve lived alone my entire life, so I’ve been lonely at times, but also not lonely at times.

“Are you lonely these days?”

“What’s so lonely about living alone? I’m just bored. Isn’t loneliness something you feel when you’re with someone?”

“Oh! I’ll have to use that later.”

“Use it on the junior you like.”

“I told you I don’t like you. And we’ll never meet again.”

“Should I put you in the same group and make you work?”

“Okay. The relationship should come about naturally.”

“Look, you like it, right?”

“No, that’s not it… … Okay. Oh, I should stop talking.”

He drank alcohol.

“Is your heart still beating?”

“yes.”

“I feel like something fateful might happen today.”

“No way.”

Meanwhile, Jo Chun-bae brought some food.

At this moment, Seo Dae-ryong had no idea what changes his life would bring about in his decision to buy alcohol today.

“Let’s drink some Jintang today!”

Even though I can’t drink alcohol well.