Chapter 2
‘This place is….’
Seo Mugyeom looked down at his side in utter confusion at something that couldn't possibly be happening.
But there was no sword wound visible on his side.
‘What is going on?’
He rubbed his eyes and opened them wide, thinking his vision was playing tricks, but there was no wound.
Even when he touched his side, there was no pain.
Seo Mugyeom stared blankly into the air, as if entranced by something.
Then he recalled the sense of incongruity he had felt earlier.
“This isn't the room I used to stay in…. But it's not completely unfamiliar either….”
Just then, footsteps approached from outside and the door opened.
“Oh! Mugyeom. Why are you up? They said you were seriously injured and needed to stay in bed for a few more days. You really are tough. If your body was going to end up like this, you should’ve run away. How long did you hold out? You can’t even fight properly.”
The noisy person who came in was Seo Mugyeom’s Senior Brother, Ho Jo-yeong.
He had a friendly appearance and a good personality, getting along well with everyone.
He had always looked after Seo Mugyeom since he first joined the Tenth Division.
Ho Jo-yeong looked at him with a face full of things to say and sighed deeply.
“You do know that everyone who went with you died and only you came back, right?”
“What…?”
Seo Mugyeom had no idea how to deal with this confusing situation.
Why did Ho Jo-yeong look so young?
Even stranger was the fact that he had died during a mission three years ago and couldn’t possibly be here now.
“Senior….”
“Why are you so dazed? Are you still not fully conscious? Lie down. I’ll bring some medicine.”
“No, Senior, wait. Please explain what you just said in more detail. You said everyone who went with me died? Who did I go with, and where?”
Ho Jo-yeong looked at him with a startled expression.
“Mugyeom, are you… not mentally sound? Didn’t the leadership of the Tenth Division go to escort Gwei the Life-and-Death Demon?”
“What…?”
Seo Mugyeom’s face turned pale.
‘Life-and-Death Demon’ was Gwei’s alias, and Ho Jo-yeong was one of the few who used it.
But that was six years ago when he was nineteen—he couldn’t make sense of what Ho Jo-yeong was saying.
“Mugyeom, this won’t do. Lie down. I’ll bring the physician.”
Then he rushed out before Seo Mugyeom could stop him.
Seo Mugyeom, deeply confused, looked for a mirror and stared at his own reflection.
In the mirror, he saw his pale, shocked face staring back.
It was a much younger and unfamiliar version of himself.
He gazed into his large, clear eyes and thought,
‘Did I… really go back in time? Back to when I escorted Gwei…?’
It didn’t make any sense, but there was no other explanation.
Just then, hurried footsteps approached.
“Physician, please hurry. They said Mugyeom is acting strange.”
Ho Jo-yeong’s urgency could be felt in his voice.
The physician, from the Divine Martial Sect’s medical hall, came in grumbling but followed nonetheless.
Upon seeing Seo Mugyeom standing vacantly in the middle of the room, he looked surprised.
“I thought it would take at least a month before you could even stand. You've recovered quickly. Sit down first. I’ll check your pulse.”
“Yes, Physician….”
Seo Mugyeom remembered this physician.
He also remembered hearing news of his death.
Seeing the physician now confirmed his suspicion—he had definitely returned to the past.
A chill ran down his spine and goosebumps covered his body.
“Don’t rush. Make sure to rest and recover properly. You won’t always have time to rest when you want to, right? Take it easy now so you don’t suffer later.”
“Thank you, Physician.”
“You’ve probably been shocked from seeing others die right beside you. It’s natural to be afraid and anxious. There’s no need to hide it.”
“I understand.”
The physician nodded and stood up.
“It seems the medicine worked better than expected. Even with the same remedy, the effects vary depending on the person’s constitution.”
“Thank you, sir. Is there anything I should be cautious of while taking care of him?”
Ho Jo-yeong followed him out, and their voices grew distant.
Seo Mugyeom sat alone, thinking about what had happened.
‘What I experienced was real. The Divine Martial Sect was definitely attacked and destroyed. But after dying, I came back to the past. And what a twisted point in time it is.’
From what Ho Jo-yeong said, Gwei had returned to the Divine Martial Sect.
He must’ve completed the elixir, and now they’d begin choosing who would undergo the Grand Technique.
Previously, it had been Cheon Gyeong from the Sixth Division….
‘But there’s no reason it has to be the same. This time, I’ll become the Blood Demon. I’ll change fate—mine and the Divine Martial Sect’s.’
Having witnessed the annihilation of the Divine Martial Sect, he couldn’t sit by and watch it happen again.
The Tenth Division’s leaders who went with him never returned.
That loss was painful, but doing nothing would only lead to the same fate for everyone.
Only the timing would differ.
Becoming the Blood Demon didn’t mean turning into a mindless zombie like a jiangshi.
He would gain deep internal power, be infused with strong martial arts, and have a body body immune to swords and blades.
There were no visible side effects.
There was no reason for him to hesitate.
“What are you thinking about so seriously?”
Ho Jo-yeong asked with a worried expression.
“Are you still in a lot of pain?”
“No… that’s not it, Senior.”
Ho Jo-yeong, sensing he had something to say, spoke kindly.
“It’s okay. You can tell me anything, Mugyeom. Didn’t the physician say so? It’s natural to be scared and anxious—you don’t have to hide it.”
Encouraged by his words, Seo Mugyeom made up his mind.
“Senior, the truth is… I saw the annihilation of the Divine Martial Sect. A suppression army attacked, and no one survived—we all died. But just before I died, there was a flash of light that hit me, and I died at the same time.”
He started confidently but his voice weakened with each word.
He realized how absurd it must sound.
“You don’t believe me, do you? I wouldn’t either. If someone else said this, I’d tell them to stop talking nonsense and get some rest.”
“Mugyeom, I think you should sleep a little more. There will be plenty of time to talk later. For now, get some rest.”
Only because it was Ho Jo-yeong did he speak so kindly—anyone else would’ve called him crazy.
After Ho Jo-yeong patted his shoulder and left, Seo Mugyeom thought it was for the best.
He needed time alone to think.
From Ho Jo-yeong’s reaction, he realized he must never speak of this to anyone.
Even someone as kind as Ho Jo-yeong reacted like that.
No one else would accept it.
‘Right. I can’t change anything in my current state. Living the same life again won’t change anything. I must become the Blood Demon.’
Seo Mugyeom shot up from his seat.
‘How can I become the Blood Demon?’
He thought about how Gwei had chosen the previous one.
‘Someone with deep faith, loyal to the sect, who died in the line of duty, right? Cheon Gyeong didn’t even have much internal energy or notable martial arts, right? He’s just like me. If he could become the Blood Demon, so can I.
Yes.’
Once he reached that conclusion, the idea became more certain.
‘From now on, I’ll take on missions until I’m on the brink of death. As long as I’m alive, Gwei will save me, so I don’t have to worry. He did the same for Cheon Gyeong. They said he was already half-dead then.’
Seo Mugyeom nodded slowly.
Now that he had decided, it didn’t feel right to be lying in bed.
‘Maybe this is a better opportunity. I’m already injured, so it’ll be easier to get hurt again. Yes. Let’s ask for a mission right away.’
Seo Mugyeom wondered if he was a genius.
After experiencing such madness, to come up with a perfect plan so quickly—it wasn’t something just anyone could do.
He changed his clothes and went straight outside.
This was how Seo Mugyeom’s desperate charge to become the Blood Demon began.
“Hey, someone stop that guy! What’s wrong with him all of a sudden? He almost died and now he’s charging off again like he doesn’t value his life! We just lost the Tenth Division—does he want to cause another funeral?”
The person who said this in disbelief was Pyo Inhaeng, Division Leader of the Tenth Division.
With disheveled hair and in his early forties, he had a rough face like it was molded and thrown aside.
Pyo Inhaeng was someone who made you wonder how such a man could have become a Division Leader of the Divine Martial Sect’s Guardian Ten Division, which had inherited the Heavenly Demon Cult’s legacy.
Even though the Tenth Division was the weakest of the Ten, it was still a martial force of the Divine Martial Sect.
A division Division Leader’s martial arts shouldn't be weak, yet no one had ever seen Pyo Inhaeng demonstrate his skills.
He was the embodiment of complacency and inaction.
On top of that, he had lost the leadership in the process of bringing Gwei back, so his nerves were on edge more than ever.
He was never enthusiastic about participating in sect activities.
As long as he stayed quiet, no one would call on the Tenth Division.
Whenever martial force was needed, they would always think of others first.
The Tenth Division wasn’t on that list.
Only a few knew how much Pyo Inhaeng had secretly worked to maintain such an image.