43. Longing
Baek Hwa-yeon watched the battle between Lee Do-jin and the Sword Demon in front of the forest.
As the swords aimed at each other were extremely sharp, it was not difficult to grasp the aspect of the battle even from a distance.
It didn’t look like a battle between an academy cadet and the 4th generation superman. It just seemed like a battle between unmanned and unmanned.
As such, even if Lee Do-jin’s martial arts were compared to Sword Demon Jeong Yong-ha, it seemed that he was not inferior.
It’s partly because Baek Hwa-yeon doesn’t have the discerning eye to discern the fairly obvious level difference between the two, but it’s also because Lee Do-jin’s strength is so much higher than his age.
‘… Do Jin-ah.’
The distance got further away.
I wanted to stand on an equal footing. Of course, Lee Do-jin was not the type of person who would push him away because he was weaker than himself.
He wanted to stand proudly by his side. So that no one would have any doubts about being next to that man.
However, I can’t do that at this rate.
I fall behind. Very far away
Even though he must be the one who spends the most time keeping his eyes on this man up close.
I felt like I was getting farther and farther away.
A longing must stop at longing. Because that’s a feeling that even her classmates can have.
The moment admiration becomes respect, you will be terribly disappointed in yourself.
Baek Hwa-yeon clenched his fists tightly.
***
The gaze of sword demon Jeong Yong-ha, who was treated by a therapist at home, turned to swordsman Yu Seol-ah, who was staring at him blankly.
“Where did you get that guy from?”
It was referring to Lee Do-jin, who is currently receiving treatment in a hospital room within his home.
“With that kind of swordsmanship, he suddenly appeared at the Iroas entrance ceremony.”
“What is the name of the sword method?”
“I heard it’s called the Reverse Sword. I don’t think I learned it alone, but I think I had a teacher. I was evasive about the sword.”
“The degree of perfection of the sword technique itself was more profound than any other sword I have ever seen. It is to the point that I believe that the Great Master in the martial arts novel taught him the sword himself.”
She was a swordsman who unintentionally made an inference close to reality, but of course she didn’t take her words seriously.
“No matter how many stars he has, he has already stepped into the ten zones.”
Ten zones.
A title referring to the ten super-high masters under the four super-humans.
The Sword Demon was convinced that Lee Do-jin’s martial arts had already reached a level where he could stand alongside them.
She paused for a moment and stared at Yoo Seol-ah again.
“I’m definitely weaker than you right now. I don’t know if even that will last more than two years.”
The swordsman smiled.
“I feel it too. I think so.”
“The problem is that even if you reach that level, there is no confirmation that you will be able to climb the tower.”
At the sword demon’s words, the impression of the sword ghost hardened.
“That’s right. That’s why I brought it to the captain. I thought it would be nice if you could take a look at the sword when you have time.”
Jung Yong-ha smiled with wrinkles.
“Are you asking a dying old man to become a disciple?”
“…I decided I could embrace it. The old man’s sword. Cadet Lee Do-jin.”
The martial arts of a swordsman who reached the point of martial arts could literally be said to be a legacy.
Yoo Seol-ah wanted to leave that legacy.
The legacy of the swordsman who made the greatest contribution to stopping the tower from descending.
“Okay. I can’t stay asleep forever.”
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At the old boss’s promise, the swordsman smiled brightly.
“Then, I’ll bring you back soon.”
“Okay, let’s make our own preparations.”
***
Lee Do-jin felt her whole body lose strength.
Her tiredness weighed on her brain.
Laying her body on her bed, Lee Do-jin remembered her sword demon Jeong Yong-ha.
The Sword Demon was definitely a strong player. He was the closest to the unmanned among the hunters he encountered in the real world, not in the world of Mistel Tane.
‘It’s like dying once.’
If the Sword Demon had made up his mind to kill himself. She would be dead
Lee Do-jin recalled the sword demon’s sword path in his head.
With a sword full of murderous intent. And the defense was solid.
Someone knocked on the door.
“Come in.”
“You’re fine.”
The person who opened the door muttering and entered was calm.
Lee Do-jin laughed at that callous remark.
“…I don’t think I’m all right.”
Although he was baptized with divine power and potion, his whole body was still screaming.
“The limbs are alive and well, aren’t they?”
If it was said from that point of view, there was nothing else to say. He was a gentleman.
“None of the blows I gave you fatally wounded you. The reason your body is in that shape now is because you pushed your body to the limit without realizing it.”
It was literally a series of facts.
Lee Do-jin silently nodded.
I didn’t say anything wrong.
“That’s right.”
“Seola asked me to be your teacher. But no matter how much I think about it, I don’t have much to teach you enough to call you a teacher.”
After a moment of silence, Jeong Yong-ha opened his mouth again.
“I’m not going to act as a teacher. To begin with, your swordsmanship seems to be superior. I’ll just tell you some swordsmanships that you can use.”
Lee Do-jin opened his eyes wide.
“Then isn’t it the same as asking you to be my teacher?”
“It’s different. A teacher is someone who has to take responsibility. I don’t like that.”
The Sword Demon clicked his tongue. And before Dojin Lee could say anything more, he left the hospital room.
The next one to appear was Baek Hwa-yeon, a classmate with light pink hair.
“Do Jin-ah!”
Baek Hwa-yeon pushed her face, her blue eyes shining.
Her fresh scent lingered in my senses.
“Master has received permission from the academy to continue with outside classes until tomorrow. Today we have to recuperate here quietly!”
It was somewhat expected.
Because there is still one more schedule left after swordsman Yu Seol-ah said.
“Really?”
Baek Hwa-yeon stabbed Lee Do-jin in the side with a mischievous face.
“I think now is the right time for Do-jin to win against you. Will you fight?”
Of course it was a joke.
It was a half-hearted joke, though.
“If you fully bloom that plum blossom, then you won’t know again.”
Lee Do-jin stroked the pale pink hair of Baek Hwa-yeon, who had approached him.
Baek Hwa-yeon smiled brightly. And in that state, he let out a chuckle.
“Even so, can I beat you?”
“People’s efforts create unexpected variables, although we don’t know certain changes.”
Baek Hwa-yeon puffed out both cheeks at Lee Do-jin’s words.
“Don’t talk like an old man!”
Lee Do-jin laughed bitterly.
“Yes, no.”
Baek Hwa-yeon lay on a bed next to Lee Do-jin’s hospital bed.
It’s like sharing the same bed.
It was a sight that would make the therapist in charge of Lee Do-jin pass out, but fortunately there were only two of them in the hospital room.
The two gazed at the white ceiling of the hospital room side by side.
The sound of each other’s light breathing lingered in each other’s ears.
“Of course, I have to work hard. I have a problem to solve with my own hands.”
Revenge.
It must be about the ‘Sewoon Orphanage Mutant Incident’ that I mentioned earlier.
The records say whereabouts are unknown, but it is highly likely that Baek Hwa-yeon’s children were handed over to a mutant modification group.
“It’s still too big a part of my life.”
Happiness, sadness.
──Love.
To the extent that I feel guilty if I express any emotion too honestly.
The moment I laughed and chatted with my children was so precious. I was eating away at the happiness of the present moment.
According to the words of Seolah Yoo, the head of the sword, the organization with high possibility was almost selected.
Soon the veil will be lifted.
Baek Hwa-yeon was going to head to her feet no matter what awaited her beyond the curtain.
Lee Do-jin slowly opened his mouth.
“I’ll help you. Let me know if you need help.”
“Okay, if I get too scared. I’ll tell you then.”
Baek Hwa-yeon evaded her words.
She didn’t even know what kind of future awaited her.
So, Lee Do-jin decided to add one more word.
Something I wouldn’t normally say.
“Even if it’s not that. Anything you ask for help, I’ll help you.”
Baek Hwa-yeon’s face turned red at the words that were not like Lee Do-jin’s. She turned her head and stared at Lee Do-jin.
From his wide open mouth, he cautiously spat out a question in a small voice.
“Why, why…?”
Lee Do-jin faced Baek Hwa-yeon.
The two gazes naturally intertwined on the bed.
“Well, more than you think. You mean a lot to me.”
The day I climbed Gamak Mountain in Paju with a wooden sword.
Let’s fight suddenly! Baek Hwa-yeon, who rushed at it.
At that time, to be honest—
‘I thought it was a crazy b*tch.’
A sudden attack with a knife in the mountains. No matter how well I try to think of it, it’s because I was a crazy b*tch.
Of course, Dojin Lee had no intention of saying that to be honest.
Especially in the current fragile state.
Anyway.
The memory of the day when I fought Baek Hwa-yeon on equal footing with a wooden sword became one of the springboards for my growth.
It is because Baek Hwa-yeon’s love for swords and her love for martial arts that day gave Lee Do-jin a beneficial boost.
Baek Hwa-yeon’s face as she crossed swords and said, ‘Isn’t it fun?’ Was deeply embedded in my mind.
And it remained as a precious memory.
Irreplaceable.
“You’re a meaningful person. I…”
Baek Hwa-yeon lifted the blanket and covered her face.
A smile that seemed so innocent lingered on his face.
Lee Do-jin, not knowing that, just tilted his head slightly.
Would you have wasted a minute like that?
I finally stopped laughing and pulled down the blanket.
Lee Do-jin opened his mouth again.
“Anyway, so tell me anything. If you need help.”
“Thank you.”
Baek Hwa-yeon smiled brightly.
Then she thought.
‘Later.’
It’s all over later.
If you free yourself from all the bonds of sin.
‘I have to confess.’
Because I said he was a meaningful person.
Because it also said that she was a person who meant more than her own thoughts.
‘Maybe accept?’
For a moment, for a moment. Wouldn’t it be possible to imagine a pure happiness like this?
Baek Hwa-yeon asked herself shyly.