Absolute Regression

Chapter 572: Even If You Go to Hell, You Will Become the Strongest Under Heaven

“New member of the White Dragon Class, Geom Yeon. It’s not the ‘fate’ Yeon character...”

Whoosh.

Before he could even finish speaking, Yeon Baekjin attempted a sudden strike to suppress Geom Mugeuk’s vital point.

But Geom Mugeuk twisted his body lightly and evaded the attack.

“I use the ‘smoke’ Yeon character. Someone who’ll disappear once this matter ends. Forever.”

Looking at his empty hand grasping the air, Yeon Baekjin felt a strange tremble. Was it fear? No, it was definitely a different feeling than fear.

He could tell. That what he saw as flaws when none existed—those flaws were ultimately his own.

“Ah, of course, I didn’t come to the Golden Dragon Martial Hall to learn martial arts.”

“Then why did you come?”

“To help a friend.”

“Who?”

There were two reasons Geom Mugeuk revealed himself today.

First was confirming that Yeon Baekjin stood on the side opposing Pyo San.

Though not all enemies of one’s enemies were allies, in this urgent situation where the enemies were trying to kill even the bloodline of the Ghost Clan, he judged that joining hands with Yeon Baekjin was not a bad choice.

The second reason was, of course, Seo Jin. If the wheel of fate carrying the two of them was destined to roll toward ruin, he intended to ride that wheel together to the end. To do that, if no one else, he had to grow closer to Yeon Baekjin.

“I’m not part of the Ghost Clan, but I personally owe them a great debt.”

It was his answer that he came to help Seo Jin. It wasn’t a lie. He truly owed a great debt to the Ghost Clan.

“Would the Ghost Clan Leader really let his daughter wander around alone?”

“Then that woman named Lee Ahn too?”

Geom Mugeuk nodded.

“We’re protecting her.”

They were protecting the Ghost Clan Leader’s daughter?

It was a believable statement. The day after Seo Jin entered, the two of them had enrolled. Since then, they had been moving around together.

“I thought that the enemy Seo Jin seeks vengeance against and the enemy of martial artist Yeon might be the same, which is why I showed myself.”

Geom Mugeuk pulled out another weapon from the piled arms and handed it to him.

“Now, do you feel like joining the search?”

Yeon Baekjin threw the sword back onto the scrap heap.

“I’ll have to decline.”

His gaze turned toward the new weapons hanging on the wall.

“With so many new ones pouring in every day, there’s no need to dig through scrap metal.”

Even if what the other said was true, he couldn’t afford to trust him at face value.

Yeon Baekjin turned and left the place.

“If you’re a newcomer, don’t be late for class.”

As he walked toward the entrance, Yeon Baekjin suddenly recalled something.

‘But... did this guy even hear me press Pyo San about where that place was?’

Yeon Baekjin turned to look back.

But at some point, Geom Mugeuk had vanished without a trace.

* * *

“Lord Yeon has discovered the existence of that place.”

Pyo San’s burn-scarred face throbbed with heat, but he had no time to apply medicine.

“Knowing his personality, he’ll keep digging.”

Yeon Baekin, the Golden Dragon Hall Master, stood silently with his hands behind his back, gazing out the window.

Though Gi Seok, the head instructor, shook his head to tell him to stop, Pyo San couldn’t hold back and added one final remark.

“As long as he knows that no matter what he does, the Hall Master will forgive him, Lord Yeon will keep trying.”

Truly, had it been just them without the Hall Master before, he would have cursed Gi Seok too without hesitation.

Yeon Baekin let out a light sigh and turned toward Pyo San.

“Yes, he would.”

With a concerned look, he walked over to Pyo San.

“The burn is severe. Let me see. Are you alright?”

“I’m fine. Thank you for your concern...”

Crack.

Pyo San’s neck twisted at an unnatural angle at Yeon Baekin’s fingertips, then snapped back.

It was such a swift strike that before he could even register it, his neck had broken and he collapsed to the floor.

Yeon Baekin looked down at the corpse and let out a low, rage-filled groan. The anger that seeped out with that groan was not aimed at Pyo San alone.

In contrast, Gi Seok showed no reaction to the death of his subordinate.

With Yeon Baekjin having fully stepped into the situation, he deemed it appropriate to eliminate the man. Now that the lips were gone, they would have to grit their cold teeth instead.

“The excavation is nearing its end?”

At Yeon Baekin’s question, Gi Seok replied respectfully.

“Yes. They say it’s almost broken through. We’ll find the entrance soon.”

A surge of intensity flashed through Yeon Baekin’s eyes. Yes, it must be found. He had twisted a teacher’s neck for that very moment.

“We’re almost there.”

Yeon Baekin once more looked down at Pyo San’s corpse, then stared far out the window.

“Yes, the Gate of Hell must be waiting for us.”

At Yeon Baekin’s self-mocking response, Gi Seok bowed deeply.

“Even if you go to hell, you’ll go as the strongest under heaven.”

* * *

At the inn, Geom Mugeuk was drinking alone, waiting for Lee Ahn and Seo Jin to return.

Yeon Baekjin strode in and placed a single old iron sword on the table.

“There was one sword that didn’t need to be discarded.”

He had found a usable blade in the scrap pile at the iron workshop.

Geom Mugeuk looked up at him. He seemed slightly different than when they had parted earlier—more intense.

“Surely you didn’t actually go back and search for it?”

“I found it myself.”

“You could’ve said you bought it on the way and I wouldn’t have known.”

Yeon Baekjin snorted. It was a small glimpse into his personality.

“What changed your mind?”

It was because of one man’s death.

“Pyo San is dead. They say he hanged himself.”

Yeon Baekjin knew. He knew that his brother had killed him. The doubt that lingered as uncertainty had now turned into certainty.

“What does he take me for!”

Despite the shocking news, Geom Mugeuk remained calm.

“Did you suspect it?”

“I didn’t expect it, but it’s not exactly surprising. They were the ones who even tried to kill the bloodline of the Ghost Clan. Cutting off a revealed subordinate isn’t much of an issue. Come, have a seat. If you haven’t eaten, please do.”

Yeon Baekjin took a seat. When he came here, his mind had been tangled and unsure. But the moment he saw Geom Mugeuk, he felt he had made the right choice. This young man, strangely, had a way of putting one at ease.

“Let’s have a drink.”

Geom Mugeuk poured him a glass of liquor.

“Another.”

After downing three consecutive cups, Yeon Baekjin revealed something unexpected.

“Before he died, Instructor Im came to see me.”

The reason Yeon Baekjin became entangled in this affair was because of Im Hyeon.

“He said something strange was going on inside the hall.”

Yeon Baekjin relayed exactly what Im Hyeon had told him.

It all began two years ago.

* * *

Back then, among the White Dragon Class, there had been an extremely talented trainee whom Im Hyeon had taught personally. He was not only skilled but also full of ambition to succeed.

By all expectations, he was sure to pass the Blue Dragon Class graduation exam, but one day, he came to Im Hyeon and said he would be quitting the martial hall, offering a farewell. No matter what, he wanted to at least say goodbye to his instructor.

Im Hyeon had tried to stop him, saying he only needed to hold on a little longer to graduate, but the trainee insisted he had something he absolutely had to do—and left.

At that moment, Im Hyeon had seen an inexplicable hunger in his eyes. What had he been trying to gain in exchange for throwing away all the hardships he had endured?

Then this year, a similar incident occurred. Once again, a trainee who was all but guaranteed to pass the graduation exam quit, and in his eyes, Im Hyeon saw the same desire he had seen in the previous one.

The whole thing seemed suspicious, so he began a quiet investigation. And he discovered that over the past three years, quite a few individuals who should have easily passed the graduation exam had quit.

Because so many people passed through the hall, no one had paid attention to this fact. If someone said they wanted to quit, who would question them? Everyone assumed they had their own reasons.

“Even so, he found it strange and came to me. Asked me to look into it. Honestly, when I heard it, I didn’t think much of it.”

He emptied his glass again.

“Two days after he came to see me, Instructor Im was dead.”

Yeon Baekjin’s gaze, which had been fixed on the empty cup, turned toward Geom Mugeuk.

“That really was strange.”

Around that time, Yeon Baekjin had begun to feel that his elder brother, the Hall Master, had changed significantly from before. He had become strangely sensitive and cold.

Still, he hadn’t thought his brother would go so far as to get involved in an instructor’s death. But with Pyo San’s death today, it had become clear. His brother had also been involved in Im Hyeon’s death.

“When you were pressing Pyo San earlier, what exactly did ‘that place’ refer to?”

“So you did hear.”

He had come here already resolved to reveal everything.

“Through a covert investigation into the martial hall’s finances, I discovered it. Money had been spent purchasing materials for a large-scale construction project.”

That was why he had pressed Pyo San about the location—trying to find out where and what kind of construction was underway.

“This is as far as my knowledge goes.”

“Thank you for telling me.”

Thanks to Yeon Baekjin, he finally understood the reason behind Im Hyeon’s death. And he had also gained valuable information: a secret construction project was underway.

Yeon Baekjin emptied his cup in silence. It was guilt he didn’t need to carry, but Geom Mugeuk could sense that he bore a slight sense of obligation over Im Hyeon’s death.

The current Yeon Baekjin was no villain. No matter how one looked at it, he wasn’t a villain pretending to be righteous.

Why had such an ordinary person walked such a path? When Seo Jin’s revenge was carried out, his brother had already died. At the time, it seemed natural to assume that Yeon Baekjin had killed him.

Why would someone like you choose a path of fate that involved killing your own brother—and even the woman you loved?

Geom Mugeuk’s gaze dropped to the iron sword that Yeon Baekjin had brought. One thing, at least, was certain. The moment he chose that sword, the wheel of fate had begun to shift, even if only slightly.

Drawing the iron sword slowly, Geom Mugeuk spoke.

“You chose well. This sword is no longer fated to melt away in a furnace.”

* * *

The mechanism was descending endlessly underground.

Yeon Baekin rode it alone which which large enough for a single person.

He stared at his reflection in the metal wall of the lift. A face that, sometime along the way, had become unfamiliar to him.

Thunk.

The device came to a halt, and its door opened.

Waiting in front of him was a martial artist. A familiar face—he was a man who had once belonged to the Golden Dragon Martial Hall.

“Step only where I step and follow behind me.”

Yeon Baekin followed in his footsteps.

The floor was marked like a go board, lines drawn across it with squares colored differently.

Yeon Baekin carefully stepped only where his ‘guide’ stepped.

Along the path, parts of the walls had been torn open. The intricate mechanisms visible inside were fearsome trap devices.

Some were already completely dismantled, but others remained intact—if he stepped on the wrong square, it could cost him his life.

There were places where one had to cross a single rope, and others where one had to climb up only to slide back down again.

Some paths required crawling through narrow passages, and others required swimming through water. It was truly a maze that could never be navigated without a guide. He had come several times over the past three years, but the path would sometimes change, making it confusing every time.

And then, they reached the final chamber.

In that vast space, like a plaza, former trainees of the Golden Dragon Martial Hall were working diligently.

Some were generating sword energy to cut through walls, others were writing fervently while studying blueprints, and still others were transporting boxes.

They hadn’t been forced here. Every one of them had come by choice.

They were being paid an enormous monthly salary—an amount incomparable to anything they could earn after leaving the martial hall. It was enough to make anyone's dream come true once the job was completed.

And there he was.

The man who had not only changed the course of Yeon Baekin’s life as the Golden Dragon Hall Master but also the lives of everyone in this place.

The first thing that man had said when he approached was:

—Let’s dig some earth together.

He was a well-built middle-aged man with a friendly impression and a striking appearance. His eyes held ease, and his slightly lifted lips carried a hint of playfulness.

“Careful over there!”

The man, hair tied back, shirtless and barefoot, was darting around with ease.

The many scars on his body spoke of the kind of past he had endured.

“I said be careful over there!”

The moment his shout rang out toward a young man—

Screeeeech!

A massive chunk of metal, several times larger than a human, came crashing down toward the youth’s head.

Splat! Kwang!

It was such a huge hunk of iron that Yeon Baekin figured there wouldn’t even be a trace of a corpse left.

Huuuuhhhh...

As the rising dust settled, everyone stared at the site in shock.

The massive iron chunk had been split in half, and two figures stood between the halves.

The man was standing beside the youth.

Though he had been quite a distance away when he shouted, he had flown there in an instant and cleaved the iron in two.

The sliced surface was so smooth and clean that it gleamed. Shockingly, the man had cut the giant hunk of iron without even emitting sword energy.

It wasn’t with a treasured blade either. The sword in his hand was an old iron sword, the kind one could find anywhere in the marketplace.

At the man's divine presence, not only Yeon Baekin but everyone present displayed reverence. The technique he had just shown was truly the pinnacle of swordsmanship.

The man lightly smacked the back of the young man's head.

“Trying to die before even spending your money?”

“I’m sorry. Thank you for saving me.”

The young man bowed deeply. The other youths also expressed their gratitude. There wasn’t a single one among them who hadn’t received the man’s help at least once.

“Everyone, clean this up first!”

“Yes!”

The young men gathered to clear away the iron mass. They began slicing it apart with sword energy. When they had first entered this place, most of them had been unable to generate sword energy—but now, they wielded it skillfully.

The man stood there for a long moment, even paying attention to the cleanup of the fallen iron, before finally turning toward Yeon Baekin.

“It’s been a while since you came.”

Dust covering his body, the man brushed it off with a sweep of his hand and approached with a bright smile.

“Something interesting happening out in the world?”