Absolute Regression

Chapter 583: One Person, a Match for a Hundred

"Seems he’s confident he can last at least ten days."

Whatever he felt inside, Fist Demon King didn’t show any concern on the surface.

The same went for One-Slash Sword Supreme.

"I don’t know who the enemy is, but it won’t be easy even just staying with Young Cult Leader for ten days."

At her jest, Fist Demon King and Lee Ahn smiled together. Yes, Geom Mugeuk was someone who could make people laugh even in a situation like this. That was why he and the other Demon Supremes trusted Young Cult Leader.

"Mugeuk set a timeframe, so why don’t we wait?"

One-Slash Sword Supreme readily agreed to Fist Demon King’s polite suggestion.

"Let’s do that."

From the circumstances, it seemed Geom Mugeuk had gone underground with the enemy.

Of course, that didn’t mean Fist Demon King would simply sit back and wait idly. He spoke to Lee Ahn.

"Instead, notify Heavenly Communication Pavilion and have them report every movement related to Golden Dragon Martial Hall. Confirm that Mugeuk is not anywhere in Golden Dragon Martial Hall."

"Yes, I’ll do that."

They were already mobilizing all intelligence networks for this matter—not just Heavenly Communication Pavilion but even Hidden Moon. At the slightest sign of abnormality, contact would be made immediately.

Fist Demon King stayed on alert. He spoke again to One-Slash Sword Supreme.

"We should also consider the possibility that another powerful enemy might come to assist."

If the opponent was strong enough to put Geom Mugeuk on edge, there might very well be outstanding subordinates—or they might summon another foe.

"They could try to conduct a coordinated hunt."

He meant they could drive Geom Mugeuk underground and then attack in a group.

To this, One-Slash Sword Supreme responded respectfully.

"I’ll be prepared as well."

She knew well that Fist Demon King wasn’t just someone with a terrifying face. Since youth, he had braved all kinds of hardship in the martial world alongside the Cult Leader. In emergencies, his judgment could be trusted.

After the conversation with One-Slash Sword Supreme ended, only then did Fist Demon King turn to check on his daughter.

"Are you hurt anywhere?"

"No, I’m fine."

One-Slash Sword Supreme stepped away to give father and daughter space to speak in comfort.

"Then I’ll excuse myself."

Lee Ahn quickly addressed One-Slash Sword Supreme.

"Supreme One, if you ever feel uncomfortable or need anything done, please tell me."

"I’ll keep that in mind."

Before turning away, One-Slash Sword Supreme said one more thing.

"Leader Lee, you've made progress in martial arts, haven’t you?"

As expected, she had seen Lee Ahn’s achievements. Having mastered Soaring Sword Art and significantly improving her internal energy, there was no way One-Slash Sword Supreme wouldn’t notice the change.

"I was lucky."

"Congratulations. Considering your age, that’s quite the accomplishment. I hadn’t reached that level at your age."

"You flatter me."

Lee Ahn cupped her fists and bowed respectfully. She didn’t want to miss this valuable opportunity to speak with the Sword Supreme.

"There's still so much I have to learn. If you ever have time, even for a moment, I would be truly grateful for your guidance."

It was a request made with difficulty, but One-Slash Sword Supreme agreed without hesitation.

"That’s something I would welcome as well."

Her response wasn’t empty courtesy—it was sincere. She knew well that the enlightenment one gained from teaching could be just as great as the enlightenment from learning.

In that regard, there was no better candidate than Lee Ahn. She still burned with a thirst for cultivation.

One-Slash Sword Supreme began walking toward the building.

As she entered and walked down the hallway, she glanced out the window and saw Fist Demon King and Lee Ahn talking in the distance.

Her gaze settled on Fist Demon King’s smiling face.

'Can someone like him smile that brightly?'

Had she ever seen him make such an expression during all their years fighting side by side as Demon Supremes? Even on the journey here, he hadn’t smiled once.

Suddenly, Blood Heaven Blade Demon came to mind. While he now cherished Geom Mugeuk like a son, he too had once stood at the threshold of becoming a parent. So had she.

She didn’t regret anything. At the time, she believed she had made the best choices she could.

But seeing that rare smile—rarer than even the Spirit Grass—on Fist Demon King’s face today, she couldn’t help but wonder what it would have been like to live a different life, just once.

*         *         *

The mechanical platform arrived at the underground level.

As the door opened, a young man stood waiting.

"You’ve arrived?"

He bowed respectfully to the Sword King, then briefly glanced at Geom Mugeuk.

"Take in the newcomer."

At Sword King’s words, a flicker of gladness crossed the man’s face—but it quickly turned into disappointment.

"Only one this time?"

"Is that a problem?"

"No, sir."

Though they’d had a short break, everyone was still thoroughly exhausted. He’d thought at least five or six would be brought down this time.

Sword King took off his shoe and smacked the young man on the backside.

"Straighten that face! He may be alone, but he's a match for a hundred."

As soon as he arrived, he had removed his shoes.

"This place is so harsh, shoes get torn up in no time."

With his shoes tucked at his waist, Sword King took the lead and walked off.

Suspicion glimmered in the man’s eyes as he looked at Geom Mugeuk.

‘Are you really a match for a hundred?’

The handsome man before him seemed far too removed from the brutal work that awaited down here.

The man turned and followed where Sword King had gone.

"You must step exactly where I step. If you don’t, you’ll die."

The path inward was extremely complicated. They had to pass through a disassembled mechanism, and the floors shifted colors wildly—from yellow, to red, to blue.

"And don’t even think of trying to get out alone."

The man was certain no one could memorize the path after following it just once—but in Geom Mugeuk’s mind, a precise map was already forming. He might have to escape this place if things went awry, so Geom Mugeuk committed the route to memory with everything he had.

This place truly was dangerous. All around them were mechanisms that hadn’t been fully dismantled, and protruding blades stuck out in every direction.

“You need to make one jump over there. Think you can do it?”

“Hold on a second. Let me catch my breath.”

Geom Mugeuk feigned weakness. He simply wanted to chat for a moment.

“My name is Geom Yeon.”

“I’m Hong In.”

With a slightly sympathetic look, Hong In asked Geom Mugeuk,

“What kind of money trouble brought you here?”

“I… came because of the instructor.”

“Instructor? You mean Great Brother?”

Sword King was being called Great Brother by them. Well, he probably hadn't trained them directly before, so he might never have been an actual instructor. Great Brother, huh. That title gave Geom Mugeuk a sense of how Sword King treated them.

“He has something that draws people in.”

Nodding in agreement, Hong In replied with understanding.

“Still, if they’d said there’d be no pay, you wouldn’t have come, would you?”

His expression clearly said, You came here for the money, so don’t pretend otherwise. Geom Mugeuk acknowledged it without resistance.

“You’re right. It’s the money.”

“Alright, jump.”

With a knowing look, Hong In sprang forward. Geom Mugeuk followed.

“You jump just fine for someone whining!”

Once more, Hong In led the way. Geom Mugeuk quickly realized there were far more mechanisms set up than he had expected. There must have been countless casualties just getting through this place.

Eventually, the two arrived at a wide-open space. Around Sword King, officials had already gathered.

Naturally, their gazes shifted toward Geom Mugeuk. Cautious eyes assessing the new addition to their group.

Geom Mugeuk took his time examining them as well.

First, they were exhausted. He could feel their weariness in every part of their bodies.

But their eyes still held passion and intensity.

They were all here of their own will to earn money. They were all people with dreams.

However, Geom Mugeuk sensed something else in them too.

It was madness.

Young men and women, confined in this suffocating place, surviving where comrades died one after another, clinging only to money. How could anyone endure without going mad?

They probably thought they were doing just fine, but Geom Mugeuk could feel it—the look in their eyes was not normal. Being surrounded by others in the same state, they likely didn’t realize what condition they were truly in.

Geom Mugeuk looked at Sword King.

'Can you not see the exhausted madness in their eyes?'

Was it that he was turning a blind eye for the sake of his goal, or was it that, being among them, he no longer noticed it either?

Geom Mugeuk greeted them loudly and cheerfully.

"I'm the new recruit Geom Yeon from the White Dragon Class. I look forward to working with you!"

The mention of the White Dragon Class stirred murmurs among the group. It was the first time someone from White Dragon Class had come here.

Even with Sword King present, one of the officials couldn't hold back and asked.

"How did someone from White Dragon Class end up here?"

"Well, that just proves how smart and skilled I am, doesn’t it? Oh, you’re wondering why someone like that would even be in White Dragon Class?"

Even under the focused attention, Geom Mugeuk remained completely relaxed.

"There was a reason for that."

"What reason?"

"When a man makes a choice that doesn't make any sense... what reason could there be? It's because of a woman."

At that moment, a few officials chuckled—some in disbelief, others in understanding.

It was the first time he saw their expressions ease. Smiling like this, they almost looked like the officials aboveground.

At the very least, the fact that Sword King had brought him here, and that he dared to speak so boldly in front of Sword King, made them believe he wasn’t someone trying to deceive them.

"Where do we sleep? What about my spot? Ah, I came down in a hurry and didn’t bring anything."

Rather than assigning a subordinate, Sword King took the lead himself and gave the tour.

"Follow me."

Sword King first led him to the sleeping quarters.

They had carved out a large room in the wall, where rough wooden bunks were lined up in rows. It seemed everyone stood on equal footing here—no better spots, no worse ones.

"These bunks are too small and hard."

Geom Mugeuk sat on a bunk and wiggled his hips.

"If it's too comfortable, you'll start having useless thoughts."

"Isn’t that just from the one in charge's perspective?"

"I sleep here too."

"That doesn’t exactly make it okay."

Sword King stared at Geom Mugeuk and gave another explanation.

"Thanks to this, they’ve become much stronger."

"Ah! Then I must lie down immediately."

Geom Mugeuk flopped down on the bunk.

Sword King stood beside him, looking down. Geom Mugeuk lay there in silence, staring up at the ceiling.

"Sure enough, coming down underground already feels suffocating."

Sword King began walking again, and Geom Mugeuk followed behind.

He had to stay alert even while walking. Blades jutted out from all over the living area. It was clear they were left there as a warning not to let one’s guard down.

Drip, drip, drip.

Following the sound of water, they reached a spot where groundwater flowed down.

"If you need to wash, do it here."

Sword King took out basic supplies from a wooden box in the corner and handed them over. He clearly knew every corner of this place.

The last location he guided him to was a site where excavation had been halted.

An iron wall blocked the path inside the cave.

Sword King had said they needed to dig into the ground, but in truth, it was about tunneling into this iron wall. Strange characters and symbols were carved all over the wall, giving off an ominous feeling for reasons one couldn't quite explain.

"This is the final gateway."

"How do you know it's the final one?"

"Because we’ve done enough. Because I don’t want to go any further."

Because it was a joke filled with sincerity, Geom Mugeuk laughed out loud.

Geom Mugeuk, staring silently at the iron wall, placed his palm against it. The chill that touched his hand seemed to carry a warning.

Do not enter any further.

This wall was certainly not the end. A dangerous final threshold was waiting beyond.

‘What lies at the end of this?’

Sword King had said that one could grow stronger here. But what exactly was inside, to make such a claim?

"Who created this place?"

"I don’t know either. I only know it was made a very long time ago. But what’s certain is that inside, there’s peerless martial arts and incredible treasures."

But you don’t seem to want those things, do you? You're someone who handed me a fortune of 300,000 nyang without hesitation.

Geom Mugeuk turned away from the iron wall.

"Now that we’ve come this far, please tell me. Why do you need me? It’s not like I possess some special talent to dismantle this gateway."

Sword King’s answer was unexpected.

"Honestly, I’m tired too. This final gateway will be truly dangerous. There will be many casualties."

He stopped speaking, as if that was all there was to say.

Geom Mugeuk asked in surprise.

"Don’t tell me… you want me to save the trainees?"

To his astonishment, Sword King nodded.

"I wouldn’t be enough on my own. That’s one of the main reasons I called you."

Having said all he wanted, Sword King turned and began to walk away. Then Geom Mugeuk called out from behind.

"Do you truly intend to save these officials?"

Sword King’s steps halted.

"When the secret vault containing peerless martial arts and all manner of treasure opens, the officials will see it too. Of course, with their instructor present, they won’t dare get greedy. Once they return to the world above, someday, they’ll spread the rumors. That their instructor claimed the peerless arts and treasures here. That they were there with him."

To this, Sword King replied,

"And what of it?"

Yes, from what Geom Mugeuk had seen of Sword King, it made sense that he wouldn’t care about something like that. What did it matter if rumors spread? He had the strength to let no one take it from him.

But there was one reason Geom Mugeuk had brought this up.

Before his regression, there had never been any rumor about the discovery of such treasures. No word that anyone from the martial arts hall had spread such news. Could all these people truly have kept the secret?

‘Or did you kill them all?’

Sword King turned back to face Geom Mugeuk.

"So? Are you telling me to wipe them all out?"

"Wouldn’t that be the cleanest solution?"

Though terrifying words were exchanged, the tense atmosphere between the two began to dissipate instead.

"Then I’ll leave that task to you."

Sword King laughed, and Geom Mugeuk laughed along with him.

"I was joking. You know my reputation, don’t you?"

Sword King, fixing his gaze on Geom Mugeuk, replied,

"Right. If you're the Young Cult Leader from the rumors, you would save those kids."

Their eyes met in midair.

Where did the truth end and the lie begin?

Geom Mugeuk realized that as long as Sword King stood before him barefoot, and didn’t pass beyond the wall’s end, he wouldn’t be able to find that answer.

Turning back again, Geom Mugeuk faced the iron wall and this time placed his ear gently against it.

"You hear something?"

"I do."

Sword King asked, startled.

"What kind of sound?"

"To get the job done properly…"

Geom Mugeuk closed his eyes, focusing his mind.

"It says it needs a nice bed and soft blankets."