Nice To Meet You. I Was The Sword Demon In My Past Life

So Geum-ho, first-generation disciple and chief steward of the Sword Name Gate, found himself facing the most bewildering situation of his entire life.

The Sect Master, who had spent days wasting away before collapsing unconscious, had suddenly gotten up looking perfectly fine.

Worse still, a man who normally did little more than spout idle talk had abruptly declared that he was going out to fuck everyone up.

And even if he had lost his memories, his bizarre manner of speaking and behavior made Geum-ho feel as though he were looking at a completely different person.

‘……Did he seriously injure his head?’

Before the unexpected accident, the Dokgo Mu-jin So Geum-ho remembered had been frustratingly kind and innocent enough for people to call him foolish.

In particular, he had always been talking about peace and dialogue.

Because he continued behaving that way, neighboring sects like the Righteous Sword Gate and Sword Hero Gate frequently looked down on him.

There had been incident after incident where it wouldn’t have been strange for blood to spill throughout the neighborhood, yet every time, Dokgo Mu-jin forced a smile, smoothed things over, and endured until he eventually developed all sorts of illnesses he never should have had to suffer.

One day, unable to contain his frustration any longer, So Geum-ho asked Dokgo Mu-jin,

Why did he always let others walk all over him? Even if he couldn’t win, couldn’t he fight back just once?

But Dokgo Mu-jin always gave him the same gentle smile and said that nothing was impossible if one kept one’s heart righteous. That if the day came when the world finally understood their intentions, that alone would be enough. ……Nothing but softhearted words like those.

Following the former Sect Master’s dying wish, So Geum-ho had spent his life faithfully staying by Dokgo Mu-jin’s side. There had been plenty of frustration and irritation along the way, but…….

Looking back now……that hopelessly kind man was still his Sect Master, and his only friend.

So Geum-ho watched Dokgo Mu-jin take up his sword and head outside alone, then called out.

“……Sect Master.”

Dokgo Mu-jin, who had been walking ahead, merely turned his head.

“What?”
“I’ll come with you.”
“You stay here. Who knows what might happen?”

But there was no chance So Geum-ho would accept that. Recalling an old memory, he thought back to around ten years ago, when Dokgo Mu-jin would often say he was going out for a walk alone.

And with a faint smile, So Geum-ho gave the same answer he had always given back then.

“……Let’s go together. If not me, then who will stay by your side, Sect Master?”

As I walked down the long corridor, I thought up roughly twenty different ways to fuck over the Righteous Sword Gate and Sword Hero Gate in innovative, unconventional, and romantic fashion.

Truthfully, I knew plenty of ways to fuck someone up. Naturally, I also knew more than a few ways to fuck up an entire faction.

But those were all methods I’d used back when I was the Sword Demon.

Naturally, with Dokgo Mu-jin’s pathetic physical condition, most of those methods and plans were impossible to carry out.

Theory and practice were different. Anyone could devise and contemplate a theory, but there weren’t many martial artists who could actually put that theory to use in a real fight.

I’d come up with hundreds of theories and plans for beating the Cult Leader to death, and still suffered a miserable defeat.

Every martial artist has a convincing plan for beating his opponent. At least until he gets punched in the face.

So rather than calculate the odds of executing a perfect plan, I was in a situation where it made more sense to confront them first and worry about what came afterward.

I’d always been the sort of man with no regard for what came next anyway, so this kind of reckless approach wasn’t particularly difficult for me.

As I walked along the corridor thinking about one thing after another, So Geum-ho suddenly spoke from behind me.

“Where are you planning to go first?”

Had he really just asked a reckless idiot like me for a plan? Since I genuinely had none, I answered like a man without a thought in his head.

“No idea. I’ll stroll around town, buy something tasty, compose a poem, have some fun, then fuck up whichever bastards I run into first.”
“…….”

Apparently, Dokgo Mu-jin’s usual personality had been very different from mine. I felt someone’s gaze and turned to find So Geum-ho staring at me as though I were the craziest man alive.

“What?”
“……It’s nothing.”
“Right.”

Still, just what kind of person had Dokgo Mu-jin been?

Considering someone still followed him after he’d run the sect this badly, he might have been incompetent, but apparently he hadn’t completely fucked up as a human being. A small blessing amid all this misfortune, I suppose.

Perhaps he had simply been too kind for his own good.

A lot of people would ask what was wrong with being kind, but in the Kangho, kindness often became a chain around your ankle.

People like that usually met miserable ends. The world wasn’t just enough for good to always be rewarded and evil punished.

‘If the Kangho were fair and just, the Cult Leader would’ve been the first bastard sent to the afterlife……fucking prick.’

I wondered whether Dokgo Mu-jin had been one of those people, but there wasn’t enough information to know yet, so I quickly lost interest.

I kept walking until the view before me suddenly brightened and the outside came into sight.

Old training equipment, wooden swords neatly arranged in one corner, a barren and cramped training yard, and a wall surrounding it that wasn’t particularly high.

‘Ah……this is nice.’

How long had it been since I’d seen such a peaceful sight? Strangely enough, simply standing there doing nothing put me in a good mood.

But putting my good mood aside, this was still supposed to be a sword sect, and the place was far too cramped and shabby.

Most of the equipment was so worn out that it looked half ready to collapse, and even the signboard that served as the sect’s face was covered in moss.

Even I couldn’t tell whether this was an active sword sect or some haunted manor hidden in the mountains.

I stared ahead and said,

“What a mess. A complete mess. I must’ve run this sect like absolute shit.”

So Geum-ho looked ahead as well and replied bitterly.

“Yes. It certainly seems that way.”
“What?”
“Nothing. I suppose it’s all my fault.”

Before worrying about the Righteous Sword Gate, Sword Hero Gate, or any of that bullshit, I needed to get a rough sense of this town first.

It might sound obvious, but every town had its own atmosphere.

Some places were so clean that you couldn’t catch even a whiff of alcohol, while others were crawling with drunks and idiots. Go deeper still, and there were places where people killed others and discarded the bodies as though it were perfectly normal.

Considering there were several sword sects around, it probably wasn’t quite that bad……but since those very sects were behaving like common thugs, who could say what the truth was?

Until I saw it with my own eyes, I couldn’t know what kind of place this town really was.

So I was just about to head out and take a lap around this backwater village when……the wooden front gate suddenly burst open and a group of men came charging in like a herd of cattle.

‘Who the hell are those bastards?’

Hadn’t even been a full day since I reincarnated, and trouble was already coming to find me?

The group of men, dressed in dark-blue martial robes and wearing openly displeased expressions, entered the training yard and glared at me standing in the middle.

Wasn’t it supposed to be proper etiquette among the White Path to always wear a bright smile? I flashed them a grin that didn’t suit me in the slightest and waved.

‘Nice to meet you. I was the Sword Demon in my past life.’

I greeted them first on the off chance they had come for some reason other than a fight, but judging by their expressions, it seemed fighting was exactly why they were here.

As I continued waving, So Geum-ho stepped closer and whispered in my ear.

“They’re from the Sword Hero Gate. I’ll try to buy us some time…….”
“Got it. I’ll handle this.”

So it seemed these were the bottom-rung useless idiots among the collection of idiots known as the Sword Hero Gate.

The most leader-looking idiot of the idiots picked at his ear and addressed me in an outrageously disrespectful tone.

“What are you waving for, Sect Master?”

Why did the world refuse to even return my greetings? With sadness in my heart, I warmly welcomed the man.

“I was happy to see you. It’s been a while, so I was glad. Are you from the Sword Hero Gate?”
“That’s correct. I am a messenger from the Sword Hero Gate. You spent several days hovering between life and death, yet you look perfectly healthy now.”

Was that really the attitude one should take toward someone who had nearly died? Sometimes an ordinary-sounding remark concealed a blade, and it seemed this was one of those times.

‘These bastards came here wanting something.’

I addressed the Sword Hero Gate’s messenger as amiably as I could.

“I was lucky enough to survive. I truly did nearly die. So, what brings you here, Messenger?”

Only then did the Sword Hero Gate messenger clear his throat and get to the point.

“You failed to attend our Sect Master’s birthday banquet three days ago.”

I’d been unconscious. What kind of bullshit was this now?

“Didn’t I just tell you? I was unconscious for some time. How was I supposed to attend a banquet while hovering between life and death?”
“When did you wake?”
“Today. A little while ago. Just now. Anyway, if that’s all you came here for, you may leave. I’ve given you a sufficient answer.”
“What kind of outrageous nonsense is that? If you had unavoidable circumstances, then you should at least have sent Chief Steward So. Am I wrong?”
“Hah…….”

Sometimes something was so ridiculous that it left you speechless. This was one of those times.

The longer I listened to his bullshit, the more my temper rose, and killing intent I hadn’t meant to feel began creeping out. Still, I did my best to hold it in.

This wasn’t yet the time to resort to the Sword Demon’s methods.

I said,

“……Fine. Let’s say our failure to attend was indeed our mistake. So what exactly do you want?”

The messenger gave us an unpleasant sneer and boldly spouted his nonsense.

“Your absence from the banquet greatly offended our Sect Master. Sect Master of the Sword Name Gate, you will settle the matter with twenty silver taels. This is the will of the Sword Hero Gate.”
“…….”

What kind of fucked-up conclusion was that? I didn’t even have ten silver taels to my name right now, let alone twenty, and even if I did, I had no intention of handing them over.

My purse was already so empty that flies could buzz around inside it. If they took even that precious money from me, I might genuinely become the Sword Demon all over again.

Apparently, these bastards had been tormenting the Sword Name Gate for some time using tricks like this, but whatever Dokgo Mu-jin’s usual way of handling them had been, that nonsense wasn’t going to work on me.

I addressed the messenger in a voice dripping with contempt.

“You spout complete nonsense with impressive confidence. Are we under some obligation to attend your banquet? Are we obligated to pay you money? What the fuck is so special about the Sword Hero Gate Master’s birthday? You bastards looking to die?”
“…….”

My mood suddenly soured, so I unleashed a stream of profanity, and the atmosphere around us instantly turned icy.

Geum-ho beside me looked dumbfounded, and even the martial artists of the Sword Hero Gate stared at me in disbelief.

The messenger seemed to realize a moment late that he’d just been cursed out. He glared at me insolently and asked,

“……What did you just say?”

Normally, that kind of question wasn’t really a question but a warning. I didn’t care, so I repeated myself just as rudely.

“Didn’t you hear me? I asked why you’re acting like a bunch of fucking assholes. Now get the hell out of here.”
“Sect Master, have you gone mad?”
“What an amusing thing to say. I haven’t even shown you what I look like when I’m truly insane. This is your last chance. At this rate, I really might lose my mind and beat every last one of you to death, so hurry up and leave. This is the last courtesy I can offer you.”

Shing!

Why did everyone completely ignore me whenever I gave them a last chance?

Did the world simply fail to recognize my sincerity, or did I just look like a complete pushover? Probably the latter.

To my eyes, those fools drawing their swords to face me looked almost like wavering wraiths.

One of the wraiths asked the leader,

“Sahyung, will this be all right? If we cause trouble here…….”

The leader cut him off and answered,

“Quiet. If the Sect Master knew he’d shown us this level of disrespect, he would have given the exact same order.”
“…….”
“It shouldn’t matter if we break him in a few places before taking him back.”

As the messenger let out an unpleasant laugh, So Geum-ho gripped the longsword at his waist and spoke to me.

“……For now, Sect Master, please get to safety. I’ll find some way to handle this.”
“…….”

Was there a less reassuring bodyguard anywhere in the world?

I appreciated the thought, but Geum-ho didn’t look remotely useful in the current situation, so I stopped him.

“Forget it. I told you I’ll handle this.”
“They aren’t opponents you can take lightly.”
“I said it’s fine. I think I’ll try acting like a Sect Master for once.”
“…….”

I unfastened the Demon Wail Sword from my back, took hold of it, and slowly approached the Sword Hero Gate martial artists.

Truthfully, these bastards weren’t strong enough to justify bringing out the Demon Wail Sword. If anything, carelessly swinging it around might send me back to that black-clad man for another severe beating.

I knew the weapon was complete overkill for them, but what could I do? I didn’t have another usable sword at the moment.

When you got right down to it, this was all because I was poor. If I were rich, I’d at least have a decent sword hanging from my waist…….

Ladies and gentlemen, this is how terrifying poverty can be.

With no other choice, I pointed the Demon Wail Sword at the Sword Hero Gate’s five ugly brothers.

The messenger still wore a mocking smile as he looked at me and asked,

“You aren’t going to draw your sword?”
“No reason to.”
“What impressive bravado. I see now that you’re quite the man. What is that old sword?”
“This?”

I held the Demon Wail Sword upright and gave him a slight smile.

“A rod of love for beating every last one of you senseless.”
“…….”

These bastards really never understood me the first time, even when I spoke from the heart.

Despite how kindly I’d explained things, not one of them knelt or declared their surrender.

In that case, I had no choice either. I’d just have to beat the hell out of all of them.

I’d always believed that if someone refused to learn through words, you had to beat the lesson into them.

The messenger’s expression hardened at my words, and he issued a declaration of war.

“……That bastard has finally crossed the line. Break a few of his limbs and bring him with us.”
“Yes!”

The men answered and drew their swords, charging at me all at once.

Suddenly, being surrounded by swords like this gave me a strange feeling.

It was as though the killing intent I’d forgotten was resurfacing, and only now did I finally feel a little alive.

Come to think of it, it had always been that way. Wherever I walked, there had always been swords, and there had always been death.

That was probably why my title had been the Sword Demon.

Remembering the name I’d once borne……I brought the Demon Wail Sword down on the head of one of the men charging toward me.

The man who had charged in so boldly crumpled helplessly to the ground, and an icy silence descended in an instant.

I looked at the men still standing before me and smiled.

“……I am the demon of the sword.”