At Least The Fruit Wine Was Endlessly Sweet

There was once a time when I lived a life where I was nothing.

I simply obeyed whatever orders I was given, killed whoever I was told to kill, and endured all manner of beatings and brutal torture while locked away in solitary confinement.

If there was ever a time in my previous life when things were at their darkest and most pathetic, it was probably then.

I knew it was only natural because I was a slave, but that didn’t make it any less agonizing. It was an endless succession of cold, hunger, exhaustion, and misery.

Then came the day when my strength surpassed the other slaves, surpassed the cultists, surpassed the demonic martial artists, until at last there was no one left who could rival me except the Cult Leader.

From that moment on, I was no longer some pathetic nobody. The life in which I had once been nothing changed yet again.

Then was I happy after becoming a Bishop of the Heavenly Demon Cult? Thinking back on it, that wasn’t the case either.

I doggedly obeyed the orders of the Cult Leader I despised, snuffed out the lives of people I hadn’t wanted to kill, and eventually everyone came to fear me until there was no one left by my side…….

How could I possibly call the humiliation and loneliness I felt back then happiness?

Whether I was living as a slave or as a Bishop, only the form of the resentment I felt had changed. Neither life had been happier, nor had either been any less painful.

I had been miserable and lonely as a slave, and even after becoming incomparably stronger and rising to Bishop, I had continued living as a madman.

Perhaps that was because, at its core, the direction of my life had never actually changed.

But now things were different. Both the caliber of this body and the internal energy I had accumulated were woefully lacking compared to my previous life, but…….

At least now, I could choose the direction of my own life.

In other words, what mattered was the direction of one’s life. Strength itself meant nothing.

I had already tried to challenge the Cult Leader through martial arts and kill him once in my previous life, and failed. This time, I intended to challenge him through the way I lived.

If I did that……then in the end, I would win. Without fail. Absolutely. No matter what happened. What meaning could victory or defeat have against a man whose will refused to break? when a man’s will refused to break?

Unlike my previous life, when I had only ever been the one pursued, this time I would be the one pursuing the Demon Cult. With that single thought in mind, I accumulated internal energy bit by bit within my pitifully small dantian.

“…….”

When I finished circulating my qi at an appropriate point, someone’s voice came from outside the door.

“Sect Master, may I come in?”

Had removing the turbid qi sharpened my five senses as well? I slowly opened my eyes and answered.

“Come in.”

Even my voice seemed much clearer somehow. Was I merely imagining it?

Apparently not. The moment So Geum-ho opened the door and saw me, he visibly jumped.

“……Who are you?”
“…….”
“Was that not funny?”
“No.”
“What a shame.”

So Geum-ho immediately approached and carefully examined my face and body.

“But I truly am surprised. What in the world happened? You look like a completely different person.”

He didn’t know it, but I really was a completely different person.

The proper way of the Kangho was not to volunteer inconvenient truths, so I told him only as much as he needed to know.

“……There was turbid qi accumulated inside my body.”
“Yes.”
“I got rid of all of it.”
“But how?”
“That’s a secret.”
“…….”

Truthfully, I had no idea what to tell him, so I simply declared it a secret.

From So Geum-ho’s perspective, however, there wasn’t much he could say. After all, I was his superior and Sect Master now.

The Sect Master’s word was the law of the sect. He had no choice but to believe me.

‘I’m the answer, you bastard.’

I’d felt it from time to time in my previous life too, but the taste of authority was always exhilarating. After glaring at me, So Geum-ho let out a deep sigh and began explaining why he had come.

“I tied up all the men who were unconscious. Most of their injuries weren’t serious, so I didn’t give them any treatment.”
“Is that so? Good.”
“Yes, and…….”

So Geum-ho stared at me.

“What do you plan to do from here on out?”
“Plan? What plan?”
“Once word gets out, the Sword Hero Gate’s Sect Master will probably come here himself and demand that we answer for this. We’ve essentially given him an excuse…….”
“Not my problem.”
“…….”

It was admittedly a rather irresponsible thing to say, but if it came down to it, I could simply beat the hell out of everyone involved, so it genuinely wasn’t my problem.

So Geum-ho’s thoughts, however, seemed to be completely different from mine.

I watched his expression as he seemingly pictured our bleak future and suddenly began reflecting on his entire life.

‘This bastard doesn’t trust me.’

Truthfully, trusting me would probably have been stranger under the circumstances, but for now, I needed to save this foolish soul from his anxiety. I asked So Geum-ho,

“Who was it that barged in here out of nowhere and started spouting bullshit about us handing over money to start with? Wasn’t it the Sword Hero Gate?”
“That is true.”
“Do you think that’s normal?”
“No, I don’t.”

Maintaining a posture as rigid as a Buddhist statue, I spoke to So Geum-ho.

“Geum-ho. Listen carefully.”
“Yes.”
“I don’t know what you think, but I have no intention of putting up with the Sword Hero Gate’s bullshit. If they raise hell because I beat a few of their disciples, then I’ll answer by raising even more hell. That’s my plan.”
“…….”
“What matters is beating bastards who won’t come to their senses until they’ve been beaten senseless, hard enough to kick up dust even on a rainy day. The outcome doesn’t matter. Though it isn’t raining today. Understand?”
“Yes.”

Before I knew it, Dokgo Mu-jin’s one-man lecture was well underway. I ended my not-so-long speech with one final remark.

“When you repeat the same actions long enough, they eventually become your fate. If you keep bowing your head just to survive another day, then eventually you’re nothing more than a man who bows his head. We’re the same. We gave in a few times, and now the whole world thinks we’re a bunch of pathetic pushovers.”
“…….”

In truth, this was both something I had realized in my previous life and something I had never managed to live by.

Despite the maxim I’d just spouted, I had spent my previous life bowing my head over and over. I kept waiting for the day I could finally take revenge, telling myself it would come someday, someday, while doing nothing but watching for an opportunity…….

In the end, I had lived as nothing more than a pathetic bastard licking the Cult Leader’s feet before finally dropping dead.

That was how terrifying fate could be. Actions became fate, and fate in turn shaped the entirety of one’s life.

I had realized that far too late and ended my life with nothing but enormous regrets. That’s why in this life, I intended to leave as few of those regrets behind as possible.

That was also why I had suddenly given So Geum-ho this advice.

Just as the Cult Leader had been someone I despised yet felt forced to obey……the Sword Hero Gate and Righteous Sword Gate must have been the same for that young man.

Part of me hoped So Geum-ho would never suffer the same regrets I had, while another part was making a promise to myself that I would not repeat them in this life.

Did that bastard understand even a fraction of the profound thoughts in my heart? So Geum-ho, who had been listening quietly, finally broke the silence.

“……Something just occurred to me.”
“Yeah.”
“You truly seem to have changed in so many ways, Sect Master.”
“Why?”

Only then did So Geum-ho smile, looking slightly relieved.

“You’re saying ridiculous things like this, for one.”
“We won’t know whether it’s ridiculous until we actually fight them.”
“That is true.”

I asked So Geum-ho,

“Forget what comes afterward and all that bullshit……none of it matters. Let me ask you one thing.”
“Go ahead.”
“What do you want to do to the Sword Hero Gate?”
“Shall I answer honestly?”

Was this really the same man who had been frightened and completely deflated just moments ago?

Maybe he’d taken my words to heart, or maybe he’d half attained enlightenment and simply stopped giving a damn. Either way, courage suddenly filled So Geum-ho’s face as he casually uttered something vicious.

“……I want to beat the shit out of all of them, then burn the whole place down.”
“Hmm.”

Apparently, he’d been holding quite a lot in all this time.

In any case, casting aside the fear crawling up from one’s heart was a good thing, so for now, I praised So Geum-ho’s reckless courage.

“As long as you have the desire to beat the bastards who deserve a beating, that’s enough.”
“Yes.”

I unfolded my legs, rose from the bed, and asked So Geum-ho,

“Those unconscious bastards still haven’t woken up, right?”
“Yes. I think it’ll take them a while.”
“If they sleep too damn long, dump cold water on them and wake them up.”
“Yes.”
“Until then, let’s eat.”

Had I brought up food at too random a moment?

But hunger had a habit of striking at random, so there was nothing to be done about it. If you were hungry, you ate. If you were sleepy, you slept.

Of course, there were times when you had to forcibly suppress such natural urges, like when the Demon Cult’s chasing you or when you’re trapped in the Martial Alliance’s inescapable net.

For now, though, this wasn’t one of those times. I needed to fill my stomach and get plenty of sleep in preparation for whatever might happen later.

So Geum-ho cleared his throat once before answering.

“I’ll prepare something right away. You must be hungry.”
“Yeah. I’m one step away from starving to death, so anything’s fine as long as there’s plenty of it.”
“Understood.”
“And bring some alcohol if we have any.”
“Yes.”

Once So Geum-ho disappeared into the kitchen, hunger and all sorts of stray thoughts came flooding in at once.

Though that was the case, if you got lost in thought while stuffing your face, you were liable to end up with terrible indigestion, and if you stuffed your face while concentrating your mind, you were liable to fall prey to inner demons. So for now, I decided to focus on eating.

I scraped two bowls clean with some wild greens that weren’t particularly tasty as a side dish.

It wasn’t luxurious. If anything, it was practically the textbook example of a poor man’s meal. Still, I wasn’t particularly picky when food was in front of me, so I ate well enough.

After finishing the meal, I poured myself a cup of fruit wine that had been brought along to accompany it and took a drink……then felt someone staring. I turned my head and found So Geum-ho watching me intently.

I held out the wine bottle to So Geum-ho and asked,

“What? Want a cup?”
“No. I’m fine.”
“Then why are you staring holes through me?”
“It’s just that…….”

So Geum-ho hesitated for a moment, then scratched his cheek with a finger and answered awkwardly.

“I’ve never seen you drink like that before.”
“Hmm.”

I slowly mulled over his words before asking,

“Did I not drink much before?”
“It wasn’t just alcohol. Sometimes you seemed like a man who had no desires at all.”
“That bad?”
“Yes. There’s still fruit wine left that the former Sect Master made while he was alive.”
“Huh…….”

I stared at the reddish-purple fruit wine in my cup.

Apparently, this Dokgo Mu-jin bastard had lived a life every bit as boring as mine.

In my previous life, I had taken everything far too seriously.

Honestly, I didn’t know whether this life could be any different. I still couldn’t easily imagine myself living like a normal person.

Buying myself some sweet rock candy, taking pathetic little afternoon naps, having some heart-pounding romance with someone I loved……yeah, right.

Every image was too ridiculous to imagine, so I quickly gave up.

“About this fruit wine.”
“Yes.”
“Make a few more jars of it. I’ll probably be drinking a lot more from now on.”
“Huh? Yes. Understood.”
“This world is too hard to live through completely sober. A man needs a drink once in a while.”
“…….”

So Geum-ho, who had been listening closely, held out his cup to me.

“Give me a cup as well.”
“…….”

Apparently, I wasn’t the only one who found the world difficult to endure sober. Without a word, I poured fruit wine for my first comrade.

The world was still fucked up, exhausting, and hard to bear, but at least the fruit wine was endlessly sweet.

I looked at the five ugly brothers tied to the warehouse pillars with their bare skin exposed and gave So Geum-ho an order.

“This won’t do. Wake them all up. Goddamned bastards. The early bird gets the worm, so what the hell are they doing sleeping in?”
“Yes.”

The moment he heard my order, So Geum-ho dumped the cold water he’d prepared over the Sword Hero Gate martial artists.

As the unconscious Sword Hero Gate men let out short screams and discovered the terror of cold water, So Geum-ho casually uttered something murderous.

“Wake the hell up. Do you want me to crack all your skulls open and send you to the afterlife together?”

Was that really the same man I’d seen yesterday? Apparently, when someone who had spent years bottling things up suddenly lost their fear, they became downright terrifying.

I addressed the prisoners, who were now soaked from head to toe and trembling violently.

“Good morning, everyone. A strong and vigorous morning. Well? Feeling awake now?”

One of the prisoners barely managed to speak in a strained voice.

“Excuse me…….”

I casually turned my head. Now that I looked, the prisoner who had spoken was none other than the messenger I’d enthusiastically beaten yesterday.

I pointed at the messenger, whose face had grown considerably more haggard since I’d last seen him, and said,

“Well, well. Who could this be? Isn’t this the messenger from the Sword Hero Gate? And what might you need?”
“Wa…….”
“What was that? I can’t hear you.”
“Wa……wa…….”

Maybe the cold had frozen his tongue and tangled his pronunciation. After struggling for quite some time, the messenger swallowed once and finally managed to speak.

“Water……please, give me some water…….”

As expected, conversations work much better once a man is truly desperate. Impressed by the messenger’s courage, I issued an order to bestow a gift upon him.

“Chief Steward So. Untie the messenger, give him a cup of water, and send him to me.”
“Understood.”

The messenger repeatedly thanked me in a voice that was half sobbing.

“Thank you. Truly, thank you…….”
“Think nothing of it.”

I turned around magnificently and walked out of the warehouse. A man generous enough to bestow a cup of water upon a suffering messenger even after the bastard had pointed a sword at him. Was there another chivalrous hero like me anywhere?

I’d said I intended to walk a different path from my previous life, but at this rate, I might genuinely become the greatest chivalrous hero under heaven, the sort you’d expect to come out of some White Path martial family.

“Ah, living too virtuously might be a bit of a problem…….”

It was just bullshit I’d muttered to myself, but I suddenly felt as though Heaven might strike me down if it overheard, so I hurriedly offered up my deepest apologies.

“Sorry.”