Chapter 71
Myeongan (the Eye of Insight) was something I tried to use whenever possible to become more proficient with it.
But, truthfully, I relied on Yeongan (the Spirit Eye) more often in daily life.
Unlike Myeongan, maintaining Yeongan didn’t drain me as much, and the results were generally quite good—
like how I had discovered today that Sogeom’s death was imminent.
To be honest, there was still far more I didn’t know about Myeongan than what I did.
After collapsing for several days from overuse, I had no choice but to be cautious when using it.
In a way, this was the moment when Myeongan had to prove its own worth.
And—
it did.
For the first time ever, it didn’t show me someone’s past—
but their future.
And it was so vivid that it felt like I was actually there.
‘This place…’
The scenery was familiar.
A vast river spread out before me, almost like a lake. Floating upon it was a single ferryboat—
the very place where I had first met Sogeom.
The time had shifted from day to dusk, and the surroundings had grown dark.
Ominously so.
‘Where’s Sogeom?’
He should have been at the ferry, guarding it as usual, but he was nowhere in sight.
Soon enough, though, I spotted him.
He was walking toward me, illuminated faintly by moonlight.
But something about him was off.
It didn’t take long to realize why.
‘He’s already been hit by something.’
The light that should’ve shone in his eyes was gone.
I moved closer to take a better look.
His condition was obvious even from a distance—terrible.
‘Dark arts.’
Between his empty eyes flickered a sinister aura—
the kind that appears when someone is afflicted by sorcery.
Sogeom didn’t even know what he was doing right now.
And when he woke—if he could wake—
he would remember nothing.
If he could wake at all.
But the chance of that was slim.
There were only two days left until the day of his death—
and today was the second day.
In this vision, I couldn’t interfere. I couldn’t touch him or call to him.
He passed right by me, heading toward the ferry, unable to see me at all.
But the knowledge I gained here—
that could save him in reality.
‘Then I’ll watch till the end.’
To see how Sogeom dies—
and who kills him.
Thud.
He staggered onto the ferry and sat down heavily, gazing blankly up at the sky.
I knew that look.
When people are exhausted, when their hearts are heavy, they often look to the heavens.
It’s not just people—I’ve done the same myself.
So at first, I didn’t think much of it.
But then I noticed the sorcerous aura around him growing stronger—
and when I followed his gaze upward,
I saw it.
‘The stars… are disappearing?’
Where the countless stars should’ve been, the sky was empty.
Even the few that remained were vanishing fast.
It wasn’t due to clouds—
that much was obvious.
Only one star remained,
glowing bright red like a bloodstained moon.
And I had seen this phenomenon before—many times.
‘The Confused Star (혼천성)… already? It’s far too early for that.’
There were countless stars in the heavens, each with names given for reasons—
necessity, reverence, or beauty.
The Confused Star—the name I had given it myself.
When it appeared, it brought a thousand forms of chaos.
Unlike the infamous Death Star, which signaled calamities born of human hands,
the Confused Star represented something far worse—
a disaster that twisted the laws of the world itself.
Seeing it appear now explained a lot.
‘If it’s the Confused Star… then even destiny set by heaven itself can be overturned.’
The true terror of the Confused Star wasn’t that it affected only the mortal world.
Even the afterlife wasn’t free from its reach.
I’d seen it before.
I’ll skip the long story.
‘So the Confused Star appearing now isn’t coincidence.’
My gaze turned back to Sogeom.
He was staring directly at the Confused Star’s direction—
as though he could actually see it,
even though it was invisible to human eyes.
And that confirmed it.
Sogeom had been born under the Confused Star’s energy.
He was a child of that fate.
He was meant to live long.
The Confused Star grants longevity—but no great talent.
And if one lives out their long life naturally,
no great calamity follows.
But if they die young…
then disaster follows, proportional to how early the death occurs.
I suddenly remembered my deal with Yeomna (the Lord of the Underworld).
‘Don’t tell me… the one I’m supposed to protect is him?’
If the Confused Star’s child died early,
it wasn’t just the martial world that would suffer—
it could drown the entire world in blood.
But something didn’t add up.
The time Yeomna and I discussed hadn’t come yet.
If he hadn’t lied,
then the person he told me to protect couldn’t be Sogeom.
That meant—there were two.
‘One’s already plenty… but two?’
I’m not a babysitter.
Surely I wasn’t meant to guard both.
If I were, Yeomna would’ve told me.
And Yeomna—being the ruler of life and death—
couldn’t possibly be unaware of the Confused Star’s birth.
So maybe everything happening now…
was part of his design all along.
He wasn’t the type to sit idle while both Heaven and Hell were threatened.
Maybe he’d already calculated the roles of the death messengers—
and even mine.
I didn’t like that idea, but I’d already made up my mind.
To save Sogeom.
Now, I simply had one more reason to do it.
And so, there was no anger—just resolve.
‘But this can’t be the end.’
Sogeom wasn’t dead yet.
If today was truly the day he was supposed to die,
then something—or someone—was coming.
‘The killer, no doubt.’
And sure enough, I didn’t have to wait long.
Even in the dark night, a deep shadow was moving rapidly across the river—
approaching the ferry.
Its speed was tremendous, but I could track it easily.
Then it broke through the surface—
Splash!
A massive carp, the size of a house, leapt from the water.
I’d never seen anything like it.
It couldn’t have been natural.
There were no eyes where they should’ve been—just hollow sockets,
and a reeking stench of rot.
It wasn’t alive.
Someone was controlling it—like a corpse puppet.
The giant carp lunged, mouth gaping wide to swallow Sogeom whole—
But it never succeeded.
Wham!
A tremendous fist struck its body, sending it reeling.
A man in a black gat and robe had appeared beside Sogeom.
A familiar face.
A top-ranked reaper who once demonstrated Shaolin martial arts—
Taeryeok.
He had arrived.
He must’ve been in a hurry.
Even though he was gasping for breath, he’d crossed into the living world and acted physically—
something reapers rarely did.
It was a narrow but perfectly timed intervention.
If I didn’t already know Sogeom would die here,
I might have applauded.
But even with a top reaper like Taeryeok present—
Sogeom still died here.
And that moment came quickly.
Thud!
The sound of flesh being pierced.
Taeryeok turned, startled—
and saw Sogeom being dragged into the river.
He dove to save him,
but the instant he grabbed Sogeom’s body, he was repelled violently—
as if struck by an invisible force.
I was shocked too.
Even a reaper can’t resist death itself—
but something in the mortal world had just overpowered a reaper.
And the energy I felt was all too familiar.
Divine power.
‘Such immense divine power…’
Not as great as mine, but still overwhelming.
It was coming from beneath the river—
the being that had pulled Sogeom under and blasted Taeryeok away was down there.
I couldn’t see it; it hid deep below, obscured by the dark waters.
Without hesitation, I stepped into the river.
I wouldn’t get wet or hurt—
this was only a vision of the future.
At least, that’s what it should’ve been.
Crackle!
Suddenly, divine energy surged toward me,
and I couldn’t help but laugh.
‘So… it can perceive me?’
To put it simply—
it meant this thing was powerful enough to recognize my presence even in a future that hadn’t happened yet.
And in that instant, I realized—
‘It’s that one.’
The one that had blocked even the Nether Register from seeing the future.
I wanted to strike it right then.
But that was impossible.
At least, it had been.
Now, I wasn’t so sure.
Because the divine power that thing had unleashed was actually affecting me.
It didn’t hurt, but my body was being compressed—
flattened, as if it meant to crush me out of existence.
But I wasn’t going down easily.
‘If it can do it…’
Then so could I.
I checked—no divine power within me.
My physical body was still in the present; only my consciousness was here.
But for once, I rejected that reality.
If something could make the impossible possible—
then so could I.
The method didn’t matter.
I only needed belief.
As long as I didn’t believe that creature was above me—
success was inevitable.
Just like that—
Crack!
From deep within the river,
I felt something being pulled upward.
I had hooked the creature hiding below—
with a fishing line made of divine power.
