Chapter 051 …
I Got an EX-Class Reincarnation
[■ You have acquired a Power.]
[■ Power: Descent of the Martial God]
A system window appeared before him.
“…Power?”
Even as it gradually faded, those words remained vivid.
“Power….”
A lofty strength that only S-class superhumans could possess.
He had obtained a Power. But…
“A Martial God…”
The name of the Power was peculiar. It was exactly the name from his previous life.
[■ This is a Cursed Rift.]
[■ Power cannot be used—]
Just like the warning he had seen at first, this rift prevented the use of Powers. Normally, that should have been the case. But…
[■ Analyzing the system.]
[■ The rift’s rank is too low to suppress the will of a higher being.]
[■ Lee Jinwoo’s Power is activated.]
[■ Under heaven and earth, the Martial God descends.]
Once again, the Martial God lightly ignored such rules.
And his consciousness disappeared entirely.
“Cough.”
Jin Yeonhee opened her eyes in pain. She tried to sit up, but the pain in her abdomen made her grit her teeth.
“…Damn it.”
She looked downward. Blood was flowing heavily. She quickly pressed her hand to the wound.
Ssssszzzzz—!!!
“—!”
She used lightning to cauterize the wound, stifling the scream that wanted to escape. She almost passed out from the pain.
“Huh… ugh.”
Gritting her teeth, Jin Yeonhee checked her surroundings.
“Jinwoo?”
Lee Jinwoo. She wanted to see his condition.
“…Ah.”
Far ahead, Lee Jinwoo had collapsed. Was he badly hurt? Her heart skipped a beat.
She forced herself to move. At that moment:
[Slow… slower… slow…]
She heard Doseong’s voice. Jin Yeonhee gritted her teeth and stood.
“…No.”
The boss Doseong was too strong. It was almost unbelievable for an S-class rift.
“…I should have listened to Jinwoo.”
She should have stopped and waited for the next chance—but she didn’t.
Once you leave, you can’t re-enter the rift. She would have had to assemble another party to get back in.
So she had tried to break it herself.
If she did, she thought…
“…It would help.”
She had judged she could aid Lee Jinwoo. The reward would be significant.
“…I was arrogant.”
She had believed she could defeat an S-class boss.
“This is…”
Too big a variable.
“…A monster?”
The boss called Doseong (Sword Saint)—his power was overwhelming.
“If only I could use my Power.”
It would have been different. In her past life, Lee Yeonhee’s strength, particularly in lightning, had focused on Powers.
Her innate stats were high, but whether she could use Powers was what mattered most.
“…A place where Powers can’t be used.”
A situation where Powers were disabled. Nothing could be worse.
And now, running away…
“…I have to leave Jinwoo behind.”
She couldn’t do that. Jin Yeonhee gritted her teeth.
“Hoo…”
Ssssszzz-!!! The pain from the wound was intense, but she could still act.
She prepared lightning. She would endure, no matter what, until she could defeat Doseong or until Lee Jinwoo woke.
Then…
Ssssss…
Sssssss…
“…!”
Something brushed against her, freezing her movements.
The water rippled.
The wind wasn’t blowing, but somehow, it felt like it was.
[Slow…]
Doseong, who was moving, also looked somewhere.
Following his gaze, Jin Yeonhee saw…
“Jinwoo…?”
Lee Jinwoo.
Where he had been lying…
“Huh?”
The moment she saw it, her eyes widened.
“Where did—!”
Jinwoo was gone. The body that had been lying there moments ago had disappeared.
Jin Yeonhee desperately scanned the surroundings, but…
[…Ah…]
Doseong muttered something while looking elsewhere. This time, Jin Yeonhee followed his gaze.
“Jinwoo…?”
There was Lee Jinwoo.
Holding what looked like his iron sword, he stood in a daze, staring at Doseong.
His sword hung loosely, looking weak.
Why was he like that? Just then:
[■ The Supreme One descends under heaven and earth.]
[■ The difference in rank is extreme.]
[■ The rift becomes severely unstable.]
‘What is this?’
An unknown system. The Supreme One?
[…Ahhhh…]
Doseong grabbed his weapon and charged at Lee Jinwoo.
“Damn it…!”
Jin Yeonhee tried to speed up to stop him, but…
Kwahhhh-!!!
“…!!”
Doseong’s speed was beyond imagination. That fast?
Not the speed of a mere S-class boss.
If this continued, Jinwoo would be in danger. Even if her legs broke, she’d have to keep moving.
Boom-!!!
A blast sounded where Doseong had rushed.
[Crack…!]
The scream that followed came not from Jinwoo, but from Doseong.
“Huh?”
Jin Yeonhee’s eyes widened at the scene.
Doseong had been grabbed by Lee Jinwoo’s hand.
Despite the difference in size, Jinwoo had effortlessly grabbed his neck and forced him down.
Then, his expressionless gaze focused on Doseong.
Shiver—!
Jin Yeonhee’s body went cold from that look.
“…Jin—”
She tried to call his name, but Lee Jinwoo moved first.
With a slight motion of his arm, Doseong’s body floated in the air.
[Ugh!!]
Doseong, freed from the grip, gritted his teeth and charged at Jinwoo again.
Faster than before. His sword sliced through the air, making a sound after.
Hooook-! Hooook-!!
Kwagak-!!!
Lee Jinwoo countered with his sword.
The clash had begun. Jinwoo did not yield. Not a single step.
Ding.
At that moment, a system window appeared before Jin Yeonhee:
[■ Doseong is going berserk.]
[■ His power affects the rift.]
[■ His true power is about to be unleashed.]
[■ It affects the gate’s difficulty.]
“…What?”
True power.
Doseong’s berserk state influenced the rift, even increasing its difficulty?
Could it be…
‘The difficulty could rise?’
From S-class to potentially SS-class. A disaster could occur.
‘What is Doseong?’
What kind of boss could cause this?
And…
‘…Jinwoo?’
Lee Jinwoo, standing up to Doseong without flinching, who was he?
[Ughhh!!]
Doseong’s wild assault seemed insane and erratic to Jin Yeonhee.
Unbelievable speed and strength. Even resisting looked impossible.
‘SS-class, without a doubt…’
This was not an S-class boss. Even if the rift was labeled S-class, Jin Yeonhee instinctively knew: this was far beyond that.
Then… what was Jinwoo?
Kwagak-! Bang-!!
He deflected Doseong’s sword. Even then, his expression remained calm.
When the iron sword struck Doseong’s weapon, shaking his body:
[Heavenly Demon Supremacy Strike.]
Lee Jinwoo stepped forward.
Gugugugugugung-!!!
“…!!!”
An immense pressure enveloped Jin Yeonhee’s body.
Trembling, her heart felt like it might stop.
“Ah—”
A boundless fear.
An impossible presence emanating from Lee Jinwoo.
[Ah… Aguk… Ah…]
Doseong stiffened under the pressure.
Then:
“You pitiful one.”
Lee Jinwoo’s voice echoed.
Though not loud, it resonated across the lake.
The loneliness in his voice shook Jin Yeonhee.
It was no illusion.
‘That’s…’
It wasn’t Jinwoo.
Then who? Before she could question:
“You have worked hard.”
With these words, Jinwoo swung his sword.
Flames of deep blue, like those used to destroy the wall, enveloped the blade.
[Heavenly Demon’s Absolute Strike.]
Kwahhhhhhhhhh-!!!!!
A blinding flash. The sheer power made it impossible to watch directly.
Gugugugugung-!!!!
It felt like an earthquake. His power brushed through everything, shaking the space around them.
“…Ugh!”
Jin Yeonhee collapsed to her knees.
Not only the pain, but the sheer force overwhelmed her.
Yet she didn’t avert her eyes. She stared at Lee Jinwoo.
Flare—.
[Ah… Ah…]
Doseong fell. His flesh burned black and crumbled slowly.
She saw his eyes.
[Ah… Finally… Ah…]
Relief.
A sense of liberation. Such emotions filled Doseong’s eyes.
Why did those emotions appear? She didn’t know.
Crackle.
Doseong disintegrated into embers.
[■ Doseong has been annihilated.]
[■ Congratulations.]
[■ Rift: Cleared Doseong’s Seunga Wall (S).]
[■ Rewards have been granted.]
[■ The rift will disappear after a set time.]
Shhhhhh-!! The lake rippled. Doseong was dead.
“…This….”
Did they really defeat him? Jin Yeonhee looked stunned.
“What a troublesome sword.”
“…!!”
A voice sounded right in front of her.
It was Lee Jinwoo, already standing before her.
“Don’t you think so?”
“…What?”
“Using it is helpful, yes, but cumbersome. This ignorant post-life would struggle to handle it… What can be done? It’s necessary.”
“What do you mean…?”
Before she could finish, Jinwoo poked her forehead with his finger.
Thud!
“…!”
Jin Yeonhee froze.
“Not yet ready to see it.”
With those words, her forehead tingled.
“Forget it.”
Buzz-!
“…Ah…”
She collapsed completely.
Lee Jinwoo looked down at her, then glanced up. The rift was slowly collapsing.
“I shall ask.”
He, the Martial God, spoke.
“Is this what you desired?”
No answer came.
It didn’t need to.
Because…
“Stay there. I will come to hear it myself.”
Soon, he would come.
The Martial God was not in a hurry.
The urgent matter… was not him.
The man did not remember his name.
He must have discarded it long ago, unwilling to recall.
“Useless. You are a shame to your family.”
From childhood, he had been called by other things rather than his name. It mattered little.
Yes, he had been powerless. Among his brothers, he was especially weak. And because of it, he couldn’t protect anything.
Not his name. Not his life. Not even the woman more precious than his life.
“Die.”
The day his fiancée died by his brother’s hand, he despaired.
Powerless, unable to protect anything, he screamed.
He vowed:
“Remember.”
Though he forgot himself, he commanded others to remember.
“I will kill you all without fail.”
Death approached him, the sword piercing his chest. He knew he couldn’t survive.
Yet he wept blood and shouted.
Then, a voice came to him.
“Do you desire power?”
Whether it was the reaper of death or something else, he didn’t know.
He simply answered:
“I do.”
Anything. Every kind of power.
Because he wanted it, craved it.
“Then we must bargain. I will give you power. What will you give me in return?”
The voice proposed.
“…Whatever it is, I will give it all.”
He said he would give anything.
“Good.”
The voice seemed satisfied.
And so, the man received a miracle.
Time rewound. His body and time returned to childhood, but now his powerless form was different.
The enlightenment he hadn’t achieved in thousands of swings, he now gained in a few sword strikes.
People praised him.
Soon, he killed his brothers and completed his revenge.
He saved his fiancée.
Later, ironically, a war broke out.
A war with the demonic cult. Now an old man, he still took up arms to protect the woman.
At the end, he defeated the cult and became a hero.
“You have suffered.”
The man rested in the woman’s arms. A life different from before. He sought peace in it.
“Are you satisfied?”
A voice. The one he had long forgotten.
“The time has come. Fulfill the contract.”
No time to think. No room to resist.
The voice already enveloped him.
“Not yet… Seunga! I…!!”
The man tried to call the woman’s name. She, surprised, called back. But…
■■–!!
“…What?”
The words that escaped her lips did not reach him.
Her voice spoke his name. But…
What was my name?
He couldn’t remember. His body crumbled.
“The name does not matter.”
“Doseong (Sword Saint).”
The title he earned from winning the war.
“That alone is enough.”
It became a curse.
A curse that would bind him through endless time.
[Doseong’s Seunga Wall has been created.]
Along with a strange voice.
“…Ah…!”
And then, I opened my eyes.
