Childhood Friend of the Zenith – 414 (Part 1)



414 (Part 1)

”’If it’s a nightmare I must wake up first.

We Seol-ah’s words were echoing in my mind.

‘…I must wake up.’

It wasn’t a sudden realization like a lightning strike in my head.

But instinctively I knew I had to gain something from this phrase.

Perhaps sensing that my expression was unusual We Seol-ah tilted her head in confusion.

As I repeatedly pondered over her words trying to find something within them.

‘Huh?’

Suddenly something brushed past my mind.

It wasn’t a groundbreaking method.

It was merely a method I hadn’t bothered to try for an entire month.

For some reason it was surfacing in my mind intertwined with We Seol-ah’s words.

“…Right why didn’t I try that?”

“What?”

We Seol-ah reacted as if she didn’t understand what I was saying but I didn’t answer her. Instead I abruptly started to stroke her hair.

“Young Master…?”

“Thank you. Thanks to you I’ve gained a bit more cunning.”

“Is that… a compliment?”

“Of course it’s a compliment.”

In this world one must be clever to survive.

In that regard We Seol-ah’s words were indeed quite helpful.

However.

‘Will it work?’

I was merely left wondering whether the method I had thought of would actually work against the Dark King.

In such cases the solution is simple.

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‘If it doesn’t work then so be it.’

If it fails I will look for another method.

That was all there was to it.

******************

Night fell.

Under the slender crescent moon in the heart of a dimly lit forest.

A man stood with his hands clasped behind his back.

He was a figure with a strange aura to the point where it felt as if only his surroundings were silent.

The man possessed white hair that would elicit admiration just by looking at it.

Yet for some reason it paradoxically blended too well with the darkness.

Thus as if he were a statue standing still without a hint of movement changes began to occur gradually.

Starting from his toes shadows began to spread wider.

Sssssss-!

An ominous energy that was hard to define.

The spreading energy enveloped the fields and wrapped around the trees darkening the surroundings.

And before long.

Even the thin light cast by the crescent moon was devoured. A thick darkness descended.

Within the created darkness the man the Dark King gazed forward with his unique white eyes shining.

Thud- A heavy footstep echoed from the front.

It was the sound of the person the Dark King had been waiting for.

Moreover it was the person he had met most frequently over the past month.

As the Dark King observed the young man approaching from a distance he slightly raised his eyebrows.

‘He’s here again today.’

Time had now surpassed a month.

This time held significant meaning for the Dark King.

First of all he had to revise his initial thought that the young man would last at most seven nights.

‘This part must be acknowledged.’

He nodded.

That young man was experiencing countless deaths at the hands of the Dark King every night.

On average it was more than twenty times and if he were an ordinary person his mind would have shattered long before three days had passed.

Yet the expression of the young man as seen by the Dark King only appeared slightly weary.

He looked no different from the beginning.

This was something the Dark King had to admit.

No matter how painless the deaths were devoid of torture.

The level at which the young man was enduring had already surpassed the limits.

Thus the Dark King continued to express his doubts.

How could a human endure so many deaths and still maintain their composure? How could that child maintain such a spirit?

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In such cases the Dark King saw it as one of two possibilities.

One was.

‘His mind is already broken and shattered.’

Somewhere twisted no longer possessing a normal mind.

There was a possibility but in the Dark King’s view that young man was not at that level.

Then the remaining possibility.

If he had surpassed the limits of what an ordinary human could endure.

‘Then he must not be human at all.’

Thinking this the Dark King nodded.

He believed this possibility to be the most significant.

From their first meeting.

Whenever he looked at the young man the Dark King’s heart raced wildly.

Thump- Thump-.

Even now it was the same.

This was the curse intertwined with the Dark King’s blood and heart resonating uncontrollably.

That young man was like him.

So.

He wanted to kill him right away.

The murderous intent continued to surge forth.

As the murderous intent began to boil the Dark King suppressed his instincts and pushed them to the corner.

The Dark King had no intention of killing the young man.

The young man might hold the key to unraveling the ‘curse’ binding him.

Since he was a being in a similar state he must not be killed.

The concealed Dark King gazed at the young man.

Whether the young man was not human in the Dark King’s eyes or possessed something else.

That was not important at the moment.

What mattered was.

‘It’s meaningless.’

This time was not particularly beneficial.

‘Does he not realize this?’

Recalling the master who had requested such training the Dark King frowned.

The young man had faced repeated deaths within the Dark King’s ‘domain.’

However to the Dark King it was merely a pointless death.

He still hadn’t even brushed against the Dark King’s hem.

It was only natural.

This darkness itself was the realm ruled by the Dark King and those who stepped into this domain dulled their senses and found it difficult to draw upon their inherent strength.

The only thing that increased was.

Unlike the dulled senses the pain felt only intensified.

Originally this power was used by the Dark King for torture.

So it was even more absurd.

The master who would know all this had entrusted his disciple to the Dark King throwing him into such a situation.

And the young man who had been doing this without fail for over a month was not normal either.

Though the Dark King had no disciples it was clear that this master-disciple relationship was bizarre.

One.

That was all.

The Dark King did not ponder further about the relationship between the master and the young man.

He only needed to do what he was asked.

As long as he could obtain what he had separately requested from the master that was enough.

Moreover.

From the beginning the Dark King did not believe that the young man no Gu Yang-cheon would be able to overcome this trial.

The conclusion drawn from the past month was no different from the initial one.

It was not only the Dark King who knew such a fact. The one who knew it best was none other than.

‘That little brat.’

It would be Gu Yang-cheon who was directly experiencing this situation.

Though it seemed he hadn’t completely shattered mentally his somewhat weary expression was likely evidence of that.

As the Dark King observed Gu Yang-cheon’s expression he gripped the dagger tightly.

How much longer could he endure?

What had come so far was already beyond the Dark King’s expectations.

The Dark King was close to certain that Gu Yang-cheon had little mental strength left.

At most he could last seven nights.

Unless something unusual happened something would occur within that time.

If that happened the master would also realize and seek another method.

No matter how obsessed he was with martial arts he wouldn’t just stand by and watch his means to achieve his goals break down.

As the Dark King thought this and attempted to move his body.

‘Hmm.’

Suddenly the Dark King felt a change from Gu Yang-cheon.

He appeared no different from usual but he was holding something in his hand.

Upon confirming that the Dark King’s eyes narrowed.

‘A dagger?’

What Gu Yang-cheon was holding was indeed a dagger.

From its appearance and quality it seemed to be an item from the Tang Clan.

It was likely borrowed from the daughter of the Poison King that blood-soaked child.

‘A dagger.’

What on earth was he holding it for?

A question arose within the Dark King.

In the past Gu Yang-cheon had employed quite a few methods to reach the Dark King.

When physical combat didn’t work he had tried to illuminate the surroundings with martial arts that didn’t even unfold properly.”’