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Chapter 96

There was a worn-down drawer, a table, and two chairs—it was exactly as I remembered.

Fourth Senior Brother spoke in his signature dull voice.

[Sit down.]

“Ah, yes...”

I didn’t know what was happening, but I found it difficult to ask questions.

In the first place, the mood that Fourth Senior Brother commanded was quite unique.

Fourth Senior Brother had his back to me as he messed with the tea set, and a calm smell soon flowed throughout the area.

[Do you still like tea?]

“Yes, well...”

[That’s good.]

As I reached to grab the teacup handed to me by Fourth Senior Brother, I realized something.

“...Huh?”

My right arm had sprouted back.

No, rather than sprouting, it looked normal, like it had never been severed in the first place.

[What is it?]

“Uhm... nothing.”

I accepted the teacup.

After enjoying its scent, I slowly drank the tea.

Sip.

...The nameless tea my fourth senior brother had brewed for me tasted just as it did in my memories.

He had only prepared one cup of tea. It seemed that he wasn’t drinking anything.

I felt it was a waste for someone so adept at brewing tea to not drink any himself...

But I had never actually seen my fourth senior brother eat or drink anything.

I glanced at Fourth Senior Brother.

There were a lot of things I wanted to say and ask, but the words that broke through my lips were completely unexpected.

“It’s been a while since we’ve seen each other, so how about you take that helmet off?”

The five disciples of the Strongest Under the Heavens Baek Nogwang all had their own characteristics...

But the one with the most striking appearance was definitely Fourth Senior Brother.

He wore a helmet created from a combination of all sorts of alloys, and the outside surface was shiny and smooth like glass.

But his helmet was dozens of times more sturdy and even produced artificial light.

Fourth Senior Brother chuckled.

[I’ve told you this before, but this isn’t a helmet.]

If I believed what my fourth senior brother always insisted, that helmet was actually his face.

My request was basically like asking him to take off his skin to show the flesh underneath.

At first, I’d thought he was lying, but... exactly once, I had seen my fourth senior brother’s face underneath the dark exterior.

How could I describe it...

If his face was the helmet, his body was like armor.

Of course, it was like very slim and compact armor without any sort of mass.

A body made of machinery.

The most complicated machine I knew of was a clock, but my fourth senior brother’s body was incomparably more complex.

He seemed to be one of those artificial beings like the golems that alchemists created.

But honestly, I had never asked him about it seriously.

The five of us had all lived in different worlds, and we’d never really talked about our pasts.

“Fuu...”

As I drank all of the tea, my chaotic mind calmed significantly.

That was probably why Fourth Senior Brother had brewed it for me.

“So, what is all this? Just a moment ago—”

[You were in your world.]

When he said that, I suddenly had an uncomfortable thought.

“...Was everything I experienced a hallucination or something? I was in a long dream and my real body was just sleeping on Spirit Mountain the whole time—something like that? That thing Third Senior Brother used to talk about...”

[Brother, is this bastard laughing?]

“Yes, that.”

[No. Not at all.]

Fourth senior brother smiled.

[I heard about First Senior Brother as well, and also the command Master gave you.]

Fourth Senior Brother’s voice was very calm. It tended to calm the person listening to him as well.

Words that could settle the ripples in one’s heart.

Having returned to being the youngest of the five martial brothers for the first time in a while, I couldn’t help but whine a little.

“...I’m saying this since he isn’t here, but I wonder if he finally went crazy.”

Four Senior Brother chuckled quietly.

“By strength, Second Senior Sister, by kindness, Third Senior Brother, and if he wanted someone who could accomplish this no matter what, I think Fourth Senior Brother would’ve been better.”

[You’re not wrong, but I also agree with Master’s decision.]

“Pardon?”

[You are the perfect choice to deal with Eldest Senior Brother.]

I hesitated a little before letting out a sigh.

“In my world, I found traces of Eldest Senior Brother. He’s acting as a demon lord.”

[Demon Lord?]

“He destroyed a nation.”

[...]

“To be honest, I don’t know what’s going on. I feel like I’ve been swept up in a grand current I know nothing about, and I can’t even tell which direction I’m being dragged.”

I was being honest.

This was why I’d focused solely on short-term goals since my regression.

Protecting my tendons from the collector...

Escaping the Gem Mountains...

Resisting the pressure of the Council of Elders...

Fourth Senior Brother spoke.

[Then you haven’t met with Eldest Senior Brother yet.]

“No.”

[As you know, Eldest Senior Brother wasn’t the type to kill people without reason. But if someone like that ended a nation... There are only two possibilities I can think of.]

* * * * *

* * * * *

I thought I knew those two possibilities as well, so I replied, “Either he went totally insane, or he had a reason.”

Fourth Senior Brother nodded.

[Follow me for a moment.]

I followed after him and exited the dwelling.

Fourth senior brother went to the edge of the cliff, and it was a place where I couldn’t help but feel uncomfortable.

Because...

This was where Master had thrown me off to send me back to the past.

“...”

As I stood warily there, Fourth Senior Brother called for me.

[Come a little closer.]

“Ehm...”

Although I really didn’t want to, I ended up standing right next to my fourth senior brother.

Still, I had faith that Fourth Senior Brother wouldn’t suddenly grab me and throw me over the edge.

Fourth senior brother looked out into the fog-covered scenery as he spoke.

[Spirit Mountain. We call it that here, but Luan, do you know where exactly this place is in the world?]

“Not really...”

What I knew about Spirit Mountain...

A stone mountain where it was difficult to find even a single blade of grass.

A fog that never disappeared.

Except for the peak, the rest of the territory was swarming with horrifying monsters.

Lastly, I knew that this was where Baek Nogwang, Strongest Under the Heavens, dwelled.

As I slowly explained everything I knew, Fourth Senior Brother spoke.

[What you’ve just said merely scratches the surface of this place. By its nature, Spirit Mountain is Master’s personal space.]

“Personal... what?”

[To put it simply, this is a world created personally by Master himself.]

“...”

I had never heard of anything more absurd than that.

Of course, I knew that my master—the Strongest Under the Heavens, Baek Nogwang—was an incredible person.

I knew that, but if he was able to create a world himself—

“...Then isn’t he a god?”

[If creation is all you think a god must be capable of, then you could call him that.]

“...”

[Spirit Mountain is a place outside of conventional space and time. That’s why I call this place the “Rest Stop of Time.”]

“I’m starting to lose what you’re saying again...”

Fourth Senior Brother always mixed weird words into his sentences.

It was even more confusing today.

[I’ll explain it simply: You came to Spirit Mountain via our master’s guidance, and after training for 10 years, you returned to your world. But did you return to the place you left it from?]

“Ehm... no.”

In my original world, I’d died at the age of twenty-five, but after spending time in Spirit Mountain, I had returned to when I was fifteen years old.

Ten years on Spirit Mountain and ten years difference in the original world...

By pure time alone, I had returned twenty years into the past.

[There is one trait similar to everyone who enters these mountains. Whether they be big or small, those who don’t have any regrets can’t enter this mountain.]

“Hmm...”

[It’s the same even now. The regret you held pulled you back to the mountain. And Master said this: by the time you return here, you will have obtained the final thing you need as a martial artist.]

“The final thing I need as a martial artist?”

[A desperate heart.]

Fourth Senior Brother pointed at me.

[A desperate heart cannot be obtained with supernatural talent, golden advice, or even effort that could grind bones to dust.]

“Then what do you need?”

[An event.]

“...”

[Only an event shocking enough to ignite the fire in your heart can grant you such desperation. I believe that is the first step on the path to becoming a martial artist.]

At that moment, I remembered my master’s faint voice.

—You have truly entered The World.

[You have the talent. You have the will and the perseverance. However, you never had a clear and certain goal to strive for. You didn’t feel it yourself, but Master was likely bothered by that every day.]

Shocked, I responded, “I definitely have the desire to become stronger now. As you said, if even my best is not enough, I will need to hold on by putting my life on the line. But... I don’t know.”

I thought back to the things I’d experienced before returning here.

Dozens of young heroes dying...

Evan becoming the vice-cult leader...

The high priest who had caused all of it was already dead.

After experiencing all of that, I belatedly realized that I was angry...

But this anger had no path forward.

Would these emotions disappear if I killed Evan, the vice-cult leader?

What if that didn’t do anything?

Would I need to kill the demon lord?

[What do you mean?]

“Many people have already died because of me, and I failed at the thing I needed to do. My anger is still within me, but if I cannot use it in the right way, I will only become a spirit of vengeance.”

[You seem to have already forgotten what I told you.]

“What?”

[Luan, remember. When you finished your training on Spirit Mountain and returned to your original world, did you return to when you’d left it?]

“Well...”

No.

At that time, I hadn’t returned to the twenty-five-year-old Luan about to die after getting swept up in the war but the fifteen-year-old Luan about to get his tendons cut by Collector Kayan.

No, wait...

“Then you mean...”

[One hundred days.]

Fourth Senior Brother’s words shook my heart.

[That is how long you will be able to stay on Spirit Mountain this time. In that time, you will finish your training here and then return to your world, swimming against the current of time once more.]

Only now did I understand what kind of power the Blessing of Spirit Mountain possessed.

[You have been given one more chance.]

This blessing could change everything.