When I opened my eyes, the first impression I felt wasn’t anything special.

“Have you been well?”

An old woman smiling kindly, waving her hand at me.

The grandmother who raised Kim Mincheol in my past life.

“Ah.”

Looking at her, I snorted.

What a bullshit dream.

A real bullshit dream. That old woman showing up in my dream? No chance in hell.

“At least it’s not a nightmare. Still pisses me off.”

“Grandson.”

“Don’t call me that. When I begged you to show up, you wouldn’t, even if you died.”

I waved my hands, shooing her off.

I’d erased attachments like that a long time ago. The old woman told me not to leave them behind.

And I’d personally sent the old woman off with my own hands, so there was no way something like that could be left.

So then, why am I suddenly having a dream like this.

“Ah. Right.”

The reason was obvious.

“Things have been a bit busy lately.”

Stuff exploding from every direction, too much to worry about.

Maybe that was the problem, and it caused this.

“Guess my energy got drained pretty hard.”

To the point I’d even go through some trivial crap like this.

I smiled slightly and moved my hand.

RIIIIIIP—!

When my hand drew through the air, it tore open like paper ripping apart.

“G-Grandson.”

“Shut up. Don’t piss me off.”

After speaking coldly to my grandmother—no, to something wearing my grandmother’s face—

GRAB—!

I seized its throat.

“Ugh!”

It frowned like it was flustered.

“You think you can pull this kind of shit and not piss me off?”

SQUEEEEZE—.

“Ghk...... gk...... gaaaack!”

The face of my “grandmother” screaming.

Even so, the strength didn’t leave my hand.

And then I snapped its neck.

CRUNCH—!

A cold sensation ran through it.

If it were human, it would’ve died a long time ago, but—

“What are you doing?”

I didn’t believe it. I curled my lip into a crooked grin.

Then the one with the broken neck rolled its eyes, the eyes it had been pretending were dead.

Its pupils dug in.

They were disgusting. Anyone could see those weren’t human eyes.

“H-How.......”

The question bursts out—how did you notice. Seeing that, I wiped the smile off my face.

“How what.”

I’d been through too damn many to not know.

“Just looking at you, you’re fucking obvious. Revolting.”

I lifted a finger and jammed it into its eye.

THRUST—!

A nauseating texture wrapped around me—

CRAAACK—!!

And the space collapsed in an instant.

*****

FLASH.

My eyes opened.

I saw a familiar room.

And in front of me, I caught sight of a wavering soul.

Not a malicious ghost, but something that looked like it was almost there.

A stray ghost. Or a small ghost.

It seemed like it had been a spirit for a while, but its obsession or attachment wasn’t strong enough to become a malicious ghost.

“Gk...... khee...... gkhaa.......”

A twisted, trembling soul.

Watching it, I calmly clenched my hand.

CRUNCH—!!!

“KIAAAAAAAH!!!”

The soul vanished, scattering through the air.

And then.

SSSSSS—.

It suddenly got absorbed into my body.

WOOOONG—.

“Ha.”

My inner power increased.

Feeling that, I laughed like it was ridiculous.

“So a ghost’s deliverance can be physical, too?”

I already knew that if you granted deliverance to a spirit, your inner power increased.

I just didn’t know it could happen like this.

Tsk.

I clicked my tongue and brushed off my hand.

“Guess my energy really got weak.”

To the point even some trash like that would come after me.

Unless I was seriously exhausted, it shouldn’t happen.

“At least the good thing is—”

The stray ghost pushing in was close to coincidence.

It looked like it just took advantage of the gap while my energy was weakened.

“Been a while since I did an exorcism directly.”

Maybe it was the first time since this life began.

Well, there was that bastard from Heaven-Breaking Palace. If I think about dragging him out and doing an exorcism then, this was the second time.

“Whatever.”

I didn’t want to care about this stuff one by one.

The more I did, the farther I got from the life I wanted.

“Whew.”

I sighed and lifted my upper body.

Then I turned my gaze, but Yoo Cheongil wasn’t there.

“Seriously.”

Just looking at it, he’d gone somewhere.

It felt like he would.

“If Yoo Cheongil had been here, no other stray ghost would’ve gotten close.”

He was a presence with insane pressure. As long as Yoo Cheongil was around, a pathetic stray ghost couldn’t even approach.

My life got weird because of Yoo Cheongil.

But because of him, it was also why I could live comfortably when it came to ghosts.

“The time is......”

I checked the sunlight through the window gap.

I hadn’t slept long. Looks like a little past morning.

“Should I start getting ready.”

Today was the day of the second main-bracket matches.

I wasn’t competing, so it was a relaxed day.

Should I eat something from the morning? My energy got drained from the start, so I felt like I should eat something.

Thinking that, I grabbed the door and pulled—

“......Whoa, holy shit!”

The moment I opened it, I jumped.

Someone was right there in front of me.

“You...... what the hell are you.”

I asked, looking forward.

At my words, the one standing there silently stared at me.

Sword Phoenix.

Sword Phoenix Yuyeon was staring at me.

Right in front of my room door.

“......No, what is this?”

“.......”

What is this, first thing in the morning.

I was more shocked than when I saw the ghost.

As I tried to calm my pounding chest and settle my insides—

“.......”

Sword Phoenix gestured at me.

She lifted her hand toward her mouth like she was using chopsticks.

That means—

“......You want to eat?”

Nod.

Yuyeon nodded.

“Now?”

“.......”

She nodded again.

Watching her, I said—

“......Uh, sure...... let’s go.”

It shouldn’t matter.

Thinking that, I went downstairs.

*****

The meal wasn’t any different than usual.

I ordered thin noodles because I only planned to fill my stomach.

Yuyeon also ordered thin noodles like last time and ate.

So the mealtime continued in silence.

SLURP. 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

In the quiet, the only sound was noodles being eaten.

It was an awkward, uncomfortable table.

“......Even if I figured out who you are.”

Even if my relationship with Yuyeon became different—

“Still, it was when we were kids.”

A lot of time had passed.

The time we lived together was, at most, a year.

And after we split up, several more years passed, so it just felt uncomfortable.

So we kept eating without talking—

“The.”

I asked first.

The moment I spoke, Yuyeon froze the chopsticks she was holding in midair.

“What should I call you?”

“.......”

Sword Phoenix Yuyeon.

Or Hong Daecheon from back then.

Obviously, now she was a completely different person than back then, so it was right to call her something different.

But just in case, I asked.

Then—

Yuyeon stared at me and shaped words with her mouth.

I interpreted it and said it out loud.

“Anything?”

Nod.

“Anything, huh.......”

I scratched my cheek.

After thinking for a moment, I said to her.

“Then should I call you Yuyeon.”

“.......”

No matter what, calling her Hong Daecheon felt kind of wrong.

So I figured it was better to use the name she had now.

“.......”

Yuyeon nodded, but she looked weirdly disappointed.

As I stared at that like it was odd—

TRICKLE—.

Yuyeon carefully poured water into my empty cup.

“Uh, yeah, thanks.”

I wasn’t really thirsty, but since she poured it, I drank it.

As I drank, something suddenly came to mind.

“Ah, right.”

“......?”

“Your cloak. That thing.”

The cloak Yoo Cheongil used.

I remembered Yuyeon bringing it.

Along with that, the Sword Saint’s cloak Mount Hua Sect had.

I was about to ask about it when—

“So-o-o-o-n—!!”

“Ah, screw you.”

A voice I shouldn’t be hearing came from the entrance.

“Son! Are you here!? I heard my son was here!”

Every gaze snapped to the person who barged in loudly.

And it wasn’t just that they snapped—when he appeared, the inn instantly erupted into murmurs.

“What is it? What is that face......?”

“......What the......”

“......Wow......”

Reactions of disbelief and admiration. Like they’d seen something impossible.

A man handsome enough to be counted among the best under heaven.

“......God damn it.”

My father had shown up.

“AHAHAHA!”

After scanning the room the moment he arrived, my father spotted me and strode over fast.

“Second, did you sleep well.”

“......No. I had a nightmare.”

“Oh, come on. If you travel, you’ve gotta sleep well, you little punk.”

I couldn’t sleep because of you.

And I’m in this state because of you, so what the hell is he saying.

“Haah.......”

I sighed and looked at my father, and then the cut on his cheek caught my eye.

“What is that? Did you get hurt?”

“Hm? Ah.”

My father touched his cheek and smiled.

“Yesterday, I found a pretty lady and tried to talk to her. Good lord. She had a temper. AHAHAHA! Her nails sliced my handsome face up, you know.”

“.......”

I shouldn’t have asked.

The feeling that I’d asked what I shouldn’t have asked filled me instantly.

“I’m the idiot for worrying about this man.”

Haah.

Only a sigh rose up.

Holding back the boiling feeling, I asked my father.

“......So when are you going back.”

“Hm? Going back?”

He acted like he didn’t know what I meant.

No—he was closer to pretending he didn’t know while knowing perfectly.

“You’re the Clan Head, for one. You can’t keep leaving the Bang Clan of Liaoning empty.”

“You worry about the strangest things. Your older brother is there, isn’t he.”

“That’s why I’m more worried.”

“Oh?”

Oh, my ass.

He nodded like he understood, then brought up something else while looking at me.

“And don’t worry about that either. I left someone as acting head.”

“Acting head?”

“Yes. I asked your father-in-law for a favor.”

“......What insane nonsense is that?”

Father-in-law?

What kind of dogshit is this.

Like I have someone like that—

“......No way.”

My eyes sharpened as I asked my father.

“You left the Silk King as acting head?”

“I did. So?”

“Are you actually out of your mind?”

The Silk King.

One of the Five Kings Under Heaven, and the Clan Head of the Murong Clan.

Meaning—

Murong Yeongsun’s father.

And you left the Bang Clan of Liaoning to that man and came here?

“What did you do with the Head Steward and the heir apparent, and you left that to the Silk King!”

“He’s the most trustworthy one, isn’t he.”

“......No, I mean, yeah, that part is true.”

I couldn’t deny it.

Among the people in our clan, there wasn’t a single normal one.

Except me.

“Still.......”

A headache surged up at the fact he’d just handed the Bang Clan of Liaoning to another Clan Head and came here.

“No...... don’t think about it.”

It wasn’t even a clan I was going to inherit, and I was going to run away before long anyway, so it was fine.

Thinking that, I steadied myself.

Then.

“That aside.”

My father’s gaze shifted to my side.

“Who is this lovely young lady?”

The words came out with a bright smile, and Yuyeon looked at my father.

“Oh, she really is pretty. Is she your sweetheart?”

“Sweetheart, my ass. Where’d you toss all that father-in-law talk you were just saying?”

“Hey. Son. I birthed you so precious, and you still haven’t realized it yet?”

“Realized what.”

“If you’re handsome, you’re supposed to meet multiple women at once as the baseline.”

“When are you going to die.”

It really was the ideology of a man who’d had three kids by three different mothers.

“That’s not it, so stop caring.......”

I said, holding back my misery.

“Hm. If not, then not. Whatever. Anyway, I came to see your face, and I’ll come see you again tonight.”

“......You’re coming again?”

“I’m still your father. Aren’t you being a bit too openly disgusted?”

“If I’m not open about it, you’ll pretend you don’t see me.”

“See? Our second is smart.”

“......Ah, damn it.”

“Anyway, I have to go see your older sister, so let’s meet separately tonight.”

“Don’t come.”

“I hope you have a good time [N O V E L I G H T] too, Young Lady.”

Like he didn’t hear a single word I said, he talked and disappeared again.

What the hell am I supposed to do with that man.

While he was leaving the inn, every woman inside was staring at my father.

“......Ah.”

I feel sick.

It felt like the energy that already got drained got drained even more.

I grabbed my dizzy head and got up.

We’d already finished eating, and it didn’t look like anything good would come from staying here.

So I was about to just stand—

“......Ah, right.”

I looked at Yuyeon and asked.

“Hey.”

“......?”

She looked at me, questioning.

“If you’ve got nothing to do, want to go somewhere with me?”

I asked flatly.

“.......”

Yuyeon widened her eyes slightly.

Then.

Nod.

She nodded.

It was the biggest nod I’d seen all day.