The Beggar Young Master of the Namgung Clan

Darkness filled his vision.

A silence enveloped him, as if he were submerged alone in deep water.

He could see nothing, hear nothing, yet strangely, his consciousness was sharp and clear.

'Am I... alive?'

With his mind this lucid, he figured he couldn't be dead.

But how was he still alive?

He had fought the remnants of the Blood Cult with the resolve to take them down with him, squeezing out every last drop of his Innate Qi. Do Yeoksan had been certain he would die.

'My body really is ridiculously tough. To think I survived even that.'

Perhaps that was how he'd been able to land the final blow on the Blood Demon.

Even Do Yeoksan himself was amazed by his own vitality.

'Ah...!'

Just then, Do Yeoksan belatedly remembered Namgung Jeongung.

He had somehow managed to kill all the enemies, but Namgung Jeongung was still lying on the cold ground.

If he was left like that, he would eventually die.

Do Yeoksan tried to get up in a hurry to take Namgung Jeongung to a healer.

'...What is this?'

It was then that Do Yeoksan realized something was wrong.

His consciousness was clear, but why couldn't he open his eyes or move his body?

As this state continued, Do Yeoksan couldn't help but suspect one thing.

'Could it be... I'm dead?'

Of course, Do Yeoksan didn't know what kind of world awaited after death.

He had heard stories about being reborn as another creature, and stories that death was the absolute end.

But he had never heard of a state where only one's consciousness remained so vividly alive...

That's why at first, Do Yeoksan hadn't considered that he might be dead. But as this unprecedented situation persisted, he had no choice but to acknowledge the possibility of death.

'Dead... Haha, so this was a life destined to end without ever getting married.'

He didn't have any particular regrets about it.

Not getting married had been his own choice, after all.

He only thought of it because Namgung Jeongung was always nagging him about it.

"Yeoksan, do you have no intention of getting married?"

"That again?"

"Your life will be much happier if you get married."

"Forget it. What's a beggar like me doing getting married? I'm not one to do things I can't take responsibility for."

"Or I could set you up with a pretty lady..."

"I said forget it!"

Remembering his past conversation with Namgung Jeongung, a small laugh escaped Do Yeoksan's lips.

That guy was happy with his own marriage, so why did he always nag him to get married too?

Thinking back on all the other things he'd been nagged about, the list was endless.

'And that guy wanted to live like me... What a funny fellow.'

Everyone in the world would envy a life like Namgung Jeongung's.

Well, he himself had envied that kind of life in the past.

But not anymore.

Ah, there was just one thing. To be honest, he was still envious of that guy's face.

'What does it feel like to be handsome?'

Namgung Jeongung's looks were handsome enough to catch any man's eye.

In contrast, he himself... Ahem.

As the Beggar King, he always had to wear shabby clothes and couldn't wash properly.

Didn't the Dragon Head Elder always say he had to be a model for all beggars?

Because of that damned custom, anyone could see he looked like the king of all beggars.

If he looked like that, even Namgung Jeongung's good looks would surely be buried.

'...Or would they?'

He corrected himself.

He had a feeling that even if Namgung Jeongung didn't wash for days and wore rags, he would still be handsome.

'If I'm reborn as a human again... let's at least not be born a beggar.'

He didn't wish for a face like Namgung Jeongung's.

He just wanted to live a life where he could at least wash properly and not have to wear rags.

Of course, by then, this memory probably wouldn't exist.

'Jeongung, if you're reborn, make sure you're born a beggar.'

He was only saying that because Jeongung had said he wanted to live like him; it was by no means a curse.

'And be ugly.'

That was a curse.

Whoosh—

It was then.

His vision, which had been pitch black, suddenly brightened, and Do Yeoksan opened his eyes.

But it was only for a moment.

A pain so intense it made his mind go blank suddenly struck him, and his vision blurred again.

'What in the world is...!'

It felt as if someone was dicing his insides with a knife.

The pain was too vivid to be a dream.

A dead person wouldn't feel such pain, so Do Yeoksan knew he was still alive.

"A-alive..."

Ugh—!

His joy at being alive was short-lived. The pain from within forced him to shut his mouth again.

If he couldn't do something about this pain first, he would surely die this time.

A strong intuition told him so, and Do Yeoksan forced himself to endure the pain and sit in a cross-legged position.

'My internal energy is a mess. No wonder it feels like someone is stabbing my gut with a knife!'

Do Yeoksan quickly found the source of the pain.

The internal energy was wreaking havoc inside his dantian.

Normally, internal energy was the foundation of all martial arts, but if it went even slightly awry, it could become a blade that destroyed oneself.

Yes, just like this.

This symptom was what one would typically see just before falling into Qi Deviation.

'No, it's not too late!'

He could still prevent the Qi Deviation.

Of course, a martial artist unskilled in handling internal energy would have died without being able to do anything, but who was he?

He was the man called the Beggar King, who had risen to the ranks of the Five Great Masters of his time.

Even if he was a beggar in rags, he was confident that his martial arts skills were second to none.

He could stabilize this in two hours... no, one hour would be enough.

Woooong—!

Do Yeoksan quickly began the process of calming his internal energy.

At that moment, he felt an unexplainable sense of unfamiliarity.

Do Yeoksan noticed that his body's condition was somehow different from usual.

'What is this? Something's a bit... This doesn't feel like my usual body.'

The amount of internal energy and its nature felt different from usual.

Well, it wasn't a major obstacle in circulating his internal energy right now.

In fact, since the amount had decreased, it was easier to calm the rampaging energy.

'Is this an aftereffect of my injuries... For now, let's just focus on calming my internal energy.'

Stabilizing the wildly rampaging energy was the priority.

How much time had passed?

Only after completely calming the rampaging internal energy did Do Yeoksan let out a slight sigh.

Hoo—

Finally, Do Yeoksan could open his eyes.

Sunlight streamed in intermittently.

From that, he could tell it was morning, but he still didn't know where he was.

"...Is no one here?"

Do Yeoksan muttered as he looked around the room.

This... was at least not his room.

Because his room didn't have such expensive-looking furniture and objects, nor did it have a silk blanket like this one.

Even as the leader of the Beggars' Sect, his duty was to be a beggar, so he couldn't openly live in a place like this.

"A clinic... doesn't seem like it either."

Just then, a piece of paper came into Do Yeoksan's view.

A neatly folded letter was nearby, as if left for him to read upon waking.

Without much thought, Do Yeoksan reached out and picked up the letter.

Fwip—

Do Yeoksan quickly read through the letter.

But as he read on, his face filled with confusion.

He had read the letter thinking he might find a clue about his current location, but the content was completely different from what he had expected.

'This is... a suicide note?'

Inside, a person's regrets and life were roughly written.

It said that he wanted to become strong too, but lacked talent and couldn't, no matter how hard he tried.

Because of that, he was truly sorry for not meeting his father's expectations, and there was also an apology to his older sister.

And...

"...Namgung Il?"

That name was written in the signature part of the letter.

Usually, the writer's own name would be written here.

That meant this suicide note was written by someone named Namgung Il.

"..."

As far as he knew, there was only one family in this world with the name Namgung.

The Namgung Clan.

The clan where his friend, Namgung Jeongung, was the head. It was the only family that could use the name Namgung.

'Namgung Il? I've never heard that name.'

Being close to Namgung Jeongung, Do Yeoksan knew most of the members of the Namgung Clan.

No, it would be more accurate to say he was forced to know them.

Whenever Jeongung opened his mouth, he would boast about his family and nag him to get married, so he had no choice but to remember their names even if he didn't want to.

'Is he from a branch family, not the direct line?'

If he couldn't remember, that was the most likely possibility.

He knew the direct line for sure, but not the branch families.

The Namgung Clan was quite large, so he would have to make a conscious effort to memorize all the names of the branch family members.

Of course, he had no obligation to memorize them, nor did he want to.

"..."

No matter how much he thought about it, Do Yeoksan couldn't figure out why this suicide note was here.

"Hmm... Forget it."

In the end, Do Yeoksan gave up thinking about the suicide note.

Still, he couldn't just pretend he hadn't seen it.

Planning to give it to Namgung Jeongung later, Do Yeoksan tucked the letter into his clothes.

'The fact that I'm alive means there's a high chance that guy is alive too.'

He had also lost consciousness in a near-death state.

But being alive now meant that someone had found and treated him right away, didn't it?

Namgung Jeongung was right next to him, so he must have been treated along with him.

Swoosh—

As long as he didn't know where he was, he couldn't just sit here forever.

If he went outside and met someone, he could ask about Namgung Jeongung's whereabouts and the Great War of Justice and Evil.

With that thought, Do Yeoksan immediately stood up.

"...?"

It was then.

He sensed someone's presence outside the door.

Normally, he would have noticed it sooner, but he must have been late due to the aftereffects of using his Innate Qi.

'Good.'

He wouldn't have to go out; he could just ask the person heading this way.

Do Yeoksan stood in place and stared silently at the door.

Creak—

A moment later, the door opened, and a woman appeared.

Just as he was about to speak to her, the woman bowed her head and spoke first.

"You have already awakened, Young Master."

"...?"

Young Master...?

She seemed to be addressing him, so Do Yeoksan couldn't help but be puzzled by the title.

Namgung Jeongung might be one, but no matter how generously one looked at him, he didn't have the appearance to be called a Young Master.

Well, it didn't feel too bad, but right now, there was something he wanted to ask the woman.

"Where is this?"

"...?"

"What happened to Namgung Jeongung?"

When Do Yeoksan asked, the woman stood there blankly for a long time with a look of incomprehension.

Do Yeoksan's expression also became puzzled.

When a person asks a question, they should answer. He couldn't understand why she was just staring at him blankly.

'First time seeing a beggar? Why aren't you saying anything?'

Frustrated, Do Yeoksan was about to open his mouth again.

However.

Before he could, the woman spoke first, just like before.

"Why... are you mentioning the name of the deceased former clan head?"

"...What?"

"And what do you mean, where is this? Young Master Namgung Il, are you alright?"

Namgung Il.

The woman was calling him by the name written in the suicide note.

(End of Chapter)