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Childhood Friend of the Zenith (Web Novel) - Chapter CH.1075: The World of Ascension (5)
Chapter CH.1075: The World of Ascension (5)
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I trembled as I looked at the elderly giant.
Dressed in a dull-colored robe, his black hair was far too dark for his age.
He had a languid expression with a long scar running across his cheek.
His body was swollen with muscles, as though it could burst at any moment.
In comparison, his physique was by no means inferior to that of Tang Deok or Elder Il.
No, it might actually be even larger.
‘But that old man is Paejon?’
He introduced himself as Paejon.
A title that honored a warrior’s belief, earned by never retreating despite countless defeats.
Although he could have used the character 霸 (domination), he deliberately chose 敗 (defeat) as a mark of his honor.
Moreover.
He was a teacher who had a profound influence on my life.
‘Wow.’
I couldn’t help but marvel internally.
There was something Paejon had once said to me.
What was it again?
‘If I had my body from my previous life, I would have become the strongest under heaven.’
An arrogant statement to the extreme.
But now, as I stood here, I couldn’t help but think maybe Paejon had been right.
‘...With a body like that, no wonder he lamented every day.’
Paejon, having gone through reverse aging, now had a frail and weak body.
His face was gentle, and before shedding his physical restrictions, his body had been similar to mine.
It was a body with a much smaller frame, one that barely held any strength for a martial artist.
The Paejon I remembered, lamenting the body of his past life, came to mind.
Now, I understood.
If I had been in that body, I would have lamented too.
“...Paejon is here?”
“Is that truly Paejon?”
“The Tyrant of the West... how did he end up here...?”
The martial artists around me were filled with enthusiasm.
The Three Supreme Masters of the Martial World. The Sky of the Orthodox Factions. The highest peak, the zenith of martial arts.
None of us had expected to encounter such a legend in a place like this.
And neither did I.
‘...Why is that old man here?’
I never imagined I’d see Paejon before his reverse aging.
Was this something I had to experience here? Or was it just a coincidence?
As I pondered, I heard him speak—
“Hmph.”
Paejon glanced at the martial artists, his voice disinterested.
“I’m only here to show my face. I have nothing much to say. Do what you need to do.”
His tone lacked any trace of interest.
With such an expression, I wondered what he was even doing here.
Just when I thought that—
“Well then, I’ll be on my way...”
Paejon stopped mid-sentence and grimaced.
Then—
‘Huh?’
Our eyes met.
At first, I thought it was just a mistake. There was no reason for him to be looking at me among so many people.
But then—
‘No... he’s looking at me.’
Paejon was definitely staring at me.
His dark eyes, like black beads, were locked onto mine.
I felt that gaze and quickly checked myself.
‘I erased my presence.’
I had eliminated not just my energy but my entire presence.
Even Paejon shouldn’t be able to sense my level.
This meant— I had truly reached the level of the Three Supreme Masters.
Though a part of me felt proud,
‘...Now is not the time to feel pleased.’
Regardless, Paejon wouldn’t be able to gauge my true level.
At best, he might sense me as a first-rate or peak-level martial artist.
‘Why is he staring at me?’
As I questioned this—
“Hmm.”
Paejon muttered to himself and—
Thud.
“H-Hck!”
“Hiik!?”
Suddenly, he appeared right in front of me.
‘That was fast.’
I almost reacted instinctively.
It was unbelievable speed.
Paejon reached out his hand and immediately grabbed my bicep.
He didn’t squeeze, but simply gripped it.
I was taken aback. I worried that his energy might flood into me, but it didn’t happen.
He was merely touching my bicep repeatedly, almost as if testing it.
“...What’s going on?”
I looked at Paejon in confusion.
He met my gaze and asked,
“What’s your name?”
“Pardon?”
“What’s your name?”
“...Gu— no, Baek Yangcheon.”
Paejon hummed in acknowledgment.
“Hmm, is that so?”
“Um... Elder, did I do something wrong?”
“No, nothing like that.”
Smirk.
He paused, then smiled.
“Hmm...”
“...Elder?”
“This is an unexpected discovery.”
“Pardon?”
A feeling of unease swept over me.
The old man’s reaction was strange.
Damn it, I’ve felt this before.
As I racked my brain, I soon recalled where I had felt this before.
This was—
‘The first time we met.’
When I first met Paejon after my regression.
More precisely, when I first met him after returning to this world.
The look in his eyes now was the same as it had been back then.
‘Oh no.’
If that’s the case, then... could it be—
‘No, that’s impossible.’
I tried to suppress the thought, but—
“I see.”
Paejon grinned, his words cutting through the air.
“Become my disciple.”
The moment he spoke, the atmosphere around us turned as cold as winter.
Oh.
‘This can’t be happening.’
The very thing I had feared had come true.
I never thought I’d hear those words from that old man again.
“...Disciple?”
“Did Paejon just say disciple?”
“...To that young man?”
All eyes were now on me.
This was bad.
This was exactly the kind of attention I didn’t want.
‘Has he lost his mind?’
I never imagined Paejon would do something like this.
My eyes widened in confusion.
“Elder... what are you talking about all of a sudden...?”
I had to defuse this situation.
Why the hell was this happening to me?
It was absurd.
“You heard me clearly, didn’t you?”
Despite my shock, Paejon didn’t lose his grin.
“Disciple. I’m telling you to become my disciple.”
“...”
His eyes were intense now.
That bored, indifferent gaze from earlier had completely disappeared.
Instead, there was a burning desire in his eyes— a determination to never let me go.
I held back a sigh. This was insanity, no other way to put it.
“...I’m sorry.”
I started with an apology, and immediately, the reactions around me became even more intense.
“You rejected him?”
“...You rejected Paejon's offer to become his disciple?”
The reactions were filled with shock. The legendary Paejon had made the first move to offer someone a position as his disciple, and yet, I had rejected it outright. Everyone seemed stunned by the refusal.
‘What else could I have done?’
Receiving his offer was out of the question in my current situation. And besides—
‘I’m already his disciple. What could I do about that?’
The moment had already passed. I had already become Paejon's disciple, whether I liked it or not.
If I had accepted the offer right here, it would only have caused more trouble.
There really wasn’t a choice to accept the position of disciple in this place. It simply wasn’t an option.
“Why?”
Paejon asked, as if he couldn’t understand my refusal.
This man, whether back then or now, was consistently perplexing in his reactions.
“I already have martial arts that I've learned. And I also have a master.”
“A master...? Hmm. Whoever that person is, they can’t be better than me.”
It was an utterly arrogant statement. To speak about someone else’s teacher like that, as if they were nothing.
Paejon seemed more peculiar now than I remembered him.
“Well, my master is someone who wouldn’t be inferior to anyone, not even you.”
“Not better than me?”
At his words, I couldn’t help but laugh.
He was claiming that nobody could surpass him— it was a bit comical.
“Yes.”
“Ha.”
I answered confidently, and Paejon let out a hollow laugh.
“You’re a cheeky one.”
He said that, then quickly turned his back.
“I’m busy right now, so I’ll come back later.”
Come back later?
I wanted to tell him there was no need for that, but—
“...As I said before, I—”
“See you later.”
“...”
Paejon didn’t even listen to my words and simply disappeared.
And then, once he was gone—
‘Oh, this is insane.’
Now all that was left were the stares that were pouring down on me.
In the silence that followed, the attention was deafening, all eyes on me.
What should I do in this situation?
I had learned how to handle this kind of attention through experience, and I knew exactly what to do.
‘What are they staring at?’
I simply ignored them.
That was the best method I knew.
**********
Creek!
BANG—!!
“Ah!! Wait a second—!!”
As the elderly giant passed through the corridor, he forcefully flung open the door. Inside, those who had been waiting desperately tried to stop him, but—
No one could stop him.
It couldn’t be helped. In this world, only two beings were known to have the power to stop the elderly giant.
CRASH—!!!
Once again, the door opened, and the sound repeated as it kept opening.
After a while, the elderly man finally arrived in the room.
“Senior!”
As he shouted loudly, breaking through the door,
SHIIING—!!!
BANG—!!!
A shockwave hit the old man, Paejon. He flicked his hand to deflect the attack, but—
Drip.
He didn’t completely block it, and blood began to flow from the back of his hand.
Nevertheless, Paejon didn’t care.
“Quite an intense greeting.”
He said, grinning as he shook his hand.
The person who had struck, sitting at the desk, slowly raised their head.
Chill.
When our eyes met, a shiver ran down my spine, even at the back of Paejon's neck.
“Biju.”
His voice pressed down on the air.
“I’m sure I told you that if you were coming, you should have at least given me a heads-up.”
“It’s a matter of great urgency.”
“Urgency...?”
A low hum.
The energy within Paejon’s dantian stirred. A cold aura filled the air. It felt deliberate.
“Do you think you can just rush in and meet the leader of the Ming?”
The Ming leader.
The leader of the current Martial Alliance, the person closest to being the strongest in the world.
Jukcheon, the Sword Master, looked at Paejon with a charged gaze.
At this, Paejon chuckled awkwardly.
“I must apologize for that. But I did what you asked, so could you let it slide?”
“...”
At Paejon's words, Jukcheon slowly relaxed his posture.
“I came here to get something done. I didn’t come just to look at the faces of rookies.”
With a purpose in mind, Paejon had intended to seek out Jukcheon and mix it up in some sparring. But,
Jukcheon had told Paejon that if he wanted to spar, he had to show up for today’s Martial Alliance entrance exam, so he reluctantly did it.
Having completed that, Jukcheon now seemed to calm down.
“...So, you came here to spar?”
“Ah, originally that was my plan.”
Paejon raised a corner of his mouth.
“But something else came up.”
“Something else?”
“Yeah...”
As Paejon was about to speak, he suddenly turned his gaze to the side.
He had been too focused on the matter at hand to notice, but someone was standing near the desk.
“Ah, a prior engagement.”
At Paejon's words, the person before him turned their head.
“Hmm?”
As their eyes met, Paejon's expression twisted.
The person was a strikingly handsome man in the Ming robes, a bit shorter than Paejon, but still of solid build— his body close to the size of an arm's length.
He looked younger than thirty.
‘What’s with those eyes?’
Paejon’s dantian reacted to the look in the young man’s eyes, much like when he faced Jukcheon.
There was something eerily cold about them, but paradoxically, they radiated immense heat.
“You... What’s your name?”
This was the same question Paejon had asked earlier.
The young man with the red eyes responded.
“I am the junior who humbly meets Paejon.”
His words were heavy and deliberate, delivered in a deep voice that matched his rugged features.
“I am Gu Cheolwoon, deputy leader of the Blue Dragon Division.”
Upon hearing the name, Paejon's eyebrows twitched.
“Divine Dragon...?”
Divine Dragon Gu Cheolwoon.
He was the very reason Paejon had sought out Hanam.
