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Childhood Friend of the Zenith (Web Novel) - Chapter 1109: The World of Ascension (39)
Chapter 1109: The World of Ascension (39)
This chapter is updated by JustRead.pl
“.......”“.......”
I suddenly visited his residence and met Namgung Hyung. He looked at me with slightly dazed eyes, as if he had just woken up.
Gradually, his gaze sharpened, and he wrapped his arms around himself before speaking.
“......Complete Annihilation?”
He said that with a slightly fearful expression.
“......No.”
As I sighed and answered, Namgung Hyung suddenly burst into laughter.
“Aha! Just messing with you. But your reaction is no fun at all.”
“......Do you want me to?”
“Ah, no thanks.”
His startled expression was priceless. It didn’t look like he was acting—he was probably being completely serious.
“So, why did you come looking for me?”
“To shut you up.”
“......Didn’t you just say it wasn’t Complete Annihilation?”
“There are other ways to keep someone quiet besides killing them.”
“Ah, that’s true.”
He nodded in agreement.
Then—
“Wait a sec.”
He walked over to the corner and pulled something out.
A table.
Where the hell did that come from?
Then, after casually placing it in front of me, he rummaged through a drawer and took something out.
Two teacups and some tea leaves.
Why is that even in there?
“I don’t have much to offer, but... want some tea?”
“The condition of that tea looks awful. How old is it?”
No matter how I looked at it, those tea leaves didn’t seem fit for drinking.
“No idea.”
“......I’ll pass.”
“Well, suit yourself.”
After hearing my answer, Namgung Hyung shoved the teacups back into the drawer.
“No tea, and I have nothing else to offer either.”
“......I don’t need anything.”
“But I heard you’re supposed to offer something when a guest comes. This is awkward.”
Scratching his head, Namgung Hyung awkwardly sat down in front of the table.
“Anyway... so, how exactly are you planning to shut me up?”
The way he sat there, casually picking his nose, didn’t match his appearance at all.
“I didn’t enter Bigo on purpose.”
“Oh, come on. Don’t act innocent with me.”
Namgung Hyung smirked.
“If you wanted to just move past it, you shouldn’t have knocked me out.”
“You came at me first.”
“I had a reason. You didn’t, right? Doesn’t that make you the intruder?”
“......If we’re splitting hairs, aren’t you an intruder too? Sneaking in all the same?”
We both got in unnoticed.
“Why are you acting like this? At least I’m part of this family’s bloodline.”
Namgung Hyung belonged to the Namgung clan.
And that was exactly the problem.
“I’ll just get scolded. Divine Dragon. But you? That’s not the case, is it?”
“......No.”
“Then tell me. Why’d you do it? Got some business with my family? Oh... wait.”
Namgung Hyung’s eyes narrowed slightly.
“Are you planning to kill my father?”
“What kind of insane nonsense is that?”
I frowned at the chilling words. Where the hell was this coming from?
“Oh, so that’s not it?”
“Are you out of your damn mind?”
“Why? It’s not unheard of. It’s unsettling, sure, but... if that’s the case, I might even let it slide.”
“......What the hell do you mean by that?”
Killing his father. Namgung Jeohwi. And he would just let it slide?
His bizarre words nearly made me scoff.
Then Namgung Hyung gestured toward the room with his hand.
“You can see it, can’t you? I’m not exactly treated well in this household.”
“So? Do you actually want to kill your father?”
“No, I don’t have such beastly thoughts. But if someone else did, I wouldn’t mind.”
“You’re insane.”
“It’d be even better if you burned the entire Namgung clan to the ground.”
“......You. Are you seriously out of your mind?”
“A little?”
Namgung Hyung’s smile was strangely unsettling.
“Living here like this, you can’t help but go mad.”
“......”
A strange silence hung in the air.
Namgung Hyung was already broken in some way.
‘So that’s how he ended up running away with the Neoya?’
Looking at his state, it wouldn’t be surprising.
“So if that’s the case, I might just pretend I don’t know anything.”
“Sorry, but that’s not happening.”
If Namgung Jeohwi were to die, I had no idea what kind of mess would follow.
Besides—
‘Even if his bloodthirst is unsettling...’
I still didn’t know enough. And if I could help it, I didn’t want to get involved in the Namgung family’s affairs.
Especially not for Namgung Bi-ah’s sake.
“......Really? That’s a shame.”
As if he genuinely regretted it, Namgung Hyung nodded.
“If not that, then how exactly do you plan to shut my mouth?”
“......”
“Nothing comes to mind, does it?”
“......Is Complete Annihilation really the only option?”
“......If you’re just muttering to yourself, knock it off. I can hear you.”
“I said it so you would hear.”
“Well, damn.”
Namgung Hyung let out a low whistle.
“You’re crazy too, huh?”
“......”
...So when he said too, that meant he knew he wasn’t normal either?
“Dying wouldn’t be the worst thing, but it’d be a bit of a waste... You have something to do, but it’s not revenge against the Namgung clan, right?”
“......Just some business.”
“In Bigo? An outsider?”
“......”
“If I ask, will you answer?”
“I didn’t prepare any excuses.”
“Ah... so you’re not planning to tell me the truth.”
Namgung Hyung looked at me like he found the situation absurd.
“Well... this is tricky. If I don’t get an answer, I might actually have to kill you. Right?”
“......!”
Hearing that, my eyes widened slightly.
I had considered that possibility, but I didn’t expect him to pick up on it.
“Wow, so it was real? I was just fishing.”
“I wasn’t thinking that.”
“Yeah, right. You could’ve killed someone with just that look.”
What kind of expression did I have? I was just caught off guard.
“Scary. They call you Divine Dragon, but you’re even weirder than I expected. Are you really with the righteous sects?”
“......For now?”
I wasn’t actually Divine Dragon, but I didn’t bother correcting him.
For now, it played to my advantage.
“I don’t want to die... but I don’t want to just let this slide either. What should I do?”
Even faced with the possibility of death, he remained calm.
The more I looked at Namgung Hyung’s younger self, the stranger he seemed.
‘Did he become normal as he got older?’
He was odd back then too, but not like this.
“Oh, I know.”
Namgung Hyung suddenly seemed to think of something.
“Do me a favor.”
“A favor?”
Suddenly? I looked at Namgung Hyung with suspicion. He wiped the smile from his face as he looked at me.
"Yeah, a favor."
"What kind of favor?"
"Nothing much. By the way, when are you leaving?"
"......Not sure. Around seven days from now?"
"Perfect timing. So, here’s the thing."
Namgung Hyung stepped closer.
"If something comes up during that time, can you do me a favor?"
"I’d have to hear what it is first."
"It won’t be anything serious. If you don’t want to, you don’t have to do it. What do you think?"
"......."
Even at a glance, this felt like trouble.
No matter how I looked at it, it seemed better to just force him to keep his mouth shut rather than getting involved in something unnecessary.
Using Demonification or Binding Oaths in this era was a bit unpleasant, but compared to dealing with an unpredictable turn of events, this might be the better option.
Even as I thought that—
‘Just endure it three times.’
Tch.
Someone came to mind—someone who would one day become this guy’s disciple.
And that was the real problem.
‘Damn bastard.’
Either way, he was no help.
"Alright."
"Oh! Seriously?"
"I’ll try. Will that be enough to keep your mouth shut?"
"Of course!"
"No need for Binding Oaths or anything like that?"
"A man should rely on trust, don’t you think?"
"......Fine, we’ll do it your way."
I got up. I wasn’t entirely sure how this deal had come together.
Was it simply because I had no emotional attachment to the Namgung clan?
Or—
‘Because I know what kind of person Namgung Hyung is.’
Was that why this agreement was possible?
It was strange, but in the end, it worked out.
Just as I was about to leave Namgung Hyung’s room—
"Oh, and one more thing."
"Hm?"
I turned back toward him.
"You seem to have misunderstood something, so I’ll say this—I'm not Shinryong."
"What?"
"Just letting you know."
"Huh? Wait—!"
I ignored Namgung Hyung as he reached for me and leaped away.
I soared through the air, my surroundings shifting in an instant.
‘Ah, right.’
Mid-air, a thought suddenly crossed my mind.
‘......I forgot to ask about that hole.’
Why the hell was there a tunnel connecting Bigo to the space beneath Namgung Hyung’s residence?
I had meant to ask about it but left without doing so.
‘Tsk.’
Should I go back?
I considered it for a moment but decided against it.
It wasn’t something I needed to concern myself with.
From the very beginning—
‘If Namgung Myung’s lingering thoughts aren’t in Bigo, then—’
There was no more business I had in the Namgung clan.
Now, I only had to focus on Do Yun, my father—
And my mother.
As I flew back toward my quarters—
Boom!
"Hm?"
A loud noise reached my ears.
Boom! Clank—! Boom!
The sound of chains rattling, followed by repeated explosions.
I turned my head toward the source of the noise.
It was coming from a training hall within the Namgung residence.
"......."
Boom! Boom!
Was it the sheer volume of the sound?
Before I knew it, my feet had started moving toward the noise.
As I approached—
"Hup!"
Clank—!
A woman was repeatedly swinging a spiked flail attached to a chain.
Crack!
Her graceful movements contrasted sharply with the sheer destruction she caused.
The heavy iron weapon smashed through a wooden training dummy shaped like a human, splitting its head clean off.
Hyun Soyeon.
The daughter of the Seonho Trading Group and Namgung Jin’s fiancee.
And more importantly—
‘The future mother of Namgung Bi-ah.’
Anyone could tell she was bound to give birth to Namgung Bi-ah one day.
She was supposed to be from a merchant family, and yet—
‘Why is she doing this?’
Why was someone like her wielding a flail in a training hall?
I had the same thought when I first met her.
Back when I encountered Namgung Bi-ah for the first time in this life—Hyun Soyeon had appeared, chasing after a demon beast.
That memory resurfaced.
A merchant’s daughter, yet her body was well-trained.
Even her cultivation level was at the level of a first-rate martial artist.
And her weapon—
‘A flail...’
Not a sword, not a spear, but a flail.
There was nothing about it that suited her appearance. Yet she swung it effortlessly.
"Huff!"
Whoosh—! Clank! Boom!
The flail spun through the air, smashing through wooden dummies one after another.
Her attacks were incredibly precise.
‘She didn’t train half-heartedly.’
It wasn’t just mindless swinging.
This was proof that she was serious about martial arts.
"Hm."
I watched her intently.
As I observed the concentration on her face, I felt something.
Clank.
The sound of the chains began to merge with the sound of a sword in my mind.
Srrng—! Swish!
A woman bathed in moonlight, endlessly swinging her sword.
I saw Namgung Bi-ah in her.
"......."
And because of that, I couldn’t take my eyes off her.
Even though it was just training, I kept watching.
At that moment—
"She’s beautiful."
A voice came from beside me.
I chuckled.
"Yeah."
She really was.
It was as if those words had spoken my own thoughts out loud, making me nod in agreement.
And then—
"......?"
Wait.
"What the hell?"
Why was the voice coming from beside me?
I quickly turned my head.
Someone was standing right next to me.
"Oh? Hello?"
When our eyes met, the woman smiled and waved at me.
"......."
Crimson eyes.
Faintly crimson-tinted silver hair.
A presence so faint I had barely noticed her.
It was my mother.
