Chapter 826: Because You Want to Tell Your Story

TL: FoodieMonster007

This is the second time he's eating with who?

All eyes turned toward Geom Mugeuk. Not only Hwa Mugi but everyone else at the table was surprised.

"What kind of nonsense is that?" Hwa Mugi asked, dumbfounded.

Ignoring Hwa Mugi, Geom Mugeuk bowed and said politely, "It's been a long time since then. Chairman, you lied to me."

Finally, Hwa Mugi realized the greeting was not meant for him.

Still, although everyone could tell that Geom Mugeuk was speaking to one of the two Chairmen dwelling inside Hwa Mugi's body, they had no idea who he was talking to.

Geom Mugeuk continued, "Do you remember the question I asked you that day?"

Of course, the person Geom Mugeuk addressed was the Divine Sword Martial Emperor. When he went back three hundred years, he had asked the Murim Alliance Chairman a question.

"Is there a way for us to win?"

"……" Hwa Mugi didn't say a word.

Geom Mugeuk decided to continue. It seemed he still hadn't said enough for Divine Sword Martial Emperor to remember him. "You answered like this back then. 'There is no special method. We just have to fight and win.'"

Hwa Mugi's eyes wavered. Geom Mugeuk had driven a wedge into his jumbled memory.

"You promised to give a congratulatory speech at the Division Leader's wedding. You couldn't keep that promise either."

Hwa Mugi jumped up from his seat. His eyes had changed to the Divine Sword Martial Emperor's in an instant.

"How do you know that?"

Finally, the Divine Sword Martial Emperor remembered that day. He recalled a young martial artist who had questioned him after his speech, just before the final battle. In that solemn atmosphere, the man had asked boldly.

"Is there a way for us to win?"

Seeing his face, I remember now. As he said, I ended up lying to him. I said there was no special method, but I had called in the Demonic Cult and the Evil Alliance. Wait… that martial artist from back then is the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult's Young Cult Leader from three hundred years later?

The Divine Sword Martial Emperor was flustered and shocked by this unbelievable fact.

Geom Mugeuk looked at him and spoke calmly. "Please sit. Let's eat together like we did back then."

Still in shock, the Divine Sword Martial Emperor slowly sat back down.

Right, we ate together then, too.

Surprisingly, Hwa Mugi did nothing. He could have forced the Divine Sword Martial Emperor's soul back, but he was also curious about the situation.

"I met you three hundred years ago! How are you here?" the Divine Sword Martial Emperor asked, astonished.

Geom Woojin stared at his son, eyes wide with shock. He hadn't been this surprised even when the Celestial Killer Star appeared.

The others felt the same. Geom Mugeuk's specialty was surprising people, but this went beyond mere surprise.

Only the Heavenly Wind Cult Leader nodded knowingly, trying his hardest to hold back from joking, 'So you were actually three hundred years old! No wonder I lost to you so badly!'

Geom Mugeuk answered honestly, "It may be hard to believe, but the Secret Box, a sacred item of the Heavenly Fate Palace, sent me back three hundred years."

The only other person who knew this was the Sword King. When Geom Mugeuk returned through the Secret Box, he had told the truth to the Sword King, who was guarding it.

The Divine Sword Martial Emperor was stunned speechless. Since the mysterious sacred item had absorbed them, he could believe Geom Mugeuk's words.

"I was there that day all of them were absorbed, too," Geom Mugeuk said, looking at his father.

Geom Woojin nodded curtly, his expression showing he understood and that there was no need for further explanation. Geom Mugeuk had probably just experienced yet another amazing, miraculous encounter.

Meanwhile, Hwa Mugi finally realized why he found Geom Mugeuk familiar. It was likely due to the influence of the Divine Sword Martial Emperor's subconscious memory.

Staring silently at Geom Mugeuk, the Divine Sword Martial Emperor let out a long, lamenting sigh. "I regret saying those words to you."

He sincerely meant it. While he hadn't regretted it for all the years that passed, he occasionally thought of that young man who was too impressive to forget. Above all, the fact that he had lied weighed on his mind.

"I'm sorry."

"You don't need to apologize to me. I'm a person from three hundred years in the future, and someone from the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult at that."

That fact was the most incomprehensible thing to the Divine Sword Martial Emperor. "Why did you come to me? Did you decide that yourself?"

"No. It was the Secret Box that sent me to you, Chairman."

The Divine Sword Martial Emperor was stunned again. If he's a descendant of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, shouldn't he have gone to the Heavenly Fate Palace Lord? Or is it because I dragged in the Demonic Cult Leader?

"I don't know the reason either," Geom Mugeuk added. Since all the time traveling was related to his regression, it was not something he could discuss here.

"You called me because you have a favor to ask." The Divine Sword Martial Emperor's gaze turned to Jin Paecheon, who was sitting silently.

He was more concerned about the future Murim Alliance Chairman, who respected him more than the Young Cult Leader did, but Jin Paecheon was still just listening silently to their conversation.

The Divine Sword Martial Emperor felt he had to do something, even if just for him.

His gaze returned to Geom Mugeuk. "What do you want from me?"

This was the moment Hwa Mugi might have cut in. He could have asked for help in the fight or for the secret of the Celestial Killer Star, but Hwa Mugi did not, as if confident he would win regardless.

However, what Geom Mugeuk wanted completely shattered their expectations.

"I called you to eat with us as a former Murim Alliance Chairman, not as the Celestial Killer Star."

"!"

"I know we're filling the Celestial Killer Star's stomach, but please eat as the Chairman."

The Divine Sword Martial Emperor's eyes wavered. "Is that all?"

"Yes, that's all!"

Not only Geom Woojin but everyone listening knew Geom Mugeuk was sincere. That lie-like sincerity had moved their hearts as well.

However, the Divine Sword Martial Emperor couldn't possibly know that.

"Are you saying you don't need my help because I'm not good enough?"

"It's the opposite," Geom Mugeuk replied, his eyes and expression incredibly calm and serious. "I felt back then that you sincerely cared for your subordinates, Chairman. I also felt your agony and apology for not ending the war sooner. I didn't know I would meet you again, but seeing you like this, I wanted to treat you to a meal."

He looked at Baek Jagang and added, "This dish made by the Evil Alliance Chairman tastes very good. Please try it."

"……" The Divine Sword Martial Emperor silently looked at the dish in front of him.

Geom Mugeuk did not press him further and began eating his own food.

Eventually, the Divine Sword Martial Emperor voiced what he had kept in his heart for so long. His words were for Geom Mugeuk, and simultaneously for Jin Paecheon.

"My absorption into the Secret Box wasn't due to bad luck. I was absorbed because I'm the same kind of trash as the Heavenly Fate Palace Lord, the Demonic Cult Leader, and the Evil Alliance Chairman."

The thought hurt his pride and angered him, but he knew this was the truth. The realization had pained him for three hundred years.

"The moment I chose to drag them in, I became the same kind of villain. I'm not qualified to eat your food."

That was why he couldn't pick up his chopsticks.

Geom Mugeuk swallowed his food, drank some water, and asked calmly, "Why are you trying to be so perfect?"

The Divine Sword Martial Emperor flinched at the unexpected question.

Geom Mugeuk looked at Jin Paecheon. "By the Divine Sword Martial Emperor's standards, Chairman Jin over there also made a big mistake. He came here alone to help the Demonic Cult. By your standards, Master Divine Sword, that must be a bigger mistake, right?"

The Divine Sword Martial Emperor flinched again. He had indeed initially told Jin Paecheon that he would be ruined if he associated with the Demonic Cult.

Geom Mugeuk asked Jin Paecheon, "Do you think coming here was a mistake?"

Jin Paecheon knew why Geom Mugeuk was acting like this. The Divine Sword Martial Emperor's biggest dilemma was his dilemma too.

"Yes, it's a mistake. A very big mistake," he said.

Despite his words, his expression was relaxed. Looking at the Divine Sword Martial Emperor, he saw his old self. He used to be like that, making a perfect Chairman his whole life's goal, but now, things were a bit different. Now, he could think and say this.

"But I'm human too, so what if I make a mistake? I lived without making any mistakes my whole life, so I can make one for once."

As if expecting this answer, Geom Mugeuk smiled. "Your subordinates will like it more. They'll think, 'Our perfect Chairman has a human side like that too, he makes mistakes just like us!'"

His gaze returned to the Divine Sword Martial Emperor. He knew the man's concern was also a sign of respect for Jin Paecheon.

"You say you're the same kind as them, Divine Sword? No, I think you're completely different."

"……" The Divine Sword Martial Emperor's eyes trembled.

"You lived your whole life for righteousness and chivalry, and sacrificed yourself to protect the peace of murim, didn't you? On the other hand, the Demonic Cult Leader at the time was notorious for cruelty. What kind of terrible villain are you comparing yourself to?!"

Geom Mugeuk knew Demonic Cult Leader Hyeok Docheon was listening, but he didn't hold back.

"If the Secret Box hadn't absorbed the Demonic Cult Leader, I think our Cult would be very different from how it is now. Our Cult's history would surely have taken a nasty turn, fate would have changed again and again, and my father might not have become the Cult Leader. I might not even be born!"

He meant that the event three hundred years ago and the present were linked by a great fate.

The Divine Sword Martial Emperor was stupefied. He had never considered that. He never dreamed he would meet the Young Cult Leader of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult and have this conversation.

Sighing, he said, "That doesn't make my sin of dragging in the Demonic Cult and the Evil Alliance disappear. I said it was for the sake of the murim, but it was a choice I made for myself."

"If you hadn't made a choice for yourself, Chairman, the war might have lasted much longer. We might have lost. Many more people would have died. Your greed saved the murim, Chairman."

The Divine Sword Martial Emperor's eyes wavered. He had told himself those same words hundreds, even thousands of times, but he had wanted to hear them from someone else. He wanted to hear that his choice was ultimately good. He wanted to hear the thought he had repeated countless times in his mind from another person's lips.

Hearing it once from another is better than a thousand times in one's own heart.

Finally, after three hundred years, he was hearing it from the Young Cult Leader of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.

"If you were really the same kind as them, you wouldn't be having this conversation with me right now. They would've forgotten everything already. You're having this conversation because you're someone who has carried the burden of your heart for three hundred years. You've suffered a lot all this time." Geom Mugeuk picked up a pair of chopsticks and held them out to the Divine Sword Martial Emperor. "Please forgive yourself now."

An unknown passion surged in the Divine Sword Martial Emperor's chest. He felt something that had been tightly blocked inside him for three hundred years finally breaking free. He accepted the chopsticks with trembling hands.

Jin Paecheon looked at him and nodded, respect still shining in his eyes.

Just as his chopsticks were about to pick up the food…

CLATTER!

The Divine Sword Martial Emperor suddenly grabbed the bowl in front of him and threw it, shattering it. No, he wasn't the Divine Sword Martial Emperor anymore, his eyes had changed. Before anyone noticed, he had returned to being Hwa Mugi.

Geom Mugeuk did not get angry. Although the Divine Sword Martial Emperor couldn't eat with them, he believed his feelings had been conveyed. "Since I've seen the Chairman, tell the others to come out too."

Hwa Mugi sneered. "Why? Trying to lure others with some nonsense, like how you bought forced favor from the Divine Sword Martial Emperor? Do you think they'll change their minds and harm me?"

Geom Mugeuk shook his head coolly. "That's not why."

"Then why?"

"Because everyone probably wants to talk."

"What?"

"I heard you were sealed for a long time. You only talked to them inside you, right? Wouldn't they want to say something to others, to their descendants, instead of the people they're sick of?"

Hwa Mugi was not easily convinced. "You're trying to bewitch their hearts to get what you want."

Geom Mugeuk hesitated for a moment, then asked, "Do you know why you came in to eat obediently instead of fighting outside?"

Hwa Mugi snorted. It was because Geom Mugeuk had stimulated his curiosity, but he answered, "Because I can kill you all anytime."

Geom Mugeuk chuckled. "No, it's because you also want to tell your story."

"?!"

"You want to share you take not to those boring people inside your body, not to the Darkness Palace Lord who tried to use you, but to me, my father, and the people here. Whether it's boasting, anger, or whatever." Geom Mugeuk regarded Hwa Mugi with clear and deep eyes. "Surely, you don't only think about beating everyone to death?"

"…What if that's all there is in my heart?" Hwa Mugi shot back.

Geom Mugeuk walked to the kitchen, brought a small bowl, filled it with food again, and placed it in front of his nemesis. "Eat and search that heart of yours again. When a person is hungry, they can't think clearly. Let's talk after eating. I haven't finished eating either."

He resumed eating.

BAM!

Hwa Mugi slammed the table mercilessly.

It should have been completely smashed, but somehow, the table was fine.

The reason was because Geom Mugeuk's palm was already on the table. He had emitted qi to protect it.

"Stop throwing a tantrum. Precious people are still eating."

Hwa Mugi increased his qi and slammed the table again.

BOOOOM!

Still, the table did not break. Hwa Mugi had used a tremendous amount of inner qi, but Geom Mugeuk had just as much qi to spare.

"Heaven even gave you a good excuse to live by killing people. You are destined live a boring life of nothing but killing. Why are you in such a hurry? Your life's biggest fight will end today anyway. Why not let the ones inside you say what they want? If you've been together that long, you should show that much courtesy to them."

Hwa Mugi could not refute that last part.

"And it's not just their stories I want to hear…" Geom Mugeuk stared into Hwa Mugi's eyes. "I want to know your story too."