SYM 119

“I thought something was off from the start.”

Eun-hyeon began, slowly recalling the events.

He woke up suddenly to find Jeong-hyeon beside him. Since then, Jeong-hyeon had been repeating that he could only live by becoming Undead, that he had to listen to him.

At first glance, it seemed to make sense, but upon closer inspection, there were several inconsistencies.

Why didn’t he kill the Amhon or the royal guards, but merely put them to sleep?

The Hongbaek Sect were madmen who performed human sacrifices. The Hongbaek Sect’s, Jeong-hyeon’s way of handling things would have been to simply kill them all.

But why did Jeong-hyeon put them to sleep?

The Amhon were all skilled warriors above the level of first-rate experts, and they were resistant to most medicines and poisons.

No matter how obscure the drug made by the Hongbaek Sect was, it was hard to believe that they fell asleep without any resistance.

Were they really asleep? Just how powerful was Jeong-hyeon that he could put the Amhon and the Third Prince’s guards to sleep? Jeong-hyeon seemed too relaxed, considering he didn’t know when those he put to sleep would wake up.

That’s where the doubts began.

Then, as he thought about it, more and more strange things emerged.

Had Jeong-hyeon always been such a talkative person?

Back in Kunlun, when they were together, Eun-hyeon was always the one chattering.

When he spoke garrulously, Jeong-hyeon would simply nod or offer a light agreement.

As he found one strange thing after another, he felt a sense of incongruity with the space and situation itself.

This room was more like his own room than the Third Prince’s manor where he had fallen asleep. That is, the room he had in the Namgung Clan.

But that didn’t make sense.

He was in the Third Prince’s manor in Beijing, so why did the room resemble his room in the Namgung Clan?

Realizing that, he seemed to know where he was.

…This was Eun-hyeon’s dream.

The reason why the room in the Namgung Clan, not the manor, was manifested was probably because he was more familiar with it. He had been too exhausted to look around the Third Prince’s manor, so it wasn’t etched in his memory.

Once he realized it was a dream, Jeong-hyeon’s strange behavior and the situation all made sense.

“If my guess is wrong, tell me it’s wrong, Eldest Senior Brother.”

As Eun-hyeon grinned, Jeong-hyeon sighed and waved his hand. Then, the background where the two were standing, Eun-hyeon’s room, melted away as if collapsing.

Eun-hyeon blinked as he watched. He was aware that it was a dream, but seeing such an unreal scene gave him goosebumps.

The small walls surrounding the two disappeared, and the bed, table, and other objects in the room vanished in an instant.

The two were floating in a pitch-black void.

A fear that was hard to describe washed over him.

Eun-hyeon bit his lip and tried to concentrate, trying not to be consumed by fear.

In reality, it was impossible for him to face Jeong-hyeon, but this was not reality, but a dream.

Eun-hyeon stared into the darkness, then staggered for a moment, but quickly regained his composure and glared at Jeong-hyeon.

Probably Eldest Senior Brother, or rather, the Hongbaek Sect leader Jeong-hyeon’s ability, is to enter the dreams of others.

And for some reason, Eldest Senior Brother was coaxing and cajoling him, waiting for him to say that he would become Undead of his own accord.

Presumably, he can only create Undead with his consent.

“Eldest Senior Brother.”

“……..”

“There’s no way I’d ever say I want to become Undead. But seeing you want me to say that, I guess that’s the condition for becoming Undead? That I have to say I want to become one…?”

Eun-hyeon realized that he had hit the nail on the head by looking at Jeong-hyeon’s expression.

“……..For a worthless guy, you’re quick to catch on.”

Jeong-hyeon’s demeanor was completely different from before. Until just now, he had been acting like a kidnapper trying to lure a child, but now he was chillingly cold.

Perhaps that was the true nature of Jeong-hyeon, the leader of the Hongbaek Sect.

“Now that you’ve caught on, don’t waste time and say you want to become Undead.”

“…Are you crazy? If you like Undead so much, Eldest Senior Brother, you become one. Keu-heut!”

Jeong-hyeon reached out and grabbed Eun-hyeon’s neck.

Eun-hyeon struggled as he felt the pain of his breath being cut off. His lungs were being crushed, and his neck was being strangled, making him feel like he was about to pass out.

…This isn’t real. It’s a dream. Get a grip.

Eun-hyeon repeated to himself. But the pain he felt in his neck was more than he had imagined.

“Listen to me. It hurts, doesn’t it? There’s only one way to get rid of this pain in an instant. That’s for you to become Undead. Then you won’t have to feel this pain anymore. Now nod your head.”

Eun-hyeon couldn’t even struggle. He heard a loud ringing in his ears. It was as if several people were talking at the same time.

‘Say you’ll become Undead.’

‘Then all this pain will end.’

‘Let’s become Undead!’

‘Don’t you want to be comfortable now? You’ve had a hard time, haven’t you? You want to escape all this, don’t you? Let’s be honest with ourselves.’

‘Becoming Undead isn’t a bad thing. It’s just being freed from pain.’

Large and small voices buzzed in his ears.

…Yes. It’s painful. I want this pain to end quickly.

Eun-hyeon’s inner thoughts popped out without him even realizing it. Then the voices grew louder and filled his head.

‘Let’s tell Eldest Senior Brother that we will.’

‘Eldest Senior Brother will forgive me. If I become Undead, I can go back to the way I was.’

‘Let’s remember the happy days in Kunlun. If I’m with Eldest Senior Brother, there will be no more painful things.’

‘Let’s go back to Kunlun with Eldest Senior Brother. Then we can live without any pain or worries. Eldest Senior Brother will take care of me.’

Now the voice in his head had become Eun-hyeon himself, whispering to go back to Kunlun.

Kunlun.

As he thought of that word, he suddenly felt a longing and thirst. He gasped for breath and barely lifted his heavy eyelids.

“…Kunlun.”

Jeong-hyeon smiled and nodded.

“Yes, let’s go together. To Kunlun.”

Eun-hyeon, who was being strangled, couldn’t raise his voice. In his increasingly hazy consciousness, Eun-hyeon smiled.

“…You go to Kunlun yourself.”

Crash.

At that moment, he heard a loud noise like something breaking.

When he struggled to lift his head, Eun-hyeon could see Jeong-hyeon’s distorted face.

Eun-hyeon raised his arm. His arm was as heavy as if it had a thousand-pound weight attached to it, and he couldn’t move it as he pleased. But he forced himself to lift it and grabbed Jeong-hyeon’s hand, which was clutching his neck.

And slowly, he let go of that hand.

This was Eun-hyeon’s dream. Then the owner of this dream was himself, not Jeong-hyeon.

A dream doesn’t always go the way the owner wants it to, but it can reflect the owner’s will to some extent…

The hand that had been strangling his neck so fiercely that he felt like he was about to suffocate fell off easily.

Then, Eun-hyeon took a deep breath.

As air entered his lungs, his dazed head cleared.

Even if he was aware that it was a dream, the laws of reality that he took for granted still applied.

Eun-hyeon faced Jeong-hyeon, who was standing blankly and glaring at him.

Jeong-hyeon’s body was gradually turning black. It was as if he was painting over Jeong-hyeon with black ink.

His arms and legs were painted black, and finally, even his face was painted black.

“…Eun-hyeon, don’t take the difficult path when there’s an easy one.”

Eun-hyeon didn’t answer. Now his whole body had turned black, but his voice was the same as before.

“You’ve been through a lot. Let’s make you comfortable now. Let’s go to Kunlun with me.”

“……..”

“Who in this world can understand you except for me? I am your only understanding. Eun-hyeon. Don’t you know this Eldest Senior Brother’s heart?”

Jeong-hyeon’s voice was strange. It was like a song, and it was like chanting a prayer.

Perhaps there was a strange power in Jeong-hyeon’s voice. As he listened, his body became languid, and he wanted to do as Jeong-hyeon said.

Eun-hyeon shook his head.

“If you were really worried about me, you should have come to me in person and talked to me face to face, instead of coming into my dream and threatening me like this.”

Eun-hyeon already had a place to return to.

A place called Cheong-un.

So there was no reason to be confused or swayed by such sweet talk.

At Eun-hyeon’s firm voice, the black figure shattered and scattered into the air.