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Chung Myung plunged into the infinite darkness, remembering the events of his life as he fell deeper into the sea of obscurity.
Each memory of his was like a small plum blossom that shed its petals one by one, until leaving a bare branch where one could not appreciate the vivacity with which it resplendent in the spring.
When his regrets were stripped bare, when he knew there was no going back, he admitted to himself that he could have done things differently.
An unknown voice echoed in the empty space.
-Do you want to make a deal?
Who...?
—If you accept, I will give you the opportunity to change your destiny.
Images of the battlefield, the mountains of corpses and rivers of blood, flashed before his eyes. The death of each of the people he appreciated.
'Stop this! You, who the hell are you!?'
If he had possessed a body rather than a soul about to disappear into nothingness, he would have frowned at that being that was trying to blackmail him. It was so obvious that he had to yell at whoever tried to mess with him. Who dares to deceive him?
... However, in the end, there were no other options when the only answer was obvious; Chung Myung would do anything to save the people he loved.
Chung Mun Sahyung.
—I am the god of death.
The first thing Chung Myung sees is the edge of a sword closing in on his neck. He twists his body out of the blade's reach, tripping his limbs in a mess over debris and splinters of wood scattered everywhere.
He fixes his gaze beyond the cloud of dust that was raised, searching for the enemy that tried to decapitate him as soon as he arrived in this new world, and to his surprise, the approaching shadow is that of a brat who hasn't even lived a third of Chung Myung's life.
That brat charged straight at Chung Myung again, seeming to slow down his movements as if he had realized something. Chung Myung, meanwhile, tried to stand up as he noticed some problems with his new body's limbs, which were short, stubby, and scaly.
He literally had claws.
In his paws.
"What the hell is this!? Ahhh, I knew there would be a catch!"
The boy stopped his sword in midair awkwardly, hesitating.
"Why are you attacking this town?" he asked slowly, gravely, a spark shining in his cloudy eyes.
It was the look of a veteran who had been through too many tragedies; it did not suit a child who might as well be a disciple who had just learned the first posture of the balance of six.
Chung Myung guessed that the body he inhabited, some wild beast —small and plump, but seemingly dangerous—, must have found itself terrorizing some random village and dealing with the cultivator who came to stop it. However, now that he had taken command, how was he supposed to explain his actions? He wasn't even sure of the seriousness of the crimes committed thus far, or what the hell he was supposed to be now.
It wasn't like he could get away with claiming that he had just reincarnated into this body, nor could he claim ignorance when he had been caught in the act.
“I was possessed,” Chung Myung declared, beads of sweat forming on the back of his head. "The one before was not me."
What person in his right mind would believe that?
The brat looked directly into his eyes for a long moment before lowering his sword, albeit without sheathing it. Then he knelt in front of him, no breaking eye contact.
"Your look has changed," he mused, still looking at him contemplatively but not believing him. "Who are you?"
"You should first introduce yourself before asking others' names, brat!"
"...I already have, although I suppose you don't remember since you were possessed," he sneered. "I'm Choi Han, who are you?"
That arrogant little brat.
"My name is Chung Myung, remember that."
'Because I'm going to beat the shit out of you when I can take a sword in my hand again', he thought vindictively, without any real impulse.
Choi Han's eyes lit up almost instantly.
"You haven't hurt anyone yet, so I won't hurt you. Instead, I'll have to watch you for a while."
Chung Myung nodded, with apparent obedience, in the same way that he promised not to drink again in an important meeting or to stop beating disobedient little disciples...
He would first find out where he was, what he was supposed to be, and when the brat got distracted, he would immediately leave. For now, he would go 'with the flow', just as his Sahyung liked to preach.
He walked clumsily, trying to familiarize himself with the position of his legs with the help of his internal energy, only to realize that his spiritual energy was vast and pure, although not as great as the one cultivated in his past life, it certainly surpassed it in purity.
And one more thing he noticed, an almost insignificant detail. He had wings. Chung Myung flapped his black wings reflexively, looking in surprise at the shape of his lower body.
Could it be that... he had reincarnated as a dragon?
Chung Myung was plagued with doubts.
Choi Han carried the little dragon wrapped in his cloak, since he didn't seem to be able to fly on his own. The dragon grumbled a bit, but hid anyway when they had to get past the crowd of villagers who just watched him destroy several of their houses.
The dragon had done a one hundred and eighty degree turn before Choi Han's eyes, switching between the fierce despair that was about to consume him to the confused but arrogant look that was more befitting a baby dragon like him.
The dragon was called Chung Myung, a name that reminded the ancient world of him and lit a small candle of hope that he didn't want to put out so soon with additional questions. The dragon didn't have to answer him honestly when they had just met and fought with the intent to kill anyway.
Carefully, he led the dragon to where Ron and Beacrox were waiting, who had been assessing Choi Han's ability from the sidelines, not caring for either of their safety. Despite not trusting them, hiding the dragon would be impossible, so he didn't bother trying.
"Hoo, looks like it was a young dragon,-nim" said Ron, as the little black head peeked out from between the layers of cloth. Blue eyes fixed on him as if he could see right into his soul, which amused the ex-butler.
"His name is Chung Myung," Choi Han introduced, then addressed the dragon. "They are Ron and Beacrox."
"Ron Molan at his service, dragon-nim, and this is my son, Beacrox," the old man smiled kindly.
Beacrox watched the dragon for a moment, seeming to come to some kind of conclusion before looking away nonchalantly, standing up.
"I'll prepare lunch for the guest."
Chung Myung narrowed his eyes, sizing up the shadowy trio that exuded the scent of blood, slowly wagging his tail back and forth without realizing it. They seemed quite suspicious, but Chung Myung was used to this kind of aura, so he didn't take it too seriously either. Even old Ron was like a child to the cultivator.
Later, Beacrox returned with several dishes that emitted an enticing fragrance. The meat was generously placed, surrounded by various vegetables and other accompaniments arranged in an aesthetically pleasing manner. The dragon perched on the bed, settling into the same position that some cats he had seen on the street used to correctly assess the talented chef's creation.
The queue whipped up behind him, however, Chung Myung couldn't care less as Beacrox arranged the plates in front of them, with an additional generous part on Chung Myung's. He nearly salivated at his plate, hesitating how to hold the silverware on two legs before making the decision to bury his nose in the plate.
Chung Myung was starving.
"The casualties have been averted, but we cannot stay with the dragon in this village," Choi Han began to inform his fellow provisionals. "We leave tomorrow morning."
Ron's eyes sparkled, glancing briefly over to the newest member of the group, who was letting out whoops of delight and multiple positive comments about the food.
"I see."
Chung Myung ignored the ensuing conversation. Instead, he looked up at the chef with sparkling eyes.
"Beacrox, right?" He turned to the chef. "Since you have fed me well, I will help you in the future. I return the favors double!"
Beacrox seemed to glow with satisfaction at the little dragon's praise. He collected the empty plates and replaced them with ones filled with more food.
Choi Han, who prevented the dragon from causing damage and smuggled it under his roof: "..."
Even though the dragon didn't seem to acknowledge his work, Choi Han still softened in spite of him. The round little face with big blue eyes was too cute. Small animals like this were his weakness, which this little dragon was inadvertently taking advantage of.
With a sigh, Choi Han handed him a handkerchief, pointing to his mouth. "You've got some sauce there."
The dragon fumbled at the cloth with its paw to no avail, frowning at the new challenge presented to it.
Choi Han added as a suggestion, “You could also levitate it like before."
Chung Myung didn't know what he was talking about, since those weren't the actions he himself performed, however he correctly deduced that it must be a skill of the body he was in. The purity of the spiritual energy was such that he could probably perform the complex handling of faraway objects, though he felt that there was something strange about the energy besides its easy affinity with nature.
The handkerchief rose from Choi Han's hand to the dragon's mouth, clumsily wiping away traces of sauce. His handling of the technique was clumsy and he was not used to his new physiology, so the results were not good.
'This is serious', Chung Myung thought. 'I must properly train this body'
Or else, he would not be able to fulfill the task entrusted to him by the God of Death: avoid the fate of this world that is nearing its end.
To do this, Chung Myung would have to defend it from the threat that was coming with the future war.
He brought back memories of the war against the magyo.
He alone couldn't manage to defend an entire world, if the threat was as pressing as Cheon Ma was. So, he had to get the sects in this place to cooperate with each other from the start to coordinate against the collective threat.
Who was the enemy?
What was their goal?
Who do his have to convince?
Where will they attack?
All these were some of the questions he had to get answers to.
He was not allowed to fail.
For the life of his Sahyung, Sajae and Sajil...
Chung Myung will save this world.