"Gaaah!"
"Ughaaak!"
Far off in the forest, where I was sprinting like a madman.
Horrible screams echoed through the trees.
They belonged to Nam Jochung and Garip, the only ones who'd survived alongside me until the end.
In the end, even they were dead.
"Huff... huff! Huff... huff!"
They weren't exactly comrades, but we'd fought side by side more than a few times.
They were gone.
But I couldn't stop running.
I had to survive.
Ah, damn it!
How the hell did it come to this?
Five days ago.
At the Western Rogue Market in western Chang'an, Shaanxi.
Just like any other day, I'd gone there looking for work.
For the first time in ages, word was that the Hundred-Li Clan—true overlords of Chang'an's martial world—was hiring rogues en masse.
A job from the Hundred-Li Clan.
No danger, double the pay.
I signed up without a second thought.
But damn it!
The Horizontal Mountain Seven Blood Demons!
Those infamous demonic bastards.
The Martial Alliance had even branded them public enemies of the martial world.
The Alliance had lost them in pursuit, and they'd fled to our Shaanxi region.
The Hundred-Li Clan, answering the call for aid, had hastily recruited us rogues to lay a heaven-and-earth net.
There wasn't supposed to be any real danger, honestly.
We were just there to fill out the numbers.
The moment those demons showed up, we'd light signal fireworks, bang gongs, shout, and run like hell.
The Hundred-Li Clan elites and Martial Alliance masters would handle the actual fighting.
Everyone convinced themselves of that and moved to their assigned positions.
Our sector was the most remote one, at that.
The outer edge of the net.
A place where the Horizontal Mountain Seven Blood Demons had next to no chance—make that zero chance—of passing through.
Thirty-one of us were deployed there.
Leading us was Yeo Yeop, the renowned One-Eyed Wolf from the Western Rogue Market.
One-eyed, sure, but one of the top ten experts there.
A first-rate rogue. Someday, I'd become a rogue as great as One-Eyed Wolf Yeo Yeop... Huh?
Slash!
Dead.
One-Eyed Wolf Yeo Yeop didn't even draw his sword, didn't even know what hit him before he dropped.
Ah... the fireworks.
Those things are expensive as hell, so our group only had one.
And it was with One-Eyed Wolf Yeo Yeop.
Quick!
Someone grab the gong and ring it, you idiots!
Slash!
Slash! Slash! Slash! Slash!
Before anyone could pull out the gong.
Before we could even grasp the situation.
Before the first scream escaped anyone's lips.
Eight more were dead.
"Die, you rat bastards! Kahahaha!"
"Gaaahhh!"
"Spare me!"
That's when it started.
The moment I began running.
"Huff... huff! Huff huff huff!"
I'd been fleeing at full speed for over half a day.
I knew they killed the screamers first.
So I clamped my mouth shut and ran like a maniac.
Nam Jochung and Garip, who'd stuck with me until the end.
When the Horizontal Mountain Seven Blood Demons closed in right up to our heels, we scattered.
And just moments ago, even they were killed.
Now it was just me.
The sun was dipping low.
Darkness began creeping in from all sides.
My village, my home—three days' journey from Chang'an.
If I made it there, I'd live.
At this pace, I could arrive before dawn.
Dogless Village. A place without even a single dog.
Empty now, forgotten by all.
Once I reached the village, even the Horizontal Mountain Seven Blood Demons wouldn't find me.
The problem was... I was at my limit.
"Huff. Huff huff! Huff huff."
"Found him! Hey! Last rat spotted! Get over here!"
Thud!
Too exhausted to run another step, I stopped.
I didn't even have the strength to stand and collapsed to the ground.
The Seven Blood Demons gathered around me in no time.
Madness and killing intent gleamed in their eyes as they stared me down.
I couldn't even resist, let alone lift a sword.
Was this how I'd die?
"What the hell is this guy? Hey! Fight back a little. Make it fun for us."
"Tch. Let's just kill him quick and go. The Martial Alliance dogs will catch up."
"Fuck. What a boring bastard. Die...?"
Shiiiing!
Splat!
Ah!
Damn it!
Even in death, I wanted to leave a scar on one of their faces.
I mustered my last strength for a surprise attack, but it was blocked without effort.
"Heh heh heh. That was kinda fun, though. Now die for real."
Slash!
And that was how I died.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Reincarnation?
Like the protagonists in those martial hero tales I'd borrowed from the temple?
Did I reincarnate too?
Then all I had to do was get up, and some insane opportunity would come knocking.
I'd become an unparalleled master.
Something like that?
Did I really reincarnate?
No way.
That's just stuff from martial hero tales.
So then, me.
Am I dead?
If so, is this hell?
Or heaven?
But the smell... it's too familiar for that.
Even the feel of the bedding and blanket is exactly like my room back home.
The room in Dogless Village where I'd crash for days after exhausting rogue jobs, injuries, and all.
Swish swish.
Swish swish.
Some sound from outside.
Like someone sweeping the yard.
I hesitated to open my eyes.
It was scary.
Not knowing if I was alive or dead.
Swish swish.
Swish swish.
That noise.
It's ridiculously annoying.
I mustered my courage and opened my eyes.
I'd half-hoped, but no—nothing like reincarnation.
It was my room.
Even the bloodstained clothes from yesterday were still on me.
But why did my body feel so light, brimming with energy?
Swish swish.
Swish swish.
"Hmmm..."
Broom sounds.
Really freaking annoying... Wait.
Broom sounds?
I'm the only one in this village.
Who's sweeping the yard with a broom?
No way it's the Horizontal Mountain Seven Blood Demons.
Has to be impossible.
Still, my heart pounded.
Then anxiety struck like a sneak attack.
I was definitely alive.
No, yesterday I definitely died.
How was I still breathing?
Could it be... the person sweeping outside saved me?
Drove off those mighty demonic bastards, the Horizontal Mountain Seven Blood Demons?
Fear.
Hope.
A whirlwind of thoughts.
But I couldn't just lie there forever.
I bolted up, flung open the door, and stepped out.
And there, I saw a middle-aged man.
Too ordinary to have saved me from the Seven Blood Demons.
The kind of face you'd see one every ten steps in Chang'an city proper. Utterly average.
Then... oh!
Our eyes met.
The middle-aged man stopped sweeping when he spotted me.
He tilted his head, staring.
He opened his mouth to speak... but I beat him to it.
"Who are you?"
The man tilted his head again before answering.
"And who might you be?"
Have I ever seen such a lunatic!
"I'm Jin Muhyeon. Owner of this house, the village's sole resident and chief."
"Uh..."
"Who are you?"
"I'm your new neighbor. Over there. That's my place."
"What other house is there in this village besides mine? They're all burned down or collapsed... Huh?!"
The direction his finger pointed.
That was supposed to be my neighbor's place—overgrown weeds poking through crumbled roof and walls.
But there...
Green tiles gleaming jewel-like in the sunlight, aligned in neat lines with dignified grace.
A tidy, elegant tiled house stood quietly, as if it'd been there forever.
A strange man had moved in next door.
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