Raven woke up drenched in sweat. He was breathing heavily, his chest rising and falling as if he had just been running for hours. He blinked, looking around at the silent forest, dimly lit by the sunlight filtering through the leaves. The sound of the wind rustling, mixed with the buzzing of insects, created a harmony that should have been soothing, but not for him.
He had awakened from his subconscious, and the atmosphere around him felt different. The world seemed sharper and looked as if it was adjusting to him, who had just remembered something he shouldn't have known, something terrible.
His hands trembled. Not out of fear, but because of the sensation, a thrilling feeling from the fight that left both his palms stained with blood. The memory of that feeling had not faded, and when the tip of the wood pierced his opponent's chest, the warm blood flowing on his skin, the sound of his last breath cut off in his ears. Everything was still so real, as if it were stuck to his body.
Before him lay two lifeless bodies. One was the axe-wielder. His head was crushed, unrecognizable. The other, the spearman, lay with a large hole in his chest, right over his heart, the mark of the wooden shard that had pierced him earlier. And then there was the archer who had managed to escape. However, Raven clearly remembered that one of that man's eyes was now damaged by his hand.
Raven stared at his blood-stained hands. His fingers slowly clenched into fists.
Why... do I not feel the slightest bit of guilt?
The question arose not with anger, but with wonder. As if he were judging himself... like judging someone else.
Worse still, deep inside, something was trembling. Something that shouldn't be there. Something that felt like...
satisfaction...
"Is this because I already know who I really am?" Raven muttered softly, almost inaudibly.
And the creature's words echoed again.
He closed his eyes, remembering how the figure with his own face that appeared in the depths of his subconscious played with his mind and carved out old memories that should not have been awakened. The figure was not just a shadow. The way it spoke was too clear, too conscious.
An illogical thought popped into his head.
If that was really me... wouldn't it be a little strange to talk to myself, but something was definitely wrong, as if the creature or whatever it was had its own consciousness.
Something was clearly wrong, but at least Raven got a big explanation about the strangeness within himself.
And those dreams too...
All this time, the dreams that always haunted him in the modern world were fragments of stories from his previous life. But now, when he compared them, there was a disturbing difference. The new memories that had emerged were not entirely the same as his old dreams. It was as if the fragments of his past were incomplete.
Especially the dream on the bus about a woman whose face was blurred but felt so close.
Raven gritted his teeth.
"If only I could remember who that woman was... maybe I could guess what happened in the past. And who she really was?"
His gaze dimmed, but not weakly, more like someone trying to understand the darkness staring back at him.
He took a deep breath, trying to calm his heart, which was still beating wildly. But the air that entered felt heavy... as if a great weight had been placed directly on his chest.
Slowly, he walked towards the two bodies.
Unconsciously, his gait felt calmer, more steady, as if his body remembered how to walk as someone who was used to seeing death.
His gaze grew colder.
Not that he didn't care.
But... he was too accustomed to it.
"If my memory serves me correctly..." he whispered, "I can use my old technique, the Abyssal Soul Breathing Technique, to absorb the death Qi from dead creatures..."
Raven crouched down beside one of the corpses, then sat cross-legged. He closed his eyes. Silence. Only the sound of leaves rustling accompanied him, before the air around him changed. From the bodies of the two corpses, a thin mist slowly emerged, cold, thick, and eerie. The aura swirled in the air, sucked into Raven's body, forming a vortex that gathered below his navel.
Dantian...
But soon, Raven opened his eyes. His face was expressionless, but there was a hint of annoyance.
"Shit... this isn't enough. Even to open half of it... I can't."
He sighed heavily. As I recall, when I was a Heavenly Demon, I could absorb Death Qi from hundreds, even thousands of enemies. But... only two corpses? This won't be enough.
Raven stood up, looked at the two corpses once more, then began looting them. His hands searched their pockets, hoping to find something useful. However, the results were disappointing only a tattered scroll and a few bags of money.
"Huh... is that all? They're bandits, but their loot is pathetic," he said flatly, his voice almost like a cold sigh. He slipped the scroll and bag into his clothes, then stared at the hatchet lying on the ground.
"At least... this is useful," he muttered as he picked up the axe. It felt just right in his hand. It wasn't as balanced as a sword, but it was enough to cut off a head if necessary.
Before leaving, Raven looked at the forest around him.
It was quiet...
But his mind was not. Fragments of past memories and the reality he was facing now collided in his head.
Those people earlier… bandits. And the power they used was clearly Qi. That meant… this was truly the world of Murim.
He clenched his fist, his cold fingers pressing against the axe handle.
I… have returned to this world. The world that once almost belonged to me. But now… what era is this world in? It couldn't be the same as before. How long has it been? A hundred years? A thousand? Or more?
Raven began to walk, his steps steady even though his mind was full of questions. Each step felt heavy, not because he was tired, but because his memories were colliding with each other.
He had to return to the cave. His friends were waiting there. Their faces flashed through his mind, Kyle, Hana, Karin, Lisa.
The people... he had to protect.
But now Raven knew one thing: to survive, he had to accept both sides of himself. The modern Raven… and Yeomra Jin-cheon as the Heavenly Demon who once shook the heavens and the earth.
Two identities, one body. Two paths, one goal.
He would find his way home. But if this world wanted to destroy him… he would not hesitate to destroy this world first.
Carrying an axe and a loot bag, Raven walked away. The shadows of the trees lengthened as the sun began to set, and behind it all, his gaze hardened.
There was no turning back.
________________________________
Moments after Raven left the cave...
Inside the dimly lit cave, the humid air mixed with the scent of wet earth. The sound of water dripping from the stalactites echoed softly off the stone walls, but the silence was completely unable to dampen the tension that dominated the place. Dozens of students sat in small groups, some staring at the floor with empty eyes, others arguing loudly with each other.
"I told you! We're not trapped in another world!" The sharp voice broke the silence. All heads turned to the source of the voice. A female student with long black hair stared intently at Erik and Rahel, who had been trying to explain the situation.
Rahel, who had been trying to hold back her emotions, finally stood up, her face red. "Didn't you see it yourself, Nayla? That spear almost pierced the glass of our bus! It was thrown so fast... like a bullet! And you say that's normal?!"
"And one bus fell into a ravine because of the spears thrown by those people," Erik replied flatly, but his tone silenced some of the students.
Nayla just laughed sarcastically. "Throwing spears? Oh, come on. It could have been people from the interior who are good at hunting. Another world? Hah, are you serious?"
Rahel stepped closer, her voice rising. "What tribespeople can run that fast?! They almost caught up with our bus by running, Nayla! If we hadn't seen it ourselves, I might not believe it either!"
A commotion began to arise, with pros and cons. Some nodded in support of Rahel and Erik, while others turned to Nayla as if in agreement.
Lisa, who had been holding back her anger, finally exploded.
"Hey, Nayla! Are you that stubborn? You saw it yourself just now, and you still don't believe it! Do you want to wait until they show up in front of you before you believe it?"
Nayla glanced sharply at Lisa, her eyes piercing her. "I just don't want to believe something that isn't clear!" she replied.
Before the argument escalated, Theo's deep voice echoed in the cave.
"Enough!" he shouted, walking steadily into the middle of the crowd, followed by William and Riana.
"Everyone be quiet! We won't survive if we keep arguing like this!"
Suddenly, the atmosphere became silent. Only rapid breathing and water dripping from the cave ceiling could be heard. Everyone stared at Theo, some looking down, some still glaring at each other.
However, the tension did not immediately disappear. Disagreeing voices could still be heard, arguments exchanged, breaking the stifling air in the cave. The pros and cons became clearer. Erik, Rahel, Theo, and most of their friends believed that something was not right. They were certain that what was happening outside was not just a normal incident.
Meanwhile, Nayla, along with several other students, remained stubborn. They considered all of this to be just a coincidence. Another world? That was nonsense.
The debate went on for a long time, until finally a dividing line was formed. The two sides stood facing each other, not with weapons, but with their thoughts and opinions.
The second group, who believed there was something seriously wrong, even that they might no longer be in the same world, was led by Erik. This group consisted of seventeen people, including William, Riana, Rahel, Kyle, Hana, Karin, and Lisa.
The first group, which chooses to believe the logical explanation, supports Nayla. They number ten people, but their voices are loud enough to spark conflict at any time.