Survival Guide for the Reincarnated - Chapter 269

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 269
“Then why have you come here? And at that…”
Seol Woon-hwi trailed off, his gaze settling on the head placed before the Go Board as he continued.
“To intercept my guest, no less.”
“Intercept? Is that really how you see it?”
Hehehehe.
Seol Woon-hwi posed a question to Cheon Do-ja, who laughed in that manner.
“Am I a fortunate man?”
At that unexpected question, Cheon Do-ja regarded Seol Woon-hwi in silence.
There was little they could say with absolute certainty about what the other knew.
Yet they both understood what this moment signified.
“Quite fortunate, I’d say.”
“I see. That explains why I’m still alive.”
Cheon Do-ja’s pupils gleamed with interest.
Why was Cheon Do-ja here?
How had he known that Jeok Ma Dae-gun would be within the Secret Realm?
It was abundantly clear that Cheon Do-ja wished to keep whatever words fell from Jeok Ma Dae-gun’s lips hidden from the world.
That was why he had come.
Had anyone other than Seol Woon-hwi emerged from the Secret Realm, they would have been dead.
In my previous life, I had never even heard of this Secret Realm, so it was certainly not Cheon Lim who created it—it had to be Cheon Do-ja.
With that, all the pieces fell into place.
“I hold you in remarkably high regard, my boy.”
That was his answer.
A definitive response to Seol Woon-hwi’s deductions.
Cheon Do-ja, who had been observing Seol Woon-hwi for a moment, picked up a Black Stone again, but this time he hesitated at length.
Seol Woon-hwi examined the Go Board carefully.
It was a complex opening. Black and White restrained each other, yet no decisive move appeared.
Then Seol Woon-hwi spoke, almost tossing the words out.
“You cannot find an answer, can you?”
“Hmm?”
“The Black in the upper left threatens the White in the lower right, but White emerges toward the center to block it. If Black places a stone in the center, the White in the upper right extends toward the lower left.”
Seol Woon-hwi’s voice was calm.
“Whichever you choose, your opponent will respond accordingly.”
“…”
“Do you know why?”
Cheon Do-ja spoke with a subtle smile.
“I wonder.”
“Because your opponent is yourself.”
Silence stretched between them.
No birdsong, no wind—only the gazes of two men colliding in the air.
“Self-contradiction, indeed.”
“….”
“One collides with oneself. No matter how perfect a move one makes, if the opponent is oneself, a perfect counter-response is inevitable.”
“That is correct.”
I nodded in agreement.
“No matter how brilliant a genius may be, they cannot surpass themselves.”
Rather, Cheon Do-ja laughed at those words.
It was clear.
Cheon Do-ja was no fool.
He could not have failed to grasp such obvious truths, so ultimately his intention was singular.
All of this was meant to be shown to me.
He had words he wished to hear, and now with that laughter, I was certain.
That he had heard them.
Cheon Do-ja asked.
“Then do you believe I can never finish this game of Baduk?”
“I cannot say.”
I answered honestly.
“But what is certain is that this game of Baduk has no answer in its current state.”
“No answer….”
Cheon Do-ja repeated those words.
“Then what should be done?”
“Overturn the Go Board.”
At my answer, Cheon Do-ja’s eyes gleamed with intensity.
“Overturn the Go Board?”
“Yes. To break free from the existing rules.”
“But that would no longer be Baduk.”
“That is true. However, a victor can still emerge.”
Our gazes collided once more.
This time, far more fiercely—as though actual blades were clashing.
Cheon Do-ja suddenly burst into laughter.
“Hehehehe! What a fascinating man you are!”
His laughter echoed through the surroundings.
“Overturning the Go Board, no less. That too could be a method.”
Cheon Do-ja dropped the Black Stone he held onto the Go Board.
Not at any precise location—simply anywhere.
“But if it comes to that, it ceases to be Baduk, does it not?”
“That is so. Yet sometimes, what is not Baduk may itself be the answer.”
At my calm words, Cheon Do-ja rested his chin on his hand and gazed at me.
“You are truly a fascinating man. Completing the Three Mysteries as One, and now proposing to overturn the Go Board.”
“You are too kind.”
“It is no overstatement.”
Cheon Do-ja’s voice suddenly turned grave.
“Then, can you accomplish it?”
“Accomplish what, sir?”
“Overturning the Go Board.”
Cheon Do-ja rose to his feet.
“This vast Go Board that is the world itself.”
Tension rippled through Seol Woon-hwi’s body.
The aura of the Martial World Supreme began to reveal itself gradually. Yet it held no hostility—rather, it felt like anticipation.
I became certain once more.
I did not know what Cheon Do-ja was scheming.
But he desired the restoration of the Thousand Year Demon Cult.
And he intended to make either Yu Cheong or me the master of that Thousand Year Demon Cult.
I spoke.
“I respect and revere you, Cheon Do-ja.”
“Heh heh… this time, I should be the one honored…”
“But I am no one’s Go Stone.”
I stepped forward.
The aura of the Martial World Supreme?
A man I followed like my father in my previous life?
Before all that, I am a martial artist.
Because I think of myself as a martial artist, I intend to live and die as one.
A martial artist must never cower, regardless of who faces them.
Even if death comes this very moment, they must not break.
They must not deny the path they have walked.
Therefore.
I spoke to Cheon Do-ja the very words I had once spoken before.
“If you attempt to use me, Cheon Do-ja, you too shall pay a terrible price.”
“A price… for instance?”
“Your life.”
“Ho…?”
Seol Woon-hwi and Cheon Do-ja, facing each other, differed somewhat in appearance, yet in physique and bearing.
They resembled each other in a way no one could deny.
“You always manage to astound me.”
It was sincere.
“Some would call you mad. Others would call it recklessness. Yet this spirit that refuses to bend even in the face of imminent death—that is the very virtue that completes the meaning of the word ‘martial artist.'”
One who understands that value now spreads his own wings and demonstrates his conviction.
This is not recklessness, nor is it madness.
It is proof.
Cheon Do-ja is no petty person, and neither am I.
“You resemble him. You truly resemble him.”
“Resemble whom, sir?”
Cheon Do-ja chuckled softly.
“The one who was heaven before me.”
“May I ask who that is?”
Cheon Do-ja shook his head.
“It is the same as my not asking what conversation you had with Jeok Ma Dae-gun inside the Secret Realm.”
“Then it is something I should not know at this moment.”
“Your perception is indeed sharp.”
“I shall take it as a compliment.”
“Hehehehe….”
Cheon Do-ja, laughing thus, patted Seol Woon-hwi’s shoulder.
“Though I have known you for but a short time, strangely it feels as though we have walked together for countless ages.”
Seol Woon-hwi offered no reply.
Cheon Do-ja lowered his hand and seated himself once more before the Go Board.
He spoke.
“Go now.”
“I shall repay the favor regarding that head when the opportunity presents itself.”
“Hehehehe… I look forward to it.”
It was just as Seol Woon-hwi, having performed the Embracing Fist salute with proper courtesy, was turning to depart.
“Forgive me, but I wish to ask one more thing.”
“Please speak.”
“What do you think of me?”
It was a truly sudden question.
Yet the answer to that question had already been settled long ago, and it remained unchanged even now.
I answered with sincerity.
“A genius among geniuses, sir.”
“Is that all?”
“….”
Seol Woon-hwi fell silent for a long while.
And finally, I opened my mouth.
“Though it may be presumptuous, I believe you to be a lonely person.”
“Lonely…?”
Cheon Do-ja’s eyes wavered.
“Heh… hehehehe… I have been struck down, have I? A lonely old man finds solace in spending time with a genius young master who deigns to converse with him…? So I indulge you, deceive myself, and bear with it? Is this how you rebuke the Martial World Supreme?”
Seol Woon-hwi shook his head, gazing at Cheon Do-ja’s melancholic smile.
“That is not what I meant.”
“Then what do you mean?”
“You stand in a place far too lofty. That is where you are, Elder Cheon.”
“….”
“I sense the anguish of one who has pondered alone.”
“….”
“That is why you are lonely. And since we’re speaking of it, I cannot say what binds you, but Cheon Do-ja, you could overturn the Go Board this very moment if you wished.”
“…Overturn it, you say… Am I the one?”
“Yes.”
“Unfortunately, I cannot overturn it.”
“May I ask the reason?”
Cheon Do-ja laughed softly.
“Because I made a promise with a man.”
“….”
“I have a duty to honor that promise with him. Whether you or I, as we live our lives, we accumulate many different titles. Martial World Supreme, Snow Mountain Demon Lord, Blood Heaven Sovereign—such names.”
Seol Woon-hwi sensed ‘regret’ in Cheon Do-ja’s bearing now.
“Regardless of what titles we are called, you and I are ultimately men, are we not?”
“That is true.”
“A man’s word is.”
“Worth its weight in gold.”
He gestured toward the Go Board.
“I play this game of Baduk alone, with no opponent, but before long, you will sit across from me.”
“I await that day.”
A subtle anticipation began to crystallize in Cheon Do-ja’s gaze.
“Do not die before then.”
“….”
“And….”
Cheon Do-ja spoke his final words.
“I have never had a disciple. Not once have I considered taking anyone as my student—until this conversation with you today.”
‘Today’.
This was what mattered most.
At Yang Ling-ju, the meeting of these two had been merely a visual acknowledgment of each other’s existence.
But Cheon Do-ja had changed his mind.
Seol Woon-hwi could not answer easily.
In his previous life, Seol Woon-hwi had been Cheon Do-ja’s disciple, his adopted son, and one of those he cherished.
Yet at the final moment, Cheon Do-ja had abandoned him.
I still do not know why.
If I were to become Cheon Do-ja’s disciple now, I would walk the same path as before, and if that were to happen….
I shook my head.
That is not it.
This life now is a new life.
The path I must walk is one I seize for myself, and I must not fear forging a way where none existed before.
This is what Cheon Do-ja taught me.
Seol Woon-hwi performed the Embracing Fist salute once more.
“It would be the greatest honor, but I cannot accept it, Cheon Do-ja.”
“Heh heh… what a pity.”
Cheon Do-ja, who had been silent for a moment, spoke softly.
“Go now. And that Flawed Dantian you created will inevitably become a grave problem one day. If you ever wish to know how to resolve it, come find me at the Main Sect.”
“I will attempt to resolve it myself first. Only if I find no solution will I consider your offer.”
“The confidence of youth is truly a sight to behold.”
Cheon Do-ja said nothing more, and I remained silent as well.
Naturally, I turned and began to walk away.
Despite what I had said, everyone was dancing to the tune of the board Cheon Do-ja had created.
Even if I wished to escape, there was no realistic way to do so.
That was the measure of his existence.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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