Reincarnator’s Stream

Chapter 206

Cheon Ryang woke up a few days later.

As he regained consciousness, his entire body screamed in pain. He winced at the bruises and torn wounds as he struggled to sit up.

“Those bastards…”

Fortunately, they hadn’t killed him. It seemed they had left him like this to show someone.

And as Cheon Ryang got up, he faced that ‘someone’ beyond the iron bars.

“Awake now?”

Sitting crouched and watching him, Un Hyang waved.

His heart sank at the sight, and Baek Lidan’s words echoed in his mind.

“…Un Hyang?”

“Yeah, it’s me.”

“Why are you here?”

She didn’t answer the question, instead giving a nonchalant grin that reminded him of her younger self. She had always been adept at hiding her pain.

“I just came back.”

“Are you even making sense?”

“Hiding and living in secrecy was tiring. I’m sick of being a manager.”

“Sick of it? That’s a lie.”

“I’m planning to return as a player. Need to reclaim my old reputation.”

It wasn’t much of a conversation as it was a one-sided declaration.

She spoke with a smiling face, but her eyes, staring at Cheon Ryang through the bars, said otherwise.

It was just an excuse; she wanted to seem fine.

“And you’re terrible at acting. Did you say all that just to push me away? You didn’t have to do that. Anyways, I’m…”

*BAM!*

Cheon Ryang slammed his head against the bars.

His skull throbbed, and blood dripped from his forehead, but he was still conscious, and his anger remained unresolved.

It had ended up like this again.

Time had passed, they were both adults now, and despite all their struggles against fate, they had returned to this point.

It felt like an inescapable destiny, making it hard to breathe.

“Again…”

Cheon Ryang glared at Un Hyang through the bars with an expression he had never shown before.

“Should I pretend not to know like a fool?”

“…….”

“Just run away. Kill me here, and use what you learned from your dad to escape. You could do it alone, right?”

Un Hyang despised using anything she learned from Un Cheon-guk.

As a result, neither Cheon Ryang nor anyone else had ever seen Un Hyang use the family’s skills she learned from him.

If anyone did see, they met the same fate as Reinhardt—death.

“There’s no need.”

Un Hyang, who had been crouching, stood up.

“I’ll get you out soon. Just rest a bit longer.”

As Un Hyang turned to leave, Cheon Ryang called out.

“How about we make a bet?”

She paused, almost stopping mid-step.

A bet? Suddenly?

“On whether you’ll stay here or not.”

“A bet?”

“Yeah. I can’t stand seeing you here.”

Especially if it was because of him.

Cheon Ryang kept his last thought to himself and continued speaking.

“Just like old times, let’s wager on it. How about it?”

Un Hyang looked into his eyes at his abrupt proposal.

She tried to decipher his thoughts, but his usually transparent face was unreadable now.

What are you thinking?

After pondering for a long while, she asked.

“But you’ve never beaten me, have you?”

“Well, you’ll never know until you try.”

He said confidently.

Unable to resist, Un Hyang eventually nodded.

“Alright, let’s do it. A bet.”

With that, she exited the cell.

“This time, I’ll win.”

Watching her retreating figure, Cheon Ryang muttered.

“I’ll make sure of it.”

* * *

I was an orphan.

The name was Cheon Ryang. No one gave it to me. At some point, I just started calling myself that.

No matter how much I thought about it, the fact that I didn’t have a name felt too sad.

“Divine Dragon Group?”

A warrior from the Divine Dragon Group invited me to join them.

It was probably right after I had a fight on the street. At that time, I was deeply engrossed in fighting and pickpocketing.

“Why me, from a place like that?”

“We support talented kids like you who have no background.”

I had thoughts like that before.

Am I not a genius? Even kids my age and those much bigger than me couldn’t handle me.

If this isn’t genius, what is it? Don’t you agree?

“Fine, let’s go.”

The decision was easy. I had nothing anyway.

The place I was brought to was entirely different from the rural village I was from.

The roof had hundreds of thousands of tiles. The walls looked to be over ten floors high, filled with formidable-looking warriors.

“Wow…”

I gaped foolishly at the sight.

*Slurp* I quickly wiped the drool trickling from my mouth with my sleeve. I felt stares mocking me from around.

Following the warrior from the Divine Dragon Group, I was led to an annex a little away from the main fortress.

“This will be where you stay.”

“Here, really?”

It looked a bit old compared to other facilities but I was satisfied. For someone who had been wandering the streets, having a roof was enough.

“From tomorrow, you’ll begin serious training.”

Those words blew away all my impressions of the accommodation. The thought of learning martial arts made my heart pound.

That night, I don’t think I slept a wink.

‘If I am here anyway, I’ll become the best.’

It was such a childish thought.

To be arrogant just because I had fought on the streets. To dream of becoming the best in the Divine Dragon Group with just that much.

But it was fortunate.

I realized in just one day how impossible and grandiose that dream was.

*Pababapak*

“……”

What happened?

For the first time, I lost a fight with someone my age. I was confident in fighting. It was a shock.

And it wasn’t just a loss.

I was knocked out with one blow, without even knowing how I fell to the ground.

Moreover, my opponent was a girl much smaller than me.

For someone who had beaten older and bigger guys than me, the shock of that day remained unforgettable.

“Are you alright?”

As I lay on the ground staring up at the sky, I saw her face.

Un Hyang.

The real genius I met, like a frog in a well seeing the world for the first time.

“Did I hit you too hard? You’re really weak.”

*Snap*

I got mad.

Not only was it my first time losing to someone, but also being called weak.

“Let’s fight again!”

I charged at her, panting, but the result was the same. I was knocked out once more with a single blow.

It was from that moment.

Despite not being able to keep up, I unconsciously held a rivalry and followed Un Hyang everywhere.

“Bet with me!”

“What’s it this time?”

“A running race!”

“Alright. Bet some sweets?”

Although I kept losing these bets, I continued to challenge her.

Every time I lost, I had to scrounge up money to buy her sweets.

At some point, I realized.

Oh, I can never win against her no matter what I do.

This is what a true genius is.

Talented in every field, beautiful, and strong.

She shone brightly. Although I had never seen a gem, if I were a rock, Un Hyang would definitely be a gem.

Despite that, I continued to challenge Un Hyang to bets. I just wanted to keep hanging out with her.

Before I knew it, we had become friends.

Then, one day.

“Did you get hurt somewhere?”

That flawless person came back injured for the first time.

Bruises were visible on her limbs, and a dark shadow loomed over her face. She seemed so exhausted that you could sense it from afar.

“Just got hurt while training.”

“You haven’t shown up for a few days, have you?”

“I was training alone. After learning from the instructor, I made a lot of mistakes training by myself.”

Mistakes? Her?

I couldn’t picture it. Just what kind of extreme training had she been doing to end up in this state?

The thought of challenging her today swirled in my mouth but vanished before I could say it.

I wanted to hang out with her, but I couldn’t say those words to her weary face.

However,

“Let’s go. Let’s have something sweet.”

Un Hyang, with that tired face, reached out her hand.

“I’ll treat you today. We’ll compete next time.”

* * *

It seemed like a few hours had passed since Un Hyang left.

Cheon Ryang sat there with his eyes closed, lost in a daze for quite some time.

As he reminisced about the past, an inappropriate smile formed on his lips.

It took quite some time, but he finally made up his mind. He was ready.

He barely managed to move his tightly bound hands and pulled out a sharp needle hidden inside his sleeve.

He had always thought a time like this might come.

The day when he would drag Un Hyang down, pulling her into the abyss.

This was the poison he had prepared for that day.

The soft feelings that had come with his old memories vanished in an instant. He hung his head and bit his lip until it bled.

“Damn it…”

Even on a normal day, his tone wasn’t refined, but now stronger curses flowed.

No matter how grand the reason, who wouldn’t fear death? Especially since Cheon Ryang was not as brave as Un Hyang.

He feared dying.

Very much.

But that wasn’t why he cursed.

“That idiot… she’ll think I died because of her, right?”

He couldn’t deny it.

Still, wasn’t this fair? After all, she had thrown her life away for him first.

But if Un Hyang found out about this.

Cheon Ryang closed his eyes, imagining Un Hyang blaming herself for everything.

‘Please, don’t.’

He had hoped such a day would never come.

If he’d known it would come to this, he wouldn’t have said such harsh words and would have parted on better terms.

And just as the sharp poisoned needle was about to pierce his wrist,

“What are you doing now?”

A familiar voice broke through the darkness like a ray of light.

“Are you trying to die?”

Cheon Ryang raised his head, trembling. Beyond the dark bars, he saw a very familiar face.

“Suhyuk… nim…”

Lee Suhyuk.

Their streamer, masked, concealing his face.

He was an extraordinary person. Truly, there seemed that there was nothing he couldn’t achieve.

At that moment, Cheon Ryang sincerely wished.

That he was indeed the real Lee Suhyuk.

His next words came out of that wish impulsively.

“……Please help me.”

Slowly, with hands clasped together in fervent prayer, he pleaded.

“Please, please…”

Even as he begged, he bowed his head in shame.

He knew.

Streamer and manager. The flimsy bond they had was built on such a tenuous understanding.

The moment the contract ended, they would go their separate ways. Yet, because Suhyuk had fought for Un Hyang, he was making such an unreasonable request.

Even ten lives wouldn’t cover this request.

To ask him to help Un Hyang in the heart of the Divine Dragon Group was like asking him to fight a war alone.

He knew this.

But he had no one else to turn to.

If begging like this could get him help from someone, if there was hope for them once more, he would beg again and again.

“Heuh, heuh-huh.”

“You don’t need to ask so desperately.”

*Creak*

Suhyuk’s grip tightened on the bars.

His face was hidden behind the mask. Far behind him, the fighters of the Divine Dragon Group were watching him.

Turning to face them, the veins on Suhyuk’s forehead bulged.

“You are already my comrades.”