Eyes snapped open, dazed.

A blurred scene spilled into view, as though smothered in fog.

And beyond that haze—something moved.

The instant I caught sight of it, my breath hitched.

The ground was carpeted with corpses.

Every inch crammed with butchered, mangled bodies.

Blades, spears, daggers—every manner of weapon lay scattered among them.

Blood seeped from the dead until it filled the earth itself.

If hell existed, surely it would look like this.

That thought rose unbidden.

What the hell is this place?

No memory placed me here.

Not in my recollections.

A nightmare?

I turned, scanning the grisly mounds, when—

Upon the piled corpses, someone stood.

One alive amidst death.

Broad back rising solitary from the slaughter.

His body was a map of scars, his skin still bleeding from fresh cuts.

Anyone would have reeled in agony—but he stood, unmoved.

What is that?

Familiarity tugged at me. 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

That massive, muscle-packed frame.

Those scars, half-hidden beneath blood. I’d seen them before.

My gaze locked to him.

Why was he the only one here?

And why did I feel as if I knew him?

The questions compounded until—

Sssssss.

—!?

The man turned his head, slow as grinding stone.

And his face turned toward me.

Our eyes met.

Blue light burned behind a mask of blood.

The instant it struck me, my breath froze. Terror surged after.

Tremble, tremble.

My body quaked, overwhelmed, betraying me.

Run.

If this was a nightmare, I had to escape.

That primal instinct swallowed everything.

But—I couldn’t.

Even trying to turn away, my neck felt locked in iron.

“......”

We stared for a long, punishing span.

Then the man spoke.

“Enough. Wake up.”

And with those words—

My eyes snapped open.

****

“Hhhhuuuhhhk—!”

I jerked upright, gasping.

“Hhhuhh... hhhuuhhh...”

Sweat drenched my brow; I wiped it away with a trembling hand.

My whole body was slick with cold perspiration.

“...What... was that?”

Panic rattled in my thoughts.

What the hell just happened...?

I can’t remember.

For all the torment it left in my flesh, the nightmare itself was already gone.

“...What the hell?”

The unease sat like rot in my gut.

Could a morning start worse than this? With my mood fouled, I pushed to rise—

Twitch!

“Khhuughk!?”

Agony stabbed through my torso, dropping me to one knee.

No—before I could even fold fully—

Tzzzrk!

“Ghhhuuaaghh!”

Now the pain shot from my leg.

Upper and lower body rebelling together, I collapsed face-first into the bed, writhing pathetically.

“Hhhuhh... hhhuuhhhk...”

What the hell was this?

I forced myself to check.

Bandages covered me—across my chest, across my thigh where the pain throbbed fiercest.

The memories flooded back.

“...Where... am I?”

This wasn’t the cave.

Instead, I lay in a room—lavish, far beyond anything I’d seen since reincarnating into the Central Plains.

Not a warrior’s barracks, not a branch dormitory. The furniture, the walls—extravagant.

“What the...?”

I staggered to make sense of it—

Click!

The door opened.

“...!”

Tension snapped my body taut. Had I been captured? Kidnapped? My eyes darted, hunting anything I could wield—

“Hhhk!”

But the gasp came not from me, but the figure entering.

A middle-aged woman, her eyes going wide the moment she saw me awake.

Recognition struck.

“Ah.”

She was the medical officer who oversaw the Martial Alliance Anhui Branch infirmary.

I’d only glimpsed her rarely—she treated only officers and higher ranks.

Why was she here, striding into this chamber—

“Y-Young Master Bang is awake! Prepare the examination—now!”

“...What?”

“Notify the Branch Leader immediately!!”

Noise exploded from the hallway.

—“Hot water, quickly!”

—“Bring the instruments!”

—“Alert the Commander as well!”

“...What the hell?”

Chaos spiraled around me.

Was this still the dream?

I slapped myself hard across the cheek.

SMAACK!

“Oww...!”

“Hhhhk!?”

Pain seared. Too sharp to be false.

Not a dream.

But then why did the medical officer reel as if I’d stabbed her?

“Y-Young Master! Why would you do such a thing...!”

She rushed toward me, reaching out yet flinching back at the last inch, as if afraid to touch my skin.

Her face twisted with guilt and dread.

“Ahh... I should have treated you more personally... If you were displeased, forgive me! Rather—kill me instead!!”

“...What are you even saying, Medical Officer?”

What the hell was wrong with her?

Last I checked, she’d pawn patients like me off on apprentices.

When I’d bled from my scalp in the Lust Demon sting, she hadn’t given me more than a snort.

And now—groveling?

“I failed to recognize your honored personage... burdened you with neglect... Please forgive ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) me! Kill me instead!”

“N-no! Please don’t—!”

Terrifying. Absolutely terrifying.

Had the world cracked in half overnight?

At least it confirmed one thing—this was the Anhui Branch.

But nothing else made sense.

“I will begin a full examination immediately. Please... suppress your anger for a moment...”

“......”

I wasn’t even angry. If anything, she looked more petrified than I felt.

I just lay back with a blank face until she seemed ready to beg for death again.

“Kill me inst—!”

“I’ll lie down. I’m lying down, okay? Just... stop.”

Enough was enough.

Better to play along than deal with another outburst.

****

Half an hour passed with me lying on the plush bedding, staring at the ceiling while the physicians hovered.

“...Fortunately, nothing critical remains. Regeneration is progressing. You’ll be fully healed within two months.”

Not just the Medical Officer, but several attendants surrounded me, ready at every beck and call.

I’d never seen anything like it.

‘Since when do patients get four doctors at once?’

Usually one apprentice at best.

This was obscene luxury.

And it didn’t end there.

“Then the worst is past?”

“Yes... indeed.”

The Medical Officer bowed her head in confirmation.

The man who had spoken gave a relieved nod.

“Excellent. Young Master Bang... we feared for you greatly.”

His eyes glittered with earnestness, so genuine it made me squirm.

Until yesterday he’d looked at me as if I were lint on his sleeve.

“...That guy’s even capable of eyes like that?”

Because this was no ordinary officer.

This was the Branch Leader of the Anhui Branch itself.

In a year of service, I’d seen him only twice before. Rank-and-file agents never approached him.

But now—

“I worried so much I could not sleep through the night...”

He spoke to me, stumbling over honorifics.

“...Uh... yes...”

I had no idea how to respond.

If this wasn’t still a dream, what the hell was it?

“If you find the chamber lacking, I’ll yield my own quarters to you—”

“There’s no need!”

I recoiled at once.

This, it turned out, was the chamber reserved for honored guests of the branch.

So that explained why I’d never seen it before.

The bedding really was too soft for my own good...

‘No, no. Focus.’

I shook my head, pulling myself back.

“Branch Leader...”

“Yes, speak.”

Even his polite tone was unnatural.

I forced myself to ignore it.

“Why am I here?”

If I’d crawled back from the cave, I should be lying in the infirmary, not in a guest chamber, not with everyone tripping over themselves to serve me.

The Branch Leader’s face tightened.

“Ah... that...”

Hesitation.

As though words weighed heavily in his mouth.

If this wasn’t a dream, then I needed answers.

‘How did I even get out of that cave alive?’

Yoo Hyungin, bleeding out.

Pungyeon’s betrayal.

Even Yeon So Cheon had been in peril.

And I’d been cut down myself.

I shouldn’t be here.

‘Back then, I’m sure—’

After Pungyeon slashed my thigh and turned toward Yeon...

And then...

And then...

Zzzrk.

“Urrghh...!”

A stab of headache as I tried to recall.

I clutched my forehead; the attendants flinched in alarm.

“Y-Young Master Bang!”

“Are you hurt!?”

“Summon the physician—!”

“The physician is here already, Branch Leader—!”

“...I-I’m fine.”

Their panic was worse than the pain.

“Forget that. Explain first...”

“That explanation... allow me.”

The voice came from the doorway.

I turned.

A young man entered—white hair, eyes dark yet tinged faintly with blue, features strikingly handsome.

Yeon So Cheon.

But—

“...Agent Yeon?”

I blinked.

He wasn’t in the plain garb of an agent. He was dressed like a scion of a great house, refined and noble.

His already irritatingly flawless face had been polished further—enough to make me want to swear out loud.

“....”

He smiled faintly, walked forward—and then, without warning—

Kneel.

He sank to his knees before me, lowering his head.

“...Forgive the late introduction.”

“...Agent Yeon? What are you doing—”

“My true name is Cheon Eujin of the Blue Moon Sect.”

“...What?”

I froze.

Blue Moon Sect...?

Even the name was enough to stagger me.

But he wasn’t finished.

Hands folded, he bowed lower.

“I, an unworthy descendant of the Sect, greet the successor of the Sword Saint.”

The world stopped.

...Who the hell did he just call the successor of the Sword Saint?