The truth is, that day he didn’t know.

Only after many years, looking /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ back, did he finally realize.

Ah! That day, my life changed.

For Yong Ja-myeong, that day was such a day.

Not only because he had narrowly escaped death, but because his attitude toward life had changed.

“At that time, I was always confident.”

And with reason. He was young, smart, and had excellent business sense, succeeding in everything he tried.

“I even thought sleeping was a waste of time. With money scattered everywhere, if I didn’t pick it up first, someone else would.”

In his youth, he was completely absorbed in the joy of making money, to the extent that no other feeling could outweigh that pleasure.

“I succeeded one after another. It seemed like the world’s fortune focused solely on me. But I didn’t become arrogant. Rather, I became more humble and worked harder. Yet misfortune inevitably came.”

Yong Ja-myeong quietly looked down at his cup. In its reflection, he saw his younger self.

“Danjoo, you will become the god of the upper world!”

Manso said with a broad smile.

“Don’t gild my face for no reason.”

Yong Ja-myeong shook his head and smiled. His smile, comforting to those who saw it, was the same even in his youth.

“It’s not gilding. You know how many merchants I’ve met, don’t you? Just wait, you will surely become the best merchant.”

He had known Manso for about three or four years. Manso made his living by doing various jobs around merchants.

He gathered product information, arranged workers, connected ronin to guilds. In a good light, he was versatile; in a bad one, he took on all the odd jobs. He helped the Eunha Trade Guild’s affairs as if they were his own, so everyone there liked him.

One day,

“We’ve arrived.”

The two entered a small manor.

The reason for coming today was for Manso to introduce someone.

“Now that the guild is established, we must recruit warriors. It’s no time to delay.”

At that time, before Yong Ja-myeong had ties with Baek Chong, there were no warriors affiliated with the guild.

They used the Pyo-guk for transporting goods, and the guild’s affairs were handled by longtime workers. When guards were needed, they introduced warriors through Manso.

But as the guild grew, the need for affiliated warriors grew. The value and quantity of goods increased. It wasn’t something that could be solved just by men guarding the warehouse in turns.

However, Yong Ja-myeong hesitated.

What if those warriors had ulterior motives?

That worry never left his mind.

Because of his distrustful nature. But finally, persuaded by Manso, he agreed to meet the expert.

“Who is the warrior you will introduce?”

“A trustworthy person. If you don’t like him, you don’t have to decide.”

If Manso trusted him, Yong Ja-myeong deemed him trustworthy. Manso had never disappointed him before.

But that disappointment came today.

The first impression of the awaited warrior was not good. His sharp eyes had a sensual edge, and he looked sly somehow. Facial scars and twisted lips.

“Nice to meet you.”

At Yong Ja-myeong’s greeting, the warrior smiled wickedly. That smile made Yong Ja-myeong uneasy.

He looked at Manso beside him.

‘Is this the kind of person you call trustworthy?’

Manso smiled as always. That smile felt strangely unfamiliar this day, when the warrior spoke.

“Interest?”

At that one word, filled with impure intent, Yong Ja-myeong’s heart dropped.

The warrior picked up a bottle of liquor from the table and drank straight from it, then threw the papers beside it to the floor.

“Sign.”

Yong Ja-myeong returned to reality.

“That man came in by pulling in that warrior. Do you know what I was really afraid of then?”

Geom Mugeuk poured him more liquor and asked,

“What was it?”

“That my death would be a meaningless one.”

Geom Mugeuk understood the meaning well.

“They were after a not-so-large sum of money.”

Yong Ja-myeong nodded.

“The money they tried to steal was only a few thousand nyang. Of course, it was a lot to some, but for me, firmly building the guild’s base, it wasn’t much. It was just a plan to embezzle goods from the warehouse. Possible only with documents bearing my signature. Manso often helped with our affairs.”

“Manso must have roughly known your wealth?”

“He did.”

“Why didn’t they try for more money?”

“The warrior who conspired with them wasn’t ordinary. He was the infamous Eumhyeol-gwi (陰血鬼).”

Eumhyeol-gwi.

He was a notorious lecher and killer known in the martial world, on the alliance’s wanted list regardless of age.

“At that time, he was fleeing from someone, hurriedly trying to raise funds. That’s when he joined with Manso, whom he had known before.”

These facts were revealed later.

“Can you believe it? A lifetime free from such scum, yet I got entangled like this.”

Geom Mugeuk silently listened. His role now was to listen.

“I asked Manso, ‘You roughly know my fortune, right? So why do you commit such acts for just a few thousand nyang?’”

Yong Ja-myeong’s face flushed as if recalling.

“He shamelessly smiled and said, ‘Then give me more.’”

Anger showed on Yong Ja-myeong’s face.

“I was furious. Not at him, but at myself for being deceived by such a wretch. A filthy man who associated with lechers, yet I didn’t notice a sign.”

“So what happened then?”

Yong Ja-myeong drank, and Geom Mugeuk refilled his cup. These were words that needed liquor.

“They beat him up first.”

Bam! Bam!

During the continued beating, Yong Ja-myeong shouted,

“I’ll sign! I will!”

The one beating him was not the Eumhyeol-gwi but Manso.

He ignored the protests and kept beating. It was clear the purpose was to break his spirit.

Merchants sometimes need to break the other’s spirit during deals. He chose the most extreme and fastest method.

When someone who has never fought faces violence for the first time, they quickly yield. Shock, pain, fear — the heart collapses instantly. A terror no one understands without experiencing.

“Please! Stop!”

Yong Ja-myeong curled up, protecting his head and face.

He despaired, not from being hit, but because they revealed themselves openly.

‘They will kill me in the end.’

Stopping the beating, Manso suddenly lifted Yong Ja-myeong.

“Now, sign.”

Yong Ja-myeong knew signing meant death.

“You’ll give more money. A really large sum...”

Bam!

Manso’s fist flew again. The beating grew harsher. Manso knew Yong Ja-myeong was smart and wouldn’t sign easily, so he tried to break his spirit.

Screaming, Yong Ja-myeong thought only,

‘I must live. I don’t want to die by these scum!’

Manso lifted him again.

Meanwhile, the Eumhyeol-gwi stared out the window. Looking like he was chased, he seemed anxious.

“Hurry up and finish!”

At his words, Manso pushed Yong Ja-myeong.

“Sign.”

“I’ll give all my fortune, so…”

Bam! Bam!

Pain and fear overpowered him.

Tears streamed down Yong Ja-myeong’s face. Tears of pain and tears of injustice.

He had lived so hard — reducing sleep, trying to treat the guild people well.

Was this the end of his effort, just such a death?

He shouldn’t have trusted others. Though he said he didn’t trust, in words.

“You will become the god of the upper world!”

He was intoxicated by that sweet promise. Deceived by people, he came to his senses too late.

What if it had been a choice whether to lose all fortune or not?

Would that have been better?

“Please save me.”

He prayed to the heavens. If there was a god of merchants, he prayed to that god too.

“If you save me! If you save me!”

He hadn’t even made a promise yet when the door opened.

With a moved expression, Yong Ja-myeong said,

“He entered there.”

Geom Mugeuk recalled the moment. His father in youth.

“When he entered, I felt the air in the room change.”

Yong Ja-myeong closed his eyes and recalled. While earlier memories were painful, now they were joyful and nostalgic.

“How should I describe this man?”

Seeing Yong Ja-myeong pondering, Geom Mugeuk smiled.

“It won’t be easy to express from just that brief meeting.”

“First, I thought he was handsome.”

“More handsome than me?”

At Geom Mugeuk’s question, Yong Ja-myeong firmly nodded.

“I think you momentarily forgot who you are.”

“Sorry, but he is my benefactor.”

“I take that as added merit points.”

Laughing at the joke, Yong Ja-myeong smiled. Now it was a pleasant story, so he was relaxed.

“He was handsome yet strong. Somehow cold and dignified. I don’t know how to describe him.”

“I want to see my father’s youth too. I wish I had been there then.”

“The moment I saw him, the Eumhyeol-gwi trembled. I had never seen such extreme fear on a face before. I could tell the man made the villain nervous the whole time. Then suddenly, a bright light flashed, and the lecher shattered and crumbled beyond recognition. You, as a warrior, might enjoy such stories, but to me, it was as if I saw nothing.”

Seeing him shattered like that must have angered the Heavenly Demon. Probably because he had violated and murdered a woman from the Heavenly Demon Sect.

“So what did you do?”

“At first, I was frozen and couldn’t say a word. When he looked at me, he shouted, ‘Please spare me! I’m not allied with the interest takers!’”

Yong Ja-myeong returned to that day and place.

He still remembers. The look in that man’s eyes.

His gaze asked why he should be trusted and spared.

Yong Ja-myeong sensed life or death hung on his answer. What should he say? His mind pondered, but his mouth spoke already. His instincts worked.

“The one who tried to kill me always said, ‘You will become the god of the upper world.’ I want to make that happen.”

He didn’t know why he said that. It just slipped out.

The man did not act on guesswork. He went to the table and looked at the contract there. It was clear from the contract that the signature was forced.

This time, the man looked at Manso.

“He is lying. The man is…”

He waited, but no more words came. Manso, skilled in speech even in such a situation, was different today.

Meeting the man’s silent gaze, he strangely lost words.

Though he lived a lifetime of hypocrisy and lies, at this final moment he died without a single lie, truly.

With a flash of light, his body was bisected.

“Please, tell me Eun-gong’s name.”

But the man left silently.

“I will surely repay and become the world’s greatest merchant!”

He made a promise to that man, unspoken to heaven.

It was a regret. If only he had said a word of thanks or smiled at him.

He left as suddenly as he came.

“That’s what happened that day.”

Geom Mugeuk raised his cup to him. Yong Ja-myeong toasted and drank silently.

For a moment, they both thought of the same person.

“You kept your promise to become the world’s greatest merchant.”

“But he doesn’t know, does he?”

That was the greatest regret. He wanted to meet and tell that person.

“Do you remember? The one who saved you then. I became the greatest merchant, just like I said.”

If only he could say that, there would be no regrets. It could have been dismissed as ‘just luck,’ but for some reason, that person kept coming to mind. It felt as if bound by the chains of fate.

“I searched everywhere for Eun-gong but couldn’t find him. No one said they had seen him. Sometimes I wonder, did I dream it?”

It was such a deep regret. Year by year, he grew older. That person surely aged too. How had he changed? What was he doing?

“Do you have a portrait of him?”

Yong Ja-myeong took out a piece of paper carefully from his bosom. So fragile it seemed it might tear.

“I always carry it.”

The paper, folded neatly in silk, was old and discolored, the edges ready to tear.

“This is the original portrait I drew then. I made hundreds trying to find him but gave up, thinking it might burden him.”

Geom Mugeuk looked at the faded face on the worn paper. Though faded beyond recognition for a stranger, he saw his father in it.

His father.

Now he saw his father’s youth like this.

“I don’t remember his face well anymore.”

He thought he’d never forget. No, he was sure he never would, but like the portrait, it faded with time.

Yong Ja-myeong watched Geom Mugeuk staring at the portrait.

In his clear, deep eyes was longing.

‘Why does he look at it like that?’

Next moment, Yong Ja-myeong shuddered.

A face, once fading like fog, began to reappear.

A face that had recently only grown dimmer, suddenly became vivid as if yesterday’s event.

‘Eun-gong!’

Seeing the face clearly brought joy. It felt as if the man stood right in front of him.

‘Why?’

What reason mattered? The joy mattered.

‘I have grown old, but you remain the same. Eun-gong, where are you now and what are you doing? Are you struggling without money? I have plenty. Come find me and repay that kindness!’

Then, absentmindedly, Yong Ja-myeong looked at Geom Mugeuk.

“!”

He got goosebumps all over. The feeling was similar to Eun-gong then and Geom Mugeuk now. It was as if that man sat right before him. Though they didn’t look that alike.

At that moment—

“……Could it be?”

The young face of Eun-gong began to overlap with another.

The face of the one who had called him here.

The absolute master of this age.

Thus, the face of Demon Sect Master Geom Woo-jin merged across time with the young face of Eun-gong.

The two faces became one.