Chapter 121: Emptying It All Out

[Translator – Aren]

Hey guys, quick announcement before the chapter! We're hosting an original NovelPhoenix contest with a $1000 prize pool, a chance to publish your novel on WeTried, and lifetime free reading access for the top two winners!

There's also a participation prize of 500 coins for everyone participating.

If you've got a story sitting in a folder somewhere, or have been wanting to try writing one, we'd love to read it. You only need your first 10 chapters, and you have until 1st January 2027 to submit. New writers are welcome too!

Full details, rules, and how to enter here!https://wetriedtls.com/announcements/NovelPhoenix-contest

Feel free to send this to anyone you know who writes. Enjoy the chapter!

If you have any questions, please join our discord at

──────

There have been exactly two times in my life when I got horribly motion sick.

The first was when I took a boat in Jeju. I can still remember the feeling of my stomach churning along with every rise and fall of the waves. I wanted to just throw myself into the sea and swim instead.

The second was when I got on a plane at the airport to go to Jeju. I can still vividly remember the instant we took of. The feeling of my ears being ripped apart by the pain, my stomach trembling, and all my insides twisting.

Those experiences made me so sick of Jeju that even now, I couldn’t care less how the place was doing.

And today, being carried here on a woman’s back proudly earned itself a spot in that hall of fame.

Yeah. This was my fault.

Deciding to ride on the back of someone who went flying across rooftops. How damn stupid could I be? It was one of the worst decisions in my, Baek Jemin’s, life.

I hung limp like a corpse being carried around in a coffin.

Still, at this rate I was going to puke inside my gas mask, so I squeezed out every last bit of strength and signaled Go Ryeoha.

-Tap, tap, tap, tap…

I didn't even have the strength to speak. Feeling like I was about to puke at any second, I just started smacking whatever I could reach, her shoulder or whatever.

My eyes had been shut long ago, and sour bile was filling my mouth.

Even the raw rubber smell of the gas mask couldn’t suppress the nausea anymore.

Please put me down, I beg of you!

Then, the instant Go Ryeoha finally stopped, I dropped straight off her back and yanked up my gas mask.

"Bleeeeergh…”

Thank God I hadn’t eaten much.

Or maybe the backlash from Heart-branch magic had already devoured everything. Tears streamed down my face from the sheer physical reaction as I swore to myself that I would never ride on Go Ryeoha’s back again!

After I’d been retching for a while, someone approached me.

"Jemin-ssi, did you enjoy feeling Ryeoha-ssi up earlier?”

"You fucking…shut up!”

Lee Sejun.

Y-y-you evil fucking bastard.

I’m lying here spilling tears, snot, spit, puke, everything inside of me, and that’s what you're asking me?

My arms and legs were trembling from hunger and motion sickness, and I was afraid I’d collapse straight into my own vomit, so I threw myself sideways first.

-Thud.

Only then did I picture what I must look like and start sobbing.

"Uuugh, Mom.”

My poncho and combat uniform were soaked in blood, and my pants were crusted with dried piss.

Fortunately I hadn’t eaten anything, so I hadn’t had a bowel movement. I’d once heard that humans had seven holes, and at least I’d definitely managed to protect one of them. Tears, snot, spit, vomit, piss, sweat. My body was convulsing after pouring out every possible form of bodily fluid.

Even so, I steeled myself.

The Way Beyond Humanity.

The path of a Great Archmage was a path of cultivation where one could only arrive by letting go of many things as a human being, truly emptying oneself. Right now, I was casting away the illusions of shame and social standing and advancing along the road to transcendence.

At that, I felt my mind settle.

Honestly and healthy in my emotions, I caught a glimpse of the realm ofFree and Easy Wandering. The truly strong are those who can face their own emotions freely, unfettered by the shackles of the mundane world, and then simply let them go.

Curled up like an earthworm on a dry plain under the blazing sun, like a maggot writhing on rotten fruit peel, I bawled my eyes out as I pulled myself together.

After briefly sobbing and reaching enlightenment, what returned was an even clearer mind.

-Rustle…

As I pushed myself up and wiped the sweat off my gas mask with one hand, I felt everyone’s eyes turn toward me. Soldiers. Only then did I realize we were already back at Seongnam City Hall Command Post.

Apparently Go Ryeoha had ignored my desperate pleas and kept running, refusing to put me down until we reached Seongnam City Hall.

And yet, once I seemed to have calmed down, Go Ryeoha slowly approached and took off her gas mask. Then she looked at me with bright, round eyes and asked with concern.

"Hubae-nim. Are you okay?”

“...”

"Still, getting back early was important, right?”

I was about to glare at her in irritation, but the moment I saw her sweat-soaked face, my anger melted away.

Shit.

She really was disgustingly pretty.

Even in this situation, looking the way I did, that pathetic masculine urge to act cool and say I was fine started squirming inside me. The childish impulse unique to young men, the desire to show off and look impressive, surged up like a spinal reflex.

If I hadn’t undergone the cultivation of emptying myself by expelling every last drop of tears, snot, spit, vomit, piss, and sweat, I would’ve helplessly knelt before my instincts.

-Stop.

Feeling my blood-soaked poncho flutter, I held out my palm toward Go Ryeoha.

"I’m not okay. Next time, I’ll just crawl back."

"Jemin-ssi really doesn’t look okay right now.”

I heard Lee Sejun snickering, but I held it in.

To someone like me, who had already emptied himself of everything, such petty mockery was nothing more than something I’d dwell on 24 hours a day for 7 straight days. Still, I couldn't deny that Go Ryeoha had helped me, so I thanked her first.

"Still, it must have been rough on you. Thank you, Master. You don’t seem as bothered by my conditions as I expected, though?"

"You can’t abandon someone just because they’re filthy. Back in Seoul, there were plenty of times I had to move people who were in much worse shape than this.”

Go Ryeoha let out a little ‘Ahem,’ putting on a smug little act as she used her index finger to fix the hair stuck to her cheek.

A fitting statement from the leader of the Konkuk University survivors, who had all starved together because she couldn’t bring herself to thin people out.

Still, it did raise my opinion of Go Ryeoha a little. The fact that she hadn’t thrown me aside in disgust after I’d expelled every kind of bodily fluid imaginable during my cultivation meant she had what it took to be a Supreme Archmage.

Just then, Lee Sejun took off his gas mask as well and let out a dry, parched breath.

We three Heart-branch wizards looked, quite literally, like wrecks.

I went without saying, and Go Ryeoha’s poncho was also slick with blood and crushed chunks of flesh.

Lee Sejun was the least messed up of us, but in his case, his filthy inner nature was revealed by his short, scruffy beard growing over his face. The traces of testosterone had become visible in the form of bluish beard shadow.

But looking like this only made the impact stronger.

Even I could barely smell my own urine beneath all the blood I was covered in. Unless someone had grown so used to the smell of blood that they’d become numb to it, they probably wouldn’t even notice.

Weighed down by all the blood, I turned around, my sagging poncho flapping behind me.

It was all in order to squeeze out as much coolness as possible.

-Thud—.

I slung my rifle over my shoulder, held my gas mask neatly against my chest, and smiled with confidence.

"Alright. Then let’s make our triumphant return. Time to show the soldiers what we look like.”

"Hubae-nim?”

"Jemin-ssi. Fuck… Looking like that?”

-Step.

I could hear Go Ryeoha and Lee Sejun running their mouths, but I ignored them. As I headed deeper into the Seongnam City Hall Command Post, I savored the stares of the soldiers watching us through my gas-mask lenses too studded to react.

-Step, step.

After grumbling and hesitating for a while, Go Ryeoha and Lee Sejun had no choice but to follow behind me. Of course. People naturally follow a confident stride.

They say you’re not human if you feel no shame, but how could someone who lets shame toss them around ever achieve greatness as a seeker of magic?

At last, my confidence moved the soldiers’ hearts.

Near a truck, the drone operators sitting around a tangled mass of cables and fiddling with gamepads were the first to stand. As the three of us Heart-branch wizards headed deeper into the Control Point, they took off their VR goggles without hesitation and saluted.

-Clatter

The dog tags attached to their armbands knocked together with a loud, bell-like clatter.

The soldiers standing guard or moving supplies apparently hadn’t heard the full story of what we'd done yet. They were busy subtly edging away from us or cautiously turning their heads aside.

But the drone operators looking at us were different.

Awe.

An emotion close to reverence, paired with fear and respect.

I casually darted my eyes around to look behind me, and Go Ryeoha and Lee Sejun’s reactions couldn’t have been more different.

"Hehe."

Go Ryeoha had the corners of her eyes raised as she busily waved at them.

She must have gotten looks like this from the survivors in Seoul all the time, so apparently it reminded her of the good old days. Her spirits rose so much that I could practically see her shoulders bouncing.

"Hmm."

Lee Sejun, on the other hand, just kept walking calmly as if none of it bothered him.

From the outside, he looked like a true soldier who silently carried out his duty without caring how others reacted, but knowing what this bastard actually wanted made the whole thing seem unbearably fake.

I turned my attention forward again and deliberately slowed my pace.

I was hoping the other soldiers would follow the drone operators’ example and show us some respect too. Unfortunately, the distance between the guard post and the entrance leading deeper into the Seongnam City Hall Command Point was far too short.

And then…

I came up with a brilliant solution.

"Jemin-ssi, why are you suddenly walking backward?”

"Huh? What? Hubae-nim, when did you get all the way back here?”

"The path’s too short. I’m going back to the entrance to go again.”

Lee Sejun's and Go Ryeoha’s reactions couldn’t have been more different.

"Please…damn it. This is so damn embarrassing.”

"Are you walking backward to calm the dizziness from your motion sickness? If that’s the case, I’ll help you!”

Just look at the difference in how they interpret things and talk to me.

Anyone could see it.

Clicking my tongue, I decided to educate Lee Sejun.

"Haah. Sejun. This is why you’re hopeless. Look at Master. See how kindly she speaks?”

"Jemin-ssi. If I’d said I’d help you, would you have reacted the same way?”

I smacked my lips for some reason, then moonwalked all the way back to the entrance.

The sentries stationed near the entrance turned their heads halfway to stare at us, so I gave them a thumbs-up to share a bit of goodwill.

"Thank you for your hard work. The blockade lie is safe because of all of you.”

I marched proudly all the way to the City Hall entrance like that, but only the drone operators kept saluting us.

"We’re going back again.”

"Jemin-ssi, for fuck’s sake…Let’s just go wash up, okay?"

"Ahaha..."

Even Go Ryeoha gave an awkward laugh and seemed to subtly side with Lee Sejun.

However, every man has something he can never yield to, something he can never compromise on. Some people call that pigheaded stubbornness. I call it grit and passion.

I gave the two of them, who clearly lacked the spirit of Supreme Archmages, a quick lesson in proper morale.

"Master, Sejun. Do you know the expression ‘forcing someone to bow to you’?”

"Hubae-nim, you actually know expressions like that?”

"Jemin-ss, that’s exactly what you’re doing right now.”

-Tsk, tsk, tsk…

People who know one thing but not the next. No wonder they lacked the spirit of Supreme Archmages.

"It’s the wisdom of our elders. If the other person won’t do it for you, pressure the hell out of them until they do. Back to the entrance.”

By the time we went for a third attempt, the officers leading the drone operators were weaving through the soldiers and whispering to them.

-Whisper, whisper.

Sometimes just a few insignificant words are enough to move people’s hearts. Officers stationed themselves among the soldiers, then started clapping loudly before anyone else whenever we passed.

-Clap, clap, clap, clap…

With an officer applauding that enthusiastically, the soldiers couldn’t exactly stand there doing nothing.

They all slung their rifles over their shoulders and joined the officers in clapping loudly. Only then could our trio of Supreme Archmages enjoy a proper triumphant return.

At the very end, in front of the Seongnam City Hall entrance, some new faces had gathered as well.

Major Shin Hangi and the key officers were clustered together, applauding us with all their might. When I strode over, Major Shin Hangi welcomed us with shining eyes, though they seemed extremely exhausted.

The moment he finished clapping, he even offered me a handshake.

-Grip.

As we clasped hands and gave them a slight shake, I became certain that trust was building between us.

"I just received the report. Excellent work, Aphorism. The results exceeded expectations.”

"Why was the welcome so late?”

"The moment I got the report, I had to write it up and send it to the higher-ups. I was just at the keyboard. And to be honest, the operation took far less time than we expected, so that delayed our response as well.”

May 18th, 2028, 5:17 AM.

That was when we returned to Seongnam City Hall.

Major Shin Hangi shook hands with Lee Sejun and Go Ryeoha as well.

"Staff Sergeant Lee. Any thoughts about returning to the military?”

"I’m with Aphorism. My companions may be hard to trust, but I believe they also hold various exemplary aspects."

"Go Ryeoha-ssi… I think this was a good step toward clearing away the distrust between us. I won’t make excuses for what the military has done, but once UN forces are stationed here, we should have more breathing room. When that happens, our policy toward the civilians inside Seoul may change.”

"...I hope so. None of them will be able to hold out forever.”

I quietly put some distance between myself and Go Ryeoha.

Judging by how mercilessly she fought, I had a feeling she’d always had some kind of screw loose, but it just didn’t show much while society was still functioning normally. A healthy, ordinary person like me would’ve simply ended things with a bullet to the head.

Then I suddenly realized something.

At some point, I’d ended up standing alone in the middle of the crowd like an isolated island.

"Hmm."

Had the ignorant, ordinary masses finally recognized the majesty of this Great Archmage and instinctively begun keeping their distance?

Just as I started to fiddle with my poncho using my blood-drenched hands, Major Shin Hangi cautiously spoke up.

"And as for you, Baek Jemin-ssi…I think you’ll need quite a bit of time to get yourself cleaned up. We’ll leave the showers open for you, so just put your rifle down and head straight there.”

"Ah, thank you.”

-Squelch.

Come to think of it, I’d inscribed Hand-branch magic symbols on my poncho, but Lee Sejun and Go Ryeoha had handled all the actual fighting, so they’d ended up being useless. Judging by how the soldiers at Seongnam City Hall were perfectly fine, the symbols must have been neutralized after getting completely covered in blood.

Blood can cover them.

Delighted that I’d managed to learn something even in the middle of all this, I headed toward a shower area they’d rigged up by reworking the plumbing. It was a crude setup outside, almost like a tent with hoses connected to it, but right now, that was more than enough.

I left my rifle by the entrance, turned on the water, and focused on washing myself from head to toe.

-Shaaaaaaa…

Standing under the pouring water, my head started nodding again and again.

Ah, I’m hungry.

I wantsoybean paste stew.

The one we always had at home was really good because we put tons of MSG in it…

.........

* * *

May 19th, 2028, 7:04 AM.

That was when I realized I finally managed to come back to my senses.

I’d nearly ruined my life by dozing off while showering.

I came back, tossed off my clothes, sorted out the remains, then passed out with nothing on but a towel draped over me, not even underwear.

After that, I couldn’t get out of bed.

The backlash from Heart-branch magic was brutal. Because I’d fallen asleep without taking in any calories right away, all I could do now was open and close my dried lips like a shriveledcrucian carp.

And of all people, Go Ryeoha was the one assigned to nurse me…

She grinned as she waved a spoon around like someone tossing feed to carp gathered in a pond.

"Here. Aah~"

"Haah..."

Fuck.

Baek Jemin, the man, had gone through far too many horrible things in far too short a time.

"Ah."

"That’s it, that’s it. There we go!”

"Nom!"

"Hehe. Hubae-nim, you look sooo much better when you just lie there quietly without talking or kicking up a fuss!”

Could there possibly be a more roundabout way of telling someone to spend their life doing nothing but breathing?

Feeling a chill from Go Ryeoha, I squirmed for no reason.

Lee Sejun stood some distance away with his arms crossed, busy glaring at me in contempt.

"Jemin-ssi. Do you know the soldiers are jealous of you right now? They’re jealous that Ryeoha-ssi is taking care of you.”

"Do those bastards have no shame?”

There was nothing more humiliating than a grown man lying in bed trembling and doing nothing but opening his mouth to be fed.

At that moment, Go Ryeoha’s eyes flashed, and she tapped me on the forehead with her spoon. Smack!

"Hubae-nim! Only use nice, pleasant words! While we’re at it, take care of your skin, work on your expressions, practice smiling regularly, watch where you look, take care of your hair and body, fix your personality, and fix the way you talk too. Then you’ll be really popular!”

"Master."

How was that any different from saying she wanted to completely dismantle Baek Jemin, the human, and put him back together from scratch?

That was when Lee Sejun uncrossed his arms.

As he strode toward me, I felt a shiver involuntarily run up my spine.

"More importantly, Jemin-ssi. Enough with the personal nonsense…I think I should tell you about a rumor that’s going around right now.”

"A rumor? Are rumors about magic spreading?”

"It’s related to that. But judging by the fact that the officers at the Seongnam City Hall Control Point are talking about it, it seems to be under serious consideration, so I thought I should tell you.”

The only time Lee Sejun ever got this serious tone was when the Republic of Korea was facing a crisis, even though the country was already more or less fucked.

The atmosphere was ominous enough that Go Ryeoha blinked, and even I focused completely on Lee Sejun.

That feeling was soon confirmed.

"They say they're discussing dropping a tactical nuke. It’s only a rumor, though.”