The Terminally-Ill Side-Character Inside of a Martial Arts Novel

There were no words. No, they weren't needed. No words could compare to the expression Hyuk Muhyeol was showing.

Geum Soso was frozen in the warm embrace of the man holding her. She couldn't express any emotion due to the incomprehensible feelings.

But such things didn't matter. What was important now was that this was a perfect opportunity to kill Hyuk Muhyeol. That was all that mattered.

Just as Geum Soso moved her hand to pierce Hyuk Muhyeol's heart in one go, Hyuk Muhyeol's voice rang out.

"Soso..."

Hyuk Muhyeol called her name softly. A very small voice. And just calling an ordinary name. That was all.

But the moment Geum Soso heard his voice, she stopped as if completely forgetting what she was supposed to do now.

"I didn't think I'd be able to see you again..."

"..."

"I cursed and resented myself for a lifetime. And regretted. I thought perhaps I had killed you, who might have been able to live longer, just because of my selfishness. I vowed to protect you for life and forcibly kept you by my side, yet I resented myself for realizing I couldn't keep that promise only when it was time to let you go."

Hyuk Muhyeol closed his eyes and recalled the memories of that day.

When he had taken the Cult Leader's seat early and stood at the peak of the Demon Cult, he thought everything would go according to his will.

But many people aimed for the Cult Leader's position through illegitimate means rather than strength, and he saw much bloodshed in that process. Their methods involved taking Geum Soso, who could be called his weakness, as a hostage.

Hyuk Muhyeol thought he could protect Geum Soso. He easily thought that if the Demon Cult Leader's power and his own strength were combined, he could heal the sick Geum Soso and live together for a long time. But the world was not so easy.

The moment he realized that he couldn't protect everyone with just strength alone, and that there were people above him in the Central Plains even though he reigned in the Demon Cult, he could understand that his thinking had been arrogant.

In the end, Hyuk Muhyeol couldn't protect Geum Soso. The congenital disease Geum Soso had ate away at her life. He tried to save her, but couldn't cure her by any means.

But what made him even sadder was that he had to distance himself from Geum Soso.

The more he cherished Geum Soso, the more attention was poured on the sick and fragile Geum Soso.

Even a small drop of poison could be fatal to her, who seemed like she might close her eyes forever at any moment. He couldn't pass on another danger to her who was living in the pain of death every day.

So Hyuk Muhyeol distanced himself from Geum Soso. No, sometimes he even tried to drive her away.

-Let's separate now. Your life will be in danger if you stay by my side any longer. Rather, get away from me. Go to Sichuan and recuperate. Then I'll send medicine and doctors to treat you, avoiding their eyes. Hide yourself until I sort out this whole situation.

No matter how he explained and urged, Geum Soso shook her head. She was a strong woman. As before, but especially after giving birth to her child, Geum Soso tried to keep her place for Hyuk Dojin, to the extent that it wouldn't be strange to say she had devoted her entire life to him.

Hyuk Muhyeol tightly embraced Geum Soso and spoke slowly.

"You were a strong person. You knew that if you stepped down from that place, if you left me and the Demon Cult, Dojin wouldn't be able to inherit my position and would struggle. So you kept that place while burning away your life. That was a weight I couldn't dare to choose or bear. You shouldered that."

Hyuk Muhyeol absolutely couldn't bear the reality he faced. The frustration felt by someone who had stood at the peak of power believing power was everything, when facing someone stronger than himself, was by no means light.

And even when that person reached out to grab Hyuk Dojin's lifeline, Hyuk Muhyeol couldn't take any action.

That person tried to get his hands on the Demon Cult after the Murim Alliance. Hyuk Muhyeol, who hadn't perfectly controlled the Demon Cult at the time, couldn't stop the ambition of the influential families of the Demon Cult to join hands with them and unify the Central Plains.

They tried to take the still young Hyuk Dojin using Geum Soso as bait.

But the one who ultimately blocked that was not himself, but a sick woman who couldn't use any martial arts.

They say mothers are great. With her sick body, she blocked all their attempts. There were days when she refused medicines and food tainted with poison and didn't eat even one meal a day. It was around that time that Geum Soso's illness worsened.

She had to stop taking even the medicine she had always taken because it could no longer be trusted, and had to control what she ate. Even knowing her body was dying, Geum Soso didn't stop. She always said:

-I have to die here for Dojin to live. For them not to be able to reach out to Dojin, I who am the stumbling block must die here. Only then can Dojin keep his place. You, the Cult Leader of the Demon Cult, can't refuse their demands, but I can refuse. Although the price will be my life, that's enough. My child will grow up in the place where he was born, under his parents.

That was the true meaning of the words everyone had told Hyuk Dojin: 'Geum Soso must die for you to live.'

Hyuk Muhyeol tried to stop Geum Soso. Geum Soso also softened her heart a little at Hyuk Muhyeol's firm decision.

But while trying to shake off their grasp, Hyuk Muhyeol ended up severely injured. Overwhelming skill, destructive martial arts. The power that suppressed the Demon Cult Leader was beyond imagination.

He was the one who first defeated Hyuk Muhyeol and implanted the Seven Mountains Poison in his body, making his lifespan erode every time he used martial arts.

Hyuk Muhyeol weakened after that. His martial arts skills remained the same, but every time he displayed his power, the Seven Mountains Poison twisted his blood vessels.

Seeing Hyuk Muhyeol return from the brink of death, Geum Soso instinctively knew she had to step forward. So she staked her life to protect Hyuk Dojin. No, she tried to protect the Demon Cult.

The Demon Cult led by her husband, the Demon Cult where her son would grow up. She tried to protect it like that.

"There was a time when I didn't see your face even once for 3 years. There were times when I felt resentful at your appearance coldly turning away without even looking at me, like the moon hidden behind clouds, no matter how many times I tried to visit. But on the night of the full moon, you came to find me and asked. Please protect Dojin, you said."

Hyuk Muhyeol shook his head, closing his eyes.

"By the time I realized what that meant, what those words meant, it was already too late. You breathed your last a week after saying those words. I was a fool who couldn't even see your end or receive your last breath. I was a fool who sacrificed you while hiding behind the words that I would protect you. I'm sorry, I'm truly sorry..."

At his voice breaking as if sobbing, Geum Soso's mouth opened slowly.

"...Darling."

Perhaps because he heard her voice, tears flowed from Hyuk Muhyeol's eyes. The Cult Leader's tears that no one had ever seen.

Everyone turned their eyes away from his tears. Only Hyuk Dojin and Moyong Sowol were watching the two of them.

"I truly, truly thought I would never see you again. I regretted not grabbing your departing feet and shouting at you not to go, if I had known that day would be the last. Even if my internal organs were torn and my blood vessels twisted, making me vomit blood, I should have protected you! But, but! But I couldn't do that! That, that made me so angry and stupid...!"

Hyuk Muhyeol's voice, which had been shouting intensely, faded as he slowly separated from Geum Soso. Facing Geum Soso's face that had moved away, he smiled faintly.

"...I felt resentful. But seeing you again like this makes me so happy."

"..."

At Hyuk Muhyeol's smile, Geum Soso's expression softened. A smile a little more gentle, affectionate, and warm was drawn on her lips.

That was the smile of Geum Soso that Man Do and Hyuk Muhyeol had always seen.

Geum Soso slowly raised her arms. Her hand moved slowly to caress Hyuk Muhyeol's cheek. A hand cold as a corpse. Even though it was a hand chilly enough to be like frost, Hyuk Muhyeol thought that hand was warmer than any warmth.

Hyuk Muhyeol closed his eyes while pressing her palm with his own hand.

The tears that fell from his eyes flowed down Geum Soso's hand. Geum Soso's eyes softened and then her stiff lips parted.

"Why... are you crying?"

"..."

"Don't cry. Did you remember that time?"

At Geum Soso's words, Hyuk Muhyeol recalled an event from a very long time ago, over 20 years ago. The memory of the day he proposed to Geum Soso, married her, and she gave birth to Dojin.

"You cried that day too. You say you didn't, but while washing Dojin, you shed hot tears like this. Other people call you a coldblooded person without blood or tears, but I knew. That you were a man warmer, more affectionate, and gentler than anyone. A man who could cry for my child and for me."

She warmly embraced Hyuk Muhyeol and then quietly patted him. As if time was flowing for the two of them, that scene continued slowly and gradually.

"You said you regretted bringing me, but I don't regret it. I don't regret anything. I was happy. You loved me, cherished me. You gave me more love than anyone, and in that process, I was happy to give birth to a child resembling you and me."

A gentle smile was drawn on her lips.

"How could I forget? The warmth of that day. Even if I went back, I would give the same answer. Even if that happiness wasn't long and the end was sad, I could never give it up. So..."

Geum Soso slowly turned her head to glance at Hyuk Dojin. She smiled benevolently. It was a fragment of the smile she always gave to Hyuk Dojin.

-Is mother's lap so good? I thought you had grown up, but you're still a child.

"Mother..."

Hyuk Dojin, leaning on Moyong Sowol, whispered quietly. Geum Soso nodded and then hugged Hyuk Muhyeol again, closing her eyes.

"That was the happiest time for me. So, don't regret and don't resent. Hyuk Muhyeol... my love. You were a person precious enough for me to give up everything, and you were my everything. So, don't cry. Don't cry... And..."

She quietly whispered in Hyuk Muhyeol's ear.

"...Kill me."

"..."

"I don't know how I'm here. But if I go back, I'll use my past memories. The current me will be gone, and only a doll imitating Geum Soso will remain. I won't be hurt, but the people I love will be hurt because of it. So... kill me."

Hyuk Muhyeol shook his head while leaning on her shoulder. Hiding his face covered in tears to the point where he couldn't say anything, he spoke with difficulty.

"How... how can I..."

"You have to do it. I can't... ask that of my child. I can fade anytime."

Hyuk Muhyeol urgently raised his head. At her words, Hyuk Muhyeol recalled the events of that day 10 years ago. Like then, Geum Soso was smiling.

Geum Soso, who died saying she could sacrifice herself for her child, smiled that day too. And today, she smiled once again, saying she couldn't hurt her family. Even if she repeated the same death again, she would never regret it.

She could smile as a mother, and as a woman who had received a man's love.

Hyuk Muhyeol bit his lip and shook his head, but Geum Soso smiled at that sight and approached him to meet his lips. A kiss cold as ice.

Geum Soso gave a short kiss and slowly moved away. Hyuk Muhyeol looked at Geum Soso moving away from him and gripped the sword that had fallen to the ground.

Geum Soso smiled brightly at him.

"Muhyeol..."

She called the affectionate name they used to call each other when young. Hyuk Muhyeol gritted his teeth and put strength into the sword.

The sword moved and his sword pierced Geum Soso's heart. Blood that hadn't flowed when other places were stabbed burst out when her heart was pierced. As Hyuk Muhyeol slowly pulled out the sword, Geum Soso tilted forward.

Hyuk Muhyeol caught her as she fell and embraced her. And he quietly kissed her head.

Geum Soso smiled even as she was dying. And she quietly said:

"Finally... I can... see... everyone..."

The beloved faces she couldn't see even in her death. Knowing her lonely end where everyone had turned their backs, Geum Soso knew how warm this death was. Her eyes captured her precious people.

"Uncle and Dojin and..."

Hyuk Muhyeol was captured in her eyes.

"My... love..."

With those words as her last, strength left Geum Soso's body. Hyuk Muhyeol embraced her and closed his eyes.

"Go ahead... Soso. I will follow soon... Please, even if it's cold, wait just a little. When I come, I will warmly embrace you twice as long for the years I couldn't embrace you. So..."

Hyuk Muhyeol's breath touched her.

"Rest in peace..."