The Failure Marquis Is A Genius [EN]: Chapter 191

Bang!

As soon as I knew the answer, I burst out of the door.

A passing maid shrieked at the violent force.

“Hey.”

“Y-Yes?”

“Do you have a shovel?”

“A shovel? I’m not sure.”

“Find one and bring it to me before I kill you.”

Being known as the Scoundrel is useful in times like these.

The terrified maid scurried back with a wooden shovel.

I snatched the shovel from her and headed outside.

“Damn, this is heavy.”

Currently, my right hand and left leg are gone.

I propped myself up with the shovel under my armpit like a crutch and walked down the street.

People glared at me with disgust or flipped me off behind my back, but I ignored them.

I remember exactly where I was buried.

Because that’s where it all started.

The time I arrived was midnight.

I relied on the moonlight to take the first scoop.

“Erai!!”

I couldn’t help but curse.

Try digging with only your left hand when you’re right-handed.

I supported the handle with my hip and scooped with my left hand.

The weight of the shovel alone was heavy, but with the added weight of the dirt, beads of sweat formed on my forehead.

It would have been fine if it was just physically hard, but the scariest part was something else.

‘What if I’m barking up the wrong tree?’

What if it was just a meaningless sentence? What if I was just overreacting and digging up empty ground? What if the message was right, but I misinterpreted it?

The sweat flowing down my jawline became thicker than before.

Thwack! Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!

Was I buried this deep?

The anxiety grew.

Still, I didn’t stop digging.

A pit had already been created.

“Haa… Could it really not have been it?”

It was when I sighed deeply enough for the ground to sink.

Clang!!

A strange sensation caught on the edge of the shovel I was mechanically scooping with.

Along with a welcome noise.

‘There’s something there!’

I threw down the shovel, knelt down, and frantically dug with my good left hand.

My whole body was covered in dirt, but I didn’t care.

“!!!”

A black coffin was buried in the ground.

Finally, the ‘blind spot’ and ‘paradox’ of this world revealed itself.

Paradox.

I wasn’t in the coffin.

I started in the bare ground with a lump of dirt in my mouth.

“So it really was a fake world.”

I carefully opened the coffin lid.

My pupils dilated as I looked inside.

There… was me, lying quietly with my hands on my chest.

Two identical people exist in one world.

As absurd things continued to be discovered, the solid virtual world began to shake.

Cracks appeared everywhere in the space, and broken pieces fell to the ground, and beyond that, a pitch-black darkness rippled.

Kukwakwakwakwa!!!

The ground shook madly, creating an earthquake.

Without wavering, I slowly reached out my hand.

My fingertips touched Henon’s corpse.

Flash!!

Henon, who had been lying like a corpse, opened his eyes.

The moment I and I met eyes,

Clang!

The false world collapsed.

* * *

When I was dropped into the Arnia continent by the World Tree Yggdrasil, I possessed the body of Henon Lloyd, a bastard.

At the time, Henon had actually died and was buried in the ground, and my soul, Kim Cheol-soo, entered his body.

While living as Henon, I thought that Henon’s soul, the original owner of the body, had died and ascended, crossed the Styx [the river separating the living from the dead in Greek mythology], or melted into the cycle of reincarnation.

But that was my delusion.

Henon’s soul did not leave his body even after death.

I later heard from the sage Orneo that there are quite a few cases like this.

Cases where they cannot accept their death or have great regrets even after recognizing it, so they forcibly enter and stay in their body.

Of course, just because a soul stays in the body doesn’t mean it can control the body.

To define life, it is an invisible spiritual energy that connects the soul and the body.

The moment you die, the thin thread connecting the flesh and the spirit is severed, so no matter how hard the soul tries, it cannot move the body.

To move the body, even by force, you must reject and go against the natural order.

This is called the Art of Defying Heaven, and in the Arnia continent, it is called black magic, and those who practice this black magic are called necromancers or spiritists.

Looking at it from this perspective, the relationship between me and Henon was very special.

Henon’s soul was staying in the body when I squeezed into his body.

Originally, it is much more difficult to enter the body of someone other than yourself, and it is almost impossible to even have the initiative.

But the World Tree Yggdrasil made it possible.

It connected my and Henon’s bodies with the energy of life, making us living people.

As a result, Henon’s soul was left floating.

He had his body stolen while he was wide awake.

Even so, Henon sat quietly in the corner without much resistance.

Henon had also guessed it.

That even if he was lucky enough to get his body back, he would have to face a hellish reality.

I introduced Henon to the soul of his mother, Hena, who was dwelling in the oak tree.

Actually, I didn’t intentionally introduce them.

Until then, I didn’t even know that Henon’s soul was hiding.

I followed the voice of the spirit, contacted the oak tree, and realized his existence only when I entered the spiritual world.

At the same time, a reunion between mother and son was achieved.

‘Please take good care of Henon.’

Hena asked me in a faint voice.

Afterwards, the high elf shaman who awakened Henon’s body as a druid used his last strength and attained Nirvana [a state of perfect peace and enlightenment in Buddhism].

From that point on, an unspoken agreement was made between me and Henon.

I changed the life of the Scoundrel Henon into the life of the Hero Henon to keep Hena’s will, and Henon’s soul silently watched the whole process.

Over time, changes occurred between us.

First of all, my identity gradually disappeared.

To be exact, the identity itself became Henon.

Before I knew it, the existence of Kim Cheol-soo disappeared and only Henon remained. Now I was confused whether I was Henon or Kim Cheol-soo.

The original Henon, who existed in the form of a soul, must have felt this too.

Am I Henon?

Is he Henon?

Or are we both Henon?

Who is Henon?

It started with a small doubt.

A question that lingered only in a corner of my mind, so much so that even I couldn’t recognize it.

However, as time passed, this question became a seed of anxiety and sprouted.

The higher the level, the more opportunities I had to communicate with the world, and the more important it became who I was.

The sprouted doubt began to devour the soul little by little.

It was a sign of soul contamination caused by 심마(心魔) [Simma, a demon arising from within one’s own mind].

I didn’t even know that my soul was signaling that it was sick. There were too many things happening in reality.

The resurrection of the Demon King Baal was imminent, and until recently, I had risked my life fighting the Twilight Cult leader.

I didn’t have the time to look into the state of my inner self.

Even while training, I thought the reason my growth was stagnant was simply because I was blocked by a wall.

I didn’t even know that my soul was in tatters.

Did the 천마(Cheonma) [Cheonma, a heavenly demon or powerful martial artist] know my condition?

I don’t know that far.

Anyway, the old man knew that I was struggling with time and recommended a break.

When I took a breather after a long time, my body and soul reached an extremely vulnerable state, albeit momentarily.

The 심마(心魔), which had already taken deep root, did not miss this moment.

The 심마(心魔) created a virtual world with nothing but despair and forcibly trapped my consciousness in it.

The reason why I couldn’t get out of the virtual world was clear.

Anyway, the person who created the world was 심마(心魔) from myself.

Until I properly established my identity and completely resolved the questions in my head, escape was impossible in any way.

“So you helped me.”

When I was about to lose my ego after being eaten by 심마(心魔), the one who reached out to help was surprisingly Henon, who had been quietly living all along.

He shared my identity, so he could interfere with the world I created.

However, since there was a limit to the degree of interference, he tried to give hints in as many ways as possible.

Based on the clues he gave, I was able to find the blind spot of this world, break through the fake world, and escape.

* * *

The broken world.

This is my consciousness.

The rippling darkness.

Me and Henon looked at each other.

Eyes, nose, mouth, hair, lips.

Perfectly identical from head to toe.

“Thank you for helping me. I lived thanks to you.”

I said to Henon on the opposite side.

But Henon shook his head.

“Expression. Wrong.”

Henon points to me with his finger and repeats pointing to himself several times.

“Again.”

“Thank you…”

“Again.”

I shook my head.

He sighed as if frustrated.

What went wrong?

Why am I here?

As I pondered, Henon opened his mouth again.

“I am you, you are me.”

It’s a sentence I’ve seen so many times.

It seems I still haven’t grasped the true meaning of this sentence.

Henon is me, and I am Henon.

Why this obvious word…

“Ah!!!”

A flash that pierces the brain.

I finally realized.

The lost puzzle piece has returned.

Now it’s time to put it in the empty space.

“I’m not…thankful.”

To be exact, there is no need to be thankful.

Thank you is a word used as a sign of gratitude when someone has helped you.

Here, someone is ultimately someone else.

But myself is not someone else.

Do I have to say thank you when I help myself?

There is no need to do that.

As I found the answer, a faint arc was drawn on the lips of Henon on the opposite side.

“Yes.”

“There’s no need to be thankful.”

“Yes.”

“Because you are me, and I am you.”

When savoring the moment of enlightenment.

Henon asked a sudden question.

“Are you Kim Cheol-soo or Henon?”

My consciousness shook again.

Am I Kim Cheol-soo? Or am I Henon?

The life on Earth flashed through my memory again.

It was an unhappy life far from happiness, but I was definitely Kim Cheol-soo in that life.

Back again.

Is Henon on the Arnia continent me?

Let’s assume that I am Henon.

Then who is Henon on the opposite side?

My heart throbbed and pain rose.

I realized it now.

That my 심마(心魔) started from here.

“Are you Kim Cheol-soo or Henon?”

“Who are you?”

He asks again.

I choose and choose the answer.

Kim Cheol-soo is me.

I am Henon.

Henon is Kim Cheol-soo.

The three propositions go around and around on an infinite loop algorithm. Truth and falsehood are mixed to create chaos. My head is spinning.

Again, 심마(心魔) reaches out its clutches.

A black hand from the darkness ripples and tightly grips my heart.

I feel the pain.

The moment this heart stops, my ego will collapse.

Henon on the opposite side waited for my answer with calm eyes.

Thump! Thump! Thump!

What is the answer?

It’s too difficult.

The hand of 심마(心魔) repeatedly pressed my heart.

Thump… Thump… Thump…

The heartbeat is noticeably slower than before.

Now even the thinking circuit is overloaded.

Thoughts gradually become dull, and a comfort like death envelops consciousness.

Even knowing that it’s the end the moment I lose consciousness, I entrust myself to comfort.

Thump…Thump…

The sound of my heart faded.

It’s getting farther and farther away.

My heart doesn’t seem like my heart.

Am I not me?

Isn’t Henon Kim Cheol-soo?

What was I running for after all?

It’s not even my body.

Thump.

The last heartbeat.

Silence like death.

Rest leading to annihilation.

As it is…

“Hey! Get out of here! What are you looking at? It’s a dangerous situation, so don’t interfere and get out!!”

Clang!!!

I woke up with a start at the rough voice ringing in my ears.

A very familiar voice.

The 천마(Cheonma) old man was waiting for me outside.

What is that old man protecting me for?

I’m not the real Henon.

Why would he do that for a fake…

“I am you, and you are me.”

Henon on the opposite side uttered the same sentence. Then my heart started beating like crazy again.

Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump!

“Ah.”

In a short time, countless hours spent with 천마(Cheonma) flowed like a panorama.

Starting with the old man, the faces of countless people flashed by.

Sion, Campbell, Coco, Rakan, Aiden, Sasha, Rebecca, Merian, Bron, Karina, Gordon, Orneo, Tom, Theodore, Ilina.

So many memories with them. Hard-won adversities. Memories of laughing together.

Were they all false moments? Did they show their sincerity to a fake who wasn’t Henon?

‘That can’t be.’

At that time, I was Henon no matter who said it. No one could tell me that I wasn’t Henon.

‘I…am Henon.’

Spot!!!

A dazzling light began to spread from the center of my heart.

The black hand of 심마(心魔) couldn’t even run away as soon as it touched the light and crumbled into powder.

Enlightenment is concretized, realized, and reorganized.

Henon on the opposite side asks again.

“Who are you?”

“I am Henon.”

“Are you Kim Cheol-soo?”

“I am Kim Cheol-soo.”

Kim Cheol-soo is also one of the fragments of memory I have.

I had no intention of denying it.

Kim Cheol-soo and Henon.

From the beginning, there was no reason to see the two as separate beings.

Because I am me.

“I am Kim Cheol-soo and Henon.”

Spaat!!!

The closer the moment of enlightenment came, the brighter the light became and the darker the darkness became.

As the lack of soul was filled, an indescribable fullness filled my whole body, completing one microcosm.

“I…who am I?”

Henon’s question.

I have already completed the answer.

“You are…me.”

A human being named Henon.

Even his past is one of my pieces that I have to embrace.

All of this happened because of the special means of possession.

The life of the previous life.

The life before possession.

The life after possession.

The three types of memory fragments could not mix with each other and collided, creating cracks.

But it’s okay now.

Because I grasped the essence and reached its essence.

In the first place, memory fragments are just fragments.

Why are you groaning with the pieces?

If you combine them into one.

“I am you, and you are me.”

I walked a long and distant road to realize the implications contained in this sentence. Still, I finally found the answer.

The union of souls has been achieved.

At the same time, an intense power that I had never experienced before swept through all three danjeons [energy centers in the body] and soared to the top of my head.

The pillar of light that passed through the Cheongong blood soared to the sky with the momentum to pierce it.

The one light that was white was now surrounded by five iridescent colors and slowly rotated around me.

“You brat, have you gone beyond Samhwa Chwijeong and reached the realm of Ogi Jowon?”

The voice of 천마(Cheonma) heard from afar.

I finally realized why I was facing a wall and my growth was stagnant.

It is natural to try to explore the universe in a situation where even my soul is not organized.

But it’s okay now.

Because I have combined the past, present, and future times and woven them into one ‘me’.

[Mana awakening is at its maximum.]

[Mixing rate is at its maximum]

[Green mana awakening 100%] [MAX]

[Blue mana awakening 100%] [MAX]

[Dragon blood awakening 100%] [MAX]

[Mixing rate 100%] [MAX]

Mana awakening hit its peak.

The complete soul seemed to be restless and constantly tossing its body.

Then, the soul, which had been bound by the medium of the body, began to break through its limits.

Crack! Crack!!

As if the body was just a shell.

Cracks appeared on the skin of the whole body, and iridescent light leaked out little by little from the gaps.

The cracks grew larger and larger, eventually becoming uncontrollably large, and finally the body shattered.

Powder!!

탈각(脫殼) [Tal-gak, shedding the shell]. Shedding the shell.

A body reborn by shedding its shell.

Blood vessels and capillaries were all visible on the transparent skin.

The throbbing heart and the churning internal organs were clearly visible.

The body was lighter than ever.

I felt like I could do anything.

“Hoo.”

As I took a long deep breath, the pillar of light that soared to the sky and the iridescent lights that floated around me all gathered inside me.

Kukwakwakwakwakwa!!!!!

The energy of heaven and earth swirled and was sucked into the inside of the body.

The transparent body was revitalized and began to be colored.

Paat!!

With the last flash, I absorbed and collected all the light.

I opened my eyes wide while sitting cross-legged.

The world looked different.

I finally realized how narrow the world I had been perceiving with only my five senses was.

From today, I was reborn.

I have already half 벗어났다 the limits of human beings.

Half-human, half-god(半人半神)

That was my current state.

“Congratulations on reaching the realm. Brat.”

천마(Cheonma) approached and spoke.

Now I could see his true colors.

The jet-black darkness rippling over the old body and the pure enthusiasm for 무도(martial dance) [Mudo, martial arts or dance] burning quietly.

His strength, which had been like floating clouds, materialized and was caught in my hand.

Grand Sword Master.

Now I stood on the same starting line as 천마(Cheonma).

Demon King resurrection [D-50]