Blood Demon of the Past Life – Chapter 219

Chapter 219: Epilogue

I opened my eyes.

As I stared blankly ahead, I saw countless faces looking down at me.

“You’re awake━!”

“Kang San-nim!”

“Hyeong!”

People rushed to embrace me.

It was to the point where I couldn’t tell who was who, and my mind, tangled in a complex mess, couldn’t accept whether this was reality or not. In the pure white space, Azmoon had clearly said it. That the trials were over. That your world had passed the test and would be allowed to continue existing as humans.

It was finally over.

We had won in the end.

My head understood, but I couldn’t believe it.

That’s when it happened.

Among the crowd, someone shouted as if screaming.

“Aaack━! Everyone! There are reports that monsters are disappearing worldwide! We did it! We won!”

“We’re alive!”

“Kang San-nim! Thanks to you, we’re alive!”

“Kang San! Kang San!”

“Kang San! Kang San!”

People cheered wildly.

In my still incomplete physical state, the enthusiastic cheers sounded like tinnitus.

‘Is it really over?’

Even then, it didn’t feel real.

But a day passed.

Two days passed, and a month passed.

The monsters didn’t appear.

The devastated world was restored globally, and time passed quickly.

It really was the end.

The endless series of disasters.

We finally put an end to it.

✦✦✦✦✦✦

Five years later.

The world was still in a frenzy.

Although monsters didn’t suddenly appear and people didn’t die, the reality of being attacked for decades didn’t heal easily. Collapsed buildings and dead people. We focused all our efforts on restoring the devastated living spaces.

Kang San was no different.

As he had done for the past five years, Kang San diligently moved construction materials with the people.

“Let’s take a 10-minute break.”

“Everyone, just finish what you were doing.”

After Baal died.

People hailed Kang San as a hero.

He became a globally recognized great man, and some countries even showed a movement to grant him real authority to match his status. Moreover, the Kang San Religion rapidly expanded its influence. To the people, Kang San was practically a god, and with just one decision from him, many countries were willing to choose it as their national religion.

But Kang San refused.

The Kang San Religion.

In a peaceful era like now, he judged that the blindly following force had a high possibility of being exploited.

Kang San is just an individual.

He still wanted to remain an individual, and on the day Kang San announced the disbandment of the Kang San Religion, people all over the world watched, flocking to their TVs. And they cried their hearts out. Knowing that Kang San’s choice was for the sake of the world, the Kang San Religion was disbanded, but there were still many people who held Kang San in their hearts.

It was the same now.

It was only a volunteer group in name, but the people who followed Kang San lent their strength.

Thud.

I put down the construction materials.

It was a project to build new homes for people who had lost their homes, and the funds were entirely provided by Yu Jeong-yeong, large corporations, and the government. Kang San only needed to contribute manpower, and as he looked up, he saw familiar faces.

“Move quickly.”

“No, why are you so passionate when you don’t even have an arm?”

Nakamura Genji.

Saito Shusuke, who had lost an arm.

The two, who had become close, bickered while moving materials.

Jo Han-byeol’s group wasn’t there.

After the world regained peace, they each inherited their parents’ businesses. Jo Han-byeol expressed his ambition to help people by succeeding in business, Jeong Chan-woo expressed his determination to succeed by running a management company, and Yeon Woo-bin said he would open an era of healing magic using magic. While they were all busy living their lives, they occasionally visited and shared drinks with Kang San.

Age wasn’t an issue.

Yeon Woo-bin had also become an adult now, and Kang San couldn’t help but laugh when he poured drinks with his rough hands.

Seeing Jessica and Eileen helping people on one side, Kang San felt a sense of nostalgia for some reason.

At that moment, someone approached him.

“Did you hear the news just now?”

“What news?”

It was Kim Chun-sik.

He had been discharged from the military.

Although he was recognized for his contributions and received a star, he resigned from his position because he wanted to spend his last moments with his grandmother.

That day.

The entire army saw Kim Chun-sik off.

Kim Chun-sik looked at Kang San and said.

“They say the US has finally succeeded in the experiment to separate souls. They’re going to extract Peng Mujeong’s soul from Eric Roberts’ body soon, and they’ve announced that they’ll imprison that soul in the body of a heinous death row inmate in the US. Oh, and for your information, that death row inmate is in a vegetative state. There was a lot of talk about him just lying in a hospital bed every day, wasting tax money, but now the right soul has entered the right body.”

“What about Eric Roberts?”

“Well, it’ll be difficult for him to be reinstated as President, but there’s a lot of talk in the political circles that they want him.”

“Really? That’s good news.”

✦✦✦✦✦✦

It was break time.

After packing up his lunch and sitting under the shade for a while, Kim Chun-sik came over with a beer and sat next to him.

“Want one?”

“Sure.”

Kang San received the beer.

With the refreshing sound of the fizz escaping, he took a long gulp.

Kim Chun-sik said.

“I still can’t believe it’s so peaceful. Maybe that’s why I have dreams sometimes. In the dream, I exist as Baek Hyun, and even after Peng Mujeong’s death, Baek Hyun lives as an assassin with the goal of eliminating the trash of the righteous faction. Even though the world is in chaos due to monster attacks, he doesn’t care for his own life and fights against the villains until he dies tragically. In the end, he gets caught.”

They didn’t look at each other.

Kang San drank his beer silently.

“It’s a dream I have every now and then. At first, it was heartbreaking, but now I understand. If my entire family had been killed by the trash of the righteous faction, I would have lived like Baek Hyun too. Kang San-nim, do you not regret your choice? Even when I wake up from the dream, I feel disgusted by the emotions transmitted from Baek Hyun. If it’s this much for me, it couldn’t have been easy for you to refuse the chance for revenge.”

“……That’s right.”

He didn’t deny it.

It wasn’t easy.

To Seo Munho, who had taken his own life in the end, Kang San also wanted to give him a chance for revenge.

That’s when it happened.

He saw a child running.

The child, whom he didn’t know who had brought, tripped over a stone and fell.

Thud━!

“Ouch!”

The child screamed.

His knees were stained red with blood.

As the child looked on with teary eyes, two adults approached and examined his wounds.

“Didn’t Daddy tell you to go slowly!”

“Oh dear, you’re a handful.”

The father lifted the child up.

As he took him away to treat his wounds, the child cried sadly and clung tightly to his father’s arms.

Why?

He laughed.

A life where a child has parents.

A life where falling down doesn’t mean being killed by a monster, but can end as a simple mishap.

Kang San said.

“I don’t regret it. This is my life, isn’t it? By the way, is your grandmother doing well?”

“Ah, my grandmother?”

Kim Chun-sik grinned mischievously.

“She’s so healthy that these days, she’s even trying to seduce the old man next door. She’s full of youth, I tell you. I think she’ll live to be over a hundred years old, so I’ll invite you to the party then, so please be sure to attend.”

“Pfft, really? Okay, I’ll definitely be there.”

“She told me to buy her tteokbokki on my way home from work today. Don’t grandmothers have weak teeth and can’t eat things like that?”

“Well, I guess her teeth are youthful too.”

They burst into laughter.

It was good.

These small conversations they could share.

This life they could live so simply.

It was fortunate.

If he had given up because he was unhappy.

He wouldn’t be able to enjoy happiness like this now.

“The weather is nice.”

Looking at the people, Kang San took a sip of his beer.

✦✦✦✦✦✦

It was the middle of the night.

Seo Munho suddenly sat up.

“Gasp, gasp.”

“Honey, are you okay?”

“……I’m fine. I must have had a bad dream.”

His wife looked at him with worried eyes.

Seo Munho calmed his wife down and went outside to get some fresh air.

‘It was such a strange dream.’

In the dream.

Seo Munho had gone through a terrible ordeal.

His family had all died, and he had gone mad, seeking revenge, killing people indiscriminately. It was a ridiculous dream. But it felt so real that his heart pounded. It seemed that the task he had done for the Hebei Peng family a few days ago was the problem. He was a man who had nothing to do with the Murim in his life, and getting involved with them had caused him to have this unpleasant dream.

That’s when it happened.

Rustle.

In the distance.

He saw the bushes moving.

Seo Munho gulped.

He hurriedly grabbed a club and kept a close eye on whatever was beyond the bushes.

Meow━

“……It was a cat. What are you doing here?”

A kitten popped out.

Seo Munho picked up the fearless kitten and cared for it for a long time.

The next day.

Seo Munho heard shocking news.

“Is that true?”

“No, it’s really true. It seems that that bastard Peng Mujeong was caught trying to hide the fact that he raped his own sister. So there’s a huge uproar right now. The righteous Murim is saying they’ll punish him and are planning to hold a trial, but oh my. What kind of a monster is he to touch his own family?”

Goosebumps erupted all over his body.

Peng Mujeong.

It was definitely that man.

The man who had come to him with silver and asked him for a favor.

The thought of having formed a connection with such a bad person made him feel uneasy all day.

Fortunately, nothing happened.

Peng Mujeong was beheaded in front of his family, and even as time passed, no one came looking for him regarding the silver. From that day on, Seo Munho made a resolution. He would never form a connection with anyone related to the Murim.

Time passed.

Then one day.

“Waaah, waaaaah!”

Bang!

The door opened.

The midwife, her face covered in sweat, gestured.

“Come in quickly!”

“What about my wife? Is my wife okay?”

“She’s fine, that’s why I’m telling you to come in.”

He hurried inside.

His wife was smiling faintly, exhausted, and the midwife handed him a baby wrapped in a blanket.

“It’s a very healthy baby boy. Congratulations.”

Inside the blanket.

A baby who hadn’t even opened his eyes yet was squirming.

His cries were so loud that Seo Munho’s face broke into a wide smile.

“Oh God, thank you! Thank you so much!”

One daughter and one son.

At the moment his wish came true, he felt truly happy.

✦✦✦✦✦✦

Moment.

Luca Bellino felt a strange sensation.

‘Where am I? Why am I here?’

Last Memory.

She had definitely stopped Peng Mujeong and been killed.

Now, trapped in an eternity, she had to spend time endlessly until the next opportunity was given.

But it was too early.

She saw tall buildings in front of her, and a soft, warm feeling was felt in her right hand.

“Mom ━That’s Dad over there!”

“Sophia?”

It was her daughter.

Her daughter, holding soft serve ice cream in one hand, pointed at a man approaching from afar.

She turned her head.

It was her husband.

Her heart pounded like crazy.

It was a terrible nightmare.

A nightmare that she had repeated countless times, a nightmare that always ended with her husband’s death.

Her voice wouldn’t come out.

She wanted to shout and tell him to run away, but her husband would soon be turned into a mess because of the monster falling from the sky.

But.

“Luca, Sophia.”

Her husband smiled brightly.

He came closer and showered their daughter’s face with kisses.

“Giggle.”

“My daughter. Do you know how much I missed you?”

A series of situations.

Luca Bellino’s thoughts stopped.

It was strange.

Why wasn’t anything falling from the sky?

A monster should definitely appear.

Seeing her standing blankly, her husband stood up and looked at Luca Bellino.

“What’s wrong? Is something the matter?”

“No….”

She was speechless.

Only then did she realize.

Azmoon’s offer was a trap from the beginning.

Her desperate struggle to survive, even at the cost of sacrificing someone else, came back as karma, creating a cycle of trials she could never escape. This time, it was different. Luca Bellino gave up on herself. She helped to save Kang San’s world, even if it meant sacrificing herself.

It wasn’t because of the merit of evil deeds.

It was the merit of good deeds.

As Kang San managed to protect the world, she was given a new opportunity.

Not a chance to undo her mistakes.

But a chance to live anew.

Tears welled up.

She hugged her husband, who was looking at her with a worried face.

“Luca? Is there really something wrong?”

Her husband reacted with confusion.

She didn’t want to explain everything to him.

For a long time.

It was just a desperate time she hoped no one would remember.

If she had returned to the beginning, that was enough.

Luca Bellino cried so much that her clothes were completely soaked, and she smiled brightly, clinging to him like a fragile girl.

“No, I’m just happy. I’m really happy to see you.”