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

His words fell heavily. Geum Soso, who had been consistently silent, flinched at Man Do’s words. Her gaze slowly rose.

Geum Soso stared intently at Man Do. I couldn’t know what expression Man Do was making as I was looking at his back, but judging from Geum Soso’s strangely twisted expression, I thought he must be making quite a resolute expression.

“Are you serious, Uncle?”

“I’m serious. I will stake my life lived so far, my remaining life, and my everything to stop you.”

Man Do put strength into his hand holding the sword. There was no shaking in the tip of his sword. The sword pointing precisely at Geum Soso clearly showed his determination.

Geum Soso stared blankly at his sword, then glanced at her own hand before looking back at Man Do and smiling quietly.

“You’ve changed a lot.”

“…”

“When I was young, I’m surprised how someone who was called a demon and was a symbol of fear and terror to the Demon Cult members has become so gentle as to be shaken by a moment’s affection.”

Her hand rose to point at me collapsed behind Man Do.

“Did that woman make you like that? Or have you softened as you aged? Is that child so precious to you?”

“Soso…”

“I was your niece, Uncle! Although we weren’t related by blood, I grew up as your niece for life and I believed and followed you as my father instead of my parents. Even if it wasn’t a heavenly bond, I believed so. But now I can’t understand you saying you’ll cut me down yourself if I try to cut down that child.”

Geum Soso’s voice slowly grew louder and eventually rang out in a cry close to wailing. Geum Soso approached Man Do while stabbing her sword into the ground.

“What’s so important about that mere woman? Isn’t she nothing compared to the years I spent with you? The years I spent with you are over 30 years, but the time you’ve known that woman is at most 1 year. Are you taking that woman’s hand over me in comparison to such a woman?”

“Soso. That’s not…”

“Why do you keep disappointing me every time!”

As her voice fell, Man Do finally stopped his body abruptly. Geum Soso stood still at some distance from Man Do and shouted painfully.

“It was the same back then too. As I was dying, I grabbed your clothes and begged you to just show me my child’s face once. But you turned your back on my desperate cries and ended up leaving. You didn’t even see my last moments or show me my child’s face.”

“That’s not it. That’s… that’s not it…”

“You were always like that, Uncle. There was always something more important than me. From the moment my child was born, Dojin was your most precious existence, not me, and as the Vice Cult Leader of the Demon Cult, you could abandon me anytime for the sake of the cult. Isn’t that right? Otherwise, you couldn’t have turned your back on my cries like that!”

“That’s not it! Soso, that’s a misunderstanding. It’s true that I couldn’t do it for you, but that’s not because you weren’t precious! That’s just…”

“I don’t want to hear it.”

Man Do tried to answer urgently with a shaking voice to Geum Soso’s cry close to wailing, but Geum Soso didn’t listen. As her hand moved behind, the sword was pulled out and flew.

It was a sword technique that only someone who had realized the principle of grasping emptiness could do, but such things weren’t important now. Geum Soso immediately rushed at Man Do with her drawn sword.

Man Do reacted to her swinging sword and scattered sword energy in response. But even from behind, that attack looked very weak and feeble. Man Do wasn’t even using half of his skill. No, he probably couldn’t.

Humans are ultimately creatures governed by the head. If it’s not simply resembling, but having memories and conversations that the two people can share together, they should be considered the same person. So I could understand Man Do being shaken.

But if Man Do was shaken, no one here could cut down Geum Soso.

I couldn’t be her match due to severe internal injuries, and Man Do was also being shaken by Geum Soso.

Hyuk Dojin had collapsed from injuries, and the Cult Leader was in the same state.

No matter what master appeared, the Geum Soso in front of us now was the worst opponent who could target all of us.

Man Do only deflected Geum Soso’s attacks without directly attacking. In the end, Geum Soso shouted at Man Do who was stepping back from her fierce attacks.

“If you cherished me, why did you run away that day, Uncle?!”

Geum Soso’s sword finally pierced through Man Do’s shoulder.

“Ugh!”

Man Do grabbed the sword stuck in his shoulder and raised his head. Geum Soso looked at Man Do and opened her mouth again.

“In the end, Uncle, you can’t give any answer to that question. Because that answer is too cowardly for me to hear and ultimately the excuse of someone who ran away.”

“…”

“So, the only thing you who chose the child behind me over me can do is die by my hands. So, please…”

“Were you sincere?”

Man Do put strength into his hand gripping her sword. As it was bare skin without inner power protection, blood flowed from the hand holding the sword blade.

It was a dangerous moment where his fingers could be severed if Geum Soso pulled out the sword, but Man Do was calm.

“Do you truly think that way? Do you truly wish for this old man’s death?”

Man Do straightened his bent knees and stood up. Geum Soso held the sword stuck in his shoulder and only bent her neck to look up at him.

“Is what you wish for the death of all these people? Is your long-cherished desire to kill me, kill your child, and kill the woman your child loves? Is that your great cause?”

“What are you…”

“Who are you? Who are you that has memories and reminiscences shared with me? If you were truly Geum Soso, my niece, you wouldn’t speak like that. The Geum Soso I knew was warmer than anyone, thought of others, and worried about her child rather than herself at the end of her life.”

“…”

“I turned away from your death because you wished it. It was because the feelings of a mother worrying about her son who would be left alone as she was dying reached me more than anyone. I turned my back because I had to comfort the child who would want to see his mother’s end more than I did.”

Man Do moved forward with the sword still in his shoulder. Geum Soso’s eyes opened wide as she listened to his words.

Geum Soso was visibly shaken. In that situation, Man Do’s words continued.

“Are you truly my niece? If you really are my niece, if you really are Geum Soso, you couldn’t see that sight without feeling anything.”

His hand moved to point at Hyuk Dojin. When I turned my gaze to him, Hyuk Dojin seemed to have regained consciousness and was sitting askew, watching the situation.

I quickly approached him. Hyuk Dojin was quietly looking at Geum Soso, not seeming to notice me approaching.

“How can you be Geum Soso when you don’t shed a single tear seeing your dying son?”

“Stop… stop now…”

“You want my life? Fine, I’ll give you this neck. If that makes you feel better, I’ll give it a hundred times, a thousand times. But you shouldn’t speak like that to the people who truly cherished and loved you.”

Soso.

At Man Do’s small call, Geum Soso’s eyes opened wide. Geum Soso looking up at Man Do was trembling.

“Don’t you remember anything? The memories of that day, the reminiscences of that day. The first name you gave to the child you loved so much, and that first breath.”

* * *

No one expected it. No one ever thought I would have a child and become someone’s mother.

When people found out I was pregnant, many were shocked and expressed concern. Some even suggested I terminate the pregnancy, saying that this child might extinguish the flame of its mother to be born.

But I couldn’t give up. Even the tiny kicks from the baby moving in my womb gave me the strength to keep living.

The child was giving life to a dying me. That’s why I couldn’t give up.

The time I carried the baby in my womb was said to feel long, but to me, it felt all too short.

Though each painful, difficult, and exhausting day felt unbearably long, the days of carrying my child passed so quickly that they didn’t seem significant in comparison.

After ten months, the memory of the birth itself became faint. I just remember the pain, the hardship, and the overwhelming feeling that I might stop breathing at any moment.

But I endured, forced myself to overcome, and thought about the years that had passed. Finally, there was the baby’s first cry.

That cry filled the room, and I burst into laughter. Yes, you’re crying. You’re crying.

You’re announcing your arrival in this world. My proud child, who didn’t extinguish your mother’s breath but continued it with your own.

It didn’t matter if you were a son or a daughter. What mattered was that you were born, that you were mine.

When the baby’s cries subsided, the midwife washed the baby. As I weakly turned my head, I saw a familiar face.

A very familiar face. He was smiling. Or was he crying? For the first time, the man who never showed his emotions wore both a smile and tears as he carefully washed our child.

The man who could crush rocks with his bare hands was now trembling, afraid that his hands might harm the baby. He held the baby’s head delicately and washed its body with a warm cloth. His hands were trembling.

He had been like that before, too.

When he held me for the first time.

When he proposed to me.

When he told me he loved me.

He was always a man who ruled over others, but in front of me, he knew how to lower himself. That’s why I loved him so deeply.

He turned to look at me and smiled. Then he asked me:

“What name would you like to give?”

At his question, I closed my eyes briefly and recalled the name I had thought of. I didn’t want to give a child a harsh or sharp name, like those of other children destined to walk the path of a warrior.

Since I wouldn’t be able to stay with him for long, I wanted him to remember me. So, I chose a name that would remind him of me every spring when flowers bloom. Combining the character for ‘peach tree’ (Do) and the character for ‘truth’ or ‘unchangin’ (Jin), I decided on the name.

The man holding the baby said the name was unsuitable for someone who would lead the Demon Cult, but he smiled in satisfaction.

My child, I wonder if you know.

Do you know the heart of a mother who wishes that at least your name might be warm and comforting, even if you are born into a bloodstained world?

Do you know that, for your sake, I am not afraid of death in the slightest? And that I am glad my approaching death is not in vain?

Do you know that?

“Thank you.”

The man holding the baby kissed my forehead. Then, he quietly called out:

“You’ve worked hard, Soso…”

* * *

“Soso…”

Geum Soso raised her head at the voice quietly calling her name. Man Do, who had been gripping the sword she had stabbed into him until just now, had long since disappeared.

Instead, the firm arm supporting her standing in that place evoked a very familiar and longed-for feeling.

“You are…”

Geum Soso slowly opened her mouth. The man supporting her, Hyuk Muhyeol, smiled painfully at Geum Soso’s voice and slowly embraced her.