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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 8
Chapter Title: The Price of Survival
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It felt like my body was floating.
I couldn't tell if I was dead or alive.
Something incredibly noisy buzzed beyond the edges of my consciousness, amid that buoyant sensation.
"Elder Moyong Taese!"
A hazy figure flickered in and out of my blurry vision.
The boiling heat made my body scorching hot.
"So now you'll wipe out anyone who's not on your side, you beasts worse than animals! Aren't you afraid of heaven's wrath?!"
My head felt numb.
I couldn't grasp the situation.
Why was I lying down?
I still...
Yeah.
I had to go to work today.
I needed to make it through this winter too.
I'd stocked up on rice ahead of time, and firewood too, but since the candles had run out, I'd need to buy more.
Oh, right.
I'd been so busy just scraping by that I'd almost forgotten, but as a martial artist worth my salt, I needed oil for sharpening my blade.
Rice, firewood, candles, oil...
What I had on hand fell woefully short.
Work had been scarce lately anyway.
Then it hit me.
When could I live without these worries, free and at ease?
"Medicine King Hall Master! Over here!"
Someone pulled me upright.
Pain exploded through me like my whole body was shattering.
"He's still alive! Hurry, carry him!"
I'd always thrashed desperately to survive, putting in every effort.
I wanted to ask my mother.
I lived hard, didn't I?
Even if my life looked worthless to others.
Would she nod, smile like she did when I was a kid, and stroke my hair?
That's why.
That's why...
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ [Event line 1]
I snapped my eyes open.
"..."
Silence enveloped everything.
The room was utterly still, as if the clamor that had filled my ears moments ago had all been a hallucination.
A pure white ceiling came into view.
"It hurts."
My entire body felt like it was crumbling apart.
Every sip of water scorched my peeled esophagus, bringing the metallic tang of blood.
Clang.
My trembling hands couldn't even hold a porcelain bowl, dropping it with a crash.
It was as if every nerve in my body had been severed, wriggling like severed earthworms.
"Why does it hurt so much?"