Chapter 4: The One Who Never Changes
Seung-chan stopped walking.Deep in the mountains, beneath a cliff no one ever visits—there he was.
Just as always.
He sat atop a rock, eyes closed, breathing in perfect stillness.It was as if he existed apart from all movement in the world.Even the wind and time seemed to pass him by.
Seung-chan muttered inwardly:
'As expected, he hasn't changed at all.'
It was always like this.In the past, too, he was always there, training in that very spot.Almost as if trying to transcend the laws of the world itself.
As Seung-chan approached, the man slowly opened his eyes.His gaze was deep and clear.Endlessly serene, but somehow devoid of human emotion.
And, as if it were the most natural thing in the world, he said,
"You've come."
Seung-chan was momentarily startled.It was as if he'd known all along that Seung-chan would arrive.
"…How did you know I'd come?"
The man answered quietly,
"You were bound to come, eventually."
Those words sent a chill down Seung-chan's spine.In the past, the man had spoken the same way.
Back then and now,he was always in the same place, saying the same things.
Almost like a fixed pattern.
Seung-chan stared at him.A man who trained for decades in the same spot.The one who never changed.Perhaps even time itself couldn't touch him.
Back when he was Lee Hyeon-do, he'd learned something from this man.But those memories were hazy now.And here he was again, seeking him out.
"Were you waiting for me?"
The man slowly shook his head.
"I wasn't waiting.""I am simply here."
"You're the one who came."
Seung-chan chewed over those words.He wasn't waiting.He was simply always here.
Seung-chan quietly asked,
"Then, why do you remain here?"
The man closed his eyes again.Then, slowly and calmly, he answered,
"To realize mu (nothingness)."
Seung-chan frowned.
To realize mu?He'd heard it before, but it was still unclear.
He asked again,
"Then… have you realized it?"
This time, the man didn't answer.Instead, he opened his eyes and looked at Seung-chan.
His gaze was unwavering.Utterly without emotion.
And in that gaze,Seung-chan saw the unchanging.
Past and present,the man acted in the exact same way.
Back then, he was training.Now, still training, in the same place.
He does not change.Nothing changes.
A chill ran through Seung-chan.
Maybe this man was—someone who didn't change, no matter how much time passed.
Or maybe,someone who wasn't even aware that time was passing.
Then what was he trying to realize?
Seung-chan unconsciously stepped back.At that moment, the man spoke again.
"You came seeking an answer, didn't you?"
His hand moved slowly.And just as he had in the past—he reached out.
"There is something I have for you."
Seung-chan looked at that hand.A vague memory surfaced.
Back then, too,the man had spoken in just this way.And he'd handed something over.
Seung-chan quietly inhaled.
"Is it the same thing as before?"
The man said,
"It's no different."
A strange feeling welled up in Seung-chan.For decades, this man had trained in the same spot, never claiming to have completed anything.Same goal, same process.He had never changed.
Then what he offered—was it also unchanged?
Seung-chan slowly reached out his hand.He accepted what was offered.
At that moment, the man closed his eyes once more.
"Go."
Seung-chan asked,
"To someone like you, who stays here to realize mu—what am I?"
The man didn't answer.
He simply resumed his deep meditation,as if Seung-chan no longer existed.
Seung-chan didn't ask again.He realized there was no meaning in trying to understand him any further.
He turned to leave.
He didn't even know what he'd received, or what it meant.
But one thing was certain.
The man hadn't changed.He was always there, repeating the same pattern.
As if the very logic of the world was set that way.
And—
In the moment Seung-chan doubted that,he heard a faint whisper behind his back.
"Do I exist?"
Seung-chan didn't look back.He didn't stop walking.
He just kept moving forward.
And once more, he repeated to himself:
"He does not change.""Nothing changes.""But I… am changing."
He didn't fully grasp what that meant yet.
But he was sure of one thing:that was the reason he had to keep moving forward.
Chapter 5: Training Naegong
Seung-chan quietly turned the pages.The texture at his fingertips, the familiar handwriting.
"I've seen this before…"
The words engraved on the old paper hadn't changed from the past.Back then and now, they taught him the same things.
He sighed and murmured,
"This is the manual that brought me to the peak of Murim… but what does it mean to receive it again?"
He'd received this book before, and now, here it was again.Does the path of training always flow to the same place?Could this tiny difference make a huge change in the end?
Back then, he never questioned it.It was natural to seek strength; there was no need to doubt the manual's teachings.But now?
"Why am I repeating the same path?"
He closed the book and looked around once more.Nothing around him felt unfamiliar.It was as if he was retracing a predetermined flow.
But something was different.
His past self simply walked this path.But his current self—was starting to question it.
"I've already walked this road before."
Does he simply follow it again?Or does he try something new?
He opened the book again.Reading through the path his former self had taken, he sought new possibilities.What could change?No, what could he change?
Seung-chan gripped the book tightly.
"This time, I'll do it differently."
He closed the book, a small smile on his lips.At that moment, the air around him shifted as if the wind stirred.
And—
The path he walked began, little by little, to change.
Chapter 6: The Strong Are Strong, the Weak Are Weak
It was a manual he'd seen before.Learning it the second time was naturally much faster than the first.
At first, it was just imitation—moving the body, controlling the energy, building up naegong.With enough training, enlightenment would eventually follow.That was the typical process.
But Seung-chan had already reached enlightenment once before.For someone who'd stood at the peak of Murim, who had once experienced that level,walking the same path was simply repetition.
"Why must I walk this road again?"
Even as he questioned it, his body moved by instinct.Repeating a path once traveled was actually easier.
The flow of naegong became precise in a flash; the circulation of gi became natural.He grasped the core teachings of the simbeop far faster than before.
In just a week, he felt he'd become strong enough.
But was this strength really enough?
"Should I test it?"
He hesitated.Was he now strong enough to face anyone?But the ones he had to face were not ordinary Murim people.
He wasn't ready to return to Murim just yet.
His old memories whispered to him—strength alone isn't enough to survive.
The strong are strong, and the weak are weak.But even the strong will one day meet someone stronger.True strength starts with knowing what level you're at.
Seung-chan gripped his sword.His eyes deepened.
"I need to become even stronger."
That was the reason he never stopped training.