"Who am I?"
Seung-chan opened his eyes.A strange sky. A foreign air.As he sat up, the surroundings gradually came into focus.This wasn't the Murim.
And yet—It felt oddly familiar.People strolled by, shops lined the streets,soldiers patrolled with spears in hand.
But one thing was clear:This was not the Gangho of the Murim.Not the world he had known.It was a city of another world.
The people were unfamiliar—but strangely, he understood their language.
"Wait... since when could I understand their tongue?"
Just as the thought crossed his mind—
"Let's head over there!""Yeah, we'll be late if we don't!"
A man passed through the crowd.Seung-chan caught a glimpse of his face—
—and a few steps later,saw the exact same face pass by again.
He stopped walking.Turning his head, he looked again.
Same man.Same clothes.Same hair, same build.As if the same person had walked by twice.
His thoughts tangled.And just then, someone beside him chuckled.
"Ah, must be twins. They're identical!"
Seung-chan let out a small breath."Right. Twins. That makes sense."He relaxed and resumed walking.
But something stuck in his mind.
Those men—they walked the same path,made the same gestures,and even said the same lines.
"Let's head over there!""Yeah, we'll be late if we don't!"
Same tone. Same rhythm.
Was that really just a coincidence?
As he kept walking—
"Damien!"
Someone called out.
Seung-chan stopped.A stranger waved to him with a smile.
"Damien? Who's that?"
The man approached and said with a familiar tone,"What's up? You've been zoned out all morning."
Seung-chan said nothing.The man frowned slightly.
"What's wrong, Damien?"
And in that moment—his mind shook.
Damien?He wasn't Damien.
Seung-chan slowly opened his mouth."I'm not—"
—but what came out was—
"Nah, just had something on my mind."
Even he was startled.His mouth had moved without his will.
Part 2, Chapter 2: Living Damien's Life
"Am I... truly part of this world?"
He was Damien now.Or rather, he was living as someone named Damien.But it wasn't a life he had chosen.
He had once been a swordsman.A man of the Murim.He belonged on battlefields, wielding a sword.
Now, he held a hoe in a field.
"Hurry it up, Damien!"
A man beside him laughed and gave him a friendly shove.Seung-chan—no, Damien—nodded silently.He looked down at the hoe in his hands.It felt... unfamiliar.
He had never farmed before.Yet his hands moved naturally.Too naturally.
"This isn't my body."
He knew already.His face had changed.His name had changed.Even his body was no longer the same.
But worse—
He was adapting to this life. Too well.
Evening. At the Tavern.
After sunset, he sat in a local tavern.A mug of frothy beer sat before him.
"Still stuck in your thoughts, Damien?"
A friend across the table teased him.Seung-chan raised the mug in silence.Then spoke.
"Just... feeling off lately."
Strange.That wasn't something he would say.And yet, his lips moved on their own.Beyond his control.
He realized it then.
"I'm living Damien's life. But I never chose to."
Everyone in the village called him Damien.He had Damien's friends.Damien's daily routine.
But when had he come here?
He tried to remember.But already, fragments of Damien's memories were seeping into his mind—Familiar, and yet alien.As if they'd always been there.
But they weren't his.
"Hey, Damien! Don't just stare at it—drink up!"
A companion nudged his mug with a grin.Seung-chan flinched.His hand trembled slightly as the mug tilted.And once more, he felt it—
The hand wasn't his.The voice, the words—none of it his.
It felt like—
"Someone else is living this life through me."
He lifted the mug and took a sip.Bitterness and freshness filled his mouth.
It was beer.
Even the taste…didn't feel unfamiliar anymore.
Part 2, Chapter 3: Reclaim the Self
"Who am I?"
Seung-chan lowered his beer mug.His hand trembled ever so slightly.His body was still "Damien."But he could feel it—undeniably.
"This isn't my will."
His mouth moved without command.His hands performed unfamiliar tasks with perfect ease.He was like… a guest inside this body.
Seung-chan closed his eyes.If this continued,he wouldn't just be living as Damien—he would become Damien.
"Will I vanish?"
"Must I live as Damien?"
No. He couldn't accept that.He wasn't someone who would disappear so quietly.
"Before I lose myself, I have to act."
He had to reclaim his will.
First Attempt — Controlling the Body
Seung-chan silently clenched his fist.It felt wrong.His fingers moved naturally, yet they carried a dull, unfamiliar weight.
His body seemed to operate "half-autonomously."Now he had to take the lead—seize control over it.
"Damien?"
A friend looked at him with concern.Seung-chan didn't respond.Instead, he began to move his fingers—one by one.Slowly.Deliberately.
He repeated to himself:
"These are my hands.""This is my body.""I reclaim my will."
And then—
His hand froze.
No matter how hard he tried, the fingers wouldn't move.As if "Damien" himself was resisting.
"...So it won't be that simple."
This wasn't just about overwritten memories.His identity was being suppressed.
Second Attempt — Recovering Memory
Seung-chan stood from his seat."Where you going, Damien?"His friends called after him, but he didn't answer.He pushed open the tavern door and stepped outside.
The night air was cold.Where was this place?What kind of place was this?
He walked.He needed to find traces of his own existence.To see if Damien's records truly existed.
He searched the village, looking for evidence of his life.But the deeper he looked, the more disturbing it became.
His home was there.His belongings were there.His daily life—apparently—was there.
But—
There was no past.
Too few traces.Too little to account for a life lived.It was as if… he had only started existing yesterday.
He reached out and touched the wall of the house.
And then—
A dissonant memory surfaced in his mind.
Clash of Memories
He remembered Damien's life.Born in this village.Raised by parents.Took up farming as an adult.
But—It all flowed too softly, too vaguely.No sharp moments.No specific memories.
He couldn't recall his childhood.Couldn't remember his first day farming.
There were "memories,"but nothing to prove them.
And then, it hit him.
"These memories are fake.""They were manufactured."
And—
Another memory surfaced.
His life in the Murim.Swinging a sword.Wandering the Gangho.
But those memories…were starting to fade.
He shut his eyes tightly.
"As long as I don't surrender, I won't be erased.""As long as I remember, I won't disappear."
Then—
"...You can't."
A voice whispered in his head.
Seung-chan's eyes snapped open.He gave himself a command.
"Move."
His hand twitched.Fingers shifted, just slightly.His body—his mind—was beginning to crack the illusion.
"From this moment on, I take command.""From now on, I am the master of this body."