I Became a Supporting Character in a Martial Arts Novel (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 36

I let out a light sigh. I knew as well as anyone that these thoughts, which resurfaced whenever I was about to forget them, weren’t exactly healthy. Yet, despite knowing that, I still found myself slipping into self-reproach without even realizing it.

‘Perhaps it’s precisely because it’s true that I lack shame.’

A few years ago, when I first learned about the curse, I suddenly realized that Hwasan had now taken the place in my heart once left empty by the loss of my family from Earth.

Ever since that realization, Hwasan had become my home, the place I returned to, and where my family resided.

‘So now, honestly… even if the true owner of this body were to appear later, I doubt I could hand it back to them without hesitation, as I might have when I first entered this body.’

The bonds I’d formed with various people over time were what held me together. Letting go of them would mean losing the very essence of who I am.

‘But even those relationships wouldn’t have existed if not for this body.’

I gave a bitter smile. Perhaps I’d spend my whole life carrying this discomfort in the corner of my heart while living in this body, or else one day lose my existence entirely and be freed—painfully—from the unease I’d accumulated all this time. Either way, I’d have to walk one of those two paths.

“Ah, I don’t want to think about it anymore.”

It felt too weighty and difficult a matter to ponder right from the morning, and I was already exhausted even before the day had properly begun. Shaking my head to clear my thoughts, I moved to start my day anew.

After dressing and washing up quickly, I headed toward the practice chamber.

The air had grown noticeably warmer than it had been a few weeks prior. It felt like standing right in the heart of a gentle spring. As I sensed the temperature, I suddenly wondered when Haheun had died and how much of this year remained.

‘…The incident happened roughly around summer, right? There are still eight months left this year.’

For now, I’ll focus on safely getting through that summer—and this entire year. After all, that was part of my goal too.

Perhaps because I was mentally drained from the start of the day, my mind was filled with the desire to live peacefully, even if only for these next eight months.

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