The Regressed Young Master’s Guide to Living on Easy Mode

Chapter 49 : The Liberation Pill (2)

Aspiration.

A single dream.

A wish you want to achieve even if you have to sacrifice everything.

It was never fulfilled in the end.

It was like the end of a first love that was sweeter and more passionate than anything else.

It was empty.

I became ashamed of my past self.

That product was now in front of me.

What is this situation now?

I ate the Liberation Pill that Yang So-pyeong gave me, sat in the lotus position, and closed my eyes.

And now, I was on the tournament stage.

When I raised my head and looked at the other side, I could see my opponent.

The one standing there was me. To be precise, it was me who had advanced to the Young Lord competition before my regression.

And the opponent who should have been on the other side was supposed to be my junior sister, but for some reason, I was standing there.

I wonder if the Liberation Pill was actually an illusion pill. I think about it. Otherwise, the current situation could not be explained in words.

Is the most plausible thing a dream? Am I dreaming right now?

When I pinched my cheek, pain came.

In the seats of honor, the leaders of the Heavenly Demon Cult were sitting neatly. The fact that they were all laughing and enjoying themselves was exactly the same as the old days when they were already certain of my junior sister's victory.

Only the Heavenly Demon remained expressionless.

No, now I can see it. It's a look of implicit expectation.

One thing is for sure, seeing that my hyung-nim is not in that seat, the situation before my regression is correct...

Then the me standing over there was not just me.

The Young Lord competition is a match where you bet your life. A fight where if you win, you take everything, and if you lose, you lose everything.

Therefore, at that time, I had made my junior sister drink tea with poison, and on the contrary, I myself was in a state of being enhanced using all sorts of drugs.

The first of which was the Life-Activating Pill. It was a kind of painkiller, but its side effects were so severe that its use had been discontinued.

The human brain, when a certain amount of fatigue accumulates, gives orders to sleep or rest. But if you take the Life-Activating Pill, it paralyzes that command system. In other words, no matter how tired I am, the senses I feel are still vivid.

Looking at it this way, the Life-Activating Pill seems like a legendary medicine, but the brain doesn't just give orders to rest when it's tired for no reason. A person who has taken the Life-Activating Pill doesn't know they are tired even if fatigue accumulates. To say it again, the Life-Activating Pill is not a medicine that removes fatigue. It just paralyzes it. The fatigue the body receives remains the same. You move with all your might as usual, and eventually, you surpass your limits and reach death.

It's easy to think of it as running at full speed all the time when you're running.

And at that time, there was another drug I had taken besides the Life-Activating Pill. It was a drug called the Muscle-Generating Pill, which helps with muscle generation and regeneration. You had to take this continuously to fully utilize its effects, but of course, there was a side effect. That was that you would become impotent. I remember that at that time, I was so crazy about becoming the Young Lord that I didn't particularly care about becoming impotent. Of course, not now.

In other words, with the Life-Activating Pill and the Muscle-Generating Pill, I was at the Transcendent Peak, but it could be said that I was in a state that surpassed the Transcendent Peak.

If I were to find a word to express this, wouldn't it be something like the Super Transcendent Peak? It seems that it would be simple to just say Transcendent Peak (II).

I had definitely surpassed the Transcendent Peak, but I had not reached the Demonic Zenith.

Even looking at my current self, I had really done it with no way back. You're cool! My past self!

If this continues, the match will soon... as expected, it began. The me from before my regression comes running. The sense of pressure is no joke. Was I that strong? Come to think of it, I wasn't weak, but facing it in person, the pressure is no joke. I raised my sword.

The me from before my regression slashed his sword at me. Slice. I was cut diagonally along with my sword.

As death came over me, I thought.

'I was damn strong.'

You're cool! My past self!

* * *

I, who had thought I was dead, was standing on the tournament stage again.

The sensation was different from regression. I had no idea what the situation was at all. So I decided to stop thinking.

Anyway, one thing was certain. That if I died in the duel, I would return to the beginning.

The duel began, and the me from before my regression came running again. This time, I used the Reversal of Heaven to properly face him.

Clang!

This time, my body was not cut, and I succeeded in deflecting the sword. But even though I had used the Reversal of Heaven, I was pushed back in strength by the me who had become Transcendent Peak (II).

Can I get out of this shitty situation if I win this match? I couldn't know.

It feels like I'm trapped in a high-level illusion formation. The only formation I know of that can make the senses feel this vivid is the Life and Death Illusion Formation. And the person who could perform this Life and Death Illusion Formation in the martial world, the Divine Miracle Worker, I had killed myself before my regression.

I told you to stick with the Heavenly Demon Cult, why did you have to be in the neutral position between the Orthodox and Demonic Factions? At that time, I was not a person with a broad enough mind to let a rat who might stick with the Orthodox Faction at any time live.

Then did the Divine Miracle Worker hide and cast the Life and Death Illusion Formation on me?

That wasn't it either. I had experienced the Life and Death Illusion Formation myself before my regression, and the feeling then and now was different.

The me who is Transcendent Peak (II), feeling bad that the attack just now didn't work, comes running even more fiercely than before.

I held my sword in a reverse grip, gathered my arms in a circle, turned my palms outwards, and dug into his embrace.

The second technique of the Reversal of Heaven, the Twin Poles, the Three-Legged Crow.

Crash, crash, crash, crash!

With a loud noise, a strong repulsive force was felt. I was pushed back a total of ten steps, and when I looked ahead, I could see the me of Transcendent Peak (II) standing perfectly fine.

"Is he a monster?"

The me of Transcendent Peak (II) approaches and cuts off my neck as it is.

You're cool! My past self!

* * *

I was back again.

When I touched the area around my neck, it was properly attached this time as well.

It seemed certain that I would return if I died. But I didn't know how many times I would return.

What if the second time is the last?

It meant that if I died this time, I might really die. My guess was that it probably wasn't infinite.

"It's probably consuming the true power that has settled in my body."

A formation also does not exist indefinitely. It needed an axis to maintain its form, and it needed a source to support that axis.

If I were to compare my current situation to a formation, the axis would be my body. The source would be either my internal energy or my innate qi.

In other words, the conclusion was that if my internal energy, innate qi, or body were to collapse, I would also really face death.

I remembered the appearances of those who had taken the Liberation Pill. Were they also seeing a realistic illusion like this? I couldn't know.

In reality, was my body running rampant like them? That too, I couldn't know.

What was certain was that I had to do something about the opponent in front of me. This time, I fought with my life on the line.

I poured out everything I could.

I used the Heavenly Demon Divine Art.

I used the Reversal of Heaven by the Heavenly Demon Divine Art.

I also used the Twin Poles, the Three-Legged Crow by the Reversal of Heaven by the Heavenly Demon Divine Art.

And I lost again.

After that, I experienced six more deaths, and I was able to realize one fact.

That the method to defeat the me of Transcendent Peak (II) was absolutely impossible in my state of Transcendent Peak (I).

My past self, you were really damn strong.

You're cool! Yoo Jae-ha!

* * *

Yang So-pyeong was watching Yoo Jae-ha, who was sitting in the lotus position and spewing out a tremendous qi wave.

Very few have survived after taking the Liberation Pill. But those who survived had always woken up with a great power.

Yang So-pyeong couldn't know exactly what Yoo Jae-ha was facing. But he could vaguely guess. Because he himself had also taken the Liberation Pill.

-You said you wanted to prove your worth, right? Then, eat it. And come back alive. If you come back alive, I won't abandon you.

The only path given to Yang So-pyeong, whose usefulness had been exhausted, was to be abandoned. So he ate it. And what he met was Yoo Jae-ha at the time of the Divine Demon Tournament.

To him, who had awakened from the Liberation Pill, the one wearing the rabbit mask had said.

-Did you break the wall that was blocking you?

Yang So-pyeong had answered.

-Yes.

Because he had taken the Liberation Pill himself and had awakened, he could vaguely tell. The fact that the Liberation Pill allows one to face the ugliest and dirtiest true self that is settled deep in one's heart.

In Yang So-pyeong's case, it was fear.

The fear of an opponent who had instilled in him the thought that he could never win.

-How many times did it take you to break the wall?

-The 10th time.

-You're lucky. The 11th time is real death. I have to keep my promise. Alright. I'll give you a new role.

-Thank you. Before that, may I ask one question?

-Hmm... normally, no, but since you're completely one of us now, I'll answer just one thing, whatever it is.

-What is the Liberation Pill?

-That's a bit of a cliché question. I'm disappointed. But since it's a promise, I have to answer. The Liberation Pill is a kind of drug.

-A drug?

-Yes. Have you ever taken drugs?

-I haven't.

-If you want to, tell me. I can get you some opium. To get back to the point, if you take drugs, you can feel a sense of happiness beyond what you can normally feel. To put it simply, just by breathing, it allows you to feel a sense of accomplishment higher than any other accomplishment you have achieved in your life. It can be pleasure, it can be sexual desire, it can be a desire for power. The important thing is that it makes you feel the best of whatever it is.

-Then, is the Liberation Pill a drug?

-No! Would a simple drug show such a thing?

-No.

-That's right. The Liberation Pill transcends the limits of emotions like joy, anger, sorrow, and pleasure. It's not at the level of paralysis; it completely breaks down the boundaries. Then our brain can't distinguish between the mind and reality. You must have experienced it too, right? Didn't it feel real?

-It certainly... did.

-That's right. But we humans are beings with clear limits. Even if you temporarily break the limits of the mind, the body can't. If you transcend the limits, the body dies. That's why you're given ten chances.

-The maximum amount of pleasure the body can withstand is ten times.

-Yes. That's correct.

-Then, what happens if you exceed those ten times?

-Your brain explodes and you die, or your heart explodes and you die. Because even if your mind has surpassed the limits, your body has not.

-I see. Those who have survived after taking the Liberation Pill are all people whose bodies have caught up with their mental transcendence.

-Yes. You create a new wall in your mind and body. It's similar to saying, 'to newly reconstruct the body.'

-Then, did you also survive after taking the Liberation Pill?

-Are you curious?

-Yes.

-Then, prove your worth even more than now.

-I understand. I will prove it.

Seeing the bulging veins, it seemed that he had died at least seven times.

Yang So-pyeong looked at Yoo Jae-ha and said.

"Are you the real one, or the fake one?"

* * *

My past self is a figure I am prouder of than anything else, but it is also a figure I want to hide more than anything else.

I was brilliant, dazzling, outstanding, excellent, beautiful, and great.

At the same time, I was cowardly, despicable, petty, cheap, dirty, and shabby.

I hid my ugly self with a brilliant appearance.

If I saw a being that shone brighter than me, I would immediately extinguish that light.

I hid myself in a dirty and shabby ugliness.

It wasn't like that from the beginning, but at some point, I was doing that.

I think that period was from when I had given up.

On the outside, I still looked aloof, arrogant, and haughty, but my heart had been broken long ago.

Myself, who had not reached the Demonic Zenith.

My junior sister, who had reached the Demonic Zenith.

Watching my junior sister take away my things one by one, I nurtured this shabby heart even more.

More ugly, more dirty, more despicable.

All those things should have originally been mine.

They were things I should have had.

The shell that remained after being deprived of all those things was the me in front of my eyes.

A thorough disguise to hide my weakness.

That inside was filled with the fear of being abandoned at any moment.

Slice.

Once again, I met my death on the tournament stage.

What I saw in my tenth death was my own fear.

Before my regression, I was afraid.

* * *

What am I afraid of?

Being abandoned?

No.

Then am I afraid of losing?

That's not it either.

What were you truly afraid of?

The true feelings I held.

Facing it like this, I thought I knew.

I had originally known, but I had been ignoring it. That would be a more accurate expression.

About the new...

Challenge.

And failure.

The stigma-like imprinting that comes from that, that I can no longer do anything.

If I fail even this...

I will no longer be able to hide myself with pretense and vanity as I have done so far.

I will be standing naked in front of people.

Is this what you are afraid of?

Yes! That was what I was afraid of.

The thing about becoming the Young Lord was a means and an excuse to hide those feelings of mine.

The Young Lord competition was a place to prove my ugliness.

I had lived my life regretting that day all along.

And I had been avoiding it even after my regression.

I was afraid of seeing my dirty true self again.

I was scared of confirming once again that I was doing nothing.

That's why, having faced it ten times now, I already knew.

What I have to do now to overcome what I was afraid of.

If I'm going to repeat it even if I die.

There was nothing I couldn't do even if I died.

* * *

"The rampant energy has stopped?"

Something in Yoo Jae-ha's body began to change.

It was something new that had never been there before.

Yang So-pyeong clicked his tongue as he watched what Yoo Jae-ha was doing now.

"He's a madman."