It was a quiet, sunny afternoon.
Yunhee had handed Hajin a handwritten list: veggies, meat, flour, and her favorite spice mix. A normal errand. A normal day.
He walked down the street with a canvas bag slung over one shoulder, humming an old Murim tune under his breath. His clothes were modern now — jeans, hoodie, sneakers — but he still looked like someone who could slice reality in half if needed.
He reached the butcher shop and walked in.
> "500 grams of—"
> "Scholar of Thunder Hajin."
His words stopped.
His heartbeat skipped.
Slowly, he turned.
A young man — maybe 19, with a lean build and faint sword-calluses on his hands — stood behind him, wearing a plain black jacket and faded jeans. But his eyes...
Hajin's jaw clenched.
Those eyes had seen Murim.
> "Who are you?" he asked cautiously.
---
Memories Return
The boy smiled, slightly awkward but deeply sincere.
> "It's me, Elder."
> "I'm Baek Soojin… from Cloud Mist Sect."
> "I used to be… the kid who talked to rocks."
> "You know — the one everyone thought was weird."
Hajin blinked.
And remembered.
That small boy who sat near the edge of the training yard, whispering to stones, convinced they answered him back. Kang Woo called him Stone Whisperer. Most others called him Possessed.
But the boy had grown.
Stronger.
Smarter.
Alive.
> "But… how—"
Before Hajin could finish, a calm yet commanding voice echoed in his head.
---
A Voice in the Mind
> "Hajin."
> "Bring the boy home."
It was Kang Woo.
His telepathy surged through space as if Hajin were still in Murim.
> "I felt it."
> "That's one of mine."
---
Heading Home
Hajin looked at the boy, nodding once.
> "Come with me."
> "You're about to see your Master again."
Baek Soojin's eyes widened.
> "He's alive…?"
> "I thought he died… like the rest of us…"
> "I even buried his sword…"
Hajin smiled faintly.
> "You'll understand everything soon."
> "And don't worry."
> "He never needed a grave."
As Hajin and Soojin stepped into the quiet house, they saw Kang Woo seated on the floor, sipping tea as if the world hadn't flipped upside down for the boy behind him.
Baek Soojin's footsteps halted.
His voice cracked.
> "M-Master Kang Woo…?"
Kang Woo looked up, completely calm.
> "Yo, Soojin. Took your time."
Soojin staggered forward in disbelief.
> "How… how are you alive?"
---
The Truth Unfolds
Kang Woo gave a light shrug.
> "Simple. I didn't die."
> "That final battle — that madness — it never ended with my death."
> "After I destroyed the Immortal World… a gate opened in front of me."
> "I walked through it... and woke up here."
Soojin blinked. "So you... chose to return?"
Kang Woo nodded.
> "This is my original world. Earth."
> "Murim... I wasn't born there. Ten years ago in this world, I was struck by thunder."
> "It didn't just take my soul — it took my whole body."
> "And when I finished everything in Murim… I walked back through that cosmic gate."
---
The Thunder-Born Disciples
Soojin's hands trembled slightly.
> "You were... taken by thunder?"
> "Then it's just like us."
Kang Woo tilted his head.
> "What do you mean?"
Soojin smiled faintly.
> "Master, you weren't alone."
> "All of us — your nine disciples — we were struck by thunder too."
> "Each of us lived ordinary lives on Earth."
> "We were taken to Murim in our teens, in new bodies. But the thunder connected us."
> "You didn't just find us in Murim — fate brought us there."
---
And the Reunion Begins
Kang Woo looked surprised for a moment… then leaned back with a soft smirk.
> "Huh. Guess I wasn't the chosen one after all."
> "So what happened to the rest of you?"
Soojin scratched his cheek.
> "We… died."
> "And when we did, we woke up in our Earth bodies — back here."
> "It's like the thunder resets us."
Kang Woo narrowed his eyes.
> "So you reincarnated back to your Earth bodies after dying in Murim…"
> "And I came back alive through a gate... after ascending beyond godhood."
He tapped his fingers.
> "That's wild."
Soojin grinned awkwardly.
> "Yeah… oh, by the way."
> "I messaged the others before we reached here."
> "They're on their way now."
Kang Woo raised an eyebrow.
> "Heh."
> "Then I better stretch a bit."
> "Gotta remind my brats what a real master looks like."