Seol Jihu saw the blade of the axe. That was the end.

The moment they collided, a terrible mixture of disorienting noise rang around his ear canals, and his vision rapidly blackened. The back of his nose felt stingy and hot for some reason. The other sensations he perceived simply disappeared.

The metallic screech could no longer be heard. He couldn't sense being cut, either. It was as if the time had been cut off.

But, that only lasted for a brief moment.

“….”

The horrendous pain….

“…Ah.”

…Came knocking belatedly.

'Huuaaaaakkk!!'

If he could, he would have screamed loud enough to tear his vocal cords. However, the serious, crippling pain did not permit him to open his mouth.

Could this be described as the pain felt from his blood flowing in reverse? It sure felt like all his bones had shattered and his flesh had exploded into bits. The sensation of his shoulder muscles being shredded and torn into pieces was a pain on another dimension, a torture that could not be put into mere words.

What made him feel even more despair was the fact that he could not feel anything in both of his arms.

Not like he couldn't move his arms, no – no, it was more like, they didn't even exist in the first place. He even ended up thinking that his arms must've been ripped off from the force of the collision.

'I shouldn't have stepped up….'

Regrets rushed in belatedly. If he was hired as a porter, he should've quietly stayed back. Why did he have to step up here?

'Did I die?'

He only now noticed that the surroundings had become silent as well. Everything was deafening as if he was listening underwater.

Was he going deaf, or did he die? Seol Jihu was thinking as such but then, he realized something was amiss.

If he was really dead, then he shouldn't be feeling pain. Since he was feeling it, then….?

“!!”

His mind sobered up in an instant....