MTLNOVEL Chapter 169
“Hu-ek!”
There are several people dressed in white gowns.
They all stare in shock at someone.
At someone who has just awakened from a long coma, or rather, a spirit possession.
“Huek! Hu-eek! Do, have you returned? Is it really you?”
When someone wakes up from a coma, it’s almost impossible for them to move right away. The longer the coma, the harder it is.
This is because the muscles and tissues have all been dormant. It’s not easy to suddenly start moving a body that hasn’t been functioning.
However, a certain patient who has just woken up…
Groping…
“S, there’s no flesh! It’s really my body! My original body!”
As if deliberately ignoring such common sense, he wildly waved one hand, feeling all over his body.
As though he’s been fully aware of being in a coma for a long time.
“…?”
The doctors and nurses surrounding the patient stare at him blankly. Their minds are a blank slate, as this kind of patient is something they’ve never seen before.
“Hyuuek…! Finally… it’s my body! Not that piglet’s! This tanned olive skin, with yellow hair… How much I’ve missed it…”
Regardless, the patient hugs himself, sobbing almost, displaying somewhat bizarre behavior.
“Huuh… Finally, this is my body… Finally… I’ve come to a time where there’s a rural co-op instead of a martial arts alliance…”
“….”
“But… why does my hand feel so heavy…?”
Suddenly, he stops his strange antics when he hears a metallic rattling sound coming from his side.
“Un?”
His left arm wasn’t moving well. It was as if it was restrained by something.
Feeling uneasy, Namgung Bin turned his head and…
Finally, he saw it.
“Chuek…”
“What is this thing?”
Connected to his wrist and the railing of the bed was…
A shiny metal bracelet, otherwise known as ‘handcuffs’, a tool used to restrain people.
“Chuek, chuek…”
Sitting up, he shook his wrist, clearly bothered by the handcuffs that were suppressing him.
But the handcuffs wouldn’t come off. The strength he now had as an ordinary person wasn’t enough to even break thin iron.
Of course, that wasn’t the immediate concern right now. The real issue was: why was he handcuffed in the first place?
The patient directed his question to the doctors, who seemed like they might provide an answer.
“Yi, what is this? Why am I wearing handcuffs?”
“…?”
All he got in return was a gaze that looked as if they were seeing something bizarre. Only then did the patient realize his speech pattern didn’t match the current era.
“Uh… Doctors? What’s going on here? Why does something so monstrous adorn my wrist…”
While still using some archaic words he couldn’t quite let go of, one of the doctors suddenly instructed a nurse.
“Kim nurse! Hurry, call 112!”
“…! Yes, yes!”
“What?! Call 112? Shouldn’t we call 119 if someone’s awake? And isn’t this a hospital? Shouldn’t there be health checks or something?”
“The famous philanderer Geum Taeyang has awakened! Hurry, relay it!”
“To 112? This is OO Hospital!”
The situation began to escalate rapidly.
About two years ago.
A major incident shook South Korea.
That was the rape scandal involving the notorious “Adulterous Devil”, Geum Taeyang.
The specifics of whether these acts were consensual adultery or outright rape are still debated fervently across various online communities.
It all started quite simply: a strong young man suddenly collapsed and was rushed to the emergency room.
But then, when his parents went to clean out his house…
They stumbled upon countless bizarre tapes.
The videos showed the young man engaging in relations with countless women.
The problem? All of these women were married.
In fact, among them were the wives of powerful tycoons and even members of parliament. Clear evidence of adultery.
Shocked, his parents initially tried to keep the videos under wraps.
However, the truth rarely stays buried.
It turned out that the young man had sent some of the videos to the husbands of these women. When one of the aggrieved men went public with the information, further investigations ensued, and South Korea was thrown into chaos.
It couldn’t have been more chaotic. From everyday housewives to the wives of those leading the nation, it seemed that almost every notable beauty had been documented in Geum Taeyang’s videos.
These videos even became political tools, used to unearth scandals of opposing political figures, leading to intense public controversies. Unfortunately, Geum Taeyang didn’t discriminate between political affiliations; he’d had relations with the wives of both sides.
In fact, it became a compliment to say that a woman had remained untouched by Geum Taeyang, suggesting that she was modest and maintained her virtue.
But political careers depend heavily on image.
Some politicians, in order to save face, began to label Geum Taeyang as not just an adulterer, but a rapist. The videos that were now widely available online were certainly filled with coercive undertones. The police and prosecutors accepted these claims.
After that, Geum Taeyang was almost branded as a nationwide rapist and distributor of illegal pornography.
However, when the authorities tried to apprehend him, it turned out that he was in a coma and receiving treatment in a hospital.
Such an absurd twist of events.
“Hmm… so…”
“Ahem, so, you really…”
“My career is completely exposed…? But, I’ve never committed rape…?”
“…”
Geum Taeyang felt wronged.
Golden Tan, the name given to him by his father, a blond tanned playboy, was meant to encourage a lifestyle of debauchery.
Yet like most named Geum Taeyang, this one too, was far from the heinous crime of rape. He only committed adultery.
Of course, adultery is certainly condemnable, but it’s not illegal per se.
“Huff… distributing pornography… Honestly, there’s nothing to say about that… But originally, isn’t this what Geum Taeyang is supposed to do?”
“Alright, Geum Taeyang.”
A man in a police uniform approached Geum Taeyang lying (or restrained) in the bed.
“You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford one, one will be appointed for you. Do you understand these rights?”
The police officer freed Geum Taeyang’s hand from the bed by unlocking the other side of the handcuffs.
Taeyang knew this didn’t signify any actual liberation for him.
“Huff… Damn, how did it all come to this.”
‘Finally, I’ve returned to my original world! And there’s this false accusation! And as a rapist…! This is totally…!’
It was just like Namgung Cheolbin’s situation, a thought that crossed Geum Taeyang’s mind.
No, no. Not that. That mustn’t happen. He quickly shook his head.
Namgung Cheolbin was rejected by the Martial Arts World, and it shouldn’t happen to him.
Besides, this is reality.
A downfall here means no coming back. The overwhelming pressure weighed heavily on Geum Taeyang.
‘Could it be…’
Suddenly,
‘The message I left before…?’
A memory not too far gone in the past surfaced in Geum Taeyang’s mind.
‘Human karma doesn’t just disappear, so there’s a high probability it follows you across dimensions. The term ‘karma from a previous life’ doesn’t exist for no reason.’
A very ominous memory.
‘Just a warning. That’s all. You’ve done a good job, spirit holder.’
In the visiting room.
Geum Taeyang was nervously nibbling on his thumbnail, awaiting a visit.
The long-waited visit from his parents.
There was no way out. Marked by powerful politicians, he was now a serial rapist, and with the evidence for distributing pornography, he was almost certainly guilty.
In such a desperate situation, Geum Taeyang only waited for one thing: a visit from his parents.
He wanted to talk to them before he stepped into the courtroom. Counting the time in the martial arts world, it had been fourteen long years since he last saw them.
Creak—
Eventually, a middle-aged couple entered the visiting room. Through the perforated glass wall, father and mother reunited with their son.
“Ah, Mom! Dad!”
As soon as he saw them, Geum Taeyang stood up with joy and called out. His face lit up with happiness.
However, upon seeing his father’s drastically contrasting expression,
Geum Taeyang’s face began to harden.
“Ah, Father? Why do you look like that… It’s been so long…”
“Silence.”
A chilling voice cut into Geum Taeyang’s ears.
The veins on his father’s forehead stood out, and he spoke as if he was about to bite his lips any second.
“Rape? I did not teach you to do such things. You disgraceful creature, not even worthy to be called a beast.”
“Ah, Father! It’s all a false accusation! Father, you must believe in me!”
“The fact that you’re my son makes me nauseated. I can only pray that you would sever your disgraceful appendages.”