chapter 141

Chapter 141

Meanwhile, Juhyeon.

“...”

“Coo.”

“...I’ll take it.”

was being treated to snacks by a teddy bear.

“Is this fruit tea?”

“Coo.”

“It has a nice fragrance. It must have been troublesome, but thank you for taking care of it.”

“Coo-coo-coo...”

“And from next time, I’ll take care of what I eat myself. If that’s all right.”

He added.

“I don’t mean to use the kitchen, which seems to be something the owner of this house cherishes, carelessly. But if it’s just bringing food that’s already made, couldn’t I do that?”

Careful not to offend the temper of these enormous mysteries if possible, Juhyeon wore his characteristic ingratiating smile.

“It doesn’t feel proper to only receive help from you, sir.”

“Coo?”

“If there’s anything else you need done, please tell me as much as you like.”

At that, the teddy bear tilted its head, but nodded as if to say it understood.

‘I thought it might get angry, thinking I was refusing its goodwill, but fortunately that doesn’t seem to be the case.’

Even if it looked like an ordinary teddy bear, he knew what dwelled inside it was not ordinary. Wasn’t it the being the Black Cloak called Father? It made him far too uncomfortable to only be treated by such a great sir.

‘That I can have some degree of exchange with an existence staying in a place like this is fortunate, but...’

Juhyeon fell silent for a moment with the shimmering fruit tea set before him.

“...”

He wasn’t sure whether he should even think this was fortunate.

‘Is it okay to drink?’

He had been eating and drinking well so far, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t worried.

‘No matter how I think about it, this place is too far removed from the human realm.’

Among dimensions, there are dimensions where humans can live, and dimensions where enormous beings like gods can stay.

‘That it has the form of a cabin in the woods that even an ordinary person like me, not even a hunter, can perceive is a very surprising thing, but even so...’

In Juhyeon’s opinion, this place was without question closer to the latter. It was a dimension where mysteries, not humans, stayed.

‘And the act of consuming something has been treated as a kind of ritual since long ago.’

Legends of eating food of the divine realm and experiencing astonishing mysteries were common. As much as that, the act of eating something meant placing one foot in the dimension that food belonged to.

“...I think I’ve eaten a lot...”

“Coo?”

“I can walk out as a human, right?”

What Juhyeon worried about was this. A god’s goodwill alters humans.

‘No matter what scale and direction it shows, it can’t only be safe for humans.’

Just as most of the saintesses and saints that exist on Earth live on unable to die, he had no idea how Juhyeon would be swept up by the goodwill the Black Cloak showed.

‘Of course, it’s better than earning hostility, but...’

After hesitating for a long time, Juhyeon ultimately drank the fruit tea. This wasn’t simply a matter of etiquette that you mustn’t refuse what someone treats you to.

Juhyeon let out a hollow laugh.

“...It’s still delicious.”

It was an ecstatic taste that made him feel he understood why, in so many legends, humans were entranced by food and unable to make proper judgments.

Combined with a soft spring breeze, as if flowers had been steeped in it, the sweet fruit tea gently melted Juhyeon’s tongue.

‘Right, I’m still human.’

There was an anti-cat here, named Dana. Especially because it hated humans, whenever it saw Juhyeon it was busy avoiding him and hissing. That was an indicator that Juhyeon was still human.

‘For some reason, as time passes, that rejection reaction is gradually quieting too, but...’

He didn’t want to think that might be some sort of omen.

‘We’ve just been seeing each other for a long time and getting used to each other. Even when I checked myself, I couldn’t find anything strange, so I want to believe there won’t be any big problem.’

Juhyeon blinked.

“...”

Even Juhyeon, who had thought as far as giving up, had not the slightest intention of giving up being human now that things had turned out like this.

“...I’m going to leave as soon as things are ready. I have to.”

“Coo.”

“A plain human like me can’t keep staying here.”

Humans had to live among humans, as humans. That was Juhyeon’s thinking.

“It’s pretty funny that even if I leave here, I won’t be able to live like a human...”

Juhyeon, who remembered the time before the Great Catastrophe, was someone who remembered what “living like a human” meant.

You had the right to spend time with people who loved and cherished you, and you had the chance to naturally grow while experiencing the fortunes and misfortunes that came to each person. When the strong cooperate to protect the weak, humans form their most ideal structure.

“...Mm.”

As if he thought it was funny himself, Juhyeon smiled awkwardly.

“I’m aware that the future I want is too ideal.”

“Coo?”

“Gio asked if I wanted to achieve world peace, and I think that might be right.”

“...”

“If even a part of that could be brought in, I think the world would become much better than it is now...”

A dream is a dream. Humans called it a “dream” because they knew they couldn’t achieve it perfectly, and yet believed they could at least imitate it. The future Juhyeon wanted was no different.

To grasp even part of that mirage-like thing, what was needed was the mental strength befitting it. Passion, conviction, hope. He needed fuel that would make a human burn their short life.

“But right now I don’t feel motivated. So I guess that’s why I’m hesitating and dragging my feet instead of leaving here readily. It’s pathetic.”

He had lost too much, and felt too much skepticism.

“I don’t know what I want to do.”

He already knew well that if you work hard, you aren’t always rewarded.

If the world were one where good children received respect and fortune, Juhyeon would not have had to abandon his surname. If those who bore fruit could receive a reward befitting it, Juhyeon would have held a position at least higher than assistant manager.

Even so, it would have all been fine. Even if his pace forward was slow, even if sometimes he went backward or stopped, he still thought he was walking forward little by little.

“...It feels like my insides are empty...”

And then he lost it all.

“...”

“...”

“...That wasn’t a very fun story, was it.”

Juhyeon shrugged.

“I think I need time to think.”

In truth, Juhyeon knew well. That in order to do that “thinking,” he first had to do something about this empty feeling inside. He’d been unhappy and overcome it several times already, so he knew the order in which he needed to stand back up.

‘But right now I don’t even have the energy to walk out of here on my own two feet...’

With his characteristic smile, Juhyeon asked the teddy bear.

“Is it okay for me to do that?”

“Coo.”

The teddy bear climbed onto the table, patted Juhyeon’s head, then climbed back down.

“Coo-coo, coo.”

“...I can’t really understand you.”

“Coo.”

It patted Juhyeon’s thigh one more time, then left the cabin together with the anti-cat. Seeing the snack bag in the cat’s mouth, it seemed they planned to sit on the cabin bench again and pass time.

It looked as if it were guaranteeing Juhyeon’s time.

“...”

And once again, he suddenly felt skepticism.

‘...Even a non-human being is showing me consideration like this.’

Then why did I dream?

For whom, and for what.

* * *

Gio, who had arrived at the Death Temple, blinked twice.

“...It’s more frugal than I expected.”

“It isn’t a very popular religious order.”

“More than that...”

Gio tilted his head slightly.

“I think it has a strong Korean character.”

When you think of a temple, don’t you somehow picture something Renaissance-like? Because the Seoul Branch Sun Church and Giovanni’s Sun Church both made him picture buildings built of pure white marble, it felt a bit novel.

“Isn’t it a hanok?”

“I told you on the way here, but this death god is Earth’s native god. There’s at least one Death Temple in each country. Korea too.”

“So they emphasized the region’s character?

To show that it’s Earth’s native god through the form of a hanok?”

“Among the Death Temples, Korea is especially one that put effort into the building exterior. Maybe because it’s the only temple that has Death’s incarnation body. That probably wasn’t something the death god asked for, though...”

After locking the car door, Yoo Seong-woon continued.

“This is the world’s first case of officially recognizing a wicked god as a formal religious order. That’s how strong the public backlash was at first, and the protests from the nearby residents were huge. It was basically a facility people didn’t want.”

“A facility people didn’t want.”

“It’s the death god of all things, right? Back then, people who’d been bullied by gods had no leeway to consider providence or anything.”

“How unexpected.”

Yoo Seong-woon’s words sounded as though there had been a time when gods directly tormented humans. Gio, who had once been a priest, asked.

“Bullied by gods?”

“Distinguishing traditional gods and wicked gods isn’t something that old. Before that, gods interfered with human lives so much there were all sorts of major and minor disasters.”

“Major and minor disasters.”

“Like, if you said something a god didn’t like, they’d bring down divine punishment. Or they’d forcibly build their own temple on Earth. Well, there was no reason to consider humans, and no will to do so either, so it was only natural.”

“Is it not like that now?”

“We succeeded in blocking gods’ excessive interference centered around the symbols of eternity. Something that would have been naturally sorted out as time passed... I guess you could say we artificially hastened it.”

Yoo Seong-woon waved his hand.

“If I explain it, it’ll get too long, so I’ll put it simply: now, if gods want to intervene in the human world, they have to make a big investment.”

“Those who dislike investing won’t try to intervene carelessly. I understand what you mean, Mr. Yoo Seong-woon.”

Gio nodded.

“I recalled that even my father could not easily interfere in humans’ lives and wondered why, but I didn’t know there were such measures.”

“It must have been because gods from dead-end dimensions were prowling around, so proper measures couldn’t be taken. Even so, the symbols of eternity did step up and resolve things, but...”

Yoo Seong-woon shrugged.

“It stopped gods’ excessive interference, but those huge mysteries didn’t disappear. Among them, the mysteries that have great interest in Earth continued to show ongoing curiosity even after that.”

“Is the death god one of them?”

“Since it’s an Earth native god, it probably didn’t even want to, let alone give attention to other dimensions. Anyway, among those gods, there were also many mysteries that helped humans.”

“It must not have been easy for humans to accept that.”

“You understand well. But it’s not like gods that exist will disappear, and in the end coexistence with mystery is a scheduled future, right? So the government took some measures.”

A representative example was the Death Temple. Yoo Seong-woon pointed at the not-very-large hanok and said,

“They reduced the building’s size and added more Korean color.”

“Did that have an effect?”

“It made it clear that this god is Earth’s native god, at least. That doesn’t mean the death god is only Korea’s native god, though...”

“Even so, it must have felt special to Koreans. Like meeting a hometown friend you met in another region.”

“You could say it’s similar.”

The moderately sized hanok, a form no one had imagined, instantly left the people who had been fiercely protesting confused. In that time, the government gave the local residents various benefits and flipped the 분위기.

“You could say they succeeded at a kind of marketing. Back then, so many people were dying and the cleanup wasn’t even going well, but the Death Temple directly presided over funerals like that.”

People who lost family or friends. People facing death, or in environments close to that level of danger. They found a huge merit in having funerals directly conducted at a temple where none other than the death god resided.

“They’re desperate themselves and their hearts are torn apart, and a death god that’s officially recognized by the government and the Association is presiding over the funeral, right? Whether it’s a wicked god or not, they couldn’t help wanting mercy.”

“Even so, some might have hated it to the end, but it seems the government and the Association have a good image. Trust in a facility they proclaimed safe must have been big from the start, so that kind of project succeeded.”

“You’re right. The government and the Association have enormous trust from people. With those places promoting the death god in many ways, it was hard to distrust it to the end.”

Yoo Seong-woon nodded.

“There was also a big part that it worked because the death god cooperated. Maybe because it’s Earth’s native god, it basically cherishes Earthlings a lot. It isn’t the type to butt into human affairs, either...”

“I heard there is an incarnation body?”

“After the Great Catastrophe, an environment suitable for making an incarnation body was formed, and back then death was happening so often. I think it decided it was a proper timing for an Earth native god to reveal itself.”

“A proper timing.”

“I don’t know the exact facts either. Like why it stays in Korea in particular. Gods aren’t my specialty, and the death god is so quiet... it barely responds at all beyond looking around the world with its incarnation body.”

With an easygoing smile, Yoo Seong-woon guided Gio.

“Then shall we go in?”

“Good.”

As they approached the temple entrance, the temple gatekeeper holding a spear asked,

“Are you Hunter Yoo Seong-woon?”

“Yes, I applied for a private prayer room today.”

“I will guide you inside.”

Soon after, a priest wearing pure white priestly robes came out from inside the temple.

Their hair was tied back, both eyes were covered with white cloth, and in their left hand they held a white, round lamp. The priestly robes with a Korean character made it difficult to tell the wearer’s gender.

In a neutral tone, the priest said,

“I will guide you.”

“Then please do.”

Inside the temple was very dark, and shallow water covered the floor. It wasn’t merely spread over the floor—it quietly flowed here and there like a living creature.

The priest moved their feet as if communicating with the flow of that water.

“Please follow me.”

For ordinary people, it was so dark it would be hard to see even an inch ahead, and because of that, almost no one knew the internal structure of the Death Temple properly. Visitors could only move while looking at the guiding priest’s lamp and white clothes.

Maybe because he had formally come out through a portrait frame, unlike at ‘Gem Vein.’ Because he was in the midst of synchronizing, even Gio couldn’t secure his vision in the darkness.

“...”

Even so, the procession of priests moving through the darkness holding white lamps looked like watching lanterns floating above a lakeshore on a dark night.

“This is today’s prayer room assigned to Brother Yoo Seong-woon.”

“Thank you for guiding us.”

“And for a moment... may I ask you to permit an imposition?”

“...”

Yoo Seong-woon glanced at Gio and nodded.

“What is it?”

“The bishop asks to see you.”

The priest bowed deeply and continued.

“Father has opened his eyes.”

“...Are you saying an oracle has come down?”

“He wished to converse with today’s guest.”

“The guest who wishes to converse doesn’t seem likely to be me.”

“That is correct.”

“More proactive than I expected.”

Yoo Seong-woon asked Gio,

“What do you want to do?”

“Well.”

Then Gio asked,

“Does he wish to become friends with me?”

“...”

The priest, silent for a moment, soon spoke.

“...I apologize, nameless divinity. I did not hear such a story.”

“You fear me.”

“If my meager hospitality did not please you, I offer my deepest apologies.”

“I would like you not to be afraid.”

A vivid red smile fell over Gio’s lips.

“Making friends is really hard, isn’t it?”

The priest did not dare answer.

* * *

“...”

“...I will guide you.”

“Do so.”

Everyone fears me.

‘Isn’t this also a kind of nuisance.’

Gio grew troubled.

(To be continued in the next episode)