Chapter 166

Chapter 166

“Gio looks like a person to you?”

Yoo Seong-woon corrected himself.

“Ah, no. Sorry. You mean he looks that way to you?”

“You can speak comfortably. Like you do with Mr. Gio.”

“...Maybe because I didn’t learn much when I was young, I’m more used to speaking casually. It’s not meant in a bad way, so don’t take it the wrong way.”

“I already know you’re a good person, Mr. Yoo Seong-woon, so you don’t have to worry.”

“Oh, yeah? I wouldn’t go as far as to say I’m a good person, but... if you see me that way, I’m grateful.”

For a guy three years younger to openly say he’ll speak casually—what a broad-minded person.

‘It makes me wonder why the guildmaster hates this guy so much. He’s such a straight-laced, proper-living human being...’

Letting his discomfort toward his boss slide, Yoo Seong-woon gave a light laugh.

“Anyway, this is a pretty unique consultation.”

After finishing his meeting with Visabel, Yoo Seong-woon slept soundly at home for the first time in a while, then visited Juhyeon’s place as a neighbor to check in on her. He hadn’t planned to come in, but Juhyeon led him inside and it became this.

“In some ways, it’s kind of impressive too.”

While drinking the tea Juhyeon handed him, Yoo Seong-woon blinked eyes that were still half-asleep.

“...Huh, wait. Is this tea Gio gave you?”

“Ah, yes. He said it’s tea made from Basram flowers—could there be a problem?”

“...Well, it won’t kill you if you drink it.”

There shouldn’t be anything lethal in it, either.

‘Let’s just drink it.’

If there was one thing Yoo Seong-woon had realized until now, it was that ‘Gio’s Portrait’ generally did not tamper with a human’s identity. Even Juhyeon, who had been inside the portrait longer than Yoo Seong-woon, was still human, wasn’t she?

‘Well, even if the test results say so, there are still parts that feel suspicious, but...’

At the very least, from humans’ perspective, it was certain that Juhyeon was still “human.”

‘So drinking some tea won’t do anything strange to my identity.’

He was still out of it because he’d woken up after staying up all night for five days.

If he’d been in better shape, he would have thought more deeply than this, but for Yoo Seong-woon, who felt the influence of the garden he served throughout his entire body, it was only natural to welcome medicine that warmed him up like this.

‘Gio’s gifts really are amazing.’

Especially when Yoo Seong-woon woke up after sleeping, his body felt even colder.

“...This is good.”

“Right? It has a nutty, grain-like aroma, so I liked it.”

“It’s not something you can even buy anywhere. Should I pester him to invite me again soon?”

“If you drink too much, it gets a bit hot...”

“My body’s cold to begin with.”

Judging by how strong the warming effect was, it was probably a medicine better suited to Yoo Seong-woon’s constitution as a hunter and gardener than to Juhyeon, who was an ordinary person.

“Let’s take a look.”

[Star of the Sun]

[Grade: - ]

Tea made from ‘Basram flowers’ that grew wild in the primordial era of the ‘Breathing Sea.’ They were extinct, but were restored in the Vein of Fate. Gio, the master of the forest, raised them with love together with his child in the nest of living water. He personally processed them so that even the human body can accept them. It has an outstanding effect in breathing life and warmth into the soul.

“...”

“Ah, did you appraise it just now?”

“...Is it your first time seeing a hunter appraise something?”

“In the research institute I was at, appraisers weren’t common.”

“It’s been a long time since I’ve heard the title ‘appraiser.’ Well, I did get an appraisal certificate, technically.”

Talking lightly, Yoo Seong-woon wore an easygoing smile.

“As expected, it’s not bad for you.”

“...”

“Don’t tense up.”

“My body’s already been ruined anyway...”

“Why are you giving up already?”

That wasn’t the only thing Yoo Seong-woon had been worried about regarding Juhyeon, who had received so much care from the Eye of the Origin. Because of that, Yoo Seong-woon and the Collector personally ran tests, but fortunately, Juhyeon was still perfectly fine—she really was still human.

“...”

According to the test results, that is.

“...There’s a common line in the gifts Gio gives. ‘Gio, the master of the forest, personally processed it so that even the human body can accept it.’ That’s probably one of the ways Gio shows consideration for humans.”

If you ate the planting material that had passed through his hands, there was no worry of mutating into an existence of the Origin. At least, that was Yoo Seong-woon’s judgment.

“If there’s another worry, it’s that you might become overly healthy...”

“I did feel like my lifespan increased. Would that be a problem too?”

“Even if your lifespan increases, it’s hard to live long in the world these days.”

It was a world with an average lifespan of sixty.

“The few who live longer are high-grade hunters like me or our guildmaster, but aside from physical sturdiness, being a hunter is a job that’s perfect for dying young. Same for the people stuck beside them. So you probably don’t need to worry about becoming half-immortal.”

“...So no matter how much my lifespan increases, you’re saying I’ll die artificially anyway, so don’t worry?”

“More than anything, Gio doesn’t turn innocent humans into beings of the Origin for his own greed. So you don’t have to worry.”

If you understood the rules well, an existence of the Origin could become more reliable than a human. Based on what Yoo Seong-woon had learned about Gio so far, it was unlikely he would harm humans unless it was truly extreme circumstances.

“But more than that, I’m really amazed by what you’re thinking, Ms. Juhyeon.”

Setting down the warm mug, Yoo Seong-woon swept back the hair covering his eyes. Usually he went around neatly pinned up, but because he’d only planned a light visit, he looked like a mess.

“What exactly do you mean when you say Gio looks like a person?”

“Literally, I can’t stop ‘Gio’s Portrait’ from looking like a person.”

“You can’t really control human thoughts, but it is definitely unusual.”

“...I kept thinking it was arrogant. I kept thinking it was impossible.”

Juhyeon continued, fiddling with her own cup.

“But I keep seeing Mr. Gio as just...”

“Like an ordinary young man?”

“It must sound strange.”

“Mmm.”

Sip—.

After drinking the flower tea, Yoo Seong-woon asked.

“Are you bewitched?”

“I thought that too, but.”

“Ah, no. You’re not bewitched.”

“...Is that so?”

“I may have an appraisal certificate, you know.”

With his skill, Yoo Seong-woon could check most people’s conditions.

“At least to my eyes, you look fine.”

In that case, there was only one answer.

“Sounds like you just see that guy as human.”

“I didn’t know I was that brave a person...?”

“If Gio were traditional divinity, you’d have been chosen as a saint.”

“...Pardon? A saint?”

“At the very least, you’d be a cult leader.”

“That sounds kind of like a scam religion.”

“It’s not really a scam, exactly... it’s a very typical pattern.”

Most saints and saintesses across dimensions were made like this.

“Do you know roughly what saints and saintesses are?”

“I know as much as most people do. So, kind of like... God’s foster child?”

“Right. And even if not a child, it can take the form of a friend.”

“...That’s the first I’ve heard of that.”

“Saints and saintesses aren’t common, so there aren’t many examples on Earth.”

Religion wasn’t Yoo Seong-woon’s specialty, but ever since learning Gio carried the divinity of the sun, he had been studying steadily. He could answer this part to some extent.

“These saints usually refer to people who built a bond with a god while in a human body.”

“You can build a bond with a god? That sounds... a bit irreverent.”

“It’s irreverent when it’s a human’s one-sided offensive toward divinity.”

Saints were completely different from those irreverent people.

“This is a bond exchanged from both sides. A god pours trust and love toward a human, and the human bears it as if it’s natural and returns trust and love worthy of it. Like ordinary family or friends do.”

“...So that was possible...”

“It’s possible, truly, truly very rarely. That’s why there are so few saints and saintesses. Ordinary humans feel a huge burden just from receiving a god’s voice and favor, but this goes further—they return it too. And the god doesn’t feel any lack in it.”

Korea had an unusually high number, but worldwide, the number of saints still didn’t even exceed twenty. Considering the countless religions in the modern age, it showed just how rare saints were.

“That’s why a saint is a miracle just by existing. It’s not for nothing that sects worship and fawn over their saints and saintesses. Just by living and breathing, they prove a god’s love, and at the same time they’re the only human channel through which that god can communicate.”

That’s why most saints were kept tucked inside their sects, interpreting oracles or revealing a god’s intent. Hearing that explanation, Juhyeon tilted her head.

“Then in sects without a saint, how do they read a god’s will?”

“They can’t, mostly.”

“Ah.”

“As far as I know, it’s one of two things.”

Yoo Seong-woon raised a finger.

“One is interpreting the intent of the god they serve through old records and scripture. Since there’s no communication, both process and results are uncertain, and believers’ loyalty drops.”

“And the other?”

“The other is gathering a whole bunch of priests with relatively abundant holy power and struggling to receive an oracle. Performing rituals, presiding over religious events, praying until an answer comes...”

“Like a rain ritual or something...?”

“That’s how hard it is to communicate with a god. It’s not for nothing that elders in a sect are treated well. They’re respected and treated well internally because they’re that much closer to their god.”

And.

“The one that skips all that hassle is a saint.”

So even economically, priests couldn’t help but love their sect’s saint. The one who lets them skip rituals, events, long prayers, and all that investment, after all.

“That doesn’t mean every religion has a saint. A vessel that can treat a god like family or friends is extremely rare, and because of that, sects with a saint are favored and envied in the religious world.”

“Favored and envied?”

“The more directly and frequently you can communicate with a god, the humans who serve them can receive their god’s grace more plainly. To put it a bit simply, divinity could even tell its believers where a gold mine is...”

“Uh... does it really work like that?”

“It’s just an example. Even the dumbest god is a being more outstanding than the smartest human on Earth, so just borrowing a small part of their wisdom can let their sect prosper. And you can enter that divinity’s embrace.”

That was why saints received such precious treatment in the religious world.

“To accept a god’s voice and touch without much special consideration from the god is, in itself, going beyond human limits. Just by existing, they’re more than worthy of a sect’s love.”

Juhyeon raised a question.

“It sounds almost like they’re not human. Then can saints live normal daily lives?”

“Some can, and some can’t.”

From studying, it seemed saints were divided into a few types.

“Some are huge vessels who, from the start, can accept anything—divinity or whatever—while others can only bear one or a few kinds of divinity. Or else, there are cases where someone was raised as a saint from the beginning and, after countless trials and hardships, was recognized as a saint.”

“...That...”

“As far as I know, the Moon Church’s saintess is that last case. The Moon Church continuously adopts and raises children with aptitude until a saint appears in a generation. Well, I hear it’s not uncommon for them to die in the process because they can’t bear the god.”

“...”

Juhyeon was shocked.

“...The Moon Church does something like that?”

“In today’s world, it’s not that big a deal, is it?”

There were countless people who, rather than remaining roadside poor or living as a mere human child, wanted to become a god’s family even if they had to risk their life. That was why Moon Church believers and priests didn’t stop this education.

“Most of the kids who don’t die but also fail to become saints end up working as Moon Church priests. So from the Moon Church’s standpoint, it’s not a huge loss. They’ve been doing this since the Great Catastrophe, so it’s... basically a custom.”

It wouldn’t be easy for other religions to adopt such education. The Moon Church stayed stable because this custom had existed for a very long time; most religions didn’t have the will or the capacity.

“If you think of it as employment, it’s not that terrible, right?”

“...It’s true hunters work risking their lives too. It’s already a dangerous world, so it’s hard to condemn it as a dangerous custom.”

“The Moon Church doesn’t force them to become saints—they just encourage it.”

“But... isn’t that basically the same? If a guardian encourages it, adopted kids will feel pressured. They won’t be able not to follow.”

“At least, in today’s world, the idea of a ‘not that bad a shelter’ is also big. More than anything...”

Yoo Seong-woon rolled his eyes as if weighing something.

“Where else would you get the chance to become a god’s son or daughter?”

Whether they had parents or not, whether they were rich or poor, the Moon Church was the only religion that offered every child with aptitude the chance to become a god’s family. In the end, the children themselves were greedy for that honor.

“It all happens by agreement. That’s why there’s even talk that every Moon Church priest is a saint candidate—because only humans who possess at least a certain level of aptitude to become saints gather there.”

Juhyeon looked somewhat displeased. Yoo Seong-woon smiled mildly.

“Still doesn’t sit right with you?”

“...Just a little, it makes my stomach feel bad.”

“Only your stomach?”

“Sometimes I get sick of the religious world’s blind devotion.”

“On that point, I agree too.”

Yoo Seong-woon sipped the tea that was still warm.

“This tea is really good.”

“Right?”

“It’s still warm.”

“It’s a mug, so that helps, but it also feels like the tea’s own trait.”

“It’d be funny if medicine this special went cold all at once.”

After lightly praising the tea’s warmth, Yoo Seong-woon continued.

“Anyway, saints made like that—rare as that is—seem to have a heavier burden on their bodies compared to those who became saints by nature.”

“Ah...”

“Should I say they become half not-human. Honestly, even a natural-born saint wouldn’t be free of burden unless they had the constitution to accept anything.”

“Right.”

“In that sense, Gio won’t harm you, Ms. Juhyeon. But like I said earlier, this is, uh... the typical shortcut for an ordinary human to become a god’s family.”

“...Pardon?”

Yoo Seong-woon’s mint-colored eyes swept over Juhyeon as if analyzing her.

“Divinity treats a human as an equal, and the human treats divinity as an equal...”

“...Oh.”

“Yeah. It’s not that different from your situation, is it?”

“I’m not religious...?”

“That probably goes for Gio too.”

Chuckling, Yoo Seong-woon gave a thumbs-up.

“Fighting.”

“...Pardon?”

“It’ll go well.”

“What will?”

My disqualification as a human?

Juhyeon felt a lump rise in her throat.

(To be continued in the next episode)