Chapter 30

Chapter 30

Chapter 30 Ascension (2)

After doing this a few times, I had grown accustomed to it.

The entire process of contacting the Elder and Director Baek, then going to clean up the mess, now flowed naturally without the slightest confusion.

Of course, that did not mean my frustration had disappeared.

"Why are all monsters like this?"

"What sort of nonsense are you spouting all of a sudden?"

"First I received a bundle of money, then a Divine Tree leaf, and now even a Dragon Pearl. The costs and benefits simply don't add up."

"You brat! You served a cup of cheap coffee and received sacred treasures that others spend their entire lives searching for without success, treasures they might never even glimpse despite dedicating the lives of their sons and grandsons to the search. What more could you possibly want?"

"Because of these things, I can't even rest on the weekends and have to work overtime! Three times already!"

I had not started this business hoping to make a fortune. No, I had never intended to run a business in the first place!

All I had done was serve a cup of coffee to a pitiful young man, and one complication after another had brought me to this point.

Wasn't this far too harsh a price to pay for a good deed?

"Now you're treating an old man like a criminal. What will you do if Lia sees this and learns from you?"

"I'll learn really hard!"

"No, I'm telling you not to learn! More importantly, why did you bring Lia along?"

"Lia is the one who received the Dragon Pearl, so Lia has to return it. More importantly, can't you sense his energy yet?"

"Wait a moment. You keep talking to me, so I cannot concentrate. Let me see... Aha! Over there!"

"Isn't that the road we passed earlier?"

"I'm telling you, I'm certain this time."

"There's Mister Imugi!"

"Where?"

"On that bench!"

When I turned the steering wheel toward the place Lia had pointed out, still harboring doubts, Yongman really was sitting on a bench in the vacant lot.

We hurriedly parked nearby and ran over to him.

"What? Did you put a tracking device on me or something?"

"Hmph. If I managed to find you once, do you think I cannot find you a second time?"

"We came to return this to you. Lia."

"Here you go!"

"I don't need it anymore. Ascension is out of the question anyway."

-Thud.

Lia took Yongman's hand and tried to place the Dragon Pearl in it, but the pearl fell helplessly to the ground.

"Mister..."

"I told you I already threw it away! Stop bothering me! Just use it to make a soul or whatever and live your lives!"

"Nobody wants that. Not me, and not the two guild members here either."

I picked up the Dragon Pearl from the ground and sat down beside Yongman.

"Yesterday in the kitchen, you said you wanted to become like me, didn't you?"

"W-When did I ever say that?"

He had never actually said those words.

All he had left me were eyes wavering as though he had lost his way, a face turning bright red, and the brief hint, "I want to be like you."

I had guessed that was what he meant from the context, and judging by his flustered reaction, it seemed I had been right.

He was a young man whose true nature was purer than anyone else's, however awkward and surly he might be.

Like a child who tried imitating his older cousin's speech and mannerisms simply because he wanted to be like him.

"An unexpected visitor interrupted us then, so I couldn't answer you, but the truth is, Mr. Yongman, you're not much different from me."

"Huh?"

"Didn't you spend a Dragon Pearl waiting for guild members who never returned? And now you've even given your remaining Dragon Pearl to Lia like this. Perhaps the question of why someone would go so far is even more appropriate for you than for me."

"Heh heh, indeed. Everyone lives according to their own fate."

"He's the guild master! Guild masters are supposed to help their guild members!"

"Just because someone becomes a leader, is there some rule saying they must spend all their time doing good things for others?"

"Precisely because there's no such rule, it's all the more difficult."

I placed the Dragon Pearl on Yongman's hand once again.

This time, the Dragon Pearl remained in his grasp.

_______________

There was a strange power in the words Jinseong spoke so calmly.

The power to draw out memories of a distant past that had long since been forgotten.

It had been a day when Yongman had gotten into a minor argument with his guildmates.

Whenever something like that happened, the guild master would call him and soothe his feelings with words of comfort and gentle admonishment.

"Seolwoo, how do you become a guild master?"

(Why are you asking something so obvious? Just go to the guild office and press Create.)

"No, not that. I mean, how do you run a guild like you do?"

(Well, I suppose you need to be a bit of a busybody. Help beginners, ask people what's wrong when they're sulking, step in when guildmates fight... Someone like that makes a good guild master.)

"Then I guess it'd be difficult for me."

(Of course. I can only imagine what our guild would look like if Mir, our resident fighting cock, became the guild master.)

"Come on, I was being serious."

(Sorry, sorry. I was only teasing because it's fun.)

"I'm hanging up."

(You could do it too, you know.)

"You just said I couldn't!"

(I meant right now. You're not a bad guy at heart, after all. Once you get a little older and mature a bit, I'll hand the guild over to you.)

"Really? When will that be?"

(Who knows? The servers might shut down first.)

-Click.

(Hello? Hey, Mir, I was joking. Hello?)

And time passed.

【Due to Guild Master Jin Seolwoo's prolonged inactivity, guild master status will be transferred to zSupremeMircoolz.】

"I really got it."

It was probably the moment Yongman had dreamed of more than anything except ascension.

But Yongman was not happy.

-Guild Members: 1

Even the guild master, who had still logged in once every month or two to briefly exchange news, had not connected for a hundred days.

And now Yongman's character was the only one left in the guild.

"Seolwoo! Haven't you been logging into the game lately? Oh, right. No, if you're busy, it can't be helped. Yeah, take care."

"You're playing another game with Lord Venezia? No, I'm fine."

"You changed jobs? Then things must be tough."

Every time he called, he heard about their individual circumstances.

It was difficult even to suggest that they start playing the game again.

For Yongman, who had lived cut off from the world for nearly a thousand years, the place that had become his entire life vanished like a mirage.

Along with the precious relationships he had formed there.

'No, they haven't disappeared. Everything is still the same.'

It was the same.

There was the talkative guild member who never stopped chattering.

The older guild member who could not understand no matter how many times something was explained and needed everything taught step by step.

The guild member who frequently posted amusing messages in chat.

And...

'There's even a fighting cock who goes around picking fights with everyone.'

Only one thing had changed.

That fighting cock had become the guild master.

'Even if I end up alone again, it doesn't matter. As long as I stay where I am, I can gather guild members again.'

Yongman gave a small nod, as though he had finally made up his mind, and rose from his seat.

"It's all thanks to you."

"Pardon?"

-Fwooooosh.

When Yongman pressed the Dragon Pearl against Lia's chest, the pearl rippled with red energy and disappeared into her body.

Lia immediately lost consciousness and collapsed.

It happened in an instant, before Jinseong or the nine-tailed fox could stop him.

"What have you done!"

"Do not worry. She is merely sleeping. Good heavens, though. A soul truly has taken root in her."

"Our guild has always been famous for taking excellent care of beginners. Our youngest guild member is sick, so how could I, the guild master, simply stand by?"

"The same goes for me."

"W-What? Why are you suddenly acting like this?"

Jinseong grabbed Yongman and pulled him into his car.

"You know how to drive, don't you?"

"Well, yes, I do, but shouldn't you at least explain what's going on? Why are you suddenly doing this?"

"It's the final way to reach the Celestial Realm."

Apparently, no further explanation was necessary.

Jinseong tossed the Divine Tree leaf straight into Yongman's face and shut the driver's door.

"Go on. Just think of it as driving around the block and coming back."

"This is driving me crazy. Do I just start driving like this? I'm going!"

"There is no god who decides which beings may enter the Celestial Realm. Just remember that."

Yongman was doubtful, but he had already heard that Jinseong traveled to and from the Celestial Realm, so he had little choice but to follow his instructions.

-Vrooom.

And as the car cautiously moved forward, it gradually transformed into an enormous dragon.

A dragon holding a Dragon Pearl in its mouth, shining with an even brighter and more brilliant light than before.

_____________

"Huh? Mister, look! The Imu..."

-Mmph.

I hurriedly covered Lia's mouth as she awoke.

"It's a dragon."

"A dragon!"

We had nearly witnessed firsthand the legend of an Imugi that failed to ascend into a dragon because someone called it an Imugi.

Only after the car carrying Yongman safely disappeared into the clouds could we finally breathe sighs of relief.

"It looks like he really went."

"Heh heh. After causing all that commotion, he somehow managed to ascend after all. That fellow should spend the rest of his life in the Celestial Realm remembering your kindness. You sent him up there without even a Dragon Pearl, did you not?"

"No. He attained enlightenment and ascended through his own efforts. All I did was treat him to a meal. He originally had one Dragon Pearl to use for his ascension, so the conditions were met from the beginning..."

"What is it?"

"The Dragon Pearl is still here."

"What?"

I had not seen incorrectly.

A pearl glowing faintly pink was still lying in the place from which Yongman had taken flight.

"Then what on earth was that thing he was holding so dearly when he ascended into the sky?"

The answer to the question came to me with almost disappointing ease.

I simply hadn't expected him to take that with him instead of the Dragon Pearl, even as he ascended.

Would he be able to adjust to life in the Celestial Realm?

______________

Yongman opened his eyes on a hill where unfamiliar wild grasses grew as high as his knees.

"So this is... the Celestial Realm..."

Overcome with emotion, Yongman stood on the hill for a long time, unable to move.

'I really ascended. I wasn't a failure destined to remain an Imugi!'

"I DID IIIIIIT!"

The cry, which had been pent up inside him for more than a thousand years, echoed across the endless mountains and rivers.

Perhaps he had shouted too loudly.

Before long, shabby-looking Taoists carrying hoes, sickles, and other farming tools began gathering on the hill where Yongman stood.

"Are you a newcomer?"

"Pardon?"

"I thought that newcomer who came last time and immediately rushed off would be the last, but this is unexpected."

"Divine beasts haven't been coming to the Celestial Realm very often lately. It's truly good to see you, haha."

'Who the hell are these people?'

Since he had met them in the Celestial Realm, Yongman should naturally have assumed they were gods or Taoists who had attained enlightenment.

Yet he sensed nothing of the sort from the people gathered before him.

They were dressed in shabby clothes stained with mud here and there, with farming tools slung over their shoulders.

He nearly concluded that even the Celestial Realm must have lowly servants to wait on others, but fortunately, the faint energy emanating from them told him they were no ordinary beings.

And these extraordinary beings began feeling various parts of his body before saying something completely unexpected.

"Your physique is rather frail. I doubt you'll be much good at plowing."

"Ah, he can build up his physique! After a hundred years or so of plowing fields, he'll be strong as an ox."

'Plowing? Working the fields for a hundred years? Something's wrong here.'

Yongman hurriedly turned on his phone.

【You are outside the service area.】

【Mobile network unavailable.】

"Huh?"

The Celestial Realm.

A place reached when a soul possessing reason attains enlightenment.

The criteria for enlightenment were vague, but one thing was certain: it was a state that could only be reached after abandoning obsession and lingering attachments.

Yongman realized far too late that his obsession and lingering attachment had not been the Dragon Pearl, but the phone in his hand.

More precisely, the world inside that phone.

"Nooooooooooooo!"