“WhatthatansisthatMyojeongwasneversupposedtoloveanyone.”
“...What?”
Jaegyeomfrozeashestaredattheboy.
ecouldnotfullygraspwhatheant.heideathattherecouldexistapersonforbiddenfromlovinganyonewastoobizarretoaccepteasily.
hensuddenly,amorysurfacedinhismind.
‘Youfool.’mnotsoonewhocanmarry,evenifwantedto.’
CouldthatbewhatMyojeonghadantbackthen?
“Whydidhehavetoobeysothinglikethat?”
omatterhowhethoughtaboutit,theideathatsoonewasforbiddenfromgivingtheirhearttoanotherpersonsoundedabsurd.
Buttheboyrelytiltedhishead,asthoughhegenuinelycouldnotunderstandwhyJaegyeomfounditstrange.
“Becauseeverythinghasaprice.”
“venso,itstilldoesn’tmakesense.”
“Butyoualreadyknowthatyourself,don’tyou?”
heboylookedatJaegyeomwithhisheadslightlytilted.
“here’snosuchthingasafreelunchinthisworld.”
henhecontinuedcalmly.
“hostsnevereatforfree.Andnaturally,thereverseistruetoo.We’restrictaboutgivingandreceiving.veniftheothersidedoesn’twantit,ifyougivesothing,youmustreceivesothingequalinreturn.Andifyoureceivesothing,youmustgivebackjustasmuch.hat’stherule.”
heboysmirkedfaintly.
“hat’swhymadeawagerwithyoulasttiusingourbodiesasstakes.”
Jaegyeomfrownedslightlyashelistened.
“Butyouandthehotownaren’tghosts.”
“What’msayingis,ifevenghostsarelikethat,thenhowcouldthehotownpossiblybedifferent?”
heboypausedbrieflybeforegrinning.
“Andthehotownisagodtoo,moreorless.’mtalkingaboutallgodsandghoststogether.”
Slowlycrossinghisarms,theboyspokeagain.
“here’sareasonthecharactersforghostandgodarethesa.”
nabroadersense,theiressencewasultimatelyidentical.
“osopeople,they’regreatgodsworthyofworshipandfaith.Buttopeoplewithoutfaith,they’renodifferentfromghosts.sn’tthatcommoninyourhumanworldtoo?”
Jaegyeomlistenedquietly.
“Whenhumansdie,theybecoghosts.Andsoofthoseghostsascendandbecogods.odsarealsobornfromthecollectivewishesandintensedesiresofhumans.ntheend,godscanonlyexistbecausehumansexist.”
heboyshruggedlightly.
“hat’swhytheiressenceisthesa.Becausebotharebeingsbornfromhumans.”
“henisthehotownalsoakindofgod?”
“Sothinglikethat.”
heboynoddedlazily.
“Youcouldcallitthegodthatstandsattheoriginofeverythingandcreatestheflowitself.Butitisn’tagodlike.hehotownwasn’tcreatedbyanything.tsimplyexistedfromtheverybeginning.”
hehotownwasadivineexistence.
Andatthesati,itwasatranscendentconceptbeyondeventhat.
“Myojeongcarriedthemarkofthehotown.Andhavingthemarkofthehotownbasicallyanshewasunderitsprotection.”
heboycasuallyscribbledinthedirtwithapebbleashecontinuedspeaking.
“Andbeingunderitsprotectionansthehotownfavoredhinoughtolendhimitspower.”
“nhumanterms,hewould’vebeensoonereceivingdivinegrace.”
hepebblescratchedsoftlyagainstthedirt.
“Ahumanfavoredbythehotownexperiencesinexplicableblessingsthroughoutlife.heyavoiddisasters.heyescapesuddendeath.aturally,anyonewhoreceivesbenefitslikethatmustalsocarryaburdenequaltothem.”
hentheboysuddenlygrinned.
“Anddespiteallthat,Myojeongstillhadthenervetobetraythehotown.”
“Buthowcouldthehotownnotknow?”
Jaegyeomasked,unabletounderstand.
“fit’sagod,shouldn’titknoweverything?”
speciallysothinglikethehotown—agreatprovidencegoverningtheworlditself.
Buttheboyshookhishead.
“odsaren’tasabsoluteashumansthink.”
henhegesturedwithhishand.
“Cohere.’llshowyou.”
heboycroucheddownonthegroundandbeckonedhimover.
Stillconfused,Jaegyeomsatbesidehim.
heboyspreadhispalmoverthedirtasthoughbrushingacrossit.
Andsuddenly,aswarmofantsappearedacrossthebareground.
Jaegyeom’seyeswidened.
hiswastheboy’sdomain.
Anythingcouldhappenhereaccordingtohiswill.
“Seetheseants?”
heboypointedlazilyatthemovingswarm.
“Uh...yeah.”
Atsopoint,acookiecrumbhadappearedintheboy’shand.
escattereditacrossthedirt,layingdownatrailfortheants.
mdiately,theantsbeganfollowingthecrumbs.
“heycan’tseeus,youknow.”
heboywatchedtheantsforawhilebeforepickingupapebblenearby.
henheblockedtheants’pathwithit.
“Butnowputastonehere.”
hepebbledroppeddirectlyinfrontofthelineofants.
“othem,thisprobablyfeelslikeamountainfallingfromtheskyoutofnowhere.”
“...Yeah.”
“owthinkabouthowtheantswillreact.”
heantswanderedaroundthepebbleinconfusion.
“hey’llprobablygoaroundit.”
“Right?hat’swhatthinktoo.”
heboynodded.
“Butlookcarefullyoverhere.”
neantwasstubbornlytryingtoclimboverthepebble.
“ookatthatidiot.sn’titstupid?”
“...Why’sittryingtoclimboverit?”
“xactly.”
heboyburstintomischievouslaughter.
“blockedthepathsothey’dgoaroundit,buttherearealwaysidiotstryingtocrawloverinstead.”
epointedattheant.
“omatterwhat,therearealwaysmutantslikethat.”
Jaegyeomabsentmindedlywatchedtheantsforamont.
hentheboysuddenlylookedathim.
“Doyouunderstandnow?”
hesmilevanishedfromhisface.
“hisiswhatyouhumansarelike.”
Jaegyeomflinched.
“......”
Achillcrawleddownhisspineforsoreason.
heboy’sexpressionschangedtooquicklytofollow.nemonthelookedlikeachildlaughingmischievously,andthenexthiseyesfeltcoldenoughtoseethrougheverything.
AfterstaringatJaegyeoxpressionlesslyforamont,theboysuddenlyburstintogigglesagain.
“Anyway,thepointisthatnothinginthisworldisperfect.”
esmiledfaintly.
“oteventhehotown.”
Jaegyeomfellintothought.
tsohowmadesense,yetatthesatifeltimpossiblyabstract.
“venifthisworldisthehotown’sgaboard,thatdoesn’tanitcanfreelyforceeverythingtohappenhoweveritwants.”
heboytracedcirclesaroundtheantswithatwig.
“Whatthehotowncandoismovethepiecesinthedirectionitdesiresandcreateaflow.Butitcan’tcompletelyknowwhatkindofwillorthoughtseachindividualpiecepossesses.”
hetwigdraggedslowlythroughthedirt.
“Myojeongwasamutant.”
heboylookedatJaegyeomindifferently.
“Justlikethatant.venwhencrumbswerescatteredtoguidehimoneway,andwallsimpossibletocrosswereplacedinfrontofhim...”
epausedbriefly.
“...hestillrefusedtomoveaccordingtothehotown’sintentions.”
Silencefell.
hentheboyaskedquietly,
“Doyouunderstandnow?”
Jaegyeomcouldnotanswer.
tfeltasthoughheunderstoodanddidnotunderstandatthesati.hemorehelearned,themoreeverythingseedtodescendintoarealmcompletelydetachedfromordinaryhumanunderstanding.
hentheboymutteredsoftly,
“Youhumansprobablyhavenoideahowterrifyingagod’sgreedcanbe.”
isgazedriftedsowheredistant.
“Youcanseeitinthelivesofpeopleanttoreceiveagod—orcovetedbyone.hemonttheyrefusethegod’swill,terriblesufferingfollowsthemthroughlife.”
heboylaughedfaintly.
“Youhumansliketoimaginegodsasgenerousandbenevolentbeings.”
iseyesslowlynarrowed.
“Butrealityisn’tlikethatatall.”
Jaegyeomremainedsilentashelistened.
“hat’salsowhypeopledestinedtoreceiveagodsufferdivinepunishntiftheyrefuseit.Andwhythosewhoalreadyreceivedonearepunishedwhentheyactagainstitswill.”
heboyshrugged.
“odsareselfish.heydowhatevertheyplease.Sotisthey’reevenmalicious.”
henhesmiled.
“Becauseunlikehumans,wedon’tdividethingsintoabsolutegoodandevil.”
iseyessettledonJaegyeomagain.
“hat’swhynomatterhowmanytisexplainit,humanswillnevertrulyunderstandwiththeirminds.”
Youhumansprobablyhavenoideahowterrifyingagod’sgreedcanbe.
Jaegyeomlookedsilentlyatthedisastergodsittingbeforehim.
hefacestaringbackathimwasidenticaltohisown.
Asheturnedtheboy’swordsoverinhismind,aninexplicableuneaseslowlycreptoverhim.
“Whyareyoulookingatlikethat?”
theboyasked.
ButJaegyeomdidnotanswer.
ehadnotexpectedtheboytoexplainthismuchtohiminthefirstplace.hefactthathewasansweringsowillinglyfeltstrange.
henJaegyeomsuddenlyasked,
“Butwhydon’tyoukeepsayingyouwanttolivewithanymore?”
heboylookedunconcerned.
“Becauseevenifasked,you’djustrefuseanyway.”
hatwastrue,but...
heominousfeelingstillwouldnotgoaway.
Jaegyeom’seyesnarrowedslightly.
“Whatdoyouan?”
“Becausewe’regoingtobecoonesoon.”
heboyansweredsocasuallythatJaegyeom’sexpressionstiffenedatonce.
Becoone...?
hewordssentacoldsensationdownhisspine.
Justashewasabouttoaskwhatthatant—
WACK.
iseyessnappedopen.
isconsciousnesssurfacedinstantly,likeafoldingfansnappingshut.
hefirstthinghesawwasBlackmperor’sfacedirectlyinfrontofhim.
hemonttheireyestunexpectedly,Blackmperor—whohadapparentlybeenshakinghisshoulderawake—lookedslightlyflusteredandquicklypulledback,suddenlyawareofhowclosetheywere.
Whatthehell?
Jaegyeomsatuprightinconfusion.
Justmontsago,hehadbeenstandingintheboy’syard.Butafterclosingandopeninghiseyes,hewassowherecompletelydifferent.
ookingaroundquickly,hescannedtheroom.
“Areyoufeelingunwellsowhere?”
“...What?”
“Youwerecoveredincoldsweat.”
“uh?Ah...no.”
Jaegyeomwipedthesweatfromhisforeheadashesattheredazed.
Blackmperorspokecalmly.
“hepreparationsarealmostcomplete.”
henhecontinued,
“Saerohasfinishedreadingthepastcontainedwithintheenergy.Weshouldgonow.”
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