Chapter 141

Meanwhile, Ju-hyeon.

"..."

"Mmm."

"... I'll take that."

He was being served snacks by the teddy bear.

"Is this fruit tea?"

"Mm."

"It smells lovely. It must have been a bother, so thank you for being so considerate."

"Mm-mm-mm..."

"And from next time on, I'll take care of what I eat myself. If that's all right."

He added.

"I have no intention of using the kitchen the master of this house seems to cherish without permission. But if it's just bringing over food that's already been made like this, couldn't I do that myself?"

Careful not to offend the immense mysteries of this place if possible, Ju-hyeon smiled his uniquely amiable smile.

"It doesn't feel polite to only keep receiving help from you, sir."

"Mm?"

"If there's anything else you need me to do, please tell me anytime."

At that, the teddy bear tilted his head, but nodded as if he understood.

'I thought he might get angry, thinking I was rejecting his kindness, but thankfully, it doesn't seem to be that.'

Even if he looked like an ordinary teddy bear, Ju-hyeon knew that what dwelled inside him was not ordinary.

Wasn't he a being Black Cloak called Father?

It felt far too uncomfortable to only be waited on by such a great elder.

'It's fortunate that I can communicate to some extent with a being who stays in a place like this, but...'

Ju-hyeon fell silent for a moment with the brilliantly sparkling fruit tea before him.

"..."

He was not sure whether he could call even this fortunate.

'Is it all right to drink this?'

He had eaten and drunk well so far, but that did not mean he was not worried.

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

Among dimensions, there were dimensions humans could inhabit, and dimensions where vast beings like gods could stay.

'The fact that it has the form of a cabin in the forest that even an ordinary person like me, who isn't even a Hunter, can perceive is quite astonishing, but even so...'

In Ju-hyeon's view, this place was undoubtedly 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 ancient times.'

Legends in which someone ate food from the realm of gods and experienced astonishing mysteries were common.

That was how much the act of eating something meant placing one foot into the dimension to which that food belonged.

"... I think I've eaten quite a lot..."

"Mmm?"

"I can walk out of here as a human, right?"

This was what Ju-hyeon was worried about.

A god's kindness transformed humans.

'Whatever size or direction it shows, something like that can't possibly be only safe for a human.'

Since most of the saints and saintesses existing on Earth lived because they could not die, there was no telling how Ju-hyeon might be swept up in the kindness Black Cloak showed him.

'Of course, it's better than earning hostility, but...'

After hesitating for a long while, Ju-hyeon eventually drank the fruit tea.

It was not simply a matter of manners, that he should not thoughtlessly refuse what had been served to him.

Ju-hyeon laughed emptily.

"... It's still delicious."

It was an ecstatic taste that made him understand why the humans in so many legends had been bewitched by food and failed to make proper judgments.

Combined with a soft spring breeze as if flowers had been steeped in it, the sweet fruit tea gently melted over Ju-hyeon's tongue.

'Yes, I'm still human.'

There was an anti-cat here named Dana.

That thing, which especially hated humans, was busy avoiding Ju-hyeon little by little and hissing whenever it saw him.

That was an indicator that Ju-hyeon was still human.

'For some reason, that rejection reaction is gradually calming down as time passes, though...'

He did not want to think that was a sign of something.

'It's probably just that we've seen each other for a long time and are getting used to each other. I haven't found anything strange when I checked myself either, so I want to believe there won't be a major problem.'

Ju-hyeon blinked.

"..."

Ju-hyeon had even considered giving up on everything, but now that things had turned out this way, he had not the slightest intention of giving up on being human.

"... I'll leave as soon as I'm ready. I have to."

"Mm."

"Because an ordinary human like me can't keep staying here."

Humans had to live among humans, as humans should.

That was what Ju-hyeon thought.

"The truly funny part is that even if I leave this place, I won't be able to live like a human..."

Ju-hyeon, who knew the time before the Great Catastrophe, was someone who remembered what it meant to "live like a human."

He had the right to spend time with people who loved and cherished him, and he had the chance to grow naturally while experiencing the good and bad fortune that came to each person.

When the strong cooperated to protect the weak, humanity formed its most ideal structure.

"... Mm."

As if even he thought it sounded ridiculous, Ju-hyeon gave an awkward smile.

"I'm aware that the future I want is too idealistic."

"Mmm?"

"Mr. Jio asked if I wanted to achieve world peace or something, and I think that's probably right."

"..."

"If I could bring even a part of that here, I think the world would be much better than it is now..."

A dream was a dream.

Humans called it a "dream" because they knew they could not accomplish it perfectly, but also believed they could imitate it.

The future Ju-hyeon wanted was no different.

What was needed to grasp even part of such a mirage was mental strength to match.

Passion, conviction, hope.

He needed the fuel that made a human burn their short life.

"But right now, I don't feel motivated. That's probably why I can't readily leave this place and am dawdling here. 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 very well that not everything was rewarded just because one made an effort.

If this were a world where good children earned respect and fortune, Ju-hyeon would not have had to abandon his family name.

If those who bore fruit could receive a fitting price for it, Ju-hyeon would at least have held a position higher than assistant manager.

Even so, it had all been fine.

The pace at which he moved forward was slow, and sometimes he went backward or came to a stop, but even so, he had thought he was walking forward little by little.

"... I feel hollow inside..."

And then he lost everything.

"..."

"..."

"... That wasn't a very interesting story."

Ju-hyeon shrugged.

"I think I need time to think."

In truth, Ju-hyeon knew it well too.

To do that "thinking," he first had to do something about this hollowness inside.

Because he had already been unhappy and overcome it several times, Ju-hyeon knew the order in which he had to get back up.

'But I still don't even have the strength to walk out of this place on my own two feet...'

Wearing his characteristic smile, Ju-hyeon asked the teddy bear.

"May I do that?"

"Mmm."

The teddy bear climbed onto the dining table, stroked Ju-hyeon's head, then climbed back down.

"Mm-mm, mm."

"... I don't really understand."

"Mmm."

He patted Ju-hyeon's thigh once more, then left the cabin with the anti-cat.

Seeing the bag of snacks in the cat's mouth, it seemed he probably intended to sit on the cabin bench and spend time there again.

It looked just as if he were guaranteeing Ju-hyeon that time.

"..."

Suddenly, he felt skeptical again.

'... Even a being that isn't human is considerate of me like this.'

Why had I dreamed?

For whom, and for what?

Jio, who had arrived at the Temple of Death, blinked twice.

"... It's more modest than I expected."

"It's not exactly a popular religious order."

"More than that..."

Jio tilted his head slightly.

"It seems to have a strong Korean character."

When one thought of a temple, didn't one somehow picture a Renaissance style?

The Seoul branch of the Sun Cult was like that, and Giovanni's Sun Cult was like that too, so Jio had imagined a building made of pure white marble, which made this feel somewhat novel.

"Isn't this a hanok?"

"I told you on the way here, but this god of death is an indigenous god of Earth. There is at least one Temple of Death in each country. Korea included."

"So they emphasized the local character? To show that he is an indigenous god of Earth through the form of a hanok?"

"Among the Temples of Death, Korea did put an unusual amount of effort into the building's exterior. It might be because it's the only temple that has the god of death's manifested body. Though I doubt that was something the god of death demanded..."

Yu Seongun locked the car door and continued.

"This place was the world's first case of officially recognizing an evil god as a religious order. Because of that, there was severe public backlash at first, and the residents nearby protested fiercely. It was an unwanted facility."

"An unwanted facility."

"It's the god of death, of all things, isn't it? People back then had been so tormented by gods that they had no room to consider providence or anything else."

"That's unexpected."

Yu Seongun's words sounded as if there had been a time when gods directly tormented humans.

Jio, who had once been a priest, asked.

"They were tormented by gods?"

"It hasn't been that long since people began distinguishing between traditional gods and evil gods. Before that, gods interfered so much in human lives that there were all kinds of disasters, big and small."

"Disasters, big and small."

"Like bringing down divine punishment if someone said something a certain god didn't like, or forcibly building their own temple on Earth. Well, they had no reason to be considerate of humans, nor any will to do so, so it was only natural."

"Is it not like that now?"

"Centered around the Symbols of Eternity, we succeeded in blocking excessive interference from gods. Something that would have naturally sorted itself out with time... was artificially moved forward faster, you could say."

Yu Seongun waved a hand.

"If I were to explain that, the story would get too long, so to put it simply, it's like this. Now even gods have to make a great investment if they want to intervene in the human realm."

"Those who dislike investment won't try to intervene carelessly. I understand what you're saying, Mr. Yu Seongun."

Jio nodded.

"I wondered why my father, too, could not easily interfere in human lives, but I had no idea there had been such measures."

"It must be that proper measures hadn't been put in place back when gods from dead-end dimensions were snooping around. At least the Symbols of Eternity stepped in and solved the problem, but..."

Yu Seongun shrugged.

"They blocked excessive divine intervention, but those vast mysteries didn't disappear. Among them, the mysteries with great interest in Earth continued to show interest afterward."

"Was the god of death one of them?"

"Since he's an indigenous god of Earth, even if he wanted to look at another dimension, he probably wouldn't have wanted to. Anyway, among those gods, there were many mysteries that helped humans."

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

"Looks like you understood it well. But that didn't mean the gods that existed were going to disappear, and coexistence with mysteries was ultimately a future already set in stone. So the government took some measures."

A representative example was the Temple of Death.

Yu Seongun pointed at the hanok that was not especially large and said,

"They reduced the size of the building and added Korean color to it."

"Was that effective?"

"It made it clear that this god was an indigenous god of our Earth. Though that doesn't mean the god of death is an indigenous god only of Korea..."

"Still, I imagine it must have felt special to Koreans. Like meeting a friend from home in another region."

"You could say it's similar."

The hanok, of an utterly unexpected form and moderate size, stunned the people who had been fiercely opposed for a moment.

In the meantime, the government gave various benefits to the residents of the area and turned the atmosphere around.

"You could say they succeeded in a kind of marketing. Back then, so many people were dying, and the aftermath wasn't being handled well, but the Temple of Death personally presided over those funerals."

People who had lost family or friends.

People who were facing death, or were in dangerous environments equivalent to it.

Such people felt great appeal in the fact that their funeral would be personally held at a temple where none other than the god of death resided.

"When you're desperate and your heart is being torn apart right now, it means a god of death officially recognized by the government and the Association is presiding over the funeral. Evil god or whatever, they couldn't help wanting mercy."

"Even so, they might have hated it to the end, so the government and the Association must have had a good public image. That undertaking must have succeeded because there was already great trust in facilities announced as safe by the god of death."

"You're right. The government and the Association have earned great trust from people. I think that made it hard to keep refusing to believe in the god of death, when places like that were promoting him in many ways."

Yu Seongun nodded.

"The god of death's cooperation also played a big role in that. Perhaps because he's an indigenous god of Earth, he fundamentally cares a great deal for earthlings. He isn't the type to meddle in human affairs either..."

"I heard there is a manifested body?"

"After the Great Catastrophe, an environment suitable for creating a manifested body was formed, and death occurred extremely often back then too. I think he judged it an appropriate time for an indigenous god to reveal himself."

"An appropriate time."

"I don't know the exact facts either. Or why he stays in Korea, of all places. Stories about gods aren't my area of expertise, and the god of death is such a quiet one... he barely reacts to anything other than looking around the world through his manifested body."

Yu Seongun smiled calmly and guided Jio.

"Then shall we go in?"

"Very well."

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

"Are you Hunter Yu Seongun?"

"Yes, I requested a private prayer room today."

"I will escort you inside."

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

Their hair was tied back into one, their eyes were covered with white cloth, and they held a white, round lantern in their left hand.

The priestly robes with Korean characteristics made it difficult to tell the gender of the person wearing them.

The priest spoke in an androgynous voice.

"I will guide you."

"Then please do."

The inside of the temple was very dark, and shallow water covered the floor.

It did not merely lie there, but flowed quietly here and there like a living creature.

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

"Please follow me."

It was so dark that ordinary people would hardly be able to see an inch ahead, and because of that, almost no one properly knew the structure inside the Temple of Death.

Visitors could move only by watching the guiding priest's lantern and white clothes.

Was it because, unlike in the previous Jewel Vein, he had come out formally through the portrait frame?

Because he was in the middle of synchronizing, Jio too could not secure his vision in the darkness.

"..."

However, the procession of priests moving through the darkness with white lanterns looked just like lantern lights floating over the shore of a lake on a dark night.

"This is the prayer room assigned to Brother Yu Seongun today."

"Thank you for guiding us."

"And for a moment... may I be permitted a discourtesy?"

"..."

Yu Seongun glanced at Jio, then nodded.

"What is it?"

"The bishop requests an audience with you."

The priest bowed deeply and continued.

"Our Father has opened his eyes."

"... Do you mean an oracle has been given?"

"He wished to speak with the guest arriving today."

"I don't think I am the guest he wishes to speak with."

"That is correct."

"He is more proactive than I expected."

Yu Seongun asked Jio,

"What do you want to do?"

"Well."

Soon, Jio asked,

"Does that person wish to become my friend?"

"..."

The priest, who had been silent for a moment, soon opened their mouth.

"... I beg your pardon, nameless divinity. I was not told."

"You fear me."

"If my humble reception was not to your liking, I offer my deepest apologies."

"I wish you wouldn't be afraid."

A vivid red smile settled over Jio's lips.

"It truly is difficult to make friends, isn't it?"

The priest did not dare answer.

"..."

"... I will guide you."

"Do that."

People are all afraid of me.

'Isn't this another kind of nuisance?'

Jio grew troubled.