The Jester and the Performance (1)
It was all hazy. I floated through an eerie dream as though submerged in water.
It was an otherworldly space. Boundaries between colors blurred, yet countless fragments of knowledge, history, and the future drifted all around me like specters in the wind.
I drifted through it, catching the fragments of my own consciousness.
‘I must have…’
I had fallen from Cheonin-do and lost my senses during a heavenly tribulation. But where was this place?
Just as I tried to regain my awareness and examine my surroundings, strands of pure white mist brushed my cheek.
[I thank you. By revealing my name, you have allowed Lord to find me faster… I have at last been freed from the descendants of that wretched Golden Divine Heavenly Thunder Sect.]
A gentle voice. A figure with flowing white hair and clothes woven from lightning sat beside me, gently stroking my head.
[Given that you carry the turbulent fate of the heavenly tribulation, I will bestow my blessing in recognition of the aid you have rendered.]
The being whispered these words into my ear in a faint, echoing tone.
And then I felt something enter my very existence. I lost consciousness along with its whisper.
* * *
Flash!
“…”
I opened my eyes.
All around was nothing but ashes.
In my last memory, I had definitely cast the heavenly tribulation in all directions using the Heavenly Thunder Banner and the power of Jinseon, as if to deliver judgment.
‘Here…’
Cheonin-do, yes, it was Cheonin-do. But it was nothing like the Cheonin-do I knew.
There was nothing. The bustling capital of the Human Race Alliance had become a pile of ashes, and the people who had walked its streets…
Crack!
“Kueeeek!”
I clutched my head.
In my mind flashed the scene of the people, prostrating in prayer, being turned to ash and vaporized by lightning, pulled skyward.
—Kneel before me…
—Kneel before me…
—Kneel…
“Huu, huuak, huuaaaak!”
I screamed, clutching my head and writhing in agony.
Up until now I had encountered Jinseon a few times, and I had thought I could converse with them at least to some degree.
But right now, at this very moment, I understood just how arrogant, foolish, and blind my thinking had been.
—Kneel before me…
Someone was whispering in my ear! Over and over!
I wanted to drop to my knees and pray right that instant. It would be so much easier that way!
But!
‘No. No way!’
I barely controlled my body and forced myself to stand.
“Hua…! Hua!”
Sweat poured down my body.
The other Jinseon I had met before were painful to recall, but even remembering them had not been a burden.
Now I finally understood.
‘All of it. All of it. That’s why I faced only their remnants, or the lingering resentment dwelling in drops of blood…’
What I had seen today was the ‘main body.’
And the sight of a Jinseon who had shown itself without the slightest consideration for mortals was truly beyond description in its terror.
—Kneel before me…
“Huu, huuaaaraa!”
I startled at the sound from my ear.
No, it was not surprise. It was sheer terror.
“W-what is this!”
The tips of my fingers crackled and flickered with an eerie blue glow.
Electricity. The power of thunder surged from my fingertips.
But it was not simply expelling spirit energy of the thunder attribute.
What terrified me was that my fingertips were slowly turning into lightning.
—Kneel before me…
As the whisper continued, the scope of the change slowly widened.
“Huuuk… huuuk…”
Sweating profusely, I forced out a twisted smile.
“Indeed… this life has been no easy path.”
The fingertips that were turning to lightning would disperse and vanish without spirit energy supplied to them.
I could feel it clearly.
The lightning that had invaded my body would eventually devour even my Nascent Soul and reduce me to nothing but lightning itself.
It was not the concept of becoming lightning spirit or evolving into something else.
It was simply that I would become one more lightning strike and submit to a greater being.
Cutting off my own hand would not solve the problem either.
—Kneel before me…
Since this whisper remained in my ear, even if I changed my body, the symptom would repeat.
‘As long as my entire body and Nascent Soul become lightning…’
It was absurd.
The terror was that this had nothing to do with ill intent from the Jinseon.
The Jinseon that had ill intent had been directed at the Golden Divine Heavenly Thunder Sect.
I remembered the heavenly tribulation energy flying toward that direction.
The Golden Divine Heavenly Thunder Sect would have been reduced to ash had the Jinseon not submitted to it.
In other words, this phenomenon was not a curse placed by ill intent.
It was the result of me having once glimpsed the main body of the Jinseon.
Just once!
When the giant eye of the Jinseon had first appeared in the sky, I had seen it for a mere fraction of a second.
That single glance had caused this phenomenon.
—Kneel before me…
“Suddenly my lifespan has been shortened…”
Judging by how slowly my fingertips were being consumed, my lifespan was at most one year. At the very least, around a hundred days.
“…Ha, haha… hahaha!”
Suddenly I laughed bitterly.
“Huahaha!”
What in the world was this.
Had something gone wrong since I chose Seo Hyul.
This life felt as though nothing was going right.
At the beginning I was only used by Seo Hyul, and when I had come down to the lower realms to take revenge, I lacked influence because it was a lower realm.
And even that, after returning and attempting to steal the Heavenly Thunder Banner, had failed completely.
Right after that I had checked the Heavenly Secrets and thought there was no problem, only to summon my name and become a dying man.
‘Truly…’
Fate was heavy with calamity.
‘I’m going mad.’
I sighed while staring at my fingertips slowly dispersing.
What should I do.
With my lifespan shortened to at most a year, what else could I do within that time.
‘Before that, what should I do.’
I let out a bitter laugh.
Learning the secrets of the Dragon Clan—Seo Hyul and the Black Dragon King.
Checking on the whereabouts of Oh Hye-seo.
Stealing the Heavenly Thunder Banner.
All of them had failed.
I had not achieved a single goal I had set for this life.
Then what more was there for me to do.
What more could I do in this short, dying life.
Perhaps simply waiting for death slowly was not so bad.
Yes. Just sit down comfortably like this.
Just…
“No.”
I shook my head at the voice inside my heart.
“That’s not it.”
What more could I do.
No, I should not question.
I stood up.
Crack…
‘An life with nothing accomplished… but…’
It had not been without value.
This life had been hellish, but compared to being Goe-gun’s puppet, it was better.
At least now my heart was beating, my body moved, and I could act according to my will.
“Huu…”
Though my achievements were despairingly few, and I had lived through countless failures…
Yet I was still alive!
Then!
Living itself was something I could do!
I swept the shadows from my mind and stood up.
‘Yes, there is still one thing I must do.’
Seo Hyul’s objective, the whereabouts of Oh Hye-seo, the theft of the Heavenly Thunder Banner.
There was one more goal I had set.
‘Seo Hyul’s marriage.’
More precisely, the promise I had made to be witness to the Gwanghan Covenant between Seo Hyul and Gyuryeon.
There was still time to fulfill that.
‘There is still the Gwanghan Covenant left for Gyubaek.’
That meant Gyubaek and Seo Hyul still had a relationship to settle.
Checking how the two would resolve their karmic bond.
That task still remained for me.
‘A life of nothing but failure.’
And now it was also a life that would end in a year.
So, within the remaining time, I would fulfill the promise.
‘To the Gwanghan Realm… let’s go.’
I rose into the air.
‘In the Gwanghan Realm, I will settle the relationship between the two.’
When a story begins, it must end.
So I decided to use the remaining life to fulfill the promise with Gyuryeon.
And in Seo Hyul’s final moments, I would deliver one last blow.
I activated the transmission talisman toward the Lake of Bright Spirits in Cheonin-do.
‘When facing a madman, one must act like a madman.’
First, I would meet Goe-gun.
* * *
In the Gwanghan Dragon Alliance.
Near Bongmyeong-ju, Unshim-ho Lake.
Near the lake of Unshim-ho, a tavern modeled after the Yaoseon-ryu of Bongmyeong-ju had been erected.
The owner of the Yaoseon-ryu imitation, Jinseon-stage Majyuan (魔猿), had recruited jesters and dancers just as the original had.
Soon two applicants appeared.
“Name?”
“Yuhwa.”
“Specialty?”
“I can play the golden zither.”
Yuhwa was the first.
She passed quickly thanks to her skill on the golden zither.
Majyuan was deeply moved by her performance.
‘Amazing. A true genius has come. With Yuhwa, my Majyuan-ryu could become as popular as Yaoseon-ryu among nearby demons.’
Filled with hope, Majyuan accepted her and moved on to the next applicant.
“Name?”
“Gyubaek.”
“Specialty?”
“Dancing.”
“Hm… your words are a bit short.”
“What would you have me say?”
“….”
The next applicant, Gyubaek, had a personality so prickly that even Majyuan found it difficult to deal with.
‘It seems she doesn’t even sense the spiritual vein. A slave race? Why is she acting this way in front of a Jinseon-stage being…?’
Majyuan was flustered by Gyubaek’s attitude, but decided to watch her dance first.
‘Yuhwa is excellent, but honestly there are no other applicants besides these two… I’d better check her skill first.’
However, as Gyubaek stood and began her footwork, Majyuan let out a cry of admiration.
‘It’s like watching a golden dragon.’
Her movements were, strictly speaking, those of the Dragon-Shaped Flying Tiger Claw, but Majyuan recognized them as dance due to their splendor.
When Gyubaek’s dance performance ended, Majyuan had finished her calculations.
‘These two must be captured no matter what.’
Although she was a Jinseon-stage being, Majyuan’s body was weak and she could not fight properly or handle tasks.
She had no choice but to run this tavern to gather resources for her duties.
Normally tavern owners bought weak races from slave markets, developed their special skills, and ran the business, but Majyuan had no money, so she had to hire non-slaves.
“Do you have any conditions for the salary?”
After accepting Yuhwa and Gyubaek, Majyuan called them for negotiations.
“Whatever you want, I will do my best to meet it.”
‘In the end they are only Core Formation or below, with no Qi Condensation even reached. No great ambition.’
From Majyuan’s perspective, they were resources she could command almost freely, so she spoke as though she would offer anything.
And Gyubaek looked at her with a blunt expression and asked.
“Can you really fulfill it?”
“Hm? Of course. What do you desire?”
“A hundred catties of superior Azure Crystal, one High Grade Yohoho Herb, and Medium Grade or above Black Incense Sticks? They come standard?”
“…? What?”
“Yaoseon-ryu gave those items even to slaves. Here they won’t be provided?”
“Ah, no, wait. Leaving aside Azure Crystal and Yohoho Herb, even Medium Grade Black Incense is something that should be Nascent Soul level or higher. What are you asking for?!”
“Hm, you cannot even do this?”
Gyubaek tilted her head in confusion for a moment, but when Yuhwa gave her a signal with her eyes, she sighed and nodded.
“Fine. I’ll drop my greed. Then lower the standards a bit…”
For a while Majyuan and Gyubaek haggled over their desired compromises.
‘Damn it. With such amazing dance skills, even though she is a slave race, she demands a lot.’
‘When Gyuryeon was alive, the standards were lowered to what even her wild beasts in the east would receive. But this can’t even be met? No different from the lower realms.’
The two demons were dissatisfied with each other but somehow reached an agreement, and Yuhwa and Gyubaek entered the assigned quarters.
“Hm, this room is not to my liking.”
Gyubaek looked at the room and clicked her tongue as she entered, and Yuhwa followed with a smile.
“Although Mr. Gyubaek may not feel it, this is already quite a level among the rooms a poor Jinseon-stage demon could provide.”
“Don’t act familiar, Shimjong. Until now I was with Seo Eun-hyun, so I sometimes joined in, but even now Shimjong exists, and it is unpleasant.”
“Oh my, Mr. Gyubaek, you are also imperfect, yet you descended to Hyeon. Now you are a true member of the Shimjong?”
“…Hmph.”
Ignoring Yuhwa, Gyubaek entered the room, and Yuhwa followed, continuing her words.
“It is unfortunate that you dislike it, but have you decided on your feelings?”
“….”
Gyubaek sighed and sat on the table in the room assigned to her.
Over the past month, since returning from the Great Void Domain to the Gwanghan Realm, Gyubaek had tried to sort out her feelings for Seo Hyul.
But even now she could not understand her own heart toward him.
The hatred was so deep, yet the love was so profound that the memories remained.
She had no idea how to face him.
“…I don’t know either.”
“Would you meet him once, even from afar?”
“What? If he senses me, what then?”
“It’s a bit cruel, but Mr. Gyubaek, Seo Hyul would not associate you with Gyuryeon.”
“What do you mean… Well, that’s true.”
Gyubaek gave a hollow laugh.
Strong scales, powerful fangs, slender body…
And her vision.
All lost.
Although her transformed body had the same appearance, that was all.
The transformed body’s appearance was a disguise; from a distance, Seo Hyul would never recognize her.
‘If I go to meet him, can I sort out my heart.’
She placed a hand on her uneasy chest and thought.
It was uncertain.
‘I don’t know. Perhaps I cannot even see Seo Hyul with a clear mind.’
Perhaps the moment I saw his face I would explode and rush at him.
In the end, after a moment’s hesitation, Gyubaek shook her head.
“Fine. I don’t think I can control myself.”
“I see. In any case, I must check Seo Hyul’s situation and what became of my disciple, so I will go for now.”
“Sure. I have somewhere to go near Bongmyeong-ju anyway.”
“Somewhere to go?”
Gyubaek shrugged.
“I’ve disguised myself as an employee near where Seo Hyul lives, but honestly I don’t intend to dance and sing in such a place. There are a few resources near Bongmyeong-ju that a Jinseon-stage level could use, so I’ll go fetch them.”
“Hm, well… I’m fine with playing the zither here, but it’s good. The more resource funds, the better.”
As Yuhwa prepared to leave Gyubaek’s room with that smile, she suddenly sensed something amiss and looked back at her.
“But… Mr. Gyubaek, who never treated resources at the Nascent Soul level like Black Incense Sticks as anything, how could you have stored only Jinseon-stage level resources near Bongmyeong-ju when Gyuryeon was alive?”
At those words, Gyubaek answered as if it were nothing.
“Those are not things I stored.”
“Eh?”
“There was an ordinary demon beast I was raising. When looking for resources to give it, I had given some Core Formation level resources before. Since Seo Eun-hyun knew the location, if I go there, I should find it.”
“Hm, I never expected you to raise an ordinary demon beast, Mr. Seo.”
“I said it was a friend, not an ordinary demon beast… but well, with such a gap in realms, it’s no different from an ordinary demon beast. When Seo Eun-hyun fell to the lower realms, he left it in the vicinity of Gwanghan Realm Bongmyeong-ju… I wonder if it has reached Core Formation by now?”
“A friend, ah, but what kind of race is that beast?”
At Yuhwa’s question, Gyubaek thought for a moment and said.
“It seemed like some kind of long worm… a snake? Probably. And Seo Eun-hyun named it. I think… it was Hongbeom.”