The Second Straw God Plan
Dad's face was terribly contorted. The tears welling in his dark eyes fell thick and heavy, like a sudden downpour.
He opened his mouth blankly, closed it, parted it slightly once more, and then shut it tight again, unable to say a single word.
...I put my foot in it.
A sick feeling settled in my stomach. I bit my lip.
Still, I wasn't going to take it back. I was angry enough to say it. And it could never happen again.
Stubbornly keeping my lip between my teeth, I turned away from Dad, who was crying.
Mom, who had been pressing a hand to her forehead beside him, let out a long sigh and spoke.
"Hwon, step outside for a moment."
"......"
"Hwon."
"......"
Dad slowly loosened the hands that had been clutching me, turned, and headed for the door. I went on glaring at the wall, breathing hard.
Soon came the click of the door closing.
Then the mattress dipped as Mom sat down on the edge of the bed.
"Huiyo."
"......"
"Look at me."
"......"
"I'm sorry we broke our promise. But we didn't feed you that medicine thoughtlessly, child."
"......"
"While you were resting, we reviewed and refined the 'Straw God' plan. In this situation, it's the only path with any real hope."
"......"
"Huiyo."
"......"
"Mom and Dad have found a way for you not to die."
My head turned before I could stop it.
I had meant to keep my face averted until they promised never again to make medicine carved out of someone's lifespan.
But I couldn't help being tempted.
Because I, too... didn't truly want to simply die.
Even so, suspicion lingered. I narrowed my eyes and studied Mom.
"...It's not some method that shaves years off you and Dad, is it?"
"No."
"I don't believe you. You're both liars."
"Truly, it isn't. The reason we made you take that medicine this time was... if we'd left things as they were, time would have run too short. We were afraid you wouldn't be able to decide for yourself."
"Decide for myself? Decide what?"
"Whether... to use the method that keeps you from dying."
Mom drew a breath as if swallowing something bitter, then added quietly,
"It's your life, so the choice must be yours. But because of the lingering effects of this sealing, you were going to have to sleep for at least ten years from now."
"Y-you were going to make me sleep that long?"
"Your body was badly damaged, wasn't it? It takes that long to recover. You've been through it plenty of times before, haven't you?"
"That's... that's true, but..."
"So... to give you time to think and choose, we had to wake you at once — and the only thing that came to mind was that medicine."
"...This isn't the first time I've slept ten years at a stretch. You cut your lifespans short over just that?"
"It isn't 'just that,' not for you."
"What?"
"Ten years for you now means something entirely different from the ten years you used to simply sleep through. A god's ten years and a mortal's ten years. Isn't that so?"
"......"
The words died in my throat.
The moment I heard I'd have to sleep ten years just to recover, the very first thought that rose in me was: absolutely not.
If I sank into ten years of sleep like this, I would have to give up my life as 'Seruhwa.'
Because that was so utterly different from 'Sangra Huiyo' simply sleeping for ten years.
Mom smiled faintly.
"We know how much meaning your life in the lower realm holds for you. That's why we wanted to protect it."
"Still, over something so small — over such a small thing, why would you and Dad cut your lifespans..."
"It isn't small, I told you. How could the time you spend growing, healthy and happy, ever be 'small'?"
"......"
"Besides, how long do you think your mother and father's lifespans are? A loss like that barely shows at all."
"Even so, it's not infinite."
"Huiyo, nothing in this world is infinite by nature. You know that as well as anyone, don't you?"
Mom stroked my hair gently, then carefully lifted me into her arms.
"Come here, now."
Holding me, Mom rose from the bed and walked to the table.
On the table where Mom and Dad had sat earlier, deep in grave discussion, a scroll wrapped in silk lay spread open.
Mom settled me onto a chair so that I could see it.
"This is..."
"The way for you not to die — the second 'Straw God' plan."
"...!"
"Read it through. If there's anything you don't understand, ask."
I fixed my gaze at once on the characters written across the scroll.
And before long, I understood why Mom and Dad had woken me even at the cost of their own lifespans.
First, Princess Cheonmyeong's divine power shall be divided and entrusted among the seven Straw Gods.
Next, Princess Cheonmyeong shall be cast into a sleep from which she does not wake, and sealed away in one place, together with the Straw Gods.
By sealing her in a manner that traps her divine power completely within her divine body, the divine power entrusted to the Straw Gods can be prevented from returning to Princess Cheonmyeong.
By sealing not only her divine power but Princess Cheonmyeong herself, it is possible to prevent the loss of her divine power from stopping her breath.
Furthermore, by casting Princess Cheonmyeong into a dreamless sleep, she will feel no passage of time, so that she neither suffers nor weakens across the long years of the sealing.
Thereafter, the sealing shall be maintained until a new treatment or method is found.
In addition, the search shall continue without cease for beings capable of governing the same principle as the Straw Gods — beings who may receive a portion of Princess Cheonmyeong's divine power and possess the makings of true gods.
Thus, Princess Cheonmyeong's lifespan shall be extended for as long as the sealing is prolonged.
The method itself was very simple. There was nothing hard to understand about it.
I just didn't want to understand it.
...Until a cure is found, or a true god appears to take the Straw Gods' place... I'll be asleep. Forever.
If I merely slept, my body would keep deteriorating — but if my divine power was divided among the Straw Gods before I slept, my body wouldn't grow any worse.
And sealing not just my power but me as well would keep me from dying.
It wasn't a difficult plan, and there was nothing in it that could fail. If anything, it was simple and certain.
All I'd have to do is fall into a long sleep, with no knowing when I'd wake.
If the heavens called it 'long,' just how long a time would I be asleep?
Five hundred years? A thousand? Maybe thousands.
It really might be after even Mom and Dad's lifespans had run out.
Of course, under that plan, it would be a very brief span to me — a blink between closing my eyes and opening them. I wouldn't feel time passing while I slept.
So that's why this was called 'a way not to die,' and not 'a way to be cured.'
That's why... they said the decision had to be mine.
I stared down at the scroll for a long while, dazed.
The lower realm. The Crown Prince. Unyeondang. The humans. My life as Seruhwa. If I slept, I would have to abandon it all. Mortal time is short. No one would be able to wait for me.
Ansi. Mom. Dad. Sangra Palace. The gods. The immortals. When I woke from that endless sleep, would there be any guarantee Mom, Dad, and Ansi would still be alive?
Would a cure ever actually be found? There were seven Straw Gods — how long would it take for seven true gods to be born?
If I woke up alone in a future where no one I knew remained, would that mean anything?
And if instead I simply lived out the present and died, would I regret it at the moment of death? Would I wish I'd lived a little longer?
Did I want to live? Or did I want to be remembered?
Death — and a sleep like death.
Living today on borrowed time, or a tomorrow from which I might never wake.
The thoughts in my head tangled into a hopeless knot.
I was dizzy. I felt like I was going to be sick.
The moment I clapped a hand over my mouth, Mom, who had been watching me, spoke.
"Huiyo."
"...Yes?"
"I know it isn't an easy decision. That's why Mom and Dad wanted to give you time — time to think it over, and to learn as much as you can."
"How much time do I have?"
"That depends on how carefully we manage things."
"Roughly, then?"
"I'd say ten years or so will be safe."
"...Did you and Dad really shave a thousand years off your lifespans?"
"Hmm... the medicine's efficiency improved, so no, not a thousand. Don't worry yourself."
Mom smiled, looking slightly cornered. It was the face of someone who would never, ever give me a specific number.
Dad might blurt it out if I wheedled and acted cute, but that trick never worked on Mom.
...Not that it would mean anything, learning how many years they lost. The medicine's already been drunk.
I was staring blankly at the table when Mom rose and came to me.
She lifted me once more, laid me back on the bed, and drew the blanket up over me.
"I'm sorry to burden you with such a painful choice. Rest a while longer for now."
"......"
"Whatever you decide, Mom and Dad will be all right with it. You may agonize as long as you like. You still have ten whole years — so take your time and think it through."
Mom brushed a hand down over my eyelids.
"For now... let's sleep a little more."
As if by a lie, sleep came flooding back. I fled from all my worries with my eyes shut.
It was the dead of night when I opened my eyes.
Bluish moonlight streamed through the window, casting a lattice of bar-shaped shadows across the wall.
I stared blankly at that intricate shadow for a while, then threw back the covers and rose from the bed.
"Ugh..."
The instant my bare feet touched the floor, a searing pain shot up from my soles all the way to the crown of my head.
Oh, right. This is what my body is like now.