Chapter 130
Chapter 130
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 130
Chapter Title: Earth Immortals (3)
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Yi Agum, who had been lying in bed, opened her eyes.
She had slept deeply and woke feeling perfectly refreshed.
The chirping of birds came from beyond the window.
A dizzying sense of dread that any office worker could relate to struck her mind.
Yi Agum sprang out of bed like she'd been launched.
"I'm late!"
With a vigorous shout, she half-tumbled into the bathroom.
She hastily washed her face with the water she'd drawn the night before.
She threw on her clothes, crunched a raw sweet potato, and headed out.
And right before leaving the communal housing, she realized.
Come to think of it, today was her day off.
Yi Agum climbed the stairs with light steps.
Humming a tune, she returned home and took off her outer clothes.
Immediately after, she flowed onto the bed like water.
A fresh spring day, warm sunlight, cool breeze, pleasant quietude, clear air, the birds' chatter.
A well-dried blanket, eyelids gently closing, an expensive bed, crowds heading to work without her.
This was paradise.
Yi Agum closed her eyes with a bright smile.
Her consciousness slowly drifted toward sleep.
But just before falling asleep, an intruder appeared.
The cheeky voice unique to a female harpy rang out.
"Yi Agum, Yi Agum! Letter, letter, letter!"
Yi Agum was forcibly dragged back from dreamland.
Her drowsy sleepiness scattered like dandelion fluff.
Her eyes were wide and alert—no chance of sleeping again.
Yi Agum got out of bed and headed to the window.
She opened it, and there was a harpy.
It had a small cylinder hanging around its neck.
The harpy said with a brazen expression.
"You're slow! Slowpoke!"
Yi Agum, true to her earthly sage nature, didn't engage with fools.
She simply opened the cylinder and pulled out the tightly rolled letter.
The sender was Jang Seonhwa.
"Today at noon, there's a meeting for the Repair Club..."
The sentence cut off oddly.
The front part was written in such huge letters that space ran out drastically toward the end.
It was a letter that perfectly revealed the sender's personality.
Yi Agum set down the fully read letter and said.
"That's it, so go on now."
The harpy stood there blankly and asked.
"I delivered the letter—what, no tip?"
Suddenly fluent speech.
The flustered Yi Agum asked back.
"What?"
"Stingy, so stingy."
"No, wait..."
To the speechless Yi Agum, the harpy said.
"Got any food at home? If so, bring whatever quick. I'll eat and be off. Oh, and a cup of water too."
Yi Agum couldn't even retort before fetching a wooden fruit the size of her mouth and a bowl of water.
Anyone watching would think this was the harpy's house.
But when people get too flustered, this is what happens.
The harpy ate the fruit, drank the water, and patted its belly.
"Ah, that hit the spot."
Then it fluttered off.
Yi Agum blankly stared at the harpy's retreating tail.
*****
Yi Agum arrived at the mansion and got off the ferry.
She knocked on the gate, and there was a rustle from inside.
Something shuffled, and the door opened.
Her eyes met the concave-eyed one's through the open door.
"What is it?"
"Cheep cheep!"
"No, seriously, what?"
The standoff was resolved by the maid who came running late.
The maid rolled aside the food-mountain great peng blocking the door.
The food-mountain great peng cracked up hysterically for some reason.
With the gatekeeper cleared, the maid greeted her.
"Investigator Yi, you've arrived? Please come in."
Yi Agum crossed the gate as instructed.
The maid locked it and guided the guest.
The food-mountain great peng naturally sat behind the closed door.
Yi Agum couldn't hold back and asked.
"That's Senior Brother's clone, right? What's it doing?"
"Playing a prank. It sits by the door and waits, then blocks anyone trying to pass with its body."
"No, but why on earth?"
The maid sighed and said.
"Well, it's like this..."
The maid's testimony went as follows.
A few days ago, thrilled with its new body, the food-mountain great peng ran around the fields all day.
Then it tripped over its legs and fell spectacularly.
It wasn't used to the small, light body yet.
Already round in shape, the food-mountain great peng rolled across the open field.
The maids, who had been watching fondly, hurried over.
To comfort the baby bird that must have been startled.
But the food-mountain great peng reacted unexpectedly.
It flapped its wings and chirped nonstop.
Clearly enjoying itself.
The maids exchanged glances.
Then they all started pushing the food-mountain great peng.
A fast-rolling white ball, just like a snowball.
The food-mountain great peng chirping in bliss.
The mid-to-late teen maids enjoying it too.
A satisfying time for everyone.
The play stopped exactly one shichen (two hours) later.
The maids were utterly exhausted.
They'd rolled a ball about one zhang (three meters) in diameter.
Even if the food-mountain great peng clone was made of lightweight material, it was no light labor.
The maids massaged their arms and went back.
They figured they'd played enough.
But the baby bird had a slightly different opinion.
That's when the mischief started.
The food-mountain great peng began playing gatekeeper.
Meaning, roll me if you want to pass.
Having heard the full story, Yi Agum asked.
"Can even a Qi Building cultivator roll it?"
"It's surprisingly light compared to its size. Last time, it even floated on the pond."
"That's really amazing."
Soon they arrived at the dining hall.
They planned to eat lunch before club activities.
That was why the meeting was set for noon.
The homeowner welcomed Yi Agum.
"Agum, right on time. Sit down."
"Sister, why is only half the table left?"
"Isn't it cozy like this?"
After the intimate meal, the group headed to the club room.
*****
The club room had a blackboard and chalk ready.
Seoran naturally took the podium.
Time to return to being Daesulim's top famous lecturer.
Seoran first greeted the students.
"I'm Ryu Seoran, your instructor for the day. Nice to meet you all."
A crisp greeting befitting her illustrious career.
Damcheong and Jang Seonhwa gave a standing ovation.
The other two students just clapped sitting down.
Seoran wrote elegantly on the board.
'Cosmic Structure Construction Plan'
She looked at the students and asked.
"Okay, question! What is the cosmos?"
The students each did their best to pretend not to hear.
Even Jang Seonhwa ignored the daily instructor.
Respect was respect, but ignorance was ignorance.
The cosmos wasn't her field of expertise.
The club room fell silent in an instant.
But Seoran wasn't worried.
She could just call on someone.
Seoran glanced at the wall calendar and said.
"It's February 4th, so... Student Yi Agum, please stand and answer what the cosmos is. No worries if you're wrong."
Yi Agum recalled her school days for the first time in ages.
She had no idea how February 4th led to her name.
Anyway, called out, she had to stand.
Yi Agum answered in an uncertain voice.
"Uh, the empty space beyond the mortal realm?"
Seoran clasped her hands above her head, forming a circle.
"Correct! Everyone, applause for Student Yi Agum!"
Damcheong and Jang Seonhwa's standing ovation started again.
Yi Agum sighed in relief and sat down.
She'd learned it right after initiation and hadn't forgotten—lucky.
Seoran continued the lesson.
"The precise definition of the cosmos is the space beyond the atmosphere surrounding the mortal realm—the outer celestial barrier."
Seoran explained inwardly chuckling to herself.
The cosmos of her past life and this one were clearly different.
An invisible barrier around the entire planet.
To Seoran, this one fact felt more wondrous than the immortals flying in the skies.
Midway through talking about the cosmos, Seoran asked another question.
"Okay, next question! What shape is our mortal realm? Flat disk? Or sphere?"
This time, two hands went up.
Damcheong and Jang Seonhwa in the front row.
Both with confident faces.
Seoran pointed at Jang Seonhwa.
"Student Jang Seonhwa was a tad faster."
Jang Seonhwa answered in a booming voice.
"Sphere!"
"Yes, correct! Everyone, applause!"
"Psh, who doesn't know that."
Damcheong's pupils shook violently.
The worldview she'd never even doubted her whole life crumbled.
She felt lost in the dark without a lantern.
Regardless, the lesson went on.
Inside and outside the celestial barrier surrounding the entire planet, two different forces are always at work.
Surprisingly, their domains clung right to either side of the barrier.
No exaggeration—one step beyond the barrier, and you're under a completely different force.
One was the attractive force toward the mortal realm's center.
It bound atmosphere, oceans, mortals, cultivators, yokai, and all things to the earth.
Simply put, the planet's gravity.
The other was the repulsive force away from the mortal realm.
Naturally, there was no such thing in her previous life's cosmos.
Whether this was repulsion from the mortal realm or attraction from beyond the void was still debated.
Seoran's plan was to place a cosmic structure at the equilibrium point of these two forces.
Then, thanks to the two opposing forces, the structure would be fixed in midair like a nail.
More like an orbital elevator than an artificial satellite.
Seoran erased the blackboard diagram and said.
"Okay, class dismissed for today."
Class end declared.
Geum Yeongyeong, desperate for the bathroom, jumped up.
And flung open the club room door.
The concave-eyed one was blocking the exit, who-knows-when-it-arrived.