Chapter 99
Chapter 99
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 99
Chapter Title: Thousand Gold Captain
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“Isn’t this the Thousand Gold Hall, the domain of the great Myriad Gold King? My disciple and I have come all this way to dispel the curse created by that insolent abyssal being. But what on earth has happened inside the Thousand Gold Hall?”
- Th-that’s… We don’t know either. We were just told to close the gates in case some dangerous fellow showed up.
- Yeah. But we sensed some unusual form of magic, so we stepped in.
So we’ve come full circle to this point.
At any rate, it doesn’t seem like there was any specific order to block me.
“We’re sorry to hear that. You must always have heavy hearts carrying out such a vital duty as guarding the Thousand Gold Hall.”
At the professor’s words, the guardian totems looked a little moved.
“In our haste, we acted rashly, and for that we apologize once more. Could you at least pass along a message so we might receive the Myriad Gold King’s aid? At the very least, could you ask to see the Thousand Gold Captain’s face?”
- Hmm… The Thousand Gold Captain…
- Well, passing along a message shouldn’t be a problem…
“As you can see, we have neither the intent nor the ability to harm the Thousand Gold Hall. We simply wish to lift the curse those abyssal beings placed upon us.”
- Ah, got it. Wait just a moment.
- Yeah, we’ll go fetch the Thousand Gold Captain.
Is that settled? This old man ended up resolving it with a con artist’s tricks after all.
“No, you don’t need to do that, elders.”
A new voice suddenly cut in.
The source was atop the walls of the Thousand Gold Hall.
Among the residents who had come out to watch, one figure stood out.
A man in a black robe billowing as if caught in the wind—though there was no wind—and a large floppy hat.
- Thousand Gold Captain?
- Cheonseol, you were watching?
“No, I just got here because of the commotion. But elders, what are we going to do about this road you’ve wrecked?”
- Those ghost bastards wouldn’t listen to us!
- The ground caving in was that poor wizard kid’s doing.
The Thousand Gold Captain, also called Cheonseol, grabbed the floppy hat on his head with one hand and leaped down from the wall.
Up close, this guy was quite a bit taller than me.
Not as much as Orb, but definitely taller than Jang Hyeon-deok.
As he sauntered over, the front of his robe hung open, revealing the clothes underneath.
…Under the robe, he was wearing a T-shirt printed with a famous anime’s cute girl character and flashy leopard-print pants.
“Well, well, if it isn’t Gim the wanderer, out and about. It’s been a while.”
“Four years, so it really has been ages. Thousand Gold Captain, you look as hale as ever.”
The professor and the Thousand Gold Captain exchanged warm greetings.
“Our elders may have started things, but now, could you put away that toy of yours?”
“They wouldn’t even hold a conversation… I apologize for the rudeness.”
With that, the professor stowed away the Open Mind flag he’d been holding.
This man was the Thousand Gold Hall’s number two, the Thousand Gold Captain, Seo Cheonseol.
Compared to his grandiose title, he gave off a casually laid-back vibe rather than anything sharp. Whoa, Seo Cheonseol turned his head toward me.
“Well… No wonder the elders were on edge.”
Seo Cheonseol’s posture as he looked at me… Well, both hands shoved into the pockets of his leopard-print pants under the robe, bending forward in an exaggerated lean.
The classic stance of a back-alley thug picking a fight.
‘No, is he literally picking a fight?’
I said nothing and met Seo Cheonseol’s gaze head-on.
The eyes peering out from under the floppy hat sharpened for a moment… but it didn’t last.
People had tried staring contests with me before, but they always got lost not knowing which of the four eyes on this mask to focus on.
Seo Cheonseol seemed to feel that disorientation too; he grimaced slightly before breaking into a wide grin using his whole face.
“Bahaha! You’ve brought along a real amusing Gim this time.”
With that, he stepped back a few paces and made a theatrical, welcoming gesture.
“I apologize for the misunderstanding, in the name of the Thousand Gold Captain who guards this hall. Come on in, Gim and company! Welcome to the Thousand Gold Hall!”
We followed the Thousand Gold Captain, Seo Cheonseol, into the inner courtyard of the Thousand Gold Hall.
The inside of the Thousand Gold Hall wasn’t much different from how it looked from outside.
A beautiful, wondrous space.
Everywhere you looked, flowers from different seasons bloomed in profusion.
Amid serene hanok buildings and vibrant blossoms, workers carried massive earthenware jars. They were all dressed in the same mishmash of eras as Seo Cheonseol.
They must be the same race as him.
As one could guess from Seo Cheonseol’s speech, they were goblins.
And the Thousand Gold Hall was also a goblin den hidden between reality and unreality.
The goblins carrying jars or chatting in the shade sent curious glances our way.
Whispers of “mask,” “wizard,” “totem elders,” and such drifted from among them, but they showed no more than that.
Just the light curiosity you’d spare for unfamiliar guests?
If anything, the professor showed greater curiosity, addressing Seo Cheonseol.
“The layout seems different from last time.”
“Ah, it changes every visit. The folks living here are just that fickle. You didn’t see anything like that before, right? It’s a new technique we developed recently.”
“Huh… Amazing!”
In the direction Seo Cheonseol pointed, a hanok building was walking toward us.
Looking closer, a single goblin was dragging the entire structure along.
As the building moved, the surrounding ones shifted naturally to make space.
Even though the inner realm had dreamlike qualities, this was a sight you’d only see in dreams, in more ways than one.
The professor didn’t hide his astonishment, his face lighting up with delight.
Trailing behind those two, I… honestly felt a bit moved.
I already knew what the Thousand Gold Hall was, who lived there, and what it contained.
I’d seen houses walking before too.
But what I’d seen was just a cutscene rendered on a monitor screen in the game I loved.
The very scene from that beloved game was now alive and moving before my eyes.
“Masked Gim, keep gawking like that and you might get lost.”
Seo Cheonseol’s voice carried a note of amusement.
Ugh, me acting like such a fool.
I’d gotten so distracted I nearly veered off in the wrong direction.
I had no idea what expression I was making, but thank goodness the mask hid it.
“Mm… I’ll be careful.”
Seo Cheonseol’s warning about getting lost wasn’t empty talk.
We had to navigate an incredibly complex and labyrinthine path.
Some spots were only passable by going through the interiors of buildings, and others were utterly impassable by wheelchair.
Whenever that happened, Seo Cheonseol would chuckle heartily and drag or push buildings aside to clear a new path, so we avoided any real trouble. At any rate, no human could find their way here on their own power.
And at last, we reached our destination.
“Well, Gim and company, tired from the long trek? We’re here now!”
In the chaotic bustle of the Thousand Gold Hall—goblins, flowers, jars, and even buildings coming and going—this space stood out for its serene tidiness.
A vast courtyard stretched before us.
Flanking it left and right were rows of trees, each blooming with hundreds of flower varieties at once. Even flowers like tulips or sunflowers that didn’t grow on trees hung from the branches.
Following that parade of flamboyant flowering trees led the eye to a massive hanok that stood out even in the Thousand Gold Hall. Its shape resembled the other hanoks around, but it was three times their size.
Not just wider— it was like someone had grasped the diagonal corners of a normal hanok and stretched it out. Like the house of a giant from a fairy tale.
The pillars were three times thicker, the roof tiles three times larger, and the paper-screened doors at the center three times bigger.
Seo Cheonseol gestured to us with a grin.
Meaning we should proceed on our own from here.
The professor and I slowly walked between the flowering trees toward the front of the hanok.
In front of the hanok was a broad stone platform.
It bore no patterns or decorations, yet it somehow didn’t feel like an ordinary platform—more like an altar prepared for a great god.
We stopped before what looked like that altar.
Still seated in his wheelchair, the professor bowed his head and spoke.
“We have set foot in the Thousand Gold Hall following the light that illuminates the path. Pray, do not cast us out.”
Once the prescribed greeting ended, the air suddenly grew heavy.
An absurd power emanated from beyond the massive central paper doors of the hanok.
The Thousand Gold Hall’s master, the Myriad Gold King, had arrived.
The colossal presence beyond those huge doors spoke in a voice that resonated not the air, but the soul itself.
『Speak your desire.』
“Ever since things that should dwell beyond the veil have appeared in the present world, we once more beseech what we have always sought.”
『Speak your desire.』
The professor briefly lifted the jade bundle he’d carried all this time, then whispered to me.
“Wizard, sorry, but could you place this on the platform? Don’t unwrap it—just as is.”
“Yes.”
I took the bundle and set it atop the platform. As I stepped back, the professor recited something like an incantation, following the ritual.
“May what belongs in dreams return to dreams, what belongs in darkness to darkness. May what we wish to forget but cannot sink back into deep oblivion.”
『Speak your desire.』
“A comrade of mine, fighting the foes of the Thousand Gold Hall, has fallen into a deep slumber. I seek an item to awaken that comrade from sleep.”
『Take it.』
The professor asked me to bring the bundle back.
The moment I picked it up, I realized the item inside had changed. It had felt like a hefty rice cooker or something, but now it was tiny and light.
I handed the limp bundle to the professor.
Smiling, he unwrapped it and pulled out a small glass vial to show me. Some kind of potion? Then he patted my shoulder lightly.
“There, now it’s your turn.”
Ah, my turn now.
I glanced down at the bag in my hand. Thankfully, the bag Tudor had entrusted to me caused no issues. Once I disposed of the cursed jewels I’d brought along with it, my business at the Thousand Gold Hall would be done.
“I have set foot in the Thousand Gold Hall following the light that illuminates the path. Pray, do not cast us out.”
This was a sort of ritual.
Not a rigid incantation like a spell, but something set in tradition long ago, so it had to be said.
Now the Myriad Gold King…
『Come closer.』