The Vessel of a Thousand Years

"Your name is Kim Seohyun."

Those were the first words of the Wizard of a Thousand — the man who took her in, her teacher and parent in one.

A shard of memory surfaced, one she only dimly recalled now. A fragment left behind by those who had once taught her. It was her shame. Her despair. And yet, also her milestone.

Once, when Murim was betrayed and set upon by foreign enemies, those who dwelled within it began to contemplate its end. The Murim Alliance, Sadocheon, the Demon Sects, the mystical clans — factions no one had ever imagined joining hands began to unite before that most primal of desires: survival.

Together they fought on. Blood ran in rivers, and corpses piled into mountains. And still, for all of it, they could do no more than postpone the end.

Kim Seohyun was a being created to hand their knowledge down to posterity, whole and unbroken. Murim would erase its traces from this world. The martial arts they had forged would scatter to the far corners of the earth as mere fragments of what they were. That meant the death of Murim itself.

Those who had monopolized Murim did not want that. And so they made Kim Seohyun.

The culmination of a thousand years of Murim. Her very existence was the proof that the dimension called Murim had carved into this world — and it was her reason for being.

Kim Seohyun inherited an immense talent. But it was far too much. Too much of anything turns to ruin, and her talent was so excessive that it threatened her very life. The mystical sects and the Zhuge family sealed her power with sorcery, to be undone only when she could someday bear it.

They sealed away the near-bottomless internal energy implanted in her along with the Dragon Heart — but talent was something she possessed regardless. Eyes and a gift that could replicate any martial art after seeing it but once, the violent, almost brutal power of a talent brewed from the blood of those who had ascended Murim itself. Save for a select few arts, she could wield another's technique as if it were her own.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

Save for Lee Seoha's.

'Truly fascinating.'

She was looking at that body. It was an enigmatic body. Ordinary people tempered their flesh with nothingness. That thing, however, was closer to refining the flesh itself. Others might not understand, but Kim Seohyun did — she had watched Lee Seoha's body from closer than anyone alive.

At first, it had been curiosity. Curiosity that began with wanting to study how that body was refined.

'I really didn't think much of it back then.'

Perhaps what mattered most was that, among everyone her age, she had met a being she simply could not understand. Had she crossed paths with Erciel or Kim Ara first, the story might have unfolded a little differently.

'This isn't like me.'

She did not like fighting. Fighting the Demons was unavoidable — they were the ones who meant to turn this world into hell. Because their goal was a hell without law or order, if they were Demons, Kim Seohyun fought without a flicker of hesitation. But fighting itself, she hated. She hated quarreling with someone, hated contending to seize something. And yet the longer she stayed beside Lee Seoha, the more she felt herself changing.

"You hate it though, don't you? And I hate doing things you hate."

'This isn't right.'

Kim Seohyun was a being of good. She had been made that way from the very start. To her, struggle had never been anything more than the act of building her own hearth. In this world, without power, everything you had was taken from you.

'And yet.'

Bad thoughts kept churning through her head. I'm better than her, aren't I? Push just a little harder, and won't she come over? But what if the others get hurt in the meantime? Then I'll just settle it with force.

Thoughts like those.

And yet some part of her kept insisting that even that wasn't so bad. At first she had blamed herself for it. Now, the way her heart warmed by the day left her genuinely bewildered.

'This is honestly dangerous.'

Perhaps, sooner or later, something was going to break loose.

I strolled down the street with Kim Seohyun. How should I put it — the place felt like watching Seoul from fifty years in the past. Street markets dotted the roads here and there, the inns had crumbled into shabbiness, and a red-light district stood brazenly open even in broad daylight. People gathered in clusters to cook a midday meal, or wandered off toward the fields to tend their crops.

'Hardly a concrete building to be seen, either.'

Perhaps that was only natural. This was China — a land where sixty nations cried out for one China while tearing themselves bloody trying to swallow one another or break away.

"What's this? Two guys traveling together?"

"A couple of fairies? Damn, but they're both pretty cute..."

And what was funnier still was the sight of these thugs strutting about in broad daylight without a shred of shame. Also funny: the fact that this wasn't a one-time thing.

"They say the biggest sect around here is the Black Sand Sect, right?"

"Why? Gonna raid it?"

"If it turns into a hassle, maybe."

Most of all, what grated on me was the way they kept leering at Kim Seohyun's androgynous looks with those greasy eyes. Honestly, I figured showing her real face would beat the disguise by a mile.

"This place does look kind of run-down."

"Doesn't it? Like a city straight out of a few decades ago."

"They don't seem to carry phones around much here, either. Any chance you're thinking of showing your real face while we're at it?"

"...My real face?"

"Yeah. Don't you ever get the urge to dress up a little?"

"The thought does cross my mind now and then."

Kim Seohyun gave me an odd look. Frankly, I still had no idea why she crossdressed in the first place. There were a few things I had my suspicions about, mind you.

'Most of it was pure guesswork, granted.'

Either way, none of that mattered right now. Crossdressed or not, Kim Seohyun was the one destined to save this world. I needed her at full strength — 'stress like this was poison to anyone.'

She needed somewhere to let it out.

'And the best remedy for that is adorning oneself.'

How should I put it. Call it enjoying the eyes of the crowd. That kind of release wasn't a bad thing. She'd grow used to it eventually, but in the beginning, nothing in the world felt better.

'Attention is a grail laced with poison, admittedly.'

Still, as a momentary pressure valve, it should have been fine.

"You want to see my real face?"

Kim Seohyun asked it with that strange expression. Had she picked up Erciel's habit of making playful faces?

"I do."

I truly did. When I stared back at her with dead-serious eyes, Kim Seohyun went red to the ears.

"Wh-what's with that. Were you... that curious? Th-then just wait a moment."

She seized me by the arm and dragged me into a clothing shop nearby.

"Welcome in!"

A female clerk greeted us. Kim Seohyun turned to look at me.

"Recommend something for me to wear, then..."

She let the sentence trail off. Come to think of it, Kim Seohyun knew nothing whatsoever about women's clothing. I casually swept my gaze across the racks, hunting down pieces that would suit her.

"A-Aren't you a little too used to this?"

"...No. I just usually think about what would look good on you while I'm picking."

Saying that out loud made me sound like a complete pervert. But the reaction wasn't bad — Kim Seohyun showed a faint flush of color. Or maybe she did think I was a pervert, and simply chose to let it slide.

In any case, Kim Seohyun took the clothes and disappeared into the changing room. Shff, shff — the sound of fabric sliding against skin reached my ears in vivid, merciless detail. Whether I wanted to hear it or not, the Sword Ghost's razor-sharp senses mapped every last thing around me — down to the fact that Kim Seohyun was, at this very moment, slipping out of her pants and into a skirt.

'The Black Flame Radiant Star God deserves part of the blame too, granted.'

The mood was turning far too strange, so I shut the senses off for a moment.

"...Done."

A voice drifted out from the changing room. A small voice, brimming over with embarrassment.

"How is it?"

"...Isn't this showing way too much skin?"

"Doubt it."

Frankly, a generous helping of pure self-interest had gone into the selection. Kim Seohyun opened the changing room door and stepped out. A black choker at her throat; a short-sleeved crop top that bared her navel; a high-waist miniskirt.

"H-how is it?"

"...It really, really suits you."

If only her hair were a little longer, it would have been perfect. A few regrets did linger. The fabric was so cheap that the colors would never quite set. When we got back to Korea, I meant to dress her up properly.

"Shall we be off together, then, Princess?"

"...Okay."

Thankfully, Kim Seohyun seemed to like the outfit, and she played along with my teasing.

Meanwhile, Paewang came shuffling forward with a thoroughly sulky expression.

'Honey, your daughter's friend is coming all this way, and you won't even go out to greet them?'

'That brat? He'll find his own way here.'

Paewang had heard that their private jet had come under terrorist attack, that flying monsters had gone into a frenzy, and that the group had holed up somewhere for a time. But he did not worry. Kim Seohyun was someone whose growth he had marked for himself, and Lee Seoha was enough of a monster that Paewang had caught himself wanting to take the boy on as a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠disciple.

'And the boy had felled the Parasite, Kalia, at ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠that.'

By what means, he could not say. But Paewang had felt it on that battlefield: when Kalia's mental image had begun to erode the world, Kalia had died — and to something more perverse than anything else he knew. It had been an absurd thing. After that incident, the Struggle had ceded part of its power to the boy, and the Emperor had wrapped him tighter than ever in his favor. Cheongyeon, whatever game he was playing, had washed his hands of him entirely.

"The power that boy wields is far too dangerous. That said, he stands opposed to the Demons and the Outer Realms — should he ever ask for aid, I will grant it."

Perhaps Cheongyeon, too, had glimpsed something while touching that power.

'And besides, these days that Vermilion Bird thing or whatever keeps prowling about — so at least go out and meet them.'

'He'll manage on his own.'

'Fine, then. From now on, I'm not calling you Papa anymore.'

'...Grrk. Very well. Let's go meet them, Ara.'

And so, grumbling every step of the way, Paewang set out with Kim Ara to greet Lee Seoha. His daughter and his wife had a point, after all. And he had also run the calculation that at this level of courtesy, the boy might be rather moved by it — it was not as though Paewang ever stirred himself in person to greet anyone. Not even the Emperor could claim that.

"Papa, hurry up!"

"Coming, coming."

The thought of a cozy little outing with just the two of them — his darling daughter — put a grin at the corner of Paewang's mouth. Before long, he found Lee Seoha.

'There he is.'

Lee Seoha was easy to find. His extraordinary looks were one thing, but the boy carried a perverse power within him — a power that seemed to deny all things, one that warped even his ki-sense out of true.

'Which, ironically, made him all the easier to track.'

Spread your ki-sense wide, and a single hollow void opens up within it. And wherever that void lay, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠there was Lee Seoha.

And Paewang saw it.

The crossdressed girl — standing at the boy's side in her true form.

"Ah. Ahem. Seo. Ha."

Kim Seohyun spoke in a stiff, awkward voice, dressing the moment up as a coincidence, and hung herself off Lee Seoha's arm — then hooked her foot behind his leg to shake his footing loose. It was a master's technique. Lee Seoha had let his guard down, and Kim Seohyun had aimed flawlessly for the crack in it. Had there been killing intent behind the move, Lee Seoha would have answered in an instant — but there was none. And yet, in that instant, Lee Seoha's body reacted anyway. If Kim Seohyun's intent was merely to lean against him for a heartbeat, the Black God Martial body refused to permit it. An embrace, seen from one angle, was a vile attacking instrument in its own right. Lee Seoha's leg slid away as if gliding across ice.

And the result—

Lee Seoha pitched backward, and Kim Seohyun toppled right over him. Her thighs planted on either side of his face.

'Kids these days certainly don't waste any time.'

Paewang's face soured. Well — he bore no ill will toward a man keeping several women. Fine bloodlines were what produced the fine heroes of the next generation. But if the boy carried on like this now, and later too, he surely wouldn't have a single glance to spare for his darling daughter.

This had to be stopped. That much was clear.

Watching Kim Ara's stricken expression, Paewang quietly steeled his resolve.

"...So that's why. Even when I tempted him like that, he never once fell for it..."

Kim Ara murmured the words, then fixed Kim Seohyun with unfocused eyes. Transcendent dynamic vision, and the power that flowed to her from the Source, lingered within her still.

And then, within moments, she was glaring at Kim Seohyun with eyes that smoldered.

Thump.

A colossal sound rolled in from somewhere. Paewang blinked for a moment.

In an instant, a colossal presence pressed down upon everything around them. And Kim Ara understood. That this one was a love rival. Her avoidance of reality had been dead wrong — this one had been a female from the very beginning. A female, come to reclaim the man she had marked for her own.

Kim Ara looked at Kim Seohyun and smiled — a smile cold enough to frost the air.

"..."

And Paewang, without meaning to, took a single step back from Kim Ara.