Chapter 369: Leash, Confinement, and Pure Love…!
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 369: Leash, Confinement, and Pure Love…!
There were those looking at me with tearful eyes, those looking at me with faces of clear indignation, and then there was Sun Wukong, who was calmly checking my physical condition.
“Are you feeling any better?”
“Yes, I think I’m okay now, thanks to you…”
Actually, I had eaten a Peach of Immortality, so I was beyond “okay”—I was practically overflowing with energy.
When she suddenly reached out her hand, I momentarily feared she might try to pluck my eyes out. Fortunately, she didn’t seem to have any immediate intention of doing so; instead, her hand began to lightly stroke my hair.
“Do you know which color shows the most when stained with black?”
“…White?”
“Correct. Humans are much the same. Those who strive to be flawless are the ones most likely to fall into the illusion that a single mistake is irreversible.”
I thought I understood what Sun Wukong was trying to say.
“One might hold on and hold on until they can endure no more, leading them to commit a mistake or two. However, one must not lose sight of their surroundings and allow themselves to be crushed and withered by those few errors. If you have committed a sin, you must naturally pay the price; attempting to flee is not the right path.”
In short: apologize properly for your mistakes and don’t even think about doing anything reckless again.
She seemed worried that I might do something impulsive out of guilt toward the others.
…When I first saw her, I thought she was a bit mechanical and blunt, but seeing her up close, she didn’t seem quite so cold.
“If you had come here merely to seize power, it would be right to punish and exile you. If you were someone who cared only for your own safety, it would be right for you to meet your death. But you are neither.”
As she spoke, the hand that had been stroking my hair moved to point at something around my neck—I couldn’t tell if it was a leash or a necklace.
“Therefore, I shall give this to you as a gift.”
…Wait, so what exactly is this?
To be honest, I appreciated the kind words, but the strange sensation around my neck had been distracting me for a while, making it hard to focus on the conversation.
“Um, so… what exactly is this…?”
“You don’t even recognize the item you came to this Hell to find? It is the Golden Hoop.”
…The Golden Hoop I know doesn’t look like this, though? Isn’t it supposed to be worn on the head?
“What does the form matter for an object forged from Divine Iron? If it were in the shape people usually imagine, it would be far too conspicuous for daily wear. I exercised a bit of consideration. It suits you well.”
Just what kind of object was hanging around my neck right now?
I wanted to ask, but Sun Wukong continued her explanation before I could.
“The Golden Hoop is equipped with a three-stage seal to ensure your vessel does not break. It will suppress your power. Until you completely remove the Golden Hoop, your vessel will not grow any larger, and any overflowing power will be forcibly discharged.”
“A seal?”
“Yes. Well, you likely won’t even need to release the seals when facing most opponents, but one never knows what the world may bring, so let me explain.”
“Yes, please.”
“Each seal acts as a device to protect you while simultaneously restraining your power. The more seals you release, the more formidable the power you can exert, but the burden on you will increase proportionally.”
Her explanation was very straightforward.
“You can recover after releasing the first and second seals, but if you release the third and final seal, you must consider it the end. This time, you will be unable to avoid achieving enlightenment and undergoing Ascension to Immortality.”
Basically, I had been fitted with a set of safety locks, and if I undid them all, it really would be the end of me.
“You can release the first seal yourself if you wish. To be precise, my splinter… the ‘lingering regret’ you know well holds the key.”
Ah, so Sun Wukong can release it for me.
“As for the second seal… yes, I shall entrust it to those precious to you.”
“Pardon?”
Not only was I shocked, but the others who had been listening quietly also looked at Sun Wukong in surprise.
“What? Originally, the Golden Hoop was a means for others to control me when I was wild and unruly. I cannot leave all the keys in your hands, can I?”
As she spoke, Sun Wukong recited an incantation, and something glowing was delivered to Cathy Noona, Ha-ni, and Ga-eul—three people in total.
Seeing them all with sparkling eyes, clutching the golden light as if it were something precious, made me wonder if it was really that great. But first, there was something else I was curious about.
“…Um, why those three specifically?”
“It seems there are three for now, but those keys will naturally find their way to those deeply connected to you. At this moment, they are likely the ones with the strongest connection.”
I knew it was a bit irreverent to think this, but I couldn’t shake a certain thought.
Surely “deeply connected” doesn’t mean what I think it means, right?
“I will not tell you how to release the third and final seal. To be more accurate, I cannot. However, you can probably guess.”
The method to release the third seal was likely enlightenment.
If I ever reached the point where I wanted to throw everything away again, that would probably be the trigger.
With a faint smirk, Sun Wukong finally stepped back from me.
“Perhaps it is because my severed regrets are nearby, but I find myself becoming increasingly emotional.”
The deity looked at me with eyes that seemed full of both longing and regret, then gave a bittersweet smile.
“Please, trust those around you and do not become like me. You do not have to do everything alone.”
As she stood there with her eyes closed, reminiscing, she looked incredibly lonely.
“If I had trusted my brothers, if I had trusted Xuanzang, perhaps I too…”
I felt as though I should never forget the sight of her in that moment.
“…might have kept a slightly more cheerful personality.”
If I didn’t want to end up like her, I knew I had to remember this.
“Ah, I almost forgot the most important thing.”
“Yes?”
I thought we were completely moving on to the next scene?
“You there, was it Cathy?”
“Huh? Me?”
“Look at this boy, think about wanting to make him stop, and say whatever words come to mind.”
“Eh? What? If you suddenly ask me that, I don’t know what to say…”
…Wait?
“Just think that you absolutely want to stop this fellow. The words are merely a device for expression; they aren’t that important.”
“Uh, then… So-hyun! Stop it!”
Just as I was thinking how blunt that was, I felt an ominous sensation around my neck.
The Golden Hoop around my neck began to tighten with immense force.
“Guh…!”
“Kyaak!? So-hyun! What do I do!? Stop! Stop!”
Fortunately, the tightening sensation vanished the moment Cathy Noona shouted for it to stop, but I honestly thought my neck was going to snap.
“This is what the Golden Hoop is known for, after all. I suffered from this quite a lot myself. You’ll find it’s quite bearable once you get used to it.”
…Wait. Is she thinking, ‘I’m not going down alone’? Is it just my imagination?
“Now your precious ones will be able to restrain you much more easily.”
It wasn’t my imagination.
Cathy Noona, who had been flustered at first, was now looking at me with a subtle glint in her eyes, as was Ha-ni and Ga-eul. They looked like they had just caught a lucky break.
Um, surely they wouldn’t abuse this, given the trust between us, right?
The three of them smiled.
…I could not.
Some of the other party members were looking at the three of them with envy.
This really is a leash.
* * *
I wish I could say, “We got the Golden Hoop! Let’s go back!” but of course, things weren’t that simple.
First of all, since we had essentially forced open the Gate of Hell to get in, it had put a strain on the “Laws of Hell.” Even when Sun Wukong came to rescue me at the end, she had ignored those laws, leaving things in a quite unstable state.
Thanks to Sun Wukong’s cooperation, they said they could fix the laws and reopen the gate to return in about a week.
But there was another problem: the spectacular mess my companions had made after we were separated.
They had apparently used violence against the armies of Hell, committed fraud, and even threatened the residential districts by taking them hostage.
“No, I only did that because I was upset. I didn’t actually plan on dropping it!”
Well, the perpetrator, a certain Mr. Park, said that, but of course, it didn’t fly. Until the day we left, they were tasked with helping restore the facilities of Hell as compensation for the damages.
“Ah! This is so unfair…!”
And in Master’s case, she was helping with Hell’s administrative duties to pay for the stolen sword, all while insisting she was a “civil servant” who had merely participated in the fraud.
In short, everyone ended up doing chores for a week.
“Shouldn’t I help with something too?”
Strangely enough, I was the only one excluded from the work.
“So-hyun.”
“Yes.”
“Stay still.”
“…Yes.”
Because everyone took turns guarding me, I hadn’t been able to take a single step out of the room for two days now.
Honestly, it was a bit scary.
It wasn’t like this on the first day when they scolded me and cried, begging me not to leave.
Even when they told me I wouldn’t be allowed to do anything until we went back, I just thought it was their usual way of showing they were angry—a joke, something that would pass with time.
But their attitude was so serious it was frightening.
…And since I was the one who messed up, I couldn’t even protest.
Even when it was Ga-eul’s turn on duty, I tried to subtly ask if I could go out, but she just stared at me with such cold, dead eyes that I got intimidated.
“Um, Noona.”
“Yes, So-hyun. Is there something you want to eat? Should Noona peel some fruit for you?”
“I’d like to go for a walk…”
Slicing sound.
“Hmm? Sorry, the sound of the apple being cut was too loud. I didn’t hear you.”
…Um, why is the sound of cutting an apple so loud?
Still, let me gather my courage and try one more time.
“I mean, I just want to go outside for a bit…”
“So-hyun.”
“Yes.”
“You know that I, and everyone else, are holding back a lot right now, right?”
I mean, I know. How could I not? Of course I know, but you still shouldn’t just keep a person from leaving the room all day like this.
“…Yes, I know, but this is a bit much.”
Having finished peeling one apple, Cathy Noona pushed the plate toward me and took out another one.
Why did the way she lightly stroked the round, red apple feel so strangely eerie?
“Are you trying to go off on your own again? Are you going to ignore us even when we try so hard to hold onto you?”
Ugh, she’s stabbing right at my conscience. I have no comeback for that.
The hand she used to grip the apple tightened. The apple let out a crunching scream as it began to lose its shape.
As I stared blankly at the apple juice trickling into a glass, Cathy Noona looked at me with hollow eyes.
“I’d really prefer it if you didn’t.”
…Was that an implication that she’d turn me into juice like that apple if I didn’t comply?
The crushed apple, squeezed to its absolute limit, evoked a primal sort of terror, but I didn’t point it out.
“I think I’d like to rest in bed a bit more.”
“Yes, good boy.”
Wiping the apple juice from her hands, Cathy Noona handed me the freshly made juice and told me to drink up.
…Fine, I give up.
Just yesterday, everyone had cried so much because of me.
— You can tell us if it hurts. You don’t have to do anything if it’s hard. Please don’t go, So-hyun… I’ll treat you better, I’ll really try.
They probably didn’t even fully understand what my apology meant.
— If you want to use me, then do it! Who told you not to? What, did I get pushed into a death trap? I’ll jump in for you! So if you’re going to suffer in silence until you explode like today, just be honest before it happens!
They must have been so scared when they stood in my way.
— Idiot. Moron. Loser. Even a cat would be more honest than you. Do you think it’s cool to brood over things alone? It’s not! It’s incredibly stupid! If you don’t want to be called a loser, don’t ever do that again!
They had been hurt so much.
— So what if you act out a cool persona? The ‘true self’ a human imagines is ultimately an illusion. What matters is who you want to be and how you act.
When they try to hold onto me like this, I have no choice but to be caught.
“…I won’t go anywhere.”
So, until they were satisfied, it seemed I would have to continue this strange life of confinement.