Three Feet From Heaven, Mountains and Rivers as One (1)
When I opened my eyes again, I found myself beneath a ceiling that felt both familiar and strange — one I had hoped never to see again.
To put it simply: a hospital.
"Ugh……."
I pressed a hand against the hospital bed and tried to push myself up, and a sharp sting flared across the back of my hand. The strength drained out of my fingers for a moment.
"You're awake?"
A stranger's voice cut in right at that moment.
I stopped myself from forcing my way upright and rolled my eyes instead. Someone was sitting in the chair just to the right of my bed.
"Uh……."
The first thing to register was the vivid color of her hair. That long spill of cherry red reflexively brought Seong Gwon to mind.
"Hello there."
"……Hello."
But it wasn't Seong Gwon. The voice was different, and once I looked properly, the face was completely different too.
Seong Gwon's features were so cold that a passing glance might make you wonder if she was furious; this woman's face, by contrast, wore a smile anyone could read as warm and easygoing.
The age she projected was different as well. Where Seong Gwon was unmistakably a girl in her teens, this woman carried the maturity of someone well past her twenties — someone you could plausibly put in her thirties or beyond. Definitely not Seong Gwon, then.
It's not that no one comes to mind, but…….
It wasn't something I should jump to conclusions about. Setting aside guesses I couldn't verify, I pushed myself up in bed.
My injuries weren't bad enough to keep me down, and lying in bed while an adult stood at my side felt rude.
"There's no need to strain yourself."
"It's fine— I mean, I'm fine, ma'am."
I braced my lower back and lifted my torso, keeping the load off my hand as much as I could, though a faint sting was unavoidable. The culprit was the IV line anchored into the back of my left hand.
"Anyway, this place……"
"This is the military hospital inside the Hwadam Army garrison. Do you remember what happened?"
So it really had been a hospital all along.
I reflexively furrowed my brow as I took in her words and the clothes I was wearing.
If my skin tone weren't so visibly different from my past life — if I couldn't see with my own two eyes that I was living an entirely new life — the discomfort showing on my face right now would have run a good deal deeper.
"……You don't remember, by any chance?"
"Well, that's……"
"Have you awakened?"
"Have you risen?"
Before I could answer her, yet another new voice wedged itself into the conversation. Now who? I turned my head to the left.
The window a little distance from my bed came into view first, and then, second, the object sitting between the bed and the window: a table nearly as long as the bed itself.
"……Swords?"
"You do not remember."
"Your memory is imperfect."
"No, it's……"
And there upon that table, resting in elegant arrangement, lay two swords — each scabbard engraved with a dragon motif.
The polished wooden case and the silk cushioning made the already expensive-looking blades appear all the more dignified.
"……The Ssangyonggeom?"
"Correct."
"You speak true."
Only then did the memory of that final moment before I collapsed come into sharp focus.
I'd been being escorted by the soldiers when the endless chorus of overlapping voices finally overwhelmed me — and the Ssangyonggeom had come to my aid. Though I still had no idea how, exactly, they'd done it.
"Ah— aaah. Right. You helped me. Thank you so much. I should have thanked you properly right then."
The more I turned it over in my mind, the more horrifying that moment became. Sound layering on top of sound until my skull rang — honestly.
It was this incident that taught me a person can be driven into full panic simply by too much noise around them. Not a lesson I'd particularly wanted to learn.
"It was nothing."
"A trifling matter."
The Ssangyonggeom spoke in nearly identical tones, in near-perfect unison — as if to prove that the two of them came as a set.
It was only because their meanings happened to align that I could follow along at all. If they'd each gone off on their own tangent, I'd have had a genuinely hard time keeping up.
"Even so. Thanks are thanks."
I scratched at the hollow between my collarbones. It was only afterward that I registered the red-haired woman was still sitting beside me.
Oops. My head swiveled back around.
"Ah, sorry, that's……"
"It's fine. You were talking with the Ssangyonggeom, right?"
"Yep."
Thankfully, she didn't hold my absentmindedness against me. If anything, the fact that she'd instantly grasped what I'd been doing suggested she was someone who could perceive phantasms herself.
Well…… though anyone stationed at a military hospital inside the Hwadam garrison would hardly be ignorant of phantasms in the first place.
"Good. Then let's get back to the main point. How much do you remember?"
"Everything up to the moment I collapsed."
Having said that, I gave her a rough account of what I could recall. She hadn't asked for it outright, but I was certain she wanted to hear it.
"I see…… So the voices came through unbearably loud."
"Yes."
Maybe because I'd been talking a while, my throat had gone a bit rough.
When I coughed drily, she fetched me water in place of a reply. Her face, compared to when I'd first woken, had stiffened somewhat.
"Thank you for explaining. Then it's my turn to talk."
Lifting the water glass with fingers plastered over in moist bandages, I put on my most attentive face. She looked straight back at me, level and unwavering.
"First — my name is Hong Seong-hwa. I'm a soldier attached to the Hwadam Army."
Haep. I nearly choked on the water mid-swallow. Because the identity I'd only half-dared to hope for turned out to be exactly who I'd suspected.
If it's Hong Seong-hwa…… she's from the generation before Seong Gwon.
I rapidly pulled up the profile of Hong Seong-hwa as she'd appeared in the manhwa.
She was Seong Gwon's aunt — and the teacher of Baek San, protagonist of Codename: Baby.
Seong Gwon got the role-model slot, but the actual hands-on teaching came mostly from Hong Seong-hwa.
Codename: Baby was a story that began when its protagonist, Baek San, enrolled at the military academy. And naturally, the academy introduced instructor characters to teach him and his classmates.
That was Hong Seong-hwa.
If the manhwa had cast Seong Gwon as the active-duty soldier everyone looked up to and aspired to become, then Hong Seong-hwa was the one who had stepped back from the front lines to directly train the next generation.
But why is Hong Seong-hwa sitting in front of me?
Given the different timeline, I could accept her serving as active-duty military rather than an instructor. But why was she here, of all places?
After quickly steadying myself, I lowered the glass from my lips.
"It's an hon—"
"Skip the introduction for now. You can do it later."
"……Yes, ma'am."
……I wasn't even about to give my name.
I'd only belatedly realized I'd never formally exchanged names with her — I certainly hadn't been about to launch into my life story unprompted. And yet she reacted that sharply?
The manhwa did include the rule that you shouldn't state your name in front of an uncontracted phantasm, but wasn't that a regulation that was effectively meaningless outside the Rear World anyway?
I could only curl my fingers tighter around the water glass as I mulled over her reaction.
"Anyway, to continue — you are, right now, hmm. Officially registered as a person of interest under watch. That's why I'm here with you."
"……I am?"
"Yes."
"Is it because I got dragged off to that Rear World place, or whatever it's called?"
"That's one reason, but……"
Hong Seong-hwa's gaze drifted past me — toward the Ssangyonggeom.
"Do you know what a phantasm is?"
"……The way they call the monsters that live in the Rear World, I think? One of the soldiers explained it to me."
Just as with the Rear World itself, the definition of a phantasm had never been properly released to the public. At best, people vaguely knew of them as summoned familiars; where they came from, how contracts were formed, what principle brought them into being — none of it was public knowledge.
So I played dumb, dredging up what the soldiers had told me and presenting it as the extent of my understanding.
Hong Seong-hwa seemed to find nothing odd in my answer, and laid out the concept in more detail. They existed in the Rear World; only those with a special aptitude could see and speak with them; they were beings born from folklore — an explanation almost identical to what I already knew.
"The Hwadam Army has a classification system for phantasms. Of those criteria, what I'm about to explain is the classification based on 'the tale a phantasm originates from.' First tier: folk tale. Second: legend. Third: myth. You can roughly feel where that's going just from the names, right?"
"Yes."
"Good. But as I just said, this classification is based on the tale tied to a phantasm, so it's somewhat disconnected from how strong the phantasm actually is. Simply put, folk-tale grades sometimes turn out stronger than legend grades, and legend grades stronger than myth grades."
"Understood."
"The Ssangyonggeom is the textbook case. Officially they're classified as legend-grade phantasms, but the power they harbor is treated as 'off the scale.'"
Hong Seong-hwa paused there and let out a faint sigh.
"I'll explain why another time…… What matters right now is that those Ssangyonggeom, of all things, chose you as their master."
"……Oh."
"Let me say this upfront: you did nothing wrong. The only problem is that you're a civilian minor who hasn't even enlisted with the Hwadam Army yet. And on top of that, someone who only just heard what a phantasm even is — someone who, until now, knew nothing at all about any of this."
Only then did I fully grasp the situation I'd been dropped into. No — more accurately, it was something I'd half-foreseen the instant I laid eyes on the Ssangyonggeom, which was why I could accept it so readily.
That was simply the kind of value the Ssangyonggeom carried.
So that's why Hong Seong-hwa is the only one in this room, too.
Myth-grade phantasms, as a rule, could devour an entire city like it was a stick of gum. Beings possessed of power as formidable as the word myth implied were hardly rare among them.
And the Ssangyonggeom stood level with — or above — such myth-grade entities. Wielded properly, they could just as easily flatten a city.
And a phantasm like that had suddenly picked a random civilian as its master? A civilian who was a minor, and who — as far as anyone knew — had been ignorant of phantasms and the Rear World until literally yesterday?
If I'd been in their shoes, I'd have been every bit as rattled. This was a situation where the slightest misstep could trigger a catastrophe.
Hong Seong-hwa handles a legend-grade phantasm herself, so stationing her alone here as a precaution does make sense.
It also explained why no nurses or doctors had come in even after I woke, and why Hong Seong-hwa alone sat in the room as my watcher.
It wasn't that she was the only person capable of handling the situation — it was that deploying only her was the best option, and that's why things had taken this shape. With that, I accepted the whole affair without further complaint.
"Anything you don't understand?"
"I don't think so. It's, um, like — a very dangerous wild beast picked as its master someone who isn't even its trainer? That's the situation, right? So, uh, mm — officer…… teacher, you're here in case something goes wrong, safety-wise?"
Of course, to everyone watching, I was supposed to be someone who didn't truly understand the Ssangyonggeom's worth.
So I explained what I'd grasped using the cheapest analogy I could reach — fumbling midway over what to call her, as a bonus.
Apparently that was a little funny, because Hong Seong-hwa broke into a suppressed grin.
"'Nuna' makes me feel a bit guilty, and 'teacher' isn't quite right either, so just call me Major Hong Seong-hwa."
"Yes, ma'am."
"Anyway, you understood it fine. Though the Ssangyonggeom is a good deal more than 'a very dangerous wild beast.'"
Smoothed over again, it seemed. I took another sip of water.
"In any case — that's the situation, and you've been registered as a person of interest under watch. You followed all that?"
"Yes."
"Good. Then let me explain what happens from here."
Noticing my empty glass, Hong Seong-hwa poured me more water. I accepted it gratefully.
"First — the third exam you took has been marked as passed. It got cut short when you were pulled into the Rear World, but what you'd written up to that point was more than enough to clear it."
"Ah……"
I'd assumed that from the moment the Ssangyonggeom chose me, my enlistment with the Hwadam Army was all but guaranteed. But there was a vast gulf between guessing as much and hearing it confirmed outright.
A tension I hadn't even known I was carrying slid away.
I was— I was free now. No more being ground down by the orphanage. No more having my whole life signed away to the organized crime ring crouching behind it.
The hand gripping the glass trembled.
"……So I'll be going to the Special Military Academy, then?"
"Yes."
My eyes squeezed shut for an instant. The gratitude swelling up in me was more than I could spit out, and shutting my eyes was the only way to dam it. Hong Seong-hwa waited for me without a word.
"Please, go on."
After a small stretch of time, I opened my eyes again. Because she'd given me the room to settle my feelings, I managed to find my calm once more.
"……Your dorm room was prepared while you were asleep. It's ready for you to move in right away."
"I see."
So Special Military Academy entrants really could move straight into the dorms.
The reassurance of it hit me anew: what I'd wanted was finally, truly in my hands. It had taken some suffering, but it felt like my life was finally turning around. Thank goodness. Really.
"Oh — and you can check out of the hospital whenever you like. You've got quite a few injuries, but none of them are deep."
"Really?"
"First-degree frostbite on your hands, second-degree on your feet. Shallow abrasions, cuts, and lacerations on your thighs, calves, forearms…… was it? You'll just need to come in for dressing changes like clockwork."
She added that the doctor would give me the details later. But even just hearing that much left me a little stunned.
Frostbite, of all things, is the genuinely unexpected part.
So spending one night outdoors had been that dangerous, huh.
"So…… would you like to be discharged?"
"Can I?"
"I literally just said you could. Anytime."
"Then I will."
"Good."
Hong Seong-hwa pulled out her smartphone and tapped away at it, presumably contacting the people waiting outside.
"Oh, right. Because of your, ah, special circumstances, your room has been set up somewhere a little unusual. I'll explain when we get there, but I figure it's better if you hear it in advance—"
"Wait, hold on a second."
Listening to her, though, something about it all struck a subtle, off-key note.
"……I have to move into the dorms right away?"
"……Yes? You don't want to?"
"No, it's just……"
Moving into the dorms immediately was the very thing I'd been praying for. But since waking up — had I ever once said so?
"……I don't think I ever said I was moving in right away."
As far as I knew, dorm residency was optional. Ready or not, whether to move in immediately was supposed to be entirely my call.
So I said it calmly, holding that uncertain, half-formed feeling in my hand. Hong Seong-hwa's face stiffened visibly. The vague unease hardened into certainty in that instant.
"……Like I said before, you're under watch right now. The Ssangyonggeom are dangerous beings, period."
"I remember that part."
"Which means…… I'm truly sorry, but you don't have much in the way of choices here."
"……Could you be precise, please?"
I absolutely despised being fobbed off with vagueness. Things like, sleep for ten nights and then we'll send you home. Or, take this medicine and you'll get better.
Even if it changed nothing about my circumstances, being told the truth outright was better than a flimsy lie. It was far easier to accept, if nothing else.
"……It means that even if you wanted to go home, we couldn't send you. The moment you're discharged, you go straight to the dorms. You need to be somewhere staffed, at all times, with people equipped to respond to anything."
"That's all?"
"……Even inside the dorms, your range of movement will be somewhat restricted. Leaves and outings will only be granted with permission. Not everyone can be following you around."
Of course, hearing the truth didn't dissolve the unpleasantness entirely.
Given the danger the Ssangyonggeom posed, I knew perfectly well this was necessary — unavoidable, even. But knowing and regretting were two separate currents, and the second one kept flowing all the same.
"The restrictions won't last forever. Once it's proven you can properly control the Ssangyonggeom, you'll be free to go out as much as you like, do whatever you want. Even I command a legend-grade phantasm, and I come and go as I please."
Truthfully, I couldn't call this the worst outcome. I mean — compared to my past life, where I couldn't even leave a hospital, or the original Yahui, who'd been branded a criminal without ever being given a choice, wasn't this practically paradise?
It wasn't as if they meant to bind me for life. They were only asking me to wait until my safety could be proven.
This much is genuinely good. It's good, but…….
Still. It stung. It really did sting.
Going to a café and ordering some chocolate frappuccino with extra drizzle, or hitting a snack bar and ordering one of everything on the menu, or finding one of those punching machines people swore you'd spot on the roadside and competing for a high score…… all of that was now months, maybe years, further away.
"Oh, and don't think for a second this means we're just going to lock you up and leave you. Absolutely not. This isn't something you brought on yourself — if anything, you're the one who got dragged into it."
"Then……"
"Novels, manhwa, anime, games…… whatever you want, just say the word and we'll stock the dorm with all of it. Any food you're craving, we'll order it the second you mention it. School is, hmm. You won't be able to attend, but we'll set you up with any online lectures you want, and……"
Hong Seong-hwa rattled off every comfort she could think of, as if trying to soothe me.
But none of those things held all that much appeal for me. Entertainment I could enjoy from my room — I'd already burned out on every bit of it in my past life.
If not for the hospital stay, I'd have actually been tempted.
Was there really no other way? I could wait, sure. But was waiting truly the only answer?
Drrrrrk.
"……!"
At some point, the air itself had begun to tremble, little by little. As Hong Seong-hwa surged to her feet, her chair shot backward as though kicked aside.
"Why do you merely comply?"
"Why do you steel yourself only to endure?"
The voices resonating quietly within that tremor belonged to the Ssangyonggeom. My gaze crawled slowly over the twin blades still sheathed in their wooden case.
"We are with you."
"Your path is our path."
"Loyalty and devotion are not the same as sacrifice."
"Sacrifice yourself no longer."
The Ssangyonggeom spoke by passing words back and forth, each voice catching the other's trailing edge. And each time they did, the wall fractured like a stale cracker, flaking into pieces.
"Tell us — where do you wish to go?"
"Tell us — what do you wish to do?"
Technically, they were 99% responsible for the fact that my daily life was about to be restricted for who knew how long…… but I couldn't quite work up any anger over it, not when those voices existed for me and me alone.
I let out a soft laugh and reached my hand toward the Ssangyonggeom.
"Seize what you desire."
"We shall shield you."
And the moment my fingers touched those scabbards, the sensation I'd felt in the Rear World crashed over me once more.
What I held was unmistakably a sword hilt — and yet it felt like gripping, impossibly, a fragment of the world itself……
"……Moving into the dorms right away is fine with me."
Still holding them, I turned to Hong Seong-hwa, who had been left hanging mid-crisis. She had not yet lowered her guard.
She stood two steps from my bed, caught between drawing her weapon and releasing it, and swallowed drily.
"Staying somewhere a little special, given my circumstances — I can accept that."
The military, the government — of course they had to be wary of how dangerous the Ssangyonggeom were. I understood that. I could even extend them some grace on the circumstances.
"But the restricted range of movement, the permission slips for going out — yeah, no. I still hate that part."
Postponing the freedom I'd yearned for by months, maybe years? I'd happily be a petulant child about it. Past life or present, either way I'd never made it past twenty.
"That's……"
"Major, it all comes down to whether I can control the Ssangyonggeom, doesn't it?"
"……"
"I'll manage it. I can do this."
I drew both swords from their wooden case and gathered them into my arms. They were so long that the picture probably bordered on comical — but I couldn't have cared less.
"It's been my dream to visit a coin karaoke booth and an arcade, you know."
There weren't many souls in this world who could afford to underestimate the Ssangyonggeom — or their master.