Celebration (3)

The air settled heavily. It couldn't be helped. It was far too weighty a subject to dismiss as a mere joke.

"Humanity's Evil, you mean Original Sin."

I hesitated, my lips moving slightly before I spoke in a low voice. To be honest, it was such an overwhelmingly grand tale that I still couldn't quite believe it.

"How should I put this... it doesn't feel real."

To put it bluntly, I was utterly bewildered. I had certainly entertained the thought that the Mystic Management Bureau must be operating with some grand purpose, but I never imagined it would be for something like this.

"I understand. It's a perfectly reasonable reaction to have."

At my dazed response, Nam Do-kyung nodded plainly. As if to reassure me that it was an entirely normal reaction, he waited for me to speak first rather than pressing on with his own words.

'Feels like my soul's been sucked right out of me.'

Just moments ago, the explanation about Humanity's Evil that had come from his mouth had consisted of merely ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠two lines.

The Management Bureau's ultimate objective, Humanity's Evil, is called by the name Original Sin. Original Sin is the inevitable death that hangs over the destiny of the species called humanity.

Though the words were brief, the impression they left was intense. Even without adding any further explanation, the fact that it was immensely dangerous and grave was keenly felt.

"I understand up to the fact that the Management Bureau exists to stop Original Sin and operates toward that end."

I swallowed and steadied my breathing. After calming my pounding heart and steadying my wavering eyes, I opened my mouth.

"In that case, what exactly is Original Sin? Just what is it, that it seeks to kill the destiny of the human species and is described as inevitable?"

I know, at least, the dictionary definition of what original sin is. We live in an era where tales of humanity committing original sin in the Bible, or Jesus taking on that sin and dying in their place, are commonplace.

After all, this is a country with churches built all over the place. With education being universal, most people know the basic philosophies of the major religions like common sense.

"That said, I suspect it can't literally be the very same Original Sin spoken of in the Bible."

If it were the Vatican Holy See, which had been subtly mentioned earlier as groundwork when explaining the Bureau's founding purpose, it wouldn't be strange for them to actually move to resolve the Original Sin from the Bible.

But as far as I know, according to the Bible, humanity's original sin is effectively gone. Wasn't the most representative reason Christianity reveres Jesus as a saint precisely because he shouldered humanity's original sin and sacrificed himself?

Thus, I naturally deduced that the "Original Sin" Nam Do-kyung spoke of was a concept separate from the Biblical Original Sin.

"......That's correct. The Original Sin I just mentioned, which is essentially the Management Bureau's reason for existence, is different from the Original Sin spoken of in Christianity."

And Nam Do-kyung nodded at my deduction. Acknowledging that my words weren't wrong, he continued further.

"At the same time, it is also the same concept."

The Original Sin spoken of in Christianity and the Original Sin the Management Bureau speaks of are different. Different, yet simultaneously the same concept.

It was a contradictory statement. If the atmosphere had been even slightly lighter, I might have shot back asking if he was messing with me right now.

But Nam Do-kyung's expression was serious. So much so that I thought if he could crack jokes with that expression and atmosphere, he'd be renowned as a brilliant actor.

"Humanity's Evil, Original Sin, is ultimately a collective entity of malevolent thought-forms directed at humanity. It desires the extinction of humans, the destruction of civilization. We speculate it is a primordial mystery that has existed ever since humans gained intelligence."

The memory of the explanation I'd heard from Kang Yuna before came to mind. Originally, the older a mystery, the deeper its history and the span of its years, the more powerful it becomes—that was the rule.

Yet, most of the mysteries currently in existence began from historical times onward. Most mysteries have been passed down since humans became capable of recording things.

Because mysteries, too, are ultimately a form of knowledge. If no one remembers it and its existence is forgotten, it eventually vanishes.

The problem was the history of Humanity's Evil, Original Sin.

"Wait a moment, then wouldn't the Original Sin's mystery be absurdly powerful?"

To convey information, language is needed. To record, writing is needed. However, humanity didn't just whip up language and writing the moment they gained intelligence.

Humans only developed language as their cries changed over untold ages after gaining intelligence. They refined the crude pictures scratched into dirt and rock ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠into writing systems.

It might seem short when written down, but in reality, there's a gap of time that might well have taken tens of thousands of years, not just thousands.

"......That's right. The history of Humanity's Evil is far deeper than the history of humankind recorded in language and writing. And given the nature of mysteries growing stronger the deeper their history, essentially, the mysteries of humanity cannot match the mystery of Humanity's Evil."

That is why, until now, Humanity's Evil remains robust. Humanity has been unable to sever Original Sin and advances toward its preordained destruction. The Mystic Management Bureau exists to delay that preordained destruction as long as possible.

Having finished his explanation up to that point, Nam Do-kyung let out a scoff-like laugh. The air, stretched taut with tension to its limit, suddenly went slack and deflated.

"Well, that being said, it's not as if there's absolutely no way to oppose it. If the very option of resistance was futile against such an adversary, there'd be no reason for the Management Bureau to exist either."

Even before the Mystic Management Bureau, there had been many who attempted to confront Humanity's Evil and sever Original Sin. From the modern era to the present day, the Mystic Management Bureau has simply shouldered that role.

In the medieval period before the modern era, humans also did their utmost to stand against Humanity's Evil. In the distant past, in ancient times, there are records of the humans of that era fighting against Humanity's Evil as well.

Even in the Age of Gods, which even ancient peoples referred to as unfathomably old, beings and factions that opposed Humanity's Evil plainly existed.

"Most of those counted among the world's great figures have been individuals who fought against Humanity's Evil."

"Can you give me an example?"

"Representatively, there are the Four Great Sages."

In other words, it meant you had to be at least at that level to achieve meaningful results against Humanity's Evil.

"Honestly, the reason we went to these lengths to recruit Kim Sihyeon-ssi is simple."

Nam Do-kyung, wearing a bitter smile, looked at me. Even without hearing his next words directly, I caught on to what he was about to say and opened my mouth first.

"It would be the augmentation of combat power through the sharing of Mugong. Since you can't just hope for a genius on par with the Four Great Sages to appear, you intend to field a massive number of reasonably decent-level mysteries in quantity to hold back Humanity's Evil, even if they fall short individually."

My guess seemed to be correct. Nam Do-kyung, who had momentarily widened his eyes and slightly parted his lips as if struck speechless, closed his mouth and nodded.

'He's feeling ashamed. That's what it looks like to me.'

Actually, the current situation was one where it would be entirely unproblematic even if I got angry and called it rude.

They called me here saying they wanted to collaborate, and now they've basically taken humanity's survival hostage to try and shake me down to hand over my techniques—wasn't that the situation?

Nam Do-kyung must also know the value of the Mugong I created in this present era where Mugong has vanished, so even having brought up the topic himself, he can't face me with an unashamed expression due to his own embarrassment.

"Well, fine. I'll cooperate."

"......Are you serious?"

"You said we'll be destroyed if I don't help. Setting aside personal feelings, I have no choice but to help."

I let the words out with barbs hidden within. Since I was subtly expressing my displeasure, everyone who caught on to that fact started reading my mood.

'In truth, I did feel somewhat uncomfortable.'

When they said we'd be working together, I figured they might just throw some external monster subjugation my way, but it turned out they intend to supply Mugong to Management Bureau agents based entirely on my Mugong.

'But it's necessary to prevent humanity's destruction.'

The problem is that to block a mystery called Humanity's Evil, Original Sin, I have to suffer some loss.

The Management Bureau is also in a situation where they absolutely need my help, so that's why they're throwing this lavish celebration party while paying me money on top of it.

In conclusion, I've ended up in a situation where I have to teach Mugong to Management Bureau agents, but that doesn't mean I intend to take a pure loss.

'If they have any sense of shame, they ought to place compensation on the scale proportionate to the Mugong I'm putting on it.'

If I were to get upset here and say, 'Do whatever you want, whether you perish or not,' and storm out slamming the door, for the Management Bureau, it would be nothing short of an unprecedented state of emergency.

Ultimately, it's just that the scope of the 'collaboration' has broadened more than I expected, making me feel slightly indignant. The advantage in the negotiation still lies with me, the sole Mugong practitioner in this era.

'If that's the case, I can conversely demand items necessary for my Mugong training.'

I am a martial artist of the Peak Realm. I have created and trained in numerous Mugong on my own, and I am a martial artist who has climbed all the way up to the Peak Realm doing so.

But even so, there are areas where I am lacking. No, far more than just 'lacking'—they're abundant. So much so that I'd evaluate myself as being riddled with holes.

Because until now, I've had no reference materials for my training. To use an analogy, it's like I've built everything up from the foundation entirely on my own while preparing for the college entrance exam without any textbooks or lectures whatsoever.

'The Mugong I created relying solely on a few lines of text from martial arts novels and my meager imagination.'

Mugong is a study similar to mathematics. A discipline refined, supplemented, researched, and developed by countless martial artists and geniuses over long ages. In the end, no matter how hard one delves alone, there are bound to be limits.

If you gave someone who doesn't even know the most basic concepts of mathematics a hundred years and told them to catch up to modern mathematics, would that really be possible?

Could they recognize the concept of numbers, create numerals, perform calculations with the numerals they made, establish the concept of equations, and alone establish countless mathematical theories like fractions and decimals to reach modern-day mathematics?

Of course not. If infinite time were given, they might get there eventually, but the hundred-year lifespan granted to humans is far too short to catch up to modern mathematics.

'It's the same with Mugong.'

In fact, the development of Mugong might progress even slower than mathematics.

With formulas, if something doesn't work or an error occurs after a single calculation, you can fix it right away, but with Mugong, the stage corresponding to that 'calculation' takes far too long.

Not only that, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠but if you set the energy circulation paths incorrectly or your internal energy gets twisted while executing a technique, failure not infrequently leads directly to death.

'Until now, I had nothing given to me, so I trained Mugong using such ignorant methods, but......'

Now things are different.

If Mugong once truly existed, and even now, after its loss, there remain incomplete scraps of Mugong information, I can reference them and dramatically improve my training efficiency.

"I will create suitable Mugong and provide them so that Management Bureau agents can learn, just ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠as you wish. I'll assist in their training step by step, starting from the fundamentals, on a regular schedule."

Mugong isn't a study one can train alone just by tossing them a single secret manual.

There might be people like me who can pull it off, but most either croak from messing up their Breathing and Energy Circulation or end up picking up strange habits because they couldn't refine their techniques precisely.

'More than anything, my current Mugong, like the First Self Mental Art, is excessively tailored to my own Mindscape. No matter how hard I try to teach it, likely no one else would be able to learn it.'

So, if I have to provide Mugong to the Management Bureau, it would be right to devise a new Mugong with universal compatibility and personally attach myself to teach it.

"In exchange, as I must provide Mugong to the Management Bureau and allocate separate time for that instruction, I will need to receive compensation."

I drew the line resolutely.

You have to give to get. Moreover, the current situation is one where the Management Bureau is in a tight spot, not me.

Therefore, if they want to receive help, they must meet my demands—I clearly stated my position so they couldn't say anything different later.

"Of course. We also have a sense of decency, so we will do our utmost to accommodate Kim Sihyeon-ssi's requests."

As I expected, Nam Do-kyung immediately said he understood my words. Rather, he seemed relieved at seeing I was willing to respond to negotiations, a light glinting in his eyes.

And then, he asked me in turn.

"Is there something you desire?"

A short question. I answered his question without an ounce of hesitation.

"I would like you to secure as many Mugong materials and records remaining to this day as possible, including modern martial arts secrets. It would be even better if you could also procure a quality sword for me to use going forward."

Just as I had completed the Taekkukgwon after being inspired by Mok Hong's martial arts secret, having reference materials would allow me to supplement my Mugong more perfectly as well.

Incidentally, I also had an ulterior motive to wangle an excellent blade through the Management Bureau's resources.