Your Name Is (2)
[What did you just say, noble one?]
"......No. It's nothing."
Ju Kang-rim pressed his fingers to his brow and silently cursed Yeomra out. He could almost hear the bastard chuckling with just initial consonants—like a muffled haha.
Of course he'd know. Who doesn't know Won Gyun? I was just shocked there's a shaman who enshrines him as a general spirit.
Regardless of his deeds in life or the karma he carried, if his name was still invoked centuries later, the guy must've just been that strong.
Ju Kang-rim set aside whatever personal feelings—or maybe national ones—he had about Won Gyun and got straight to business.
"You just called this your own dug grave."
He jerked his chin at the shaman's corpse. Won Gyun fiddled with his beard before replying.
[Hmm, that's right. The fool trusted only his talent, pulled off some reckless stunt, and couldn't handle the aftermath. That's what snapped his thread of life.]
"Could you tell me the story?"
Won Gyun clucked his tongue.
[I'm afraid not, noble one. This concerns the welfare of the royal ancestral shrine and altars...]
"Royal ancestral shrine? Does this have something to do with that Kangryeong Daegun bastard?"
Shudder.
Won Gyun's aura trembled. From that alone, Ju Kang-rim knew he'd hit the nail on the head.
Kangryeong Daegun claimed he would revive the Joseon dynasty. No matter how glorious Joseon had been or how tragic its fall, to Ju Kang-rim—a man living in the modern world—it sounded like pure insanity. And if this ghost started yapping about ancestral shrines on top of that, he'd want to bury a hatchet in the idiot's skull.
"So Kangryeong Daegun talked about preserving the royal ancestral shrine or some bullshit like that. Your loyalty's impressive for a dead guy, but stop fiddling with dead peppers and just stay dead with him."
[How dare you...!]
The words had slipped out laced with emotion. If Ju Kang-rim had even a shred of patriotism, it was for the Republic of Korea—not Joseon.
"What's the name of this Kangryeong Daegun guy?"
[I cannot say! Not even to a noble one!]
"If he's spouting crap about succeeding the royal line, he's gotta be from the Jeonju Lee clan. No way he's fussing over DNA otherwise, so he's male for sure. I could comb through the ledgers and narrow it down easy."
Won Gyun bellowed a thunderous roar. A fierce gust whipped through the room, scattering papers everywhere. A powerful aura prickled Ju Kang-rim's skin like a thousand needles.
Even after centuries, the guy who still got trashed in history books—and even in a half-rotted corpse—was a general spirit through and through. Ju Kang-rim sensed this was no easy opponent.
But he couldn't back down. He was in a position where retreat wasn't an option.
Ju Kang-rim drew his Saingeom and took a single step toward Won Gyun. The spirit bellowed like a threat at the sight.
[I am the general spirit of this Joseon! By the king's solemn command, I became a general and led the soldiers of this land! And you? Think a mere grim reaper can lay a hand on me without even King Yeomra's decree?]
Ju Kang-rim halted mid-step.
"King Yeomra's decree?"
Ding.
A message chime rang from his Biman.
A smile tugged at Ju Kang-rim's lips. He didn't need to ask what that meant.
***
[But I really don't know...]
Ju Kang-rim stood with arms crossed, listening to Won Gyun, who was now flat on the floor.
No need for beatings or torture. A single smack with the Saingeom had made it all click for him—that Ju Kang-rim had full authority to reap his soul right then and there.
And for all his solemn general spirit bluster, the guy folded under authority.
[This Kangryeong Daegun had a spirit from the start. An exceptional shaman already. A century spirit would've seemed like a child to him.]
"Century spirit?"
[The original spirit of this body.]
Won Gyun rubbed his sore cheek from the blow. Even a soul ached from a Saingeom strike. The fact he hadn't been sucked right in proved his rank as a high-tier general spirit.
[The century spirit was a once-in-a-century genius, born maybe every hundred years. But cocky as hell, rampaging wild. Ghosts lined up begging to possess him, but he refused a descent rite. I convinced him—just three years together—and he finally agreed.]
Won Gyun sighed and continued.
[Then word of his talent spread, and that one showed up.]
"Kangryeong Daegun."
[Back then, he went by Il-dang Daegun.]
Won Gyun dredged up the memory.
[He demanded a descent rite for the century spirit. I told him the kid already had a powerful spirit. The century spirit refused at first, but the guy needled him. 'You heard you're the best in Korea, but can't even handle one rite?']
"And he fell for it."
[Talent like that came with sky-high pride. But curiosity too—about this Il-dang Daegun.]
Won Gyun fell silent, then spoke.
[Il-dang Daegun looked young, but bore traces of countless souls passing through. Impossible. No human outlives ghosts. But he did. And the spirit he wanted descending? Absurd.]
"Who'd he want to descend?"
Won Gyun clamped his mouth shut. His form rippled with agitation, even from just thinking about it.
[He pulled out a spirit tablet.]
"Spirit tablet?"
[From the royal ancestral shrine.]
Ju Kang-rim blinked, then his face twisted in disbelief.
"Wait—don't tell me the descent rite was..."
[Yes. Trying to house the souls of past kings from the ancestral shrine in his body.]
Kangryeong Daegun wasn't just crazy. "Crazy" didn't cut it. Reviving Joseon wasn't a joke—he meant it literally. A ghost nation ruled by ancient kings.
"......Did it work?"
[I don't know.]
Won Gyun shook his head.
[As a warrior sworn to the king, I couldn't help. But I turned a blind eye. Ghosts were queuing to assist the century spirit anyway.]
"So you don't know for sure."
[What I know: After three days and nights of rites, Il-dang Daegun walked out as Kangryeong Daegun. The century spirit, skin and bones, saw him off. No trace of the helper ghosts.]
"I see."
[After, the century spirit lost interest in divinations. Said he'd seen the pinnacle. Clients dried up; this became an abandoned shrine. I dozed off... and this happened.]
"Hold up—then you don't know how the century spirit died?"
[The traces scream Kangryeong Daegun. No one else in the eight provinces could command ghosts to seal like this.]
"I need his name. Any other clues?"
[Well...]
Won Gyun stroked his beard, hesitating.
[I'm worried this betrays the king. Even borrowing Kangryeong Daegun's body, if he holds the ancestral shrine's masters, he's the living shrine itself. I can't speak lightly.]
He declared proudly.
[Traitor or not, I'm no rebel.]
"Joseon's long gone—what rebellion? Spill what you know before you head to the afterlife."
Ahem. Won Gyun cleared his throat, eyes darting.
[I truly don't know much. But... the tablet he carried was Emperor Gojong's.]
Ju Kang-rim's eyes flashed.
***
Samdo Renaissance Hotel.
Back from his name-hunt expedition, Ju Kang-rim heard something unexpected from Yoo Wol-ryeong.
"Weapons?"
"Yes. After you said you burned all the Shine Sand, the informant offered to send some guns."
Ju Kang-rim snorted.
"If he's buddying up before we even meet to build rapport, tell him cheap tricks won't cut it."
"Seems confident you'll bite at the right price."
"No harm hearing him out, right?"
Snorting, Ju Kang-rim followed Yoo Wol-ryeong to the underground parking garage anyway.
A massive trailer was already parked there. Ju Kang-rim noted the high ceiling—clearly built for big loads like this.
Yoo Wol-ryeong opened the trailer door. Inside the silver container: a staggering arsenal of firearms.
Not the military surplus Kangryeong Daegun stole from the US base. USFK gear in Korea wasn't top-shelf anyway—real cutting-edge stuff went to volatile Middle East hotspots.
But this trailer overflowed with elite gear: special forces exclusives, some not even exported.
Ju Kang-rim, with UN peacekeeping experience, recognized pieces other nations never saw.
"'A few,' he said... they put thought into this. But still..."
"Price doesn't matter—test 'em and take one you like for free."
"All of 'em, and I'd be bought outright."
He joked, but his mouth was watering. He knew even hundreds of these couldn't kill immortals like a Saingeom. But to a soldier starved for supplies, this was a treasure chest.
Plus, these powder-burners were more intuitive than finicky new tech.
"Testing each? A month easy. And no good spots anyway."
Couldn't blaze away downtown—Gangbuk gates were it.
Ju Kang-rim climbed in, eyeing rifles, special ammo, grenades, NVGs—loaded without skimping.
"An informant handing over this much?"
"More like an info trader. Not just intel."
"Still, no samples? This feels heavy. No such thing as a free lunch."
"Like a tasting."
"Tasting?"
"You're acing it with just Saingeom, but once you taste guns, you're hooked. Good customer potential—think positive."
Ju Kang-rim wanted to scoff, but damn if he wasn't tempted. What soldier wouldn't drool over A-grade gear, especially rare top-tier stuff?
Then a standout caught his eye.
"This...?"
Amid shiny new toys, one battered relic: a museum-worthy blunderbuss musket.
He snatched it up. Yoo Wol-ryeong tilted her head.
"That's a gun too?"
"Blunderbuss. Old pirate favorite."
"Nostalgic for junk, huh?"
"Nah, just that trope where the rusty one amid shinies is the real deal."
"Too conspicuously placed for that."
But it was luxurious: gold leaf, silver inlays, mirror-polished despite age. Scratches and frayed barrel screamed combat vet.
"Odd. Looks display-only, but barrel says battle-tested. Too chewed for accuracy. Could load pebbles at this point."
Shotguns took anything. He scanned for hidden powers—nothing.
Pirate captain's sidearm?
Then his expert eye caught not power, but resentment—a seething grudge clinging to it like a vengeful spirit. The horrific deaths of its former owners had left their raw hatred bound to it.
He nearly dropped it. Yoo Wol-ryeong sensed it too.
"Not a weapon—a cursed treasure."
"......What was the informant thinking, slipping this in? Fuck-you gift?"
"Maybe a mix-up. Weapon's a weapon."
Ju Kang-rim debated shelving it, then holstered it at his side. A bit bulky, but no hindrance.
"Sold on it?"
"Nah, just test-firing."
"Classic line from the guy grabbing the cursed gun."
"......"