Chapter 189
Chapter 189: Ho-ae
My name is Ho-ae.
When my father first sold me to some rough-looking men, my name was Ho-ae, so that must be right. Isn't it?
Oh right, now there's one more character added in front, isn't there?
Kim.
That man said so.
— From today, you are Kim Ho-ae.
Kim Rae-won.
I first saw him three months ago……
District 6.
The place I was first sold to.
It had more bad memories than good ones, but well, even so, I met all nine of my younger siblings there, so in the end I should say it was good, shouldn't I?
Ho, Uk, Yuyeon, Wi, Soran, Pung Ji-ho, Roe, Jomi, Seon.
There were older brothers and sisters too, but they disappeared one by one and in the end only we remained.
The men who bought us and locked us in the basement troubled us without end, but well, it was bearable.
Since we survived in the end without dying, I should say it was bearable, right?
That's how we somehow managed to hold on without dying.
Then one day Kim Rae-won—that man whose name I didn't even know at the time—appeared.
Thud thud—, something like arrows fired from his fingers and in the blink of an eye smashed all the bad men who had been tormenting us to pieces.
Then without much of a word he freed all of us and disappeared.
Suddenly given freedom, we didn't know what to do with ourselves.
All we could do was rummage through trash nearby or search for rotting food to get by……
Did the heavens help us?
Truly like a miracle,
— How many of you are there?
— Ten.
We met Auntie Jeon.
— Then come with your sister.
Since we'd starve to death if we stayed still anyway, we decided to follow Auntie Jeon.
But while that was happening, we ended up seeing that man again.
Kim Rae-won.
As it turned out, Auntie Jeon and Uncle Rae-won were living together.
Anyway, later when I asked Auntie Jeon 'Why did you take in people like us?', she said Uncle Rae-won had said:
— Households are always better off the more members there are. That man.
— What's a Household?
— Family.
— What's Family?
— Ah, right, since you grew up in places like that, you might not know. Family, you see—
— Yes. What's Family?
— People who eat together.
— ……People who eat together?
— That's right, in other words it's also called family.
I didn't fully understand, but I felt like I got the sense of it.
Family.
Heh-heh
I thought, if I work as hard as the meals given to me, I can keep being family.
I told myself again: if I eat one meal I must do one meal's worth, if two meals then two meals' worth, if three meals then three meals' worth.
Anyway,
We moved to a big house following Uncle Rae-won and his wife.
That's when I first understood.
That a house can have a name too.
Hero Gate.
Anyway, right around the time we arrived at Hero Gate, I was really frightened.
Because there were corpses piled up like mountains. The smell of blood was tremendous too. Uk and Seon were so scared that they kept crying. I wanted to cry too but I held it in. I'm the oldest sister. I have to hold on.
But Uncle Rae-won was composed.
— Go over there and clean up following that sister. Keep at that and everything will be sorted out quickly.
That was all. And then he went off somewhere just like that.
Auntie Jeon sighed deeply and comforted us.
— That's right, that's right, that man is right. It's okay. It'll be clean soon.
And truly, very quickly dozens of men came and cleared away all the bodies that had been piled like mountains. Carpenters came after. The next day other people came and painted the walls and scrubbed the floors.
After roughly a month passed like that, it became a completely different place.
On a day when spring rain was falling, for the first time the roof of Hero Gate didn't leak.
— Phew, now it really feels like a proper home. Doesn't it, children?
It was just as Auntie Jeon said.
None of us could believe it.
Every trace of how it first looked had vanished and there were simply halls full of palatial pavilions. Well, it wasn't all finished yet and still being built, but that's fine. Isn't this enough to be no different from a palace for children like us?
But they're saying this palace is our home?
What more can I say!
Anyway, once the house took on a proper shape like that, our daily life changed in a dizzying rush.
Every morning we woke at the start of the Hour of the Rabbit (around 5 AM), swept the courtyard, ate, and then did a quick cleaning of the rooms. When all that was done, Auntie Jeon would gather us all together and teach us characters. We started from Heaven-Earth-Dark-Yellow, and I memorized only about ten characters a day. Jomi memorizes a hundred at a time.
It's frustrating.
In the afternoon, Uncle Rae-won gathered Auntie Jeon and all of us in the Training Grounds.
— Stamina is life. Those with weak stamina die, and those with strong stamina survive longer.
At first we just ran.
Ten laps of the Training Grounds. Ho and Wi collapsed before they could even complete five laps. I barely managed seven.
Auntie Jeon…… actually no. I'll keep Auntie secret. It's national law to protect the auntie who feeds us well.
— If it's hard, you can rest. But you must not give up.
Barely managing to complete the laps of the Training Grounds, Uncle Rae-won would tell us a few phrases we couldn't understand each time and have us memorize them.
Then he had us all sit in a circle and tapped here and there on our bodies—it felt so good that I thought I could receive this for the rest of my life, that's how refreshing it was.
More than anything, the feeling of that refreshing sensation accumulating day by day somewhere in my lower abdomen? That was so wonderful it couldn't be expressed in words.
When I asked Uncle what that was, he said:
— Internal Energy.
— What's that?
— Your path.
— Path?
— The direction you must advance throughout your entire life from now on.
— What if I want to go in a different direction?
— As long as you don't take an evil path, I think it would be fine.
— What if we take an evil path?
Uncle's deep eyes fixed on me intently for a moment, then soon answered.
— It would become a great experience for me.
— A great experience?
— That's right, as much as I raise you, as much as you grow, it will become an even greater experience for me.
I've thought about it many times, but even now I'm not quite sure what it means.
Adult words are difficult.
Anyway, from that point our daily life was always the same.
Wake early and clean briefly and eat lots and lots of food.
Learn characters in the morning.
Run the Training Grounds in the afternoon.
Memorize the phrases Uncle recited.
Receive the massage Uncle gave us.
Eat lots and lots more in the evening and go outside to play to our hearts' content.
At first Auntie Jeon said something to Uncle Rae-won about whether it was all right to do that, but Uncle said it was fine now.
— Gangdo is safe now.
We used the pocket money Uncle distributed to buy and eat Jeonbyeong outside, and noodles too. Just as Uncle said, Gangdo really does seem to be safe now.
As summer drew closer, running the Training Grounds became harder.
Running under the blazing sun, sweat poured down like rain.
But strangely, I felt the heat less. Is it thanks to the breathing technique Uncle Rae-won taught us?
Passing each day pleasantly like that, we gradually became accustomed to everything and got better at it.
Now I've memorized the whole book of Cheonjamun too.
I can do a hundred laps of the Training Grounds easily.
Most importantly, instead of memorizing phrases, we started sparring with the other children while wielding wooden clubs.
The Internal Energy Uncle speaks of has also clearly settled in my lower abdomen. Now every day it pulsates a little and grows harder and harder.
Uncle still gave us generous pocket money but we no longer went out much to play.
Because sparring together became much more fun!
Heh-heh, I became the eldest sister among the children because I'm the oldest, and honestly it was a little embarrassing and somehow awkward, but now I'm a bit proud.
Because I'm the strongest among the children!
That means I qualify as an older sister!
Of course, everyone has their own strengths too.
Ho is strong, so when he swings once, I get pushed far back too.
Uk is a genius at dodging nimbly. 'If you don't get hit, it doesn't hurt!' is Uk's motto.
Yuyeon is flexible like her name, so she attacks well from strange positions too.
Jomi is clever and always aims at unexpected spots.
Seon is the youngest, but surprisingly tough. Once she bites down she doesn't let go.
Oops, I talked too much about just us.
Auntie Jeon is always busy with the time she spends apart from us.
It seems there's no place within Hero Gate that doesn't bear Auntie Jeon's touch.
Sometimes Auntie received official guests who came from the government office, and Auntie also managed the various worker men Uncle Rae-won brought, and in the evenings she would also do something like training by herself.
Whenever Auntie would wave her hands through the air every now and then, the surroundings would freeze and shatter, or some of the furniture and furnishings would crumble and such.
— Ah, again! This again? Why can't I control my strength? Honestly.
Each time that happened, the flustered Auntie would huff and puff on her frost-covered hands. After that she would always look at us and scratch the back of her head.
— Sorry. Children. Ho-ho.
Outside the time he spends with us, I've never seen Uncle Rae-won inside Hero Gate.
He only occasionally comes to us and asks this and that.
Whether there's anything uncomfortable, whether there are any complaints, whether there's anything lacking.
Of course there wasn't anything, and yet our uncle who keeps asking and shows interest.
I love him so much.
Not just me—all of us came to love Uncle, Auntie, and this home so much.
Family.
That's right, Family.
Now I've clearly come to understand what Auntie meant—what it means to be people who eat together.
And so one day in the third month as summer was ripening.
A large plaque was hung at Hero Gate. Having learned to read at least a few characters now, we read it proudly.
"Hero! Gate!"
"That's right. You read that well."
Auntie Jeon stroked our heads.
That day, for the first time, all of us officially received names.
"You are all Kim from now on."
Kim Ho-ae, Kim Ho, Kim Uk, Kim Yuyeon, Kim Wi, Kim Soran, Kim Ji-ho, Kim Roe, Kim Jomi, Kim Seon.
We have a family name now.
I don't really understand it fully, but……
I just like it because it's the same as Uncle's.
Uncle approaches and asks.
"And you are all now disciples of Hero Gate. Do you agree?"
"Yes sir!"
Uncle smiled brightly toward us as we answered with vigor.
In that moment.
Is it an illusion?
I felt an unknown power pouring forth from Uncle.
: All allies within range Attack Power +5% / Defense Power +5% / Status Ailment Resistance +10%: All enemies within range Attack Power -5% / Defense Power -5% / Critical Hit Resistance -10%
It's the first time I've seen him smile properly.
Anyway, I was happy.
I—we smiled back at him.
Because all of us had become family and disciples of the same Hero Gate.
***
It had been a long time.
Bong—
【Guild】 Hero Gate Declaration: No matter how much a hero, one cannot accomplish great things alone. At your guild formation declaration, countless evil practitioners will tremble.However, as light gathers, equally strong darkness will also linger nearby, so I pray you and your guild members overcome all crises with faith.․ Recruit ten guild members (11/10).
├─ Progress: 100%
└─ Reward: Hero History +1, [Guild Window] Activated
[You have enlisted qualified, trustworthy individuals into your guild. A reward is given.][+1]
['Guild Window' has been activated.]
[Though small, the world has become more beautiful.]
Three months after the Unification of Gangdo.
At last, Hero Gate as a 'guild' was truly activated.
"Remember this. The stronger you become, the stronger Hero Gate becomes. Keep firmly in mind that the strengthened Hero Gate is you, and you are Hero Gate."
Dong Bong-soo looked over Ho-ae and the children one by one and spoke.
"Hero Gate is only just beginning. The day all of you become true heroes—that day will be the day Hero Gate is truly complete."
He meant every word.
If these children grew stronger, Hero Gate would grow stronger……
'And I will grow stronger.'
If each and every one of these children became a 'hero'……
A mask reveals its true dignity all the more when it is worn to properly conceal.
And there could be no one in the entire universe to whom that mask would suit better.
The smile at the corners of Dong Bong-soo's lips deepened.
'Hero.'
Was that not precisely a new evolution entirely different from before?