Chapter 55
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Translator: True Detective
Chapter: 54
Chapter Title: Shrine Maiden of Mujin Mountain
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The voice of the shrine maiden came from behind the screen.
The Fixer naturally moved toward the mastermind who had orchestrated this entire situation.
"Halt. Do not come any closer. I beg you."
The woman with the strongest aura among the four Dharma protectors guarding the screen blocked the Fixer's path with a stiff tone.
The Four Pillars.
The four ends and the four axes.
Taoists, martial experts, shamans, and eccentrics.
Those who had reached the pinnacle in each of the four branches of shamanism by receiving the shrine maiden's power were granted the title of 'Four Pillars,' representing that era.
In short, Kang Se-yeon blocking the Fixer's path was one of the Lunar Blossom Sect's top forces, and the remaining three were shamans of similar caliber.
Compared to Taoist Moon Seon-woo and the elders, the elders were several levels above Moon Seon-woo, but these were on an entirely different plane.
Unlike the elderly elders who mainly handled administrative duties and managed Mujin City from the Lunar Blossom Sect's main hall, the Four Pillars were active in the field.
Whether it was when the elders were causing chaos or when the Fixer summoned the Mokhae Ghost King, they could have intervened at any time to prevent things from escalating like this.
However, they had only protected the presence behind the screen without stepping in to mediate the situation themselves. As if they intended to strictly maintain neutrality.
That didn't sit well with the Fixer.
The rude elders angered him, but he was equally displeased with the shrine maiden who had called him all this way and just watched without doing anything.
If she had gone to such lengths to bring him here, shouldn't she at least have a constructive conversation instead of engaging in a battle of auras from behind a screen?
This wasn't some test. How could the Lunar Blossom Sect's supreme leader and shrine maiden take no action while the elders ran amok like that?
The Fixer even questioned whether the shrine maiden had the right to put him through such a test.
"Why are you blocking my path now? If you wanted to stop me, you should have acted before things got this messed up."
The Fixer could have tried to resolve the situation amicably, but having already been disrespected by the elders and fuming, he hurled sarcastic remarks at the Dharma protectors as well.
He had no desire to smooth things over nicely. From the moment he entered the shrine until Okwon launched his direct attack, he had upheld propriety to the best of his ability, but they had not shown him the same courtesy.
He judged there was no need to continue observing etiquette and pressured the protectors aggressively, returning what he had received in kind.
"None of what happened from the moment I entered this shrine until now makes any sense to me. The elders acting like they own the place is one thing! The so-called Dharma protectors just standing by and watching is another! And the most incomprehensible part is you, hiding behind that screen, toying with people or just staring silently."
The Fixer demanded to know what kind of person the shrine maiden was.
He protested that she had summoned him here to resolve a revelation and threatened the protectors.
"What were you trying to achieve by using me? Huh? Did you want to dismantle the elder council with an outsider's hand? Or were you testing me? Don't say you had no intentions. I'm not an idiot, and the situation was clearly off-kilter. If you thought I'd just swallow it and assume all the elders were lunatics, you're gravely mistaken, Shrine Maiden."
The Fixer grabbed the Mokhae Ghost King, who was about to charge at the Four Pillars blocking him, and shouted.
He was angry, but not to the point of wanting to kill. That was why he held back the Mokhae Ghost King and yelled at the shrine maiden to at least offer an explanation.
It was an incredibly bizarre sight: a calamity-grade anomaly emotionally syncing with its master's rage. The shrine maiden behind the screen observed it with great interest.
"Sowol, you stay put."
-Yes... Husband...
The White-Faced Bride was also extremely furious at the treatment her husband had received and tried to manifest to help the Fixer, but he forcibly held her back.
It was a calculation that it was far more advantageous for her to stay in the ring and absorb physical damage on his behalf rather than coming out.
"Even now, you won't come out? My patience has limits. If you have any sense of propriety, crawl out from behind that screen right now. Before I tear it down and come see your face myself."
Finally, the Fixer issued a warning to the shrine maiden.
It meant he would no longer hold back, and that having summoned him to the shrine, she should show proper respect.
Not even showing her face was tantamount to completely ignoring a guest.
The shrine maiden behind the screen responded in a voice laced with resignation.
"Bold one. Impressive momentum. Your body has transcended human limits. Enviable. Treating a calamity-grade anomaly like a child is unique. That's true talent. A shining human indeed. Perfect prey for moths flying blindly into the flame. Se-yeon, remove the screen."
"Shrine Maiden... Are you truly going to reveal yourself?"
"Yes, I was wrong, so I must take responsibility. This is enough. He wants to see my face, doesn't he? The others are all passed out anyway. Remove the screen now. He's come all this way himself. As our guest said, showing my face is only proper etiquette."
At the shrine maiden's command, the Dharma protectors removed the screen concealing her.
As the screen vanished, it revealed a hospital bed and a small girl lying upon it...
"...You are the shrine maiden?"
"Yes, I am the shrine maiden. Why the face? Not what you expected? Or do you find me ugly? I suppose I do look a bit hideous. Even I think so. I understand."
"..."
The Fixer was at a loss for words.
The shrine maiden was wrapped in bandages soaked with blood and pus, with dozens of life-support devices attached to her body.
Could she even be called alive in that state?
'She is alive. Her body may not be, but her spirit is.'
Her flesh was already at death's doorstep, yet the shrine maiden's eyes shone with sharp intelligence.
He hadn't sensed anything like this at all.
The screen had blocked his spiritual sense almost perfectly. He had only felt a gaze from behind it and the presence of someone there. He never imagined she would be in such a wretched state.
Even with the benefits of Baby Mode Pack, the shrine maiden appeared to be in agony.
Soon, the Fixer was filled with disgust toward the Lunar Blossom Sect for placing such a child in the shrine maiden's position and burdening her with excessive karma, along with the urge to smash this rotten organization right then and there.
And sensing that, the shrine maiden immediately shouted at him.
"Don't think foolish thoughts. This is what I chose, so why are you getting angry?"
"You chose to sacrifice yourself? How could a child like you... Who made you do this? These people turned you into this?"
"You madman. What nonsense. I thought you had discerning eyes since you knew my name and affiliation, but apparently not. Do I look like a child to you?"
She had the physique and appearance of a girl, but her age was far from young.
No, it was more accurate to say she hadn't aged.
"So, what do you think now that you've seen the face of this discourteous shrine maiden? Satisfied? I had no choice. I can't even stand on my own, so I couldn't remove the screen to show my face. It's a look that invites misunderstandings if shown to outsiders. And with the youth group here, imagine the shock if they saw me like this."
The shrine maiden couldn't twitch a single finger.
The Four Pillars Dharma protectors who had removed the screen approached her, changed the blood-soaked bandages, and adjusted the bed's height to make it easier for her to see the Fixer.
She then coughed up blood mixed with spasms, and Elder Jeong Mi-dam—the one elder who hadn't attacked the Fixer and thus escaped his wrath—rushed over to heal her body.
Yet her condition didn't improve. The shrine maiden continued to endure horrific pain, smiling for some reason.
"Amusing, isn't it? The head of Joseon's premier shamanic group can't even control her own body and is half-dead. You must find it laughable. Hahaha."
"I'm not laughing. No, why... why did you end up like this?"
The Fixer was bewildered.
The target of his rage was little more than a living corpse unable to rise from her bed, and her attitude was as if to say, "Kill me if you want."
Even without the Fixer punishing her, she was already writhing in torment.
"Why did I end up like this? Simple. Why do you save people?"
"Pardon?"
"I asked why you save people. Why did you crawl like a dog for three months in Cursed Mountain Lodge to rescue the monks and oracles when you could have escaped alone? Why did you drag along that clueless novice nun who hadn't even been ordained as an exorcist and capture demon husbands one after another? Why did you storm into the Black Night Society, kill the cult leader, and achieve great merit? Answer me."
The Fixer hesitated to respond.
The reason for his actions was nothing special.
He simply wanted to save people.
He did it because he could.
There were people posting requests for his help, and he believed his actions made the world a bit brighter.
No lofty ideals or grand causes. Just that.
The Fixer sought out hardship and saved lives for his own personal satisfaction.
Saving people felt good. So he did it.
"Same for me. I could, so I did. I wanted to, so I did. Does it need another reason? Saving people requires no special motive. You do it because it's good. This is the result of me doing what I wanted. Nothing can be protected without sacrifice. It's my choice, my karma to bear."
"Living in pain... neither aging nor dying, time itself halted... Is this the path you chose?"
"Yes. I want this. Who else would do it if not me? Will you take my place? Regrettably, only women can be shrine maidens. You couldn't even if you wanted to. And I've tried selecting successors several times. None lasted even two months. Such heavy love."
In a sense, the shrine maiden had transcended human limits.
No one else could fully bear the karma she carried; they all broke.
Only Hawun could do it.
Thus, the once ignorant girl still hadn't stepped down from that position.
"Mujin Mountain is truly convenient. It digests anomalies on its own if discarded. It protects and hides people from most attacks. Right, did you see Mujin City on your way here?"
"...Yes. I did."
"How were they? Smiling, weren't they?"
"Everyone was smiling. Even knowing the great calamity revelation had come. No worry or concern on their faces."
"Yes. That's the world I want. I just wanted everyone to live happily. It was once a small village. People grew, now cars run and TVs appear. Amazing, right? This is what I protected, what I built. Mujin City's people are like my children."
In exchange, the shrine maiden bore all of Mujin Mountain's malice, affection, and obsession alone.
Mujin Mountain was a calamity-grade anomaly.
Anomalies had rules, exorcism methods, and strategy methods befitting their nature.
The shrine maiden was the only human to discover Mujin Mountain's 'strategy method.'
Before she was a Fixer, she had raised the anomaly's affinity to guide it.
She, an oracle, had maxed out the favorability of the calamity-grade anomaly Mujin Mountain to 100%, ultimately marrying the mountain.
That was Hawun.
"And this mountain... it's quite the pervert. Falling in love with a woman like me... *cough*. In exchange for devoting my life, it promised human safety. As a young shaman and oracle, I became the mountain's bride. By my will, I offered myself as the vessel for the mountain spirit. Thus, I gained ownership of Mujin Mountain."
"So the mountain did this to you? Made you suffer?"
"You could see it that way. The mountain loves me. Loves me still. Will love only me forever. That's why it won't let go. How heavy and burdensome this love is. You, loved by anomalies, must understand. An anomaly's love... is heavy."
The shrine maiden continued her tale with a smile.
The Fixer couldn't grasp what part was funny, but she was smiling.
Because if she lost her smile, tears of pain would flood out.
"My lifespan ended long ago. Yet I neither age nor die. The mountain holds me fast. Because it won't release me, the world inflicts pain worse than death upon me."
Those who defy the laws receive fitting punishment.
The shrine maiden's pain was the penalty for surviving beyond her allotted lifespan.
Having transcended her given life, the world sought to break her.
Mujin Mountain loved the girl, so it crudely stitched her body together, forcibly sustaining her life.
And the shrine maiden loved the world and humanity...
So she endured.
As a result, the shrine maiden lived in eternal torment.
Wanting death, yet unable to die easily.
The moment she died, Mujin Mountain, losing its mate, would revert to a calamity-grade anomaly.
As she said, nothing could be protected without sacrifice.
Self-destructive love.
Through it, countless people were saved, and myriad anomalies exorcised.
One girl's sacrifice made the world a little brighter.
And atop that world stood the Fixer.
Because someone had thrown herself fully into the fray to block approaching doom in places he didn't know.
The Fixer momentarily lost his words. Could he sacrifice himself like that?
Not an easy question to answer.
"If it's that painful... wouldn't it be better to give up...?"
"Don't say that! If I give up, what of Mujin City's people? Who takes responsibility for their lives and safety? And all those anomalies—who handles them? You? What makes you think you can? You're just one person. Don't you know you can't shoulder everything alone?"
"But you are just one person too."
"Why am I just one? I am this land itself. Don't equate mountain and human. *cough*... *cough*!"
Excited by the Fixer's denial of her actions, or perhaps from her tirade, the shrine maiden spat blood again.
Her time for conversation was limited. Her body screamed in fatigue.
And at that sight, the Fixer's anger toward the shrine maiden completely vanished.
It was absurd to rage at someone who could die at any moment.
In places he didn't know, for a time he couldn't even comprehend, someone had sacrificed herself to protect people.
How could he be angry at such a virtuous soul?
The Fixer, who felt no pain and shed no blood even when stabbed, felt pity and sorrow for the shrine maiden who had to eternally bleed and suffer.
The Fixer didn't need to vent anger or punish her; she was already receiving excessive retribution.
"Don't pity me like that. Even like this, I'm content in my own way... And why I can't discard those idiot elders... why I let you beat them... I'll tell you. Curious, aren't you...?"
Shocked by the shrine maiden's appearance, the Fixer no longer cared much about the elders, but she continued speaking.