Chapter 46
Chapter 46
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 46
Chapter Title: Great King Namsaeng
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I swallowed hard and stared straight at Lee Mun-jin. I was genuinely curious what reaction he would have to the next part of the story.
As the silence dragged on, Lee Mun-jin spoke up.
"What did the Celestial Maiden tell you?"
"She told me to tell you where I came from."
"Where you came from?"
Seeing his thick white eyebrows twitch made me regret it a little.
An old man like him could end up in real danger if I gave him too big a shock. But it was too late to stop now.
"I came from the future."
In case he hadn't understood, I added,
"Roughly a thousand years from now."
Finally having let it out, I squeezed my eyes shut. He might burst out laughing or curse me as a madman.
On the other hand, I wondered why the Celestial Maiden had told me to reveal my identity to him.
There was no mocking laughter, no sigh of despair, not even a click of the tongue.
'That's unexpected.'
Cracking my eyes open just a bit, I saw something completely unforeseen.
National Academy Scholar Lee Mun-jin had drawn a small knife and was peeling off the leather covering the head of the geomungo.
"S-Scholar!"
I cried out in surprise as he pulled a long, rod-like object from inside the leather. Clutching it tightly in his hand, he said,
"I had a rough idea from the rumors I'd heard."
"What did you guess?"
"The technique that brought you here is reincarnation sorcery."
"Reincarnation sorcery? You mean I was brought back to life?"
"It means your soul has changed bodies. It pulls the soul of someone from a distant future and lodges it in the body of someone from the present."
"Why does something like that even exist?"
"It's a gift from Habaek."
"Habaek? Isn't he Jumong's maternal grandfather? The god of water?"
"That's right. Though he exiled his daughter Lady Yuhwa, he still helped his grandson Jumong."
"Ah! So when the Great Little Prince was cornered by the river with nowhere to go, it was Habaek who made a bridge of fish and turtles?"
"Exactly. Later, to aid the Goguryeo his grandson founded, he passed down secret arts through the shrine maidens who served him."
"And that's the reincarnation sorcery?"
"Yes. They use it when the nation faces an irreversible crisis. To summon the soul of someone from the future who can overcome it."
Suddenly, it all made sense how I'd been dragged into the past. But a slight doubt lingered.
"Why me, of all people? There must be smarter folks with a stronger sense of duty than me."
"Reincarnation sorcery only brings the soul—it can't choose which one."
"Total luck of the draw, then. What if some weirdo's soul shows up?"
"Fortunately, that hasn't happened yet."
"If someone from the future came, why didn't technology advance by leaps and bounds?"
"They never stayed long enough to make use of their abilities. The previous reincarnate didn't linger much either."
"Can I really save Goguryeo from crisis? What made them bring me here? I'm just a third-rate hack writer."
A wave of panic hit me out of nowhere.
I'd accepted being pulled into the past and possessing Yeon Namsaeng as an unavoidable twist of fate. That's why I'd thrashed about trying to live as him and shake off the traitor stigma.
But it had all been predestined. The fact that I'd been chosen filled me with dread.
I'd never shouldered expectations like this in my life.
Just as I was on the verge of tears, National Academy Scholar Lee Mun-jin's voice rang out, firmer than ever.
"There's always a reason for being chosen. Don't be afraid. We'll help you."
His promise of aid finally calmed me down.
Come to think of it, two people now knew I was from the future.
One was the Celestial Maiden who served Jumong and Lady Yuhwa, and the other was National Academy Scholar Lee Mun-jin.
Not bad allies, I thought—just then, a question came.
"Tell me. How does Goguryeo fall?"
"Tang invasions start about ten years from now. We repel them at Ansi Fortress, but the wars drag on. In my era's terms, it's a war of attrition."
"Attrition of what?"
"Resources, men, and time. Tang sends 10,000 to 20,000 troops every year to hit our borders."
"That's rough. Hard to defend against raids on weak points."
"Exactly. And in the midst of it, Silla sides with Tang."
"Silla?"
"Yes. Kim Chun-chu and Kim Yu-sin lead it, allying with Tang."
"Never heard of them."
"Kim Chun-chu is the son of the deposed King Jinji, and Kim Yu-sin descends from a Gaya king."
"How do such men seize control of Silla's government?"
"It's complicated to explain. Anyway, Silla teams up with Tang and takes down Baekje first."
"If Silla brings in Tang to destroy Baekje, they lose their southern buffer."
True to form as a scholar, he grasped the situation instantly.
"Then Silla attacks from the south, Tang from the north. And internal strife breaks out in Goguryeo."
"Even civil war?"
"My father, Yeon Gaesomun, stages a coup, purging the Great King and his inner circle. He seizes power and becomes High Minister."
"So he ends up causing the mess."
"We hold out while Yeon Gaesomun lives. But the moment he dies, it all falls apart."
"Makes sense. How many did he kill and oppress in that coup?"
"Tang surrounds Jang'an Fortress, and the Great King surrenders first. A monk named Sinseong opens the gates."
Lee Mun-jin swallowed dryly after hearing my account.
"When does this happen, roughly?"
"About thirty years from now."
"Goguryeo falls... It's so hollow."
"Revival movements rise later, but they're crushed. Thankfully, Dae Jo-young leads survivors in rebellion, founding Balhae. But even Balhae falls, and Goguryeo fades from memory. Almost all its land is lost."
"Your burden is immense. Nothing like the previous reincarnates."
"Reincarnates? You mean people like me from the future?"
"Yes. We call those brought by reincarnation sorcery 'reincarnates.'"
His explanation sparked a sudden curiosity.
"Who was the reincarnate before me?"
Lee Mun-jin closed his eyes briefly, then answered.
"Eulji Mundeok."
"What?"
The answer was so out of left field I jumped in shock.
The hero of the Battle of Salsu had been a reincarnate just like me.
As I gaped, he continued.
"The original Eulji Mundeok was a good, diligent man. But not hero material to save the nation from crisis."
"So who entered his body?"
"A history major undergrad, he said. The university was something like our National Academy."
"They brought in an expert, huh."
"Thirty years ago, the Celestial Maiden performed the sorcery and came to me."
"Why?"
"To ask for help. Even with the sorcery, she didn't know what to do next."
"They summon him and then leave him hanging."
I answered a bit snarkily, and Lee Mun-jin chuckled heartily.
"Everyone has their role. So I met Eulji Mundeok, the reincarnate."
"How was he?"
"Just like you. Despairing over why he'd been brought here."
It was probably inevitable. Suddenly yanked from his own era into the distant past.
Facing the need to alter history's course.
He must have been as shocked as I was—history buff or not.
Noticing my deep thought, Lee Mun-jin spoke.
"Then he realized his purpose and rose up."
"That's why he prepared for ten years."
"Yes. He persuaded the Great King and leaders, gathered men, devised strategies."
"Was the Battle of Salsu his idea too?"
"Idea?"
"I mean, his plan."
I quickly corrected, and he replied,
"Half and half. The original Eulji loved books and was rigid, so he'd drafted strategies—including defenses if the enemy hit the capital directly. But waiting for them to cross the river and ambushing? Purely the reincarnate's idea."
Hearing how he'd put the idea to use right away piqued my interest.
"Who knew he was a reincarnate?"
"Just me and the Celestial Maiden. No point in others knowing—they wouldn't get it, and it'd breed suspicion."
"The reincarnate won the war."
"The Celestial Maiden received Habaek's oracle: Goguryeo kneeling before a million-man Tang army."
"Yeah, hard to bet on victory back then."
"Even among ministers and generals, many thought defeat inevitable. But victory saved Goguryeo."
"And Sui fell instead."
Emperor Yang's obsession with Goguryeo led to reckless campaigns. Exhausted people rebelled, dooming Sui.
In a way, Goguryeo toppled Sui.
"Indeed. Many contributed, but Eulji Mundeok with the reincarnate's soul shone brightest."
Listening to Lee Mun-jin, another question arose.
"After the war, he vanished suddenly—was that tied to being a reincarnate?"
Lee Mun-jin pondered my question long. Historically, Eulji appeared from nowhere and disappeared just as abruptly.
Even Samguk Sagi notes his origins unknown first thing.
No records after 612's Battle of Salsu. Where he lived, married, had kids? Mysteries. Theories ranged from purged post-war to foreign spy.
I'd wondered most about that. Now, an unexpected truth.
He answered,
"He left."
"Where? Back home?"
"He always missed his family and hometown. After repelling Sui, he said he'd return."
"Opposite of me."
I'd gotten mad at the Celestial Maiden but never thought of going back.
Even hearing this from Lee Mun-jin, it was just the weight of destiny and duty.
"He talked of family often. It steeled him, reminding him there was purpose. But after Sui, he found a way."
"What way? Don't tell me..."
Lee Mun-jin handed me the rod from the geomungo.
Up close, it was a wooden tablet carved with writing.
"He left this before departing. Said to give it to the next reincarnate."
I peered at the wooden tablet from National Academy Scholar Lee Mun-jin and froze in astonishment.