The Immortal Saint Hero (1)
I realized for the first time today that something could be both cold and hot at once. Whoosh…… Flames flickered inside the transparent mana stone, clear as ice crystals. Seolhwaseok. This beautiful mana stone, which could easily pass for a decorative piece, had appeared before me the moment I stepped out of the Trial of the Gate. Visually pleasing as it was, what truly delighted me was the fact that it could compensate for my insufficient mana.
Seolhwaseok
Mana: 2500 / 2500
“This thing is seriously good.”
The mana capacity, more than five times my own, was deeply satisfying. ‘I won’t have to worry about mana exhaustion anymore.’ As long as I managed it properly, I probably wouldn’t collapse while using Napoleon’s Rifle.
That aside—
“I’m hungry.”
After wandering around all day, my stomach was growling. I brought out the gas burner, set a pot of water to boil, and added the ramen seasoning packet.
“Ah, this is it.”
The pleasant aroma wafted up as the seasoning dissolved. I dropped the noodles in and waited for them to cook when—
Ding—
The bell rang and the door to Seojun’s General Store opened.
‘Ah, I forgot to lock it.’
I had planned to close early and test the Seolhwaseok, so I turned toward the entering customer to politely decline.
“I’m sorry, but we’re closed for the day……”
However—
“My apologies. I lost my way in the downpour.”
Whoosh whoosh whoosh…… Outside the open door, heavy rain poured down in sheets.
“Might I take shelter here until the rain passes?”
The moment I saw the middle-aged man speaking, I lost my words. Crack—! Lightning flashed, illuminating his face, and it was far too familiar. His towering build, reddish beard, and fiercely wide eyes. He was a figure no Korean could fail to recognize. The great statue at Gwanghwamun, the face on the hundred-won coin. The undefeated legend, the heroic saint who saved a crumbling nation on the brink of destruction.
“Yi Sun-sin…… General?”
“You know me?”
Encounter with Yi Sun-sin of the Failed Worldline
📍 Location: Seojun’s General Store
🎁 Reward: Legendary-class Relic
‘Help Yi Sun-sin achieve victory in the Battle of Myeongnyang Strait.’
The status window spat out the quest the instant I grasped the situation. ‘Ha, what the hell is this……’ As if sensing my bewilderment, the message continued.
‘……Seriously?’
*
Yi Sun-sin, currently serving in the white-clad ranks, had a companion.
“I am An Wi.”
He was Yi Sun-sin’s right-hand man and the key figure who would lead the Battle of Myeongnyang Strait to victory.
‘Did An Wi accompany him during the white-clad service?’ I found it odd, but this was something I couldn’t know. Since this was a failed worldline, the official history and the actual events could differ.
“The rain shows no sign of stopping.”
Even though it was late at night, thunder, lightning, and torrential rain still raged outside the window.
“If it would not be an imposition, may we stay here for the night?”
“Yes, that’s fine.”
“Thank you. We will compensate you properly.”
Yi Sun-sin and An Wi sat at the table in one corner of the store to rest.
‘Good thing I brought it out.’
Incidentally, that table and chairs were relics from Napoleon’s era. They had been placed here after Napoleon’s visit, since there had originally been no place to rest. In other words, the table itself was also a relic. The very table where the great hero Napoleon had sipped cola and conversed.
◈ Fatigue Recovery: 10%
‘Even ordinary tables become relics when a great hero sits at them.’
Of course, since the table was also a manifestation from another world sustained by my mana, it would vanish like Napoleon’s Rifle if I ran out of mana. Until now, that burden had made me reluctant to bring it out, but now it was manageable. The Seolhwaseok was replenishing my mana.
“Strange. I feel my fatigue melting away.”
“It seems so.”
Yi Sun-sin and An Wi, seated at the table, looked surprised as they too noticed its effect. Resting there truly erased their exhaustion. Their expressions softened, and they began to converse. I pretended not to listen while straining my ears.
“We must find Bae Seol no matter what.”
“Do not worry. He could not have gone far.”
‘Bae Seol……’
The incompetent general Won Gyun, who had destroyed the three hundred ships Yi Sun-sin had painstakingly gathered. Among those three hundred ships under Won Gyun’s command, the man who had deserted with twelve of them was none other than Bae Seol. Those very twelve ships would become the final Joseon fleet that Yi Sun-sin would lead into the Battle of Myeongnyang Strait. Bae Seol had deserted out of fear, not to preserve the ships.
‘Why is he chasing Bae Seol?’
While I puzzled over why Yi Sun-sin, who should be in white-clad service, was pursuing Bae Seol, a sound interrupted.
Sizzle.
The ramen I had left on the gas burner began to bubble vigorously. I cracked an egg I had prepared earlier on the rim of the pot and dropped it in. The mouthwatering aroma spread through the store. Yi Sun-sin and An Wi had stopped talking and were now staring at me. Only the sound of them swallowing saliva could be heard as the two silently gazed at the ramen. Feeling awkward, I spoke first.
“Would you like some?”
“May we?”
An Wi answered as if he had been waiting for the offer, and I chuckled.
“Yes. I have plenty of food, so eat as much as you like.”
Before hunger, even legendary commanders were just ordinary men.
*
“Truly remarkable cuisine.”
“Hoo, hoo, it’s spicy, yet I keep eating.”
An Wi and Yi Sun-sin devoured the ramen as if they had been starving for days. I ended up boiling six packs of ramen for them. ‘So people really did eat a lot back then.’ They say “heaping bowls of rice” meant piling it up like a mountain, and seeing these two made me understand the historical accuracy.
“Tell me, what exactly is this dish?”
“It’s ramen.”
“Ramen? I have never tasted such delicious noodles in my life.”
An Wi offered sincere praise. Yi Sun-sin nodded silently in agreement. The addictive quality of ramen had proven effective even on fifteenth-century Joseon people.
“I must ask, where is this place?”
Yi Sun-sin, who had emptied his bowl down to the last drop of broth in an instant, asked me.
“Seojun’s General Store.”
“A general store, you say. Then are you an immortal sage?”
“Pardon?”
“I have heard that a man named Dongfang Shuo practices immortality and Taoist arts. His dwelling is said to be filled with wondrous items like these.”
“……”
Having witnessed the gas burner and tasted ramen, Yi Sun-sin seemed to have mistaken me for a Taoist immortal. It was not unreasonable for a fifteenth-century man to think so upon seeing a gas burner.
“You may think of it that way.”
Since there was no other way to clear up the misunderstanding, I let it slide. Traversing worlds could, in a sense, be considered a Taoist art.
“As I thought. No wonder this table felt strangely restorative.”
“A fortunate encounter indeed. To seek shelter from the rain and find an immortal’s abode.”
I let An Wi and Yi Sun-sin keep their misconception.
*
The next day, once the rain stopped, Yi Sun-sin and An Wi left Seojun’s General Store early in the morning. However, they had not left for good.
“My apologies, but might we stay here for a while? We will compensate you.”
“Compensation is unnecessary. Please stay as long as you like. I enjoy having company.”
“Haha, thank you.”
Refusing the bundle of coins An Wi offered, I allowed the two to remain at the store. Beyond the store stretched a mountain ridge. The two who had gone out in the morning did not return until sunset.
“It may not be here after all.”
“Let us search a little more. He might still be in the vicinity.”
From their conversation, it seemed they were looking for something.
‘Are they searching for Bae Seol?’
The next day as well, Yi Sun-sin returned after searching until evening, his expression dark, as if he still had not found what he sought. Since I had an idea, I approached him as he rested.
“Pardon me, but may I ask what you are looking for?”
“Have you, by chance, seen a man named Bae Seol nearby?”
As expected, the person Yi Sun-sin sought was Bae Seol.
‘Could the timing have been moved forward?’
Joseon’s naval commander Bae Seol. After deserting with twelve ships, he would hand them over to Yi Sun-sin and immediately desert again. According to Yi Sun-sin’s own records in his war diary, Bae Seol displayed severe anxiety disorder. People speculated he had deserted due to PTSD. After deserting, Bae Seol single-handedly crossed through Japanese-occupied territory and fled all the way to his hometown in Seonsan, Gyeongsang Province—an extraordinary feat. Because of this anecdote, there were even jokes that Bae Seol might actually be a “human weapon” capable of breaking through the Japanese army alone.
But Bae Seol was neither suffering from PTSD nor a human weapon. Modern research had revealed that the reason Bae Seol could cross the Japanese forces was because he was no longer “human.” Bae Seol had become a Geusundae, a shadow monster from Korean folklore. If the timing of Bae Seol’s transformation had been advanced, it would explain why Yi Sun-sin, while in white-clad service, was pursuing him. After all, Yi Sun-sin was originally a Chakyo Gapsa, a demon hunter.
“If you wish to find Bae Seol, you should search dark, damp places. Try valleys, caves, or beneath rocks.”
“How do you know this?”
“Because those are the places a Geusundae prefers.”
The corrupted monster Bae Seol had become was precisely the shadow yokai from Korean legend—the Geusundae.