An Unwelcome Guest in Seon-gye
Chirp, chirp, chirp.
Whoosh—
“Man, if I lived here for even a year, every last worry would just melt away.”
Baek Do-ha let out a breath of pure admiration the moment he crossed into Seon-gye.
Birdsong filled the air. Water thundered down from a distant waterfall. A warm breeze brushed gently across his cheeks. Everything blended together in perfect harmony, lifting his mood without the slightest effort.
“This place is still just as incredible as it was back then.”
He had set foot in Seon-gye only once, long ago. Back then he had come because of some trouble with the dragons, caused no real problems, and left almost immediately. Because of that, he had never met the higher gods—the Jade Emperor, the Queen Mother of the West, and the rest. There had been no reason to meet them anyway. They had never clashed directly with the Demon God, so they would never have lifted a finger to help him.
“Now… where’s Dool hanging around?”
Do-ha spread his senses as far as they would go. The concentration of energy floating in the air was unmistakably denser here—this was Seon-gye, after all.
“Plenty of strong ones around.”
Among them were beings several times more powerful than the mountain god he had fought not long ago.
Crackle—
“Found him.”
Zap!
Whoosh!
Do-ha instantly unfolded the Noeryeongsinbo, turning into a single streak of lightning as he shot forward.
Slurp.
“Mmm. Another peaceful day, just like always.”
Dool sat in his chair, leisurely sipping tea, eyes half-closed. The breeze that blew past today was especially crisp and clean. He should have grown used to it by now, yet it still felt new every single time.
“Feels like a welcome guest might drop by.”
Of course, no immortal was scheduled to visit him today. His friends all had their own business, and he planned to spend the entire day exactly like this—enjoying the quiet.
“Ah… peace.”
A smile spread across Dool’s face as he kept his eyes closed.
“Chirp-chirp-chirp-chirp.”
“Even the birds sound happy. Hahaha.”
“Chirp-chirp-chirp.”
“Hm? Did these little guys hit puberty or something…? Why do they sound so weird…?”
Slowly, Dool tilted his head and opened his eyes.
“Living the good life, are we?”
“……”
And there stood Baek Do-ha, smiling right at him.
“Hmph. This is one thoroughly unpleasant nightmare. Of all the people who could show up in my dreams, it had to be Baek Do-ha… Today’s going to be miserable.”
Dool shook his head and sighed. Out of every possible face in existence, the one that appeared in his dream was Baek Do-ha’s.
“Sorry for making it unpleasant?”
“If you’re sorry, then get the hell out of my dream. Shoo~”
Dool waved his hand dismissively. Why did this dream feel so vivid? Ugh, what rotten luck.
“When I wake up I’ll have to sprinkle some salt or something…”
“I’ve got something better than salt.”
“Huh?”
“This.”
Thwack.
Still smiling, Do-ha flicked Dool squarely on the forehead. It wasn’t an ordinary flick—he had mixed in just a tiny bit of Finger Bullet energy.
“Gah!”
“Well? Pretty vivid for a dream, right? I was going to slap you across the face but held back.”
“Ba… Baek Do-ha?!”
One solid flick and Dool snapped back to reality. As expected—when someone’s out of it, a good smack works wonders.
“Go on, keep talking about how unpleasant this is.”
“Th-that was because I thought it was a dream…”
Dool was thoroughly flustered. This was exactly why a man had to watch his mouth. He had just blurted out whatever came to mind, thinking it was only a dream.
“Never mind that! Why are you even here?!”
Something felt wrong. Dool hurriedly scanned the surroundings. Beings who were not immortals were not supposed to set foot in Seon-gye. If the higher-ups saw this, absolute chaos would break out. They would start shouting about punishing Do-ha—and there was no way this bastard would just sit still for that!
“C-come inside, right now!”
“The breeze feels nice. Let’s talk out here.”
“Argh! Just get inside already!”
Thump.
Dool shoved at Do-ha’s back. Did he actually want to let this guy into his house? Of course not!
“Urgh! Why are you so heavy?!”
Dool’s face turned bright red as he pushed harder. What had this man been eating to make his body feel like a boulder?
“Because I’m bracing myself.”
“I knew it!”
Whoosh.
After straining for so long, Dool’s body suddenly staggered. Couldn’t the guy just pretend to lose and walk in like a normal person? Why dig his heels in like that!
“Fine, fine. I’m going in.”
“Haaah…”
Creeeak.
Thud.
The moment Do-ha stepped inside, Dool shut the door with suspicious speed and stealth. Anyone who saw that would have reported them for plotting something shady on the spot.
“Why are you here?!”
“I missed you, so I came.”
“……Really?”
Dool’s expression softened just a little. He had still been annoyed about Do-ha snatching the peaches of immortality last time, but hearing something like that made the grudge melt away.
“Ah, come on… Even so, you can’t just waltz into Seon-gye like this. It’s a problem…”
“That was a lie. Why would I ever miss you?”
“……”
Scraping his chair back, Do-ha sat down while Dool glared daggers at him.
“A guest shows up and you don’t even offer tea?”
“Who said you were a guest?!”
In the end Dool snapped. The man had crossed into Seon-gye, barged straight over, and now he was calling himself a guest?
“Why did you really come?!”
Even while complaining, Dool poured the tea.
Slurp.
“I need divine power. Immortals are beings who’ve stepped into the realm of gods, after all.”
“That’s the same for you, someone who’s reached the Life-or-Death Realm… Ah…”
“Heh heh. Maybe I should start by dropping a light Meteor…”
“I’m sorry! That was a slip of the tongue!”
Dool frantically tried to stop him. He had completely forgotten that Do-ha had lost his power fighting the Demon God. Still, it was a little unfair—when Do-ha had faced the mountain god Hwa-ryeong last time, his strength had looked completely intact. So of course Dool had made the mistake.
“Why do you suddenly need divine power? Don’t tell me it’s to fight the cult…”
“That’s something I can handle alone… No, just me and my friends are more than enough.”
“Then why?”
“Because of this.”
Whoosh.
Do-ha pulled the Book of the Dead from his subspace and set it on the table.
“Hm? This… I can feel divine power from it.”
“It’s a god’s belonging.”
“And something creepy mixed in with it.”
“Oh, spot on.”
He must have sensed the death energy. Seon-gye was a place overflowing with life and blessings, after all.
“This is the Book of the Dead.”
“……What?”
What? He must have misheard. The Book of the Dead? The one belonging to the god of the underworld—Anubis? The Book of the Dead that absolutely should not be here??
“I took it off Anubis, but I can’t make heads or tails of the writing.”
Flutter.
“Aaaaagh!”
The moment Do-ha opened the Book of the Dead, Dool screamed and covered his eyes. Damn it all! Anyone who wasn’t a god of the underworld was never supposed to look at that book—and this lunatic had just opened it right here!
“Have you lost your mind?! Are you trying to kill me?!”
“No—it’s completely blank anyway!”
Now Do-ha was the one looking confused. It was just a book. Why the massive overreaction?
“Oh… is it?”
Slowly, Dool lowered his hands and turned his head.
“It really is blank.”
“See? Told you.”
“I’ve been fooled by you more than once or twice, you know.”
“……”
Do-ha scratched his head at the blunt remark.
“Only the first page has writing, and I have no idea what language it is.”
“Hmmm.”
Dool stared hard at the first page of the Book of the Dead, tilting his head. No matter how he turned it over in his mind, he had never seen characters like these.
“I don’t know either.”
“Ugh…”
Even Dool couldn’t read it. Do-ha sighed. He had come all this way thinking an immortal might know…
“You’re… not planning to leave until you figure this out, are you?”
“Yep.”
“Good grief.”
Dool let out a long sigh at the completely shameless answer. He had known it would be like this.
“I’ll look into it for you.”
“Really?”
“Yeah.”
“Why?”
“Why do you think?! Because I want you out of Seon-gye as fast as possible!”
Dool raised his voice. Having Do-ha here was pure agony. It wasn’t that he disliked the man—if Do-ha ran into any other immortals, absolute chaos would erupt. Dool knew Do-ha’s personality far too well. The second another immortal said the wrong thing, a fight would break out without fail.
“I can’t exactly sit back and watch Seon-gye get turned upside down.”
“Heh, as expected—wise.”
“……That wasn’t a compliment.”
“Then I should give you a success fee, right?”
“No. Taking anything from you just makes me nervous, so just…”
Whoosh.
Thud.
“?”
Do-ha pulled something from his subspace, and Dool tilted his head. A long rectangular brown bottle sat inside a box.
“What’s that?”
“Ballantine’s 30-Year.”
“Huh? What’s that?”
“Whiskey. Extremely famous on Earth. This stuff is really hard to get.”
Famous, yes—but “hard to get” was a lie. He had simply bought a bottle at a duty-free shop near the airport.
“Only thirty years old… What’s so special about—”
“Wipe the drool off your mouth before you talk.”
Do-ha smiled at Dool’s expression. From an immortal’s perspective, a thirty-year-old liquor wasn’t particularly impressive. But he knew Dool loved alcohol, so of course the man would want a taste. The reason Dool had drunk with him in the past was because there had been new liquor to try—though Do-ha had put a spell on it that time.
“I was going to give you this as thanks… but you said you don’t want it. Shame. This is genuinely rare and precious.”
Do-ha shook his head and started to put the whiskey away.
At that exact moment—
Grab!
Dool snatched the bottle with lightning speed.
“It’s not that I wanted something like this, but… you went to the trouble of preparing a gift. Keeping refusing would be rude.”
Grin.
Do-ha smiled softly at the sight. Just as expected.
Thud.
“Hey… I said I’d take it?”
When Do-ha brushed Dool’s hand away, the immortal’s face crumpled into pure sorrow. He had only refused once out of courtesy—who turns around and walks off that fast?
“No, I’ll give it to you. But I’m holding onto it for now. Once you figure this out, we’ll drink it together to celebrate.”
“Ahh, if that’s the case, fine.”
Only then did Dool shrug. Celebratory drinks were always welcome.
“So how are you going to figure it out? Do you have to take the Book of the Dead with you?”
“I’d be too nervous carrying that thing around.”
Whoosh.
Rustle-rustle.
Dool moved his hand, and the writing on the first page of the Book of the Dead began to appear on a blank sheet of paper. He planned to take only the content and ask around.
“Oh, nice.”
“I’ll go ask Xuanwu about this.”
Xuanwu—the spiritual beast and the oldest, wisest of the Four Symbols. Dool intended to learn the meaning of the text from him. Xuanwu knew nearly everything worth knowing; he would surely uncover something.
Whoosh—
Thud.
Riding a cloud into Xuanwu’s territory, Dool looked around.
“Hm? Where’d he go?”
His friend was enormous; there was no reason he shouldn’t be visible. Normally Xuanwu would have acknowledged him by now.
“Ugh… I need to ask him about this.”
Dool unfolded the paper in his hand and stared at the writing. He couldn’t ask until Xuanwu returned, and there was no telling when that would be.
“Guess I’ll just head back for now…”
Footsteps approached. Dool, still sighing, turned his head.
“Huk?!”
Snap.
The moment he confirmed who was coming, Dool nearly jumped out of his skin and immediately bowed.
Why… why is he here…?
Dool’s face went deathly pale. The one being he absolutely must never run into was standing right in front of him.
“I-it’s an honor to meet you, Lord Yomra… I am called Dool.”
“A pleasure. Have you come looking for Xuanwu as well? I came to see him myself, so don’t worry.”
Yomra—one of the Ten Kings of Hell and the ruler known as the King of the Underworld—greeted him with a kindly smile. He too had come to meet Xuanwu, but today was the day the Four Symbols made their regular reports. He had been waiting when he noticed someone visiting and decided to come take a look.
“Then I’ll come back another time.”
“Haha, if you’re only leaving because my presence makes you uncomfortable, pay it no mind…”
Yomra, hands clasped behind his back, suddenly glanced at the paper Dool was holding. More precisely, at the writing on it. The sheet happened to be open, and the content was clearly visible.
“You. How did you come by that writing…?”
“Ah… it’s nothing…”
Whoooosh!
Grab!
The instant Dool tried to step back, Yomra’s hand shot out and seized him by the throat.
“That content is permitted only to the gods who govern the underworld. Where did you obtain it?”
“Ghk… j-just a moment…”
Dool’s face began to turn red as the grip tightened around his neck.
And right then—
Slash-slash-slash!
Whoosh!
“?!”
Sword energy came flying. Yomra hastily released Dool and yanked his hand back.
“Too bad. You should’ve kept holding on. I would’ve cut it clean off.”
“You…”
Yomra stared at the figure approaching—Baek Do-ha.