#99 Choi Kang-ho Trauma
Seol-a sat very obediently in her seat. Unlike her prim posture, her tail was thrashing wildly. Her body was practically bouncing, ready to spring out at any moment.
“Dad.”
She looked up and called out to Kang-ho.
“......”
Kang-ho wasn't used to the title. Feeling awkwardly embarrassed, he glanced out the window for a moment before clearing his throat with a hem-hem.
“What did I say?”
Kang-ho figured it would take a long time to get comfortable referring to himself as “Dad.” Though he looked young on the outside, he felt profoundly aged inside, and changing ingrained habits wasn't easy these days.
“Be good.”
When Seol-a answered, Kang-ho nodded.
“Yeah, that's right. And?”
Seol-a fidgeted, clenching and unclenching her hands as she replied.
“Gently.”
“Right, gently. And next?”
“No eating?”
Seol-a answered brightly.
“Exactly. This isn't food. Got it?”
“Yeah!”
With Kang-ho's approval, Seol-a jumped to her feet. Her eyes landed on the tiny ice dragon bundled up like a swaddled burrito on the table.
“So small.”
Seol-a covered her mouth in awe.
“Dad! It's tiny!”
She apparently didn't realize she was small too. Kang-ho smiled faintly and glanced at Han Su-hwa, who smiled softly back.
“Gently.”
Seol-a repeated the word nonstop as she gently stroked the little one's soft, squishy cheek. She looked proudly at Kang-ho.
“Being gentle.”
“Yeah, you're doing great.”
The little one seemed quite taken with Seol-a. It rolled around in its swaddle before suddenly standing up.
“Walking already? Fast learner.”
“Must be a genius,” Han Su-hwa replied.
“Got a name yet?”
“Well......”
She hesitated, a bit shy, then answered.
“I'd like you to name her.”
“......Me?”
“I survived thanks to you, so this child was born thanks to you too. So it would mean a lot if you named her.”
“Ugh...... I'll give it a shot.”
The little one hopped over to Seol-a and licked her cheek with a smack-smack.
Seol-a's eyes went wide like a startled bunny, then she hugged the little one tight.
“Pretty.”
“You can go play outside together,” Han Su-hwa said.
Seol-a looked at Kang-ho.
“Can I?”
“Our kind is born strong.”
With Kang-ho's okay, Seol-a scooped up the little one and dashed outside. Furball, who had been waiting eagerly, spotted them and flopped onto the ground, belly up. He let out a happy grrr rumble grrr rumble, clearly thrilled about the new family member.
[......]
Bassago glanced around warily. The prison interior was a nightmare of brutality. Everywhere he looked, scarred, vicious criminals in prison uniforms wore shackles on their wrists and ankles.
[Damn...]
He was genuinely exasperated. Once the third-ranked grand magus of the Demon Realm, Bassago now found himself sealed of his magic and dumped in this hellhole—the Incheon Detention Center, reserved for the worst of the worst.
He stared down at his meal tray.
[Ugh......]
Back home, every meal was a lavish feast. Here, the food was pathetically meager, bordering on tragic.
What made it unbearable was the fear.
[Urrrgh......]
Humans terrified him! Stripped of his magic, his body was now utterly ordinary. He'd become so frail he feared mere humans.
But he clung to one principle.
'I absolutely won't cooperate with them on tech.'
That was Bassago's last shred of pride. Solitary was mind-numbingly dull. Days blurred in an empty cell, the sun outside his only solace. When boredom eclipsed even fear—right when he thought he'd go mad—a transfer finally came.
Creak—thud!
The heavy iron door swung open. In a spacious common area, fellow inmates gathered.
[......Huh?]
Bassago scanned them and noticed something eerie: every single one had a vacant, haunted expression, faces frozen in terror.
Thud!
The door slammed shut. Bassago stood frozen with his belongings, eyeing them one by one. No one paid him any mind. He shuffled to a corner, unpacking cautiously.
Then someone spoke.
“Hey.”
[Hm?]
It was one of the few with a normal face. Seemingly sociable, he offered a handshake.
“Nice to meet ya. Name's Kim Bang-jin. Code name in society was Nightwalker.”
A hint of pride flickered as he said “Nightwalker.”
[I'm Bassago.]
“Weird name. Foreigner?”
Prison blocked all outside info. Whatever happened in the world, it was total silence here.
[......Something like that.]
“So, what landed you here?”
Bassago gave a bitter smile.
[Long story...]
He sighed deeply, then spoke calmly.
[Lost to a guy named Choi Kang-ho, I guess.]
“......!”
The man's face drained of color, turning ashen.
“Hic......”
[......?]
“Eek...... Ch-Choi Kang-ho...”
He trembled violently, like he had PTSD.
[What's with him?]
Nightwalker—about 15 years ago, he'd been the bold thief who tried robbing Kang-ho's pack when he visited the Sword God with baby Furball. Kang-ho had stripped him bare, wrecked him, sealed his magic, and thrown him in here.
“Eeeek!”
Another man in the corner convulsed at the name.
[What's his deal?]
That was Lee Jung-myeong, recent boss of the Raiders gang. He'd spotted Kang-ho leaving Yeongdeungpo 21st Street, targeted his SS-grade magic stone, and gotten brutally beaten. Magic sealed, nearly killed by Baekya's Lee Hyuk, then shipped here.
“Hic, Ch-Choi Kang-ho...”
Like a trigger, screams echoed here and there, inmates chanting the name in trauma-fueled horror. They spilled their tales one by one.
The unluckiest was an old man. Thirty years back, a notorious Seoul criminal amid postwar chaos, building an illegal syndicate. His worst stroke: encountering Kang-ho after the Incheon crisis, who'd lost his soul partner Seolhwa. That Kang-ho was ruthless, crippling the whole gang and jailing them.
Cold sweat trickled down Bassago's spine.
Their states were pitiful. Magic fully crippled. Some couldn't eat alone. Water leaked from noses; others giggled mid-bite. Locked away so long, they'd forgotten the outside world. Pale faces, daily life trembling in Choi Kang-ho trauma.
[......]
A seed of dread sprouted in Bassago's heart.
'What if I end up like that?'
He was only magic-sealed for now. But how long would that mercy last?
Gulp!
Environment shapes a man. Bassago's steadfast pride began to waver.
'Come to think of it, even Lord Baal might not beat Choi Kang-ho...'
No.
'What if I die before seeing Lord Baal again?'
Yeah. If uncooperative Bassago disappointed Kang-ho enough to kill him outright?
Clack clack clack—
He recalled Kang-ho's immense magic and the sinister monster lurking in its depths. Teeth chattered; chills ran down his spine.
Yes—the Choi Kang-ho trauma afflicting the cell had infected him too.
Days blurred. How much time passed?
“Bassago, you have a visitor.”
A haggard Bassago got a visit request.
* * *
“......”
Kang-ho was deep in thought.
How do I name her?
Should he hit up a naming service? Seolhwa's name fit her snowy grace perfectly. Seol-a's might've brewed in his mind for 30 Cheorwon years, easy enough.
But...
Kang-ho's expression darkened. The mood was solemn—then.
[Eek... Kk, krrk......]
Bassago's reaction was bizarre.
“......?”
Bassago's eyes darted wildly at Kang-ho, then his limbs shook.
Kang-ho frowned slightly, raising a hand to his forehead.
[Eek! S-Sorry! I'll cooperate!]
Bassago shrieked in panic.
“Hm?”
[A-Anything you say! Really! Don't cripple me!]
“No, I was just—”
[Wh-What do you want? G-Gate to Demon Realm? That's my specialty. Just give me the chance—I'll do my best! I'm the grand magus, ranked third in the Demon Realm...]
Kang-ho blinked.
“Fine.”
[And I can craft any useful magic gear! That's not all my strengths. With materials, I can make all sorts.]
“Hmm......”
[J-Just trust me once! I w-won't disappoint!]
“Have you been to the Murim world?”
[Murim...?]
Bassago pondered, then flinched.
[Murim... yes. But failed to claim the Eternal Crystal there.]
“Failed?”
Odd word.
“Why?”
[Few years back. Found coordinates, opened a gate. But there...]
Gulp!
Bassago paused. Kang-ho scared him. Baal scared him. But that Murim man he'd glimpsed terrified him too.
[A monster was there.]
“......”
[Split the heavens, cleaved the earth. Heart opened, wielding full power—a monster who clashed with Lord Baal for three days and nights on even terms.]
“......”
[Humans there transcend humanity. This world has strong ones, but that place... Weirder magic they call inner energy.]
“Called the Heavenly Demon?”
Bassago nodded slowly.
[The man rivaling Lord Baal—they called him Heavenly Demon.]
And.
Bassago eyed Kang-ho.
'Never thought I'd meet another being who could make that possible.'
Kang-ho closed his eyes, pondered, then nodded.
“Good. Stand up.”
[P-Pardon?]
“Prove your worth now.”
Bassago bit his lip, clenched his fist. He'd prove himself, vowing not to end up like the other inmates gripped by Choi Kang-ho trauma.