Bringing Items from Another World Isn't a Crime, Right!
The Immortal Realm had its laws too.
Looser than those of the human world, sure, but breaking them still brought punishment.
Were immortals just a bunch of eccentrics by nature?
Especially the old-timers—they were unpredictable wild cards.
The Immortal Realm was essentially a place of exile.
Ascension to immortality wasn't some blessing for the enlightened; it was a way to separate those who'd achieved transcendence from the human world.
Humans were beings of infinite potential.
Depending on their mindset, they could grow in any direction.
But human lifespans were finite.
That limitation acted as a natural control.
Warlords who'd slaughtered millions, serial killers, cult leaders deceiving the masses, tyrants exploiting their people for personal gain—they all eventually died.
And so the chaotic world returned to peace.
A finite lifespan was a self-correcting mechanism.
But what if a human gained immortality?
Or even had the potential for it?
Humans who comprehended the world's truths and refused to die.
Regardless of their inclinations, they had to be isolated from human society.
That was the purpose of the Immortal Realm.
A world where transcendent beings, severed from the human realm, gathered.
For that reason, immortals were little more than prisoners.
And they knew it full well.
The Heavenly Immortal Realm controlled them with highly effective methods.
As long as they committed no major crimes, they enjoyed maximum freedom in the Immortal Realm—and were even occasionally allowed excursions to the human world.
But if they committed a grave sin that shook the foundations of the Immortal Realm?
They faced punishment under the laws, naturally.
So what punishment did immortals receive?
Having attained immortality, they couldn't be killed.
Exile from the Immortal Realm?
Who'd want that?
Exile would delight the immortals.
The punishment they feared most was sealing.
Having their powers suppressed by legal talismans and buried under massive rock mountains for thousands or tens of thousands of years, or locked in mocking gourd prisons with no escape.
For immortals, it was an unimaginably horrific fate.
The Poison Immortal Dang Gunak had been imprisoned in the Immortal Realm's thunder prison.
He might soon face sealing.
The arcade machines, tablets, 4K beam projectors, generators—all confiscated from the theater.
Soon, he'd face judgment by the judge's scale.
The initial interrogation was already done.
A fact-check of everything that had happened.
To avoid sealing, the immortals desperately argued their cases.
"What could I do when the Poison Immortal demanded spirit coins to watch videos? If he asked, I had to give them. So I stole them."
"I'm innocent. It's the demanders who are the problem. The suppliers."
"If the Poison Immortal hadn't brought those items, I wouldn't have raided the spirit coin vaults."
"Think about it. Before the Poison Immortal ascended, we lived in blissful ignorance. But ever since he arrived in the Immortal Realm..."
"We're addicted. Do you think the Poison Immortal earned his title for nothing?"
Because of the Poison Immortal, he bewitched us, it wouldn't have happened without him.
They were shoving all the blame onto Dang Gunak.
Damn traitorous bastards.
No matter how terrifying sealing was, this was too much.
Of course, plenty of immortals defended Dang Gunak too.
The most prominent was Geomseon, the Sword Immortal.
"You filthy dogs! You locked me in this shithole called the Immortal Realm and pretended not to know me, and now you're accusing us of disrupting order?"
Geomseon raged wildly, even with the judge's shackles on his wrists and ankles.
"It was all me, you bastards! The Poison Immortal brought us the joy of entertainment. He's a million times finer an immortal than scum like you! So don't you dare touch him!"
Juseon, the Alcohol Immortal Ta Baek, chimed in as well.
"You pathetic Heavenly Immortal Realm. You slurped up my fine brews eagerly enough when you wanted them, but if you're pinning this on the Poison Immortal, I won't sell you another drop. Hell, I won't even brew anymore. Lock me up if you dare!"
Gwigok Seonin added:
"Did the Poison Immortal force me to set up barriers? What crime has a freshly ascended immortal committed? It was my own doing."
Many other immortals shielded Dang Gunak.
Fewer than the traitors, though.
Now only the final verdict remained.
With judge's shackles on his wrists and ankles, Dang Gunak walked into the courtroom.
The judge's shackles were a kind of immortal arts control device.
Wearing them sealed one's abilities.
No accessing infinite storage space.
The shared warehouse was off-limits too, naturally.
The heavily guarded courtroom.
Celestial officials lined both sides, radiating terrifying auras. At the center sat Taesang Nogun and Seowangmo together.
"Bring in the evidence!"
The celestial officials hauled in the Earth items seized from the theater and immortals, placing them before the court.
Taesang Nogun fixed Dang Gunak with a cold glare and spoke.
"Poison Immortal! You have one final chance to defend yourself. What reason do you have for bringing these profane objects and disrupting the Immortal Realm?"
Dang Gunak smirked mockingly as he replied.
"Disrupting the Immortal Realm? Looks spotless to me."
"Was invading the spirit vaults and stealing spirit coins justified?"
This bastard... Does he think I'm a pushover?
Even ascended, the Absolute Poison Demon's nature didn't change.
Even without his powers.
"Did I do it?"
"...What?"
"Are you saying I stole the spirit coins?"
"How dare you! All this stems from you. Didn't you demand spirit coins? You leaked spirit coins and treasures to another world!"
"So I should've shown those precious items and videos for free? If you receive something, you repay it. Even Taesang Nogun doesn't grasp the basic law of equivalent exchange?"
"Hah!"
"I was already feeling guilty that the repayment for what you sent was woefully inadequate... These aren't things you can brush off with a few spirit coins and treasures!"
Taesang Nogun's face flushed crimson.
Seowangmo watched Dang Gunak with intrigued eyes.
"You brought forbidden objects into the Immortal Realm and brazenly claim it was an exchange? Shameless!"
"Hahaha!"
Dang Gunak laughed heartily.
"Who decides that?"
"What?"
"Who decides these things I brought don't belong in the Immortal Realm?"
"The order and laws of the Immortal Realm decide."
"Really?"
The order of the Immortal Realm.
This was something Dang Gunak had wondered about for a while.
"Isn't it strange? If the order and laws forbade it, it should've been impossible from the start."
"Hm?"
"The channel to another world should've been sealed shut initially. So why did it open?"
"Uh..."
"Why did the Immortal Realm's order permit exchange with another world? It could've just blocked it."
"..."
"Why did that tablet, beam projector, and generator work without any restrictions?"
Taesang Nogun was speechless.
Because Dang Gunak was right.
The Immortal Realm was a closed space akin to a prison.
Forbidden external items couldn't enter.
Forced in, they'd dissipate or lose function.
"Let me share my theory."
Dang Gunak stared straight into Taesang Nogun's eyes.
"Small orders cannot defy greater ones."
"...Greater order? What the hell is that?"
"How should I know? You don't know either."
"You bastard! Trying to delude me with profane sophistry?"
"Aaaah! Enough prattling. Let's get on with the trial. Isn't it time for the verdict?"
"Fine! Let's weigh it on the scale then."
Taesang Nogun produced the judge's scale.
This was a treasure crafted by Yeomra for the Immortal Realm's order.
It incorporated the purification of all natural elements in the Immortal Realm.
Immortal energy, water, fire, earth, stone, wind...
And through a separate ritual, the laws of the universe itself.
Yeomra's original scale judged humans.
Tilting left meant good karma, right meant evil.
But Taesang Nogun's judged immortals.
An immortal's karma was neither purely good nor evil.
Harmony or chaos.
Harmony meant release; chaos, sealing in eternal darkness for tens of thousands of years.
"I render judgment."
Taesang Nogun placed the weight on the scale.
"I beseech the heavens and earth, gods and spirits: Deliver judgment upon the Poison Immortal who disrupted the Immortal Realm and defied reason."
The scale moved.
Still hovering in chaos.
"Look here. Where does the weight appear to you now? Chaos! Meaning your actions are... Huh?"
Suddenly, the scale shifted.
Slowly climbing from chaos toward harmony.
"Wh-what?"
It passed neutral, reaching the edge of harmony.
"Looks like harmony to me. Satisfied now?"
He knew it.
If it defied reason, the connection wouldn't have formed in the first place.
Taesang Nogun stared blankly at the scale.
At that moment!
Clank, clank.
The judge's shackles binding Dang Gunak's limbs unlocked on their own.
Verdict: Not guilty.
"Tsk tsk. How can someone who leads immortals be so ignorant?"
Dang Gunak strolled forward leisurely.
He swept the Earth evidence—tablets, generators, beam projectors, and all—into his infinite storage.
Then.
Bzzzzt...
The shared warehouse opened just in time.
'Oh!'
Dang Gunak hurriedly transferred the items.
But right now, he could only send spirit coins.
'If they hadn't confiscated it, I could've sent a few more treasures...'
All he felt was sorry for Taeju.
'Gotta pack it full of spirit coins at least.'
Fortunately, it held over 150.
What a waste of such vast space for just spirit coins.
After handling everything, Dang Gunak turned to Taesang Nogun.
"Can I go now?"
"H-how... Such a thing... Greater order? A law above the Immortal Realm's laws?"
"Told you I don't know. Anyway, more items just arrived from over there."
"...More?"
"Perfect timing—new stuff. Take a look."
Dang Gunak pulled out a new item from his infinite storage among Taeju's return gifts: a sky-blue leather square bag with a metal clasp, packed with assorted sweets to hold its shape.
Five such bags had arrived.
Seowangmo's eyes lit up at the curiously shaped bag.
"...Poison Immortal, what's that?"
"Ah! This bag? Hermes Birkin. Women in that world dream of it endlessly. Not something money alone can buy."
"H-Hermes Birkin?"
"Want one?"
"...That bag?"
"No way! Who hands out treasures like candy? I meant the chocolates inside. Try some."
Dang Gunak reached into the bag, grabbed a handful of chocolates and candies, and placed them on Seowangmo's table.
"Bag's small inside. Gotta draw an infinite space formation on it later."
He stowed the bag back in his infinite storage.
"Ah!"
Ignoring Seowangmo's wistful sigh, Dang Gunak sauntered out of the courtroom.
Not guilty or not, he wasn't thrilled.
Because of the immortals who'd abandoned him at the crucial moment.
'These traitors!'
Fine while watching and eating together.
Just watch.
No more scraps for them from now on.
Meanwhile, Seowangmo stared longingly at Dang Gunak's retreating figure, regret plain on her face.
Right then!
Crumple, crumple.
Taesang Nogun peeling and popping one of the sweets Dang Gunak had given her.
"...What are you doing right now?"
"Well, the Poison Immortal said to try the taste..."
"Did he give it to you? It was for me. Get lost!"
Seowangmo hurriedly swept the chocolates, jellies, and candies into a basket.
She grabbed one herself, unwrapped it, and popped it in her mouth.
Crunch crunch.
Sweet.
And delicious.
A flavor she'd never tasted before.
Sweeter and tastier than spirit coins or the honey from the great king bees of the spirit beast realm.
But even devouring sweets couldn't satisfy her craving.
Her mind lingered on that beautiful bag.
※ ※ ※
Great Wall Wave Defense Headquarters.
Generals, princes, and princesses gathered in the situation room.
Drones deployed from high-altitude recon craft confirmed the dead Beyond Elite monster.
"...It's really dead."
"Decomposition's already starting."
The Beyond monster's corpse rotting in patches.
"Crystal reaction?"
"None. No mana signature either."
Mana was expected post-death, but no crystal?
"Was it gone from the start?"
"Maybe the man who killed it took it."
"Shame. Still, shall we send in spec ops just in case?"
"There? Can't you see the screen? Monsters are swarming."
The Beyond Elite was dead.
The area was reverting to a regular monster hotspot.
Monsters driven out of their territory were returning.
Thus, the Great Wall war was winding down.
The monster horde surging toward the Great Wall began thinning.
Some fled south.
Eventually, not a single one remained.
The Great Wall Wave Defense Headquarters monitored for another day before declaring the war's end.
No disagreement there.
But questions arose about how the Beyond Elite died.
Taeju had already returned to Gurye.