Chapter 121
Chapter 121
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 121
Chapter Title: Encounter with the Bodhisattva
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Seo-ah opened her eyes.
Then, a sight she'd never seen before appeared in her vision.
"Where... is this?"
Just where was this place? Seo-ah looked around her surroundings.
A peaceful landscape filled her view.
And yet, it was serene.
Why was she in a space like this? Seo-ah couldn't even begin to guess.
Why?
She had clearly been on her way to Jin-ha's boutique.
She had just arrived at the boutique and was waving to Jin-ha when a sudden light...
Wait, light?
Only then did Seo-ah realize what state she was in.
Mutation.
But was mutation supposed to be like this? She looked around once more.
It was completely different from what her older sister had described.
'My sister definitely said mutating felt like just waking up from a deep sleep... So why?'
She pondered for a long time why she was here right now.
Suddenly, a voice spoke.
[Oh? This is quite the mysterious occurrence.]
"...Who?"
Seo-ah looked around. In that moment, a small lake came into view.
Lotus flowers bloomed on the lake, and seeing them somehow calmed her confused heart.
[I am here. Yet I may not be here.]
It was like a Zen koan.
Yet for some reason, Seo-ah felt she understood what it meant.
Lotus flowers.
The surrounding scene.
And even... Han-gyeol's presence.
Moreover, the familiar phrase of being here yet not here.
It was something a monk had once said when she'd visited the temple her mother often attended.
Impermanence of all phenomena.
One of the Three Marks of Existence in Buddhism.
Nothing is eternal; everything changes in the end.
As she recognized the presence, the lotus flower's form shifted.
She sensed the existence, but it wasn't clearly visible. Even so, just from the faint outline, Seo-ah knew who was before her.
If it was a being holding a lotus flower with countless arms, there could only be one such entity.
Thousand-Armed Kannon, or Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva.
The one who hears the cries of the world and saves those suffering.
[You already know me.]
"Probably not many people don't."
For some reason, Seo-ah felt her heart grow calm.
She gazed directly at the Thousand-Armed Kannon.
The Thousand-Armed Kannon's form kept changing.
Its thousand hands would decrease in number, then increase again. Its appearance shifted from a young girl to an adult woman, then to an elderly woman.
It wasn't limited to female forms.
Sometimes it took on a male appearance.
But recognizing the existence presented no issue.
"...Your form keeps changing, so it's a bit disorienting."
[Huhu. That's only natural. Nothing in this world is eternal. And yet, you clearly perceive me.]
"That's true. But... how should I address you? Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva? Thousand-Armed Kannon?"
[As you wish.]
"Then I'll call you Bodhisattva."
[Do as you will.]
"Bodhisattva, why have I come here?"
[Ask your own heart.]
"...My heart?"
[Yes. You reached this place because you wished to.]
She wished to reach here? Seo-ah couldn't understand.
Why would she?
[You still don't know yourself well. Look into your heart, and you'll understand.]
"My heart..."
Seo-ah tilted her head at the koan-like words.
They were difficult. But she vaguely understood.
[Your heart led you here unbeknownst to you, so this meeting is one you yourself created without realizing.]
"...I see."
Seo-ah thought deeply. Why had she come here?
The Bodhisattva simply watched her.
The Bodhisattva had said she came here because she wished to.
For peace?
No, that wasn't it.
Then because she faced disaster, crisis, and hardship?
No, that wasn't it either. Her life was stable, and what she wanted was clear.
But was it really?
Was 'my' stability and peace truly so?
Suddenly, Seo-ah realized.
She wasn't stable at all.
There was the Seo-ah who loved fashion.
The Seo-ah who loved modeling.
She thought that if she kept living like this, she could make a living doing what she loved.
She believed that.
She thought it would be enough.
But it wasn't.
Deep in her heart, she was filled with envy for her sister, who had become a dragon and accomplished great things.
There was the her who loved her job but felt unsatisfied compared to her sister's feats.
Yoon Seo-ah, who loved fashion.
Yoon Seo-ah, content with life as a model.
But alongside that Yoon Seo-ah was another.
The Yoon Seo-ah who envied her sister.
The Yoon Seo-ah who envied Jin-ha.
The Yoon Seo-ah who despaired at not being able to become like them.
At some point, Seo-ah had begun defining herself.
As a mutant, Yoon Seo-hyun's little sister, a model, a clothing design student at Korea University.
She told herself that was enough.
But it wasn't all there was.
There were countless other selves.
And recognizing those other selves was painful.
Because she knew she had to abandon those many other selves.
Seo-ah wanted to escape the pain of facing the self she could never become, and that desire had led her here.
[You've realized what your true self desires.]
"...Seems like it."
[Yes. How does it feel?]
"A little more at ease."
[That is enough.]
"What should I do from now on?"
[Do what you want. The things you truly desired, the things you wanted to do but couldn't, the things everyday you would never dream of. There's no need to bind yourself with any shackles. However, such actions must be grounded in righteousness.]
As she listened to the Bodhisattva's words, the subtle inferiority and jealousy she'd long felt began to fade.
It wasn't because she was in some special situation.
She simply knew now.
That she didn't need to abandon the many possibilities within herself.
That she didn't need to shackle herself—just go with the flow.
"Is that all I need to do?"
[Yes. But it would be good if you helped those suffering from similar pains. Just as meeting me brought you some peace, pass on that realization to others.]
"Yes."
Then, her vision began to blur.
In the fading sight, Seo-ah felt a slight stinging on the back of her hand.
Looking at her hand from the sudden pain, she...
Realized a lotus flower had suddenly bloomed on the back of her hand.
* * *
"...A lotus flower?"
I stared at the lotus flower, my mind racing with thoughts.
"Lotus flowers symbolize many things, but... for some reason, only one comes to mind."
I nodded at Jin-ha's words.
In a world with angels and Yahweh, there was no reason Buddhist entities couldn't exist.
Of course, it could be some other mutant... but somehow, I felt I wasn't wrong.
At that moment, the lotus on the back of her hand glowed brightly, and an image of countless golden hands with eyes appeared and vanished.
"...Wow."
I wasn't the only one shocked by the sight. Jin-ha was too.
No matter how you looked at it...
"Thousand-Armed Kannon?"
"Probably."
Honestly, seeing that, I couldn't help but think, why?
Why her?
Mutations usually manifest from inner desires.
So what had she desired to become the Thousand-Armed Kannon?
No, what kind of mutant do you even call this?
"I can't even guess, so why the Thousand-Armed Kannon?"
"Who knows. I wouldn't know that far either."
Jin-ha tilted her head in confusion too.
"Well, we can ask when she wakes up. From your perspective, Seo-hyun, it doesn't seem bad, right?"
"Y-Yeah, I guess. It's definitely not some evil mutation. But it's so bewildering. She's not even deeply connected to Buddhism... Wait, or is she? She does go to the temple sometimes..."
"Hm? Seo-ah goes to temples?"
"Ah, her mom goes to one regularly. Seo-ah would tag along to help sometimes. Maybe that's the influence? No, even that seems too much of a stretch..."
We were chatting about this and that when suddenly...
Seo-ah's eyes snapped open.
"...Huh?"
Why was she waking up so fast? I figured it'd be at least two months.
I looked at Jin-ha in surprise, and she wore a similar expression.
Seo-ah's eyes were dyed gold, just like mine.
"Ah."
A strange exclamation escaped her.
Just in case, I asked her.
"You okay? Do you recognize me?"
"Like I'd forget my own sister. How much time has passed?"
"About three hours now?"
"...What?"
She seemed as shocked as I was.
Having spent three months bedridden myself, she'd probably expected at least two.
"Wh-why?"
"Don't ask me..."
"Oh, sis. When you mutated, did you get thrown into some weird space or anything?"
"I didn't have that kind of experience."
"What? Was it just me then..."
"What happened?"
"I met the Bodhisattva."
"...What?"
I was stunned by Seo-ah's words. This was a first.
Normal mutants awaken their powers after mutating...
But she'd met the Bodhisattva right from the start?
My mind was in chaos.