Issue 229 (2)
[Chijijik- check… Chijijik- ma… ya… … .]
A voice mixed with noise. Media is desperately looking for me from beyond the broken cell phone.
I came to my senses, paralyzed by shock. It was not the time to be feeling down. I quickly picked up the phone and tried to continue the call.
[Chijijik——]
My phone is completely dead. Well, there’s no way it’ll be fine when the LCD screen is this messed up.
I headed straight to the principal’s office. I thought it would be a bit much to talk about something like this over the phone anyway. I had to put my head against the wall and roll the ball. This was a situation that required collective intelligence.
“Director, this is Kang Geum-ma.”
Arriving at the principal’s office, I knocked and called Media. Creak- The door opened with a feeble sound. Through the crack in the door, I could see Media, her eyes shadowed down to her chin.
“Hey, Geommaya. I thought something happened when the phone suddenly disconnected!”
“Sorry, my hand slipped and I dropped my phone.”
“No… I understand… … . When I first heard the news, I smashed my phone. Compared to me, losing my cell phone was like that, you know.”
“okay…….”
We exchanged concerns for a while. But I had to figure out the situation, so I spoke first.
“Please explain what happened. As much as possible.”
“Look at my mind. I just passed on the information and didn’t say anything else, haha… … .”
Media laughed in a half-souled voice.
Why did the senior who was supposed to be in charge of the Thousand Class make the Japanese Prime Minister, Jeokung, paralyzed? Even though I am not directly involved in this, I am someone who should know anyway. The Thousand Class opened tomorrow. I barely managed to get the schedule together by staying up all night with the members.
An arrest warrant was immediately issued to the professor in charge. If he makes a single move, the entire class will be ruined… It may not be that bad, but the situation will become annoying. Of course, he will have to reduce his sleep time, and the deadline may be pushed back day by day.
‘If that happens, my plans will be ruined.’
Why are you so concerned about the opening date being delayed? Because the 4th Corps Commander Permish will soon attack the human world. Moreover, he will not descend from the ice but will come through the gate. It was a situation where preparation was essential.
That’s why I worked my body hard and made a tight schedule. I can’t spend a lot of time on this case. Also, Meain’s role is not just a professor in charge. I hired her to stop me if I clash with Permish or get involved in other incidents.
‘I wonder if there’s another person as great as Meaine… But she has more work to do than I can leave it to the principal.’
If it can be fixed, it must be done. In the grand scheme of things, it is for the good of humanity. I intend to hold her accountable, but first, I need to understand the situation.
Media, who had been sighing heavily, explained the whole story. She had her legs crossed and her forehead covered.
“It seems like Kojima secretly entered Korea yesterday afternoon. No one knew he was coming. Oh, it pisses me off when I think about it. That bastard lives in the neighborhood next door, so it’s easy for him to just fly in.”
I could feel myself suppressing my rising anger. The cross-shaped veins on my temples and the sound of my teeth grinding also contributed to my emotions.
“Anyway, Kojima waited for his sister on the outskirts of the academy last night and had a conversation… no, it’s better to say conversation, but I think he actually provoked her.”
“What did you say to provoke me?”
“I don’t know exactly. But that kid, he’s a master at picking on people and he has a free mouth. Whatever it was, Kojima must have accidentally flicked his tongue. That must be why this whole thing happened.”
Mint-colored eyes trembled between her delicate, slender fingers.
“There’s something I don’t understand. If Man-Rik and Jeol-Gung were in a relationship, I should have felt something strange, but I stayed up all night last night and nothing unusual happened.”
“My sister deployed a subspace curtain.”
“Can’t the curtain be deployed anywhere but certain places?”
“That’s right… but the problem is that my older sister is the head of the academy, so she can deploy anywhere, ha-.”
“No, but then the subspace curtain was deployed, so why did the palace become like that?”
“that…….”
Media licked her lips. She showed signs of hesitation for 30 seconds. Then she confessed her situation obediently.
“I think the word ‘ha-deul’ would be right for this too. The mountain where the two of them were fighting was the problem. To be exact, it was a well inside that mountain that was the problem.”
“A well?”
“Yes. It’s a well hidden deep in the mountains, and it’s called the ‘Well of Corruption.’”
I tilted my head. The Well of Corruption? The name is… . It doesn’t seem like it would be located on the mountain behind the Academy. Media smiled faintly, as if agreeing with my thoughts.
“Just hearing the name, it seems like it would be in a demonic realm, right? But that’s right. It’s a place where the founder, the hero of the first dynasty, brought water from the valley of the demonic realm and made it. The well shape is a kind of seal. In horror movies, you see them cover it with a lid to prevent curses or ghosts, right? It’s similar. The water in the well there is very dark in color.”
“Why is there a well like that in the academy? I understand that the special building where the first semester final exams were held is for educational purposes, but it doesn’t seem like it should be in the back mountain.”
The media readily agreed.
“Right. It doesn’t make sense that such a profane place is hidden in Joaquin Academy, which is supposed to pursue goodness. But there are people who need that profaneness.”
“I don’t know the details, but I guess that’s what Man-Rik is.”
“Oh, as expected. Our swordsman understands right away even when I just say it. He’s so smart! That’s right. He’s my older sister.”
She uncrossed her legs and suddenly sat down next to me.
“Because Mayan Poison is the only one in the present age who has awakened the guardian.”
“……?”
Awakening of the Guardian? What is that? A concept that even I, who played the game up to the middle part, don’t know? That means…
‘It’s a concept that only appears in the latter half of the game’s narrative.’
Or maybe it’s just a MacGuffin that exists as a concept but is passed over as unimportant. Either way, I felt like the word ‘awakening’ was the key to this incident.
It was then that Media began to unbutton her robe. Little by little, her bare skin was revealed.
“Ha, ha, principal. What are you talking about all of a sudden?”
Embarrassed, I suddenly distanced myself from Media. She blinked her eyelashes and looked at me as if to ask what the problem was.
“Geumma, I think you don’t know about ‘Awakening of the Guardians’. Let me explain it to you quickly and simply! Nothing is more certain than seeing, and above all, we don’t have time to waste, right?”
“Does a quick explanation have anything to do with taking off your clothes?”
Media’s eyes narrowed at my question. She stared at me and smiled.
“I thought you, our swordsman, didn’t care about the opposite sex at all. You’re a man, aren’t you?”
Media said smugly. The triangular shape of her torn robe had already reached her upper abdomen.
“…….”
“Geumma, it is an honor as a woman that you blushed when you saw me.”
Media’s white lower abdomen came into view. I quickly turned my head away, but then returned it to its original position. For a moment, I thought I had seen it wrong.
“Director, that scar… … .”
A burn mark on the bare skin. It was a mark that felt somewhat strange for a wound.
“I was going to show you this.”
Media caressed the wound. The smile was sad.
“My older sister engraved this for me.”
“That… Manryuk-nim?”
“Don’t misunderstand. My sister didn’t mean to hurt me. On the contrary. A few decades ago, I was on the verge of ‘awakening’. To prevent that, my sister destroyed my lower abdomen.”
“…….”
I was silent. I didn’t know what he was talking about. Only one thing was clear: Media wasn’t covering up my twin sister.
“The healing energy circulates from the lower abdomen, that is, the danjeon, through the blood vessels and into every corner.”
“That means if the dantian is destroyed… … .”
“Yeah, usually you don’t lose protection.”
“But the principal uses the guardian deity, doesn’t he?”
“That’s why our older sister is so great. She was able to use the protection while preventing it from circulating and spreading throughout the body. She precisely pierced the blood vessels.”
Media came to my side, where she had been far away. Her head rested on my right shoulder. She looked a little tired. I spoke while keeping my gaze fixed straight ahead.
“Honestly, I thought awakening was a good thing.”
“If you awaken, your lifespan and humanity will melt away at the same time. Should we call it the price of receiving God’s grace? Isn’t that funny? God himself takes the life of a human he loves.”
It was a story that would have made me feel cold if I had heard it for the first time. However, my face was not shaken. Isn’t it familiar to me to take away humanity? There was a point of intersection between the characteristics of ‘assimilation rate’ and ‘awakening’.
“Then, that ‘Well of Corruption’ is a means of distancing oneself from God. That must be it.”
Media nodded, leaning on my shoulder.
“You have to drink sewage water that has the exact opposite properties of the protection to dilute the ‘awakening’. That’s why my sister visits the well periodically, and the fact that the subspace barrier wasn’t functioning properly was also due to that.”
The sound of breathing can be heard nearby.
“I don’t know the details, but I think she must have told her sister about the awakening of the palace or something. She’s had a tendency to go through fire and water since she was little, and because of that, she’s in the hospital now. Honestly, I think she’s pretty cool.”
“Where is Ms. Mayan now?”
“Sister, I’ve prepared a separate hiding place for you. There’s no warrant out yet, but if Jeolgung makes a fuss about it, it’s not a big deal. I think it’s better to just wait and see what happens.”
“That would be the best option.”
“yes.”
The next moment, silence fell. The afternoon sunlight filtered in through the curtains. The white dust caught in the light floated in the air.
In the midst of this pastoral atmosphere, Media opened her mouth again.
“Hey, Geommaya, should we just throw everything away and go live on an uninhabited island and make a romantic movie together? That’s what I said when I first saw you.”
“It sounds like a proposal.”
“As time goes by, I want to rely on someone. It’s hard to explain, but I live longer than most people, so if possible, I want to be with someone who will be with me for a long time.”
Media lifted her cheek from my shoulder. She smiled as she buttoned up her shirt.
“But, Geomma, I feel a little calmer after talking to you. What I said earlier was a joke. I will take responsibility for this matter and do something about it, so Geomma, go inside and rest. Your handsome face will be ruined.”
I thought about it for a moment and then answered.
“Rather than a romantic film, I think film noir would suit the genre better right now.”
“Huh?”
“The academy director, please go see Man-Rik and find out why he did that. I will go to Jeol-Gung and ask him.”
The media looked at me with eyes that were utterly bewildered by my words.
“Sword Demon, you… …?”
“In order to recover as quickly as possible, it’s right to divide up the roles. I’ll go straight to the affiliated hospital.”
“Ah… that’s certainly true, but.”
“There is no time to hesitate. This is a situation where a warrant could be issued at any moment. The principal should also go to Meain immediately.”
“okay.”
She looked at me with a trembling expression. Then she asked again in a hazy voice.
“But… why are you carrying so much sashimi on your way to the hospital?”
“Oh, that.”
Noir is sashimi, and shisami is noir. But I can’t answer like that.
“They’re trying to cover up an issue with another issue.”
I answered differently.
* * *
Affiliated hospital of Joaquin Academy.
Dark-clad men were lined up on both sides of the hallway. They were neatly dressed in suits, but their faces were covered in scars. Their eyes showed the roughness that comes from working on rough floors. They were the security guards protecting the palace.
Damn it.
At that moment, footsteps descended the hallway. The men’s eyes were instantly focused on the source of the sound. A young boy with a familiar face was walking toward them.
‘Heavenly Sword?’
Kang Geum-ma, who had come within a stone’s throw, spoke.
“I came to see the palace.”
Jeolgung? Where did you go and sell it? Dozens of scarred eyebrows curved fiercely. Among them, the man with the best appearance stood in front of Ganggeomma. Although he was scared, the man had to do his job.
“I don’t know how you found out, but you can’t pass through here.”
The swordsman tilted his head to the side and spat briefly again.
“Get out of the way.”
“sorry.”
Kanggeomma frowned at the stubborn answer. Then he glanced at the number of people in the group.
About fifty people were blocking the hallway. There is no other nuisance like this.
“Disobeying orders and causing trouble within the hospital are grounds for severe punishment, but I don’t want to see blood in the hospital.”
Kang Geum-ma said coldly.
“Go to sleep.”
At the same time, a wide field of scattered images covered the group of young men.
dump.
The procession collapsed like wooden dolls whose power had been cut off, without even being able to utter a single word of disobedience.
