Translator: Wan ED/PR: Personal Ghost
67. Gap (5)
‘Garden’s’ official name was ‘Garden type[1] Otherworld’
It was a designation for an otherworld, which was dominated by someone.
There were various types of otherworlds, dungeons, towers, castles, mazes, etc., but the otherworlds, that were dominated through someone’s interference, changed depending on the character of the superpower wave.
As such, the otherworld under someone’s ‘otherworld domination’ had nothing to do with its original characteristics and was called a ‘Garden’.
The place I was heading to with Hwang Jiho was the Ho tribe’s Garden, or to be precise, the otherworld dominated by the Ho tribe’s chief shaman.
‘The entrance to the Garden is probably outside of the Eungwang School’s campus and outside the 12 Zodiac’s barrier. But it doesn’t seem we will be stepping out of the Eungwang District…’
As if the Ho tribe’s Garden was outside the school, Hwang Jiho headed through the gate — to be precise, the West gate.
“I think it will be faster to move on foot, but… there should be no problems with taking an air limousine. I’ll call the driver.”
“I’ll walk.”
“Hahaha! I thought you would say that.”
Before Hwang Jiho did anything cumbersome, I said I’d walk.
It didn’t seem like the Ho tribe’s Garden was very far, so if it was close to school, it would be less noticeable if we walked, rather than take the limousine.
Hwang Jiho laughed and then nodded saying ‘got it’.
“There was a problem with the Garden, so it took some time to contact the couple.”
“A problem?”
“Yeah. We distorted the time inside the Garden in consideration of giving the couple some quality time, but that became a bit of a problem.”
I had no idea what kind of quality time the Ho tribe’s couple could have in the Garden.
Even if it was dominated and became a Garden, it was still an otherworld and Enemies didn’t disappear, right?
In addition, they were with the Ung, who had killed their descendant…
At this point in my thinking, I suddenly recalled the spar I spent beating up Gye Idam.
As I couldn’t even guess what they felt and the depth of their desire for revenge, it was embarrassing to compare it to the spar with Gye Idam, but I could get an idea of the concept of that quality time.
Hwang Jiho continued to talk about the problem that occurred in the Garden.
“The Ho tribe’s chief shaman created the barrier, and his ability to manipulate the sense of time inside of it are excellent. Though the chief shaman is very young compared to our other Ho tribe members, his abilities are recognized by everyone.”
I guess the Ho tribe’s chief shaman wasn’t a being, who existed since the myth days.
Hwang Jiho often mentioned him from among the Ho tribe members and there were many times when he borrowed the power of that chief shaman, so I thought it was someone who left a name in the Gaecheon Myth, but he wasn’t?
Not wanting to arise suspicion I’m digging into the Ho tribe, I avoided asking for information that wasn’t strictly necessary.
However, now that it came to this, I was curious what kind of being was the Ho tribe’s chief shaman.
In fact, the Ho tribe’s chief shaman was also Kim Yuri’s master, who gave her private lessons and guided her, so it wasn’t that I was curious only now.
Hwang Jiho mentioned him like this, and we would soon enter the Garden, so wasn’t it fine to ask?
In the end, I couldn’t contain my curiosity and threw the question about the chief shaman.
“What kind of Ho is the chief shaman?”
Hwang Jiho smirked instead of replying right away.
It didn’t seem it was because he was displeased about the question about the Ho tribe.
He didn’t exactly show intentions of hiding it, so why was he beating around the bush?
After a few seconds, Hwang Jiho finally opened his mouth.
“… It will be quicker to talk about him once you meet him in person. Let’s introduce you today. If you’re even more curious after the introductions, I’ll tell you.”
I had really no idea why he was beating around the bush.
It seemed certain that Hwang Jiho had no plans of saying it with his own mouth.
“Hahaha! If you’re truly curious, I can tell you right now.”
“I’m fine.”
“Hahahaha!”
As I walked while listening to the geezer’s laughter, we’ve arrived at the West gate.
I saw some students, who were returning home early, as they didn’t have club activities, and the local residents.
After stepping out of the 12 Zodiac barrier, Hwang Jiho happily stepped forward.
“This way. I’ll now take the lead.”
There was MITRON at the West gate, so I often came here, but the route Hwang Jiho took felt strangely unfamiliar.
The more we walked, the sparser were the buildings and traces of human presence.
I felt flustered, because it seemed that a road, that I wasn’t able to perceive before, was opening up.
The people and buildings started to be replaced by the sight of bamboo.
Bamboos seemed to be gradually increasing — was there this much bamboo around here?
‘… It doesn’t look like ordinary bamboo.’
Feeling the sense of incongruity, I carefully observed my surrounding, and sensed a superpower wave’s flow of a different nature.
It seemed that this whole bamboo forest was grown with a skill or a Gwangrim.
The bamboo forest was so thick it was difficult for even one person to pass through, but every time Hwang Jiho took a step, leaves fluttered and a road opened.
Worried about losing the sense of direction, I walked with my nerves tense. From just my feelings right now, it seemed that this bamboo forest was touching the Heavenly Wings (Cheonik) Mountain.
“Here we are.”
After Hwang Jiho took a few more steps as he said that, we entered an open space.
Inside the open area surrounded by bamboos, a young man wearing a bamboo durumagi[2] was waiting for us.
‘Is that the Ho tribe’s chief shaman?’
As if the young man sensed that I and Hwang Jiho were approaching, he stared still in our direction.
The young man politely bowed towards Hwang Jiho.
“Greetings, Hwangho-nim.”
“Mhm, you worked hard, eh?”
Seeing the young man greet politely Hwang Jiho, who was wearing a school uniform, I felt a sense of incongruity, but that bastard was still a Ho tribe’s head, so it couldn’t be helped.
“You probably already know it very well, but let me introduce. The Ho tribe’s benefactor, Jo Uisin.”
“Hello.”
As I greeted him, the young man smiled and greeted me too.
“It’s a pleasure to meet You, Jo Uisin. I heard a lot about You from Hwangho-nim and Yuri.”
Seeing how he mentioned Kim Yuri, it became certain that this was the Ho tribe’s chief shaman.
Hwang Jiho and Kim Yuri talked about me… I was curious what the hell they were talking about.
The chief shaman was showing me favor, so it didn’t seem they said anything bad.
“Jo Uisin, this is the Ho tribe’s chief shaman. We call him Juk-ho (Bamboo Tiger).”
Green bamboo forest.
A being who is much younger than Ho tribe members, who lived for a few thousand years.
Juk-ho (Bamboo Tiger).
Combining those clues, I felt I had a guess what was the true identity of the chief shaman.
As if Hwang Jiho read something from my face again, he said:
“Seeing your expression, it seems like you figured out what kind of being is Juk-ho, eh?”
“It seems that Hwangho-nim didn’t say anything besides my identity and a fake name.”
“Let’s hear out Jo Uisin.”
The two tigers looked at me with faces full of expectations.
I guess they were looking forward to my reasoning.
… Wouldn’t it be a shame if I got it wrong?
So I asked based on what I had guessed.
“Are You perhaps the Person drawn in the ‘Fierce Tiger Under Bamboo Painting[3]’?”
The chief shaman opened his eyes a bit wider and made a surprised face at those words.
It seemed that it was the right answer.
“Yes, that’s correct. I’m a Folk Tale category Ho called Juk-ho. I was born from the masterpiece of the Painter Tanwŏn Kim Hongdo.”
Juk-ho shortly explained his roots.
Juk-ho was a similar case to Nabiryong, who had obtained life from the old story ‘Butterfly Dream’ from Zhuāngzǐ’s On the Equality of Things.
The painting itself was a masterpiece, but it seemed that Juk-ho’s enormous power didn’t simply come from this painting.
Tigers and bamboo were drawn together in numerous artworks, as people hoped for byeoksa[4] and good luck from them, Juk-ho’s power grew.
‘In Nabiryong’s case, her power didn’t simply come from an old story mentioned in one book and that’s it. Rather, the old story spread and gained fame through studies in other publications and repeat discussions, growing her power.’
The roots of Jin people and the principles of invocations of their powers were not yet completely understood, but it was known that the fame and presence had a great impact on the Jin people’s powers.
The painting of Fierce Tiger Under Bamboo was one of the famous paintings in Korea.
Moreover, considering how widespread were bamboo tiger painting, Juk-ho’s power would be considerable.
‘But if there is Juk-ho, wouldn’t there be also other Ho tribe members originating from other famous tiger folk paintings?’
The ones who immediately came to mind were ‘Fierce Tiger Under A Pine Tree Painting’ and ‘Fierce Tiger Painting’[5].
I might meet other Folk Tale category Ho tribe members one day.
On the other side, Hwang Jiho didn’t spare praises for Juk-ho.
“Juk-ho didn’t live even five hundred years yet, but he is this powerful. Enough that I can even leave the Garden to him.”
“You praise me too much. It’s all thanks to Hwangho-nim creating a bamboo forest close to the Heavenly Wings Mountain[6].”
As if happy with Hwang Jiho’s praise, he spoke extremely shyly.
At those words, I looked at the bamboo forest around us.
If this bamboo forest was connected to the Heavenly Wings Mountain, when the Heavenly Wings Mountain lost its Power of Earth and started rotting, wouldn’t this bamboo forest be influenced too?
It may be why Juk-ho didn’t wield particular influence in PMH.
“I expected that the couple would also come out and wait, but I don’t see them, eh?”
“They said They would come after changing into clean clothes. After that day, those Two didn’t take a step out of the Garden even once.”
… That Ung was caught on April Fool’s Day, but they didn’t come out even once until November?
In addition, I heard that the flow of time inside the Garden was different, so I had no idea what the hell amount of time that couple spent inside.
“… They came.”
Hwang Jiho stared at the other side of the dense bamboos, and said.
As Hwang Jiho said, someone’s presence was growing closer little by little.
* * *
Player’s Association, Korean Branch.
Regulation Enforcement Department, meeting room inside the office.
Hong Gyubin sat with a complicated face.
Opposite of Hong Gyubin, sat manager Yun and employee Jeong, and both of their expressions weren’t very good.
Manager Yun was keeping his mouth tightly shut, but employee Jeong couldn’t keep his anger inside and spoke with a huff.
“No, what do they mean take your hands off it!? How hard has team leader-nim worked on it?! If team leader Bak just hadn’t so wickedly kept on and on about Your birth status….”
Hong Gyubin was in charge of several cases.
Among them, there were two of the biggest ones.
One was the broadcasting station incident, the other was the TC Research Institute incident.
The problem occurred because Namkung Group was involved in the broadcasting station.
‘I never expected that Namkung Gyubin would come back to haunt me again…’
Hong Gyubin’s old name was ‘Namkung Gyubin’.
He got rid of this name now, but his days as the successor of the Namkung Group didn’t disappear.
Team leader Bak, who was picking faults with everything that Hong Gyubin did, especially recently, brought up Hong Gyubin’s former family register and the concern of neutrality.
“How did that fucking bastard learn about team leader’s former name…”
“… It’s not exactly a secret. As I did outside activities in my days as Namkung Gyubin, there is no way to hide it.”
Hong Gyubin said as if too soothe employee Jeong.
It bothered him that the team leader Bak’s information network and thinking skills seemed to have improved these days, but he had no proof, only a strong suspicion.
‘He seems to be borrowing someone else’s wisdom… but with so much work, I don’t have time to investigate. I don’t want to just catch tails in the name of investigation.”
In the end, Hong Gyubin took his hands off the Namkung Group’s case, and left the broadcasting station incident in team leader Bak’s hands.
All the overtime Hong Gyubin put into it in the meantime went to nothing.
Hong Gyubin was furious thinking about that, but with difficulty, he feigned composure.
“Let’s now focus on the TC Research Institute. There’s not much time left until SAT, so let’s help students focus on their university exams.”
“No, shouldn’t we talk to the higher ups at least on…”
“Manager Yun, did You figure out the source of funds for the ‘Higher Being’s Artificial Descent Project’?”
Manger Yun, who was sitting somewhat blankly, abruptly came back to his senses.
“… My apologies. Could You please repeat what you have said?”
“Ah, manger Yun-nim met his ex-girlfriend a while ago and can’t come back to his senses… ack!”
Peuk!
Manger Yun’s fist struck employee Jeong’s ribs.
Manger Yun continued the conversation with Hong Gyubin, as if nothing had happened, but his head was filled with his ex-girlfriend he met a while ago.
The faint look she gazed upon him, while standing at team leader Bak’s side was still vivid in his brain.
Perhaps she was thinking of something, she was still wearing the accessory he had gifted her, when they were still dating.
What manger Yun gifted her was a brooch with a butterfly motif.
‘… Feels like butterflies are circling my head, eh?’
Manger Yun barely fixed his mindset and started to report to Hong Gyubin.
*~*~*
[1] Garden type — unlike just simple ‘Garden’ that appears in narration, which is a word borrowed from English, this ‘Garden type’ is a Korean word. (Actually, the same is for other types of otherworlds too, they’re all using English-borrowed words.) I guess ‘Garden (English)’ is usually used instead to not confuse it with lower-case garden. But I’m sure you can still try to build a theory on it.
[2] durumagi — 두루마기, a type of outer garment of hanbok. Don’t ask me about bamboo, I’m guessing it was meant as a color or pattern, but… um… there are possibilities.
[3] Fierce Tiger Under Bamboo Painting — 죽하맹호도(竹下猛虎圖) by Kim Hong-do. I couldn’t find a more precise date of it, but Kim Hongdo lived between 1745~1806. ‘ Tanwŏn’ is Kim Hongdo’s artistic name.
[4] Byeoksa — ritual of chasing away evil.
[5] ‘Fierce Tiger Under A Pine Tree Painting’ and ‘Fierce Tiger Painting’ — ‘죽하맹호도(竹下猛虎圖) also by Kim Hongdo, and ‘맹호도(猛虎圖)’ by anonymous.
[6] Hwangho-nim created a bamboo forest close to the Heavenly Wings Mountain — okay, so I’m like REALLY unsure if I should interpret it as Hwang-ho created the bamboo forest or he let Juk-ho create the bamboo forest. Those things give wildly different implications and very frustratingly, I literally have no idea, which one would be correct.
Translator’s note: Hwang-ho pampering Juk-ho is so cute… Love to see it.
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