Translator: Wan ED/PR: Personal Ghost
41. Outside the borders (6)
The divine beast of four directions of the wisdom of foresight, Hyeonmu, held in his hands a classmate who didn’t attend school even once.
“This child has a precious talent, right? Like this child’s master, who was cherished, there are many higher beings who cherish this child. However, because he didn’t listen to any of the higher beings and wandered, his body ended up a bit haggard.”
Hyeonmu held out Mok Uram towards me, but Hwang Jiho captured him with mana and took him first.
After the black silk Hyeonmu wrapped him in swiftly disappeared, I saw a thin body covered in cotton clothes.
Hwang Jiho spoke as he examined Mok Uram.
“It’s not that his body is a bit haggard. There is a big weight loss from what the record of the physical examination when he entered the school says. The superpower wave inside his body is depleted and there are traces of battle. Did you finish healing him?”
“Yeah. I borrowed the power of Flame Emperor to heal him. But as he is weak, I planned to examine him more and let him recuperate.”
“I also don’t see the device issued by Eungwang School, eh? What the hell happened in the meantime? We confirmed that he took the final exam.”
Hyeonmu turned his head to look at Mok Uram.
As his eyes were covered, I couldn’t be certain what kind of expression he was making, but the smile in the corner of his lips looked gentle.
“This child’s master had ‘Blue Violinist’, but this child didn’t.”
It was famous how much the world’s only superpower violin craftsman was devoted to Kwon Jane.
‘Kwon Jane probably was Mok Uram’s master’s muse.’
I guess that Mok Uram, who unlike his master didn’t have a muse, was wandering around searching for a muse as he declared during the entrance interview previously discovered by Mun Saeron.
However, there was something which bothered me.
‘As he took the final exam, he wasn’t in the situation where he can’t even move his body before. Didn’t something happen after the final exam?’
Because he took the remote exam, he would have to wear a superpower headgear with dozens of anti-cheating incantations.
So that meant that on the occasion of the final exam, he connected through the device with the homeroom teacher Ham Geun-hyeong, and was in the environment to take an exam.
Perhaps, because it was vacation, he completely and fearlessly lost his mind as worthy of class 0 and tried to accelerate finding his muse, only to end up like this?
Considering the past achievements of the generations of the class 0, it was quite possible, but I was concerned if Mok Uram should be simply treated as a lunatic.
“This child possesses an amazing ability but lacks the source of inspiration. While this child’s master lived for a long time, he learned the wisdom of managing the anxiety and nervousness in his mind, but this child is still young, you know? No matter how higher beings appease and soothe him, he recklessly wandered around looking for a source of inspiration.”
“He ended up in this state in the process of that?”
“It’s half right.”
“Half?”
“Not a long time ago, this child learned about someone who can be his muse. Because of that…”
Hyeonmu flapped the black cloth piece.
Thanks to that, Mok Uram’s long cotton sleeves were pushed up a little.
On the back of Mok Uram’s hands and little finger were visible wounds that were made not a long time ago.
I spoke, while examining the wounds.
“Defense wounds, eh?”
When someone faces a threat of attack, they instinctively take a defense posture.
It was all the same even if the person in question had bare hands and faced against an opponent holding a blade.
Even though they know the blade will hurt them, they will involuntarily raise their hands to defend against the attack, and as a result of that, such defense wounds around the hands would form.
This sort of defense wounds were generally an evidence that they recognized the attacker’s intention to attack and resisted.
Those defense wounds littered Mok Uram’s hands.
‘It’s too strangely looking wound to be just a cut made by mistake. No matter how I look at it, it looks like something after blocking an attack made with a blade. In what kind of situation the Player, who could enter Eungwang School, has to block the blade with his bare hands? What the hell was that?’
Then who was the one who left those wounds?
Enemy?
If not, another Player?
Hyeonmu’s soft voice halted my thoughts.
“Yeah. Those are the traces, which mean that something tried to hurt this child. This child was on his way to the Korean Peninsula to meet his muse. In the midst of it, many things must have happened.”
“What happened?”
“You can hear it in person from this child. Because I just protected the child, who by chance fled into my territory.”
Hyeonmu indirectly showed that he had no intention of involving himself any further.
Hwang Jiho also didn’t ask any further as if he had no thoughts of borrowing Hyeonmu’s power or interrogating him.
“From the looks of it, it doesn’t seem like Mok Uram personally requested your help, but you stepped forward and protected him? What a rare event.”
Even though he didn’t reveal the cause of Mok Uram’s injures, I guess it was rare for Hyeonmu to interfere to this extent.
After Hyeonmu pulled the corner of his lips into a smile, he stepped forward like flowing water.
“Then let’s meet with the Player, on whom the Flame Emperor bestowed a blessing.”
When we stepped out of the stone chamber and followed after Hyeonmu.
Hwang Jiho, who lifted Mok Uram with mana, spoke.
“When we visited the Eternal Lake team’s building before, you asked Kwon Jane about the superpower violin craftsmen, right? And then the story of Mok Uram came out.”
“Uh.”
The item I still didn’t use even once, ‘Unknown Fate’.
‘Superpower Violin’ made by the only craftsman in the world.
Those two items’ descriptions were quite similar.
I asked Kwon Jane about Mok Uram to find the information about the item, which wasn’t in the game, ‘Unknown Fate’.
“And that unidentifiable ‘power’ activated, and you discovered Hyeonmu even I couldn’t sense. And Hyeonmu left Mok Uram to you.”
The voice of the 30 years old Hwang Jiho was much lower than his teenager one.
Perhaps because of the corridor, the low voice seemed to be echoing everywhere.
“You won’t claim it is a coincidence, right?”
So he didn’t have visible evidence right now, but anyway, it seemed to be fine.
When I was about to shamelessly answer according to the claim that it’s a coincidence.
Krrrr….!
The sound, louder than when the stone wall that Hyeonmu was waiting behind opened, rang out.
When the wall in the deepest part of the corridor opened, I saw a room illuminated by a torch light.
Dozens of medical herbs hung on the stone chamber’s walls, and at the long table in the center of it, laid plates full of food.
“Hello, I was waiting.”
The child, who seemed to be my age group, greeted us.
The child, who was wearing silk clothes of the same design as Hyeonmu but only of a different color, was speaking in fluent Korean.
“I greet the Ho tribe’s head-nim and guest-nim. I’m Li Wei[1].”
If you were to count the most common Chinese names, this one would be in the top five.
After examining Li Wei, I had a question.
‘Didn’t you have exchanges in the past? Why does he look so young?’
Hwang Jiho accepted Li Wei’s greeting as he replied.
“Hi, I made you wait, eh? But your age is different from what I heard before.”
“I’m eighteen this year. My father, who received Flame Emperor-nim’s grace, passed away.”
It seemed it was a fact that even Hwang Jiho didn’t know before.
When Hwang Jiho and Li Wei continued their conversation, Hyeonmu held his hand towards the table.
“Let’s sit down to talk.”
The seat Hyeonmu offered was gyoui[2] with the back and armrests, but though it looked more like a work of art than furniture, it was surprisingly comfortable.
While Hwang Jiho and Li Wei had a conversation, Hyeonmu placed food plates in front of me.
“Try them. Because it seems that those two’s conversation is going to be long.”
All the dishes brought was cuisine that Sichuan Province boasted about.
Once, in the fictional story of the Oath of the Peach Garden, Liu Bai, who became the two’s hyung-nim, served the qīngjiāo ròusī[3], poached spicy slices of beef[4], filled to the brim with beef slices and mala. In Korean it was called red paper japchae.
I somewhat refused the dishes that Hyeonmu personally offered, but because I couldn’t eat this entire night, I ate a little of it.
After I tasted each offered dish, as if Hyeonmu was satisfied, he gave me tea instead of handing me another dish. [5]
When I finished a simple snack, Hwang Jiho and Li Wei, who ended testing the waters, turned to the main point.
“My Gwangrim still isn’t in a perfect state like my father’s. Is that okay?”
“Yeah. Use your Gwangrim when the Ho tribe requests it. Don’t divulge this deal content. I hope you will just keep in mind those two things.”
“If You accept my request, I’ll follow the Ho tribe’s suggestion.”
“Speak.”
Hwang Jiho, who at a certain point moved the tableware, not forgetting about my bowl, spoke.
On the other hand, Li Wei, as if he was nervous, couldn’t swallow even a sip of tea.
But I thought it was amazing that Li Wei, who was just eighteen, was speaking without stuttering in front of the Ho tribe’s head.
“I heard there is 12 Zodiac Alliance in the Korean Peninsula.”
He knew about 12 Zodiac Alliance?
It didn’t look like it was Hyeonmu who told him.
Perhaps the Flame Emperor Shennong informed him?
Flame Emperor Shennong was deeply connected with one of the animals of the 12 Zodiac Alliance.
Because he was commonly known as half-human, with the head of a cow and body of a human.
“Please let me meet the Woo tribe’s head[6].”
Hwang Jiho neatly placed down the tableware and his eyes turned sharp.
“It’s a condition different than money or power.”
It seemed that Hwang Jiho was doubtful about Li Wei’s suggestion.
It was necessary to be wary considering that there was a traitor, a Long Tail in the Korean Peninsula’s 12 Zodiac Alliance.
“Flame Emperor Shennong has a deep connection with the Woo tribe. If Shennong puts his mind to it, he could give a divine revelation or something to let you meet.”
“That…”
Li Wei fumbled with his words.
“I’ll hear the reason and think about it.”
At the continuation of Hwang Jiho’s words, Li Wei completely shut his mouth.
As if he had no thoughts of interfering, Hyeonmu brewed tea and watched the situation without a word.
When enough time passed to drink a cup of tea.
“Contact me when you can tell me the reason.”
After Hwang Jiho, who persistently waited, spoke like this, Li Wei bowed his head.
“… Thank You for consideration.”
The first secret meeting with Li Wei ended like this.
Instead of Li Wei, who bowed his head and didn’t move, Hyeonmu guided us out.
Hyeonmu spoke, while asking to tell him my device code.
“I very much like your name.”
“Yes?”
“Ui(義) for righteous, sin(晨) for dawn. Isn’t that a name matching that power you possess?”
I never once told him my name, how did he know?
Did Hyeonmu used the ‘power of foresight’?
“I hope that child’s talent will become a power for you, who calls the dawn, huh?”
Hyeonmu summoned the black silk and wrapped the floating in the air Mok Uram in it, while leaving the words of a blessing[7].
As we finished the goodbyes with Hyeonmu and came out, the bard’s song ended, and instead female dancers were dancing with the sound of plucked qin.
Even while dancing, the dancers naturally opened the way for me and Hwang Jiho, and we left the pavilion while walking among them.
“… There are many things I want to ask, but our priority should be preparing for getting Mok Uram home, eh?”
“Because both the device and id were lost, it seems that the procedure will be a bit complicated.”
“Yeah. It’s not difficult to take Mok Uram to Korean Peninsula. The problem is that if it’s discovered that Mok Uram entered the Korean Peninsula without an entry procedure, it will become annoying, right?”
At first, I thought of an embassy as a solution to the problem, but I changed my thoughts.
As Mok Uram was a Player registered by the Player Association, wouldn’t it be faster to contact the Association’s China branch?
It even seemed that the branch was in Chengdu, but…
When my thoughts got to this point, I came up with a way that would solve this situation even quicker.
“If a high-ranking Player’s Association’s employee steps out to vouch for his identity, the id would be quickly issued.”
“Seems like you have a person to call, eh?”
I thought about a name of an Association’s employee, who just in time would finish work with all this might and perfect preparations to leave the country.
I chose that name from the device’s address book and wrote a message.
[Me] Team leader Hong Gyubin-nim, hello.
*~*~*
[1] Li Wei — 李伟
[2] gyoui — 교의 — it’s a high seat that is mostly used during the ancestral rites and holds the ancestral tablet. In other words, it is a seat for the dead soul to sit comfortably during the rite.
[3] qīngjiāo ròusī — 青椒肉絲
[4] poached spicy slices of beef — 水煮肉片
[5] After I tasted each offered dish, as if Hyeonmu was satisfied, he gave me tea instead of handing me another dish. — So in the spirit of talking about ancestral rites… The usual practice is that the person leading the rite, who acts as a medium for the ancestor spirit, is eating a bit of every dish.
[6] Woo tribe — ‘cow’ tribe.
[7] words of blessing — normal goodbyes, not the blessing blessing, calm down.
Translator’s note: Crazy rice cakes-nim, hello.
Patron thank you note
Thank you patron, Nobody, please accept this Sorbus aucuparia’s flower as a token of my sincere gratitude.
Thank you patron, Al, please accept this Pyrus salicifolia’s flower as a token of my sincere gratitude.
Links to advanced chapter (Patreon & Kofi)
> Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/LibraryKeyTranslations
> Kofi-Euro: https://ko-fi.com/wanthetranslator
> Kofi-USD: https://ko-fi.com/wanthetranslatorusd
Did you see a mistake? 🐞
Leave a Reply