Translator: Wan ED/PR: Personal Ghost
42. Price of achieving a wish (10)
Eungwang Highschool’s site, Silver Light (Eunhwi) Building.
“Chairman-nim, I brought Him.”
“Come in.”
After the door engraved with the tiger opened, chairman Hwang Myeong-ho’s secretary and Gong Cheonghwon appeared.
“Hello.”
Gong Cheonghwon greeted with a gentle face.
After Hwang-ho, in the appearance of the chairman Hwang Myeong-ho, shortly said ‘sit down’, Gong Cheonghwon sat down on the offered to him seat.
Through the process, Gong Cheonghwon didn’t seem even a bit nervous.
‘… You aren’t shaken at all, eh?’
Silver Light (Eunhwi) Building was personally designed by the Ho tribe’s head Hwang-ho as the most extravagant and elegant tiger cave.
As that Silver Light (Eunhwi) Building was where the Hwang Myeong Group’s Hwang Myeong Foundation chairman sat, usually even veteran Players would be overwhelmed and shrunk down.
‘Jo Uisin also sat calmly.’
Hwang-ho, in the appearance of the chairman Hwang Myeong-ho, feigned composure and offered tea.
Even while receiving Hwang-ho’s gaze, Gong Cheongwhon sat with a straight back on the sofa from mahogany[1] hardwood and took a graceful sip of tea.
“Let me hear what happened in that abandoned factory.”
Gong Cheonghwon summarized what happened with a voice that rang like a colliding jade.
At the words that he went to that place to solve the blackmail against Han Yi through a ‘conversation’, Hwang-ho recalled Gong Cheonghwon’s profile.
‘To solve through ‘conversation’… It’s not wrong to put it like this, eh?’
In the Kotodama category skill, koto meant language, which included the meaning of both the ‘writing’ and ‘speaking’ [2].
According to such etymology, the kotodama manifested as two types, writing and speaking.
In the current Eungwang School there were two Players who owned the Kotodama category skill.
Gong Cheonghwon and Jegal Jaegeol.
The key manifestations of those two people’s Kotodama category skill had different inclinations.
The difference was that the kotodama of the Aquamarine Poet[3] Jegal Jaegeol manifested through ‘writing’.
And Jeungeum Gong Cheonghwon manifested through ‘speaking’.
It was like the athletes of the bare-hand combat disciples, who specialized either in hand techniques or leg techniques.
‘Both people can use the kotodama skill through speaking and writing. But the two’s specialization and derivative skills should be different. Gong Cheonghwon can overpower his opponents with ‘speaking’.’
Like Jegal Jaegeol, who even before his superpower manifested, had a talent for writing poetry, Gong Cheonghwon seemed to be born with a sonorous voice[4].
The more Hwang-ho listened to Gong Cheonghwon’s voice, the greater amazement and subtle longing he felt.
After Gong Cheonghwon summarized everything, Hwang-ho opened his mouth:
“Before the employee of Hwang Myeong Foundation arrived, I heard that you[5] were attacked by the 1st year class 0’s student.”
“Are You talking about student Hwang Jiho?”
“Yeah. I apologize for discourtesy on his behalf.”
It was a widely-known fact among the school facility members that Hwang Jiho was set up as a close relative of chairman Hwang Myeong-ho.
Using it, Hwang-ho attempted to apologize, but Gong Cheonghwon shook his head.
“It cannot be apologized for.”
“… Do you mean you won’t accept an apology?”
“No. Because nothing happened, which was worthy of receiving an apology. That child is a friend of Han Yi, who is no different from my family and…”
Gong Cheonghwon’s words blurred for the first time.
“Strangely, I’m not angry at that child.”
* * *
Inside Hwang Myeong-ho’s main mansion’s drawing-room.
Today’s tea and refreshment were only based on dried persimmons.
Ice dried persimmon tea with sliced pear and melon, dried persimmon tart, dried persimmon cookies, dried persimmon taraekwaja[6]…
With each menu item placed on the table, Baek Ho-gun tightly shut and opened his eyes as if his head was getting dizzy.
While I ate the persimmon refreshments to eliminate them for my main Playable Character, the tigers and their descendant were examining Gong Cheonghwon’s profile and records.
“The human, who received Cheong-ho’s blessing, is working at Eungwang School?… If so, wouldn’t Cheong-ho be close by?”
“It can’t be confirmed. Gong Cheonghwon doesn’t know the person, who bestowed him a blessing.”
“… Is it possible? Without mutual agreement, the blessing can’t be bestowed.”
“It doesn’t seem like he lied.”
As Jeok-ho and Hwang Jiho shut their mouths, it became quiet again.
Kim Sinrok, who finished preparing the dried persimmon dishes and heard about today’s events, spoke with an embarrassed voice:
“Teacher Gong Cheonghwon-nim received Cheongho-nim’s blessing?… I meet Him a few times, but I had no idea. As a descendant, who received Cheongho-nim’s teachings, I’m ashamed.”
“I discovered it when Gong Cheonghwon was using his skill and fighting. If it’s a type of blessing that activates during combat, it isn’t strange that you weren’t able to notice.”
Jeok-ho asked Baek Ho-gun this time.
As if Jeok-ho still wasn’t able to let go of his feelings, he pushed each of the plates with the persimmon dishes that were brought by the automatic maid in front of Baek Ho-gun.
“You said that Sinin and Cheong-ho became human, correct? And that information was obtained by ‘impostor’… isn’t it possible that ‘impostor’ lied?”
“We can’t be certain.”
“Then there is no need to trust ‘impostor’s’ words, eh?”
But Baek Ho-gun shook his head.
“Do you remember how Sinin envied humans?”
“… Right. Though I couldn’t understand it. It seemed like he hated himself for being an imperfect mixed-blood of a god and a human.”
“If Sinin remained in the mortal world as an imperfect existence like before, we would find him, and if he became a higher being, he would give us a revelation.”
There was no rebuttal to Baek Ho-gun’s words.
According to the flow of the conversation, the chance that Sinin became human seemed big.
“If Sinin became human, Cheong-ho would probably follow Sinin.”
“Even if Sinin was like this, why would even Cheong-ho become human… ah.”
Jeok-ho’s words stopped.
Somehow, it seemed that his gaze stopped on me.
Was he bothered because I was the only human among them?
“At first, even as a Jin, Cheong-ho would be at his side. However, if the life of dear Sinin ends, and she is left alone, and that repeats dozens of times… Would Cheong-ho be able to bear that loneliness?”
“With Cheong-ho’s personality, it seems it would be difficult to endure even once.”
After that, no one spoke.
Kind Snare ate a few portions of Baek Ho-gun’s persimmon snacks, and ran around showing its charms, but no one reacted besides me.
‘I want to find Cheong-ho for you.’
In the game, the character using the name Cheong-ho didn’t appear until the end.
However, can we conclude from that that Cheong-ho truly didn’t appear?
— Our Ho tribe’s divine realm is in this Eungwang School, and Eungwang School is overflowing with wonderful sounds. Cheong-ho will come to Eungwang School for certain.
Suddenly, I recalled Hwang Jiho who spoke like this.
The remaining Ho tribe members and Cheong-ho were affectionate with each other, so there was no way they didn’t meet once or twice after she became a human.
Even though there was no clear evidence, I had such certainty.
‘Cheong-ho and Sinin…’
I recalled the information I heard about Cheong-ho and Sinin one after one again.
— This is our Cheongho-nim’s will. Don’t make a weak sound before a battle!… Though, we will certainly lose.
— We will accept the battle against the best as the best disciples of Cheongho-nim, the originator and founder of Taehokwon!
— I roughly learned Taehokwon because ‘that punk’ taunted me with ‘You won’t be able to win with Taehokwon against me for a lifetime.’
— … I practice, while waiting for a rematch with that punk.
First clue, Cheong-ho was the originator and founder of Taehokwon.
— Like Cheong-ho, her disciples bastards are also bastards that go very crazy for the ‘sound’. If Cheong-ho was here, she would also be dying for Kwon Jane’s music.
Second clue, Cheong-ho loved ‘sound’.
— Cheong-ho liked dried persimmon, correct? I remember that she didn’t eat a lot, but if something had sugar, nothing would be left.
Third clue, Cheong-ho liked sweet things.
— Cheong-ho asked to always serve Sinin (son of god).
— Cheong-ho left the words ‘I want to grant Sinin’s wish’ and disappeared with no warning or lingering attachments.
Fourth clue, Cheong-ho was close with Sinin, who achieved his wish.
— But the sound that punk liked the most was Sinin’s voice, so it would be the fastest to catch Sinin first.
Fifth clue, the sound Cheong-ho liked the most was Sinin’s voice.
If Cheong-ho, who loved sound, said it was the best sound, it wouldn’t be an ordinary pretty voice.
— Where did you receive that blessing? Where did you receive Choeng-ho’s blessing!?
Sixth clue, the existence of Gong Cheonghwon, who received Cheong-ho’s blessing.
— It may be simple for Sinin, who was a half-blood human, to become human, eh? However, Cheong-ho… What the hell was the price she paid? Humans and Jin people are fundamentally different.
Last clue, to achieve the wish of becoming human, Cheong-ho would have to pay a much greater price than Sinin.
‘… aren’t those two Cheong-ho and Sinin?’
When I organized all of the clues, two names came up in my head.
They, who appeared in the game, and I met them a few times in this world, seemed human, but they were the only two, who matched all of those clues.
“I think I know who Cheong-ho and Sinin are.”
Clang!
At my words, excluding Baek Ho-gun, the tigers jumped from their seats.
“Say it, Jo Uisin!”
“Please speak!”
“Jo Uisin-gun…!”
I didn’t know about the other tigers, but there was a chance that Hwang Jiho, who caught similar clues to me, would guess it if he thought about it well.
But it seemed that cold reasoning was impossible because unlike me, Hwang Jiho didn’t have a ‘way to figure out reasoning’s truth and falsehood’ and he had a deep emotional connection to Cheong-ho.
“It’s still not 100% certain. But there are people I’m thinking of as candidates and the way to confirm it.”
The eyes of the people in the drawing room shined as if burning.
“I can’t know when or how those two people became human. Moreover, it’s clear that the two of them don’t have memories and abilities of Cheong-ho and Sinin.”
“….”
“So, supposing that the two people I’m thinking about are confirmed to be Cheong-ho and Sinin, I hope you won’t pressure them to live as the Ho tribe member or Sinin.”
“…”
As if they understood the meaning of my words, they nodded.
Hwang Jiho spoke as a representative.
“I swear. We won’t interfere in what they don’t wish for and the two people’s lives as humans.”
I, who heard those words, also strengthened my resolve.
“Let’s go to confirm it.”
* * *
Heavenly Wings Mountain in setting sun.
Thanks to Hwang Jiho’s order beforehand, the people who climbed the mountain were only me, the tigers, the descendant and the Mountain Spirit, who followed after learning that we’re going to the Heavenly Wings Mountain.
When the divine tree of the Ho tribe, the Heavenly Sacred Tree, became visible in the distance, the Mountain Spirit started to spin around me as if they were excited.
It was hard to notice, because they usually shut themselves in the corner of the room with Eun-ho’s descendants to play games, but that mountain spirit actually felt like something similar to the mountain divine spirits from children’s tales.
“You said you can confirm it if you come to the Heavenly Sacred Tree, right? How the hell are you going to clearly specify Cheong-ho and Sinin’s existence?”
I specified the candidates for Cheong-ho and Sinin in my head.
And there was a skill that could judge the truth and falsehood of my reasoning for me.
The very Communication with Transcendent Universe.
The Communication with the Transcendent Universe, which was the existence that transcended the dimensions, space-time and cosmos, could be used as a decipher that could distinguish truth and lies.
But even after using the skill, there was a possibility that the Transcendent Universe won’t reply, and there was a risk of tremendous load on the body and mind when using it.
I wanted to avoid the possibility of being unable to move in this world, in which I didn’t know when something may happen.
However, I couldn’t abandon those tigers.
‘I should be able to ask at least two question. Probably.’
Many things happened today.
I was swept up in an incident in China, and then came back, and even used Baek Ho-gun’s Gwangrim to release Byeoksa’s barrier.
It wasn’t excessive, but the superpower and physical power were consumed.
So we came in front of the Heavenly Sacred Tree.
‘The level of the Communication skill raised in this place. There was no full-proof, but this place should have a relation to the Transcendent Universe. The communication time and the amount of information that could be obtained should increase to a certain extent. Even if this place didn’t have a relation to the Transcendent Universe, there was no harm in trying.’
I took a deep breath and raised my hand to the Heavenly Sacred Tree’s trunk.
It wasn’t as much as when I came here before, but the strange bark felt warm.
‘The Power of Fate didn’t activate. Are you telling me to solve it by myself?’
I thought that if the Power of Fate activated the communication time would prolong a bit, but though regretful, it couldn’t be helped.
I spoke to the tigers, who were observing me.
“If I faint, please take me to the dormitory room.”
“What? Jo Uisin, what are you planning to…”
⟨Using the skill ‘Communication with Transcendent Universe’.⟩
Uung—!
At the same time as the skill activated, the surrounding was filled with light.
As the light took over my head and my body, I started to head towards emptiness.
Bang!
Before the sensation of my mind and brain being broken into pieces covered my whole body, I slammed my forehead against the Heavenly Sacred Tree.
With my head tingling, I returned to my senses and had some time to think.
I threw the first question.
“Had Sinin and Cheong-ho became humans?”
Correct.
I felt the sensation of a green light spreading inside of my brain.
There was almost of no chance of that, but it was a question in consideration of a case of ‘impostor’ fooling us.
I asked the next question.
“At present, Sinin is using the name Gong Cheonghwon and Cheong-ho is using the name Han Yi. Is that correct?”
Correct.
My head was dyed deep green again.
It seemed that the tigers, who were observing the communication process, were shouting something, but I couldn’t hear them very well because they overlapped with the system message.
⟨The dimension understanding of the Suitable Other Dimension Future Modification increased.⟩
⟨The level of the skill ‘Suitable Other Dimension Future Modification’s Exclusive Menu’ raised from 4 to 5.⟩
As if the identities of Cheong-ho and Sinin was one of the important secrets of this world, the level raised.
But I didn’t have time to confirm the effect of the Exclusive Menu’s level up.
Another system message appeared straight away.
⟨Warning, the excessive communication between Transcendent Universe and Suitable Other Dimension Future Modification causes a load on the Modification.⟩
Was it because I was tired more than usual and even used the Gwangrim, in addition to the fact that there was no Power of Fate’s support?
The possible communication time felt extremely short.
The superpower wave started to boil inside of my body, but there was one more thing I wanted to ask about.
“… Is Seong-heon doing well?”
But the Transcendent Universe didn’t reply like the previous time.
No wrong or correct.
My vision gradually turned dark and the taste of iron rose in my throat.
I tried to ask again, but before that, the system message rang out.
⟨Warning, the body of Suitable Other Dimension Future Modification reached its limits.⟩
⟨Limiting connection to Suitable Other Dimension Future Modification.⟩
“Jo Uisin!”
In my turning dark vision, I heard someone calling out my name.
But I couldn’t reply, and my mind slowly fell into the darkness.
*~*~*
[1] mahogany — the reason why mahogany wood was used may be because just like in English, it has ‘ho’ syllable in Korean, which is a homonym for tiger among other things.
[2] kotodama — Reminder that though I’m using a Japanese name, it basically has the same meaning in Korean. In Korean ‘언령 (eonryeong)’, ‘언 (eon)’ means language and ‘령 (ryeong)’ means spirit, just like koto means language and dama means spirit in Japanese.
[3] Aquamarine Poet — It appears I never made a note about it before, so if we analyzed the alias of Gong Cheonghwon in the previous chapter, this is good moment to mention. Jegal Jaegeol’s alias is 남옥시인 (nam-ok-siin), ‘남옥 (nam-ok)’ means aquamarine or blue jade literally, but ‘남 (nam)’ could also mean south, and ‘옥 (ok)’ could mean prison, it also sounds similar to English ‘oak’. 시인 means poet, I have no particular thoughts about besides that it sounds like almost like ‘신 (sin god)’. Now, hanja for ‘남’ is 藍 and means ‘shabby (clothing), buddhist temple, live above ones means and ‘persicaria tinctoria’ a plant, besides meaning blue. 옥 hanja is 玉 and it could also mean pretty and outstanding among other things. Hanja for 시인 (詩人) have meanings you would expect from its ‘poet’ meaning.
[4] voice — literally ‘voice color’.
[5] you — hmm, so Hwang-ho used a semi-polite ‘you’ towards Gong Cheonghwon. It’s ‘you’ that you can use towards a person you’re friendly with or when that person is younger than you… So it’s not super polite, but it’s more polite than ‘you’ that people usually use when speaking casually. Mid polite, I guess?
[6] taraegwaja — ‘tarae’ means ribbon or twisted bundle, ‘gwaja’ means snack/cookie. It’s more popularly known as maejapgwaja. I’m not quite sure why tarae and not maeja was used… Perhaps because maeja has a literal meaning of matchmaking and author-nim wanted to avoid it.
Translator’s note: Wheel of Fortune is the tenth card of the tarot deck, so Myeong…. Hm? Oh, don’t mind me, go on. *Buries themselves in the theory corner* (Congratulations to anyone who figured out Cheong-ho and Sinin before it!)
*Also, if you noticed that the recalled sentences are different from the previous ones, I apologize, I try to find them and keep them consistent, but they aren’t always easy to find and I lack time to do that.
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