Chapter 73 (1/2)

“You’re really smart, Myohan.”

But then, O Shin was gone again.

“You already know, but you’re still asking, right? Wow, you are no ordinary person.”

Without a trace, as if he had never come.

“And your appearance, you must be…”

“I…”

Myohan didn’t want to feel like that. He didn’t want the feelings he had gotten so used to abandon him like that. He was shuddering in the cold. His eyesight became fuzzy.

“I’m not feeling that well right now.”

His head started to ache. Pieces of memories that had been coming out through that small crack suddenly flooded out. O Shin’s voice. Someone else’s voice he didn’t recognize. Faces he knew and faces he didn’t know, and among them, was himself, in the form of a cat.

‘And you, who have committed the worst crime…’

He could then hear the voice clearly through the rain. He remembered the people cowering in fear in front of the man. He held Myohan close to himself so he wouldn’t get wet, and O Shin couldn’t stop him.

‘Your punishment will be…’

Myohan’s eyes flashed. His instincts took over. He pulled the confused Seonhan, held him in his arms so that he wouldn’t be able to run away, and then he threw him off the bridge, just like he had done when he saved his cat.

“Aaah!”

Seonhan screamed. Oh, it’s going to be quite cold this time, he thought so as they fell. Seonhan became lighter in his arms, and he raised him high so that he wouldn’t get wet.

The thin layer of ice on the river cracked immediately under his weight. He fell with a splash and stood up, breathing heavily. Seonhan’s clothes fell a second later.

“…See?”

He could feel his body temperature rising. He had not felt well before he dived into icy river, so of course it got even worse. He smiled, feeling feverish.

“I told you I would get them all.”

The world went dark. The last thing he saw before he fainted was a monkey, clutching his arm and shuddering.

***

The boy ran as fast as he could. He ran and ran, until he tripped over a vine. He ran as if there was someone chasing him. Then he stopped in front of a wide lake. It reflected the blue sky and was even bluer. It shimmered beautifully.

The boy forgot he had been running and approached the lake. He felt thirsty the moment he saw it. It’s a clear lake, it would be okay for me to drink it. He thought so and was about to dip his hands into it.

“Do you know what kind of place this lake is?”

When he looked up, he saw a man with long hair. His hair was white and his clothes fluttered in the wind, but none of it felt real.

“Judging from your confused look, I guess you don’t know.”

The man approached the boy. He walked slowly around the lake, but then he turned and headed to the water.

“You, child,”

He walked easily on water. Little drops of water splashed with his every step.

“Are destined to die young.”

The man was then in front of the boy. He leaned down to look into his eyes. The boy’s eyes sparkled in the sunlight. The man slowly stretched out a hand to those clear, transparent eyes. The boy flinched, and he soothed him.

“I’m not trying to hurt you.”

He placed a hand on the boy’s forehead for a long time. There was a thin veil in front of his face, so that boy couldn’t tell if his eyes were open and what kind of expression was on that face.

Then, the man picked him up. The small body flinched in surprise due to being held up in the air. The man asked.

“Do you want to live?”

The boy realized why he had been running only then. He also realized what had been chasing him so fearsomely. His small hand grabbed the man’s arm. He smiled pleasantly to feel that little warmth. The boy asked.

“Why?”

“What?”

“Can you do that?”

“Huh…”

The man laughed and put the boy down. He looked up at him with doubt. He showed his right hand and explained.

“I am the god of five things.”

“…God?”

“Yes, god.”

He sounded so confident that the boy couldn’t say anything.

“Existence, death, life, time,”

He folded his fingers one by one. As he said ‘time’, he waved his other hand, making the trees dancing in the wind stop at once. He liked the awed look on the boy’s face. He nodded and waved his hand again, letting the wind go its way.