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[It seems they all like that person.]
He observed the way those people were especially soft toward someone.
[Is being human… that good?]
Beom asked, his glossy eyes looking mesmerized.
He had tried to become human. So he sought out an old, frail man who climbed the mountain while coughing sickly, insisting on gathering herbs. But when he read the sorrow spreading across the old man’s face, he gave up. He didn’t have the confidence to overcome the emotion that dominated the old man.
He was afraid that same feeling would spread to him like a plague. That he would end up bearing emotions heavier than he already did.
[…I want to become human.]
Even if it was a fleeting desire, he wanted to sit across from Eomdongi and chat idly. Every time he closed his eyes, that person kept flickering in his mind.
That person with a small, pale face, smiling gently while eating the potatoes Eomdongi peeled for him. Beautiful, truly beautiful.
[But Eomdong… that person is very sick. He seems like he’ll… die soon.]
A rotten smell came from him. His arms looked painful. Soon… he might really die.
[Th-then, at that time…]
A pure greed filled Beom’s hesitant eyes. Moonlight fell white over his glossy eyes.
[I’ll… go inside and live in that body.]
His voice, murmuring in a daze, was like a winter breath. If he could live in that form, if he could inhabit a dead body and live by Eomdongi’s side, wouldn’t that body eventually become his own?
Before he knew it, the tiger was smiling brightly. Maybe ‘smiling’ wasn’t the right word. But to Ju Uiryeong, it looked like a desperate smile, like joy.
Just as clouds covered the moon, the dark beast turned around. Then it vanished through the darkness.
The night wind was dark and cold. Only after everything fell silent did Ju Uiryeong remove his hand from his mouth, which he had been pressing against it.
Han Dokyeom is going to die soon?
His body trembled uncontrollably. His heart pounded, and a metallic sound rose in his throat. The breath he had been holding burst out along with his thoughts.
He wants to… take over Han Dokyeom’s body?
He sucked in a breath with a stiff head for a moment, then suddenly froze. It had been suspicious from the start. When he heard Ellen Brown’s story, a question had flashed in one corner of his heart. The part about the ‘Authority’ pushing them out of the gate on its own.
The ‘Authority’ must have been,
“…It had a consciousness of its own.”
It was a life that could think and act on its own. The thing seemed to have the power to inhabit and parasitize other lives, and it intended to choose Han Dokyeom as its host.
“What do I do?”
No matter what kind of competition this was, the goal was to take the ‘Authority’ and leave. But if he summarized what the thing said, it wanted to settle down and live here forever. With that ‘Eomdongi’.
He couldn’t take both of them… out. Eomdongi was originally a being of the past living inside this gate. Did Han Dokyeom know this? That the ‘Authority’ wanted to take over his body?
His thoughts scattered in all directions. When they swelled uncontrollably as if about to burst, Ju Uiryeong finally closed his mouth and lifted his head.
“…Miss Lee Jihyun.”
“Yes.”
Because killing Eomdongi might actually be the most effective method.
“There’s something I need you to do with your abilities, Miss Lee.”
Snow began to fall softly from the black sky again. Lee Jihyun frowned and shook her head, yet the world became even quieter.
Ju Uiryeong traced the clearly remaining beast’s footprints as if following them.
“You know that tiger carcass that fell off the cliff earlier. I think you need to take it and go to the village for a while.”
“To the village? What for?”
“I need to lure the villagers here and get rid of Eomdongi and his mother.”
He planned to make Eomdongi’s death look like an accident. That way, if things went wrong, it would be easy to wash his hands and get away. It was better to handle death as publicly as possible, and disguised as an accident. Even better if the ‘villagers’ did it.
“Go down to the village and do some hunting. The younger the better. Kill a few kids… or make one bite and climb the mountain with it.”
If Eomdongi died like that, he planned to whisper softly into the ‘Authority’s ear as it trembled with rage.
“Just hunting? Without luring or inciting?”
“That’s also good, of course. It would be even better if you lured the people here and made them attack the thatched house.”
He would exploit the weak gaps, soothe them, and offer them a nice ‘gift’.
“I’ll signal you when the time comes. Oh, there’s one more thing I need you to do before that.”
Ju Uiryeong smiled, revealing his white teeth. When his smile was filled with shadows, even the pitch-black night seemed cozy. Once the snow erased the beast’s footprints, it would be time to act.
To do that, he first had to lure Han Dokyeom outside.
****
“What? Why are you looking at me like that? I know I was late, but do you think it’s easy to find someone in these mountains? Someone with my skills could find you this quickly. Because I’m Yisaein.”
“Yeah, yeah…”
Baek Jiun, who was peeling sweet potatoes in front of Yisaein, answered half-listening, saying that must have been tough. Then he took a big bite out of a well-peeled sweet potato.
“But, sis, what about washing up a bit…?”
“Hey. If you wash and something happens, will you take responsibility? Are you telling me to wash and then come out to fight? Or do I look like someone who cares about being clean!?”
“…No, I just meant washing your face. Just a face wash.”
“Mind your own business. I’ll do it when I think it’s safe. I wash well outside too. It’s only because we’re inside this gate. Who knows when an unexpected attack might come?”
Yisaein tied up her hair, which was tangled with twigs, and tossed it over her shoulder. In just a few days, her face had become dark as if she had crawled into a rabbit hole, and her once shiny clothes had gotten grimy. She must have been running around a lot.
Since she showed no intention of washing, Baek Jiun gave up. He just flopped over on his side, chewing sweet potato and scanning the cramped house that had suddenly become even smaller.
“Wow… I wondered when everyone would gather, but we actually did.”
True to Baek Jiun’s words, on the morning of the third day, as Yisaein stepped into the yard, all the members of the Sahyeon Guild were gathered together.
Agon and Beom Yeonhu had also shown up yesterday, so things were going smoothly.
“Yesterday it was all tearful reunions, but today why is everyone so quiet?”
Baek Jiun twisted his mouth and blatantly scanned the three people stuck together like glue. Just yesterday, as soon as they crossed the threshold, Agon and Beom Yeonhu had pushed him aside and occupied the room, putting on a very tearful reunion. Because of that, Baek Jiun hadn’t been able to stretch his legs and sleep comfortably all night.
“Ugh, annoying.”
They had been fussing all night, growling at each other if even a toe touched, so there was no way he could sleep. In the end, Baek Jiun, without a word, curled up in a corner of the room and stayed awake until morning.
I’m really pitiful.
Even then, if Dokyeom hadn’t forced Agon and Beom Yeonhu to lie down in the bedding, they would have made a fuss all night.
It was a blessing that this was a warm house; if it had been a drafty shack or an empty field with snow pouring down, they would have definitely finished him off. How dare they bring a sick patient to a place like this?
Look at them clinging together even now.
“Th-the house is cramped, I’m sorry… The young lady can share the mother’s room.”
With five adults crowded inside, nowhere would look spacious, but Eomdongi scratched the back of his head as if apologetic for the reversal of roles, looking very good-natured.
“Sorry, Eomdong-ssi. While we’re here, we’ll help out with things.”
“Ah, no! It’s been a long time since I’ve seen this much commotion. I just hope you can stay comfortably. Even my mother seems to like it, though she doesn’t say anything.”
Eomdongi, who had been waving his hands, glanced at the basket of sweet potatoes and then got up again, saying he would bring some potatoes. He was a man who generously gave out the harvested crops, saying they had plenty of drought-resistant food that year.
Dried game meat hung here and there in the kitchen, and he even said that before winter, he had caught fresh game and traded it at the market for barley and rice.
Their household was quite well-off for getting through winter. Besides, just a few days ago, a roe deer had been left in the yard.
“I’ll go check on Mother in the next room and bring some food. Please, make yourselves comfortable.”
As the tall man left, the room fell silent. Everyone’s gaze, which had been exchanging wordlessly, soon turned to Dokyeom.
Agon, Beom Yeonhu, Baek Jiun, Yisaein. Even Dali.
They didn’t say it, but they all seemed to have made their own guesses about this gate. Who the ‘Authority’ from the ‘scene’ they saw before entering was. Who they had to protect and who the enemy was.
Instinctively, all of them stared at Dokyeom. As if waiting for an explanation. As if asking for a way forward.
“Bro, let’s stop and talk now. I’ve been dying of curiosity since yesterday.”
“Wait. Let me sort out my thoughts.”
“What thoughts have you been sorting for two whole days? You’ve been saying that since yesterday.”
Baek Jiun, who had been lying on his side, sat up abruptly and tapped the floor.
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