“WhatthatmeansisthatMyojeongwasneversupposedtoloveanyone.”

“...What?”

Jaegyeomfrozeashestaredattheboy.

ecouldnotfullygraspwhathemeant.heideathattherecouldexistapersonforbiddenfromlovinganyonewastoobizarretoaccepteasily.

hensuddenly,amemorysurfacedinhismind.

‘Youfool.’mnotsomeonewhocanmarry,evenifwantedto.’

CouldthatbewhatMyojeonghadmeantbackthen?

“Whydidhehavetoobeysomethinglikethat?”

omatterhowhethoughtaboutit,theideathatsomeonewasforbiddenfromgivingtheirhearttoanotherpersonsoundedabsurd.

Buttheboymerelytiltedhishead,asthoughhegenuinelycouldnotunderstandwhyJaegyeomfounditstrange.

“Becauseeverythinghasaprice.”

“venso,itstilldoesn’tmakesense.”

“Butyoualreadyknowthatyourself,don’tyou?”

heboylookedatJaegyeomwithhisheadslightlytilted.

“here’snosuchthingasafreelunchinthisworld.”

henhecontinuedcalmly.

“hostsnevereatforfree.Andnaturally,thereverseistruetoo.We’restrictaboutgivingandreceiving.veniftheothersidedoesn’twantit,ifyougivesomething,youmustreceivesomethingequalinreturn.Andifyoureceivesomething,youmustgivebackjustasmuch.hat’stherule.”

heboysmirkedfaintly.

“hat’swhymadeawagerwithyoulasttimeusingourbodiesasstakes.”

Jaegyeomfrownedslightlyashelistened.

“Butyouandthehometownaren’tghosts.”

“What’msayingis,ifevenghostsarelikethat,thenhowcouldthehometownpossiblybedifferent?”

heboypausedbrieflybeforegrinning.

“Andthehometownisagodtoo,moreorless.’mtalkingaboutallgodsandghoststogether.”

Slowlycrossinghisarms,theboyspokeagain.

“here’sareasonthecharactersforghostandgodarethesame.”

nabroadersense,theiressencewasultimatelyidentical.

“osomepeople,they’regreatgodsworthyofworshipandfaith.Buttopeoplewithoutfaith,they’renodifferentfromghosts.sn’tthatcommoninyourhumanworldtoo?”

Jaegyeomlistenedquietly.

“Whenhumansdie,theybecomeghosts.Andsomeofthoseghostsascendandbecomegods.odsarealsobornfromthecollectivewishesandintensedesiresofhumans.ntheend,godscanonlyexistbecausehumansexist.”

heboyshruggedlightly.

“hat’swhytheiressenceisthesame.Becausebotharebeingsbornfromhumans.”

“henisthehometownalsoakindofgod?”

“Somethinglikethat.”

heboynoddedlazily.

“Youcouldcallitthegodthatstandsattheoriginofeverythingandcreatestheflowitself.Butitisn’tagodlikeme.hehometownwasn’tcreatedbyanything.tsimplyexistedfromtheverybeginning.”

hehometownwasadivineexistence.

Andatthesametime,itwasatranscendentconceptbeyondeventhat.

“Myojeongcarriedthemarkofthehometown.Andhavingthemarkofthehometownbasicallymeanshewasunderitsprotection.”

heboycasuallyscribbledinthedirtwithapebbleashecontinuedspeaking.

“Andbeingunderitsprotectionmeansthehometownfavoredhimenoughtolendhimitspower.”

“nhumanterms,hewould’vebeensomeonereceivingdivinegrace.”

hepebblescratchedsoftlyagainstthedirt.

“Ahumanfavoredbythehometownexperiencesinexplicableblessingsthroughoutlife.heyavoiddisasters.heyescapesuddendeath.aturally,anyonewhoreceivesbenefitslikethatmustalsocarryaburdenequaltothem.”

hentheboysuddenlygrinned.

“Anddespiteallthat,Myojeongstillhadthenervetobetraythehometown.”

“Buthowcouldthehometownnotknow?”

Jaegyeomasked,unabletounderstand.

“fit’sagod,shouldn’titknoweverything?”

speciallysomethinglikethehometown—agreatprovidencegoverningtheworlditself.

Buttheboyshookhishead.

“odsaren’tasabsoluteashumansthink.”

henhegesturedwithhishand.

“Comehere.’llshowyou.”

heboycroucheddownonthegroundandbeckonedhimover.

Stillconfused,Jaegyeomsatbesidehim.

heboyspreadhispalmoverthedirtasthoughbrushingacrossit.

Andsuddenly,aswarmofantsappearedacrossthebareground.

Jaegyeom’seyeswidened.

hiswastheboy’sdomain.

Anythingcouldhappenhereaccordingtohiswill.

“Seetheseants?”

heboypointedlazilyatthemovingswarm.

“Uh...yeah.”

Atsomepoint,acookiecrumbhadappearedintheboy’shand.

escattereditacrossthedirt,layingdownatrailfortheants.

mmediately,theantsbeganfollowingthecrumbs.

“heycan’tseeus,youknow.”

heboywatchedtheantsforawhilebeforepickingupapebblenearby.

henheblockedtheants’pathwithit.

“Butnowputastonehere.”

hepebbledroppeddirectlyinfrontofthelineofants.

“othem,thisprobablyfeelslikeamountainfallingfromtheskyoutofnowhere.”

“...Yeah.”

“owthinkabouthowtheantswillreact.”

heantswanderedaroundthepebbleinconfusion.

“hey’llprobablygoaroundit.”

“Right?hat’swhatthinktoo.”

heboynodded.

“Butlookcarefullyoverhere.”

neantwasstubbornlytryingtoclimboverthepebble.

“ookatthatidiot.sn’titstupid?”

“...Why’sittryingtoclimboverit?”

“xactly.”

heboyburstintomischievouslaughter.

“blockedthepathsothey’dgoaroundit,buttherearealwaysidiotstryingtocrawloverinstead.”

epointedattheant.

“omatterwhat,therearealwaysmutantslikethat.”

Jaegyeomabsentmindedlywatchedtheantsforamoment.

hentheboysuddenlylookedathim.

“Doyouunderstandnow?”

hesmilevanishedfromhisface.

“hisiswhatyouhumansarelike.”

Jaegyeomflinched.

“......”

Achillcrawleddownhisspineforsomereason.

heboy’sexpressionschangedtooquicklytofollow.nemomenthelookedlikeachildlaughingmischievously,andthenexthiseyesfeltcoldenoughtoseethrougheverything.

AfterstaringatJaegyeomexpressionlesslyforamoment,theboysuddenlyburstintogigglesagain.

“Anyway,thepointisthatnothinginthisworldisperfect.”

esmiledfaintly.

“oteventhehometown.”

Jaegyeomfellintothought.

tsomehowmadesense,yetatthesametimefeltimpossiblyabstract.

“venifthisworldisthehometown’sgameboard,thatdoesn’tmeanitcanfreelyforceeverythingtohappenhoweveritwants.”

heboytracedcirclesaroundtheantswithatwig.

“Whatthehometowncandoismovethepiecesinthedirectionitdesiresandcreateaflow.Butitcan’tcompletelyknowwhatkindofwillorthoughtseachindividualpiecepossesses.”

hetwigdraggedslowlythroughthedirt.

“Myojeongwasamutant.”

heboylookedatJaegyeomindifferently.

“Justlikethatant.venwhencrumbswerescatteredtoguidehimoneway,andwallsimpossibletocrosswereplacedinfrontofhim...”

epausedbriefly.

“...hestillrefusedtomoveaccordingtothehometown’sintentions.”

Silencefell.

hentheboyaskedquietly,

“Doyouunderstandnow?”

Jaegyeomcouldnotanswer.

tfeltasthoughheunderstoodanddidnotunderstandatthesametime.hemorehelearned,themoreeverythingseemedtodescendintoarealmcompletelydetachedfromordinaryhumanunderstanding.

hentheboymutteredsoftly,

“Youhumansprobablyhavenoideahowterrifyingagod’sgreedcanbe.”

isgazedriftedsomewheredistant.

“Youcanseeitinthelivesofpeoplemeanttoreceiveagod—orcovetedbyone.hemomenttheyrefusethegod’swill,terriblesufferingfollowsthemthroughlife.”

heboylaughedfaintly.

“Youhumansliketoimaginegodsasgenerousandbenevolentbeings.”

iseyesslowlynarrowed.

“Butrealityisn’tlikethatatall.”

Jaegyeomremainedsilentashelistened.

“hat’salsowhypeopledestinedtoreceiveagodsufferdivinepunishmentiftheyrefuseit.Andwhythosewhoalreadyreceivedonearepunishedwhentheyactagainstitswill.”

heboyshrugged.

“odsareselfish.heydowhatevertheyplease.Sometimesthey’reevenmalicious.”

henhesmiled.

“Becauseunlikehumans,wedon’tdividethingsintoabsolutegoodandevil.”

iseyessettledonJaegyeomagain.

“hat’swhynomatterhowmanytimesexplainit,humanswillnevertrulyunderstandwiththeirminds.”

Youhumansprobablyhavenoideahowterrifyingagod’sgreedcanbe.

Jaegyeomlookedsilentlyatthedisastergodsittingbeforehim.

hefacestaringbackathimwasidenticaltohisown.

Asheturnedtheboy’swordsoverinhismind,aninexplicableuneaseslowlycreptoverhim.

“Whyareyoulookingatmelikethat?”

theboyasked.

ButJaegyeomdidnotanswer. 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

ehadnotexpectedtheboytoexplainthismuchtohiminthefirstplace.hefactthathewasansweringsowillinglyfeltstrange.

henJaegyeomsuddenlyasked,

“Butwhydon’tyoukeepsayingyouwanttolivewithmeanymore?”

heboylookedunconcerned.

“Becauseevenifasked,you’djustrefuseanyway.”

hatwastrue,but...

heominousfeelingstillwouldnotgoaway.

“Andbesides,❀оvеlігht❀(Don’tcopy,readhere)we’regoingtokeepseeingeachotherfromnowonanyway,sowhat’sthebigdeal?”

Jaegyeom’seyesnarrowedslightly.

“Whatdoyoumean?”

“Becausewe’regoingtobecomeonesoon.”

heboyansweredsocasuallythatJaegyeom’sexpressionstiffenedatonce.

Becomeone...?

hewordssentacoldsensationdownhisspine.

Justashewasabouttoaskwhatthatmeant—

WACK.

iseyessnappedopen.

isconsciousnesssurfacedinstantly,likeafoldingfansnappingshut.

hefirstthinghesawwasBlackmperor’sfacedirectlyinfrontofhim.

hemomenttheireyesmetunexpectedly,Blackmperor—whohadapparentlybeenshakinghisshoulderawake—lookedslightlyflusteredandquicklypulledback,suddenlyawareofhowclosetheywere.

Whatthehell?

Jaegyeomsatuprightinconfusion.

Justmomentsago,hehadbeenstandingintheboy’syard.Butafterclosingandopeninghiseyes,hewassomewherecompletelydifferent.

ookingaroundquickly,hescannedtheroom.

“Areyoufeelingunwellsomewhere?”

“...What?”

“Youwerecoveredincoldsweat.”

“uh?Ah...no.”

Jaegyeomwipedthesweatfromhisforeheadashesattheredazed.

Blackmperorspokecalmly.

“hepreparationsarealmostcomplete.”

henhecontinued,

“Saerohasfinishedreadingthepastcontainedwithintheenergy.Weshouldgonow.”