Chapter 71: King of the Mountain Pt. 3
"Ugh…"
It was freezing cold inside of the cave. He wondered if it was because of the warmth of Mt. Baekdu. The cold began to creep even more bitterly and even more terrifyingly. Sangun, who ruled Heaven Lake Village and was said to be the owner of the mountain, resided in this bitterly freezing place.
“Hm hmm hmm.”
The surprising part was that the girl who guided Lee Jun-Kyeong and his companions was walking through the cave while humming. She was a child that was supposedly the village chief of Heaven Lake Village.
“Do you happen to know the myth of Dangun?”
Suddenly, Lee Jun-Kyeong spoke to Jeong In-Chang, who was stumbling with his steps.
"The myth of Dangun…?" Jeong In-Chang murmured.
Lee Jun-Kyeong continued, “One of the forgotten national myths is called the myth of Dangun.”
Lee Jun-Kyeong had read and studied many books in order to move forward and grow further. He had also come across the myth of Dangun by chance.
“It’s a myth that is similar to the founding myth that speaks of when Hwanung came down and founded the Korean people, that is, our country."
As he didn’t know Lee Jun-Kyeong all that closely, Jeong In-Chang looked confused.
“What are you talking about that for?” he asked.
“Because you might be a little more familiar with the beings here if you knew the myth.”
Screech.
Rather than try to make sense of Lee Jun-Kyeong’s ramblings, he just drew his greatsword and moved forward.
"Is this something we can hunt?” he asked. Jeong In-Chang had become worried about the fact that Lee Jun-Kyeong said he was going to hunt Sangun after having seen Heaven Lake Village and after having understood the situation further.
“It seems as though this Sangun seems to be protecting these people… is this something that we are okay to hunt? Or…”
“...”
“Is it even possible to hunt it?”
In response, Lee Jun-Kyeong simply began to walk faster without answering, though the little girl must have heard what they were talking about.
“Hehehe.”
The little girl was still humming and walking ahead.
"…"
Then, they felt a vast mana that burdened their entire bodies.
“Sangun!”
Within the misty veil that resembled a mana stream, they finally realized that they had arrived. The little girl jumped forward and soon disappeared behind the veil. Jeong In-Chang was worried while Lee Jun-Kyeong was staring at the being shrouded in darkness.
“Are you Sangun?” he asked.
It was an enormous mass of mana, with a body three times larger than Catalyon.
–Looks like you’re some special guests, ho ho.
There was a giant Baekho crouched down, staring down at them.
***
–How rude of me.
As if it had just realized that the cave was dark, the tiger lit the cave up using its mana.
Flicker.
However, the spirit fire floating in the air was oddly powerless for some reason and wasn’t able to illuminate the inside of the cave completely.
It was just enough to reveal the tiger, him, and his companions. The flames seemed quite lacking compared to the strength it must have had. The little girl was sitting on Baekho’s palm and giggling.
–Okay. Whether it’s that you broke through the formation I set up or that you know who I am… you seem to be a valuable guest in many different ways.
It spoke in a hoarse voice that echoed in their heads. The cave trembled like thunder.
“Are you Sangun?” Lee Jun-Kyeong asked again.
–That’s right. I am Sangun, who protects Mt. Baekdu. Didn’t you know who I was?”
The tiger slightly expressed his displeasure at Lee Jun-Kyeong's sharp tone. What followed was an outright provocation.
“What a mess you are.”
–...
“Mr. Lee…?”
A clear sense of discomfort lay in the air, and after a heavy pressure, Jeong In-Chang called out to Lee Jun-Kyeong as if he had no idea that the man was going to begin the conversation like this.
“Looks like you’re just wasting away.”
However, Lee Jun-Kyeong’s provocation hadn’t ended just yet.
–...
Nevertheless, the tiger stayed silent.
“The formation that protects Mt. Baekdu and your power to control the climate will all disappear soon, won’t it, Sangun?”
–Ahem…
The tiger murmured to itself as if he was acknowledging what the Hunter said as truth.
It definitely had an enormous amount of mana. So vast, in fact, that it seemed to be connected to the entirety of Mt. Baekdu. It was enough mana that it was incomprehensible.
‘But it’s dying.’
However, Mt. Baekdu, the source of its mana, was being destroyed.
–Who are you...?
Lee Jun-Kyeong laughed to himself; he was wondering why nobody was asking him this again. Well, he did know things that others didn’t, and it was natural to ask someone how they knew secrets that should have been hidden.
“I am…” Lee Jun-Kyeong slowly closed his eyes and opened them. "...someone who will help you."
–...?
"You're not the one I wanted to meet, Sangun."
Mana flowed out of Lee Jun-Kyeong, and the vast mana of Sangun…
‘It’s being pushed back?’
Jeong In-Chang couldn’t believe the situation. In a clash between power, of course, the one with the strongest power would win. The same went for mana. It was clear that Lee Jun-Kyeong was a great Hunter, but his mana was definitely lacking as compared to the mana Sangun possessed.
The expected result would have been for Lee Jun-Kyeong to lose.
“But, I want to meet the real owner of this mountain.”
–How impudent!
The cave began to resound like thunder, and the trembling transitioned over the mountain.
The entire mountain was angry. Sangun and Mt. Baekdu were one.
“Didn’t you lose? After all, you had Mt. Baekdu taken from you. However, you, cowardly enough, succeeded in sealing it away, but you definitely aren’t the real owner. I want to meet the real owner of the mountain. Also…” Lee Jun-Kyeong said without any regard for the tiger’s anger.
“I will save you and Heaven Lake Village.”
–...
The anger of the tiger slowly faded away, and Baekho’s huge eyes were trembling in embarrassment.
-You…
Sangun asked once again.
–Who are you?
***
“I’m still shaking, Mr. Lee…”
Although Jeong In-Chang could see himself getting stronger the longer he spent with Lee Jun-Kyeong, it seemed as though his lifespan was being shortened accordingly.
Lee Jun-Kyeong had actually provoked the huge tiger.
‘This crazy bastard.’
Jeong In-Chang forcefully swallowed the words that bubbled up to his throat.
"Are you calling me a crazy bastard in your mind right now?"
Jeong In-Chang became flustered. “Uh… C… can you even read minds?”
“Haha, no. It just seemed like that’s what you were doing.”
"…"
“I mean, considering you saw me provoke a being with such immense power, it’s warranted that you would call me crazy,” Lee Jun-Kyeong said calmly. He began to peel a single ripe potato and put it in his mouth. "You must have gotten tired of eating only jerky. Have some."
"Ah, yes…"
Jeong In-Chang accepted the potato that Lee Jun-Kyeong gave him.
"That was just an illusion it built for you to see."
"Pardon?"
“Although the power it held really was vast, in reality, he only had a tiny amount it could wield. The power you felt earlier was only after various methods of intersecting amplifications.”
‘There he goes again, saying something incomprehensible.’
So Jeong-In-Chang put down the potato he was about to eat. He wondered until when he would be like this.
‘You can’t continue being?the?idiot forever.’
Originally, he wasn't that stupid. He also knew a great many things, and he was someone who had ranked 3rd in the CSAT.
There was no way that it was that he was the stupid one. It was just that the person in front of him knew too much. Regardless, it was time for him to overcome what he didn’t know.
“Please explain it to me,” he asked. “What kind of being is Sangun? Is it… is it something similar to the deer that we rode?”
It was definitely a beast, a beast of enormous size and mana. But still, there was something off.
He then asked, “Didn’t you say that it isn’t a monster either?”
No matter how much he thought about it, he couldn’t understand. Eventually, Lee Jun-Kyeong put down the potatoes he was eating.
“Hmm… you can think of it as similar to the deer we rode. However, it’s a bit more advanced than that.”
Lee Jun-Kyeong sifted through his memories to give Jeong In-Chang the answer he was searching for.
“For now, to put it simply, you can think of it as a being that received mana from the land that turned into a gate and has changed its very nature and form,” Lee Jun-Kyeong explained.
“But it can speak the human language, and the enormous mana it possesses is too much to be regarded as a simple beast. Furthermore, it's acting as if it is protecting the people here.”
Lee Jun-Kyeong nodded. "Yes. It's because it's a little bit special."
"And by special, you mean…?"
"He wasn't a normal beast even before he was affected by the mana. Have you ever heard of a yeongsu?”
Lee Jun-Kyeong continued, “Whether it's Mt. Baekdu or other special places around the world, there are things that had already changed according to omens of the area even before the gates appeared. They could be people, things, or anything you could imagine."
Jeong In-Chang repeatedly blinked at the story that he was hearing for the first time in his life–no, it wasn’t just Jeong In-Chang, there probably weren’t many people in the world who knew of something like this yet.
“Furthermore, these yeongsu were born from the omens of the gate. That is, from the process of the mana flowing from the earth. Unlike normal beasts, they have huge bodies and even more incredible strength…”
He spoke as he rapped his knuckles on his temple.
“And, they’re smarter as well. Yeongsu have lived for incredibly long times, so they eventually become the main characters in legends and myths. Sometimes they even act as if they are truly humans.”
Jeong In-Chang nodded slowly as if he was being convinced by the answer.
“Furthermore, that bastard, that is, the Sangun who protects Heaven Lake Village, is even more special.” He paused before saying, “It has a Sponsor.”
“...Ah, I see.” Jeong In-Chang nodded his head blankly.
"Wait, what…?"
He realized the strangeness of what he had just heard.
“It’s also a Hunter. It’s just currently wounded from the enemy who had invaded Mt. Baekdu earlier. Besides, that bastard isn’t the thing we’re supposed to hunt,” Lee Jun-Kyeong continued with a smile. "Of course, we’re after the intruder who hurt it."
"…?"
As Jeong In-Chang stood in shock for a moment, a voice came from outside, “Uncles!”
It was the little girl that had guided them to Sangun, the little girl who had been named the village chief of Heaven Lake Village.
"Are you ready?"
As they heard the bubbly voice of the mysterious child, Lee Jun-Kyeong got up from his seat.
“Let’s head out.”
***
"I've never seen anyone treat Sangun like that!"
The child constantly talked to Lee Jun-Kyeong the entire time they walked.
"It's also the first time I've seen Sangun so shocked! Who the hell are you, uncle?"
“I’m not an uncle,” Lee Jun-Kyeong patiently responded.
The girl ignored him. “Are you really going to save Sangun and Heaven Lake Village?”
"…"
“It’s going to be difficult, though. You could die, uncle.”
“I’m not an uncle.”
Jeong In-Chang awkwardly scratched his cheek at the comedic sight of their constant bickering. Furthermore, that wasn’t the end of it either. Around them, the chatter continued.
“Apparently, they’re going to Heaven Lake…”
“There’s no way…”
“What if they just end up dragging us into something big too?”
“But Sangun approved it.”
Perhaps they had heard about their meeting with Sangun, but the people of Heaven Lake Village had come out to watch them.
Watching them, who were headed for Heaven Lake.
‘Heaven Lake…’ Jeong In-Chang thought.
Lee Jun-Kyeong had made a promise with Sangun. He would defeat the intruders and save the mountain and the village.
‘I wonder what the price could be.’
He wasn’t able to hear what it was, as Sangun and Lee Jun-Kyeong had negotiated amongst themselves after sending him out along with the little village chief of Heaven Lake Village.
All Jeong In-Chang knew was that the negotiation went well and that Lee Jun-Kyeong’s expression was good.
With that, they began their journey to Heaven Lake.
Their journey to defeat the intruder, the master of the mountain, Sangun, and to destroy the bastard that occupied Mt. Baekdu.
“We’ve arrived!” the little girl shouted aloud. The group stopped, and the onlookers couldn’t approach as if they were facing a plague. Instead, they retreated far away.
“You have to jump in once I could to three, uncles!”
“I told you, I’m not an uncle. You’re older than me too, but you keep calling me uncle…”
The little girl refused to listen to Lee Jun-Kyeong even until the end, and playfully approached the huge Heaven Lake and raised her hands.
The little girl—no, the woman closed her eyes and chanted something.
Gurgle.
The surface of Heaven Lake began to vibrate.
“One!”
The little girl’s count had started.
Drop.
Alongside her count of one, the vibration stopped.
“Two!”
When she called the second number, a huge vibration sounded out once again. It was as if there had been a landslide, and the entirety of Mt. Baekdu resounded.
"Three!"
“Oh, my god…”
Finally, on Heaven Lake, a change took place.
The little girl cried out, “Open, Heaven and Earth!”
"…”
Swish!
As Jeong In-Chang blankly thought about the odd spell, Lee Jun-Kyeong, who was standing next to him, kicked the ground and ran towards the opening like the wind.
“L… let’s go together!”
Jeong In-Chang started running after him. Soon, the two threw themselves into the swirling, boiling Heaven Lake.
Gurgle.
“Close! Heaven and Earth!”
The woman recited a familiar spell once again, and the divide in Heaven Lake began to close its maw. The glint in her eyes shifted, and her youthful little eyes of a child became something that was both more mature and serious.
"Come back alive. Oppas,” she muttered as even her voice had changed.
1. Baekho, or Baihu, is one of the four symbols of the Chinese Constellations, otherwise known as the four Mythical Beasts. As the White Tiger, it is known as the king of beasts and the Guardian of the West. In Korean myth, it’s often tied together with Sangun, sometimes synonymous with each other.
2. ???, or doekkaebi, is often translated as Korean goblins. However, doekkaebi are more similar to nature spirits or forest deities than western goblins, as they come from spiritual possession/awakening of inanimate objects to turn into spiritual figures. Therefore, instead of goblin fire, I translated it as spirit fire.
3. CSAT, or the College Scholastic Ability Test, often abbreviated as ??(Suneung), is the Korean College entrance exam. It’s given once a year on the third Thursday of November and is one of the most important days of the year in Korea. Businesses, military activities, etc., are all closed or canceled on the day of the exam.
4. A yeongsu, or a yosu, refers to an auspicious beast, a beast that looks like an animal but can speak the human tongue. Consider the kirin, nine-tailed fox, etc.
5. Female form of Hyung, a younger girl would say this to an older brother, but can also be used as a term of affection.
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