Chapter 100 : Ji-Cheon Man-Geum Rite (2)
Chapter 100: Ji-Cheon Man-Geum Rite (2)
‘So it was the Queen Mother of the West…….’
A beautiful female immortal, whose beauty seemed to transcend the very concept of beauty, stepped forward as lightly as a fallen leaf.
Her movement was so delicate and graceful that it felt as though time itself had briefly come to a halt.
‘This definitely wasn’t a rite meant to directly summon a Transcendent Being…….’
According to how I had read and analyzed the text, the Ji-Cheon Man-Geum Rite was not a sacrificial ritual in which a Transcendent Being directly descended.
If so, there was only one possibility I could think of.
‘No way…….’
“Hi, h-hiik……!”
The Gwanjin Daoist covered his face with both hands as he faced the light pouring out from the Queen Mother of the West.
“Why, why, why would the Queen Mother of the West herself personally……! Keuheok, keogheok……!”
Before long, foam formed at his mouth as his eyes rolled back, and he collapsed unconscious.
It was a presence so overwhelming that even a religious practitioner who had studied the miracles of the Celestial Realm for decades could not endure it.
‘So this is the power of a Transcendent Being…….’
A ‘god’ who wielded absolute authority over a single world.
The gaze of such an existence fell upon Diesel.
Soon, her gentle and beautiful voice echoed inside my head.
〈So it was you.〉
And then.
A name I had never expected was spoken.
〈The younger sibling of the Supreme Swordsman, Lee Hamin.〉
‘Ugh…….’
The Queen Mother of the West.
The greatest immortal who ruled Kunlun Mountain of the Celestial Realm.
The light flowing from her was powerful enough to make a Daoist with decades of cultivation faint on the spot.
Naturally, I too could not remain unaffected by that presence.
‘I… can’t… breathe…….’
It felt as though something immense was forcefully pressing down on my body.
Was this what it felt like to be crushed to death like an insect?
No matter how hard I tried to inhale, my breathing would not steady.
I barely managed to cling to my fading consciousness.
‘My gaze…… as far down as possible…….’
With every ounce of strength I had, I lowered my head.
This was not an act of reverence toward a Transcendent Being.
It was a purely survival-driven action.
‘If I keep facing that, I’ll definitely die.’
For a moment, I wondered if it would be better to just let go and pass out.
But as I somehow endured and remained standing, the Queen Mother of the West’s benevolent voice echoed in my mind.
〈Such impressive willpower.〉
The female immortal smiled and gently waved her hand.
At once, the intensity of the light radiating from her noticeably diminished.
“Huff…… huff…….”
As the pressure eased, I hastily drew in breath.
An Azure Bird that had been flying around inside the hall landed on the female immortal’s shoulder and let out a metallic cry toward me.
As if calming the bird, the Queen Mother of the West gently stroked it and spoke softly.
〈As expected, you carry the spirit befitting that hero’s bloodline.〉
A hero.
I recalled the name the Queen Mother of the West had mentioned just moments ago.
‘The Supreme Swordsman, Lee Hamin…….’
My older brother—and the original owner of the body I was now inhabiting.
‘Why does the Queen Mother of the West know my brother?’
I already knew that my brother had traveled through other worlds in the past.
But to have had ties even with the Queen Mother of the West?
This wasn’t something I could just brush off.
‘No matter how exceptional my brother was, the Queen Mother of the West isn’t an ordinary Transcendent Being…….’
In terms of levels, the Absolute Beings of the highest ninth rank.
Those who had come to fully govern a single realm, reigning as literal ‘gods.’
Yet even among those level-nine beings, the Queen Mother of the West stood at the very extreme.
‘Existences that can’t even be assigned a level.’
Beings so powerful that even the mightiest gods dared not provoke them.
In fact, she was said to possess the unfathomable ability to create an entirely new ‘realm.’
‘A Creator of Realms.’
The Queen Mother of the West had reached a domain beyond all measures.
And yet, my brother had known such an Absolute Being.
‘What in the world did you actually do……?’
As I wrestled with my questions, the Queen Mother of the West spoke.
〈You seem to have many things on your mind.〉
At her words, I sensed something.
A gentle consideration, as if she were granting me permission to ask.
‘If that’s the case…….’
This was an extraordinary opportunity.
A chance to ask questions of someone connected to a Creator of Realms.
Swallowing the countless questions rising within me, I asked the most important one.
“Do you…… know my brother?”
A question that could serve as an answer to many things.
If I could rely on her kindness, it might even yield countless secrets.
With great effort, I lifted my heavy head and cautiously glanced at the female immortal.
It took time for her answer to come.
Even the Azure Bird, which had been crying out warily until moments ago, fell silent.
A brief silence flowed.
The one who ended that eternity-long moment was the Queen Mother of the West, speaking in a voice full of compassion.
〈Of course I do.〉
“…….”
〈Lee Hamin was a man who cherished his younger sibling deeply.〉
“I see…….”
〈He was the only mortal who ever refused the fruit of the Pan Tao Garden.〉
‘What……? The Pan Tao Garden……?’
I recalled the Taoist knowledge Ar had organized for me.
It was the orchard where peaches that granted immortality were said to grow.
‘He refused that?’
A blessing of the Celestial Realm that could grant unimaginable wealth even if one merely took it and sold it, without eating it.
Why would he refuse something like that?
‘Was he insane?’
One question led to another.
But the Queen Mother of the West’s next words rendered those questions insignificant.
〈I am pleased that the fruit has finally returned to its rightful owner.〉
“……Pardon?”
I muttered in disbelief.
‘Then that means…….’
My brother hadn’t refused it…….
‘He gave it up?’
At the same time, a certain assumption surfaced in my mind.
‘Could it be that my brother…….’
My younger sibling who had died before the world became what it was.
Perhaps he had been preparing for Lee Hajin’s return to this world.
〈Unlike your brother, you are a child who thinks too much.〉
After observing me, the Queen Mother of the West smiled kindly and extended her index finger.
〈That can sometimes become poison.〉
The tip of the female immortal’s finger touched a mortal’s forehead.
And with that—
“Ah…….”
Deeng…….
The sound of a quiet bell spreading outward rang through the air.
As if the plug had been pulled from a blaring speaker, all worries and stray thoughts vanished in an instant.
In their place, a single memory that had been submerged deep within my consciousness surfaced.
At the deep foothills of Kunlun Mountain, where countless immortals had gathered together.
The scene of my older brother receiving some kind of promise from the Queen Mother of the West.
‘Unbelievable…….’
The Ji-Cheon Man-Geum Rite—a sacrifice said to have been realized when a homeless man once received a divine revelation.
Its original owner had been a completely different person.
〈Come closer.〉
At the Queen Mother of the West’s words, I stepped forward as if bewitched.
With each step I took, branches slid gently down from the Celestial Realm reflected on the ceiling.
〈You truly bear a most ill-fated destiny.〉
Flowers bloomed instantly from the branches.
Their fragrance was so strong that I could have lost consciousness if I wasn’t careful.
〈A child who bears the burden of every world.〉
Just as quickly as they had bloomed, the flowers withered.
Petals that had clustered in layers fell like snow.
〈Please, do not forget.〉
Soon, a single fruit swelled like a balloon and formed on the branch.
A sweetness utterly incomparable to the fragrance the flowers had released moments ago.
〈That you are not alone.〉
The Queen Mother of the West plucked the luscious fruit cleanly from the branch.
Then she began to gently breathe her breath into it.
‘This is…….’
〈A fruit that will guide your destiny from now on.〉
‘That’s impossible…….’
Carved into the fruit were powerful characters unlike anything I had ever seen before.
The touch of a great being capable of overturning the very destiny of whoever consumed it.
Just looking at it was enough to make my entire body tremble.
“Then if I eat this, does my financial fortune increase……?”
At that question, the Queen Mother of the West smiled.
〈Forcibly increased financial fortune is no different from a curse.〉
‘A curse……?’
I recalled what had become of Meihua Group’s founding chairman.
Betrayed by those he trusted because of money, only to meet a miserable end.
〈What matters is proper ‘guidance.’〉
With that brief, enigmatic explanation,
the Queen Mother of the West held out the fruit toward me.
“…….”
I carefully accepted the fruit.
As I did, I unconsciously swallowed the saliva that had pooled in my mouth.
〈Eat it all. Leave nothing behind.〉
At her words, I brought the fruit in my hand to my mouth.
Then I took a large bite.
‘Mm…….’
Juice filled my mouth, carrying a refreshing aroma.
As if drinking a beverage, liquid poured down my throat in gulps.
A sweetness I had never tasted before in my life.
The texture of the flesh was like eating a cloud.
Even the seed of the fruit was so soft that I devoured it in no time at all.
〈With this, the promise has been kept.〉
The Queen Mother of the West smiled at me.
At the same time, a warm breeze began to blow from somewhere.
Like being wrapped snugly in a blanket, the breeze gently wiped away what was left around my lips.
Carried by that cozy airflow, I closed my eyes for a moment.
‘……?’
When I opened them again,
there was nothing there, as if it had all been a dream.
Only the faint scent of the fruit lingering in the air,
as if to tell me that what had just happened was real.
[It’s true, I’m telling you! I thought it was just a simple backup server, but it turned out to be a slush fund vault!]
Inside the Aerodyne heading back to Seoul.
I was continuing a communication with a slightly excited Kang Da-hee.
[A slush fund?]
[Yes! Not just a little either, but a full…….]
Lowering her voice as if sharing a secret, she whispered softly.
[Three hundred million Qubit. Three hundred million Qubit!]
[Huh…….]
A vault Betty Barosi had discovered by pure chance during her work.
What were the odds that it contained a staggering three hundred million Qubit?
‘Is the Ji-Cheon Man-Geum Rite already taking effect?’
It hadn’t even been long since I ate the fruit the Queen Mother of the West had given me.
Not even half a day had passed, and I’d already gained such an enormous sum?
‘She said it doesn’t increase financial fortune, so how does it actually work?’
A blessing that ‘guides’ destiny.
I didn’t know exactly what that meant, but among its effects, it seemed to draw money in as well.
[So what did you do?]
[What do you think we did? It’s unearned income from clan work. We returned it all to public funds according to the rules.]
[No one complained?]
[By regulation, we split ten percent. Ten million Qubit each.]
Satisfied with ten million Qubit while staring at three hundred million.
If it had been another clan, everyone would have put their heads together trying to siphon it off somehow.
They really were an honest bunch of clan members.
[You know it too, Diesel. None of them are particularly greedy about money.]
[Hmm…… that’s true.]
A half-dragon who had grown up her entire life in the closed world of a magic tower, and a Valkyrie who, quite literally, hadn’t been born very long ago.
Neither of them truly understood yet how good money could be.
‘And even if they did, they’re not the type to care about it.’
If anything, Betty seemed wary of having too much money.
The Ghostcatcher life she had dreamed of was roaming back alleys, chewing on soy burgers three times a day.
[Anyway, I guess we can finally breathe easy financially.]
[Huh? What do you mean, breathe easy? What are you talking about?]
At Kang Da-hee’s serious reaction, I asked back.
[…Isn’t that the case?]
[…]
A brief silence followed.
Then Kang Da-hee began to calmly explain the current situation.
The Aguiggun Clan had recently moved out of the Underground Great Hall and into their clan-exclusive facility, the ‘Safe House.’
Even setting aside maintenance costs, the equipment that needed to be purchased for security measures alone required an almost astronomical sum.
[So after setting aside just the amount we urgently need to pay back from the three hundred million, we’ll have roughly…… about fifty thousand Qubit left.]
[…Well, at least we can buy a chicken.]
[Do you even know how much chicken costs these days?]
After her lecture on financial sense went on for a while, I finally managed to end the conversation and cut the communication.
“Whew…….”
When I looked out the window, the nightscape of the massive city of Seoul had already come into view.
My gaze naturally shifted to the face of Little Sister sitting beside me.
“…….”
She had been staring out the window in silence the entire flight from Hong Kong to Seoul.
‘How long is she planning to stay like this…….’
This Hong Kong trip had brought many changes, but the most palpable of them all was Sis’s attitude.
She, who had always maintained a perfect balance between seriousness and liveliness, now seemed like a completely different person.
‘Well, she’ll come around on her own.’
Soon, the Aerodyne slowly entered the sky parking lot of the Underground Great Hall.
Ever since I had opened my eyes again in this new world, I had never once thought of Seoul as home……
‘But somehow, it feels like I’ve come back home.’
With those mixed emotions, I stretched and prepared to get up from my seat.
Then suddenly, Little Sister spoke.
“Diesel.”
“Hm……?”
“Can we talk for a bit?”