"Please get in a line!" Won-Hwa shouted as if he had heard the phrase from somewhere.
Won-Hwa had helped Sangun with his treatment and then looked to his next task, the injured residents of Heaven Lake Village.
His medicinal skills were like the light at the end of the tunnel for the residents.
“Oh my! Thank you so much.”
The residents admired his amazing skills as he treated people without pause. Sweat poured down his face.
"Thank you."
The only break the physician took was to smile in gratitude at their thanks occasionally.
“Whew…”
The residents’ conditions were visibly improving from his treatment as Won-Hwa had gotten stronger due to the opportunity he had obtained while teaching Lee Jun-Kyeong internal qigong, and that strength portrayed itself in his medical skills.
[<The Great Representative of the East> smiles warmly at you.]
His Sponsor also spared no support seeing Won-Hwa in such a dedicated state.
“...”
Won-Hwa looked at the people of Heaven Lake Village and thought back to Utgard. The people of Utgard, now that they had gone to Beijing, would go through hardship after hardship as well.
‘Will this world…’
He wondered to himself.
‘Will it really never change?’
This was a world where the gates had suddenly appeared and ruined everything. Would there ever be a time when they could return to how things had been?
He would be content with not having this special power of his. He would be content with not being praised by others.
He just wanted to live peacefully like before.
However, no one wanted to work to turn the world back to the way it had been or even attempt to pursue those changes.
There was only one person who tried.
‘I will change it.’
Lee Jun-Kyeong was the only exception.
A smile rose on Won-Hwa’s lips again.
"Please get in a line!"
A long procession stood in front of him.
“This may sting a little,” he warned.
Even as he sweated through his clothes and exhaustion settled into every line of his body, a smile never left Won-Hwa’s face.
***
It was night.
"Sangun."
Lee Jun-Kyeong had visited him again.
While Sangun’s physical condition hadn’t improved, Lee Jun-Kyeong still needed to hear the story, and the tiger knew he had to tell him too.
.
The only reason he had avoided talking about it was because of Ungnyeo.
–Where is Ungnyeo?
After Sanggun had been injured, Ungnyeo had constantly been by his side, refusing to be apart from him for even a single hour. It was such a touching sight that it would bring a tear to anyone’s eyes, almost as if she was ready to follow him to the afterlife.
He, being considerate of such a supportive Ungnyeo, had told Lee Jun-Kyeong to return later.
“She’s sleeping,” Lee Jun-Kyeong replied.
–I see.
Sangun raised his head, his gasps harsh and murky, grating against the air.
The tiger was dying.
It was an unwavering fact.
It was an unchanging truth.
There was no way to save him.
‘It will be difficult,’ Won-Hwa had said after examining the tiger’s physical condition. As a yeongsu, he had consumed the most extreme form of Madness, and as a Hunter, he had also consumed unadulterated demonic mana.
He may look fine on the outside, but internally, his organs were torn to pieces, and his mana vein was in shambles.
He was in such a state that it was impossible for him to even undergo the seal again.
–I will die soon.
Sangun spoke as if he already knew the fact.
–Is your promise still valid?
However, this time, his voice didn’t crack.
“It is.”
Lee Jun-Kyeong’s previous promise was to take Ungnyeo away.
–Good. That girl… I’ll entrust her to you.
Sangun raised his head to his full stature and looked down at Lee Jun-Kyeong. At this moment, the tiger was showing off the visage of a King who ruled Mt. Baekdu.
Then, he spoke.
–A man in black had come to visit me.
***
That was how the story of Sangun had begun.
–That man was incredibly ominous, and…
Sangun stared at Lee Jun-Kyeong.
–He wielded a familiar power.
Lee Jun-Kyeong was confused. Familiar?
Still, he quietly listened to the tiger speak.
–He wasn’t the one to come find me, however. Rather, I was the one who went to him.
Sangun seemed to be reminiscing about that time, letting out a deep growl.
Rumble.
Lee Jun-Kyeong could feel his rage and resentment.
–That man stood at Heaven Lake.
“Heaven Lake…”
–He stood there, looking at the lake, so I approached him.
Lee Jun-Kyeong thought about the figure in black.
-…
He looked up at Sangun as the tiger’s voice faded, no longer talking.
“And?”
All the important parts were missing.
How had Sangun been infused with Madness, and where did the man go?
Furthermore.
‘Who is it?’
He had to get the information from Sangun.
However, Sangun continued in a bewildered tone.
–My memory… I can’t remember anything.
“What?” Lee Jun-Kyeong asked, confused.
–I’m sure…that man…we had met at Heaven Lake…
Sangun’s eyes and body were trembling. Lee Jun-Kyeong raised his aura quickly and calmed the tiger down, using the internal qigong he had learned from Won-Hwa to steady the tiger’s body.
The tremors stopped little by little.
–I don’t remember.
Thud.
With a single phrase, the tiger collapsed.
***
Lee Jun-Kyeong hadn’t been able to talk to Sangun since then. The tiger had fainted and wouldn’t wake up despite his and Won-Hwa’s best efforts.
While Sangun remained unconscious, the residents had finally begun to make their choices.
“We’ve gathered the opinions of the residents,” Jeong In-Chang said. “They’ve decided to head to Korea.”
Lee Jun-Kyeong nodded. Going to Korea was the best choice at this time as Sangun was still insensate. Any other choice would have been as if they were throwing themselves into the fire.
‘At least in Korea…’
At least there was Asgard.
Although he wasn’t quite sure what was going on the outside at this time, there should still have been plenty of time for the residents to settle down when they left.
The residents would once again have to go through danger and hardship, but at least compared to this place that was impossible for them to properly defend, what they would encounter would be less severe than what they had undergone at Heaven Lake.
"Tell everyone to get ready,” Lee Jun-Kyeong said to Jeong In-Chang, after which Ungnyeo approached him in the form of a young girl.
“Mister. Come to see Sangun with me," she said, speaking like a fussy child.
There were teardrops in the corners of her eyes.
“Sangun still won’t wake up… Because he thought that you were special, Mister…please come to see him with me.”
Eventually, Lee Jun-Kyeong patted the girl on the head.
“…”
Jeong In-Chang and Won-Hwa, who stood together, looked at Ungnyeo while biting their lips shut.
Sangun was dying, but the current Ungnyeo in front of them had both the appearance of a child and also the essence of one, so it was a difficult thing to convey to her.
Sangun wouldn’t be able to last much longer.
‘He will die soon.’
Lee Jun-Kyeong and his party planned to leave the village on the day the tiger passed. He planned to bury the tiger in Heaven Lake and take the residents with him.
As for Ungnyeo, Lee Jun-Kyeong would take her as well.
“Let’s go to him.”
It was the promise he had made with Sangun and something he had also desired.
"Okay!" Ungnyeo said as if she was excited at the prospect of going to see the tiger.
"We'll be back," Lee Jun-Kyeong said, bowing to the party as he held Ungnyeo’s hand.
“…”
“...”
Jeong In-Chang and Won-Hwa bit their lips as they looked at the back of Lee Jun-Kyeong, watching the Hunter walk away while holding Ungnyeo’s hand.
It felt as if they let go of the tension in their jaws at any moment, then they would be able to hold back their tears.
“Sigh…”
***
"Sangun! Sangun!" cried Ungnyeo as she headed toward the cave.
The excited-looking girl had a basket in her hand, filled with burnt potatoes and fruits like strawberries. Whenever she would approach the cave, she would come with fruit that she had saved up for the tiger.
"Sangun!"
Ungnyeo rubbed her face against the cheek of the sleeping tiger.
"Get up and try this!" she said to him again as she waved the basket in the air.
“...”
However, Sangun wasn’t even able to consider the possibility of waking up. He was in such a deep sleep that if the two of them had been enemies, he would have lost his life without the chance to do anything.
“Saaaanguuuun–”
Ungnyeo put down her basket and leaned her back against the tiger’s cheek, and before Lee Jun-Kyeong noticed, the girl disappeared.
“....”
In her place was an adult woman, which was the original appearance of Ungnyeo, whom he had only been able to see a few times.
Ungnyeo leaned against the tiger’s cheek and caressed his nose.
"You were my father,” she whispered, her voice and emotions betraying the change in her mentality.
“You were my friend…”
She then stopped caressing him.
“You were my family.”
Drip.
Tears flowed down her cheeks as the sound of their descent rang throughout the cave. Lee Jun-Kyeong turned away for a moment as he heard the tiny drops of water echoing as they hit the ground.
“...”
Ungnyeo then spoke again.
“I was always grateful. For everything.”
Her voice sounded like she was underwater, barely holding back her grief. Although tears streamed down her face, her voice was still as lively as the girl from before, as if to reassure Sangun that she was okay.
Ungnyeo spoke with even more conviction.
“I will never forget you.”
She leaned her forehead on Sangun’s nose, the tiger’s dry snout becoming wet with her tears.
For a long while, Sangun, Ungnyeo, and Lee Jun-Kyeong stayed in that manner.
Without doing anything.
Without saying a word.
Just existing.
"Sangun,” Ungnyeo said as she looked up and smiled.
They had reached the end.
She seemed to realize that it would be the last time she would be able to speak to him.
With a big smile on her face, she said, "Thank you."
Whoosh!
Light erupted from the body of the ever-sleeping Sangun. The light emitted filled the cave, and Lee Jun-Kyeong understood what had occurred once he saw the sight.
‘He’s passed.’
It was as if the tiger had been waiting for Ungnyeo’s words, words he had wanted to hear. Having finally heard that which he held dear, Sangun let go of everything he was forcefully keeping in.
In other words, he had released his vitality and the spirit of Mt. Bakedu, which had filled his body. They were pouring out as light.
Ungnyeo grabbed at the escaping glimmer, waving her hands in the air as if not to allow it to escape. However, like a mirage, the light slowly disappeared, slowly dissipating as it floated down to the ground.
Sangun.
‘He has passed.’
The light absorbed into the cave walls, passing through them and escaping into the air. It escaped from the cave as if the shining glimmers were like fireflies in the night.
Ungnyeo leaned on Sangun’s cold body as she stared at the motes of light. Lee Jun-Kyeong closed his eyes tightly.
He didn’t want to show the side of himself that he never allowed anyone else to see.
Shine.
The light spread like fireflies through the air.
"What's this?"
"It’s so pretty!"
They could hear a voice coming from outside the cave. As if Jeong In-Chang had said something, the residents had come to Sangun’s cave to pay respects as if they had heard it was the tiger’s last moments.
The children were amazed by the motes of light as the adults began to cry out.
“Oh my!”
They continued to cry out, lamenting their sorrows.
“How could this be?!”
Lee Jun-Kyeong turned around and left the cave.
In front of its entrance, the residents were howling and crying.
"How could this happen? How could this be?! Revered Sangun....”
"Revered Sangun!"
There were those who dropped to the floor weeping while others grieved, standing in silence.
Jeong In-Chang and Won-Hwa stood to the side, paying a silent tribute, as the residents of Heaven Lake Village cried out louder and louder still.
“How could this be?!”
It was as if they were trying to send off Sangun and ease his passing.
People cried and cried while Jeong In-Chang bit his lips harder, holding back a flood of tears.
Lee Jun-Kyeong looked at the people around him and knew that Sangun had been precious to them as well.
He hadn’t only been precious to Ungnyeo.
Sangun.
For all the residents of Heaven Lake Village, just as he was for Ungnyeo, he had been their parents, their family, their friend.
Heaven Lake Village was a village he had protected by wagering his entire life, and its residents were assuaging their parent before he passed into the afterlife.
“How could this be?!”
Cries permeated heaven and earth.
And.
"Sangun!"
The voice of a young woman burst out from the cave.
1. As a Chinese man, he’s shouting like a Korean government worker.
2. The word here used for representative is also the word for both a medical clinic and a compendium of Chinese medical knowledge in Korean.
3. 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.
4. Remember, Sangun means king of the mountain.
5. Cat’s noses should not be dry. It’s a sign of illness.
"Please get in a line!" Won-Hwa shouted as if he had heard the phrase from somewhere.
Won-Hwa had helped Sangun with his treatment and then looked to his next task, the injured residents of Heaven Lake Village.
His medicinal skills were like the light at the end of the tunnel for the residents.
“Oh my! Thank you so much.”
The residents admired his amazing skills as he treated people without pause. Sweat poured down his face.
"Thank you."
The only break the physician took was to smile in gratitude at their thanks occasionally.
“Whew…”
The residents’ conditions were visibly improving from his treatment as Won-Hwa had gotten stronger due to the opportunity he had obtained while teaching Lee Jun-Kyeong internal qigong, and that strength portrayed itself in his medical skills.
[<The Great Representative of the East> smiles warmly at you.]
His Sponsor also spared no support seeing Won-Hwa in such a dedicated state.
“...”
Won-Hwa looked at the people of Heaven Lake Village and thought back to Utgard. The people of Utgard, now that they had gone to Beijing, would go through hardship after hardship as well.
‘Will this world…’
He wondered to himself.
‘Will it really never change?’
This was a world where the gates had suddenly appeared and ruined everything. Would there ever be a time when they could return to how things had been?
He would be content with not having this special power of his. He would be content with not being praised by others.
He just wanted to live peacefully like before.
However, no one wanted to work to turn the world back to the way it had been or even attempt to pursue those changes.
There was only one person who tried.
‘I will change it.’
Lee Jun-Kyeong was the only exception.
A smile rose on Won-Hwa’s lips again.
"Please get in a line!"
A long procession stood in front of him.
“This may sting a little,” he warned.
Even as he sweated through his clothes and exhaustion settled into every line of his body, a smile never left Won-Hwa’s face.
***
It was night.
"Sangun."
Lee Jun-Kyeong had visited him again.
While Sangun’s physical condition hadn’t improved, Lee Jun-Kyeong still needed to hear the story, and the tiger knew he had to tell him too.
.
The only reason he had avoided talking about it was because of Ungnyeo.
–Where is Ungnyeo?
After Sanggun had been injured, Ungnyeo had constantly been by his side, refusing to be apart from him for even a single hour. It was such a touching sight that it would bring a tear to anyone’s eyes, almost as if she was ready to follow him to the afterlife.
He, being considerate of such a supportive Ungnyeo, had told Lee Jun-Kyeong to return later.
“She’s sleeping,” Lee Jun-Kyeong replied.
–I see.
Sangun raised his head, his gasps harsh and murky, grating against the air.
The tiger was dying.
It was an unwavering fact.
It was an unchanging truth.
There was no way to save him.
‘It will be difficult,’ Won-Hwa had said after examining the tiger’s physical condition. As a yeongsu, he had consumed the most extreme form of Madness, and as a Hunter, he had also consumed unadulterated demonic mana.
He may look fine on the outside, but internally, his organs were torn to pieces, and his mana vein was in shambles.
He was in such a state that it was impossible for him to even undergo the seal again.
–I will die soon.
Sangun spoke as if he already knew the fact.
–Is your promise still valid?
However, this time, his voice didn’t crack.
“It is.”
Lee Jun-Kyeong’s previous promise was to take Ungnyeo away.
–Good. That girl… I’ll entrust her to you.
Sangun raised his head to his full stature and looked down at Lee Jun-Kyeong. At this moment, the tiger was showing off the visage of a King who ruled Mt. Baekdu.
Then, he spoke.
–A man in black had come to visit me.
***
That was how the story of Sangun had begun.
–That man was incredibly ominous, and…
Sangun stared at Lee Jun-Kyeong.
–He wielded a familiar power.
Lee Jun-Kyeong was confused. Familiar?
Still, he quietly listened to the tiger speak.
–He wasn’t the one to come find me, however. Rather, I was the one who went to him.
Sangun seemed to be reminiscing about that time, letting out a deep growl.
Rumble.
Lee Jun-Kyeong could feel his rage and resentment.
–That man stood at Heaven Lake.
“Heaven Lake…”
–He stood there, looking at the lake, so I approached him.
Lee Jun-Kyeong thought about the figure in black.
-…
He looked up at Sangun as the tiger’s voice faded, no longer talking.
“And?”
All the important parts were missing.
How had Sangun been infused with Madness, and where did the man go?
Furthermore.
‘Who is it?’
He had to get the information from Sangun.
However, Sangun continued in a bewildered tone.
–My memory… I can’t remember anything.
“What?” Lee Jun-Kyeong asked, confused.
–I’m sure…that man…we had met at Heaven Lake…
Sangun’s eyes and body were trembling. Lee Jun-Kyeong raised his aura quickly and calmed the tiger down, using the internal qigong he had learned from Won-Hwa to steady the tiger’s body.
The tremors stopped little by little.
–I don’t remember.
Thud.
With a single phrase, the tiger collapsed.
***
Lee Jun-Kyeong hadn’t been able to talk to Sangun since then. The tiger had fainted and wouldn’t wake up despite his and Won-Hwa’s best efforts.
While Sangun remained unconscious, the residents had finally begun to make their choices.
“We’ve gathered the opinions of the residents,” Jeong In-Chang said. “They’ve decided to head to Korea.”
Lee Jun-Kyeong nodded. Going to Korea was the best choice at this time as Sangun was still insensate. Any other choice would have been as if they were throwing themselves into the fire.
‘At least in Korea…’
At least there was Asgard.
Although he wasn’t quite sure what was going on the outside at this time, there should still have been plenty of time for the residents to settle down when they left.
The residents would once again have to go through danger and hardship, but at least compared to this place that was impossible for them to properly defend, what they would encounter would be less severe than what they had undergone at Heaven Lake.
"Tell everyone to get ready,” Lee Jun-Kyeong said to Jeong In-Chang, after which Ungnyeo approached him in the form of a young girl.
“Mister. Come to see Sangun with me," she said, speaking like a fussy child.
There were teardrops in the corners of her eyes.
“Sangun still won’t wake up… Because he thought that you were special, Mister…please come to see him with me.”
Eventually, Lee Jun-Kyeong patted the girl on the head.
“…”
Jeong In-Chang and Won-Hwa, who stood together, looked at Ungnyeo while biting their lips shut.
Sangun was dying, but the current Ungnyeo in front of them had both the appearance of a child and also the essence of one, so it was a difficult thing to convey to her.
Sangun wouldn’t be able to last much longer.
‘He will die soon.’
Lee Jun-Kyeong and his party planned to leave the village on the day the tiger passed. He planned to bury the tiger in Heaven Lake and take the residents with him.
As for Ungnyeo, Lee Jun-Kyeong would take her as well.
“Let’s go to him.”
It was the promise he had made with Sangun and something he had also desired.
"Okay!" Ungnyeo said as if she was excited at the prospect of going to see the tiger.
"We'll be back," Lee Jun-Kyeong said, bowing to the party as he held Ungnyeo’s hand.
“…”
“...”
Jeong In-Chang and Won-Hwa bit their lips as they looked at the back of Lee Jun-Kyeong, watching the Hunter walk away while holding Ungnyeo’s hand.
It felt as if they let go of the tension in their jaws at any moment, then they would be able to hold back their tears.
“Sigh…”
***
"Sangun! Sangun!" cried Ungnyeo as she headed toward the cave.
The excited-looking girl had a basket in her hand, filled with burnt potatoes and fruits like strawberries. Whenever she would approach the cave, she would come with fruit that she had saved up for the tiger.
"Sangun!"
Ungnyeo rubbed her face against the cheek of the sleeping tiger.
"Get up and try this!" she said to him again as she waved the basket in the air.
“...”
However, Sangun wasn’t even able to consider the possibility of waking up. He was in such a deep sleep that if the two of them had been enemies, he would have lost his life without the chance to do anything.
“Saaaanguuuun–”
Ungnyeo put down her basket and leaned her back against the tiger’s cheek, and before Lee Jun-Kyeong noticed, the girl disappeared.
“....”
In her place was an adult woman, which was the original appearance of Ungnyeo, whom he had only been able to see a few times.
Ungnyeo leaned against the tiger’s cheek and caressed his nose.
"You were my father,” she whispered, her voice and emotions betraying the change in her mentality.
“You were my friend…”
She then stopped caressing him.
“You were my family.”
Drip.
Tears flowed down her cheeks as the sound of their descent rang throughout the cave. Lee Jun-Kyeong turned away for a moment as he heard the tiny drops of water echoing as they hit the ground.
“...”
Ungnyeo then spoke again.
“I was always grateful. For everything.”
Her voice sounded like she was underwater, barely holding back her grief. Although tears streamed down her face, her voice was still as lively as the girl from before, as if to reassure Sangun that she was okay.
Ungnyeo spoke with even more conviction.
“I will never forget you.”
She leaned her forehead on Sangun’s nose, the tiger’s dry snout becoming wet with her tears.
For a long while, Sangun, Ungnyeo, and Lee Jun-Kyeong stayed in that manner.
Without doing anything.
Without saying a word.
Just existing.
"Sangun,” Ungnyeo said as she looked up and smiled.
They had reached the end.
She seemed to realize that it would be the last time she would be able to speak to him.
With a big smile on her face, she said, "Thank you."
Whoosh!
Light erupted from the body of the ever-sleeping Sangun. The light emitted filled the cave, and Lee Jun-Kyeong understood what had occurred once he saw the sight.
‘He’s passed.’
It was as if the tiger had been waiting for Ungnyeo’s words, words he had wanted to hear. Having finally heard that which he held dear, Sangun let go of everything he was forcefully keeping in.
In other words, he had released his vitality and the spirit of Mt. Bakedu, which had filled his body. They were pouring out as light.
Ungnyeo grabbed at the escaping glimmer, waving her hands in the air as if not to allow it to escape. However, like a mirage, the light slowly disappeared, slowly dissipating as it floated down to the ground.
Sangun.
‘He has passed.’
The light absorbed into the cave walls, passing through them and escaping into the air. It escaped from the cave as if the shining glimmers were like fireflies in the night.
Ungnyeo leaned on Sangun’s cold body as she stared at the motes of light. Lee Jun-Kyeong closed his eyes tightly.
He didn’t want to show the side of himself that he never allowed anyone else to see.
Shine.
The light spread like fireflies through the air.
"What's this?"
"It’s so pretty!"
They could hear a voice coming from outside the cave. As if Jeong In-Chang had said something, the residents had come to Sangun’s cave to pay respects as if they had heard it was the tiger’s last moments.
The children were amazed by the motes of light as the adults began to cry out.
“Oh my!”
They continued to cry out, lamenting their sorrows.
“How could this be?!”
Lee Jun-Kyeong turned around and left the cave.
In front of its entrance, the residents were howling and crying.
"How could this happen? How could this be?! Revered Sangun....”
"Revered Sangun!"
There were those who dropped to the floor weeping while others grieved, standing in silence.
Jeong In-Chang and Won-Hwa stood to the side, paying a silent tribute, as the residents of Heaven Lake Village cried out louder and louder still.
“How could this be?!”
It was as if they were trying to send off Sangun and ease his passing.
People cried and cried while Jeong In-Chang bit his lips harder, holding back a flood of tears.
Lee Jun-Kyeong looked at the people around him and knew that Sangun had been precious to them as well.
He hadn’t only been precious to Ungnyeo.
Sangun.
For all the residents of Heaven Lake Village, just as he was for Ungnyeo, he had been their parents, their family, their friend.
Heaven Lake Village was a village he had protected by wagering his entire life, and its residents were assuaging their parent before he passed into the afterlife.
“How could this be?!”
Cries permeated heaven and earth.
And.
"Sangun!"
The voice of a young woman burst out from the cave.
1. As a Chinese man, he’s shouting like a Korean government worker.
2. The word here used for representative is also the word for both a medical clinic and a compendium of Chinese medical knowledge in Korean.
3. 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.
4. Remember, Sangun means king of the mountain.
5. Cat’s noses should not be dry. It’s a sign of illness.
