“Oh my…”
“Is this it?”
“Wow…”
The sound of the residents’ admiration could be heard behind Lee Jun-Kyeong's back. As they were busy looking around, Lee Jun-Kyeong quietly asked, "What do you think?"
He stood together with a woman with his back to the people.
She had long, straight black hair, her beauty apparent just from its iridescent glow. It was Choi Yeon-Seo—Ungnyeo, the former village chief of Heaven Lake Village.
"It's beautiful, isn't it? It may not be as beautiful as Heaven Lake on Mt. Baekdu…but I always thought it was beautiful,” he continued.
“...”
Ungnyeo had no answer.
The two were staring at the river.
They were at the Bukhan River, where Lee Jun-Kyeong, Ungnyeo, and the Heaven Lake Village residents were currently residing.
After a long while, Ungnyeo finally responded.
"It's beautiful," she said, her voice quivering with desperate sincerity. "It's so beautiful.”
She kept looking at the river.
This place…
‘It’s the place for us to coil up.’
Lee Jun-Kyeong had spoken of this move so many times before and had hoped for it for countless others. This was where he was planning to move.
Of course, at first, his desire had been to move to a decent apartment alone, but that plan had suddenly become impossible due to the influx of a new “family.”
‘In the end…’
He found himself back here again.
In fact, the Bukhan River was a place where Lee Jun-Kyeong had many memories. It was a place that used to be a nightmare for him, but by this point, he was able to just call that time a memory.
It had been no different from a prison.
‘My hometown.’
Although it wasn’t far from Seoul, it was one of the cities where only ordinary humans would have lived in the future—no, to be frank, it couldn’t have even been called a city. It was a village.
Furthermore, it was also the hometown where Lee Jun-Kyeong had spent more than twenty years. To think he had come back to this place after all…
He tried to think about what had made him come back, but for some reason, he couldn’t.
He suddenly said, “I don’t really get it.”
“Get what?” she asked in response.
“The reason I came back here again.”
It wasn’t about money, because he had enough of it. He actually had enough money to buy an entire apartment building in Seoul if he had wanted to.
It was enough for him to settle the residents of Heaven Lake Village anywhere in Korea. Furthermore, it wasn’t as if the Bukhan River area was a safe place in the upcoming cataclysm, either.
After all, there wouldn’t be any safe place in the upcoming cataclysm.
He had simply chosen to move because he had wanted a place to stay until the cataclysm arrived. For some reason, it was this place again.
Lee Jun-Kyeong chewed on his lip, filled with an unknown emotion.
As he stood there, conflicted, Ungnyeo spoke once again.
"It's beautiful. This river, this landscape.”
She turned back toward Lee Jun-Kyeong and said frankly, “Let’s go. Aren’t you going to introduce me to the house?”
Lee Jun-Kyeong rid himself of his emotions and laughed.
“Of course.”
***
“Oh my…”
“Oh my…”
They had finally accomplished their original goal, and the reactions of the residents were as Lee Jun-Kyeong had expected. With each thing they discovered, their astonishment only grew.
“Is this a house or a palace?”
“Of course, it’s a house.”
"Is this the house we're going to live in?"
Even those who generally stayed quiet were moved enough to say something. For those who had lived in a rural settlement like Heaven Lake Village on Mt. Baekdu, this place was simply like a palace.
“You can use whatever place is convenient for you. If, by chance, two of you want the same house, please let me know,” Lee Jun-Kyeong said to the residents.
This wasn’t a simple house like they had expected. He had bought an entire luxury pension estate.
Considering that he had accepted them all and had been looking for a place for them to stay until the cataclysm arrived in the future, there really wasn’t a better location than this.
“There's a swimming pool too…”
Jeong In-Chang was also busy running around, taking a look at everything with his mouth wide open.
“Oh my god.”
The same went for Won-Hwa as well.
“There’s a swimming pool inside the house!” he said to Lee Jun-Kyeong.
“That’s because I bought a full villa,” he replied as if he wasn’t impressed.
“...”
However, on the inside, he was just as surprised himself. It was probably because the amount he had spent was so large that it didn’t seem real. More money had been withdrawn in a single instance than he had expected, but Lee Jun-Kyeong was still very calm and did not show much of a reaction.
There was only one thing.
‘Is this really a house?’
He was really only surprised by the splendid appearance of the residence, as he hadn’t expected that the pension estate he had purchased would be this vast.
‘I found you a place with a good sale.’
Yeo Seong-Gu had found this place for them. With the advent of the gates, the value of remote areas that were difficult to protect had fallen, so naturally, the number of travelers that would travel to pensions had also decreased.
In a time where no one could tell when monsters or gates would appear, no one would risk their lives to travel.
That was how he was able to buy the estate at a lower price than the market value.
‘How insane,’ Lee Jun-Kyeong thought to himself as he looked around.
It had three floors with incredibly high ceilings, and its wall-to-wall glass windows allowed for a clear view of the scenery around the Bukhan river. The kitchen and interiors were neat and elegant, while the materials used to construct the estate seemed to be of the highest quality.
"There is a swimming pool...”
Moreover, as Jeong In-Chang had said, there was a swimming pool inside of the estate. A swimming pool that allowed one to swim in safety while looking at the river through a glass window.
“Is this…really my home…?”
Lee Jun-Kyeong's hands were trembling. In fact, they were trembling more than when he had fought against Heracles or when he had faced Utgard-Loki, the king of the giants.
Looking at it all, he felt touched.
Following that, he was overwhelmed with worry.
‘I can’t let it happen.’
This place wouldn’t be safe in the midst of the cataclysm either. That was why he had purchased it with the intention of only staying here for a while, but he soon felt as though it wouldn’t be right to let a place as incredible as this be destroyed.
He mumbled, “I guess I’ll have to find a way.”
“Brr.”
Seeing Lee Jun-Kyeong be so determined at something so meaningless, Fenrir just looked around and snorted. He was still not fully acquainted with human culture and life. It was most likely due to the fact that his base form wasn’t a human and was instead a wolf—no, a Vanagandr, but Fenrir's reaction really wasn’t the greatest.
“Fenrir, this is our house now. Isn’t it great?”
It was so much so that when Lee Jun-Kyeong asked him how he felt about the house, Fenrir answered curtly with one word, “Great.”
Then, he walked over to the kennel in the yard and laid himself down.
“...”
Lee Jun-Kyeong tried weakly to say something to him while kneading his forehead.
“That…isn’t your place…”
***
During the evening, as always, was a festival.
“It’s time for a celebration!”
The newly settled residents were excited, and Lee Jun-Kyeong had no intention of ruining their mood. Since the estate’s original purpose had been a pension, the estate’s barbeque site was well prepared. Thus, all of the former residents of Heaven Lake Village had gathered there.
There were almost a hundred and fifty of them, but fortunately, the meat and food prepared to feed them were already in place.
“Oh my…”
Jeong In-Chang, who was dragging food in with a cart, resembled a savior to them.
“Kya!!!”
The residents cheered, happy to see Jeong In-Chang and his party.
On the other hand, the princess, Fenrir, and Sangun had become close in their own way.
“...”
They all sat in front of a bonfire and spoke. Some were mesmerized by the dangerous flicker of the flames, while others burst into laughter.
"I've never experienced this kind of luxury in my life.”
"That’s what I’m saying."
As the atmosphere of the festival began to grow more enjoyable, the residents still seemed unable to believe things were real.
Just like what Lee Jun-Kyeong had said to the reporters, these residents were people who had never been able to enjoy luxury, even when their nation had existed. They wouldn’t have been able to enjoy a proper meal, not to mention something as extravagant as this.
To be frank, they most likely were happier at Heaven Lake Village on Mt. Baekdu rather than in their home nation, even though they would have lacked a little in their lifestyle.
For these people, this place was an unfamiliar thing.
A good house, an abundance of food.
Therefore, they also trembled with anxiety.
“How anxiety-inducing.”
To those who trembled, worried about insecurity without reason, Lee Jun-Kyeong thought that it was finally time to address them.
"Everyone."
Lee Jun-Kyeong opened his mouth to speak in front of the burning bonfire as the roaring flames glinted in his eye from time to time.
"You have made a contract of mana with me."
His sudden words chilled the atmosphere as if he had poured water all over it.
The quiet residents looked at each other.
He had explained it well enough before they had signed a contract with him. He had explained that it was a compulsory contract, and that meant loyalty and obedience. He knew that he had brought up something that was sure to have been met with repulsion, but nevertheless, the residents still had chosen to sign the contract.
"We trust you,” said an aged elder. She was the oldest woman in Heaven Lake Village. Having survived to the end, despite all of the hardships, she too was like a Hero in her own way.
She went on, "We should have died in the first place."
It was a single, strong statement.
“We were all dead when Heaven Lake started burning that day.”
Everyone listened to her as she spoke in a weak tone.
“However, you saved us. Moreover, you also saved Sangun as well.”
He hadn’t been the one to save Sangun. Rather, it had been <The Supreme Regent>. Although it had been the Sponsor of Ungnyeo, the residents believed that it was due to Lee Jun-Kyeong.
“We trust you. Therefore, don’t worry about anything, and do whatever you want. Even if we don’t have anything…”
She looked at the residents of Heaven Lake Village with murky eyes. They, who met her eyes, nodded back, telling her to continue.
Tak.
The bonfire was burning down as if it didn’t notice how things were ending.
“We understand a savior’s grace. You’re the one who saved lives that were meant to die anyway. Do as you please. If you want us to live, we’ll live. If you want us to die, we’ll die. For us, when we first had talked about a contract or whatever, everyone had made that determination, right?” she asked.
“That’s right.”
“Of course.”
“I would have sold my soul to the devil if that would have meant that even the children would be able to survive.”
The residents’ voices rang firmly throughout the space.
“...”
Lee Jun-Kyeong looked at them.
Before he knew it, the old woman had returned to sitting in her seat, chuckling with the others and laughing.
“I understand,” Lee Jun-Kyeong said while nodding.
“There’s only one thing that I hope for. Just as the grandmother had said…”
He could feel a slight aura of nervousness. Lee Jun-Kyeong spoke, feeling the gaze around him.
“I’m telling you all to live.”
Flicker!
The dying bonfire began to blaze and grow.
The flame had responded to his will, who was the ruler of fire—no, who was now becoming the Monarch of Fire.
“In the future, the world will become a more dangerous place than Mt. Baekdu,” he said, his words carrying a heavy strength. Furthermore, as the speaker was someone who commanded such power, the weight of his words was bound to be even greater.
“You will have to become warriors. If you want to protect the precious people who are by your side…”
Flicker!
The flames completely raged and shone over the river.
He could see the hardened eyes of resolve of the residents in between the blaze.
“Please become warriors. Please become Hunters,” Lee Jun-Kyeong said, swallowing before he continued to speak.
“Please become strong.”
Before anyone knew it, the night had grown old.
1. As a major tributary of the Han River, the Bukhan River flows from Mt. Geumgang in North Korea and passes through the DMZ, fully crossing over into South Korea near Jangseung-ri, and the bulk of its body lays from Hwacheon down through Chuncheon before it meets with the Han River. Its name, Bukhan, is the South Korean term for North Korea.
2. In Korean, this phrase means to lay the groundwork and form a place one can protect. It refers to how a snake will find a place to coil up around itself and shelter at night.
3. An apartment building large enough to house over a hundred hunters plus family, conservatively 100 households, can cost anywhere from 300 million USD to 5 billion USD.
“Oh my…”
“Is this it?”
“Wow…”
The sound of the residents’ admiration could be heard behind Lee Jun-Kyeong's back. As they were busy looking around, Lee Jun-Kyeong quietly asked, "What do you think?"
He stood together with a woman with his back to the people.
She had long, straight black hair, her beauty apparent just from its iridescent glow. It was Choi Yeon-Seo—Ungnyeo, the former village chief of Heaven Lake Village.
"It's beautiful, isn't it? It may not be as beautiful as Heaven Lake on Mt. Baekdu…but I always thought it was beautiful,” he continued.
“...”
Ungnyeo had no answer.
The two were staring at the river.
They were at the Bukhan River, where Lee Jun-Kyeong, Ungnyeo, and the Heaven Lake Village residents were currently residing.
After a long while, Ungnyeo finally responded.
"It's beautiful," she said, her voice quivering with desperate sincerity. "It's so beautiful.”
She kept looking at the river.
This place…
‘It’s the place for us to coil up.’
Lee Jun-Kyeong had spoken of this move so many times before and had hoped for it for countless others. This was where he was planning to move.
Of course, at first, his desire had been to move to a decent apartment alone, but that plan had suddenly become impossible due to the influx of a new “family.”
‘In the end…’
He found himself back here again.
In fact, the Bukhan River was a place where Lee Jun-Kyeong had many memories. It was a place that used to be a nightmare for him, but by this point, he was able to just call that time a memory.
It had been no different from a prison.
‘My hometown.’
Although it wasn’t far from Seoul, it was one of the cities where only ordinary humans would have lived in the future—no, to be frank, it couldn’t have even been called a city. It was a village.
Furthermore, it was also the hometown where Lee Jun-Kyeong had spent more than twenty years. To think he had come back to this place after all…
He tried to think about what had made him come back, but for some reason, he couldn’t.
He suddenly said, “I don’t really get it.”
“Get what?” she asked in response.
“The reason I came back here again.”
It wasn’t about money, because he had enough of it. He actually had enough money to buy an entire apartment building in Seoul if he had wanted to.
It was enough for him to settle the residents of Heaven Lake Village anywhere in Korea. Furthermore, it wasn’t as if the Bukhan River area was a safe place in the upcoming cataclysm, either.
After all, there wouldn’t be any safe place in the upcoming cataclysm.
He had simply chosen to move because he had wanted a place to stay until the cataclysm arrived. For some reason, it was this place again.
Lee Jun-Kyeong chewed on his lip, filled with an unknown emotion.
As he stood there, conflicted, Ungnyeo spoke once again.
"It's beautiful. This river, this landscape.”
She turned back toward Lee Jun-Kyeong and said frankly, “Let’s go. Aren’t you going to introduce me to the house?”
Lee Jun-Kyeong rid himself of his emotions and laughed.
“Of course.”
***
“Oh my…”
“Oh my…”
They had finally accomplished their original goal, and the reactions of the residents were as Lee Jun-Kyeong had expected. With each thing they discovered, their astonishment only grew.
“Is this a house or a palace?”
“Of course, it’s a house.”
"Is this the house we're going to live in?"
Even those who generally stayed quiet were moved enough to say something. For those who had lived in a rural settlement like Heaven Lake Village on Mt. Baekdu, this place was simply like a palace.
“You can use whatever place is convenient for you. If, by chance, two of you want the same house, please let me know,” Lee Jun-Kyeong said to the residents.
This wasn’t a simple house like they had expected. He had bought an entire luxury pension estate.
Considering that he had accepted them all and had been looking for a place for them to stay until the cataclysm arrived in the future, there really wasn’t a better location than this.
“There's a swimming pool too…”
Jeong In-Chang was also busy running around, taking a look at everything with his mouth wide open.
“Oh my god.”
The same went for Won-Hwa as well.
“There’s a swimming pool inside the house!” he said to Lee Jun-Kyeong.
“That’s because I bought a full villa,” he replied as if he wasn’t impressed.
“...”
However, on the inside, he was just as surprised himself. It was probably because the amount he had spent was so large that it didn’t seem real. More money had been withdrawn in a single instance than he had expected, but Lee Jun-Kyeong was still very calm and did not show much of a reaction.
There was only one thing.
‘Is this really a house?’
He was really only surprised by the splendid appearance of the residence, as he hadn’t expected that the pension estate he had purchased would be this vast.
‘I found you a place with a good sale.’
Yeo Seong-Gu had found this place for them. With the advent of the gates, the value of remote areas that were difficult to protect had fallen, so naturally, the number of travelers that would travel to pensions had also decreased.
In a time where no one could tell when monsters or gates would appear, no one would risk their lives to travel.
That was how he was able to buy the estate at a lower price than the market value.
‘How insane,’ Lee Jun-Kyeong thought to himself as he looked around.
It had three floors with incredibly high ceilings, and its wall-to-wall glass windows allowed for a clear view of the scenery around the Bukhan river. The kitchen and interiors were neat and elegant, while the materials used to construct the estate seemed to be of the highest quality.
"There is a swimming pool...”
Moreover, as Jeong In-Chang had said, there was a swimming pool inside of the estate. A swimming pool that allowed one to swim in safety while looking at the river through a glass window.
“Is this…really my home…?”
Lee Jun-Kyeong's hands were trembling. In fact, they were trembling more than when he had fought against Heracles or when he had faced Utgard-Loki, the king of the giants.
Looking at it all, he felt touched.
Following that, he was overwhelmed with worry.
‘I can’t let it happen.’
This place wouldn’t be safe in the midst of the cataclysm either. That was why he had purchased it with the intention of only staying here for a while, but he soon felt as though it wouldn’t be right to let a place as incredible as this be destroyed.
He mumbled, “I guess I’ll have to find a way.”
“Brr.”
Seeing Lee Jun-Kyeong be so determined at something so meaningless, Fenrir just looked around and snorted. He was still not fully acquainted with human culture and life. It was most likely due to the fact that his base form wasn’t a human and was instead a wolf—no, a Vanagandr, but Fenrir's reaction really wasn’t the greatest.
“Fenrir, this is our house now. Isn’t it great?”
It was so much so that when Lee Jun-Kyeong asked him how he felt about the house, Fenrir answered curtly with one word, “Great.”
Then, he walked over to the kennel in the yard and laid himself down.
“...”
Lee Jun-Kyeong tried weakly to say something to him while kneading his forehead.
“That…isn’t your place…”
***
During the evening, as always, was a festival.
“It’s time for a celebration!”
The newly settled residents were excited, and Lee Jun-Kyeong had no intention of ruining their mood. Since the estate’s original purpose had been a pension, the estate’s barbeque site was well prepared. Thus, all of the former residents of Heaven Lake Village had gathered there.
There were almost a hundred and fifty of them, but fortunately, the meat and food prepared to feed them were already in place.
“Oh my…”
Jeong In-Chang, who was dragging food in with a cart, resembled a savior to them.
“Kya!!!”
The residents cheered, happy to see Jeong In-Chang and his party.
On the other hand, the princess, Fenrir, and Sangun had become close in their own way.
“...”
They all sat in front of a bonfire and spoke. Some were mesmerized by the dangerous flicker of the flames, while others burst into laughter.
"I've never experienced this kind of luxury in my life.”
"That’s what I’m saying."
As the atmosphere of the festival began to grow more enjoyable, the residents still seemed unable to believe things were real.
Just like what Lee Jun-Kyeong had said to the reporters, these residents were people who had never been able to enjoy luxury, even when their nation had existed. They wouldn’t have been able to enjoy a proper meal, not to mention something as extravagant as this.
To be frank, they most likely were happier at Heaven Lake Village on Mt. Baekdu rather than in their home nation, even though they would have lacked a little in their lifestyle.
For these people, this place was an unfamiliar thing.
A good house, an abundance of food.
Therefore, they also trembled with anxiety.
“How anxiety-inducing.”
To those who trembled, worried about insecurity without reason, Lee Jun-Kyeong thought that it was finally time to address them.
"Everyone."
Lee Jun-Kyeong opened his mouth to speak in front of the burning bonfire as the roaring flames glinted in his eye from time to time.
"You have made a contract of mana with me."
His sudden words chilled the atmosphere as if he had poured water all over it.
The quiet residents looked at each other.
He had explained it well enough before they had signed a contract with him. He had explained that it was a compulsory contract, and that meant loyalty and obedience. He knew that he had brought up something that was sure to have been met with repulsion, but nevertheless, the residents still had chosen to sign the contract.
"We trust you,” said an aged elder. She was the oldest woman in Heaven Lake Village. Having survived to the end, despite all of the hardships, she too was like a Hero in her own way.
She went on, "We should have died in the first place."
It was a single, strong statement.
“We were all dead when Heaven Lake started burning that day.”
Everyone listened to her as she spoke in a weak tone.
“However, you saved us. Moreover, you also saved Sangun as well.”
He hadn’t been the one to save Sangun. Rather, it had been <The Supreme Regent>. Although it had been the Sponsor of Ungnyeo, the residents believed that it was due to Lee Jun-Kyeong.
“We trust you. Therefore, don’t worry about anything, and do whatever you want. Even if we don’t have anything…”
She looked at the residents of Heaven Lake Village with murky eyes. They, who met her eyes, nodded back, telling her to continue.
Tak.
The bonfire was burning down as if it didn’t notice how things were ending.
“We understand a savior’s grace. You’re the one who saved lives that were meant to die anyway. Do as you please. If you want us to live, we’ll live. If you want us to die, we’ll die. For us, when we first had talked about a contract or whatever, everyone had made that determination, right?” she asked.
“That’s right.”
“Of course.”
“I would have sold my soul to the devil if that would have meant that even the children would be able to survive.”
The residents’ voices rang firmly throughout the space.
“...”
Lee Jun-Kyeong looked at them.
Before he knew it, the old woman had returned to sitting in her seat, chuckling with the others and laughing.
“I understand,” Lee Jun-Kyeong said while nodding.
“There’s only one thing that I hope for. Just as the grandmother had said…”
He could feel a slight aura of nervousness. Lee Jun-Kyeong spoke, feeling the gaze around him.
“I’m telling you all to live.”
Flicker!
The dying bonfire began to blaze and grow.
The flame had responded to his will, who was the ruler of fire—no, who was now becoming the Monarch of Fire.
“In the future, the world will become a more dangerous place than Mt. Baekdu,” he said, his words carrying a heavy strength. Furthermore, as the speaker was someone who commanded such power, the weight of his words was bound to be even greater.
“You will have to become warriors. If you want to protect the precious people who are by your side…”
Flicker!
The flames completely raged and shone over the river.
He could see the hardened eyes of resolve of the residents in between the blaze.
“Please become warriors. Please become Hunters,” Lee Jun-Kyeong said, swallowing before he continued to speak.
“Please become strong.”
Before anyone knew it, the night had grown old.
1. As a major tributary of the Han River, the Bukhan River flows from Mt. Geumgang in North Korea and passes through the DMZ, fully crossing over into South Korea near Jangseung-ri, and the bulk of its body lays from Hwacheon down through Chuncheon before it meets with the Han River. Its name, Bukhan, is the South Korean term for North Korea.
2. In Korean, this phrase means to lay the groundwork and form a place one can protect. It refers to how a snake will find a place to coil up around itself and shelter at night.
3. An apartment building large enough to house over a hundred hunters plus family, conservatively 100 households, can cost anywhere from 300 million USD to 5 billion USD.
