A Stuffed Cheonma in my Head - Chapter 148



Only Noblemtl

Episode 148. The Dog and the Oma

The old king looked at me and smiled.

“Do I look crazy? I would have done the same thing, so it’s not that strange.”

“… … .”

“I didn’t believe in God either. I thought only weak people could entrust their will to God. But… … .”

Chorrrr-

Blue tea was poured into his teacup.

“After witnessing the radiance of God directly, my thoughts completely changed. It seems that God really was God.”

“… … .”

I had nothing to say, so I kept my mouth shut for a moment.

The old king said, sipping his tea.

“Anyway, I lost consciousness after hearing those cryptic words. I guess it’s because a mere human being was exposed to the divine power of a god for too long. As soon as I woke up, I ran away from the forge.”

“… … .”

“After that incident, I never went to see Oposis again. No, I couldn’t. I just didn’t have the confidence to see her face.”

The old king stared blankly into the blue tea.

As if his past was floating there.

“How can I continue to show my shameless face while ignoring the tragedy of my close friend?”

I looked at him, crossing my arms and tapping my fingers on my forearms.

“… … You just stood by and watched the disciples of Oposis die for that reason?”

The old king raised his head and looked at me.

“I don’t have the guts to go against the will of God. What would you do?”

Let’s think about it.

What if those great gods scared Tina into letting her die?

I answered without hesitation.

“We should tear all those gods to pieces and kill them. Those guys are not worthy of being called gods.”

The old king laughed heartily.

“That must be the difference between you and me. I am a coward, so I couldn’t refuse. I desperately looked for a place to hide.”

“… … .”

“After that, Ophiuchus came to see me. When he stopped by the palace to deliver the goods ordered by the royal family, he came to see me himself instead of sending his disciple… … .”

The old king covered his face with one hand.

“I… made excuses and refused. I couldn’t bear to look at your face. That’s how we naturally grew apart.”

I looked at the old man’s deep face.

He must have been through a lot of mental anguish because his wrinkles were deep.

Suddenly he looked at me.

“Don’t you think Oposis is resentful?”

I quietly recalled the memory.

The only things that come to mind are worry, sadness, regret, and regret.

There was no resentment.

“I didn’t say anything like that.”

The king looked up at the sky with a bitter smile.

“You foolish friend… You should have at least given him a scolding. If you had, you would have felt a lot better.”

The atmosphere became very depressed.

I didn’t like the sagging atmosphere, so I tried to comfort him in a light tone.

“What can I do now? We can only meet in the afterlife and get beaten to death.”

The king smiled brightly.

“Yeah, I guess so.”

There was a pause in the conversation and silence followed.

While everyone was lost in thought for a moment, the king, who had been drinking tea, suddenly began to cough violently as if he had heard something.

“Cough! Cough!”

I watched the king blankly, and then, feeling that the cough would not stop easily, I reached for a handkerchief.

But I wasn’t a delicate man who carried around a handkerchief or something.

He had no choice but to tear the tablecloth that had fallen down to his knees and hand it to the king.

“Coolook! Coolook!”

The king covered his mouth with the tablecloth that had been transformed into a handkerchief.

After a while, when the coughing finally stopped and I took the handkerchief away from my mouth.

The white handkerchief was soaked in red blood.

I opened my eyes wide.

Oh? So it wasn’t just a simple sare?

I looked at the aged king with slightly sunken eyes.

“… … Inspiration.”

He laughed heartily.

“The day we see Oposis is not far off.”

He seemed to be looking forward to death.

To me, death was something I had to run away from, but to him, it was the final journey and destination he had been waiting for.

“… … .”

I looked at the king whose death was near.

Even if the opponent is a king who once ruled the world.

Now that he was close to death, he was just a human.

In the face of death, money, fame, power – everything loses its meaning.

Of course, if you have a few of them, there will be quite a few people who will build a fancy grave and mourn over them.

What does it mean after death?

Death has different views depending on the person.

Some say it is a process toward the afterlife, while others see it as another ordeal.

To me, death is the end of a world.

Because if I disappear, the world I see with my eyes will also disappear.

The old man’s world before my eyes was flickering as if it would go out at any moment, but it was his world that was going out, not mine.

Because his world will soon sink into endless darkness, but my world will continue on for a long time after that.

Someday I too will sink into Ketel’s arms, but not now.

Now that you’ve listened to my story, it’s time to answer my questions.

“Inspiration.”

“Something.”

“I am talking about the revelation you mentioned.”

They say he’s an old man with death right in his face.

I couldn’t stand to say this. I had to say it.

“Isn’t that just a dream?”

The king laughed.

“Devil. Do I look like an idiot who can’t tell the difference between dreams and reality?”

I was about to answer positively, but then I closed my mouth.

Then he chose his words carefully and opened his mouth again.

“So, you thought I was the judge of that prophecy?”

The old king nodded.

“That’s right. He showed up with the dagger of Ophiuchus, and cut off both of Vandyke’s arms with the broken sword.”

“hmm.”

I had a strong feeling that the situation had somehow been adjusted to fit the situation… … .

The old king looked confident.

“Now that I think about it, it wasn’t that long of a story.”

The king took a deep breath.

It seemed like he was letting out something that had been building up in his chest.

“I don’t know how the gods in the sky view you, but I want to tell you this.”

“Go ahead.”

“When I heard the voice of God… it seemed like this was not the only trial that would come upon you.”

“What do you mean?”

“I inferred from the voice of God that I heard, my limited knowledge, and my intuition mixed in with that… … .”

The old king looked at me with eyes filled with deep years.

“This is just the beginning. The trials that will come will continue to rise in waves, trying to engulf you.”

The old king reached out and gently tapped the back of my hand.

“Please keep your present state of mind. Don’t live a mean life like me.”

“… … .”

I stared at his wrinkled hands in silence.

The old king smiled broadly.

“Yes, that says it all. I finally feel a little better. You have no idea how long I’ve been waiting for this day.”

I looked into the old man’s eyes without saying a word.

Strangely enough, it seemed like I was looking into a child’s eyes.

It was clear as if there was no regret.

“Thank you. Thanks to you, I can go see my friend with a much lighter heart.”

The old king, who seemed healthy for his age, quickly became unwell as soon as he told me all the stories he had been holding in his heart.

As if he had been preserving his vitality to tell this story.

The king appeared much more shrunken than before.

He got up from his seat, approached the group that followed me, and shook hands with each of them, asking them to take good care of the third boy.

“The incompetent king is now gone. Please take good care of the third son.”

Then, supported by the bitter cold, he entered the mansion.

I looked at his back and then called out to him with a slightly raised voice.

“Do you know that?”

The old king looked back.

“There is a saying that when a person dies, the closest of those who have gone before come out to greet them.”

The king smiled.

“I really like that story.”

* * *

Bam! Bam!

In the garden full of flowers, the love between Bok-sil and Hwa-han was in full swing.

Bok-sil swung Vlad, who was glowing red, and Hok-han countered with a wooden sword.

It was fascinating to see how a simple wooden sword could stand up to such a terrifyingly sharp blade.

Did they put iron inside?

I’ll have to check later.

We are currently sitting under the cool shade of a tree and watching the match.

I asked Walpole, who was sitting next to me and watching.

“What about Sir Ashley?”

“He went to the bathroom.”

“I see.”

“I drank a lot of tea.”

“That blue car?”

“yes.”

“I guess you like the car.”

“That’s what it is.”

“I should give you a present before you go. Was it a tea with dried flowers?”

Walpole nodded, chuckling.

“That’s right. It’s a rare blue tea. It’s called Anchankkot tea.”

“… … .”

Why is this guy so excited?

Looks like something fun happened while I was away.

Meanwhile, Linda was sleeping soundly, drooling, leaning on my shoulder.

They say he poisoned the tea and drank it. Did he mix it with sleeping pills by mistake?

‘I rather like it.’

If the crazy Linda is a devil, then the docile Linda is an angel.

There is no way a sleeping person can look this pretty.

It’s amazing how different the faces are when the eyes are closed, even though they are the same.

“Cool… … .”

It would be nice if you didn’t drool on my shoulder.

Chiiik… … .

The clothes are slowly melting, perhaps because the saliva contains poison.

I don’t think it was this bad before, but while I was playing around making poison in the hospital room, my level of poison has gotten so high that even needles are threatening now.

Even if a genius plays around a lot, his level continues to improve.

Like these unfair guys.

“Go away, Inma.”

“Ugh.”

I took Linda off my shoulders, rolled her over, and set her aside.

Chiik… … .

The guy’s acidic saliva began to dissolve the grass.

It was something that might have angered the former gardener, but I left it alone because it was better than melting my shoulders.

It’s a good thing it only happens to me. If I had been drooling at everyone, I might have committed murder without even knowing it.

There is no such thing as human poison.

I pushed Linda aside and watched the duel between the two sword wielders in peace.

“… … .”

As I watched their duel… I felt my eyes naturally unfocus.

The focus became blurred and moved inward.

The old king’s voice was heard.

“The red-eyed judge will come.”

I heard an unexpected story.

“The Red-Eyed Judge will descend from on high. In one hand he will hold a broken longsword that will consume everything, and in the other he will hold a dagger that will serve as a key.”

If we were to combine me with the old king’s guess here… … .

Coming down from a high place means falling from a cliff of fog.

The broken longsword is a good fit, considering my sword broke quite often.

When it broke, I used it to make a complete sword by following the teachings of Cheonma and raising the sword energy.

A dagger to be used as a key.

This is easy. The dagger of Ophiuchus was the key to its essence.

So what are the trials that come down to the judge?

What does this mean?

Are all the near-death crises I’ve overcome so far trials that God has foretold?

For what?

“The moment the Judge overcomes all trials, a new Lord of the Throne will come.”

The new occupant of the throne?

What does the throne mean, and what does it have to do with the Judge?

Even the enigmatic words he muttered at the end.

“He who stands alone. He who awakens alone… … .”

If we put the judge in charge, who will be the new owner of the throne?

Who is the one who stands alone, who awakens alone?

The answer was surprisingly close by.

If I am the judge as the old king claims, it would be natural to see the owner of the throne as Cheonma.

Cheonma and I have an inseparable bond.

then.

Could it be that I fell off the cliff and got a stuffed celestial horse on my head, something to do with the gods?

If you think about it, it is impossible to imagine a being other than a vague and abstract being called God who could do such a thing.

The Judge. The Trial. The new throne. The Master. The one who stands alone. The red eyes. The broken sword that will consume all.

… … My head became complicated.

[Disciple.]

Cheonma spoke quietly, dispersing the tangled threads in his head.

“Yes, Master.”

[Is it something you can figure out by thinking about it now?]

I thought about it for a moment and then shook my head.

It’s all just empty talk.

Even if I figure out what they mean, nothing will change right now.

I’m going back home and I’m going to beat up the guys I don’t like.

There is no question about that.

“no.”

[Then forget it.]

“yes.”

I forgot all about it.

Judge? Trial?

Fuck it. I’ll go my own way.

If you block my way, I will just tear you apart and advance forward.

Cheonma’s few words cleared my head.

When I woke up from my reverie, I saw that the duel between Hokhan and Boksil was slowly coming to an end.

Bok-sil was swinging her sword with all her might, sweating profusely, while Hak-han was still wearing his gardener’s clothes and was fighting with only very basic movements.

There was not the slightest sign of fatigue.

“Gasp… gasp… … .”

In the end, Bok-sil fell to her knees after being stabbed in the thigh by Hok-han’s wooden sword, and Hok-han quietly placed the sword against Bok-sil’s neck.

There was no break in breathing.

What does that mean?

It meant that the gap between the two was that overwhelming.

Even though one side was holding the world’s greatest sword, Vlad, and the other side was holding a wooden sword.

Ashley’s voice was heard.

“Which number is it?”

Walpole replied.

“Well, I stopped counting after ten.”

Before I knew it, Sir Ashley was sitting next to me, having just come back from the bathroom.

The cold cold woke up the master of the famous sword and gave him some advice.

I could have overheard if I really wanted to, but I didn’t want to intercept other people’s advice, so I just left it alone.

After a while, Bok-sil, who had been taught a lesson by Hak-han, limped towards me.

Looking at his face, which had brightened up more than before, it seemed like he had realized something.

At this moment, Ho-han, who was still standing in the middle of the colorful flowers blooming in the garden, raised his sword and pointed it at me.

The meaning was clear.

‘You. Me.’

I got up and dusted myself off.

“That cold-hearted bastard. He’s going to get beat up.”

I made my way through the flowers, Walpole’s enthusiastic cheers behind me.