Omniscient First-Person’s Viewpoint - Chapter 607



Forest fires start from a small spark – 5

Even in my mind, my sister was like the queen of beasts. She had nothing to do, but she would go around me busily, chattering as if singing. She was intelligent, and except for the occasional monologue, she was a curious beast.

Maybe that is the essence of humanity.

“I am special.”

I answered my sister’s words.

“Are you bragging?”

“No! I was telling the truth!”

“It’s more like bragging.”

“But it is true. I am a king. The king of beasts, representing all humans. I am like the king of dogs, the king of wolves, the king of cats, the king of sheep, the king of tigers. I must embrace and represent all beasts.”

When we say the king of beasts, we mean a being of ideas. We live with a clichéd representation of the ‘beast’.

Even though Aji is the king of dogs, he lives with humans instead of leading dogs. That’s because he’s a dog. A mountain tiger settles down on a mountain and makes it his territory, driving out all the other tigers. That’s because he’s a tiger.

Just because he is the king of beasts, he is not always lenient towards the beasts. This is because he is only a symbol of them. Unless he is a social beast, he is not always kind to his own kind.

But humans have gone beyond mere social animals.

“But ordinary people think of me as special. Everyone.”

“Humans know too many useless things. Especially since you, Sister, have been to places you wouldn’t normally go. Even places like snow-capped mountains, jungles, and deserts.”

“Yeah. Thanks to that, everyone knows me. And they expect something from me. It’s like it’s become a basic human trait.”

As many people began to believe in and follow the king, the king, who was supposed to be a symbol, changed into a ruler.

“That’s why I need a normal yardstick. A weak, soft, flexible, and stretchy yardstick.”

“Not strong and sturdy?”

“Humans are weak and withdrawn. When the harsh world stares at me with a serious expression, I quickly change my expression and bow down. That’s human. Other animals also adapt to nature, but few animals change as quickly as humans.”

My older sister, who spoke as if singing, looked at me and said.

“That’s you. You, the ordinary me.”

“It’s because of you that I became like this.”

“It’s not because of that! It was inevitable, like the sun setting and the moon rising. I couldn’t represent humanity anymore! No, a king with power inevitably breaks away from being a king of humans!”

My sister, who was running wild, seemed to be really wronged. I tried to summarize what she had said as simply as possible.

“So, the Beast King Committee somewhere decided that since my sister is the king of humans, but cannot represent humans, they will leave my sister as is and create a new human king to represent her? Hmm, no, then there will be two kings of humans… In short, they will create a crown for the king of humans to wear?”

“The crown of man! What a good metaphor. There is only one king and one crown!”

“Isn’t that a good metaphor for me? The king is a human, but the crown is a tool. Can you also consider my position, where I suddenly find myself standing on someone’s head?”

“You won’t climb on top of me! That is, unless you feel like it!”

“It sounds like you’re saying you can go up if you want.”

“If we go up, we’ll get on each other’s nerves, so please stand near my shoulder! If you want to whisper in my ear, it’s better if your head is close to mine!”

“What should I whisper?”

My sister smiled and stared into my eyes. Her gray eyes, which seemed to be a mixture of black and white, read the memories that had passed from me. Among the countless adventures and events, my sister asked me all the questions I had encountered.

“Can we lock everyone up, watch them, and oppress them? Can we put them in a strict box cut into squares, and build a tall golden pagoda by stacking them up, and still admire the grandeur and sophistication of that golden pagoda?”

Starting with the story of the military.

“What if a world where one person creates everything? What if the things that are not created are abandoned or pushed away? What if you end up having no choice but to accept and eat the creations while resenting them?”

Through the nations.

“A world where blood is bound and no one can rebel? A kingdom that is as hard as a corpse?”

After passing the principality.

“Can we eat the meat fruit? Can we give birth to a human from it? If not, how far would we go to prevent it?”

Finally, I arrived here. This place where countless questions and choices intersect.

My sister put her hand on my shoulder and looked deeper into me, drawing out my true feelings.

“You’ve come to a conclusion. You’ve already decided what you like and what you don’t like. So you’ve put your strength into supporting the side.”

“I was rooting for everyone’s wishes.”

“From the start, that means you’ve already granted someone’s wish.”

… Yes. I would be lying if I said my heart wasn’t tilted to one side. Even if I gave everyone a chance, it was clear which side I chose.

Although I respected everyone’s wishes, there was a wind that I was more attracted to. A wind that was more honest and primitive, and that used order entirely as a tool. Rather than a wind that solidified an order that would collapse someday, I preferred a wind that flickered like a candle and illuminated someone’s path.

But for my older sister, there is no such thing as good or bad. She has become the king that people want her to be.

“But now you don’t have to ride the wind. I will listen to your wind.”

From noble mtl dot com

My sister extended her hand to me with a trusting smile.

***

A chicken breaks the eggshell and comes into the world. Every living creature has such a sad and longing sacrifice. At the sacred moment when an individual writes history, a shell that blesses birth by being destroyed.

The same was true of the Tree of Origin, the Tree of the Goddess. The Tree of the Goddess grew from a single, giant seed, blooming from the remains of the blessed ginkgo tree.

The most secret and fundamental realm, whose existence no one knows about except for Nevida.

“Haa. Haa. I somehow managed to get Cheon-Aeng back.”

Shay, holding the celestial bird, looked at the center of the room with a troubled expression. There, one of Shay’s two weapons, Jizan, was embedded.

The recoilless sword Jizan can only be wielded by the chosen ones. Even if the opponent is the demon Nevida, he cannot hold and swing its power unless Jizan permits. This is because Jizan is the demon that contains the understanding of this land.

But what if it wasn’t a person? What if the thing you were holding was a demon that contained the principles of the world?

And what if that drink was originally meant to hold onto the earth?

“I never would have thought that Cheon-Aeng and Ji-Jan would be tied up by a small world tree.”

Jizan was wrapped around the roots of a small sapling. A small world tree, a sapling and weapon created by Nevida from the remains of the world tree.

Trees hold onto the earth with their roots and communicate with the sky with their leaves. The small world tree, accordingly, had tied up Jizan with its roots and held onto Cheon-Ang with its leaves. Of course, it could not hold onto the sky, so Shay was able to split Cheon-Ang into small pieces and take them out. Jizan, the relic of the demon, was not easy.

“It’s difficult for me to break free from this bondage, since I’m not using my own power, but rather borrowing Jizan’s power… I can’t help it.”

The moment he uses his strength, he will be captured by Nevida, but he was prepared for that. Shay grabbed the celestial iris and pulled up his air. The air that had been caught by the tree found its owner and flowed into the celestial iris. A huge inhalation filled Shay and the celestial iris.

“Cheongeomgi… .”

The wind blew over the angel, forming a giant blade. Shay struck a devastating blow at the small world tree that was holding Zizan captive.

“… Dragon Strike!”

Hooow. The sword made of wind made no sound. It had even taken away the air that could transmit sound. The silent slash caused a storm and swept away the small world tree.

The branches were breaking, the leaves were fluttering, and Shay, who had gathered the cherry blossoms, took a deep breath and walked towards the place where the whirlwind was subsiding.

At that moment, Cheonban-gyeong reacted. Shay threw his head back without a moment’s hesitation and jumped back. Something roughly grabbed the space where Shay had disappeared. It was a force that could even crush rocks.

“Your reactions are faster than a cat’s.”

A regretful voice flowed from the tree branch that was grasping the air. After that, the tree branch twisted here and there and changed into a human hand. The human arm, folded from the thumb to the little finger, pulled its own body out from inside the tree.

“Ugh! Navi…!”

Nevida seemed to have blossomed from a small world tree. Nevida, who had emerged from the tree, still looked at Shay with her dry eyes. Her eyes were filled with a mixture of boredom and bewilderment.

“You have protected my life. Why did you come back here without caring about it?”

“Huh. Why are you asking when you already know?”

“You wouldn’t mind giving up your life to protect the cause that the heavenly gods are calling for. But don’t you feel sorry for the heart of your master who wanted to save you?”

Nevida was scolding Shay, as if she really didn’t want to kill Shay.

“Killing you is against my will. Since that person is also someone who deserves my loyalty, I tried to avoid that choice as much as possible. However, you have even betrayed my mercy.”

Perhaps even now, this moment, might be the last chance given by Nevida. If she gave up resistance and ran away even now, Cheon-Ang would be able to survive. Nevida would not bother to chase her.

Shay instinctively realized this fact, but instead of turning away, he took a step forward and raised his head.

“I’m not abandoning you. But that’s why I had to come.”

“More and more?”

“You’re going to hurt Hughes!”

A gust of wind blew through the room, shaking Nevida’s hair. Although it was impossible for wind to enter this narrow space, Shay, holding the celestial bird, was causing a gust of wind inside the room.

“Do you think I’m stupid? Hughes is the king of humans. The one you’re trying to revive is also the king of humans. In order for one to become whole, the other must disappear. And you will definitely choose to sacrifice Hughes.”

If given a choice between the two, Nevida would choose a king other than Hughes. That is Nevida’s wish for two thousand years.

“If that’s the case, I should be there too. I’m against you.”

“If it’s the opposite.”

Shay spoke to Nevida with clear intent.

“If he’s going to be the king of humans, Hughes is better.”

“… It’s better.”

“Yes. The king who was with me now is better than the king of the distant past who may have died at any moment. Hughes took action himself, even if he lied, deceived, and hid things. He made the best of it, even if he threw the situation into chaos.”

The king of men becomes the king of sin. But that wasn’t Hughes. And the Hughes we’ve seen so far are far from the king of sin.

Then, might Hughes not turn into the king of sin?

There is no basis for this. It is utterly irresponsible. Perhaps the cowardly ability to regress has taken away her fear of failure.

But Shay believed so.

“I am the same as you. If the human king resurrection ceremony is underway, I don’t know how it will end, but I will side with Hughes. I will make Hughes my king!”

“… .”

“Well. What do you think, Navida? I’m only on Hughes’ side! So, are you my friend or enemy?”

There was no need for an answer. There was only one king of Nevida from the beginning.

A small child picked up in the forest. An innocent and cute girl who followed him home, holding his hand as he grumbled. Nevida’s friend, disciple, teacher, and king.

If the two cannot coexist, and if I must choose one, I will choose that one without hesitation.

That’s why I can’t bring Shay in.

Nevida raised her hand silently and lowered it decisively.

Over Shay’s head, lush branches fell like fly swatters.