Chapter 457
Episode 457: Get Down
January 5, 2024. morning.
“The weather is a bit warm today for the first time in a while, isn’t it?”
In early December, it was thought that abnormally high temperatures due to the [Super El Nino] phenomenon would continue, but severe cold arrived overnight.
The Meteorological Administration explained that it was caused by a gust of arctic wind, but those who are a little more sighted (or a little more deranged) than others know what the real problem was.
Far away, in the east, a new sun is emitting brilliant light.
“Wow, the sun is really nice over there.”
Bae Jin-woo tries to look at the sun with narrowed eyes. Wow – it’s a great sun to see again. I wasn’t crazy after all. Finally, the round, healthy sun has returned.
“Thanks to you, the snow stopped.”
A snow-covered mountain path that emits a crunching sound every time you step on it. As Bae Jin-woo said, fortunately it didn’t snow today.
“But- phew. “Jiri Mountain is still cold.”
Although she says so, Lim Hee-young is wearing light clothing that would only be worn in early winter. It’s not for nothing that she has a physique that makes her seem to be twice as tall as Bae Jin-woo.
“That’s right. “I heard that it wasn’t a mountain like this until the 1990s, but after the great collapse in 1999, it became a strange place where it snowed all year round.”
“cold… … .”
A person who follows slowly behind for a long time. Long padding that goes down to the ankles. A hood covered all over the head. A body curled up and trembling.
“Team leader, are you okay?”
Feeling worried, Lim Hee-young lowered her head to check on Yang Seo-ho’s condition, but all she could see through the tightly tied hood was a small nose and hair sticking out from the hood.
“I heard it’s cold… … .”
After hearing Yang Seo-ho’s answer, Bae Jin-woo nodded and spoke courageously.
“There it is. I mean, we had sought cooperation from headquarters in advance. “After resting there for a while, we can start investigating properly.”
Pure white snow covering every place you look.
And the Jiri Mountain Exploration Support Center’s Jungsan-ri guard post is sticking out from among the snow.
A spacious two-story building.
White letters written next to the entrance on the first floor. [How can I help you?]
Additionally, the ugly red letters written on the banner hanging on the second floor terrace. [If you are caught entering the mountain without permission, you will be shot without warning.]
As the name suggests, it is a place managed by the government to support people who want to climb Mt. Jiri.
“Because it’s cold… … . “Go in quickly.”
* * *
The interior is much cozier and warmer than it looks from the outside.
“Are you government officials sent by Sejong City?”
Kang Gye-jin, the guard at the Jungsan-ri guard post at the Jiri Mountain Exploration Support Center, raised the kettle on the stove and asked a question.
“Naha, that’s right. “To be exact, it is the Foreigners Management Office.”
“More precisely, it is Special Team 1 of the Immigration and Foreigners Management Office.”
Bae Jin-woo answers with a smile and Lim Hee-young amplifies his remarks.
“Special team 1… … ? Oh, that team that has a monster named Yang Seo-ho?”
Lim Hee-young smiles with discomfort after hearing Kang Gye-jin’s careless remarks. The Jiri Mountain rangers at the Jungsan-ri guard post look at them with a different perspective.
Bae Jin-woo, who looked around for a moment, pointed at Yang Seo-ho with a shy expression.
“Excuse me, but the person here is Team Leader Yang Seo-ho.”
Excuse me and go to sleep. As soon as I enter the guard post, Yang Seo-ho sits on the chair closest to the stove and curls up in an insect-like posture.
“Yes, that’s me.”
“Huh… … . “This was rude.”
After saying that, Kang Gye-jin handed the steaming cup to Yang Seo-ho.
“You seem to be very sensitive to the cold, but I was thinking of coming to Jiri Mountain this season without fear.”
“It’s public service.”
My fingertips, red from the cold, slightly come out of the sleeves of my long padding and take the coffee cup.
Thin fingers wriggling to share the warmth of the glass.
Kang Gye-jin’s eyes turn to that finger. Did he accomplish such incredible feats with fingers like those? Do you have any special powers? Or are the rumors exaggerated?
A slender figure that is visible even through the long padding. Height: 170? No, it’s smaller than that. 168? 6? 7?
However, as a veteran ranger, his instincts reject it – to look down on him based solely on his appearance. The pressure feels unrealistic.
beast of prey? Snowfall? No, it’s not at that level. It feels like I’m facing a landslide or a snow storm disguised in human form.
Yang Seo-ho, who was silently looking down at his coffee cup – suddenly takes an unexpected action!
Dangerous!!
We need to increase our distance!
Come on!
Kang Gye-jin hurriedly retreats back.
Not only that, other rangers within the guard post also made similar movements. Priority check performed automatically. Surprise decision failed. The right to start is given to Seo-ho Yang.
But there will be no battle situation. Yang Seo-ho just drank the coffee in his cup in one go. Yang Seo-ho, who is accustomed to overreacting from people around him, looks around with an expressionless face and puts down his empty glass.
“It’s sweet.”
“Well, I added a little too much sugar. Well, are you okay?”
“I like sweets.”
“Oh, no, that’s not it… … .”
You just drank the boiling coffee in one go, right? Why is it okay to be hot when the cold is so scorching?
Yang Seo-ho’s health stat is too high for [Hot] to be applied as damage to Yang Seo-ho.
Damage from [Cold] is also not applied – Yang Seo-ho can feel the sensation of [cold], and regardless of the damage, that sensation is one of the senses that Yang Seo-ho dislikes.
Kim Shin-hwa would have thought, ‘Isn’t only the [cold-fighting motion] working regardless of the damage?’, but there is no one here who can make that kind of inference.
“Now that you’re a little warmer, I’ll ask you the proper question.”
“Yeah, that’s right.”
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“Where did Kim Shin-hwa appear?”
In response to Yang Seo-ho’s question, Kang Gye-jin pointed to one of the maps on the wall.
“Here it is. “My three sacred peaks.”
It is one of the famous attractions of Jiri Mountain and is a peak located at 1,354 meters above sea level.
Additionally, there is a legend about a mysterious seal stone that can open the door to a new world at Naesamsinbong.
* * *
At noon.
Busan city.
“How is it after about a month? This month. “Isn’t it a better city than I thought?”
“Hmm, CEO? “We didn’t come here to leisurely ‘live in Busan for a month’ or anything like that, right?”
Meanwhile, Geumwol looks out the window. People passing by noisily. The road is twisted here and there. Why are there so many slopes and why are there so many forks in the road? … .
“I’m sick of it now. “How long are we going to be here?”
Baek Beom-jin burst out laughing at Geum-wol’s grumbling, where honorifics and honorifics were mixed up.
“Hahaha, is that so? “I was only planning on staying until today, so don’t worry.”
“What are you going to do today?”
“For the first time in a while, I want to do something related to my main job.”
“The CEO’s main job? “Rabbit?”
“… … taoist.”
“Ah, Taoist. “What kind of work can a Taoist monk do in a big city like this?”
“Busan is also a base for Taoists and mediums.”
Baek Beom-jin pats Geum-wol’s head while saying that. Geumwol frowned as if he was annoyed, but moved his head in a direction that was easily within reach of his hand.
“Busan? “Not Cheonghak-dong or Gyeryongsan Mountain?”
“okay. Busan is a city with many Taoist traditions and famous places since ancient times. Ah, you arrived just in time. “That way.”
Information on place names shown on the signpost.
[Sinsundae].
“Sinsundae? Oh, I know this place. “There is an entrance used by heavenly horses, right?”
“That’s right. Now that you’ve taken everything you can from Akiyama, let’s lure a few thousand horses… … Huh… … . “What’s going on?”
You have arrived at your destination, but it is not a situation where you can stop the car. People crowded around Sinseondae.
The police of Busan Special Self-Governing City are controlling the access of such people.
“Hmm… … .”
“What are these people? what? CEO. “Don’t think about doing anything weird.”
“I told you to stay quiet for the time being, so I plan on staying quiet… … . “It would be best to check what kind of mess that is and move on.”
Well, that’s true. What I’m curious about is this month as well.
Baek Beom-jin maintained his seated position in the car, put his hands together, and made a hand sign similar to what is commonly called a fox window. A short chant follows.
“Will there be, will there not be? “You vain people, reveal your true identity.”
Then, with my eyes between the intricately intertwined fingers, I look out the window.
Kim Shin-hwa would have noticed that the characteristics of [clairvoyance], [clairvoyance], [truth eye], and [insight eye] were applied simultaneously to Baek Beom-jin’s vision.
“That’s absurd.”
Rocks piled up like a mountain on Sinseondae. Objects floating in the air in a strange way. Objects rotating in an unnatural way.
Something strange is happening.
“Did Kim Shin-hwa commit this?”
* * *
dinner. Or a slightly more odd time.
From the far left – someone moving in a direction that cannot be expressed in words. A long, long leap toward an abstract direction.
This exact time was chosen as a stepping stone to add strength to that leap. This place.
Here↓.
“Ahh!?”
Hold on!
Sparks radiating from all directions in a surreal way. A complex pattern floating in the air. Chinese characters and numbers flowing from top to bottom. alphabet. Primitive shapes. And again numbers.
1100100000010101 1100100111000000.
Limbs twisted in strange ways. A field of view that rotates regardless of intent. Gong Yi-su had to be swung in a strange way in the air for a while.
“What is this again!?”
Gong Yi-soo hastily adjusts his coordinates.
Appears again in Around This Time↙.
“shit.”
Gong Yi-soo rolled on the floor looking awkward for a moment. He picked up his head from the floor, put it back in place, and looked around.
“Compound barrier?”
A rock mixed with magic that occupies a location where it shouldn’t be. It was dangerous. I almost got stuck in that rock.
“What kind of crazy bastard did this here?”
Gong Yi-su raises both hands and changes the shape of his head.
A head that changes from a complex watch to a camera. This is the form taken when precise observation or data preservation is necessary.
Click, boom! A flash explodes with a sound. Fast-paced analysis.
[Seyam (洗耳巖)]
“I know that.”
A place known as the place where Choi Chi-won washed his ears and fabled.
In addition, about 20 years ago, an abyssal being who was interested in this tradition created a passage to connect with the other world here.
Thanks to this, it is one of the places where the laws of physics are less consistent than other places. Therefore, Gong Isu often passed through this place to travel between time and space.
“Who are you explaining to? Oh, who else is observing? shit. “Don’t look.”
The presence or absence of an observer is not important. Someone set up a trap on the route used by Gong Yi-su.
Moreover, even though it has been altered in an ambiguous way, it cannot fool Gong Yi-soo. This magical power pattern is clearly… … .
“Kim Shin-hwa?”
It was clearly a trap set for this purpose. why? To harass me? What a fun prank. No, it is a trap set up by Kim Shin-hwa to capture and imprison Gong Yi-soo. Kim Shin-hwa betrayed. I don’t know what happened in the meantime, but that son of a bitch decided to turn against me. betrayed Kim Shin-hwa betrayed.
“Noisy. It can’t be… … .”
… … Not that there aren’t any. Don’t you honestly think so?
“… … “It’s hard to be sure because he’s so crazy.”
Gong Yi-soo looks around in a cautious manner again. If you look closely, it’s a very ignorant method.
“Rocks containing magic were piled up haphazardly in the passage connecting the other world.”
Since this was done in a place where the laws of physics are already unstable, strange phenomena are occurring everywhere. Stone pieces and tree branches rotating in strange ways.
Whatever Kim Shin-hwa’s intentions, Gong Yi-soo can easily destroy it. Let’s remove all these unpleasant objects and secure a passage connecting to the other world.
“Ah, ah- hmmm. I understand. I guess the purpose was to block the door to the other world? In the first place, Kim Shin-hwa in the current time zone will not know that I am using this channel… … .”
Gong Yi-su raises his head and looks at the western sky. The round sun has reached the western end. A red sunset colors the sky.
“The sun has been restored. “Are you referring to the sun as an unloaded object?”
Gong Yi-soo’s perspective briefly expands in a transcendent way.
It wasn’t just here. The three sacred peaks of Jiri Mountain. Haeundae, Sinseondae, Wangjabong Peak, Cheomseongdae, Yongmajigul, Cheonyeoam, Geumgang, etc.
Kim Shin-hwa’s barriers are located all over the country.
Everything Gong Yi-su can utilize… … .
“shut up. “I don’t mind if I don’t use this passage anyway.”
It’s not wrong. Inserting a point in the travel route where the laws of physics are weak is a means of obtaining convenience equivalent to using an escalator.
It may be annoying, but just use the stairs.
However, Kim Shin-hwa is causing an enormous amount of instability throughout this space-time.
“Looking at it, this thing Kim Shin-hwa did was a distraction to you, so he was trying to drag me into it?”
Gong Yi-soo looks in the wrong direction and makes a giggling sound. Bullshit, talking to yourself, abnormal judgment.
It looks like the madness has taken over again.
“Hmph, don’t involve a strict person and try to solve it on your own.”
Gong Yi-su made a misjudgment again. Although he has been fooled several times, he is foolish enough to take Kim Shin-hwa’s side again.
“I think it would be best not to snoop around during this time.”
After saying that, Gong Yi-soo sends a meaningless hand gesture in the direction of Kim Shin-hwa.
“Junior, do your best. “I’ll see you later.”
Gong Yi-su slowly disappears to the left again.
fantasy,
