< 59. 21st Century Robin Hood (13) >
***
Minjun frowned.
“What nonsense are you talking about? That woman became a Buddha because of you? Are you a priest? No, even the Pope cannot make a living person a Buddha. It’s not even an absolute command.”
If that were possible, Ha Eun-seong would become the greatest killer in the universe. He could kill anyone he pleased by extracting their souls from their bodies.
“No, it’s true.”
Ha Eun-seong explained what happened with a bewildered expression, but Min-jun didn’t believe her easily.
“It looks like I was thrown deep into my consciousness while fighting with you over my body.”
Then Ha Eun-seong also made a puzzled expression. It seemed that even when he thought about it himself, his argument did not make sense.
“Oh, is that so?”
“Yeah. It might be an illusion that something has left my body.”
He finished tying up Ha Eun-seong’s arms and legs.
“Okay, now that everything is done, just leave that body behind and come out. Then, the soul that was hiding in fear will crawl out.”
“Ah! There was such a simple method.”
Ha Eun-seong nodded and concentrated.
however.
“······.”
“······.”
Silence flows.
“Huh? Why not? Yuck!”
Minjun said bluntly.
“What are you doing?”
Ha Eun-seong broke out in a cold sweat.
“Why is it like this···?”
“Excuse me, we don’t have time right now.”
“Wait a minute! I guess I’m just nervous. Excuse me, Agent, but could you look away for a moment? If you stare at me like that, I’ll get even more nervous…”
“······.”
While muttering something about doing all sorts of things and looking away, Ha Eun-seong tried again and again, struggling. It was something he had been used to doing until now. Getting out of the body he had borrowed for a while.
But the sensation that followed was completely different. Until now, whenever I made up my mind to leave, my living body would easily bounce off the back of the spirit. It was because of the repulsive force that worked as if it had been waiting.
But now it’s the opposite. It’s like Ji Seon-gyeong’s body is holding onto him tightly and not letting go.
“Agent.”
Ha Eun-seong said with a distorted face.
“What do I do? I… am ruined.”
“what?”
At this point, Minjun also noticed something strange.
“Are you saying you can’t get out of there?”
A head that moves quietly up and down.
“I’m going crazy. Why on earth all of a sudden…”
At that moment, a thought flashed through Minjun’s head.
The reason why the body pushes away the possessed soul is basically because two souls cannot exist in one body.
The flesh naturally embraces the true master of the two and rejects the other.
But, even if it is not the original, how will the body react if only one soul remains inside it? If even that soul leaves, the body will eventually face death. The instinct of a living creature will not allow that.
Minjun muttered as if he couldn’t believe it.
“Hey… Are you sure that story is true? You really drove that woman’s soul out of her body? A rolling stone that lodges itself in the ground?”
If it were true, it would be a historic event that would turn the entire universe upside down. Ha Eun-seong said with a tearful face.
“I told you it’s true!”
“Just wait a minute!”
According to Ha Eun-seong’s testimony, Min-jun knew that there was no one else in this room, living or dead, except them. Then, where did Ji Seon-gyeong’s soul go when she was kicked out?
Hurrruk!
“Ugh!”
Minjun’s eyes lit up with white flames. He examined the traces as they were. Just as a hole was left behind when a talent evaporated into the spirit world, something similar should occur when a soul attains enlightenment.
but.
‘does not exist!’
There are no souls that have attained Buddhahood. At least not around here, not these days.
‘then···.’
Minjun was able to come up with an answer quickly. His face darkened considerably.
‘It seems like he didn’t chase away that woman’s soul… he just destroyed her soul.’
As far as Minjun knows, no ghost or phantom can interfere with each other but cannot destroy them.
The only way is to spend space currency in a manner known only to the Committee.
Talent.
That which Ha Eun-seong claims to have absorbed.
“What on earth were you thinking when you pushed that woman away?”
“······What are you thinking?”
He speaks hesitantly.
“I hate it, I hate it. When I think about how I’ve suffered because of this woman and how my siblings have been put in danger, I feel like my blood is boiling… And then she keeps yelling at me like she’s so great and telling me to get lost, which annoys me….”
“You wanted to get rid of it?”
“······That’s right.”
“Now, is there any rejection reaction from your body?”
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“This body? There’s not much of that… The synchronization is almost 100%. To be honest, it’s similar to when I was alive. I feel all sorts of sensations. Even pain.”
Then, she frowns and holds her waist. She mutters the following words to herself. Why has my back been hurting so much since a while ago? Did this woman suffer from a herniated disc?
“okay?”
Minjun’s expression hardened even more. Then he said what he guessed.
“Then, contrary to what you said, you will not be ruined···.”
“?”
“Isn’t this essentially a resurrection?”
“Huh? What is that···.”
Only then did Ha Eun-seong realize the meaning of this phenomenon.
“!”
He mutters, his body shaking as if he has been electrocuted.
“Resurrection?”
“Yes. The body doesn’t expel the soul, nor can it jump out of the body on its own. It has complete control and senses just like its own body. At this level, it’s just alive.”
“······.”
Ha Eun-seong panicked and Min-jun fell into deeper thought.
‘I thought this was something that could only happen when the committee changed the prisoner’s body. This is the soul transplantation.’
If you just look at the results, it is no different from Ha Eun-seong’s current state.
‘I expected that the talent would be consumed, but was it possible with such a primitive method? Then, even without special skills, if I just had the actual talent in my hands…’
Just imagining it gave me goosebumps.
‘Is this the reason why talents were controlled so that they would never fall into the hands of prisoners?’
But I still think that I will need a body to return to…
Soon you will deny your own thoughts.
‘No, it depends on the individual’s goals.’
If the prisoner were to give up his original body and memories, he would be able to escape by jumping into another body. From the committee.
and.
‘Wait a minute. There’s something more important than that.’
I made the mistake of trying to interpret the phenomenon from my own perspective, thinking that I only saw what I wanted to see.
Ha Eun-seong has already died and come back to life. Life, death, and life again. Knowing that this is possible, there is no need to insert death in the middle of the process. Just jump into another body before you die.
That’s right···.
‘Eternal life without the destruction of self and memory!’
It was the moment when he realized that the secret surrounding the talent was much deeper and more dangerous than he had expected.
‘What should I do anyway?’
Ha Eun-seong claims that he cannot come out of a woman’s body. Considering his situation, it is difficult to dismiss this as a lie.
‘If this is the case, there is no way to recover a million talents···.’
Ha Eun-seong looked at him and said.
“Then what should I do? I… don’t want to live like this. Should I just go up to the rooftop and fall to my death? Will I bounce back?”
It was an unexpected remark.
“······what?”
“I guess this body really did consider me its master. Usually, when I’m possessed, I can’t access memories… but right now, all sorts of scenes are coming to mind.”
It means that you can read the remaining memories of Ji Seon-gyeong’s biological brain. Ha Eun-seong said with a frown.
“This guy… is a huge criminal. No, why has he killed so many people?”
It seems that while Minjun was lost in thought, many things came to mind. Ha Eunseong’s face became very pale.
“This woman… has been arrested, right? So, am I supposed to be held in prison for the rest of my life? Am I supposed to be tortured?”
“That’s a bit of a headache.”
There is no law that assumes this situation.
The body, including the brain, is still intact, and the memory of having committed a crime remains. However, the soul inside it belongs to a third party. How can this be proven? Can such a criminal be exempted?
If the human mind is considered a simple neural process phenomenon, then Jiseonkyung will be acknowledged as having continuity of existence since she is physically identical to 10 minutes ago. However, the soul is holding her back.
Perhaps her soul is judged to have perished. So is the body that lives and breathes here innocent? Common sense would suggest so. Legally?
“I’m going crazy.”
While he was wrapping his head, Ha Eun-seong’s expression got even worse.
“What the… why are there so many?”
Keep muttering.
Why is it like this? Why are there so many? Why did you kill so many?
Victims who were either directly murdered by Ji Seon-gyeong or eliminated through instigation. As I recalled the memories, similar scenes floated up from deep within the stratum due to the brain’s associations.
“······!”
Many eyes flashed through my mind. Most of them had nothing to do with Red Star activities.
Also, most of them were non-human races. Eyes filled with resentment. A scream so creepy that it made your bones tingle. The twist of the moment when life was fading away. Ji Seon-gyeong looking at that sight with satisfaction. The joy she felt.
The senses and emotions were intertwined, strangling him. It made Ha Eun-seong sick. Orcs, there were too many dead orcs. Orcs killed to display her ideas, orcs sacrificed as a means to achieve her goals, orcs killed just to vent her anger, orcs chopped up to prove her worth.
Ha Eun-seong focused on the last or first memory. There was a magic circle. A young orc was tied up on top of it. The magicians were standing next to the trembling sacrifice, not even covering their eyes. Ji Seon-gyeong grabbed her sword. Their eyes met.
The feeling of penetrating something thick at the tip of my finger. Wet and hot. A weakening struggle.
The scene overlapped with Ha Eun-seong’s own memories. Himself running away in a panic. The killer following him. The sharp blade stuck in his neck at the last moment.
“Wow!”
Ha Eun-seong vomited on Ji Seon-gyeong’s body.
All he could feel was sour stomach acid, as if he hadn’t eaten anything all day. But he desperately tried to empty his stomach, which was empty. As if he was trying to empty out all the horrible memories he had seen, all the madness he felt from that scene.
“Sigh… Ugh!”
Minjun looked down at him without saying a word. Ha Eunseong barely stopped the vomiting that was like a seizure and raised his head. The other person’s face was vaguely visible beyond his swaying vision.
Ha Eun-seong barely managed to squeeze out his voice.
And he told what he saw.
“This woman… is from the Human Rights Solidarity Association!”
***
It is surprisingly difficult for an extreme human supremacist group to expand its influence.
In this society, such ideas are perceived as ‘wrong’ and ‘shameful’. It is rare for someone to confidently say in front of their company or acquaintances that they are a discriminator. This is because they themselves are ashamed.
Moreover, secretly agreeing with that ideology and joining in indiscriminate terrorist acts are two entirely different things.
Therefore, the Human Rights Solidarity used a method of operating various sub-organizations that seemed to be unrelated on the surface. In order to overcome the weakness of a discriminatory group, which is that only a small number of people are members and active.
It was not difficult to fuse the hostility towards the dragon, the ultimate target of slaughter, with the resistance of the poor.
Even those who disagreed with the idea of killing orcs were willing to join the movement to redistribute wealth fairly. Those who would have coldly rejected the hand extended by the Human Rights Solidarity were grateful for the help of the 21st century version of the righteous thief and wanted to be a force.
Red Star’s greatest strength is that even non-human races join and operate. In particular, the proportion of orcs was high due to the nature of being rooted in slum areas. They stole according to orders without even knowing who was behind Red Star, and most of the loot ended up in the Human Rights Solidarity’s granary.
The orcs working for Red Star had no idea that their hard work would be used to fund the mass genocide of their own kind.
The Human Rights Solidarity found this irony to be a delightful comedy.
Ji Seon-gyeong was the same way.
***
“There’s constant pressure coming from the Changcheon side. It’s good to bring justice to the ‘insignificant race,’ but how are you going to handle the requests that you’ve entrusted to me?”
One day, as the conflict between Red Star and the Orc gang was escalating, Minjun and Jenkinson sat across from each other.
The contents of the ghost’s statement that scanned Ji Seon-gyeong’s memories were reported to the immigration office, and based on that, Jenkinson was preparing to completely destroy Red Star. Next in line would be the Orc gang led by Kim Gwang-woo. Jenkinson also holds the full venom there.
However, from his perspective as someone who had the duty to manage the dragons in this area, it was also important to decide how to deal with Changcheon.
Minjun told him.
“Once a million talents were lost, it was clearly an accident. There’s no need to look into it further.”
I suspected that maybe Ji Seon-gyeong and her group knew something and plotted using Ha Eun-seong as a tool. They wanted to ‘take’ the talent. However, after searching through my memories, I found that it wasn’t like that.
“They didn’t know anything about talent.”
So no matter how much you try to get Red Star or Human Rights Solidarity, the talent will not come back.
To be exact, the key to recovering it lies with the ghost named Ha Eun-seong, but in his current state, he cannot even return to his spirit form. The person in question declared with an indifferent expression that he would ‘commit suicide’, but Min-jun stopped him.
There was a reason for that.
If a body has only one soul, it is just a living person. If Ha Eun-seong puts his plan into action, he will experience a second death. Then, will the spirit body bounce out cleanly like before?
I can’t guarantee that the second death will be easier than the first. What if the shock turns you into a ghost? Or worse… what if you pass away to the spirit world?
This is a phenomenon that has never been experienced before, so no one can guarantee anything. Minjun is collecting information from various sources.
“There is no need to tell Changcheon the exact situation right now…”
“None.”
There is one problem to be resolved before exposing Ha Eun-seong to Chang-cheon.
Jenkinson wants to confirm the dragon’s ghost that is trapped inside. Contrary to the old orc’s expectations, Jenkinson is cautious about cutting off the dragon’s head with just that statement. Taking down Red Star is different from attacking Heaven. He wants someone more trustworthy to confirm.
Meanwhile, Minjun wants to know what on earth Changcheon was planning to do with the ghost.
“Just for your own satisfaction and happiness, you capture and torture the ghost of your ex-husband? Think about how much it costs to maintain such an exorcist. An old woman known for being a miser would waste money like that? I don’t think so.”
It is also unusual that the magic circle resonates with Ha Eun-seong’s talent, and it is also strange that the large-scale exorcism circle was installed in two places: the bank’s headquarters and Lair.
“Why didn’t you keep the talent in the lair?”
Was it because it was bank assets and not personal assets?
It’s not very convincing. That’s because the ancient dragon can use tricks like that at any time.
“You know what happens when you keep that ghost and talent close to each other.”
His gaze deepened.
“Changcheon knows something.”
At this point, the Red Dragon and the aliens’ goals aligned.
Before revealing Ha Eun Sung’s existence to Chang Cheon, they needed to personally confirm what the sinister dragon was up to in Lair.
< 59. 21st Century Robin Hood (13) > End
