Chapter 5: The Temple

The girl’s illness was the flu.

Her body had reached its limit from not eating or resting properly.

The sleeping child’s labored breaths were still hot.

Her cheeks were flushed red, and her brow furrowed constantly as if in pain.

“Ugh…”

“Could this child be a Gate refugee?”

The monks couldn’t hide their troubled expressions as they heard the child’s groans.

Since the Gates appeared, the world had changed completely, and Korea too had experienced tremendous chaos.

Though counted among the countries that successfully responded to the Gates, they hadn’t completely prevented damage.

There was still a significant amount of unrecovered land, and countless people had died.

What sin could such a small, cute child have committed to suffer like this?

Many of the monks had lost their families and joined the temple, so the room was filled with a gloomy atmosphere.

Monk Jamyeong, holding a bowl of cooled porridge, slowly shook his head.

“It’s not for us mortals to judge this child’s past. We can only hope that her strength, which my ability can’t restore, returns quickly.”

“Isn’t there any way you can help more with your ability, Monk?”

In response to a young monk’s question, Monk Jamyeong answered quietly.

“…That’s my limit. I can heal wounds and colds, but for strength, we can only wait for it to return naturally.”

In fact, more troubled than the monks was none other than Monk Jamyeong himself.

He’d had many regrets while cultivating the Buddhist path, but this was a first in his life.

‘How much must this child have suffered alone because of my arrogance.’

Thinking of the past two months of heat waves, monsoons, and all sorts of bad weather, he felt an indescribable sense of self-reproach.

What had this small child eaten to survive all this time?

Where had she slept, and had she encountered anyone with evil intentions?

Monk Jamyeong, eyes closed and turning his prayer beads, spoke with difficulty.

“We should get some meat. She probably hasn’t had proper food, so we need something nutritious but not too greasy.”

There was a bitter taste in his mouth.

But regret was useless.

Even if past choices led to wrong results, the present was still the present.

“And… I’ll take care of the child for now, so don’t neglect your other duties.”

When Monk Jamyeong opened his eyes again, there was no trace of his earlier worries.

The monks returned to their routines without a word.

If the child learned that all these grown men had been gathered around watching her, she might faint.

“Since Monk Jamyeong needs rest too, we’ll take turns looking after the child for the remaining time.”

“Do so.”

After leaving the quarters, the monks gathered in a circle at a distance.

It was far enough that even Monk Jamyeong, with his sharp hearing, couldn’t hear their voices.

“Then, I’ll take charge of looking after the child.”

Monk Haein. The most recently ordained monk, a man in his 20s.

Considering his age, he had the perfect energy for the tiring task of caring for a child, but…

“Haein. Look at your body. We don’t want the child to faint as soon as she wakes up…”

The problem was that his physique was too good.

He had a huge build like something out of an action movie.

It seemed impossible to get that big eating only vegetables, so Haein, aware of this fact, quietly stepped back.

He hung his head low, looking full of regret.

The second to step forward was Monk Doyun, in his 30s.

He too had recently become a monk after losing his family and could be called a professional father with experience caring for a three-year-old child, but…

“Doyun… maybe you should take care of yourself first.”

This time, the problem was the opposite of Haein – he was far too skinny.

Thinking of his dead child every day and blaming himself for surviving, there was no way he’d been eating properly.

In the end, Doyun too stepped back reluctantly, sniffling.

At this point, even the monks who had volunteered realized they needed mediation.

That’s when the 70-year-old Monk Muae, one of the oldest at the temple along with Monk Jamyeong, stepped forward.

“Ho ho. You’re all still lacking in cultivation, full of worries and troubles. All living beings have Buddha-nature, so how can one who doesn’t love and care for themselves show compassion to others?”

The eager monks quietly bowed their heads and listened to Monk Muae’s words.

“True giving is done without expectation of reward. There’s no order to benefiting others, but it’s said that benefiting oneself is benefiting others. Making oneself prosperous is the way to make others prosperous.”

However…

“Everyone should focus on their duties and reflect on what they truly lack, with a mind to look back on themselves.”

The words seemed…

Quite convenient in their interpretation, visibly full of self-interest to anyone watching.

Monk Jinseong, in his 60s, who had been listening quietly, cut in.

“Self-benefit then other-benefit, other-benefit is self-benefit. Aren’t interpretations of self-benefit different depending on the order and method?”

“…Ahem.”

What on earth did this mean?

The younger monks were halfway to enlightenment in their confusion.

To put it simply, it was like the chicken or the egg argument.

Whether helping others comes first, or helping oneself.

In the end, it all depended on individual interpretation and thought.

“I never knew Monk Muae liked children so much.”

“Let’s… just take turns looking after the child.”

Monk Muae coughed awkwardly at Monk Jinseong’s jab.

In the end, he too had been moved by the desire to care for a cute child like a grandchild after so long.

So the ten monks promised to take turns looking after the child once a day when the abbot was away.

On September 10th, ten monks made a promise.

The Ten Monks’ Covenant was established.

*

Contrary to their worries, the girl woke up perfectly fine after sleeping for half a day.

“Uh… huh…?”

The first thing the girl felt was comfort.

Her last memory was clearly of falling into the stream.

She felt a softness incomparable to grass or a single blanket.

The girl, who had been unconsciously rubbing her cheek against it, jumped up in surprise.

A thick mat was laid out right below her.

Above all, she realized she was in a room she’d never seen before.

“Kidnapped!”

Could the underground evangelists have found her?

If it was just her, that would be one thing, but she couldn’t let Mia be captured too!

The girl clenched her tiny fists and glared at the enemy standing opposite her.

“Child, don’t be so afraid.”

It was an old man with a very unique way of speaking.

Weren’t wrinkly old men supposed to start with “tsk tsk,” throw in a “you little brat,” and end with commands like “hurry up and do it!”?

The fact that he was different from them meant…

!

Could he be the boss of the old men?!

The girl gulped nervously.

She could make a wish if necessary, but big wishes required big payments.

She had no intention of using Mia’s body that way.

“Y-you! Do you know who I am?!”

The girl imitated the speech of the most powerful old man in her memory.

“…”

Though her voice was thin and trembling, so it wasn’t as imposing as she thought, she didn’t realize this.

Unaware of this fact, the girl thought the old man opposite her was scared and waved her tiny fists threateningly.

“Did you think you’d get away with kidnapping me?!”

“…”

Monk Jamyeong couldn’t respond.

Who would be scared of a capybara waving its fists?

Rather, he had to bite his lip to keep from bursting into his usual laughter at the strange sight of a child awkwardly pretending to be an adult.

Of course… the girl had no way of knowing this.

It worked!

The scary old man is terrified of me, who’s even scarier!

The girl, now more confident, slowly edged around the old man towards the door.

“I-I’ll let you off just this once! Be grateful you’re not dead!”

This time she didn’t wave her fists.

She was closer now, so she couldn’t risk hitting him.

Hurting others and using violence was a sin, after all.

Just as the girl opened the tightly closed door and stepped outside-

Thump, thump, thump thump-

A clear sound of something being struck was the first thing she heard.

She thought she’d escaped outside, but…

Looking around, the girl was still indoors.

In fact, it was a much larger space than the small room she’d been in before.

In the center stood a statue of a chubby man with a sickly yellow complexion, hands raised high as if he’d committed some crime.

His eyes and lips were curved in an extremely satisfied expression.

And in front of this strange statue…

“Mahaprajnaparamita Hrdaya Sutra…”

Ten men were hitting round wooden balls and chanting some unknown spell.

“…Eek! C-cult!! Heretics! Apostates!!”

These must be the wicked heretics she’d only heard about from the evangelists!

Wh-what should she do?!

How could she escape from here?

As the girl stood there helplessly, stomping her feet-

“Oh! The child!”

“The child? That child?”

“The child has woken up!”

Whoosh-!

The ten shiny-headed men turned to look at the girl all at once.

“…”

Flash!

The candles and LED lights brightly lit throughout the room reflected off their shiny heads.

“Ah…”

Faced with this terrifyingly heretical sight, the girl collapsed with a thud.

“Child!!”

Fortunately, Monk Jamyeong, who had followed her out, caught her, so she didn’t hit the hard floor, but…

“To stop in the middle of prayers, how lacking in discipline. No wonder the child was so startled with such excessive attention!”

Monk Jamyeong, who had been softened by the child’s cute behavior, began scolding in surprise.

He had expected she might have an unusual past, living alone in the mountains at such a young age.

Her speech imitating adults, her violent behavior of raising fists first,

And her reaction of distrusting adults first all clearly indicated she’d lived a very harsh life.

“Do you understand? Everyone, be careful not to be too overwhelming when dealing with the child. Act with consideration for how big you must look from the child’s perspective.”

That day,

An unwritten rule was born among the monks.

When facing the child, they must kneel and meet her gaze at eye level.

—