episode_0066

“…What is this, Jean Soger?”

“Well, what if you ask me that! The current small cooperative that started this division needs to explain to me!”

The sweet atmosphere that had existed just before disappeared, and only confusion and questions remained between us due to the sudden situation.

Of course, you have to be wary of what might come up from the staircase where the faint light leaks through the open hole.

Cheek!

After hiding the fire spirit behind my back, I clenched my fists and took a fighting stance and stared at the dimly lit door.

The halo of light seemed to be blinking and calling us, and our tension also increased.

“Hyeon small cooperative!”

“For now, I’m just using this!”

“… !”

He quickly took out a spare sword from his inventory and handed it to the Jinhwa spirit behind him. I was sure to ask what this was, but I didn’t have time to think about such trivial things right now.

Evolution Spirit and I stood guard for a moment, pointing our swords in the direction of the light.

After a bit of silence… .

“… Let’s start with a search and think about it. I don’t think anything will change if it stays like this.”

I, a little calmer, lowered the level of vigilance a little and made a suggestion to Jinhwa-ryeong.

She nodded and searched the surrounding area for a moment. As expected, there was no sign of life around except for small animals and insects.

“master. “There is no one with strong power around here!”

“An abnormal phenomenon. except. Spirit power. Similarity. strength. detect.”

The spirits also found no other threats nearby, so all that was left was to move forward.

But elemental power? Similarity? Do you feel a similar power?

‘Gnome. What does that mean? ‘Can you feel a power similar to spirit power?’

“explanation. It’s difficult. Gnome. trust. Advance.”

It’s hard to explain, but I guess I’m just asking you to trust me and go for it, right?

“Jin Sojeo. First, let’s go down those stairs. Whatever it is, as long as there are no other threats around, we discovered it first, so we have the authority to deal with it and manage it.”

“… I guess so. Phew… .”

slap!

Jinhwaryeong lightly caresses both cheeks with his hands and stands next to me with his eyes shining again.

“Good. Let’s do it together, Hyun Sohyeop. I don’t know why, but this must also be a guide to something. As if we met together with the current small cooperative.”

“Park Hyun-seong.”

“… Yes?”

“My name. Not Hyunseong, but Park Hyunseong.”

I once again revealed my name, which she had forgotten.

“Before I go, I wanted to at least tell you my name. Because it might be the last time.”

“Ah… . I see. Hehe, that’s surprising. Hyun, or rather Park Sohyeop, has a cute side that thinks such things.”

“Would you like Jin Sojeoman? I hope you heard my name clearly and completely forgot.”

“Yes, yes?! What does that mean… .”

“The first time we actually met, we talked through a scroll, a treasure of the Huashan Sect. At that time, I definitely said my name first, right?”

“ … Ah!!!”

It seemed that Jinhwaryeong was only then able to remember that I had revealed my name in the past.

Well, back then, they probably thought I was a ghost, so they may have forgotten things like my name and not thought it was important. If you think about it from Jinhwaryeong’s perspective, the events of the day he met me had such a strong impact.

Still, she really forgot after saying that she had never heard of Mr. Park’s last name in her world. As it is, I feel a little sad about it.

“Well, well!! Oh, oh oh, misunderstand! It’s a misunderstanding, Jin… No, Park So-hyeop! It’s not because I thought small things were trivial, but I was really out of my mind at the time… !”

“I understand. The first meeting must have been shocking considering Jin Sojeo’s situation. If you hear a ghost suddenly appear and say that it will help you or something, you might forget its name or something, right?”

“……”

Jinhwaryeong covered his face with both hands and lowered his head.

For a moment, she walked in front of me with her pink hair flowing, and before I knew it, she was standing right in front of the stairs.

“Come quickly! One o’clock is urgent! We must quickly find out what kind of place this is and report it to the monk!”

As she screamed without ever showing her face, her ears were redder than the color of her pink hair.

I laughed quietly at that and followed her down the stairs.

* * *

Where we walked down the stairs, a long cave was waiting for us.

“There was such a large secret cave in the volcano… . Who on earth made it?”

“At least one thing is certain: it seems like quite a long time has passed since this was created. The iron visible in the middle is corroded, so it doesn’t look like it’s been at least several decades. At least a hundred years, maybe more.”

In the place where Jinhwaryeong entered, there was a rare bead-like object embedded in it, illuminating the dark cave.

“Hey, night light!! Oh my god, how many of these are there! If I take all of this with me, I will be able to easily repay the Volcanic Sect’s debt… !”

Jinhwaryeong stamped his feet as he looked at the beads, but did not hastily touch them or anything. Of course, so do I.

‘It feels like a dungeon of sorts, but you shouldn’t touch it hastily when you can’t properly explore it. I knew something would happen.’

Evolutionary Spirit also regretted this, but never touched it. If I had been working as a hunter, I wouldn’t have been able to get the basics just by being cautious.

After about ten minutes of going inside, we entered a room brightly lit by night lights.

And there, on a huge stone gate, were some unknown Chinese characters engraved on it. Perhaps thanks to the influence of the app, I was able to read the Chinese characters themselves, but the meaning was a bit difficult for me.

“Wait a minute, Park So-hyeop. Let me interpret it for you. first of all… .”

Evolution slowly read the letters from above, then told me their pronunciation and interpretation.

有物混成, born in heaven and earth before. (Mixture of objects, born in heaven and earth.)

Before heaven and earth existed, there was something that was created through mixing.

寂兮寥兮, (appropriate benefit, benefit,)

This is silently wide and wide

獨立不改, (non-independence,)

Without form, it exists forever and never disappears.

周行而不殆, (driving is not possible,)

Also, since the cycle of chaos is not at risk,

可以爲天下mother。 (Kaiwicheonhamo.)

It can be said to be the foundation of all things in heaven and earth.

吾不知其名, 字之曰道, (Five Buljigimyeong, Jaji Waldo,)

I did not know what to call it, so I wrote it as ‘Tao (道)’.

强爲之名曰大。 (Gangwijimyeongwaldae)

Again, they named it ‘Dae (大)’.

(Daewalseo, Seowalwon, Wonwalban.)

The cycle continues endlessly and returns to the root.

故道大、(Gododae、)

Therefore, the Tao is great,

Heavenly Greatness, Earth Greatness, King’s Greatness. (Thousand generations, Earth, Kings Chronicles.)

Heaven, earth, and people will be great.

或中有四大, 而王居其一焉.

If there are four great things in heaven and earth, man is one of them.

“ … It’s Tao Te Ching. That is also what came before what the teacher said. Below it says:”

“That, Jean Soger. You spoke of the king as a person. Is there a reason for that?”

“Ah, this is also what Master said. A person named Wang Pil (王弼) from the Three Kingdoms period commented on the Tao Te Ching, especially this part, saying, “The king is a universal human being.” When you taught me this before, you told me to interpret it as a human being, so I said that without realizing it.”

… I honestly have no idea what you’re talking about. Still, since Evolutionary Spirit is smart in this regard, I thought it would be okay to leave everything to her for now.

“Anyway, these phrases are connected to the phrases that the teacher told me to memorize… What on earth does this mean? Hmm… .”

While Evolutionary Spirit was interpreting the meaning of the words, I took another look at my surroundings.

And I noticed that there was something crudely written on the right corner of the stone gate.

When I got closer and read it, the things we had to do were written in rough letters in the corner of the stone gate.

[After putting your hand on the door, you should ponder the phrase written on the door. Then, think again about the meaning of what you need to recite and then use the energy of nature.]

“Jin Sojeo!”

“Yes?”

“Please look here. There’s something written.”

I called Jin Jinhwa and checked this with her, and she nodded slightly.

“ Does this mean that you should use your inner strength? Wait a minute, Park So-hyeop. I’ll try it first.”

Jin Hua-ryeong placed his hand on the stone door and closed his eyes.

I could feel the movement of the inner energy from her, but the door just stayed in place without any change.

“Ha… . First of all, I’ll have to think about another method for a moment. First of all, would you like to give it a try?”

I nodded at her, then touched the door again like she did.

And as I read again the verses she had taught me a little while ago, I aroused my spirit power.

human law land, (human law land,)

People follow the laws of the earth,

地法天, (jibeopcheon,)

The earth follows the principles of heaven,

Heavenly Law, (Heavenly Law,)

Heaven follows the principles of Tao,

Taobeopnature. (Taobeopnature.)

The Tao imitates such laws of nature.

Suddenly, I was concerned that there were four materials in the composition.

‘Isn’t it true that spirit power is used, and this has something to do with spirits…? ?’

With that in mind, I recited the verse that Jinhua Spirit had told me, and I felt the spirit power within me draining out through my feet like before.

After waiting for tens of seconds,

Kugugugugugung… !

The huge stone gate opened by itself, clearing the way for us.

“Park Sohyeop!”

Jinhwaryeong didn’t pay any attention to the door, and grabbed me and supported me as I stumbled for a moment.

“Are you okay? Why did I suddenly collapse!!”

“ I did as I was told, but I lost some of my strength… Haha.”

“Phew… Are you hurt anywhere? There are no internal injuries or coin damage, right?”

“Fortunately, that doesn’t seem to be the case.”

I used a lot of elemental power, so my head felt a little dizzy, but it didn’t really interfere with the battle.

“Rather, let’s check from inside the open door. You never know what might be there.”

“Whew… . is it so. If there is something that requires you to use your strength like before, take a break this time and do it later. He is truly a person who does not know how to take care of his own body… .”

Putting Jinhwaryeong’s complaints aside for a moment, we entered the open stone gate.

“Less… It seems like there isn’t one.”

“Look over there, Sohyeop Park! There is something!”

At the place she pointed to, there was a night pole nailed to the ceiling of a high stone wall, a wide stone table with four books on it, an old wooden box, and two sheets of paper.

“ … Could this possibly be… .”

“Maybe… There is a high probability that it must be a secret or something left behind by one of the previous investigators of the Hwasan Sect. Amazing! It’s a miracle!!! I can feel the refreshing plum scent from the wooden box. It must be an elixir related to volcanic waves!”

Jinhwaryeong jumped up and down in joy. Then, as if he suddenly remembered something, he stopped and looked up at me.

“Um, over there… . Bar, Park Sohyeop?”

“Why are you doing this, Jean Soger?”

“Well, well… . Now, this… that… .”

I chuckled, knowing what she was going to say, so I made a move in advance.

“Of course, Jin Sojeo also has his share. You may find this inconvenient because I was the only one who opened the two doors, but wasn’t it Jin Sozer who told me the location? Of course, Sojeo must also have a share.”

“Well, is that okay? But actually, I didn’t have any role to play… .”

“Not at all. No matter how coincidental it may be, I would never have discovered this place if it weren’t for Jean Soje.”

“Jeong Then, please first check the items over there. And take what you want first. I’m okay with having some left over.”

He is a very knowledgeable person. I think it would be possible to just boldly ask for half the shares.

Well, after seeing what it is, I guess it’s okay if I just give it to Evolution Spirit. Because that’s my heart. The same goes for the elixir in that wooden box.

‘Because it has a plum scent, it’s probably perfect for the martial arts of the Volcanic Sect.’

I nodded slightly to Evolutionary Spirit and headed towards the stone table first.

As I was checking the items on the stone table, I noticed something slightly strange.

‘The book and wooden box feel very old, but the paper doesn’t feel that old. It’s a matter of comparison though.’

The books and boxes looked very worn-out. On the other hand, in the case of the two pieces of paper, although it looked like some time had passed, it seemed much more recent than the others.

Feeling strange, I checked the paper first.

And as soon as I read the first sentence on the piece of paper I picked up, I couldn’t help but get goosebumps all over my body.

[Look at those who are not from this world.]

“… … !!!”