episode_0067

“Okay, I’ll be going now.”

Shihyuk stood up from his seat. A look of regret spread across Eunha’s face.

“Oh, are you going to go? You can go a little later… .”

“It will be evening when we get back, so it would be better to leave leisurely.”

It’s not that he didn’t want to stay a little longer.

But Eun-ha was still a patient who needed rest, and Hong Yun-ha was a bit of an unfamiliar person who had a lot of work to do.

The old-fashioned craftsman did not want to make them worry about his greed.

“I’m sorry if I pushed away a strict person with my words.”

Hong Yoon-ha, who had been watching the somewhat affectionate atmosphere between the two, seemed embarrassed that she had become an obstacle.

“No, don’t keep that in mind.”

Shihyuk shook his head and showed humility in response to her words.

Si-hyuk, standing in front of the hospital room door, nodded his head toward them.

Hong Yoon-ha, who got up from her seat, bowed her head in response to the greeting, and Eun-ha watched him walk away with a somewhat nervous expression.

“Over there!”

The girl’s words reached his back. When Sihyuk turned his head, he saw a young wildflower smiling bashfully.

“Cheer up, Sihyuk. I’ll do my best too! You worked hard today too!”

Those words touched his heart so much that Sihyuk smiled clearly at the girl for a rare moment.

“Yes.”

… is a good person.

As he walked down the hospital hallway, up the stairs, and toward the exit, Shihyuk thought about the girl in the hospital room.

Really. I can’t say anything else. He was a man who was not good with words.

I felt that trying to dress up that feeling with awkward words would only end up tarnishing its purity.

So, I just thought like that, without anything to take away or anything to add.

He was truly grateful to the galaxy. It felt like his connection with the girl had been repaid.

Although I still feel a lingering pain in my chest when I think of the old man.

Anger welled up in me, sending tingles down my spine,

My eyes were dark and my throat was burning.

-He was a good boy who came to heal your wounds.

-If you have that kindness and trust, even if you make a mistake, you will have the strength to get up again.

It was just as the old man said.

Like the shade of a tree in the heat, like a hand wiping a foggy window.

The galaxy gave him the courage to stand up again after he had fallen.

-Cheer up. You worked hard today too.

It’s such a cliche. Isn’t it something that anyone can say?

-Come here. You can cry as much as you want.

A small hand reaching out with him. Someone’s body temperature touching his skin.

That was all the galaxy did.

It wasn’t that I took his pain for him, nor did I step forward and do something.

But, just that small action can warm my cold, frozen heart.

It was something much more amazing and wonderful than any [magic] or [skill].

It does not have to be expressed in any goods or materials.

You don’t have to go around talking nonsense about understanding the other person’s pain like other people do.

What a miserable world.

As I live, I feel that sometimes it just seems like there’s just so much malice, and even though I know that, I can’t help but get hurt because I’m human.

Sometimes, it hurts so much that I feel like this life is useless and in vain, like trying to grab water with my hands.

Is salvation a big deal?

I can endure this only with the warmth within, the sincere support and encouragement.

A person can live again by being with good people.

The blacksmith smiled slightly as he thought of the girl.

-.-.-

Sihyuk left the hospital and continued walking.

It was an uncharacteristically slow action for someone who pursues efficiency when he could have gotten home much faster and easier by public transportation.

“… … .”

Because so many emotions were still swirling in his chest? No.

After meeting the galaxy, he was no longer swayed by it and was able to fully contemplate his inner self.

However, his mind was a bit complicated with various thoughts running through his head. So he just walked.

The hospital where Eunha had visited had now disappeared into the distance.

As the days grew darker, the air in Seoul became murky, a mixture of midday heat and evening coolness.

Drink it, spit it out, and keep walking for hours.

…is this just a coincidence?

No, maybe it was inevitable.

As he walked, Si-hyuk, who had reached the edge of a busy area, could sense a ‘black something’ disguised as a person passing by.

When he turned his head in a hurry, there was already nothing there. There were only a few people passing by him as he stood there blankly.

“… … .”

It was a strange thing. It took a moment for me to realize it, but it had happened just a moment ago.

But I still don’t remember the first impression.

Was it a woman, a man? Or was it a person? Black. Just, black. That was all that came to mind.

My hair stood on end, I was drenched in cold sweat, and it felt like all my pores were open and all the moisture in my body was escaping.

Shihyuk wrinkled his nose.

City dust. Car exhaust. The cosmetics, lotion, perfume of someone who had passed by. It was a sweet smell that didn’t mix with anything else.

Could it be that he alone could sense it? I don’t know. But it seemed that no one else could sense this terrible sweetness.

It’s hard to explain, but it was a feeling of being drawn somewhere.

However, Shihyuk could clearly see that this sweetness was a pretense.

It was something close to a curse that would possess any being that recognized me, like a carnivorous plant.

Deep inside, a sickening, sticky, bloody smell was definitely lingering at the end of this scent.

… .

… … .

“… … this kind of thing.”

Si-hyuk, who was standing there like a stone statue, intoxicated by an intense sensation as if on drugs, took a step back without realizing it.

Because I had been walking for a long time and standing around blankly, it had already gotten completely dark and it was time to get off work.

On his way home from work in Seoul, a brutal rush hour awaited him.

It seems that the place he stopped was particularly crowded.

Not only the roadways along the main street but also the sidewalk where he was were crowded with people trying to use public transportation.

Annoyed glances were directed at the obstruction that was inconvenient to pass through. I felt dizzy.

The shock made my mind, which had been clouded by ecstasy, clear again.

The sweet scent that had been lingering in my nose was now obliterated by the overwhelming smell of the crowd.

There were too many people. I couldn’t even think straight, I felt nauseous. It was hard to even stand properly.

There’s nothing I can do.

Let’s put aside our thoughts about that black… thing for a moment and prioritize getting home quickly.

He turns around to quickly catch a taxi, does he know?

A sentence from Nietzsche’s ‘Beyond Good and Evil’.

As the phrase goes,

The moment he recognized ‘her’,

That she too was enough to recognize ‘him’.

Hoohoohoo, the sound of someone laughing disappeared into the distance, buried in the crowd.

This too must be fate.

That was the first meeting between Nahan and Asura.

-.-.-

When Si-hyuk returned home, he took off his beanie hat and threw it carelessly away.

… I’m tired.

The capital of Korea was teeming with people, especially on the way home from work.

The traffic was terrible, and the discomfort was even worse. I still felt motion sickness.

Lying on the living room floor, Sihyuk closed his eyes.

It was a day when a lot of things happened.

Mr. Galaxy.

[Heenari].

…nigritude.

My mind was feeling even more confused, but there was something else that had to come first.

Sihyuk, who had been lying still, muttered softly.

“Elderly, [journey].”

He felt the floor as he thought of the big old man and the gray coat he had prepared for him.

It’s a bit late to say this, but the place where Shihyuk is is the place where Mr. Gong used to like to sit.

Shihyuk’s goal as a blacksmith is to create the ‘best work’.

He is always struggling to find a person worthy of being a hero and to create equipment that suits him.

And, [the journey] was truly something fit for the greatest hero.

It may be the greatest piece of equipment ever to exist on Earth.

There wasn’t a single piece of equipment that Shihyuk hadn’t been passionate about, but he was confident that it was the best piece of work he had ever made.

Of course, even Shihyuk, who had reached the level of making it in a short period of time, was driven almost to the brink of death.

But, but.

This one is out of the question.

Shihyuk decided not to include his recently made armor, [Journey], on the list of candidates for ‘Best Work’.

Because that work was created solely to depict the life of an old man, leaving aside the hero.

Because it was a gift he gave to the old man.

Of course, if I put aside my personal feelings and think about it as a craftsman, it would be a lie to say that I have no regrets about the grandeur and [journey] of the old man.

As a blacksmith, I would be lying if I said I didn’t feel greedy for something that came closest to being my ‘best work’.

However, Lee Si-hyuk was a human being before being a craftsman.

Thanks to the galaxy, he didn’t break down. He didn’t lose himself.

The five desires and seven emotions were twisted, and humanity was not abandoned.

To him, Gong was ‘Gong’ before he was a hero or [Admiral Yi Sun-sin].

That one piece, which he had painstakingly woven, was a traveling garment and shroud he had made for an old man who was about to embark on his final journey. And it was the best kindness.

Now, if we were to evaluate [the journey] solely based on its value as equipment, it would be disrespectful to Gong and an insult to Si-hyuk himself.

… After the old man closed his eyes, there was nothing left in that place.

Well then, that’s good. That’s good.

…if you just flew away while dressed up nicely, that would be enough.

Shihyuk was willing to take a moment to look away from his goal and bless his final journey.

My closed eyes became a little hot.

Okay, then.

What should he do from now on?

‘Cheer up.’

The last words of advice that the old man gave to the girl.

If we consider that this is a request left not only to Eunha, but also to Sihyuk through Eunha, would that be a wild guess?

-Be brave and don’t be afraid to meet people.

-Believe in the good connections around you and don’t hesitate to go for it.

“… … .”

Mr. Gong, like the girl, would not want to sit down here either.

“… I will engrave your words.”

In that case, Sihyuk should have also made up his mind to move forward.

His eyes sparkled and sparkled.

“… … .”

Suddenly, a blunt black object caught his eye.

Game console.

Even after removing the rust and polishing it to make it shine, it still had a worn-out look. It was an object that the old man had played with with his son a long time ago, and it was a housewarming gift from the old man to Si-hyuk.

“… … .”

Feeling strongly drawn to something, Sihyuk quietly got up from his seat and connected the game console cable to the TV.

A green screen appeared for a moment, then the logo of a famous game company flashed by.

The flashy trailer was a delight to the eyes. After admiring it for a while, Sihyuk awkwardly started clicking the console.

[Welcome to the king of iron… ]

The opening sentence was blurted out awkwardly, as if something had been touched wrong.

After a few failed attempts, he was able to select the correct arcade and proceed to the character screen.

Among the dozens of squares, diverse characters of all races and genders were spread out.

Although the scene was dazzling, Sihyuk was a complete outsider in this area.

As I was groping through the character list, a character I had seen in the trailer caught my eye.

He is a character who appears to be roughly the main character.

It was unique in that it was divided into two forms: human and demon.

In the dark living room, his eyes caught the game text reflected on the bright TV screen.

[Get ready for the next battle.]

[Who’s next?]