episode_0124

Dongbangsak and I had many discussions about my current state for a while.

There were several reasons why my condition, which could turn into a changgui at any time, was still intact.

Firstly, it was because the tiger ultimately couldn’t kill me.

Therefore, currently, I am said to be only possessed by a ghost.

So, I asked the elder if it would suffice to exorcise or talk to the ghost to resolve any grudges since I was just possessed by a ghost. However, it seemed that the ghost the elder was referring to was not the kind of ghost I had in mind.

I guess… more like a feeling of malevolence rather than benevolence?

I might be in a state where I could be influenced by that emotion.

On the bright side, since I already disliked ghosts and felt uncomfortable being called a changgui, it might be fortunate that it’s just a bundle of emotions.

Secondly, it was due to my abundant virtue at the time of being possessed by the ghost.

According to the elder, the tiger I encountered was probably not an ordinary tiger.

It accumulated stories born from people’s fear and reverence for tigers, merging into one, more akin to a great demon than a mere spirit?

If such a being had cursed me, even if I had simply been cursed, within a few days, I would have turned into a changgui, bewitching those around me and leading them to the tiger’s den.

But at that time, my significant virtue neutralized it, keeping me unharmed.

However, it’s a bit strange…

I was possessed by the changgui long before meeting Heeseon…

Wasn’t it after changing the story where Heeseon would be sacrificed that my virtue started accumulating?

Hmm… this is a problem to ponder later….

The third reason was Heeseon’s help.

Throughout life, everyone faces waves of emotions, and since Yogi amplifies these emotions, the fragile balance I maintain is bound to break.

If, by chance, I were to display violent tendencies driven by a momentary emotion, that would mark the beginning of a vicious cycle…

Especially since Yogi is something the tiger planted, making me more sensitive to negative and violent stimuli, making it more dangerous.

If my virtue diminishes due to misdeeds, Yogi will increase, making me more prone to emotional triggers… thus repeating the vicious cycle until I become a changgui.

So, my well-being until now is truly a stroke of luck.

What worries me is whether this stroke of luck will continue in the future?

If this balance falters even slightly, I could be devoured by the changgui.

It was a chaotic situation, but my mind is currently at peace.

Of course, the elder still seemed quite concerned about my state.

Initially, I was restless and confused too.

Before hearing this fact from the elder, I was somewhat aware of my precarious state, but I didn’t realize it was looming so close.

However, the moment I realized that Heeseon was helping me, as mentioned by the elder, my despairing and gloomy heart began to lighten in an instant….

“It felt like being saved….”

Hence, I didn’t feel threatened by the current crisis.

Heeseon will continue to be by my side in the future.

Moreover, I have Sari, Seori… and now, there’s also Hyangdani and the adorable Yomi.

They were all extraordinary individuals to me… no, supernatural beings… goblins… cats.

Hmm, looking at it this way, they all overflow with personality.

“…Well then, let’s start telling you about virtue.”

“Yes.”

Ah! Finally, it seems the lesson is about to begin.

“But our elder… Until a moment ago, mischief was written all over their face, but suddenly they’ve turned serious.

Even though I reassured them by saying that Heeseon is helping me and that learning SunGi to kill the tiger would solve everything, it seems like they are still very worried.

Well, unlike my initial excitement about the thought of wielding a weapon in my hands, now my attitude towards learning has changed.

Now that there’s a reason to diligently accumulate SunGi.

“Do you know the term ‘Kwon Seon Jing Ak’?”

“Yes, doesn’t it literally mean advising good deeds and punishing evil deeds?”

“Exactly. You know it well. Receiving what one deserves. That’s the essence of SunGi.”

It sounded familiar for some reason.

Perhaps Heeseon mentioned something like that before…

Does SunGi mean that it accumulates when you do good deeds?

I don’t quite understand.

How many genuinely kind people are there in this world…

Are all those people SunGi?

Even our village elder Gil Yong is friendly and kind-hearted on the surface, but deep down…

And even Auntie and her family at Dog Poop Lane…

“It seems like you have doubts? Yes, your thoughts are correct. Even just doing good deeds will accumulate SunGi.”

“…But I haven’t said anything yet?”

“Haha. Am I really SunGi? I’ve been living among humans for so long… Oh, Heeseon told me not to talk about age… Anyway, your question is why it’s easy to accumulate SunGi but why do earthly beings not even know of its existence, right?”

“…Yes.”

“It’s simple. No matter how many good deeds one does, only a negligible amount accumulates.”

“Really?”

How little must it accumulate for no one to know about the existence of SunGi?

“Imagine someone rescuing a child who fell into water. How much SunGi do you think that person could gain?”

“Um… Even if it’s a small amount, wouldn’t it accumulate quite a bit? It’s saving a life, especially a child’s…”

“Unfortunately, that’s not the case. Perhaps they would earn enough SunGi to receive a meal from the child’s father. Or maybe they would be praised by the villagers, or if the rescued child was a saintly figure, years later, when the child grows up, they might come back to express gratitude with gifts…”

“Elder…? Isn’t that a bit too much? That’s just…”

Saving a child should naturally lead to certain rewards.

I thought maybe they’d suddenly find a gold nugget, or their chronic illness would be cured…

“That’s about right. As I said, receiving what one deserves. SunGi isn’t as grandiose as you think. Moreover, the problem lies in whether that accumulated SunGi will be diminished afterward. In human affairs. The man who saved the child yesterday might gossip behind his friend’s back the next day, or go out drinking with friends, coming home late to upset his wife…”

“….”

Our village elder Gil Yong ended up upsetting his wife…

“That’s how it goes. Today’s saint may become tomorrow’s sinner, and what’s virtuous to me may be wicked to someone else. Accumulating SunGi is difficult, but depleting it is easy. In this chaotic world, is it really easy for ordinary people to accumulate SunGi?”

“…No.”

“Exactly. That’s why those who understand try to distance themselves from worldly matters as much as possible. Instead of bestowing kindness upon others while minimizing interactions, they seek to cultivate their own virtues…”

So… what you’re saying is that for an ordinary person to accumulate SunGi, they would have to do nothing but good deeds throughout their entire life…

Certainly seems impossible.

Even the deity in my hometown had enemies, didn’t she…?”

However, how could I have accumulated that difficult virtue in the first place?

Up to the point where it can withstand the intensity of the ‘Tiger Close to a Demon’…

As confusion piled up like that, when I asked Dongbangsak Elder, he nodded kindly as if it was something he naturally had doubts about and answered me kindly.

“It’s probably thanks to stories.”

“Stories? Why stories?”

“In stories, the virtues of those who read and enjoy them gather… Also, stories are something that spreads. When one person listens to a story and feels happy, that person will tell the story to others, and those others will tell it to others… Passing from mouth to mouth, stories gain a kind of immense vitality…”

“Ah… like that tiger?”

“Yes, exactly! You’ve said it well. It may be different in nature, but it’s similar. In the case of that tiger, it would have been accumulated human fears and terrors instead of virtues.”

Hmm… Does this mean that I gained virtue through a story with such vitality?

It seemed somewhat understandable yet unclear. Still, it was quite puzzling because there were no stories at all when I was possessed by the window ghost.

“Um… I still don’t quite understand. At the time of being possessed by the window ghost, I was just an ordinary hunter’s son… Hmm… Anyway, Elder, how exactly is virtue accumulated through the stories gathered?”

“You need to reproduce that story.”

“How… How do you do that?”

In response to my question, the Elder closed his eyes momentarily as if organizing his thoughts.

After a short while, the Elder slowly opened his eyes.

“I’ll give you an example with a story.”

“…Okay.”

“Once upon a time, a poor but diligent woodcutter lived with his mother.”

“….”

‘Huh..? This seems somewhat familiar…’

“One day, while diligently cutting wood as usual, the woodcutter encountered a deer being chased by a hunter…”

‘Huh huh huh…?’

“On a bright moonlit night… he saw a fairy’s garment…”

Um, Elder…?

The story you’re using as an example right now… could it possibly be our story?