Ch.201201 – Rewarding Good and Punishing Evil 2

# 201 – Encouraging Good and Punishing Evil # 2

Long ago.

Before this city of Gaeryong was called by that name. This story takes place before the country established on the peninsula was called Korea.

They say a missionary heading to Japan encountered a storm and drifted at sea before arriving on the peninsula.

As a foreigner, he wandered through the eight provinces until finally reaching a certain place and exclaiming:

“This is it.”

The missionary settled there and established a church using the skills he possessed. He made a living by creating medicines for people, sharing stories about the world and universe.

He treated everyone equally regardless of gender, and due to his character, his Western home was always filled with many visitors.

Among them were those who begged to become the missionary’s disciples.

Most were orphans without parents, and the Cheon family was one of them. The Cheon family followed the missionary like a father, and the missionary raised many orphans as if they were his own children.

The “Yeongji Foundation” was established at that time.

The original Yeongji Foundation was essentially an orphanage.

“But the missionary was eventually captured and killed on charges of inciting rebellion among the common people. This was because the Western knowledge he taught was far removed from the Neo-Confucianism of the peninsula.”

I read aloud to everyone at the secret base from the blueprint I received from Chairman Cheon Daegon. This book detailed how everything began.

“Many people, including the Cheon family who lost their father to the nation, mourned his death. And among the missionary’s belongings, they discovered the blueprint for a certain object.”

It was the blueprint for the “Clock of Eternity.” A blueprint for creating something that doesn’t exist in this world using materials that don’t exist in this world. The method of creation was as follows:

“The easiest way to create something that doesn’t exist in this world is this: make people believe such a clock really exists. They were lying.”

The Cheon family digging endlessly underground, bringing in shamans to perform rituals, people disappearing or vanishing—all of it was actually just an act of deception.

To make the fake real.

To create a concept in people’s minds.

“That method…!?”

Jeongseok, who had been listening to my story, trembled as if he had realized something. Yang Juhui, Kwon Sua, Yu Dahui, and Teacher Hong Miri were also deeply moved by my story.

Everyone seemed to vividly picture these processes in their minds.

I decided to add more explanation.

“It’s a kind of sorcery. The problem is that a clock created this way is likely to be imperfect. It’s nothing more than a rumor, like a shadow of a complete object that actually exists somewhere.”

A clock that grants wishes.

There was no guarantee it would properly fulfill human desires. It wouldn’t be strange if it became something that twisted and mocked human dreams and hopes, like a “monkey’s paw” or a “devil.”

“So they devised another safety measure while creating the clock. They created another false rumor about the role of a clockmaker who would fix all problems.”

The clock’s creators, these liars, also created rumors about beings called heroes. People who would restore many things to normal.

“Is Cheon Aesu’s identity the same as Yeongwon’s? Is that why he didn’t exist in the previous timeline? I knew it!”

Jeongseok seemed to quickly understand my explanation.

I looked at the description of the hero written in the blueprint.

It said he was a young boy, righteous, with an appearance appealing to everyone. It was written that he wouldn’t tolerate injustice and would extend a hand to those in need.

Yang Juhui, who was looking at the blueprint, frowned.

“If this is Cheon Aesu, how old is he supposed to be? You’re saying he’s been alive since the Joseon Dynasty. He only looked like he was in his forties or fifties.”

According to this blueprint, the hero Cheon Aesu had lived for well over a hundred years. How many people had he killed for the sake of a righteous world during that time?

“My mom and dad too…”

Dahui trembled.

She seemed to think Pastor Cheon Aesu had killed her parents.

If that was true, he would be the very enemy of her parents to Dahui.

“Maybe my sister too?”

Yang Juhui seemed to be thinking of her sister who was trapped on the fourth floor. Responding to the mention of a sister, Bong Jiyeon, who had been unusually quiet until now, reacted.

“It was a deacon or director from that pastor’s church who killed my sister! That means there’s a high probability that the pastor is connected to my sister’s death!”

Now that I thought about it, there were many incidents related to Pastor Cheon Aesu.

Teacher Hong Miri, who had been deep in thought, also spoke up.

“Was it also because of that pastor that the pudding I was about to eat earlier disappeared from the refrigerator?”

“I’m sure it’s also because of that pastor that our leader got pregnant and our idol group disbanded!”

…No, those things probably aren’t related.

What was important was that everyone was beginning to make resolutions.

# # #

“Status Window.”

『Name: Ha Yeongwon Lv.5

Trait: ◀ Click to open

Quirk:

Funds: 242 Points

Description: In a world where time has stopped flowing, you are a fake who wants to become real. Like a pirate sailing the sea of eternity on the wind of wishes, you’ve unfurled your sails toward danger.』

Perhaps because the world had become a mess of time, I hadn’t accumulated any points. I feel reassured only when I have plenty of points.

When I went through countless time loops trying to save Dahui, I was able to resolve to desperately collect points somehow, but now my determination had slackened a bit.

Despite putting up spines like a hedgehog, I was just a high school student after all.

Slap slap-.

I hit my cheeks to pull myself together.

I must have been dazed by the scorching sun in this world where night never comes. Soon, a girl as hot as the summer sun approached me and held out a refreshingly cold can of cola.

“Why are you slapping yourself? Want me to slap you instead?”

“If you hit me now, I might actually die.”

“What are you saying? Am I some violent person to you? If you get to know me, I’m actually very feminine with a tender heart. You know? Look. My ankles are extremely feminine and thin.”

Swish-.

It was Yang Juhui showing me her legs. Indeed, her ankles were very thin and slender. I wondered how such thin ankles could support her tall body.

I sat with Yang Juhui on a wooden bench where cicada sounds could be heard.

The cold cola was still delicious.

After finishing her share of cola, Yang Juhui took mine and drank it too. Thanks to that, we had an indirect kiss, but Yang Juhui didn’t seem to care about such things.

“If things go well, even this seemingly eternal summer will pass, and autumn will come, right?”

“I wonder if that will happen.”

I found it fascinating that autumn would come, then winter, then spring again.

Why was the universe made that way? It was amazing that as time passed, we would enter the second semester and eventually become adults.

I used to think becoming an adult was something that just happened if you waited, but it turned out you had to work incredibly hard to become an adult.

“Juhui, let’s definitely become adults together.”

I spoke to Yang Juhui with firm resolve. It meant let’s go to tomorrow together.

Yang Juhui blushed and jabbed my side with her elbow.

“What’s that? Are you answering my confession from before? Pervert!”

Why am I a pervert?

I couldn’t understand Yang Juhui’s thought process. But shortly after, I realized how Yang Juhui had interpreted what I said, and my face also flushed.

“That’s not what I meant!”

“What? Then you don’t want to become an adult with me? Is your idea of a relationship wholesome or unwholesome? Say it clearly.”

“…Ahem, actually, I’m very interested in unwholesome adulthood.”

Anyway, I wanted to become an adult quickly. I was sick of being an adolescent, neither adult nor child.

Yang Juhui fidgeted and said to me:

“Then, do you want to… become a little bit of an adult with me here?”

“…What!?”

“…You’ve even kissed Yu Dahui on the lips! I’m saying let’s do something similar! You can do it with Dahui but not with me?”

What is she saying? It was hard to understand. But I was aware enough to know I was hearing something very embarrassing, so my face was burning, my back was tingling, and my brain felt twisted.

[Hoorookookooroohooeehoorookooroohoohooroo]

No, it wasn’t just a feeling—my brain was actually twisting!

“Aaaack~”

Would someone feel like this if their brain was directly hit with electromagnetic waves beyond human endurance? My brain was writhing.

Thud.

When I collapsed on the ground, Yang Juhui panicked.

“Hey! What’s wrong all of a sudden! Yu Dahui! It’s you, isn’t it!”

“I didn’t do anything.”

Dahui came out from the shade to bask in the sunlight.

I could tell that Dahui had launched a tremendous ultrasonic attack on me. It was truly a terrifying attack. I had no idea Dahui’s telepathy had such potential.

“Get away, you wicked girl!”

Yang Juhui pulled my arm while growling at Yu Dahui.

Yu Dahui also pulled my other arm and shot back at Yang Juhui:

“They say people project their own weaknesses when they insult others.”

In the past, Dahui would have been one-sidedly defeated by Juhui in an argument.

Now Dahui and Juhui were fighting almost as equals.

The strength with which they pulled my arms was also remarkably similar, so I felt like I was about to be torn in half.

“Huaaaaaaaaah!”

I really felt like I was going to be split in two.

Just when I thought I was going to die if this continued, I saw Jeongseok coming out of the secret base. I silently pleaded for help with my eyes. But Jeongseok trembled as if moved.

“Yes, this is what I wanted to see. You need to suffer a bit more.”

What does he want from me?

Anyway, the day passed peacefully. We grilled pork belly on the rooftop of the secret base as if it were just an ordinary summer day.

“Kids, you need to eat meat while you’re growing. Put two pieces of meat in each wrap. Eat plenty. Eating meat makes you feel good.”

As Teacher Hong Miri praised meat while grilling, Bong Jiyeon, who was chewing a wrap, said:

“…But even though we’re eating so much, I don’t feel like going to the bathroom at all. Where is everything that goes into our stomachs disappearing to?”

Come to think of it, since time stopped flowing, we hadn’t been dealing with various physiological phenomena. Soon, Kwon Sua blushed and shouted:

“Idols don’t go to the bathroom! We live on dew alone!”

Despite saying that, Sua’s wraps contained three pieces of meat each. I wondered where that meat disappeared to after entering her stomach. Soon, Yang Juhui reached out toward Kwon Sua.

“Eek! Where are you touching?!”

“How can we be so different when we eat the same things?”

It was complete chaos.

But we needed days like this too.

Everyone seemed to know this and desperately enjoyed the present.

‘Tomorrow we take down Pastor Cheon Aesu…’

I quietly sank into thought.

I did have one method in mind.

That was the only way.