episode_0018

After eating breakfast and lunch, I set out on the road.

Not to go to the village, but because there was something to check.

Heesun felt excited as she touched the spools and threads her mother used, preparing the fabric with a snap of the cloth.

It seems like she was very excited, smiling brightly when I said I would briefly visit the lake and even seeing me off in a hurry.

Why do I suddenly feel so good and refreshed? I vaguely remembered it even before showing the spools…

…Well, it’s fortunate. It seems like all the bad memories have disappeared now.

I am heading to the lake where I was looking for clothes.

It took less than half a day to come down. Now I’m going up, so it might take a bit longer.

Why are you going to the lake?

There is something I want to experiment with.

Upon careful consideration, I realized that it’s a world with fairies. I wondered if it was a world only with fairies, and the situation I experienced was oddly similar to the fairy and woodcutter, so I began to doubt if it was a world from a folk tale. A rational suspicion arose.

If that’s true, a strange worldview mixed with Joseon and Goryeo also gains some plausibility.

Folk tales are mostly set in the Goryeo and Joseon periods.

Rather than creating a new worldview by merging Goryeo and Joseon, it becomes plausible that Goryeo and Joseon are mixed in the folklore worldview.

Simply changing the sequence, the worldview becomes acceptable.

That’s what I’m trying to find out now.

Showing a dolphin drawing with hidden sexual symbols to a child and asking what they see, they answer that they see a hundred dolphins.

Only adults who have awakened their sexuality can find the symbol and feel embarrassed. Perhaps among the things I unconsciously overlooked, that symbol is hidden. I diligently searched my memory for cross-validation.

Among them, the things that were likely real but I carelessly overlooked.

I go to the lake to find that.

In my childhood, oh! Or rather, not long after falling into this world, there was a rumor.

One of the village’s filial and diligent woodcutters became rich by selling a golden axe.

Yes, our woodcutter was that man.

Didn’t he say suspiciously that he was a wealthy woodcutter?

Surprisingly, the reputation of that woodcutter at the time wasn’t bad.

He must have been a diligent young man to some extent.

Anyway, when that young man sold the golden axe and became rich, the village declared the era of great woodcutters, reporting that everyone should cut wood for the government. People flocked to the mountain with axes in hand.

Well, not everyone is blessed with such luck. Even those returning after losing the iron axe they took were numerous.

Above all, the issue was that during the era when iron was precious, the disappearance of valuable iron pieces during war conscription and the damage to the trees managed by the government were significant,

As complaints about this piled up in the government like mountains, the magistrate finally prohibited the reckless cutting of trees, controlled woodcutting, and then put an end to the era of great woodcutters.

As time passed, people just thought that the woodcutter had gotten lucky somehow and moved on.

Looking back now, I wonder why I didn’t question this story of golden and silver axes.

Secretly cutting wood to save on firewood was implicitly allowed, but suddenly the control became strict. An annoying event?

I remembered it to that extent, and since I didn’t even suspect the existence of mountain spirits in reality, I thought that the woodcutter might have discovered something like a gold mine, hidden it, and then made up the excuse of a golden axe.

Anyway, after the woodcutter lost his axe and thought carefully about potential places, he couldn’t think of anywhere else no matter how hard he tried.

There seemed to be no deep water suitable for throwing the axe other than there, as it was a lake that one could reach from the woodcutter’s house to the summit, making it highly likely.

He brought a small hand axe used for chopping firewood at home.

The larger ones were too expensive and were not originally obtained, so losing this small hand axe would be fine. He could borrow one from the village for a few coins.

As he continued his thoughts, he suddenly arrived at the lake.

Somehow, he felt a little nervous.

Ah! Still, out of formality, he struck the trees a few times,

Thump! Thump! Thump!

He raised the axe and cleared off the dried branches of the surrounding trees a bit.

Even though they are also living beings, if you harm them without using the living tree, you will receive retribution.

Next, aiming at the lake, he pulled his arm back all the way and threw it with all his might as if striking down…

Splash!

…

“Why isn’t anything happening?”

He waited for a moment, but nothing happened.

Ah. What a waste of an axe. Was it just a baseless rumor after all?

Wait, shouldn’t I at least cry a little for losing the axe? In the folktales, when the woodcutter cried, the mountain spirit appeared, right…?

Although feeling a bit skeptical, since no one was watching, he thought it wouldn’t hurt to try once, so he immediately sat down and started crying.

“Oh, oh my~ My axe fell into the lake! Oh~ What should I do? This precious axe handed down by my ancestors! Oh!”

Bubble bubble bubble bubble

????

Bang!

[Haha, who cries sadly in a lake where a mountain spirit resides?]

The lake suddenly bubbled and then the grandfather popped out.

With a white, long bald spot contrasting with his thinning front hair, a richly flowing white beard, and a fluttering robe, the grandfather looked like a mountain spirit to anyone.

My eyes widened at the surreal scene, filled with excitement!

“Is this real? Was all of this really true? Then, the chances of returning home have increased! Hey hey, author! No, no, esteemed author! I apologize for my rudeness! You have your own thoughts and worldview, right? I, who is incompetent and pathetic, misunderstood your great intentions and complained to you! Oh, our great author, please give us a grand kick, no, no, a kick of two thousand kicks!”

I became so excited that I bombarded the mountain spirit grandfather with questions.

“Oh venerable mountain spirit! Nice to meet you! Can I ask you a few questions? Actually, my purpose was not to find the dropped axe but to see you. I can give you a hand axe, so please talk to me a little!”

The mountain spirit grandfather seemed slightly taken aback by my idol-like passionate gaze but soon smiled warmly and replied.

[Haha, there’s no harm in doing so. However, young man, you must answer this spirit’s question first.]

“Yes! I will answer. Wow, there really is a mountain spirit. I’ll answer anything!”

The mountain spirit grandfather chuckled at my words, then took something out from his bosom.

“Is this golden axe your axe?”

“….”

What a blatantly obvious question…

The axe the grandfather pulled out was a shining golden axe.

Could this be his hobby? Well, if he’s a mountain spirit, he must have lived for quite some time, and being so lonely in a lake where few people come, maybe he uses this as a pastime.

I glanced at the mountain spirit grandfather with a slightly sharp eye. The grandfather cleared his throat once and urged for an answer.

[Hmm! What are you doing! Answer quickly. Is this silver axe your axe?]

“No.”

[Haha, then is this small hand axe your axe?]

“Yes. That is my axe! Oh, it’s the precious axe that my father carefully passed down to me. If it weren’t for the mountain spirit, I almost forgot about it!”

Bowing deeply, mixing in all his sincerity, he pleases the mountain spirit grandfather.

Haha, I was the ace of volunteering at the village hall.

It wasn’t a difficult task to cater to the elders’ tastes and win their hearts.

Although there are many questions piled up, I should accept the grandfather’s hobbies as sincerely as possible.

The grandfather of the mountain spirit praised me with a big smile, satisfied with my sincere efforts.

[Hahaha. How can there be such an honest young man! Here, take this gold axe, silver axe, and even your iron axe!]

Ah. Why bother receiving something so heavy that I won’t even be able to take it back to my hometown?

“Oh, spirit! I appreciate it, but I don’t need wealth. I’ll just take the iron axe.”

[?!?!?!]

Did he misunderstand me a bit?

The mountain spirit suddenly widened his eyes, seeming moved, and covered his opening mouth with his hand.

Oh? Now tears are welling up in his eyes.

[Oh, no…! How can such a noble person…!]

No, grandfather, you’re overreacting too much…

I don’t need any wealth here; I need to return home quickly.

By the way, while meeting the mountain spirit, should I point out something that bothered me since I was young…?

“Grandfa… I mean, spirit! Can I raise a point?”

[Haha, sure, kind young man. Just call me grandfather! You can do that!]

“Oh really? Um… Grandfather?”

Even if he felt bad after giving advice, it seemed fine as the grandfather nodded slightly.

“Um… Do you know that a gold axe is more valuable than a silver one?”

[Hahaha, how could you not know that? You! Did you think I spent all those years on the mountain without knowing that much!]

“But would someone who rejected a gold axe seek a silver one? It doesn’t make sense, right? Offering a penny to someone who refused a fortune? So, shouldn’t we ask about the silver axe first instead of the gold axe to follow a more logical order…?”

[!!!!!!]

The grandfather seemed shocked by my words, speechless like a mute.

For a long time, the grandfather remained frozen on the lake.

[Oh… Is that so… I never thought that the young man to whom I gave the gold axe would turn out to be so wicked…]

“He probably wasn’t like that from the beginning. People tend to change when they suddenly come into money. Grandfather, did you not see what happened here?”

[… Was that evil person the same young man from back then…?]

“Yes…”

[Just helping the good ones for the sake of it seems like I’ve committed a sin… I’m sorry…]

“Well, your intentions were good, but excessive blessings can bring harm. In the future, it might be better to offer small help that can alleviate immediate poverty or wish for good health if similar situations arise.”

[Alright. I’ll do that. Thank you… I’ve received good advice.]

The grandfather’s face looked troubled as he responded.

“Actually, I’m more curious about Hui-sun… Could it be that you helped the maiden who was being chased by that evil person here? I know you didn’t assign her a good deed, but considering your character, you wouldn’t have just stood by and watched that happen, right…?”

[… Of course, she would have helped if she could. But that was her story. Like a predetermined fate. Something everyone perceives as true… It would be impossible for an outsider to intervene and change that story… Perhaps even the gods would find it difficult….]

What do you mean? Is there a reason why one should not interfere in the first place?

“Uh.. So, does that mean I did something wrong? Um… Even if I could go back to that time, I think I would still try to save Heeseon… Would that be a sin?”

Grandfather nodded as if satisfied with my question and patted my head.

[Haha, indeed, Sunjae, it’s you after all… But there is no need to worry about that. Just because you want to change the story, want to help, doesn’t mean you can change it.]

Grandfather paused as if organizing his thoughts in his mind before continuing.

[I didn’t help that poor child not because helping is a sin, but because there really was no way to help. So, your actions may not have been wrong; you just did what you could… But it’s truly amazing. Being able to change the story… I’m actually curious about your true identity.]

“In fact, I came to see you because of that part. I came from a different world.”

[Oh?]

He seemed a bit surprised. Did he know something after all?

“I want to go back to my world. Grandfather. Is there any way?”

After a moment of contemplation, Grandfather finally spoke.