episode_0078
by fnovelpiaThe small town becomes more noisy than ever. The Hoyos, who had been listening intently, start whispering among themselves.
“We’re dying? What does that mean?”
“Do you believe what the humans say? Of course it’s nonsense.”
“But these days, only bad things keep happening… .”
“That’s because Tuesday is disappearing, so we’re taking all of her misfortune on ourselves.”
The Hoyo people’s reaction to the words that they were destined to die soon was mixed.
Some responded that the world was determined to kill them, while others believed that the disappearance of the gumiho was simply a transfer of misfortune.
Reactions are mixed. Even the people involved do not know the details. Only the fox elder knows the truth. This is because information has been intentionally restricted.
In the distant past, when the fact that Lin was a nine-tailed fox was widely known, conflicts broke out almost every day.
You can’t live like a dog of heaven while receiving a thousand mandates. Public opinion is divided in favor of breaking the seal of the nine-tailed fox and starting a rebellion once again.
There was a strong public opinion that said that it would never be possible to defeat heaven and that it would only be a repetition of the same stupid history.
In a small town with nowhere to go, even if we joined forces, there would be a fight like that. It was a big deal.
After much deliberation, the elders of the time chose to place all responsibility on the nine-tailed fox.
Cheonmyeong erases the foxes’ minds over several generations, imprinting Hongho as a cursed monster.
The reason they have to live in Baekungok is because of Hongho.
Then, the only one left was Hong-ho, who became a sinner as soon as he woke up from the seal. Peace came to the village by using the young nine-tailed fox, who had no power, as a shield.
Karami clicked his tongue inwardly.
‘I told you I don’t like it anyway.’
A fox like the Third Hokage.
Walking while leaning on a cane.
It’s a fox, so maybe it’s magic? Anyway.
Unlike Harold, who had his own circumstances, the Hoyo tribe of Baekungok were undeniably trash.
Although Karami would like to just leave him alone whether he dies or not, he can’t live the way the world turns out.
“What should we do? We are busy and need to go back soon, but if you keep avoiding us, we will just leave?”
“… What do you want?”
The elder looked at Karami with the utmost caution. However, Karami shook his head exaggeratedly, saying that was not the case.
“You still haven’t figured out the situation. Don’t you know that if we go, we’ll all become food for the monsters? Instead of asking what you want, you should be praying, ‘Please save me.’”
“… … .”
That was true. After the Gumiho disappeared from Baekungok, the Hoyo tribe was under threat to their lives every day.
Even though she came back as Omiho, there is no way to stop her from leaving. If Rin leaves, she will die without a fight.
Because they lack the ability to escape the monsters outside and go outside, there is no other way to save the tribe.
The fox elder, who had been thinking about it for a long time, finally nodded.
“Please. I don’t want to die. We didn’t want to be like this either. Why should we, who have done nothing wrong, bear the karma of our distant ancestors?”
If they had not rebelled against heaven, if they had not been greedy and lived contentedly, they would not have been trapped in Baekungok like this.
The elder begged for sympathy, saying that he resented his ancestors, but Karami scoffed at his lame excuse. Perhaps because he was a fox, he was very good at pretending to be pitiful.
“Now, don’t act like a victim. Didn’t you cover everything up for Lin, who didn’t know anything either?”
“There was no choice. If we hadn’t done that, we would have perished together.”
“What a disgusting rationalization. If it were me, I would have done much better.”
“That’s what you were at that time─”
“Enough with the excuses. Let’s get to the point.”
There was nothing the elder could do about the young tribesmen’s misbehavior for a long time. He kept his mouth shut and listened to Karami’s words.
“The being that threatens the Hoyo tribe. Is that the ungulate outside?”
“That’s right.”
Bear ghost.
It means bear ghost.
It is a being that has been considered a guardian deity protecting Baekungok since ancient times, and is the fundamental reason why the Hoyo people cannot go outside.
The size of the ungulate that lives off the energy of the mountain is a whopping 40 meters. The breath that the ungulate exhales is imbued with a strange power, so it does not disappear but floats in the air.
That breath becomes the fog that covers Baekungok.
‘Something feels off.’
Karami suddenly felt bad when he thought of breathing in the bear’s breath every time he breathed.
Anyway, the goal is to defeat Lin Ung-Gwi. Then, the Hoyo tribe can be saved from the fate of death.
Of course, I had no intention of volunteering for free.
“I’ll catch you. But there are two conditions.”
Now, here’s the main point.
The elder swallowed, not knowing what on earth he was asking for.
“First. Tell everyone here who Rin is. And the fate they carry.”
“… What’s the second one?”
“I know there is a shrine underground whose location is known only to the Fox Elder.”
“How on earth do you…?”
The elder was surprised. Isn’t that strange? It’s because I said with my own mouth that there is a shrine that only the fox elder knows about, and the outsiders, the human race, know about it.
Clearly, there is a shrine in the Fox’s Den that no one knows about. It is a place whose existence is known only to the elders.
“Letting Lin into the temple. That is the second condition I am proposing.”
It even seems to perfectly see through the reason for the temple’s existence.
How on earth?
The elder had initially been wary of the man in front of him, but now he was even fearful of him. It was clear that if he accepted his offer, something irreversible would happen.
“Are you going to do it? Are you going to say it? There’s no time.”
But the elder wanted to live.
He was true to his survival instinct.
“I will accept the first condition. But the second… .”
“Why not?”
“I think the power of the nine-tailed fox is still insufficient. Even if I go to the shrine in my current state, I might not be able to make the power my own and might run wild. If that happens, there’s no point in accepting the offer.”
“Then you’re saying you won’t show it to me?”
“I’m not saying I won’t show you. Take care of the bear first. If you can take care of the bear, then it means you’ve proven your minimum qualifications.”
The expression on the elder’s face as he spoke was firm. Even the elder who immediately backed down when told that his life was at stake seemed determined not to bend his resolve.
‘I guess it turns out like this.’
The elder’s rejection was something Karami had expected.
In the original, in order to raise Rin as a proper nine-tailed fox, he had to return to Baekwoon Valley. Before they died for failing to keep their destiny.
It was the so-called time attack. I had to grow Rin before then.
When you become Omiho and your growth is blocked, you must return to Baekungok and accept the elder’s request to kill Unggwi. After that, you will be allowed to enter the shrine as a reward.
However, I do know the information. The degree of freedom is incomparably higher than in games. This means that choices that did not exist before are created.
I thought it would be much easier to catch the croaker if I got the chance beforehand, so I tried to get it first, but it didn’t work.
“Hmm, if you’re being so stubborn, I guess there’s nothing I can do. Okay. Then I’ll accept the first condition first, and the second when everything is over.”
***
The fox elder gathered all the Hoyo tribe members in the small square of the village and revealed the truth.
Lin’s identity.
Why are they in Baekungok?
The reason for the recent worsening of bad news.
Even what happens if Lin disappears.
The Hoyo tribe was shocked when they realized that their life and death were in Lin’s hands.
“You’re lying… ?”
One of the Hoyo tribe members who had been harassing Lin more than anyone else twitched the corners of his mouth and looked at the elder. The elder slightly lowered his eyes and avoided eye contact.
It means truth, not lies. So the Hoyo people’s gaze naturally turned to Lin next.
“Tuesday… No, Lin? You’re not going to abandon us, are you?”
“Hey, hey~ We’re family. There’s no way that can happen. Right? Let’s eat meat together now! Animal liver is so delicious.”
“You’re going to catch that bastard, right? You’re going to get us out of here.”
The foxes approach Lin with a wicked, flattering smile that is full of bitterness.
Lin felt uneasy as she watched them bowing down to her. Confusing emotions welled up from the depths of her heart, creating an uncontrollable whirlpool.
Those who used to treat Lin like a disaster now act like she’s their savior, even though she just has a few more tails.
Can perception change like this, like turning over a palm?
It’s unpleasant.
I don’t want to get along.
Lin flew up and disappeared somewhere in the village.
“What? Where are you going? You’re not leaving, are you? You have to catch the bear!”
“No way. In the first place, if Tuesday leaves, she will die, but isn’t it because we didn’t kick her out and gave her potatoes regularly that she survived until now? If you have a conscience, you should help each other.”
“I see. We are practically family. Would you abandon the natural order?”
Karami sighed as he watched them beating drums and janggu among themselves. It seemed that they had not learned how to be mindful of others since they lived alone in this small village.
Karami went in the direction where Lin had disappeared. Lin was crouching in a corner of the village where there was no one.
“Why? What don’t you like?”
Even though Karami came right up next to her, Lin’s gaze did not leave the cold floor.
“Those who ignored and tried to throw Lin out need Lin. Lin holds the lives of those who tormented Lin in her hands. Aren’t you happy?”
“That’s not what Lin wanted. Lin wanted to be treated as a fellow fox, as family… .”
Lin always watched from a few steps away. She envied the sight of the foxes laughing and playing with each other, and dreamed of one day being treated like that.
But now their attitude was not towards family. They simply saw me as a tool that would sacrifice myself for them.
Lin, who had been truly hoping that they would see her again, felt an indescribable sense of disappointment.
“Hmm, Lin seems to be immersed in her family relationship.”
“That’s… .”
“Rin, family is really nothing special, right?”
“Huh?”
Lin perked up her ears.
Karami’s lips curled up in a wicked way, as if he had an ulterior motive that suited the slave trader very well.
“Did Lin want to live with them? No. When she came to her senses, she was with them. It’s the same for them. Family is a relationship in which no one’s will is involved. It’s like destiny.”
Children cannot choose their parents. The same goes for parents. Even if they gave birth to a child, they did not specifically choose that child; they were born that way.
“We say that kind of relationship is an inseparable relationship. Even though I didn’t choose it, and even though I don’t like it, I have to stick with it. Just imagining it makes me uncomfortable.”
“… … .”
“But the people we meet in life are different. I choose the people I want to be with with my own hands, and the people who want to be with me choose me. With the thought of, ‘Ah, I want to be with that person.’ Just like I chose Lin.”
Lin lifted her head slightly.
“A relationship that won’t continue unless one of the two chooses. A relationship that isn’t fate, but rather something we created ourselves. How beautiful is that? I think this is a closer relationship than family. What does Lin think?”
Lin thought for a moment.
Karami who gives for others but for himself.
The Hoyo tribe is a family, but they only care about themselves.
It wasn’t worth thinking about.
“Lindo is just like the owner. I like the owner more than those people. I want to be with the owner.”
“Then do you really need to be recognized as family by them? You just have to look good to me. Lin is my slave. A slave only has to look good to his master.”
That is absolutely correct.
All he had to do was live up to the expectations of the master who had picked him up that day. The safety of the Hoyo tribe had not been a consideration from the beginning.
The master-servant relationship is more important than family relationships.
After finishing organizing her thoughts, Lin got up and shook her butt.
“Rin, I’ll catch the bear.”
Everything is for the master.
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