episode_0254

“What was inside the opened box?”

A box containing disaster.

There was a disaster in the box that was opened without thinking.

… … .

“Haa… Haa…!”

A one-room apartment with the lights off.

The man stepped forward.

The light streaming from the laptop brightens the surroundings, and the sunset coming through the window turns the back of his hand red.

“I realized one day that ignorance is not a sin, but it is not an indulgence.”

A video was displayed on the laptop. There was a picture of his back looking at the laptop.

I looked back in surprise… There was no one behind me.

The ‘wooden box’ that he had prepared to harm Kim Sa-rang was simply placed in the middle of the one-room apartment.

“It was only a little wisdom and cleverness that absolved us from our sins.”

An old man’s voice is heard in my ear.

The man couldn’t take his eyes off the ‘wooden box’ in front of him.

If I turn my gaze even a little, I feel like I’ll make eye contact with something terrible.

I can’t turn my head.

Knock knock.

Then a knocking sound is heard.

The startled man took a step forward.

We got one step closer to the ‘wooden box’.

Knock knock.

A knock on the door.

Soon the intercom screen turned on by itself, showing him the scene beyond the front door.

『… … .』

The eyes of ‘someone’ filled the screen.

As if he was standing right at the front door, quietly peering into the intercom.

Soon, the ‘thing’ beyond the screen blinked its eyes as if it had discovered the man who had risen from his desk… and began to mutter something with a crescent-moon-thin smile.

『One… Two…』

That thing beyond the front door counted the numbers.

I don’t know what it’s for.

I don’t know. Is this a nightmare or is someone playing a prank on me?

He just clutches his throat, oppressed by the suffocating atmosphere.

“Haaak…! Haa…!”

『Gyaruruk~!』

The laughter of a child walking around the studio apartment.

The man began to wonder if he had gone mad.

When the sunset coming through the window is blinding and makes you frown, your eyes meet ‘something’ poking its head out from the veranda railing.

‘This is… this is… what is it…?’

What I feel is a pure resentment.

The man gasped for breath as he encountered something that was not human and was out of the ordinary.

Death, approaching with swift strides, grabs his shoulder.

“What’s in the box?”

Death whispers. The feeling of a giant tree enveloping your whole body.

The old man’s voice pushed the man’s back, and he took a step forward.

Daengㅡㅡㅡㅡ.

The sound of the bells ringing outside the window was beautiful.

The voice of a woman counting numbers coming from the front door was beautiful.

The ‘wooden box’ in front of me was beautiful.

The air surrounding him was so cold and unfamiliar, and the only thing that gave him a sense of familiarity was the ‘wooden box’ placed in the middle of the studio.

I took a step closer to the box.

Daengㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡ.

The sound of a bell as time passes by.

The middle-aged man took a step forward.

My knees hurt.

‘I… how much I tried to get revenge…’

A picture frame on the desk, a photo of ‘Hanbit Orphanage’ carefully kept in the frame.

Turning his back to them, the middle-aged man stepped forward.

“Someone said, ‘Wisdom is time.’”

“So then, what is it that overcomes time?”

Thud… thud…

Moving forward one step at a time.

Was this shabby one-room apartment really this spacious?

The ‘wooden box’ placed in the middle of the room felt so far away.

‘… … No. It’s me who’s slowing down.’

Daaengㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡ.

My knees hurt.

The man swept back his gray-haired hair.

The hair falling from the corn… falls to the ground like pure white snow, crumbling under his feet as he advances.

Daengㅡㅡㅡㅡ.

What on earth did he do wrong that hell came to his house?

The man could never figure it out.

So I took one step forward.

Damn…

Everything was going well.

He made a ‘surprise box’ with the [artifact] he had worked hard to obtain and secretly gave it to Kim Sa-rang’s friends.

Today is my adopted son’s anniversary.

Whether Kim Sa-rang dies or her friends die… someone had to lose their life to shake up Kim Ha-yang’s [Changcheon Sword Song].

(‘It’s a return.’)

But why is it that… unidentifiable things come to my one-room apartment and torment me?

There’s so much I don’t know.

I wish someone would tell me.

The man wanted wisdom.

“You must not touch the young lady’s person.”

Daaengㅡㅡㅡㅡ.

The paper rings,

The man, his wrinkled face brushed away, knelt down.

My whole body aches. It’s like I have arthritis.

My eyes become blurry, my senses fade away one by one, and fear fills the void of my senses.

‘That thing’ stuck to the front door.

‘Something’ peeking out from outside the window.

The transparent laughter of a child walking around the studio,

An old man’s voice whispering behind my back.

Did I eventually go crazy? I don’t know.

The imminent approach of death paralyzed his thinking.

‘What the heck… this is… what should I do……’

An old man kneeling.

I blinked my eyes.

A ‘wooden box’ in front.

In this place where sticky resentment flows like a river, the only thing that gives the man a sense of familiarity.

The old man raised his head.

Daaa …

I looked up at the window absentmindedly and saw that it was covered in thick fog.

The sunset comes in through a gap in the fog that has opened slantedly, as if someone had cut it with a knife.

But then, darkness descending beyond the horizon chased after the twilight.

Night comes.

“… … .”

Daaa …

knell.

The old man looked down at the ‘wooden box’ in front of him.

How to escape from the death that is choking you.

I thought about it for a moment.

“… … .”

yet,

The man was looking blankly at the back of his wrinkled hand.

I bent my sore fingers…

I grabbed the ‘wooden box’ in front of me.

… … Click.

The box opens.

To escape from hell.

To escape from the hell unfolding before my eyes.

The old man opened the box.

“What’s in the box that holds wisdom?”

“… … Ahh.”

A box containing wisdom.

Inside is a recorder that he prepared himself. One [artifact].

And one orphanage volunteer card.

Knock knock…

Inside the box from which the disaster escaped,

There was a dazzling hope.

– It’s my son’s revenge, Kim Ha-yang. You too, like me…

“Someone once said that humans struggle because they have hope.”

Soon, the recorder and [Artifact] in the box started working.

The old man’s body burned with hope.

… … .

There was no bell.

… … .

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

… … .

“Darling. You seem to have some worries.”

The time was a little while ago,

After the incident at [Euncheon Academy] passed without anyone knowing,

On the way home.

The blacksmith Kim Sa-rang was looking at the sunset flowing by from the backseat of her car.

An ordinary sunset, without any thick fog or a large ‘bell tower’ visible in the distance.

But her mind is still complicated by the sound of the bell that still sounds like an auditory hallucination.

‘I see… that’s a worry.’

Guild leader Kim Ha-yang sitting in the front seat, fixing the rearview mirror.

When his mother asked if he had any worries, he touched the sword on his waist.

Just a while ago, I carried Eunha, who was complaining of back pain of unknown cause, to her house, and then started working part-time at the rabbit owner’s cafe.

The rabbit boss had a cute smile as bright as the sun.

[Cheongryong Family] Senior Kang Na-ri, who had difficulty talking to guests despite being of the bloodline, only made coffee in the kitchen.

Although the cafe without a galaxy was quite awkward, everyone was kind to her, so she was able to learn the job happily.

(Eunha unnie took a vacation, and Harin unnie said she was busy and didn’t come, so how bored were you? I’m so glad Sarang came!)

(Please call me the Sword Ghost.)

(Okay, love~.)

(I’ve heard the name of this throne is Sword Ghost several times…)

(Kim Sa-rang.)

(…….)

(…….)

(……This is Kim Sa-rang.)

( Yeah~. Please take good care of me, love!)

After helping out at the cafe for about two hours, I left work.

I’m on my way home in Kim Ha-yang’s car, which picked me up at the cafe.

Boohoo.

An ordinary-looking passenger car climbs the mountain road.

Guild leader Kim Ha-yang, with both eyes closed, gropes her hand and manipulates the rearview mirror.

“Everyone makes mistakes. It’s only the second day of my part-time job.”

“Oh my. My worries aren’t because of my part-time job.”

“Hmm. I see… I thought it was because I made a mistake in ordering and had to remake the coffee three times.”

“Number 4.”

“Um… Or did you break a plate while washing it?”

“The dishes are fine, but the dishwasher is broken.”

If that’s not a problem, then what is?

Kim Ha-yang’s hand, which was touching the rearview mirror, trembled slightly.

“… … I guess I should go say hello to the cafe soon.”

“The rabbit boss… no, the innkeeper said that he is still learning, so don’t worry about small mistakes.”

“That boss is a good person, so be friendly with him.”

Small talk that flows like time.

A conversation while looking at the setting sun.

Kim Sa-rang let out a light breath, a faint smile blooming on her face, perhaps not knowing that her mother, who was busy with guild work, would come to pick her up herself.

“… … But, my goodness. Have you ever had a relationship with someone?”

How much did I chat with my mother, Kim Ha-yang?

Kim Sa-rang, who was sitting in the back seat and fiddling with her favorite sword, carefully confided in me the worries she had been harboring since lunchtime.

… … .

– It’s my son’s revenge, Kim Ha-yang. You too, like me…

A memory from someday, a future that will never come again.

The moment you open the ‘wooden box’, you hear a voice message from ‘someone’.

It was a grudge directed not at himself, but at his mother, Kim Ha-yang.

What is the son’s revenge, and why did he try to kill himself?

Someone’s resentful voice would not leave my head.

That’s why I dared to ask.

I don’t have the talent to beat around the bush, so I’ll get straight to the point.

“Eunwon relationship?”

“For example, sending a murderer to avenge his son, things like that.”

“Hmm. I see……”

Boohoo.

A passenger car climbing a steep mountain road.

Kim Sa-rang looked at her mother’s face through the rearview mirror.

The guild leader of [Changcheon Swordsmanship], which is praised as one of the top four guilds in Korea.

Kim Ha-yang was fiddling with the rearview mirror with a kind yet dry face.

Tsutsuji…

White sparks fly from the tip of your finger as it ‘rubs’ against the rearview mirror.

“I don’t know much about the grudges between people because I haven’t been able to properly take care of my daughter and I’ve only been hunting monsters…”

“… … .”

“Those who have killed so far and will continue to kill in the future… are not human, or do not seem human.”

Non-human.

There is a strange power in that word.

“… … They weren’t human. Those kids.”

What are you talking about?

Kim Sa-rang couldn’t figure it out.

I just looked at my mother’s back, which had become more shabby than before…

Did I ask something in vain?

She shut her mouth, feeling that it was still a heavy story for her to understand.

Boohoo…

A quiet passenger car moves along the mountain road.

Kim Sa-rang caressing her beloved sword in the backseat.

Kim Ha-yang fixing the rearview mirror with her eyes closed in the front seat.

“… … But, oh my.”

“What’s going on?”

“Why do you keep touching the rearview mirror?”

“I feel good because it feels like I’m driving myself.”

In the front seat… that is, in the passenger seat, there was a blind person sitting,

An evening that gives you the feeling of driving on a quiet mountain road.

“Guild Leader. Stop touching the rearview mirror.”

“Okay.”

“Please wipe the handprints on the mirror.”

“… Okay.”

The cold voice of scout Jeong So-ra, who was behind the wheel, was heard.

Kim Ha-yang, who had quietly placed the rearview mirror down, pouts brightly.

It was dusk.

… … .

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

​

(Son. Wisdom comes with time.)

“Someone said, wisdom comes with time.”

This is a world that has been ravaged by time.

A city where old people who are not wise live.

The old man who was left alone did not climb the bell tower.

There was no need for that anymore.

… … .

Gulp…

A giant bell tower connecting the earth and the sky.

The old man turned his back on the bell tower again today.

Because I had to find something to eat before the bell rang.

A city where everyone is dead and only one person is left.

A world where only the unwise old survive.

There were no more old men fishing or old women picking fruit from the trees in the back mountain.

The old man limped on his sore knee.

“… … .”

Old people who tried to teach him something.

Parents who believe that people must learn.

They opened the windows as soon as the morning bell rang.

But now, even though the sun was high in the sky, not a single house had its windows open.

No one said anything even though the bell didn’t ring.

Is it because I’ve been living with my heart closed all this time?

The tightly shut windows mock the old man.

The old man walked aimlessly along the empty road.

Squeak…

Then, I entered a house without thinking.

This is the house of an old man who came to me and said he would teach me how to fish.

In his house there was a newly made fishing rod, a straw hat, and a book on how to make fishing rods and how to clean fish.

(Come on. I’ll teach you how to make a fishing rod.)

“… … .”

The old man limped along on his sore knees and went to the river to catch some fish.

The first fish I caught was smaller than my finger, so I swallowed it without chewing.

The old man learned how to fish.

… … .

Squeak…

I headed to the house next door to the fishing old man.

There is a flint, a dry twig, and an old book.

The book contained instructions on how to make a fire and herbs that are good for burns.

(Come on. I’ll teach you how to make a fire with stones and wood.)

The old man lit a fire with branches he had collected from the mountain behind him.

The first fire I started quickly went out, so I hastily brought in some old clothes to fan the flames.

The old man learned how to make a fire.

(This is what edible wild vegetables look like. To avoid stomach upset later…)

(Put that away. There’s dirt on the floor.)

Then at home too.

(Are you not interested in swordsmanship? You can eat wild animals with just one pair of chopsticks.)

(What can someone with a bad back teach?)

Then at home too.

In the old people’s house there were tools that had never been used and a shabby book.

The old man went from house to house with a limp.

And then I picked up the things and books they had left behind and returned home.

“… … Ha… Why did you write a book like this… Who is it supposed to read…”

It must have been greed.

I tried to teach the ugly child somehow,

Learn one more thing and live like a human being,

Be happy.

Even when he rings the evening bell, he doesn’t fall asleep right away,

You must have been writing with bleary eyes late into the night.

“Really……Who would read this…”

He hated old people.

… … .

The old man learned.

I studied day by day, holding in my arms the books left behind by those who had passed away.

“Whew… This place is nice.”

A mountain behind the city, slightly outside the city.

In the vacant lot there, the old man sat on an old bench and read a book.

It was because I didn’t want to be alone in a town where there was no one.

I hated the ink that got on my wrinkled hands every time I turned the page.

I hated rolling my stiff head.

But the old man learned.

The young man learned as he grew older.

As if remembering those who passed away with the passage of time, I took all the wisdom they left behind and put it in my head.

Because it can’t be otherwise.

Because people have to learn.

(Learn something.)

My mother’s words sounded like nagging.

I can’t hear it anymore now.

The boy, now an old man, held in his arms the books his mother had left at the entrance to the bell tower every morning.

(People have to learn. They have to learn something.)

Regret that came too late.

The old man read the book like a madman.

“… … I don’t know.”

But there was a lot he didn’t know.

Because I’ve lived my whole life just ringing the bell.

“Please… someone teach me.”

Anyone, please tell me the correct answer.

Come to your stupid self,

I wish you would hold my hand.

“Please……tell me the way…”

A sound that is squeezing out.

There was no answer in return.

Because it’s already too late.

Because where time has passed, only wrinkles remain.

That’s all there is to it.

‘… If I could gather all the wisdom that exists in the world… what would I know?’

If you gather all the wisdom in the world,

If the beasts of the field dig up your corpses and take out the grains of wisdom from them and swallow them,

Am I really a wise person?

The old child read a book.

… … .

… … .

Daaengㅡㅡㅡㅡ.

Since that day.

Every evening, the old man climbed the huge bell tower and rang the bell.

The bell rings to signal the end of the day.

The sound that marks the end of twilight runs over the empty city.

Daaengㅡㅡㅡㅡ.

The morning bell did not ring.

Because you opened the window when the morning bell rang.

I rang the bell in the morning for no reason,

It would be sad to discover that there was not a single house with an open window.

Daaengㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡ.

Go fishing, pick berries from the mountain behind the house, and read books all day long.

Every evening, the old man climbed the huge bell tower despite his aching body.

“I read it somewhere. People in the old days put their wishes into the sound of bells.”

Ring the bell.

This is a world with a bell tower.

A city where old people who gather wisdom live.

Daaengㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡ.

Please, this bell,

This sound I tell you every day,

I hope this will be passed on to you as time goes by.

Daaengㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡ.

I’ll pick up each and every book and story you left behind,

Thanks to that, I am living well like this.

I want to become wiser than anyone else.

I hope it gets across.

Daaengㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡ!

The wise old man said,

I sent my hopes on the bell sound that spreads to the ends of the earth.

… … .

… … .

like that,

The child’s obsession with wisdom will eventually reach the sky.

It rose from the darkness and sat down on a shabby bench.

Daaengㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡ.

Ring the bell.

Without fail.

Carry your hopes to the sound of the bell that rings throughout the world.

… … .

… … .

… … .

『That’s how… I realized it without thinking. In the end, the only one who held my hand again was you, the one I met in the end.』

“What? Grandpa, are you crazy again?”

Daaengㅡㅡㅡㅡ.

Time passes by.

Without waiting for us.

The evening bell rings and the sun sets,

As dawn breaks again,

A new relationship comes to the foggy park.

“I stopped by because I thought you might be bored, Grandpa. Thanks to you, I saved a lot of people today? People really need to learn.”

『… … .』

​

​

Kkuruk. The sound of carrier wheels.

Eunha, who visited [Euncheon Park], approaches with a smiling face and sits down next to the old man.

She, dressed in tattered clothes that looked like they had been bitten by a beast, looks out into the thick fog with ‘that thing’.

『… What did you just say?』

“Huh? Thanks to you, there are a lot of people…”

“After that.”

“… … People really need to learn?”

『… … … Hehe… Yeah. That’s right. People need to learn.』

What’s in the box of wisdom?

It didn’t really matter now.

“What have you been saying… I bought you a cake, are you going to eat it?”

“I don’t have money.”

“I don’t need ghost money.”

So, the old man caressed the wrinkled back of his hand,

Receiving a sweet potato cake from the North Star that gently landed next to him,

“Huh? What’s that in your pocket? Is that a photo?”

“Something that needs to be conveyed to the detective I met last time.”

… … I hid a picture of an ordinary orphanage hanging in a frame in my pocket,

I stared quietly beyond the fog, where I could hear the sound of a bell.

Daaengㅡㅡㅡㅡ.

The paper rings.

The sound of a bell that follows the passage of time.

Daaengㅡㅡㅡㅡ.

Deep, deep,

The dawn that was so deep has ended,

Daaengㅡㅡㅡㅡ.

With the morning bell ringing for the first time in a long while,

The sun rose beyond the fog.