Seonsanje
The lazy genius of the Sunhwan Cha Clan, Cha Eunsol.
She did not like being bound by anything.
To the point that she did not even feel attached to the clan in which she had been born and raised.
For someone like her to still belong to the clan despite her personality was strange, to say the least.
The clan’s benefits were not something one could ignore, but she was the sort of person who would have left without regret in search of freedom.
It was somewhat contradictory.
‘If you don’t know Eunsol’s circumstances, I suppose it can only feel that way.’
To explain those circumstances, I would first need to talk about the Sunhwan Cha Clan.
The Cha Clan, foremost among the spirit arts lineages, was the only clan that had held a place among the Ten Great Families ever since the Great Cataclysm.
There was no helping that, because a spirit master’s ability was almost entirely determined by birth.
The basic qualities of a spirit master, such as affinity for spirit energy and sensitivity, were extremely difficult to acquire later in life unless one was born with them from the beginning.
Developing those qualities was by no means easy either.
The efficiency of results gained through effort was worse than in any other field.
That was why all prestigious spirit arts families devoted themselves to continuing the bloodline of spirit masters.
‘For example, someone from a prestigious spirit arts family must marry someone who possesses the qualities of a spirit master….’
The Sunhwan Cha Clan was no exception.
Having inherited the qualities of the first family head, they nevertheless did not rest on their laurels, and in order to continue reigning as one of the Ten Great Families, they strove to pass down even better qualities to the next generation.
Above all, a blessing followed those who carried the blood of the first family head.
‘The blessing of the First Spirit.’
The lord of all spirits in the world, and the being called their origin—the First Spirit.
The First Spirit bestowed a blessing upon the first head of the Sunhwan Cha Clan, with whom it had formed a contract.
It was a blessing that those who inherited the blood of the first family head would be born with excellent qualities as spirit masters.
‘You could say it’s the biggest reason the Sunhwan Cha Clan has remained the foremost prestigious spirit arts family for over two hundred years.’
Meanwhile, after the first family head passed away, the First Spirit never formed a contract with anyone again.
Instead, cherishing his descendants, it secluded itself on the ancestral mountain where he was buried and took on the role of the clan’s guardian spirit.
‘At least, according to the history known to the world.’
From here on was the game’s setting.
In truth, the First Spirit’s blessing was only valid while its contractor, the first head of the Sunhwan Cha Clan, was alive.
So when the first head of the Sunhwan Cha Clan passed away, the contract should have been dissolved, and the blessing should have disappeared as well….
‘They say greed has no end.’
The second head of the Sunhwan Cha Clan used an underhanded method to bind the First Spirit.
Just before the contract with the first family head was terminated and it returned to the mana of the world, he sealed it inside his wife’s body.
And so that the people of the clan could enjoy the blessing forever, he imprisoned it on the ancestral mountain.
All while fabricating the truth for the people of the world and the spirits.
‘That’s how it became a secret passed down only to the family heads….’
In order to maintain and repair the seal, the vessel had to be replaced periodically.
Because after enduring the First Spirit’s power, the vessel’s lifespan was inevitably exhausted.
Here, the vessel referred to a spirit master who would hold the First Spirit within their body, like the second family head’s wife.
How long a vessel could endure depended on that spirit master’s ability, and above all, on their resonance with the First Spirit.
Thus, family heads who worked for the glory of the clan spared no effort in obtaining an excellent vessel.
‘Effort, for a spirit master? Laughable.’
At any rate, that was how it happened.
The Sunhwan Cha Clan’s efforts finally bore fruit.
Cha Eunsol, who possessed the exact same Gift as the first family head—Astral Body—was born into the world.
A vessel that could function stably for a very long time.
That was the reason the current head of the Sunhwan Cha Clan treated her with such special favor.
‘Eunsol understands her own value too. That’s why she acts even more however she wants. Because she knows the clan can’t stop her.’
According to the game’s progression.
The head of the Sunhwan Cha Clan planned to make Cha Eunsol into the vessel during this Seonsanje.
Cha Eunsol did not refuse.
Because she, who did not like being bound by anything, had no lingering attachment to life.
Rather, she wanted to willingly offer up her body for the First Spirit.
‘Even if the First Spirit takes over the body of the person who becomes the vessel, it’s still someone else’s body. Depending on the vessel’s resonance ability, there’s no way to avoid a backlash.’
Because of that, the First Spirit was currently in a very weakened state.
On top of that, it was brimming with poison from resentment and a sense of betrayal toward the people of the Sunhwan Cha Clan.
To the point that one wrong move could transform it into an evil spirit that had lost all reason.
‘That’s what actually happened in the game.’
Cha Eunsol judged that her body, possessing Astral Body, would be able to alleviate that burden.
And so, loving spirits as she did, she offered her body to the First Spirit….
Then, suddenly, she recalled memories of Gang Hanbyeol and her friends, and realized that she too had lingering attachments.
「Cha Eunsol」
—I don’t want to die like this.
She had friends.
She wanted to spend a little more time with them.
With that single-minded thought.
Cha Eunsol, who had been accepting the annihilation of her soul, rejected the ritual of becoming a vessel.
But the ritual that had already begun could not be stopped.
So she turned the ritual against itself and formed a contract with the First Spirit.
As a result.
‘She rises to become the episode boss.’
Unfortunately, Cha Eunsol, having failed to form the contract properly, was overtaken by the First Spirit’s desire for revenge and went berserk.
She killed the head of the Sunhwan Cha Clan, devastated the ancestral mountain, and ultimately tried to destroy the world.
It was at this point in the episode that Gang Hanbyeol and his friends fought her.
If they won the battle, once the incident was settled, she severed ties with the Sunhwan Cha Clan.
And joined Gang Hanbyeol’s party.
Conversely, if they lost the battle, a bad ending awaited.
The First Spirit that had taken over her body led all the spirits in the world and slaughtered humanity.
* * *
Before leaving for the ancestral mountain, Cha Eunsol gave Gang Hanbyeol a farewell that sounded as if she were ending her life.
Feeling something off about those words, Gang Hanbyeol followed his intuition and headed to the Sunhwan Cha Clan’s ancestral mountain with his friends.
But if they moved only then, it would be too late.
As for me, I wanted to avoid a battle with her after she became a boss monster if at all possible.
‘She was ridiculously troublesome in the game.’
That said, trying to persuade Cha Eunsol not to go to the Seonsanje was a bad move.
She, who wanted to ease the suffering the First Spirit must be experiencing, would never agree, and even if it was not now, the head of the Sunhwan Cha Clan would one day force her to become the vessel.
Unless the First Spirit imprisoned on the ancestral mountain was dealt with somehow, the seed of destruction would not disappear.
So the best move was….
‘If the bomb has to go off anyway, I might as well make it explode now.’
The point was simply to free the First Spirit and give it freedom, wasn’t it?
There was no need to worry about the future that would be affected by this.
Even in the game, if you cleared the episode, the First Spirit was freed.
And the people of the Sunhwan Cha Clan lost the First Spirit’s blessing and incurred the wrath of the spirits.
In that sense….
‘Yeah, it’s right to make it explode now. What if I pointlessly wait until later, and the progression goes off course then?’
Having already made up my mind early on, I resolved myself once again.
Then I looked for an opportunity to speak with Cha Eunsol alone so I could persuade her.
No, I would have to create one.
While studying for exams in the library, I sent her a message.
[Me]: Eunsol, let’s meet in the hallway for a second.
As it happened, Cha Eunsol was looking at her smartphone.
The read marker disappeared.
I was about to wait for her reply….
“Haneul, he says he wants to see me?”
“What?”
“…”
Cha Eunsol did not reply and instead abruptly informed Yeon Haneul.
I was dumbfounded.
“Gyeon. U. Ya?”
“…It’s because I have something to say. It’s really nothing.”
“Is that so? What do you have to say? If it’s nothing, couldn’t you just say it comfortably here?”
“…I was going to ask what the Seonsanje is.”
“Ah, that? It’s an annual clan event. Specifically… explaining is annoying. Look it up on the internet. Yum. It should be on there too.”
“Hey, Cha Eunsol. Isn’t that mine? You’re eating that way too naturally right now, you know?”
“Gyeonu, are you curious about what the Sunhwan Cha Clan’s Seonsanje is? If it’s all right, should I explain instead? I’d been feeling like I haven’t had much screen time lately, so this works out. The Seonsanje is… Ah, first I need to explain the First Spirit….”
Yeon Haneul pinched my forearm and glared at me primly.
Min Arin scolded Cha Eunsol, who had stealthily stolen and eaten the yanggaeng she had been nibbling at now and then.
Bak Sagun’s glasses gleamed as he began explaining.
Put in an awkward position, I sighed.
‘I feel this sometimes, but Cha Eunsol really doesn’t mesh with me….’
It could not be helped.
I would have to watch for a time when Cha Eunsol was alone.
Fortunately, that time came before long.
“I’m going to the lounge to heat up a steamed bun.”
Cha Eunsol got up from her seat to look for a microwave.
Soon after, I also stood up under the pretext of going to the bathroom.
Yeon Haneul shot me a suspicious sidelong glance, but she did not go out of her way to question me.
Thanks to that, I was able to catch up with Cha Eunsol without delay.
“Eunsol.”
“The bathroom isn’t here, though?”
“I know that too.”
“Hm? If you know, why did you come?”
“Because I have something I want to say to you.”
The lounge inside the library.
Cha Eunsol, who had been preparing to heat up her steamed bun in front of the microwave, tilted her head.
I brought up my business with her.
“You’re planning to become the vessel at the Seonsanje, aren’t you?”
“…”
“I don’t want you to do that. How about doing this instead?”
“What….”
At first, I had intended to come up with a justification for intervening in the episode.
But no matter how much I wracked my brain, I could not think of a suitable method.
How did I know the secret of the Sunhwan Cha Clan that was not known to the world?
To explain this in a convincing way, it was inevitably necessary to talk about the game.
Otherwise, I would have to create an opportunity to approach the truth, inefficiently and artificially though it might be.
But when I considered Cha Eunsol’s personality, it all felt truly pointless.
Surely, if it was her, with laziness at max level….
‘Even pressing me in detail would be too much of a bother, so whatever I say, she’ll probably just accept it.’
So I chose to break through head-on.
I decided to speak bluntly.
“Let’s free the First Spirit.”
Cha Eunsol’s green eyes widened.
Ding!
The microwave stopped operating.
Even so, perhaps because she was so shocked, she could not take her eyes off me.
* * *
In order to create a superior spirit master.
Cha Eunsol, born under the ideology of the Sunhwan Cha Clan, first perceived the world while she was still in her mother’s womb.
Her Gift, Astral Body, helped her see, hear, and feel everything with clarity.
Because of that.
‘Ah, so these are my family. I have to become a spirit master.’
Cha Eunsol gave up any expectations for the world before she even emerged into it.
As a result of what she observed from inside her mother’s womb, the atmosphere of the clan was suffocating beyond measure, and the people, including her parents, were all filled with selfishness.
All the more so because the family head, having recognized her qualities, even said that she could be made into the First Spirit’s vessel.
The world she faced after actually being born was worse if anything, not better.
Her eyes, which could even peer into souls, gazed upon a world laid bare and covered in greed.
‘Annoying. I don’t want to.’
Cha Eunsol, who possessed extraordinary genius, paid the price for understanding the world far too early and grew sick of it.
Just like that, she spent her days idling peacefully, flowing wherever the current took her.
Since there was nothing she wanted to do, she remained faithful to the basic desires of eating, sleeping, and relieving herself.
However, gourmet food stirred her curiosity.
—It’s tasty. Yum yum.
The one sensation she had not experienced inside her mother’s womb was taste.
Cha Eunsol showed motivation when it came to eating.
At the same time, she loved spirits.
The spirits she had been close to even before she was born were pure emotion itself, and they wanted nothing from her.
To her, they were as precious as, if not more precious than, the family for whom she felt no affection.
That was why she felt sorrow for the First Spirit.
—That beast is the First Spirit. The guardian spirit of our clan.
—….
—You must become that spirit’s vessel. That is your duty, born as a member of the Sunhwan Cha Clan. So until that day comes, I intend to let you live as freely as possible.
The first spirit, bound to the ancestral mountain and deprived of freedom for two hundred years by the selfish greed of the Sunhwan Cha clan.
Cha Eunsol was willing to offer up her own body if it was for that spirit’s sake.
If it was her, she was certain she could accept the spirit’s existence wholly, without resistance.
And so she had resolved to become its vessel during this ancestral mountain rite….
“Let’s free the first spirit.”
She had never imagined Do Gyeonu would suddenly make such an out-of-the-blue proposal.
Cha Eunsol, who could count on one hand the number of times she had ever been flustered, could not help but feel inwardly shaken.
She stared at him.
‘What… is he?’
How did Do Gyeonu know the secret of the Sunhwan Cha clan?
Cha Eunsol was about to voice the question that rose in her mind, but soon gave up.
Yeon Haneul had already asked her before to be understanding of his eccentric behavior, and above all, she found it bothersome.
Meanwhile, lightning flashed through her mind.
‘Why didn’t I think of that?’
Free the first spirit.
Do Gyeonu’s proposal struck Cha Eunsol with tremendous force.
Ridiculous as it was, because she had no lingering attachment to life, she had been fixated solely on becoming its vessel.
She had not even considered another way.
Perhaps, unconsciously, she had recognized that she could not free the first spirit on her own.
‘But if I borrow the others’ strength….’
Perhaps it might be possible.
Having thought that far, Cha Eunsol parted her lips.
“What’s your goal?”
“My goal? Hmm, my goal….”
She had to know Do Gyeonu’s true intentions, at least.
At that moment, Cha Eunsol felt pure curiosity toward him.
For her, someone who took no interest in those around her, it was a rare thing.
Then, as if choosing his words, he answered.
“Haneul, you, and the others too.”
“….”
“I want to stay close with all of you until we graduate… No, even long after graduation.”
Do Gyeonu smiled as though embarrassed.
Having heard an answer she had not expected at all, Cha Eunsol quietly sank into thought.
‘It’s a shame that I can look into souls, but not hearts.’
His goal was that he wanted to stay close?
The more she mulled it over, the more absurd it felt.
And yet, judging from Do Gyeonu’s face, he did not seem to be lying.
It seemed he was sincere.
‘What about me?’
The microwave had stopped quite some time ago.
Cha Eunsol took out the three steamed buns from inside and bit into one.
The sweet red bean paste, cooled just enough not to burn her tongue, was sweet.
Closing her eyes and calmly savoring it, she reached a conclusion.
‘I feel the same.’
She had thought she had no lingering attachment to life, but at some point, without realizing it, one had formed.
She wanted to spend a little more time with her friends.
Having clearly become aware of that feeling, Cha Eunsol picked up a new steamed bun.
The last one remaining.
“Here.”
“….”
“I’ll give you one.”
She held it out to Do Gyeonu.
He could not hide his surprised expression.
After all, he had never once received food from Cha Eunsol first until now.
Meanwhile, after seeing his reaction, she smiled faintly, like someone whose prank had succeeded.
That was her answer.
Before long.
“…Thanks. I’ll enjoy it.”
Do Gyeonu accepted the steamed bun.
I Became the Childhood Friend of the Mid-Boss