Sabacheon (2)
‘What do I do about this?’
Caught between a rock and a hard place.
He could neither fight back nor flee.
Crackle—sizzle!
The woman was already in a state of perfect readiness, raising her fighting spirit.
Perhaps judging from the remains left in this place that Hun was no easy opponent, she seemed intent on going all out from the very start.
Just as the situation reached a flashpoint.
“W-wait! Please wait a moment, Sister!”
Just before things escalated to an irreversible point, a voice cut through the tension.
“Sohoe, wait a moment. Right now, that demonic practitioner first···.”
“Th-that’s···. I don’t think that’s the case, Sister! I think there’s been some kind of misunderstanding···.”
“···What? What are you talking about?”
The woman frowned at those out-of-the-blue words.
Even so, she didn’t take her eyes off Hun for a moment, taking in his every move.
Ready to respond immediately the moment he showed any suspicious sign.
“He’s the one who saved me when I was kidnapped and imprisoned. In the process, he also beat all the monstrous beasts to death.”
“···He wasn’t with them?”
“Yes! And that’s not the only thing that can’t be explained.”
As if the terror that had gripped him moments ago was a lie, Yun Sohoe persuaded his sister in a calm tone.
He was a prodigy renowned even within the Seongcheon Yun Clan for his keen intelligence.
When first exposed to the aftereffects of that negative mental wave, his mind had momentarily frozen, but once a reliable ally appeared and he regained his composure, he could sense the incongruity once more.
Conversations that subtly didn’t quite align, such as not knowing much about the Seongcheon Yun Clan.
An attitude of confidently using his ability, then belatedly trying to explain something after seeing his reaction.
The exotic attire that he had initially dismissed as merely unique.
‘There were more than one or two strange things besides that. I was just an extra, and that he had stormed in to rescue that girl···.’
The fact that he had dealt with the experts in the underground hideout first, and only felled the rabble on the ground on his way out, was another such point.
Logically speaking, if one entered from the outside, wouldn’t it make sense to deal with the outer enemies first?
And in this world, there was one element that could explain those incomprehensible parts.
“Might you be··· someone who has come from another world?”
Otherworlders who had crossed the dimensional wall.
Wanderers who each possessed unique abilities, grew at a rapid pace, and brought about great and small changes to the world.
Yun Sohoe, a descendant of the Seongcheon Yun Clan, was well aware of them as well.
Was not even the progenitor of their clan an otherworlder?
If one thought that the abilities shown by that man were not the chakra of the demonic path, but rather one of those special abilities···.
“Oh? You’re smart. I was worrying about how to explain it.”
···That aspect was also perfectly understandable.
After all, otherworlders had no shortage of aspects that didn’t align with this world’s common sense.
Even taking that into account, he seemed a bit out of his mind.
“An otherworlder? That man is an otherworlder?”
The woman, eyes wide open, couldn’t hide her confusion as she examined the man again.
Certainly, when looking at him with that in mind, there was no small amount of felt incongruity.
Until now, she had thought he was hiding his energy through some means, but it seemed that wasn’t the case—rather, he simply hadn’t trained in chakra from the very beginning.
“B-but this is··· hmm.”
After blinking several times, the woman’s momentum gradually began to subside.
The reason she had been hostile to Hun was because she had thought he was a demonic practitioner.
Their notoriety for wearing human skin was truly nothing short of dreadful.
But if that wasn’t the case···.
“···Still, nothing is certain yet. I can’t just let you go like this.”
In the end, she let out a small sigh, took a step back, and offered a compromise.
If all of this was a trick by a wicked demonic practitioner, wouldn’t it mean letting a calamity slip by right before her very eyes?
As one faithful to principles, she could not take such a risk.
“Forgive me, but would you accompany us for a while? There are already several otherworlders staying in our clan, so it won’t take long to verify.”
Once confirmed, they could provide this and that help while living on this land from now on.
Hun had no choice but to nod at her words, which were polite but carried firm resolve.
‘Since I had nowhere to go anyway.’
He was completely bound to this world until Ramyu regained consciousness.
If he thought of it as gaining a place to stay during that time, this situation wasn’t such a bad thing.
And so, while the warriors of the Yun Clan gathered one after another, having sensed the disturbance, and were cleaning up the scene.
Hun, carrying Ramyu on his back, followed the two and set off.
The greatest legacy left upon this land by the great hero who ended the long war ages ago and brought peace to the world, and also—
toward the center of the storm that had begun to slowly gather.
***
If I were to express the Sabacheon dimension in one word···.
It could be called a kind of ‘Eastern fantasy’ world.
From an architectural style focused on wood and giwa roof tiles, to wide traditional garments made with nearly uncut fabric, and so on.
At a glance, it gave a feeling similar to the Ganghwangye of the Murim world, yet it also had clear distinctions from that side.
‘How fascinating.’
The middle of a fairly large city’s commercial district.
Through the window of the slowly moving carriage, Hun looked at a street vendor grilling skewers and narrowed his eyes.
The sight of the brazier flames dancing freely here and there, cooking the meat just right, was to the point that it felt like watching a feat of acrobatics.
“Hm? Are you hungry, perhaps?”
“Ah, no. It’s just that he looks like an ordinary commoner, so it’s fascinating that he’s handling chakra.”
“Aah, so that’s what it was.”
Yun Sohoe, following Hun’s gaze, glanced at the street vendor and shrugged.
Then he continued speaking as if it were no big deal.
“Chakra is a power that anyone can handle as long as they have understanding of the subject, you see. Of course, without proper teachings and talent, there is a limit to how much one can grow.”
As his words suggested, the level of the middle-aged street vendor was not very high.
It looked even lower than Yun Sohoe, who had just barely reached early teens.
By this side’s standards, it could be called the introductory stage, not having even entered the Lower Stratum.
“It seems that vendor opened the Fire Chakra and has done nothing but grill meat ever since. But to grow further, various other methods are necessary. Lighting fires for days on end and feeling that heat with your whole body, or putting your hand in the fire—that is the very basics of the basics···.”
Hun roughly let Yun Sohoe’s chattering words showing off his knowledge roll off him from the opposite seat and looked back out the window.
The one using chakra in daily life wasn’t limited to just that street vendor.
A housewife shaking out laundry a few times and thoroughly drying the moisture, a porter moving heavy loads ill-suited to his frame, a merchant making vegetables look a little fresher to sell, and so on.
No matter how low their level was, the sight of seemingly ordinary people utilizing the mystical so casually was inevitably fascinating even to his eyes, which had passed through many dimensions.
‘Chakra··· it looks quite useful.’
Hun’s eyes sparkled.
Unlike other ordinary mystical powers, chakra, which handled the very concept itself, was an interesting subject even to him.
If he could handle that, wouldn’t it become a great power for him as well?
“···In that sense, one who can simply use chakra and a practitioner are different. Only one who can endure any asceticism to elevate their realm can be called a practitioner. Generally, the moment one passes the introductory stage and enters the Lower Stratum···.”
“Sohoe.”
While using Yun Sohoe’s lengthy speech as background radio and sightseeing outside the carriage.
The woman who had been sitting quietly beside the boy all this time opened her mouth in a low voice.
“We’ve arrived.”
“Ah!”
Hardly had those words ended when the carriage they were riding came to a halt.
Outside the window was the main gate of an estate with walls stretching so far that the end couldn’t be seen.
“I’ve already spoken with the main family and explained the situation here, so the procedures won’t take too long.”
“Ah! As expected of you, Sister Ruset. Thank you.”
“What do you mean, it’s only natural.”
Patting the head of Yun Sohoe, who looked up at her with shining eyes, the woman—Yun Ruset—smiled softly.
The little Yun Sohoe with Western features and the beauty Yun Ruset with Eastern looks.
‘···As expected, I can’t get used to it.’
It couldn’t be helped.
If this was this world’s culture, the outsider had no choice but to adapt.
Hun stroked the hair of Ramyu, who was still asleep with her head on his thigh, and let out a small sigh.
***
The Seongcheon Yun Clan was a great power recognized everywhere in Sabacheon.
It couldn’t be otherwise.
Situated between the Hongsan Kingdom and the Cheonghae Kingdom, the main actors of the Hundred Years’ War, though called a single clan, they could be said to be both a military group and the sovereigns ruling an independent city-state.
Having maintained the balance between the two great powers that divided the world and acted as their mediator, the Yun Clan’s capabilities were just that tremendous.
‘Seeing it directly like this, it feels tremendous anew. And that such a power has been maintained for decades without collapsing.’
All of that was possible because the Yun Clan’s origins were different from ordinary clans.
Though called descendants in name, not a single one among its members actually inherited the progenitor’s blood.
Hadn’t the clan started with those who followed the progenitor and war orphans gathered amidst the chaos?
As such, blood ties weren’t very important to them.
“Waaah!”
“Hey! You come here!”
“Huaaang~ Sister···.”
Passing through the estate, Hun came across yet another orphanage and clicked his tongue.
Just how many of these were there?
What was more surprising was the fact that despite their young age, most of the children possessed outstanding talent, to the point of having opened or being on the verge of opening the door to the introductory stage of chakra.
‘Do they bring talented children from all over the world and raise them as the clan’s future pillars?’
That seemed to be the driving force that allowed the Yun Clan to enjoy such prosperity.
Yun Sohoe, who at the early age of the teens had already passed the Lower Stratum and was peeking into the Middle Stratum, and Yun Ruset, who had reached the Deep Stratum in her twenties.
They were all ones who had proven their qualifications and been granted the surname ‘Yun’.
“Hmm, you are indeed someone from Earth.”
“I think so as well. This kind of common-sense knowledge would be difficult to acquire through study alone.”
Verifying that Hun was an otherworlder was not very difficult.
It was merely a matter of talking with the Earthlings who were staying here as guests.
A small problem arose after that.
“W-wait a moment! So the region you come from, Mister··· where did you say?”
Yun Sohoe, who had been watching blankly from the side, hurriedly asked again, forgetting his usual solemn tone.
Ruset, who had not let down her guard against Hun until the very end, was the same, her eyes wide open.
The flashes in her eyes like lightning were an extremely burdensome gaze, but he couldn’t not answer.
“Korea··· and if it’s Seoul···!”
“Wait, then the Progenitor? Do you happen to know the Progenitor as well?”
Of course he knew.
They had spoken, and even shaken hands.
‘We even have a cooperative relationship.’
But since the reaction to answering that was obvious, Hun merely nodded.
Even that alone required considerable effort to calm the two excited people for a while.
The probability of a Korean among Earthlings being sent to Sabacheon, one of hundreds of dimensions.
And the probability that they would survive to the end and reach the territory of the city-state Seongcheon Yun Clan.
And considering the probability of revealing their identity and conversing afterward··· it wasn’t strange that they were reacting so hypersensitively.
Thinking about the decades that had passed, it might have happened a few times, but considering their ages, it would have been difficult for them to have connections even then.
“A more detailed story···.”
“Is the Progenitor in good health? And regarding our world···.”
He subtly turned his gaze and looked at a large painting hanging on the wall.
A world where everyone suffered in a war of mutual slaughter.
Dozens of lightning strikes descended from the thunderclouds covering the sky.
At the center of it all, a goddess descended to earth, her entire body wreathed in sacred lightning.
The founder of the Sacred Heaven Yun Clan of Saba Heaven, Thunder Emperor Yun Ji-yun.
On Earth, she was the Seoul Southern Branch Director of the Korean Returnee Association.
‘...They don’t look alike at all.’
Hun, who had been gazing at the painting of a peerless beauty with a subtle expression, gave a small nod.
Well, beautifying the object of worship was something that happened everywhere.
‘Still, this worked out nicely. With this much, they probably won’t treat me badly. I can stay here for the time being and learn chakra.’
For some reason, Ramyu still hadn’t woken up even after several hours had passed.
There didn’t seem to be anything wrong with her health, but... if she remained in this state, he would have to take some special measure.
Since there didn’t seem to be any place safer than this in the world, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to use this place as a base and watch over her condition.
“So the founder was...”
“Could the founder be...”
...No, perhaps he needed to think this over again.
***
“Failure?”
The being in the darkness twitched the corners of his mouth.
Even he could not help but react sensitively to the news that a plan he had reviewed and confirmed several times over had failed.
“...The cause?”
No answer came.
But the being in the darkness slowly nodded as if he had heard one, then began to quietly stroke his chin.
“No, there is no way the demonic path practitioners betrayed us. They, more than anyone, desired this plan.”
The Hundred Years’ War had ended decades ago.
That era, when death, famine, violence, despair, and pain overflowed wherever one went, had truly been the golden age of demonic path practitioners.
By now, it was hardly a great secret that they had been behind the war that had continued for all those long years.
Compared to that time, their current influence had shrunk so drastically that even calling it miserable was not enough.
Strictly speaking, the Sacred Heaven Yun Clan was no different from the enemy of all demonic path practitioners.
So there was no way they would betray this side and try to obstruct the plan, was there?
“This is ominous. Look into it in more detail. Everything connected to this incident, down to the smallest detail.”
With the premonition that letting this pass would bring serious trouble later, the being in the darkness murmured in a low voice.
Still, no answer came, but he closed his eyes as if the conversation had ended.
In his mind, the plans that had been carried out so far and the things that had to be done from now on whirled chaotically.
“...The atmosphere is roiling.”
He did not possess foresight, but thanks to having opened the Heavenly Gate, he was able to glimpse a little of the world’s principles, and so he could faintly sense it.
Even at this very moment.
Something unknown was slowly reaching out its hand.
But as long as he had no intention of giving up everything he had done so far, what he had to do was already decided.
“It seems I’ll need to hurry the plan a little more.”
Immediately after those words ended,
the presence that had remained in the darkness vanished without a trace.
As if nothing had been there from the very beginning.