Episode 2
The Eastern Secret Record and the Elixir Pill
The old man claiming to be my ancestor looked at me pityingly for a long while before opening his mouth.
[In my lifetime, I committed sins in the Netherworld and left behind irredeemable karma for my descendants, but I have now paid the full price for those sins.] ‘Ah… I see.’ [Due to a mistake by a Netherworld messenger, my name was erased from the Book of Life and Death, and I lived as a fugitive from the Netherworld……. And so…….]
From my position of having to worry about this month's rent immediately, the ancestor's ramblings couldn't resonate with me at all. It was a terrible thought, but I found myself wishing that if he was going to say such things, he should have just gotten some proper sleep to relieve his fatigue instead.
‘Yul… Geon… Sigh….’
Calling the names of my two sons sleeping soundly nearby in my heart, I waited for the ancestor's rambling to end.
[……And thus, I received three requests from His Majesty the Jade Emperor as my reward. One of them is to break the curse of short lifespans. Hehehe.] ‘Yes, yes… I'm sure that's the case.’ [You too seem disappointed that it was not that lottery or whatever it is.]
I briefly considered hiding my stinging inner thoughts, but thinking it was merely a dream anyway, I unknowingly became cold and brusque.
‘Can you see how we live? I have two sons trying to sleep, shivering in this freezing room with only an electric heating pad. What I need right now is not some invisible curse of short lifespans being lifted. I need something clearly tangible! At this rate, I'll probably die before my allotted lifespan even runs out.’ [Hmm-hmm…….]
Poverty is said to be scarier than death. My indignation was perhaps only natural.
‘Ancestor. This is not something a descendant should say, but I do not think living a long life like this would be a good thing. Just go back. We descendants will simply live like this and pass on. Sigh….’
I sighed and lay back down.
[Sak! Sak!]
At the ancestor's persistent calling, I pulled the blanket up over my head, hoping to wake from the dream. But the dream was truly tenacious.
Swish!
The blanket covering me flew away, and a cold chill assaulted my body.
‘Ah. Why are you doing this! I'm truly having a hard time surviving. I'm telling you, it's hard just to take care of the children. I have to go look for work starting tomorrow…….’
Before I knew it, tears began to flow. My sorrow had exploded. Because my expectations had been so great, my disappointment came twofold.
[Ha… What to do…….] ‘Why are you asking me that! You said the curse of short lifespans and everything else was all the ancestor's fault!!’ [Ha….] ‘My children… Do you know the heart of a father who cannot buy his children a single new outfit and cannot feed them a single decent meal with side dishes? Do you! Why are you torturing me with false hope. Why! Curse of short lifespans? I'd rather die early than live like this. I'll light the briquettes tomorrow even if…….’
My pent-up resentment exploded, and I ended up saying things I shouldn't have to the ancestor.
[Fool!! You foolish wretch!!] ‘…….’ [Suicide! What kind of stupid and atrocious words are these! Do you not know what becomes of a soul that commits suicide!]
How could I know? To me, who believed everything ended with death, suicide had perhaps felt like an escape route.
[……This too must be my karma. I am sorry. Sak…….]
Since my mother, had there been anyone who called my name so piteously?
‘Huuuuuaaaang. Ung-ung-ung!!’
Overcome by surging sorrow, I burst into loud sobs. How much did I cry and cry again. I wept and poured out tears to the point where I hadn't known I could shed so many.
[Sak. My descendant. I cannot tell you about that lottery or whatever it is, but with the remaining two requests, you may perhaps be able to live a different life.] ‘…….’
In the end, I stopped crying and decided to listen to the rest of what the ancestor had to say.
[Take this.]
The ancestor pulled a book from his bosom and handed it to me.
-The Eastern Secret Record-
I hadn't studied many Chinese characters, but I could at least read the title. When I opened the book, it was densely filled with Chinese characters and unknown diagrams.
‘Um… Is there a Korean version?’ [Korean? What is that?]
Where did his knowledge end? It seemed like it would take a long time to explain things to the ancestor. An ancient book without a Korean translation…… Was it something worth money?
‘Are you saying this will make money if I sell it?’
I said to the ancestor, wondering where in Insadong I might be able to sell it.
[Fool!! This! This! How dare you say you will sell it without knowing what it is!]
Seeing him tremble, even his beard shaking, it seemed like quite a precious object.
‘I'm saying it because I don't know. It's not even in Hangeul; how am I supposed to know these kinds of Chinese characters?’ [Not knowing Chinese characters, what is this!!] ‘I don't know what era you lived in, Ancestor, but they don't write in these characters in the Republic of Korea anymore. To decipher it, I'd have to struggle with a character dictionary for who knows how long. I have to run out and do manual labor immediately; where would I find time to study?’ [Oh dear… A mistake…….]
The ancestor also looked perplexed, as if he hadn't expected this.
[It is a book I wrote while traveling the world during my lifetime, containing precious and miraculous things. There will surely be something that helps you in life, so I hope you will cherish it.] ‘…….’
In the end, it was an ancient book, so I would have to sell it. Thinking he would nag me again if I spoke my resolution out loud, I kept it to myself.
[And the last thing I will give you is this.]
What the ancestor pulled from his bosom was a single round pill resembling an herbal tonic.
‘What is this now?’ [If you eat this…… such time granted by His Majesty the Jade Emperor is—!!!]
The ancestor's body, which had been trying to tell me something, began to fade rapidly.
[You must!!! Eat it! You must!!!!]
Leaving those words behind, the ancestor disappeared without a trace. The thick fog that had settled also vanished, and in the single room where only a cold chill lingered, I could see only myself sitting on the blanket.
‘What the hell kind of absurd dream is this…….’
Rustle.
The ancient book and the pill(?) in my bosom informed me that this was not a dream.
“What should I do…….”
The words that slipped out of my mouth echoed in the cold, empty room.
“Hmmm…….”
Pulling the blanket over my eldest son, who was shivering in the cold, I looked at the ancient book and the elixir pill.
“Sell it? How much money would the book fetch if I sold it……. And this medicine… what on earth…….”
Dawn had broken, but it was too cold a winter to drive the chill from the room. My worries deepened endlessly, as cold as the frigid air, and I spent yet another night awake with open eyes.
I spent the night recalling the ancestor's words. [Curse of short lifespans] That's right. The men in our family had died young for generations. Not only my grandfather, but my father as well had passed away early. Once they passed the age of twenty, getting married and producing descendants was the sole goal of our family. Even in my father's time, I was told he met my mother and married before he was twenty. Perhaps because heirs were so precious in the family, or for whatever reason, after bearing one son, there were no more descendants. The Dongbang family had been a single-heir family for generations. Since the men of the family all perished before the age of forty, they called famous shamans to perform rituals and tried all sorts of things, but the curse of short lifespans never disappeared.
I too married at the young age of twenty, unable to overcome my mother's pressure. I don't know what good it does to say this, but the Dongbang family had produced many handsome men for generations. My looks could naturally win the favor of any woman. Moreover, my abilities weren't bad either; as a student at a prestigious university, I chose a woman with good looks and family background, caused a scandal, and ended up married.
After the scandal, I learned that the family of the woman I married was quite formidable, but the water had already been spilled. The in-laws had opposed the marriage so much that we had never even exchanged visits, and couldn't even hold a wedding ceremony. It was upsetting, but it couldn't be helped. My wife, who had gone to her parents' house to recuperate after giving birth to our second child, returned and said:
“Let's break up. I can't live like this anymore.”
At my wife's words, my body froze as if struck by a thunderbolt.
“S-suddenly, what do you mean by that…….” “Enough. Give me alimony. If you don't have the ability to pay, you don't have to, but at least grant me the divorce. I think I've done enough by giving birth to two sons for that great Dongbang family.” “If you do this suddenly…… what about our children…”
Even then, I did everything I could to change my wife's mind. But my wife was immovable, and even when my mother stepped in to help, everything was in vain. To my wife, who spoke of divorce every single day, I shouted:
“I can't. I won't!” “Are you really going to be this pathetic? Do I have to take this to court?” “There's no fault on my part, so what divorce! I won't!”
From then on, my wife began to cross the line. Frequent nights out were a given, and her extravagance reached extremes.
“Mijeong! Let's at least know the reason. Why on earth are you doing this!”
I was in my second year at a large corporation after graduating from university. I couldn't understand what was so unsatisfying about a family that appeared to have nothing to envy.
Her extravagance exceeded my salary, and foolishly trying to protect the family, I endured all her wanderings.
“Did you take out another loan?” “Yeah.” “Mijeong!” “That's why I'm asking for a divorce!”
A year after her declaration of divorce, the household was unfit for human habitation. Even my mother had to live every day looking after her grandchildren while watching her daughter-in-law's moods.
“Son. What on earth is the reason?” “There isn't one, Mother. When a person dislikes someone, where is there a reason?” “Did our Sak do something wrong? I'll scold him sternly.” “I said it's fine!!”
At her cold outburst, my mother began to develop a heart condition. Even then, I thought everything was my fault. In the end, only after my mother fell ill was I forced to divorce according to her wishes. And I learned the truth only after legally divorcing her.
“Ah, well. Mijeong's family is quite well-off, you know. I heard something recently…….”
One of my friends began talking with a fuss as if it were some great matter.
“Originally, Mijeong had a man she promised to marry, but she fell for your handsome looks and caused that mess. The family of the man she promised to marry seems to be a chaebol. You know it, right? Hansong Group. They say he's the successor of that group. He recently finished studying abroad and came back to Korea for management training. But this guy is seducing her saying he doesn't care that she's married; how many women wouldn't fall for a chaebol son's seduction? Mijeong's family seems to be entangled with that family, so I guess your mother-in-law persuaded Mijeong.” “…….”
The moment I heard this, I was consumed by rage and stormed into Hansong Group. I caused a commotion in the lobby of Hansong Group headquarters and was dragged away by the police. After that, what came to me was a dismissal notice from the large corporation I had barely entered.
“Have you incurred the displeasure of Hansong Group?” “Excuse me?”
I doubted my ears at the words of the team leader I had been close with.
“A request came from Hansong saying they want you cut immediately. Well, chaebols stick together, but how can they fire a person so suddenly like this…….”
Whether the commotion in the Hansong Group lobby reached her ears, or the ears of that arrogant successor, I ended up getting fired like that.
What remained for me after the dismissal were the numerous overdrawn accounts she had left behind and my mother's illness.
“Mom…….” “It's my sin. It's my fault. Oh dear….”
Until the moment she closed her eyes, my mother blamed herself for urging me to marry early, and she passed away before even reaching her sixtieth birthday. What could I do, buried under my mother's nursing and a mountain of debt? I don't know how much I cried holding my two children at the funeral hall where only debt remained. And so, a year later, my circumstances had come to the point where I had to live worrying about tomorrow.
Recalling the past, I looked at the clock.
“I still have about two hours. Shall I close my eyes for a bit?”
There was time left until the children had to go to daycare. My exhausted body wanted sleep, and before I knew it, I lay down beside the children and fell asleep.
“Ah! Daycare!!!”
I woke up shouting, surprised by the bright light. Looking at the clock, the time to send them to daycare had long passed.
“Yul! Why didn't you wake Dad up?” “Dad is tired. I told you to sleep a little more.”
At my eldest son's words, I hurriedly got up.
Tap. Roll-roll.
My gaze went to something touching my foot. There lay the Eastern Secret Record opened, and crayons received from daycare were scattered about.
‘Ah… no!!’
I hurriedly examined the Eastern Secret Record.
“Ah…….”
The Eastern Secret Record was covered in scribbles, appearing to be the work of my younger son while I slept. He had clearly been unable to overcome his boredom and played around. When the ancient book that might have been worth some money was ruined with doodles, I unknowingly blamed my younger son.
“Ge… Geon……. Why did you do this…….”
It was my fault. It was my fault for leaving an ancient book lying around carelessly in a house with young children. Though it was a single room with nowhere to hide it, I should have been more careful. I sat down with a devastated expression and stared at the Eastern Secret Record covered in scribbles.