Gwanum And Song Of Life, Black Butterfly Dance And Cold City Man? (2)

Lee Hyo-ju initially thought Kim Han was joking when he seriously spoke to the group before they set off.

“I appoint you as the one-day teacher for the two chicks. Your mission is to ensure they learn the skills I mentioned without any incidents. Can you do it?”

But just a moment ago, they were trapped in the fortune teller’s haven, almost starving to death. If her judgment had been slightly off, the group might have starved to death there.

Lee Hyo-ju turned her gaze to Mae Young-ryeong, who had lost her cheerful smile and was now gazing out the carriage window with a mysterious expression after leaving the fortune teller’s haven.

Fortunately, there didn’t seem to be anything wrong, but she couldn’t shake off the uneasy feeling.

Especially the moment they left Mushu’s room, the power Mae Young-ryeong displayed was incredible, even to Lee Hyo-ju, who didn’t know much about magic.

‘Hmm… hmm… hmm! So this is how it works. This is quite useful. Secret Scorpius summon. Target designation. Barrier. Absorption.’

Mae Young-ryeong, who was muttering to herself, summoned a card with a black scorpion drawn on it, and as she said ‘absorption,’ the space, which had the same pattern on the walls, ceiling, and floor, was sucked into the card like water draining from a bathtub and disappeared.

Then it transformed into a typical fortune teller’s room they had seen while moving.

Leaving the astonished Mushu behind, Mae Young-ryeong led the group out of the fortune teller’s haven.

Once in the carriage, Mae Young-ryeong maintained a stern expression, not even paying attention to the chattering Naruan.

“You don’t have to look at me like that. It’s just… I have some things to think about. By the way, I was surprised earlier.”

“…What?”

“Miss Lee Hyo-ju. I always thought you were rational and calm, but earlier, when we were trapped in Mushu’s room. And when you were negotiating with Mushu, I thought I was watching Mr. Kim Han.”

“Ah… I thought if I showed even a little weakness, it would put us at a disadvantage, so I imitated Mr. Kim Han. I was thinking about who is the scariest and strongest person around me… and I tried to do what Mr. Kim Han usually does with the Gods. I was lacking a lot, though.”

“No, I was impressed. Thanks to you, we safely learned this amazing technique, received gifts, and had a great experience. I also found the ‘things’ I had forgotten…”

As Mae Young-ryeong said, the group received a card from Mushu, embedded with a return magic to the designated place as an apology.

Apart from that, Mae Young-ryeong’s last words seemed so lonely that she wanted to ask if something was wrong, but she couldn’t because Naruan interrupted, saying, ‘Kim Han is truly amazing!’

With a strange silence, the carriage arrived at the plaza.

When the carriage stopped in front of the Garden of Gods, Lee Hyo-ju remembered the danger from Mushu’s room and asked the two to wait in the carriage for a moment before heading to the Garden of Gods alone.

The gardener recognized Lee Hyo-ju and greeted her politely first. In response, Lee Hyo-ju also greeted back and approached the gardener.

“Hello, messenger Lee Hyo-ju. How is messenger Kim Han doing?”

“Yes, thanks to you, he’s doing well. Mr. Kim Han also asked me to send his regards.”

Seeing the gardener smile brightly at her words, Lee Hyo-ju took out the registration card from her pocket and handed it to the gardener.

“Oh? This is…”

“As you guessed, it’s a registration card. I want to learn ‘Gwanum.’”

“…Hmm. I can’t make this decision myself. Please wait a moment. I’ve contacted someone who will guide you.”

The moment the gardener finished saying “will come out,” another gardener appeared at high speed from the Garden of Gods and ran over.

Following that gardener, Lee Hyo-ju entered the chapel known as the Garden of Gods.

Unlike when meeting the gods, the chapel looked like a typical one. Here and there, gardeners in white priestly robes were noticeable.

Opening a rather large door at the innermost part of the chapel and entering the room, the gardener who had previously brought news of Ludicer was waiting.

“Welcome, messenger Lee Hyo-ju.”

“Yes, how have you been?”

“Haha. Thanks to you three, we live each day gracefully. Ah, but you want to learn ‘Gwanum’?”

“Yes.”

“Hmm… I won’t ask how you found out about that, but the process of being ‘transferred’ and after being transferred might be a bit difficult.”

The gardener’s words, filled with genuine concern, were sincere.

However, such worries were of no concern to Lee Hyo-ju. She was simply delighted at the prospect of learning ‘Gwanum,’ which Kim Han had not been sure about but had hoped for.

“I will learn it.”

Lee Hyo-ju wanted to learn ‘Gwanum’ so much that she didn’t notice her voice rising in excitement.

The gardener nodded, gathered the registration card, and pulled a gold rope among the ropes hanging in the room.

Shortly after, four additional gardeners entered the room.

“The five of us will teach you ‘Gwanum.’ Since the person receiving the training is Lee Hyo-ju, the messenger, we will explain it in full detail. ‘Gwanum’ consists of five stages. Each of us is responsible for one stage, but you, messenger, must master them all alone. That’s why we’re concerned.”

“…I’ll try.”

“…Hmm, understood. Let’s begin.”

“Yes!”

Unlike others, it was marked as a special skill, but Lee Hyo-ju had no way of knowing that.

The gardeners, who had been watching Lee Hyo-ju with concern until the moment of acceptance, nodded and began to draw upon their divine power.

With the message of commencement, first, the vision darkened, and the ears became muffled, rendering all sounds inaudible.

The refreshing scent of grass that filled the office was no longer detectable, and the unique feel of the soft leather armor against the skin was absent.

A terror of being unable to see, hear, or feel.

A fear of being left alone in the world.

The world of nothingness.

As time passed, the darkness was consumed by light.

The intense fear reminded Lee Hyo-ju of the nightmare experienced in the Monster Belt.

And that nightmare gradually became reality, beginning to engulf Lee Hyo-ju.

Just as she was about to collapse to the floor like a puppet with its strings cut…

“So choose. Whether you will join me or not.”

Kim Han’s voice echoed in her ears. A voice telling her that giving up here meant choosing not to be with Kim Han.

Her mind knew. It was the same question Kim Han asked her and Arun on the first day he moved into the mansion, whether they would join the legion.

However, at this moment, unlike her mind, her heart was saying that giving up meant admitting she wouldn’t be with Kim Han.

Mae Young-ryeong and Naruan.

Those who confidently expressed their affection for Kim Han throughout the day. She didn’t want to give up either.

‘So choose. Whether you will be with me or not.’

‘I will.’

‘So choose. Whether you will be with me or not.’

‘I will!’

‘So choose. Whether you will be with me or not.’

“Together!!”

Finally, Lee Hyo-ju heard her own voice.

And once again, she felt the unique texture and noise of the leather armor he made, along with the refreshing scent of grass.

“…I will.”

With those words, Lee Hyo-ju lost consciousness.

When Lee Hyo-ju regained consciousness, she found herself lying in bed with a female gardener by her side.

Seeing her stir, the gardener approached with relief and helped her up.

“How…?”

Asking what happened, Lee Hyo-ju listened as the gardener explained that she had been unconscious for an hour.

And concluded by saying that ‘Gwanum’ had been successfully ‘transferred’.

“Gwanum…”

Rubbing her eyes and shaking her head to clear her mind, Lee Hyo-ju focused on the message still floating in the air.

“Ah! Right. As soon as the messenger companions lost consciousness, they were taken to the reception room.”

“Thank you. I’m about to leave now. Could you guide me, please?”

Her tone remained formal and polite, yet unbeknownst to Lee Hyo-ju, confidence had seeped into her voice.

Despite grumbling about the long wait, Naruan, who was worried, and Mae Young-ryeong, who observed with a curious gaze, moved the carriage toward their next destination.

As the carriage passed through the square, an overwhelming cacophony of sounds began to flood in.

Feeling something was off, she turned her gaze outside the carriage window, and information about the people in her view flooded in, analyzed, categorized, and even predicted.

Without time to be astonished by the overwhelming experience, Lee Hyo-ju had to clutch her head and groan from the pain that felt like it was crushing her brain.

“Huh? What’s wrong? Freeze tag!”

“Miss Lee Hyo-ju?! Healing!”

Mae Young-ryeong’s concise incantation infused a warm energy into Lee Hyo-ju’s body, but it was only temporary.

With Mae Young-ryeong’s continued healing spells, and as the carriage moved out of the square, the noise lessened, and fixing her gaze on the carriage floor instead of outside helped her gradually stabilize.

“Are you okay?”

“Ah… Yes, I’m okay. I’m just not used to the new skill yet.”

“Alright. Please let us know if you feel uncomfortable.”

“Yes…”

Lee Hyo-ju’s voice lacked strength as she replied.

As the carriage moved, the noise from the wheels brought in a flood of information about the road conditions, making her head throb.

Taking long, deep breaths to adapt, but before she knew it, the carriage had already arrived at Halatus.

“Naruan.”

“Yes?”

“Be careful. Do you remember what Mr. Kim Han said?”

“Huh? Oh, yes!”

She didn’t look like she remembered it at all.

After much trial and error, Naruan successfully learned the skill, and just as she was about to head home, she was stopped and led into a handcrafted woodworking shop right next door.

Inside the shop, where the scent of wood and chemicals mingled strangely, a middle-aged woman was carving wood alone at the counter, with no customers or employees in sight.

When Lee Hyo-ju approached the counter and asked to see the owner, the middle-aged woman, without even looking up, curtly replied, “Speak.”

Her response was as good as saying she was the owner.

“I want to buy a sculpture of a bird without wings.”

The woman’s hands, which had been making a scraping sound, stopped moving. She tilted her head and stared intently at Lee Hyo-ju.

“…I don’t know where you heard that. I’m the ‘real’ owner here. I fired everyone the moment ‘Battlefield of the Gods’ began. Recite it.”

In response to the middle-aged woman’s claim of being the real owner, Lee Hyo-ju placed the last remaining registration card on the counter. The woman’s expression hardened further.

“So, you’re a representative, huh? What do you want to learn? Carving techniques?”

“I wish to learn the ‘Song of the Light.’”

Crack, thud, roll.

The sculpture, which had been meticulously crafted until now, shattered in the owner’s hands and fell to the floor.

“Say that again. What do you want to learn?”

“I wish to learn the ‘Song of the Light.’”

“You… where, no, how did you know about that?”

“Do I have to reveal that too?”

“No, you don’t have to. But I’m just curious.”

The woman’s murderous aura spread like a web, tightly wrapping around Lee Hyo-ju.

Even at that moment, information about the middle-aged woman flooded into Lee Hyo-ju’s mind, regardless of her will.

The throbbing headache created an ironic situation where she couldn’t feel the pain caused by the murderous aura at all.

“As you mentioned earlier, we are representatives. And right now, we’re in a training period. Instead of wasting energy, why don’t you just pass it on quickly, and we can each go our separate ways?”

“…Don’t let me see you after the training period ends.”

“By then, there will probably be someone incredible by my side, so you should be careful. That person saved the continent from the Three Gods’ Manifestation.”

“…Ugh. So you were the girl from back then. Well, if you’re not a slave to those trashy women, there’s no reason I can’t pass it on. Give me your hand.”

At the woman’s words, Lee Hyo-ju calmly extended her right hand.

Without knowing when it was created, a large needle made entirely of divine power was driven straight into Lee Hyo-ju’s palm.

“Yes!”

Unlike when she learned ‘Gwanum’, the message indicated it was not a special skill, making Lee Hyo-ju realize that Gwanum was indeed a special skill.

There was no immense nightmare-like mental anguish like when she learned ‘Gwanum.’

It was just that as her muscles and bones shifted and transformed, physical pain followed, but she thought it was bearable.

Surely, this pain was considerable too, but as her body changed, she felt a relief from the headache that had been pressing down on her head.

The wave that spread throughout her body reached its peak at her fingertips.

When all the changes were complete, she could feel the air currents with the tips of her ten fingers.

This, combined with ‘Gwanum,’ briefly gave her a tremendous headache, but it was fleeting. Somehow, the headache noticeably subsided.

Watching Lee Hyo-ju’s condition, the woman clicked her tongue and spoke.

“What were you thinking learning the gardener’s skills? Why are you so surprised? Your constantly twitching ears, your finely trembling pupils, and the way you keep touching your head. If other transcendent beings saw you now, they’d all notice. Their skills are famous.”

“…I don’t need to tell you that much.”

“Alright. Still, it was really wise of you to learn the gardener’s skills and come to me. Whether it was your idea or someone else’s advice, I don’t know.”

“Pardon?”

“Asking again means it’s not something you came up with. The gardener’s skill is about blindly accepting information. That’s why even gardeners have five people in a village sharing the skill, right? No matter how much of a representative you are, receiving it all in one body can’t leave you unscathed. But my ‘Song of the Light’ is also an incredible skill. Two amazing skills that the body can’t handle. If it weren’t for the training period, your brain would have melted and you would have died, but ‘the setting’ saved you. If the vessel can’t handle it, you grow the vessel. So, it means a forced body change occurred.”

“This isn’t certain, but try to learn ‘Gwanum’ first, then go to learn ‘Song of the Light.’ Leave the mansion and move southwest, learning in order. I’m just saying this in case, so keep it in mind.”

Unexpectedly, it felt like Kim Han’s uncertain voice was echoing again. The route Kim Han suggested, saying it was just in case. Was it for this kind of result?

“Seems like someone suggested this method? Being a representative and with such a person, you’re really lucky. Learning two high-level skills and having your physical grade forcibly increased. Ah! Is the person who gave you advice the divine messenger?”

Flinch.

“Hmm~ Is that right now? I’d like to meet them if possible. Anyway, you, the gardener’s skill is about handling information, but you can’t do that with everything showing on your face. Hey. Anyway, go on.”

After saying all they wanted, the host’s order to leave sent Lee Hyo-ju back to the carriage in a daze.

However, she still couldn’t easily understand the message floating before her eyes.