Chapter 522. Toward a Different Salvation
When people tried to fulfill some kind of goal, they gathered their hands together and fervently prayed. As civilization developed, such behavior developed in various directions and went beyond mere rituals. For example, one such method was creating items containing prayers. A talisman could be seen as one of them. Chi-Woo often watched his mentor draw talismans with curious eyes. Although they never inquired deeply about each other, Chi-Woo knew that his mentor was no ordinary person. Otherwise, all kinds of famous and influential people wouldn’t come and kneel down to ask for his help.
Among them, some asked for his mentor’s talisman. Every time this happened, his mentor would snort and chase them out, but when it couldn’t be helped, he would draw a talisman for them; not one drawn with great effort, but a quick scribble that took a couple seconds. Seeing this, Chi-Woo often wondered if his mentor had simply doodled something and given it out as a talisman because he found them bothersome. Chi-Woo also thought the same when his mentor gave him the talismans of White Horse General and Indra’s Divine Retribution, saying he should keep them just in case. Wondering why his mentor had given him the talismans so begrudgingly, Chi-Woo had asked if they really worked, and his mentor hadn’t just made a random doodle.
[Why are you giving it to me so begrudgingly? Come on, would it have killed you to just give it to me with a smile?]
[You ungrateful punk!]
[Agh! Why are you hitting me!]
[I gave it to you out of sincere concern, but what did you say? Give it back!]
[No! And it’s true. It took less than a minute for you to draw it.]
[Geez, why does the time it took me to draw a talisman matter?]
[Uh…of course there’s no set rules, but the other masters stay up many nights to draw theirs, and in extreme cases, it takes them more than a month.]
[It’s because those guys are weak. Do you take several days to take out money from your wallet? No, you just take out as much as you need and put the rest back in.]
However, even his mentor treated one particular talisman differently. As Chi-Woo said, he picked a good day, took a bath to purify his body and mind, and dressed neatly, and only then did he draw the talisman—without sleeping a wink for days and nights. Chi-Woo teased his mentor again by asking why he had changed his attitude and if he had actually been bothered by Chi-Woo’s words but pretended not to. That got him another hit. His mentor looked down at him and clicked his tongue as Chi-Woo rolled on the ground with a giant bump on his head.
[For this, I’m not taking money out of my wallet, but borrowing money from someone else’s wallet.]
[So obviously, I have to dress up and ask nicely for a favor. If I show up and shout for some money, do you think anyone will give me any? You brat!]
Chi-Woo pursed his lips and asked who he was borrowing the money from. However, his mentor didn’t reply. He just sighed and said, ‘Why am I going this far for a punk like him…’ and held out the finished talisman. Chi-Woo took it with excitement and could not hide his disappointment when he saw it. They said that experience was the best teacher. While following his mentor around, Chi-Woo had learned about many different types of talisman. The White Horse General and Indra’s Divine Retribution were at least fancy in name, but the third and last talisman he received was no other than…
[This…is a wish talisman.]
A wish talisman was a talisman that fulfilled one’s wishes, as its name indicated. It was a kind of lucky amulet that wished for all the best, and it was also a common talisman that could be found in any souvenir shop. Chi-Woo had been looking forward to what kind of great talisman his mentor would give him this time and couldn’t hide his disappointment.
[Yeah. It’s a wish talisman. So what.]
[No…thank you, but…]
[Say one more word—if you want to get hit again.]
Chi-Woo hurriedly closed his mouth at his mentor’s firm warning. Then his mentor smiled flatly as Chi-Woo fiddled with the wish talisman with a puzzled expression.
[Don’t complain and just keep it well. Never lose it.]
[If I take good care of it, will it make my wish come true someday?]
[If you desperately wish for it.]
[Who’s going to fulfill it? The White Horse General? Or Indra?]
[Neither.]
[Then who?]
[Who else? It’s you.]
Chi-Woo’s eyes widened at his teacher’s words.
[I’ll make my own wish come true?]
[The heavens help those who help themselves.]
His mentor continued calmly.
[That’s not an exception for the heavens either.]
Then the mentor burst out laughing as he saw Chi-Woo’s dumbfounded expression.
[Just think of it as something that will give you a bit of help when you need it. Didn’t I tell you repeatedly? What did I say about people’s fate?]
[It’s not something that’ll roll right into my hands and help me do everything, but it’ll help me work things out better if I put the effort in…]
[Yeah, it’s fine as long as you know that.]
If you wish, if you earnestly wish for it and put in the right amount of effort—
[That talisman will definitely help your wish come true.]
* * *
After hearing Chi-Hyun’s story, Chi-Woo hurriedly searched around his body. Seeing the burnt and blackened wish talisman in his arms, he asked, “So you’re saying that you were supposed to have died?”
Chi-Hyun nodded at Chi-Woo’s question. “It would be more accurate to say that I should have been erased than died. An existence that can’t even go back to nothingness, since I didn’t even exist in the beginning. Well, that’s the same thing though.”
Chi-Hyun had used the same WI5H ability in the past. He had managed to survive, but it was only because at that time, there was no problem with the connection to the Celestial Realm, and he had used the Choi Family’s accumulated merits. However, he was without any support from Liber this time. The connection with the Celestial Realm was weak, and since Chi-Woo had used up most of the family’s merit, there was hardly any left.
“So I thought it really was over, but…” When Chi-Hyun woke up, he was being treated in the Celestial Realm. Moreover, his connection with the Celestial Realm had not only been reestablished, but all the merits he needed to be treated were completely recovered. “Now that I think about it, I think it has already been arranged since then.”
“Arranged?”
“I asked you after you qualified as a Challenger. Did anything come to your mind when the legend’s Second Coming has suddenly been activated?”
Chi-Woo recalled that time and realized what had happened. He had wanted to become greater than anyone else. However, that was merely a part of the process to get what he really wanted, and it was difficult to call that his ultimate goal. From the very moment he entered Liber, Chi-Woo only had one true wish: to return to Earth with his brother. And the wish talisman had fulfilled that wish for him, considering not just the events right at hand but what would happen after—toward the direction that would be most helpful to Chi-Woo.
Looking back, it was a little strange. If Chi-Hyun had died, his corpse should’ve been left there. However, his body was nowhere to be found and had instead disappeared into light as if he was sucked into the sky. Now Chi-Woo knew that was Chi-Hyun going back to the Celestial Realm.
‘I see.’ Chi-Woo closed his eyes without realizing it because it felt as if he could hear his mentor laughing.
[I told you, punk. What did I say?]
Chi-Woo also laughed despite himself. He had wondered why he couldn’t revive Chi-Hyun even with infinite power, but there was a reason for everything. He had set the preconditions wrong in the first place. Since he had wished to revive Chi-Hyun who had died, there was no way it could happen since Chi-Hyun was never dead in the first place. A happy miscalculation, one could call it.
Soon after, Chi-Woo opened his eyes and said with a much brighter expression, “So are you feeling better now?”
“No, I’m not okay.”
“What?”
“The talisman only briefly restored my connection with the Celestial Realm and recovered the merits needed for treatment.” Chi-Hyun’s life was saved, but that was all. After abusing a power he shouldn’t have used twice, Chi-Hyun had to pay a price. “It was also like that the last time I used it. Since it’s an ability that uses the past, present, and future—I was told that if I use it again, it’ll damage not only my mind, but my soul, and it couldn’t be restored even if I turn back time.”
“Then your condition right now is…”
“Yeah, I’m an ordinary person with no power.” Chi-Hyun smacked his lips. Normally, no words would be appropriate to comfort someone who had lost all their power, but Chi-Hyun didn’t seem down. Rather, he asked in a subdued voice, “It feels a bit strange…but I think, does it really matter now?”
He sounded like he was asking for Chi-Woo’s affirmation, and understanding it, Chi-Woo quickly nodded. “Yeah, it doesn’t matter.”
Chi-Hyun’s expression noticeably brightened. It wasn’t just Chi-Hyun. Evelyn, Philip, and Wallie reacted the same way.
Chi-Woo said, “Anyway, that’s a relief. I’m so glad…”
Chi-Hyun’s lips gradually curved as he saw Chi-Woo awkwardly rubbing at his own chest. “By the way, there are so many of you.” Chi-Hyun looked at those waiting behind Chi-Woo.
Chi-Woo began introducing everyone one by one, “Oh, right. Say hello. This person will be your sister-in-law, this puppy followed me, begging me to raise him, and she’s a tool just for me, and…ah, this spirit is going to return soon, so no need to pay attention to him.”
—Hey, why do you keep teasing me like that?
Philip got angry, Wallie bit Chi-Woo’s calf to protest being called a puppy, and Flora drooled while looking at the golden brown chicken on the table. Of course, none of them was truly disappointed or angry. Rather, they all complained to Chi-Woo with happy expressions. Before they came home, they had been careful around him because they thought he might crumble with the slightest touch. But this playful side was the Chi-Woo they knew. It felt like everything was finally back to normal now.
Chi-Hyun didn’t say much, but his eyebrow twitched when Evelyn said, “Hello, brother-in-law.”
In the past, he would have sternly yelled at her right away, but he didn’t say anything in the end. “Well…do as you please.” Since he wasn’t the legend or anything anymore. An ordinary person should live like one.
“Yeah, I will. Anyway, what about Mom and Dad?” Chi-Woo looked around with a bright smile and asked.
“Ah, I did give them back their memories after coming home, but…”
Chi-Woo was shocked to hear that, ‘Dad ran out of the house saying he would immediately enter Liber, and Mom issued a conscription order on the entire Ho Lactea Family to fight those Sernitas or whatever they’re called and bring you back.’
“What? You should have told them the whole story properly.”
“What can I do? Even before I could explain what happened, they both ran out with fumes coming out of their eyes.”
“That’s crazy. On second thought, I visited the Celestial Realm just before coming here.”
“I guess you missed each other. Well, that’s good. I guess the Celestial Realm will explain to them and send them back.” Chi-Hyun shrugged and looked down at the chicken on the table again. The box of chicken piled up inside the black plastic bag was still hot.
“Then while we’re waiting…” Chi-Hyun held out a chicken leg, and Chi-Woo did not hesitate to take it this time.
“Yeah, let’s eat. Everyone, come on and sit down.” One box of chicken was a small amount for everyone, but it didn’t matter. While everyone sat down at the table and took a piece of chicken, Chi-Woo stared as Chi-Hyun rummaged through the box and suggested, “If you want, I can turn things back to how it was.”
“Turn what back?”
“Your condition. If you still have any lingering attachment to being a hero…”
“To hell with that,” Chi-Hyun immediately answered. “To hell with being a hero.” It was what a particular someone had once said in front of everyone.
The same words Chi-Woo had said before were given right back to him, and he ended up laughing at Chi-Hyun’s indifferent expression. Relief washed over him. He had asked just in case, but as Chi-Hyun confirmed it, he seemed to not have even the slightest regrets left.
“Stop saying nonsense and let’s watch the game. It’s the first game of the finals.” As Chi-Hyun said, there seemed to be nothing more to ask. Soon, Chi-Hyun’s eyes shifted to the screen.
Chi-Woo also looked in the same direction, but he wasn’t watching the TV, but everyone else who was watching Chi-Hyun and the TV with curious eyes. A laugh kept threatening to escape his mouth because this all felt like a dream. The empty house felt packed for the first time in a long time.
Just in time, a shrill sound came from the TV screen. It was the whistle that marked the start of the game. “Ah, it’s starting.”
“Good. For the victory of our country.”
They made a toast by bumping each other’s chicken. Chi-Woo lifted the chicken leg that he had been looking forward to so much with a pounding heart. Then he opened his mouth wide and—with everyone by his side—took a huge bite of the chicken.
* * *
After Chi-Hyun and Chi-Woo returned home, many changes happened in Chi-Woo’s life. To be exact, there was a great change not only in Chi-Woo’s life, but also in the lives of all the Choi Family and everyone who followed Chi-Woo. Su-Ho and Elrich struggled to come to terms with what they heard had happened in the Celestial Realm, but after returning home and seeing Chi-Woo in person, they had no choice but to believe it.
And Chi-Woo declared, “From today on, I’m the head of the Choi Family.”
“W-What?”
“I don’t need the legend or anything. Only I have full power over the Choi Family. Father, you’ll become a washed-up old man in the background, and Chi-Hyun will be kicked out of his position as the legend.” Chi-Woo teased his dad by saying, ‘I’ll be inheriting the throne now, Father’, but Choi Su-Ho knew what Chi-Woo truly meant—for him to no longer be limited by the life of a hero and find his own life. Of course, no parents could just take it easy because their children told them to.
However, Su-Ho had no choice but to follow reluctantly as Chi-Woo said, “You’d better listen. I’m the strongest in the universe now. If you don’t follow, I will have no choice but to force you.” His mother, Elrich, decided to live as a full-time housewife as she did before, and Evelyn decided to live with Chi-Woo as his girlfriend for the time being. Elrich admitted that she liked Evelyn, but she suggested that they start dating first because marriage might be too sudden.
Surprisingly, Flora became the foster daughter of the Choi Family. Elrich reported her birth on Earth and officially adopted her into the family. Chi-Woo said that he would do whatever he wanted with his tool, but had to bow his head at Elrich’s threat that ‘if you treat this lovely child as a tool and not a person one more time, I won’t let it slide.’ Even the heavenly king wasn’t impervious to his mother’s ire.
Wallie would never acknowledge it, but he had become the Choi Family’s pet dog. He played and ate everyday while receiving his parents’ full affection, and the words that a dog’s life was the best rang true. Philip got a new body with a Korean ethnicity as he wanted, and as soon as he received it, he went around every day to enjoy the new world to the fullest, so he was hardly seen these days. As for Chi-Hyun…
“Hmm.” Chi-Hyun looked awkward as he stared down at the new desk in his room. He touched and stroked the GED book that he had bought and put on the bookshelf yesterday as if it was a precious treasure. Then he sat down on the chair, leaned on the desk, and rubbed his cheeks against the desk while snickering. That was how happy he was. Then he heard a snort behind him and quickly shot to his feet.
“Haha, do you like it that much?”
Chi-Hyun had been sure that there was no one at home, but Chi-Woo suddenly appeared and was watching him with his arms folded and only a towel around his lower body. “W-What do you want?”
“I went somewhere for a while. By the way, why is no one at home?”
“Father went to a construction site, and Mother said she was going to take your girlfriend and Choi Lo-Ra to visit her family.”
“What about Wallie and Mr. Philip?”
“I don’t know about them, since they always wander about freely and come back on their own.”
Chi-Woo nodded and stretched his arms to the fullest. “Yeah, no wonder. Ahh. Anyway, I feel so refreshed after taking a bath for the first time after a long while.”
“Bath? You should have asked me to join you.”
“Join? No, it’s a place you can’t go to.”
“What? There’s a bathhouse that I can’t go to?”
“Yeah, I went to Venus.”
“…What?”
“It’s warm and nice there. Well, the sun isn’t bad either.”
Chi-Hyun wondered whether to believe what Chi-Woo said or not. What in the world? How could he use Venus as his local bath house?
“Anyway, good luck on your studies. I have some place to drop by for a bit.” Without a care for Chi-Hyun’s reaction, Chi-Woo unwrapped the towel and wiped himself before opening the drawer where he put his clothes. He seemed to be going somewhere.
“Where are you going now?”
“I’m actually still thinking about it,” Chi-Woo replied while taking out his underwear and clothes. “To go to the past, present, or future.”
Chi-Hyun doubted his ears. What was he saying now? “What do you mean…?” He was about to get concerned for Chi-Woo, but realized there was no need to do so. Chi-Woo had to be in a dangerous situation for his worry to be justified. But no matter how he thought about it, he couldn’t picture his younger brother ever being in a dangerous situation, since there was now nothing more dangerous than Chi-Woo in the whole universe.
On the contrary, if he wanted to worry about someone, he should worry about the enemies that Chi-Woo had to face, and before that, he needed to worry about himself. Chi-Woo had already decided to live his own life, and it was the same for Chi-Hyun. Since he decided to live as an ordinary person, there were many things he needed to adapt to in the future. Considering his age, he needed to work hard and prepare himself from now on as he was starting much later than everyone else.
“Yeah, there’s no need for me to worry,” Chi-Hyun said, and Chi-Woo smiled in response. “Just don’t come back too late.” With these words, Chi-Hyun sat down at the desk and opened his notebook with trembling hands, and his nose twitched. Then he picked up a pencil and put on an online lecture. It was a daily life that was common anywhere in Korea, but unimaginable for someone who was once revered in the Celestial Realm as a legendary hero.
It was the same for Chi-Woo. With the words that he’d be back, Chi-Woo finished putting on clothes and opened the front door. He walked outside in the bright, morning sun toward those who were anxiously waiting for him, including Future Yoo-Joo. To save the many ‘me in another world’.
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