The next morning, Cheon Jieon made a resolution.
“Fine, let’s see how this goes.”
Let’s see who wins. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. You’re going to act like a crazy bastard? Fine! Then I’ll act like a crazy bastard too! It was a conclusion he’d reached after tossing and turning all night.
Soon, Jieon came out of the bathroom, changed his clothes, and walked into the living room with a face full of determination. There would be no more bewildered version of himself losing his composure.
…He’d definitely gritted his teeth with that resolve.
“……”
Jieon came into the living room and once again made a blank expression at the situation unfolding before his eyes.
In the middle of the spacious living room, lavishly decorated with luxurious and neat interior design, was Shin Mua. Sitting cross-legged on the floor, not even on the sofa.
That wasn’t all. In front of the cross-legged Shin Mua was a piece of paper with red writing on it. The dark red, dried-up appearance looked like blood to anyone who saw it.
冥使應命 (Myeongsa Eungmyeong)
The unfamiliar Chinese characters written on the paper—he couldn’t understand their meaning and didn’t want to.
“You, what, what are you doing…”
All the resolute determination he’d made through the night was for nothing as Jieon stammered.
Mua, sitting cross-legged, had his eyes closed with both hands placed on top of his legs, palms facing upward, touching the tips of his thumbs and middle fingers together in circles. To Jieon’s eyes, it looked like he was pretending to be Buddha.
In that state, Mua was muttering incomprehensible words like a chant, and there was dried blood visible on his hands as well. In short, he really looked like a crazy bastard.
During the past few years living as a married couple with Mua, Jieon had never once seen him behave like this.
Especially recalling how just yesterday he’d spouted nonsense about originally being a Grim Reaper and being possessed, the scene unfolding before his eyes right now was truly bizarrely unmatched.
“Crazy, what the hell are you doing!”
Deliberately ignoring the goosebumps rising along his spine, Jieon raised his voice. However, even at the loud sound, Mua didn’t open his eyes.
“Did you boil and eat a train firebox or something? I can understand you perfectly well even if you speak quietly.”
His old-man-like way of speaking was still the same. It wasn’t simply a matter of speech pattern—the word choices themselves were the problem. Asking if he’d boiled and eaten a train firebox. Among Jieon’s acquaintances, the only person who constructed sentences like that was his grandfather.
“I’m currently looking for a way to communicate with the Afterlife, so don’t disturb me.”
Mua continued. Mua had also spent a complicated night in his own way. He’d tried all night to experience sleep paralysis but it hadn’t worked. Unless Sangmyeong came to find him first, there was no way for Mua to reach the Afterlife no matter what he did.
He’d revealed to Cheon Jieon that he was a Grim Reaper, but the fact that there was actually no way to communicate with the Afterlife as he wished was extremely frustrating.
So Mua had been trying to do something since morning. 冥使應命 (Myeongsa Eungmyeong). Messenger of the Afterlife, respond to this command. It was a talisman he’d written himself, even drawing his own blood for it.
To begin with, Mua had never written talismans, and even if it were a proper talisman, that wasn’t a method for communicating with Grim Reapers. In other words, even Mua was currently struggling to grasp at straws.
“Hah… this is driving me crazy.”
Jieon, who had been quietly looking down at that sight, eventually lowered his head again and covered his face with his hands. Was it even possible for a normal person to respond at a similar level to such a crazy bastard? He had fundamental doubts about the plan he’d made all night.
And that crazy bastard was refusing to divorce and insisting on living in the same house with him.
While Jieon was letting out deep sighs, an indifferent voice was heard.
“Why are you sighing so much? Your spirit is unruly.”
When he raised his head, Mua had already opened his eyes and was looking at Jieon with a displeased expression. It was exactly like the gaze of someone looking at an immature child. Jieon trudged over and likewise plopped down in front of Mua.
Their eye levels became equal, and the two silently gazed into each other’s eyes for a moment.
Right at that moment, Jieon felt some unknowable power overwhelming him. How should he describe this feeling? Like facing a massive tidal wave that human strength couldn’t handle? Like becoming a mere herbivore in front of a predatory beast?
He swore he’d never been so overwhelmed while looking into a person’s eyes. He felt a chill incomparable to just moments before when he’d gotten goosebumps at the crazed appearance of Shin Mua.
Could this kind of presence really be faked? He’d been certain that he was lying because he didn’t want a divorce, but right now his conviction felt doubtful.
“You said yesterday. That you… aren’t Shin Mua but are actually a Grim Reaper possessed into Shin Mua’s body.”
“That’s right. Even if you don’t believe it, that’s the truth.”
“Fine. I’ll believe you, as if I’m being fooled.”
Jieon answered half as if entranced. Of course, the plan to play along with his schemes had already been made last night. It wasn’t that he really believed it—he was planning to pretend to believe while making him let his guard down, then find his weak points.
“But in return, you also have to tell me everything about the process of solving this case without leaving anything out. This isn’t just Shin Mua’s problem, my life is at stake too. So I have the right to know how this matter progresses.”
Mua tilted his head slightly.
“Is divorcing Shin Mua such an important matter in your life?”
“Yes. That’s all I want right now. You don’t know since you lost your memory. Just how terrible of a person Shin Mua was to me.”
This time it was Mua who closed his mouth. Jieon’s words were right. Mua didn’t know anything about what kind of relationship Cheon Jieon and Shin Mua had, or for what reason they’d been trying to divorce. Just as he couldn’t know what kind of person Cheon Jieon was, he also didn’t know about ‘Shin Mua’, the owner of this body.
Among Grim Reapers, there were those who were interested in human lives and carefully examined the entire life of the deceased they would collect, but Mua wasn’t particularly interested in the lives of the deceased. The only thing important to Mua was simply guiding them safely to the Afterlife. Judging their sins and passing judgment wasn’t something he was involved in.
So except for information he absolutely needed, he didn’t dig deeper into the deceased’s lives. Some people called Mua a cold-hearted, old-fashioned Grim Reaper for this.
‘You, Mua, are without blood or tears? That’s ridiculous. From what I see, you’re the softest-hearted one in the Afterlife, you fool. You’re scared that if you learn their pitiful circumstances, the journey of bringing them to the Afterlife will be painful, so you avoid it.’
Lord Yeomra had offered the opposite opinion from others, but Mua didn’t agree with Lord Yeomra’s words. Their Lord Yeomra was absurdly contrarian by nature, with a temperament to unconditionally oppose whatever others said.
Anyway, for that reason, Mua didn’t particularly know anything about ‘Shin Mua’. But if he’d known it would come to this, he should have properly examined his life at least once. If he had, he wouldn’t feel so at a loss right now.
“…Fine. I’ll try my best so you can sever ties with this human as quickly as possible.”
Mua answered. ‘Shin Mua’ might feel wronged by Cheon Jieon’s remarks, but what could be done? Originally, the dead have no say.
Moreover, Mua knew. That just because one lacked wealth didn’t mean they lacked human cruelty.
Mua had already experienced enough to know that not all poor people were good, that sometimes they too could become more vicious than anyone.
“Good. Then let’s consider this a truce for now.”
Jieon, who had finished speaking, stood up from his seat first. His body, which had been sitting on the floor with his waist bent, screamed in pain. Jieon, who barely held back his groans to avoid losing face, paused and stood there, looking at Shin Mua closing his eyes again.
Suddenly he wondered if that bastard’s body condition was okay. Wasn’t he someone who’d been hurt as much as himself in the accident? But was it okay for him to stay in such an uncomfortable position for so long? It wasn’t worry, just pure curiosity.
Was he really crazy and in an awakened state where he couldn’t even perceive his body’s pain? At the creepy hypothesis washing over him again, Jieon’s shoulders trembled and he hurriedly returned to his room. He wasn’t avoiding him because he was scared, but because he was just disgusted.
So Jieon, who didn’t come out of his room until Suchan came to the house, didn’t know. The fact that before long, Shin Mua had muttered things like ‘This damn human body…!’ while lying on the floor writhing in pain.
***
“Museok…”
“……? Ah, Father!”
Museok, who had been dozing off under the bed where Gwi Bosal lay, suddenly jumped up at the voice of his adoptive father.
Gwi Bosal slowly blinked and rolled his eyes here and there. Museok carefully helped him sit up with an extremely devoted attitude, placed a pillow behind his back, and held out water he’d prepared in advance.
“Have some water first.”
After coughing dryly a few times, Gwi Bosal drank the water Museok offered and let out a deep sigh.
“How did it go?”
Even without any particular explanation, Museok opened his mouth without fumbling.
“My abilities are insufficient, so I haven’t yet found where the problem occurred. I’m sorry, Father.”
Gwi Bosal shook his head.
“It’s not strange that you couldn’t figure it out when it’s a power great enough to break my ritual. What about Cheon Jieon?”
“He was discharged from the hospital, and he appears to have no particular issues. However, one thing I find puzzling is… I can’t detect Cheon Jieon’s energy at all.”
“Energy…?”
“Yes. Did all the spells we set up in advance become nullified when the ritual failed?”
Until just before proceeding with the ritual, they had been able to sense Cheon Jieon’s life force. Since the ritual needed to target a time when Cheon Jieon’s energy was weak, they had spent years slowly and naturally damaging his energy while making it trackable.
But after the ritual failed and Gwi Bosal took a major hit, Museok had completely lost track of Cheon Jieon’s energy that he’d been able to faintly sense through prayer.
