The village, said to be just over two hills, was quite a distance at Ak Mujin’s pace. He even thought he saw another small village along the way, making him wonder why Jin Geum-ryeon insisted on this particular one.
By the time they arrived, the evening was once again painted with the colors of sunset. However, the scene was quite different from the other villages they had passed through.
“They say today is the Double Ninth Festival.”
The sizable village was teeming with people.
Red lanterns were lit everywhere, stretching from the village entrance to a high hill at the opposite end. The path leading there was lined with stalls of all sizes, filled with snacks, side dishes, and alcohol.
On another side, there were stalls selling pinwheels and goldfish. Naturally, children swarmed around them.
Ak Mujin, feeling thirsty at the sight of the alcohol, unconsciously reached for his waist. But of course, it wasn’t there. He remembered leaving all his belongings in Illusion Valley, including his money pouch and the medicine he had received from the pharmacy, and suddenly felt lost.
Jin Geum-ryeon seemed to look around for a moment, then headed straight for an inn. However, he noticed Ak Mujin standing in front of a stall selling chrysanthemum wine and hesitated, postponing his trip to the inn.
He approached Ak Mujin and opened his money pouch.
“One bottle of chrysanthemum wine, please.”
“Yes, just a moment!”
The merchant cheerfully replied, handing Jin Geum-ryeon a dainty jug after receiving payment. Jin Geum-ryeon took the jug, stared at it for a moment, and then handed it to Ak Mujin. Ak Mujin hesitated slightly before taking it. He couldn’t understand why he was being so kind all of a sudden. Even if he didn’t show it, was yesterday’s shock still affecting Jin Geum-ryeon?
Ak Mujin, holding the wine, turned to the street to find a place to drink. Even amidst the crowd of people, children ran around. Adults were busy chasing after them, and the children were absorbed in the unusual sights.
Ak Mujin, who had been rolling around in this world for 15 years, was experiencing such a bustling night market for almost the first time. It had a charm that was distinctly different from what he had seen in dramas or on screens.
“Mom, Mom! Hurry!”
“Slow down, okay? We’re not late yet.”
A girl with her hair braided into three dumpling-like buns tugged at the hand of a woman who appeared to be her mother, urging her to hurry.
Bang— Pop pop.
Across the dark sky, bright yellow stars embroidered a golden dragon before scattering like rain.
“Ah, Mom! See, we’re late!”
“Oh, you.”
“Your father will take you. Let’s go!”
Unable to watch any longer, the man handed the snack he was holding to the woman, then lifted the child high onto his shoulders. The child giggled with delight.
The village was filled with the sounds of people talking, bargaining, and laughing. Ak Mujin felt a strange tightness in his chest, so he opened the jug and poured the wine into his mouth.
“Gulp, gulp.”
The fermented wine, infused with the scent of chrysanthemums, flowed down his esophagus. Ak Mujin roughly wiped his mouth and paused for a moment, then brought the jug to his lips again and swallowed several times. Jin Geum-ryeon, looking somewhat surprised, placed his hand on Ak Mujin’s arm to stop him.
“If you drink so quickly, you’ll get drunk fast. Let’s go inside.”
“…I know.”
As Ak Mujin said that, his cheeks were already flushed red. He seemed to hand the jug with the remaining wine to Jin Geum-ryeon, but then suddenly grabbed his wrist and pulled him along.
“!”
“Since it’s evening anyway, it’s hard to keep going to the Martial Alliance. Let’s go over there.”
He hurried towards the hill where the crowd was heading. Jin Geum-ryeon glanced around for a moment, then began to walk with him, intending to keep pace with Ak Mujin.
“I didn’t know you had such childish tastes.”
Jin Geum-ryeon said teasingly, but Ak Mujin, feeling good because he was drunk and Jin Geum-ryeon was doing as he pleased, didn’t care what he said.
As they climbed a little higher, a red lion mask swayed back and forth in front of them, ascending the stairs. In the plaza on the hill, a yellow lion mask seemed to be waiting for a duel.
They couldn’t move forward, swept along by the crowd. Ak Mujin was slightly above average height, but it was difficult to properly watch the lion dance with people blocking his view, so he struggled to see.
Just as he was craning his neck, an arm reached out and firmly grabbed his waist, lifting him onto a large tree nearby.
Jin Geum-ryeon chose the thickest and sturdiest branch, sat Ak Mujin down, and stood beside him. Ak Mujin’s face was flushed from the body heat that had been surrounding his waist until just now, but he soon turned his head, his eyes shining at the clear view. He was captivated by the sight of the two fluffy and luscious lions shaking their bodies, bumping into each other, and dancing.
It was nothing special. The lion dance wasn’t particularly different from those performed in other villages.
But Ak Mujin smiled happily.
Jin Geum-ryeon was seeing him smile like this for the first time, so he stared at his face for a long time. Ak Mujin’s eyes sparkled because of the lanterns illuminating the area. Jin Geum-ryeon couldn’t take his eyes off that dazzling sparkle.
At that moment, a vague emotion that he had been forcibly burying in his heart began to surface again. Jin Geum-ryeon eventually turned his face away and squeezed his eyes shut. This emotion, which he didn’t even fully understand yet, was certainly the kind that he should never embrace. Jin Geum-ryeon couldn’t muster the courage.
Then, Ak Mujin suddenly spoke.
“The death of your parents.”
“!”
Ak Mujin slowly raised his head and looked at Jin Geum-ryeon. Jin Geum-ryeon also turned his head back, and their eyes met, but Jin Geum-ryeon’s eyes seemed to waver.
In contrast, Ak Mujin’s gaze was fixed on him.
“I’m largely to blame for that. I’m sorry.”
Ak Mujin realized that he had never apologized to him before. The death of Jin Geum-ryeon’s parents was simply a setting created to give him a backstory. However, the moment this world became real, the lightly made settings were no longer illusions but reality.
He often regretted it. If he already knew the future, he could have protected Jin Geum-ryeon’s family. But he didn’t.
He didn’t know if anything would have changed much if the whole family had lived a little longer as fugitives, but on the other hand, he also felt guilty for using him to return to his original world. That thought dug deeper and tormented Ak Mujin after the shock that this world was a Doujinshi had subsided.
Jin Geum-ryeon was a little dazed. He turned his head completely and looked at the lion dance, which was reaching its climax, and the spectators watching it.
He twitched his hand once, as if he had found something in it.
Ak Mujin watched him carefully, as he was silent for a long time, wondering what he was thinking. The alcohol seemed to be wearing off.
“It’s not fun anymore. Let’s go down.”
“You’re being cowardly.”
Jin Geum-ryeon muttered. Ak Mujin, puzzled by those words, looked at Jin Geum-ryeon, who also looked back at Ak Mujin.
“Did you expect that saying that would change fate a little?”
Jin Geum-ryeon’s voice, asking the question, contained some resentment towards Ak Mujin. Sensing that, Ak Mujin gave an awkward smile.
“…Of course not.”
Ak Mujin thought carefully.
“If you want, I’ll go to the Martial Alliance.”
He still clearly had the desire to return to his original world, but it seemed that no element was helping him. Being the original author of this Doujinshi seemed to be of no use.
But Jin Geum-ryeon, as if he didn’t like those words either, frowned deeply at Ak Mujin, then lifted his body and lightly descended from the tree.
“!”
“Let’s go then. People will have arrived at the inn.”
Jin Geum-ryeon put Ak Mujin down, then grabbed his wrist and began to walk quickly. Ak Mujin’s eyes widened in surprise. The ‘people’ he mentioned must be those dispatched from the Martial Alliance.
As it had been until now, there was nowhere to run in the future. He sighed softly and headed to the inn, led by Jin Geum-ryeon’s hand.
*
The inn was full of people.
But among them were clearly people with an atmosphere quite different from the villagers.
Before entering the inn, Ak Mujin was once again bound by both hands and led in by Jin Geum-ryeon. Jin Geum-ryeon seemed to look around once, then spotted a person wearing a golden Long robe standing on the second-floor railing of the inn and called out.
“Brother So?”
“Ah, Ryeon! Over here!”
Ak Mujin saw that the person who greeted Jin Geum-ryeon was So Seung-ji. Jin Geum-ryeon led Ak Mujin and quickly climbed the stairs.
“What brings you here, Brother So? Weren’t you about to leave the Martial Alliance?”
“I was just about to leave. At that time, your Messenger hawk arrived, so I hurried over with the volunteers. Yeong-ji decided to wait at the Martial Alliance.”
“Ah, you came, Brother So. I feel reassured. Thank you.”
“Of course I had to come for your sake.”
Jin Geum-ryeon smiled and followed him into the room. So Seung-ji glanced sideways at Ak Mujin, who was following behind, and scanned him up and down, his gaze somehow not very pleasant.
The second floor of the inn, unlike the completely open first floor, was divided into rooms. Because it was a private space, the noise of the crowd was reduced.
So Seung-ji opened the door and entered first, followed by Jin Geum-ryeon and Ak Mujin in turn. Jin Geum-ryeon, who inadvertently checked the people sitting around the table, opened his mouth and then closed it again as if he was at a loss for words.
They all looked young and were clearly late-stage disciples who had just begun to make a name for themselves. It was probably a lineup that fell short of Jin Geum-ryeon’s expectations.
They were holding the Vice-Leader of the Demonic Cult, not just some underlings, yet not a single person in a position of importance in the Martial Alliance had participated. Ak Mujin, feeling somewhat underestimated, stood beside Jin Geum-ryeon and swallowed a sigh.