By Zephyria 
Wooooooong. The sound of the flute, which had been audible only to Yoo Jiha, stopped abruptly, just as it had started.
「What happened?」
“The sound just stopped… uh, I hear it again.”
The sound of the flute repeated this cycle of cutting off and resuming several times. It was as if it were creating a sonic resonance. Before he could resolve that doubt, it happened again.
Once more, the flute sound stopped unnaturally, as if severed by a blade. Simultaneously, every electronic device in the house sprang to life. Whirrr-ding-dong-ding-dong-drrrr-stop-today’s-news-the-product-you-are-seeing-is… The lights flickered on and off repeatedly, the microwave and dishwasher started up, the robot vacuum cleaner zoomed across the floor beneath his feet, the phone screen lit up, and the TV channels shifted incessantly.
“Uh, uhhh…”
His mind went blank. As an Agent of the Management Bureau, he had prided himself on gaining a fair amount of experience, but he was still inexperienced. Faced with this paranormal phenomenon—as if the entirety of Pilgyeongdang had been contaminated, or rather, as if anomalies were swarming to contaminate it—Jiha froze, paralyzed and unsure of what to do.
It was then that Gong Ran-sa’s voice rang out piercingly.
「Begone at once! As one who has received the blessing of this land’s tutelary deity, I declare that I do not permit you!」
Boom.
The air vibrated, and a wave-like wavelength swept through the surroundings. As a surge of intangible pressure passed through, the abnormal phenomena that had been causing chaos everywhere vanished instantly, as if a switch had been flipped. Only then did Jiha gasp for air and slump down.
The silence that settled over the house was broken by the ringing of a mobile phone. Since it was the familiar ringtone he had assigned to Jeil Heon, he answered it instinctively.
Jiha! It’s dangerous, get out of there right now!
“…As if.”
Not coming out? Not coming out? Really? Really? Hahahahahahahahaha!
Hearing Jeil Heon’s voice cackling like that made his skin crawl even more. To think he’d use that sexy mid-low tone for something like that… Feeling inexplicably annoyed, Yoo Jiha turned off his phone entirely and leaned back against the sofa. Gong Ran-sa also clicked her tongue and sat beside him.
“If you hadn’t been here, Teacher, I might have died of a heart attack…”
「I have been the master here for decades and have never once been attacked, but today is truly unsettling. I possess no power beyond the blessing of the tutelary deity, but unless an Aberration of a higher rank than the Mae-gu who created the entrance to Pilgyeongdang arrives, this place will never open, so rest assured. Has the sound completely stopped now?」
“I can’t hear it now. Could this also be a problem related to the Management Bureau’s barrier?”
「…I wonder.」
Gong Ran-sa gazed intently toward the direction of the Management Bureau with eyes of unfathomable depth. The place where Jeil Heon was likely facing off against Aberrations at this very moment. If she had possessed better abilities, could she have been of help to him? Even someone like her, who had been discarded as useless.
‘Come to think of it, why did the true eye suddenly appear the moment I met that man?’
While thinking about usefulness, a sudden question occurred to Yoo Jiha. It was the first drop of doubt he had regarding the ability that had manifested without any omen.
And that drop fell into the still lake of memory; the moment it hit, the lake surged violently and consumed him like a dream.
Beyond his blurred senses and consciousness, which felt as if covered by an opaque film, a strange and peculiar landscape began to appear. It was a common living room, albeit a bit tacky, but the distinctive part was that everything was enormous.
Regardless of his bewildered feelings, his body moved forward in clumsy, toddler-like steps. Jiha soon realized the reason. It wasn’t that the furniture had grown larger; it was that he—or more accurately, the owner of the body in this vision—was incredibly small. He seemed to be a young child.
Regardless of his will, the child waddled forward and peeked over a low table. Papers were scattered across the table. To a child who likely hadn’t even mastered the alphabet, they would have been unrecognizable characters, but Yoo Jiha could read them instantly.
It seemed two people had exchanged written notes, as different styles of handwriting were haphazardly mixed on the paper.
Upon investigation, it is said that those with a constitution that cannot be contaminated cannot even open the true eye. I’m not sure of the details, but since the true eye is a power derived from humans, that seems to be the case. To hide that constitution, the only way is to forcibly transplant a true eye—
Is a transplant of the true eye possible? I believe it doesn’t exist in the incantations of our country or Japan.
There is a secret transmission from China. You know Mr. Tan Hui-kang, who went into exile during the Cultural Revolution? I heard it from that Overseas Chinese who has now retired from the Otherworld and is running a psychiatric hospital.
Who is the person agreeing to give up their true eye?
A shaman who is an acquaintance of my mother-in-law, but the professional—
That was as far as Yoo Jiha could read. As the sound of a door opening echoed, the child immediately looked away from the boring papers and turned around.
〈Mommy!〉
A young woman in her early thirties looked extremely haggard and pale, as if she might collapse at any moment. However, upon facing the child, a bright smile bloomed on her face. Embracing the child who rushed toward her, the woman asked in a loving voice.
〈Our Jiha. What were you doing?〉
Jiha.
This child’s name was also Jiha.
As his name was called, the child giggled. In the eyes of the child chattering while clinging to the woman’s neck, a large frame hanging on the wall was reflected.
* * *
Jeil Heon descended to the depths of the Management Bureau in one breath. A sanctuary that had perfectly transplanted the Junghwedang of Changdeokgung Palace. To the residence of Yi Yeong.
“Your Highness! Are you alright?”
Despite the rudeness, he burst through the door as if kicking it open, but neither Yi Yeong, the Vengeful Spirit, nor the Monkey’s Paw were to be seen. Only a young man in his early twenties lay collapsed on the mattress with disheveled hair.
He reflexively aimed his Major Abnormal Weapon, but then checked with his left eye based on a sudden intuition. Good heavens. Jeil Heon hurriedly took a durumagi that the young man had worn in the past from the wardrobe and covered his naked body. Kang Suk-young and the security staff, who arrived a step later, also looked shocked by the sudden appearance of the young man.
Just before Kang Suk-young could speak, the young man groaned softly and lifted his head.
“…Director Kang. What happened to the isolated anomalies?”
The young man who asked the question was greatly surprised by the voice that came out of his own mouth and shut his lips. Looking down at his hands and examining his body with a look of disbelief, Kang Suk-young also realized the truth. If Yi Yeong, whom she had only seen as a child her entire life, had aged, he would have grown to look exactly like the young man before her.
…The power of the Ten Thousand Waves Flute, which had reversed Yi Yeong’s time, had run out.
Kang Suk-young clenched her fists tightly. There was no time to be amazed. She quickly sent the security staff out and tidied up the surroundings. In the meantime, with Jeil Heon’s help, Yi Yeong roughly managed to dress himself. Yi Yeong, who brushed back his long hair that he had only roughly tied since there was no time to braid it, smiled bitterly.
“I’ve never had my hair this long since the Short Hair Order…”
Having returned to the body he possessed when the Ten Thousand Waves Flute was first sealed, Yi Yeong could not hide the complicated expression on his face, but he soon composed himself.
“Has the Management Bureau’s barrier been completely withdrawn?”
“The form still remains.”
“I see… It seems a small amount of energy remains in this body even after the Ten Thousand Waves Flute has departed.”
Though he had expected it, Kang Suk-young sighed at the fact confirmed by his own mouth. Yi Yeong looked back at Jeil Heon, who was silently keeping his place.
“The Vengeful Spirits bound to the flute wished upon the Monkey’s Paw to find the next Sealed One. The wish was granted, but it seems it wasn’t complete. Or perhaps it is being blocked by an anomaly of a higher rank than them…”
“…”
“Because the wish was incompletely fulfilled, the Monkey’s Paw disappeared along with them. That is all I know.”
Kang Suk-young’s eyes widened. Her gaze was full of questions as to why he was telling Jeil Heon this.
Immediately after returning from the Otherworld, he hadn’t trusted Kang Suk-young. However, having experienced several months since then and knowing how her thoughts had changed, Jeil Heon gave a brief answer to that question.
“I am protecting the next Sealed One.”
“What?!”
Judging by her shocked expression, he would certainly be grabbed by the collar later.
“It is good to be able to leave after seeing you all still the same.”
As Yi Yeong smiled faintly while tapping his knee, Jeil Heon quickly explained the story he had heard upon meeting Yi Seong-gye. It felt complicated and painful, as if a lump had formed in his heart. If he had known that Yi Yeong’s time was so pressing, he would have conveyed everything sooner. Yi Yeong, who had devoted his entire life, deserved to know the truth.
Having listened intently, Yi Yeong finally let out a sigh with an expression of understanding.