Chapter 103
At the break of dawn, when the sky was just starting to brighten, two men were walking along the treacherous mountain path on Taebaeksan.
"Hey, is it really okay for us to come in here? It feels strange. It’s like we're going in circles..." a man with a scruffy haircut whined.
"Ah, if you're going to keep complaining like that, then why don't you just go back down? I can catch the long-tailed gorals by myself, you know?" a man dressed entirely in black said. He was covering his face with the brim of his hat.
The scruffy-haired man cringed and scratched his head as he laughed like an idiot. "Eh, hehe~ That’s not what I meant. I was just worried."
"There's nothing to worry about. Just shut up and stay quiet. Just be careful not to let any of the long-tailed gorals escape, got it?"
"Ah, I got it. Geez, ranting on like just because I got a little worried..." the man with the scruffy haircut muttered while shooting a glance at the man in black.
The man in black ignored his grumbling and swiftly continued along the mountain path. The reason why they came to Taebaeksan was to capture the rare Korean long-tailed gorals that could only be found there. The man with the scruffy haircut and the man in black were brothers—the scruffy-haired man was the younger brother, and the man in black was the older brother. They were illegal poachers who captured rare animals and sold them to Japan as their business.
Rare animals were highly valuable in Japan. This was due to the influence of the native Shinto religion, which worshiped animals.
"...Shh."
The older brother was advancing forward without hesitation, and he lowered his head instantly. Then he brought his index finger to his mouth. The younger brother followed suit and brought his index finger to his own mouth, imitating his brother's movements. The brothers' gazes were focused on the same thing.
Beyond the bushes, a long-tailed goral was wandering while innocently looking around.
"Alright, when I give the signal, we both go at the same time. Got it?" the older brother whispered, giving instructions to his younger brother.
The younger brother nodded as his nostrils flared.
The sheep casually and gracefully walked along the mountain path as if it was still unaware of their presence.
Eventually, the older brother extended three fingers and then began folding them one by one.
"Ready. One, two...!"
"Aaaargh—!"
When the older brother folded his second finger, the younger brother suddenly screamed and rushed toward the long-tailed goral. The long-tailed goral was startled and quickly ran into the forest. The younger brother waved his long arms in a ridiculous manner as he chased after the long-tailed goral.
The older brother stared blankly at the scene as if he was dumbfounded.
"That, that idiotic brat!" the older brother cursed after belatedly realizing the situation.
His younger brother had always been lacking in some aspects, and so he had interpreted the counting of "one, two" as the signal. Counting numbers after promising to give a signal had been a mistake.
Damn it. It wasn't like they had been hunting for a day or two, so how could he make such a silly mistake...He felt a brief tinge of regret. However, now was not the time for regret. The older brother hurriedly chased after the younger brother into the forest. He couldn't afford to lose the captured long-tailed goral that was right in front of him, and no matter how lacking his brother was, he couldn't let his family disappear into the mountains.
Due to the Poodoo Cult or the Voodoo Cult, or whatever it was, Mount Taebaek was known for having the highest number of missing persons and accidents.
"Hey, man! Stop chasing after that and stay still! Stand still!"
"Aaaahhhh...."
"Stop screaming and stand still—!"
The younger brother screamed madly as he chased after the long-tailed goral, and the older brother screamed just as madly as he chased after him. The long-tailed goral was fast, and so were the footsteps of the sibling duo. If even one of them had been slow, the pursuit would have come to an end. But because all three of them were equally fast, there was no sign of the chase ending.
Just when it seemed like the pursuit would never end, it suddenly came to a halt.
Thud!
The younger sibling had been energetically running while pumping his arms, but his legs trembled as he stumbled onto the ground. The younger brother slowly turned his head towards his brother. His face was pale with fear. His trembling lips and clenched teeth clearly showed how terrified he was.
"Huff, huff... Oh, you retard, why didn’t you listen to me when I told you to stop...!” the older brother trailed off.
He was just about to scold his younger brother, but he was rendered speechless as he stared at the scene in front of him with a blank expression. In an instant, his knees gave way, and he also ended up sitting on the ground. The breathtaking sight before them was so overwhelmingly expansive and beautiful that it made even their legs that had hardened from their long life of smuggling, powerless.
A vast forest stretched below the cliff, with a massive road piercing through its center. On the roadside, there were enormous flowers and grass that they had never seen before, spreading out grandly like a crowd welcoming a hero's triumph. As the wind blew, the flowers, grass, and trees on both sides of the road uniformly swayed from side to side. They had never seen scenery like this before, even though they had lived as illegal smugglers in Taebaeksan for three years.
"Ha, hahaha...."
The nickname for Taebaeksan was the Living Mountain. It was a nickname that originated from the fact that the path and scenery would change in the blink of an eye as if a living organism was moving. Taebaeksan was extremely rugged, and the paths were so complex that it could turn inexperienced hikers into lost souls in an instant.
He thought that it was all just a legend. He had thought it was an excuse made by those who were afraid of the mountain because they didn't understand its nature. But the reality was that the mountain had changed. In front of his eyes was a scene that he had never seen even once in his past three years of smuggling. It was as if the mountain was truly alive and breathing.
"Is it really time to believe... Adonai or Dora, or whatever it was called..."
After the national religion became the Romanican Church, he had just been an atheist who pretended to believe in the Romanican Church. He was a so-called ‘Romanican Church follower that rode the trend.' Yet, seeing this scene, it felt as if the sparks of faith were blooming inside his heart.
*
"Oh, Sun-Woo the Kind is here!" In-Ah greeted me playfully as soon as I arrived at the classroom. Her face seemed slightly more gaunt than before, but her infectious smile was still radiant.
"I told you not to call me that," I retorted.
"Why? It sounds cute and nice, doesn’t it?"
"Just what part of it is... Never mind, just call me whatever you want."
It was too scary. I had to be careful as well.
[They’re all making a mountain out of a molehill. It seems like those Romanican Church guys like to exaggerate insignificant things,] Legba said with a slightly angry tone.
I sat still without responding. Ye-Jin left after homeroom was finished, and the students started gossiping as usual.
"Are they talking about the same Voodoo Cult that went extinct a long time ago?"
"Yeah, hey, check out this picture. It was uploaded to Grandce. What in the world happened to this mountain..."
"Wow, you’re saying this was done by the Voodoo Cult?"
"They say they can control the weather too. Apparently, there was a sudden earthquake on Mount Taebaek, and the sky split apart..."
I quietly listened to the students gossiping. It was more fun than I thought.
The act of me opening up a way by praying to Granbwa had turned into ‘the Cult Leader caused an earthquake.’ And the act of me failing to control the power of the Loa had turned into ‘the Cult Leader splitting the sky apart.’
While I was listening to the conversations with interest, In-Ah chewed on her lips and muttered, “Voodoo Cult...”
I suddenly felt unwell, so I rested my head on the table and closed my eyes. It was an attempt to fall asleep, but sleep did not come. All I could do was quietly close my eyes.
*
During lunchtime, a meeting was held in the student council room. It was an extremely sudden meeting—the student council members had only been notified by text message around the end of the third period. After finishing my meal and heading to the student council room, Min-Seo looked at the clock on the wall and then at me with fierce eyes.
"You're one minute and thirteen seconds late."
"..."
If I was only late for one minute and thirteen seconds, then I wasn’t really all that late... I was a little dumbfounded, but since it would be a disadvantage to argue with Min-Seo, I quietly took my seat. Looking around my surroundings, everyone was present except for two people. Min-Seo, Yu-Hyun, Jin-Seo, Ha-Yeon, and I were present.
“Where are the other two?” I asked, and Min-Seo pointed with her chin at the wardrobe in the corner of the room.
"I wonder... Try opening that."
Tumble—!
When the door opened, Su-Ryeon fell out of the wardrobe along with a bunch of blankets. She frantically looked around with sleepy eyes. It seemed like she had been sleeping up until now. Su-Ryeon woke up from her sleep, straightened her messy hair and muttered, "Uh, wha-what the... What's going on? Huh?"
"Just sit anywhere. The meeting has started."
"What? A meeting? I didn't know there was one because I’ve been sleeping all morning..."
After roughly stuffing the blankets into the wardrobe, Su-Ryeon sat down. So, the only person who hadn't arrived at the meeting was now Dae-Man. Min-Seo grimaced as if the fact that Dae-Man was late displeased her, and she crumpled the documents in her hand.
"Dae-Man, that bastard... I really want to hit him. No, actually, I want to beat him black and blue..."
"Oh, that's funny. You want to hit Dae-Man just once[1]," Su-Ryeon said while chuckling.
"I'm not joking," Min-Seo said.
"Oh, okay."
At Min-Seo’s sharp response, Su-Ryeon awkwardly smiled and scratched her head with exaggerated gestures. Silence filled the room for a brief moment.
Bang!
Dae-Man broke the silence when he roughly opened the door and entered the student council room. His hair was soaked in sweat.
"Sorry, I'm late!"
"Alright, why were you late, Mr. Dae-Man?" Min-Seo asked sarcastically.
Dae-Man showed off his impressive muscles that looked like they would rip out of his school uniform and responded, "I was exercising! I couldn't resist working out after eating."
"Okay... Sit down. I don't want to talk to you."
"Oh, we're on the same page. I don't want to talk to you either!"
"Just sit down!" Min-Seo yelled sharply.
Their relationship was always strained. Well, to be honest, rather than calling it a bad relationship, it was accurate to say that Min-Seo simply disliked Dae-Man, and Dae-Man didn't seem to care at all.
"Anyway, since we're all here, let's get started. Today, we'll keep it simple and finish quickly. First..." Min-Seo was about to start the meeting when she suddenly stopped talking. Then, she shifted her gaze toward me. Her gaze was so cold that it felt scary.
"Sun-Woo, did you write the proposal I asked you to write?" she asked while narrowing her eyes.
As I looked around, everyone was staring at me. However, there was not even a smidgen of concern in their expressions. They all had expressions that were full of trust as if they naturally believed without a shadow of a doubt that I must have completed the proposals. I was at a loss. I didn't even know that there was supposed to be a proposal or something like that.
"Hey, did you write it?" Min-Seo asked again.
I had to come up with some excuse, but no matter how much I thought, I couldn't find one. I couldn't say that I didn't have time because I went to a Voodoo Cult executive meeting.
"...Was there something like that?" I just admitted it honestly.
Min-Seo's expression slowly froze up in a grotesque manner.
1. Hit once (? ??) rhymes with Dae-Man(???) ?