“Mr. Vampire. You didn’t go through all that trouble to get the medicine only to calm down the moment you see your lover’s face and end up not giving it to them, right?”
“N-no, absolutely not. I don’t love that person anymore. I’m going to make them take the medicine and then leave forever. I’ll never see their face again.”
“When people are crazy with love, they’re capable of doing anything. You have to be able to trust that.”
When Hongyeon shrugged, Ilho shot her a sidelong glance and casually asked,
“Why do you think that? Have you ever gone crazy with love and done something ridiculous yourself?”
“I’ve been dead too long to remember. What about you?”
“M-me too. I’ve been dead so long I don’t remember either.”
Dojin felt an odd, suspicious current flowing between the two of them. The vampire, however, seemed completely oblivious.
“How long have you two been dead, anyway?”
“Me? Fifty years. Ilho’s been dead for three hundred.”
“Wow. Then Dojin, you’re the youngest one here.”
Dojin’s face crumpled instantly.
“No I’m not. This guy’s the youngest.”
Dojin pulled the Dark One out of his sleeve.
Kkiwoong…….
The stray spirit, not even a month old since its birth, struggled desperately, wanting to hide its body from all those gazes.
“What’s that? Is that stray spirit your subordinate?”
“…Yeah. He’s my subordinate.”
A bit of virtue was shaved off due to the lie, but since he’d soon be gaining a hundred years’ worth of virtue, he didn’t worry about it.
“He’s young and already has a subordinate. Impressive. Hey, you should work harder too, as a fellow King candidate.”
“Are you kidding me? This guy’s guardian is Immortal Iri. My guardian is just some measly First Chasa. Compare things properly, will you?”
“Ah, damn it…….”
Ilho looked even more irritated because he was pissed off but had nothing to say back.
Even Dojin thought that comparing First Chasa to Immortal Iri was downright cruel to the grim reaper.
When I eventually become Immortal Iri’s lover, it’s really going to be chaos, huh?
Just thinking about it made him feel proud already. With that thought, Dojin found himself wanting to stick close to Iri, so he quietly slipped away from his group and joined the adults.
“Soon, White Tiger’s funeral will be……. Hm? Oh, child. What brings you here? I was in the middle of a conversation with your master.”
Yama King stopped mid-serious discussion and glanced at Dojin pointedly. But Dojin stubbornly took his place right beside Iri.
“Please, continue. I’m fine just watching the Five-Colored Sea with my master.”
Iri smiled faintly and signaled to Yama King that the conversation should end there. Thanks to his master’s ever-generous heart toward his disciple, Dojin was able to admire the resplendent Five-Colored Sea together with Iri.
Watching the Ice Whale leap high out of the Five-Colored Sea, spraying fountains of water, together with Iri was far more mesmerizing than Dojin had ever imagined.
By the time they arrived at the Immigration Office, parted ways with the Underworld group, and returned to the shop, it was already past 4 a.m. Since the sun would soon rise, there was no choice but to let the vampire stay one more day before sending him off.
The next evening, Dojin handed James the ‘Blood-Cleansing Elixir’ he had carefully prepared.
“The moment they take it, they’ll immediately revert to a 100% pure human. Don’t go soft-hearted for no reason—make sure they take it.”
“Don’t worry. I’ve made up my mind.”
The vampire bowed deeply again and again in thanks before leaving the rental shop.
And after staying busy with work once more, it was already 10 p.m.
At last, the moment had come.
Dojin and Iri stood facing each other in the garden. In Dojin’s hand was a small pill. Swallowing this pill would grant him a hundred years’ worth of virtue. To Immortal Iri, it would feel like pouring a single bucket of water into the Atlantic Ocean—but to Dojin, it amounted to eighty times all the virtue he had accumulated so far.
“I’m going to take it. I’ll take it now.”
“Don’t bite it. Swallow it straight down your throat.”
“Yes. Don’t worry.”
Dojin had never been sick before, so he had no experience swallowing pills—not even supplements. Still, wanting to look strong in front of his master, he swallowed the pill in one go with an air of practiced ease, as if he’d done it countless times before.
Gulp.
The pill slid down his throat. Dojin felt a warm heat welling up from his heart.
He clenched both fists tightly. Uooooo—!
“Incredible power is surging through me! Master, what on earth is this……!”
Something like an aura bloomed from Dojin’s entire body. Virtue has no form, so what manifested was his subconscious sensation given shape.
Kkiwoong? Kkiwoong! Kkiwoooong!
Startled out of his wits, Kkiwoong, who had been tucked inside Dojin’s shirt pocket, scrambled out.
“That’s right. Gather that power well and store it away.”
Fortunately, his master was well-versed in this phenomenon, and he smiled gently, finding his disciple both admirable and adorable.
“It’s all thanks to you, Master. Thank you.”
Dojin threw his arms around Iri. Iri hesitated, almost pulling away, but considering it was a joyous day, he quietly patted Dojin’s back instead.
“Congratulations, Dojin.”
This moment was not only a significant milestone for Dojin, but a weighty step forward for the entire Wia world as well.
Because Immortal Iri’s disciple could now enter the True Mortal Realm.
- A Day Off
Just because Dojin had gathered enough virtue to enter the True Mortal Realm didn’t mean he could immediately hold the Gido Ceremony. The ceremony was a major event, held infrequently even by the time standards of the True Mortal Realm, and it was customary for even high-ranking figures who rarely moved to attend. Each of them had to be contacted individually, their schedules coordinated first, and only then could preparations begin.
“It won’t be easy to coordinate. They’re all busy people.”
As Dojin fanned the ‘Paulownia Brazier’ from dawn, making five-colored paper for the ‘Distant Butterfly’, Iri spoke with concern.
Even amid the thick smoke, Dojin’s eyes were sharp and clear as he put on an easygoing act, as if there were nothing to worry about.
“Master, honestly. If we’re talking about having an exceptional personality, I’d be offended to come in second. What are you worried about? I’ll handle the contacts—just leave it to me.”
“…What exactly are you planning to write?”
“I am Kim Dojin, the first and last destined partner in Immortal Iri’s life. We plan to hold a vow ceremony in mid-July, pledging to spend our lives together. If possible, we would be honored if you could attend and bless our future. Please indicate your availability and preferred date on the enclosed paper and send it back. —Respectfully, Kim Dojin, Immortal Iri’s one and only destined partner.”
“…….”
Every single line—from the first sentence to the last—needs to be rewritten…….
Thinking this to himself, Iri approached Dojin, who was engulfed in dense smoke.
Kkiwoong!
Kkiwoong, who had been hiding near Iri to avoid the smoke, slid down and scurried back into the rental shop. Dojin waved his hand.
“Master, don’t come any closer. Just talk from there. The smoke’s too thick.”
“That’s enough fanning. Put out the fire and open the lid.”
“Yes.”
Dojin opened the lid, and Iri used tongs to lift out a bundle of paper. While inside the water it had been pitch-black, but once brought out into the open, it shimmered brilliantly in five colors. Paper for the ‘Distant Butterfly’.
“This should be plenty. Let’s hang them up and go inside.”
“Yes!”
As Dojin laid them out neatly on the table one by one and counted them, there were a full five hundred sheets.
“We need this many? You’re not planning to send one to every single resident of the True Mortal Realm, are you?”
“I want to make more, but the maximum I can store at once is five hundred, so that’s what I made. Just Immortals and General-rank divine spirits alone come to four hundred and twelve…….”
“Wow. They say it’s hard to become an Immortal or a General, but that’s a lot—”
Dojin paused, thinking it over, then corrected himself.
“No, it’s not that many. Considering the emergence of Homo sapiens, it’s actually a very small number.”
They possessed immortal bodies, but some chose to enter eternal rest of their own will. Including such cases, the number would be higher than 412—but in the scope of all human history, it was practically negligible.
“You know there are four major powers in existence besides the True Mortal Realm where the King resides, right?”
“Of course. The Underworld, Paradise, the Heavenly Flower Garden, and the Heaven-and-Earth Seas. Including the Middle Realm and the Lower Realms, it’s called the Seven Realms.”
“That’s right. How many invitations do you think we should send to the Underworld?”
Caught off guard by the sudden test, Dojin rapidly calculated in his head.
Yama King, the Great King of Parting and Gangnim Herald, the Ten Kings under the Great King of Parting, and the Woljik and Iljik Chasa along with the Forty-Nine Chasa under Gangnim Herald.
“Sixty-four.”
“What about Paradise?”
Jade Emperor, the Lesser King of Parting, the Seven Star Gods, and the Five Directional Generals.
“Fourteen.”
“Multiply that by about three. Some of the Five Directional Generals and Seven Star Gods have families.”
“…….”
“The Heavenly Flower Garden and the Heaven-and-Earth Seas are the same. At least Magohalmi and Princess Bari don’t have families, and Lady Bak and Dohwa-nyeo have small households—but the Four Guardian Directions and the Twelve Divine Generals each form massive clans…….”
“I guess we should think of it as opening a paper factory for a while.”
Dojin finished the sentence Iri couldn’t quite bring himself to say. He wasn’t particularly unhappy about having to contact so many people. If anything, he liked being able to declare his relationship with Iri in front of so many others.
“Anyway, there’s no need to worry. If we’re short on hands, we can call the Peddler hyung.”
“The Peddler’s been busy lately too…….”
“Why would he be busy—ah. Is he busy planning a human realm sightseeing trip with the King? That’s why he’s been so quiet lately.”
The Peddler, the King’s only kin and closest friend, was also a close friend of Immortal Iri, someone Dojin had seen often since childhood. Now that he thought about it, he hadn’t seen him once this entire year.
“He even told you that? About touring the human realm with the King?”
“Yes. He said the King’s worked for too long. That if he doesn’t force him to at least tour the human realm, he’ll definitely choose eternal rest.”
“The Peddler must be very worried. The King’s suffering from severe burnout right now.”
“Are you worried about the King too, Master?”
“I am worried…….”
