Jisuk went into the bedroom and took a nap, leaving only Noryang and Dojin in the living room. Dojin stepped out of the shadows and drank the tea Noryang had served him. Noryang muttered gloomily.
“If I’d trained a bit more and accumulated more virtue, I could’ve cured a mere human illness like this……”
Like so many who have a sick family member, Noryang ultimately ended up drowning in self-reproach.
Up until now, Noryang must have helped Jisuk in many small, trivial ways. But this was something that demanded more than just warming water, and for nothing more than an old Bokbaebari, it was far beyond his limits.
“I lived with Jisuk for sixty-four years. You know how babies sometimes open their eyes and look at us? Just once… Jisuk grabbed my finger. She held it tight like this, looked straight at me, and then burst out laughing, kyah-hah.”
“Stop talking already.”
“I lived in that house for over a hundred years, and when Jisuk moved out, I came with her. Jisuk’s only been settled in this apartment for less than two years. She likes this place. I want her to live here for a long, long time. Healthy and happy. You terrifying human, can’t you just close your eyes once? Just once, please. I’m begging you. I’m begging you. Human….”
Noryang pleaded. Dojin was so deep in thought it made his head ache.
He’d compared deceiving the underworld registry to jaywalking, but in truth, it wasn’t an accurate analogy. Jaywalking is an act that inevitably causes trouble for others, but this wouldn’t inconvenience anyone except the grim reapers. Like in common folktales, it wasn’t as if someone who escaped death would cause another innocent sacrifice to take their place. Nothing like that would happen.
“If you judge that it’s going to be used for something pointless, stop it.”
“And if I judge that it isn’t pointless?”
“Then you cooperate.”
Had Master anticipated all of this? If so, what choice did he expect me to make when he sent me here?
Fuck it. Dealing with the underworld is a pain in the ass.
No one likes getting tangled up with the underworld, but Dojin, in particular, had a genuinely awkward relationship with it.
There are five Heaven-and-Earth divine spirits in this world. These Heaven-and-Earth divine spirits are treated on equal footing with the King of the True Mortal Realm and Princess Chalma of the Lower Realm. They follow the King’s rules, yet they are never beings beneath the King.
The five Heaven-and-Earth divine spirits are as follows: Immortal Iri of the Middle Realm, Yama King of the underworld, the Jade Emperor of Paradise, Mago Halmi of the Heavenly Flower Garden, and the Four Directional Guardian Gods of the Heaven-and-Earth Seas.
When the King declared his abdication and the registration period for the next royal candidates began, Iri was the first to register Dojin. After that, among the Four Directional Guardians, Hyeonmu registered a certain young divine beast as a royal candidate. And just a month ago… on the very last day of the registration period, the First Grim Reaper—the leader among the forty-nine grim reapers—registered a certain soul as a royal candidate.
That meant three factions among the Heaven-and-Earth divine spirits were now locked in a power struggle.
So the underworld is basically an election rival. I can’t act recklessly.
Dojin didn’t know how elections among the Wia were conducted. Iri had said he’d explain later, but he still hadn’t.
But judging by how human elections were full of negativity and endless attempts to drag each other down, there was only one thought that came to mind.
I absolutely can’t give them anything to nitpick.
After a long internal debate, Dojin finally spoke.
“I really can’t use a curio.”
“Human……”
“But.”
Dojin issued his instructions in a firm tone.
“Prepare exactly as I tell you. Right now. Immediately.”
***
The dead of night.
Jisuk drank her medicine and fell asleep. Dojin emerged from the shadow of the bed, and as he formed a barrier with Taoist arts, Noryang cautiously poked his head out.
“Is Jisuk really not going to wake up?”
“She wouldn’t hear it even if you clapped right next to her ear, so hurry up and go set the table till the legs snap.”
“Got it!”
Noryang went out to the living room and unfolded the wide dining table Dojin had bought with his own money. Then he laid out the beef soup, white rice, kimchi, pan-fried beef, japchae, acorn jelly, assorted seasoned vegetables—dozens of side dishes Dojin had also paid for out of pocket. For dessert, he even set out cinnamon punch and traditional sweets, creating a feast worthy of a celebration. In front of the table, he spread silk cushions, and beside them he neatly placed two sets of clean durumagi robes and leather shoes.
“You bulging-eyed human. Eat some dried persimmons. Dried persimmons are good. We Bokbaebari eat ten dried persimmons a day.”
“Stuff your own face. I’m busy, so don’t talk to me.”
While Noryang bustled about, Dojin placed a palm-sized straw doll shaped like a person just inside the front door and cast a spell to absorb the grudges, malicious energy, and other yin energy of the apartment complex.
Next, he burned several strands of Ha Jisuk’s hair and scattered the ashes throughout the master bedroom, the small room, the kitchen, the bathroom, and even the veranda—every corner of the home.
Finally, he wrapped the feast table in a Taoist veil, rendering it invisible.
“All done. Now turn off the lights, shut up, and wait.”
“Do we just hide here?”
“Idiot. You need to use stealth arts.”
“I can’t use stealth arts.”
Dojin let out a deep sigh and cast stealth arts on Noryang as well.
The two of them turned off the living room lights, hid in the darkness, and waited for 2 a.m. As each minute and second passed, Noryang grew increasingly anxious, clearly unable to contain himself.
“Can’t I stay by Jisuk’s side?”
“I want to see Jisuk’s face just once.”
“I need to go to the bathroom.”
“I’m so nervous I feel like I’m going to throw up.”
As the whining continued, Dojin finally snapped.
“Ah, seriously, cut it out! If you don’t shut up, I’m not helping, got it?”
“Ah, okay. I’ll shut up.”
Only then did Noryang fall silent.
I’ve done everything I can to prepare.
The current time was 1:48 a.m. Feeling a tension he hadn’t experienced in a long while, Dojin actually lifted the corner of his mouth. He’d beaten Yori-iki with sheer force—if he managed to beat a grim reaper with sorcery this time, the sense of accomplishment would be enormous.
I’ll call it Operation: Trick the Grim Reaper.
Just moments ago he’d been worrying about what would happen if his judgment was wrong, but now Dojin was giddy at the thought of bragging about his achievement to Iri.
Still, it was far too early to relax.
Dojin knew three ways to deceive grim reapers, which also meant those methods were widely known enough for him to know them. In other words, the grim reapers themselves might realize this was a trap.
Tick, tock. When the time reached 1:59 a.m., Noryang whispered cautiously.
“Is it too late to ask the other Bokbaebari for help? They’d all help like it was their own business.”
“Shh. Didn’t I say this was absolutely confidential from the others? If they find out about this, they’ll all start asking me to help their families too.”
“Can’t we all just help each other out? What’s the big deal about extending a few humans’ lifespans….”
“If only the people in this apartment got their lifespans extended, do you really think that wouldn’t cause problems? You say that shit real easy when you’re about to leave the human realm soon. And it’s 2 a.m. now, so shut up.”
“…….”
Noryang groaned softly and closed his mouth. Dojin held his breath and listened.
Guuuung—
A moment later, a strange resonance echoed, and a presence could be felt outside the front door. Focusing harder, Dojin could hear the visitors’ conversation.
“40th Grim Reaper, it’s time. Let’s go in.”
“Uh… wait. 38th Grim Reaper, don’t you feel an enormous presence coming from inside?”
“What? What kind of presence—wait, what is this overwhelming yin energy?”
Two grim reapers were speaking like this.
Since the straw doll shaped like a human on the entryway floor had absorbed all of the surrounding yin energy, it was only natural that the reapers outside would be startled. After whispering among themselves about the owner of this terrifying malicious energy, they reached a conclusion.
“Gangnim Herald has come!”
“So Gangnim Herald even goes around collecting the souls of ordinary humans like this.”
“That can happen. Souls get duplicated on the registry all the time. Anyway, why do they do things in such a messed-up way? Let’s get out of here.”
“I kind of want to watch.”
“If we do that, we might get chewed out for slacking off instead of working. Let’s go, hurry.”
“Okay.”
Dojin clamped a hand over his mouth and waited until the presence completely vanished. Noryang waited for Dojin’s signal, tears streaming down his face.
Only after every last trace of presence disappeared did Dojin nod to show it was safe to speak.
“It worked! Jisuk’s going to live now! She’ll live long enough to see her grandchild’s grandchild’s grandchild!”
“It’s too early to celebrate. Another set of grim reapers will come in thirty minutes.”
“Why would they come again? Don’t they trust their colleague’s work?”
“Master said that ever since modern times, grim reapers have started cross-checking the registry to make sure no souls slip through.”
“…They’re working way too hard for no reason.”
They waited another thirty minutes.
When the time came, footsteps could once again be heard outside the front door.
“21st Grim Reaper, is this the place that still hasn’t been checked?”
“Yeah, but—what’s with this overwhelming yin energy?”
“This is insane. Is Gangnim Herald inside?”
“If Gangnim Herald stepped in personally, there’s no way it’d still be delayed by thirty minutes. 17th Grim Reaper, let’s go in and check first.”
Unlike the first pair, the second group of grim reapers didn’t fall for it.
Knock, knock, knock. They knocked on the door three times and called out, “Ha Jisuk.”, “Ha Jisuk.”, “Ha Jisuk.” three times. The front door slowly opened on its own. At the same moment, a chill ran through Dojin’s entire body. Even sturdy Dojin felt a bone-deep cold that made his insides shudder, and the old Bokbaebari’s face turned blue, on the verge of keeling over on the spot.
