Side Story - Makli Clan (1)
'Makli Cheon-sa? Makli Hyun-ah?'
Hyun-ah cannot grasp the situation.
However, he can tell one thing for sure.
'This is a seriously crazy human being. I, I have to run away.'
However, as if reading his thoughts, Makli Cheon-sa lets out a light snort and walks up to Hyun-ah and grabs his head.
Clench—
"Kughhhh"
[I've infused one strand of my split soul into you. Since a Ghost Path body is easily possessed by strange, monstrously powerful gods, if I fill your vessel in advance with my divine soul, such things should not happen. Anyway, when the Ascension Gate opens, I have to go ascend, so I will leave only one strand of my split soul with you and go.]
Hyun-ah's body trembles at the knowledge that violently flows into his head.
Information about the clan called [Makli Clan], the location of the main family.
And the far edge of Yanguo where Makli Clan is settled...
Lastly, the language of Yanguo and such things roughly dig into his head.
"You don't seem to be a person of Yanguo, so I also stuffed the knowledge of the Yanguo language into you. Now you can understand my words, correct? Since I have engraved my mark on you, from now on you will go to the main family and, after you introduce yourself as my adopted daughter...adopted son, learn Makli Clan's Innate True Method. Ahahaha, I was a bit worried that the weak clan might perish when I ascend to the Upper Realm...but if it is a Ghost Path body, I can interfere with the clan even in the Upper Realm, so I am very satisfied!"
After finishing her words, Makli Cheon-sa immediately becomes a streak of light and flies off somewhere, and Hyun-ah—
Now, having become 'Makli Hyun-ah', stares with a dumb look at the place where Makli Cheon-sa flies off.
And, following behind Makli Hyun-ah, the guild members of [Loot Farming Heavenly Lord] who are now awake also all look up with slightly dumbfounded expressions at Makli Cheon-sa flying far away.
"Wh-What was that just now?"
"Is there something wrong with my eyes...?"
It is when they are looking around with dumbfounded faces.
"W-Wait!"
At some point, Lee Seo-ah, her face gone pale, lowers her voice and points to one side.
They all at once look toward where Lee Seo-ah points.
And everyone turns pale.
In the place Lee Seo-ah points to, there is one big bear.
"B-Bear...!"
"Shh! Don't make a sound, it doesn't seem to have noticed yet."
"The bear...looks cute... I want to touch it."
Most of the people turn pale at the sight of the bear, but only Ahn Geum wriggles her hands as she looks at the bear with its fluffy fur.
At that, Jegal Mikhail shakes his head as he looks at Ahn Geum.
"You must absolutely not touch the bear. My uncle also once found a bear in a cave in Russia. When he said the bear looked cute and tried to touch it, everyone tried to stop him, but he said it was fine and touched it. He died right in front of my eyes like that. It snatched him up in an instant and dragged him into the cave. Only my uncle's one last scream remained. I still can't forget how he was dragged into that deep cave."
With cold sweat running down him, the way Mikhail shakes his head from side to side clearly shows he has seen a bear before.
As Makli Hyun-ah listens to Jegal Mikhail's words, he has the rude thought, 'At that level, isn't that just natural death?', but immediately shakes his head.
"Th-Then what should we do?"
"For now, it seems the bear hasn't noticed us. Let's get away as quietly as possible. Everyone stay quiet and back away..."
And just as Jegal Mikhail, in a small voice, is leading everyone away from the bear.
Park Sung-hyun's eye twitches, and he suddenly lets out a scream and wildly shakes his own arm.
"Uaaaaagh, f*ck! A crane fly is stuck on my arm!"
Park Sung-hyun is probably just startled that a crane fly suddenly clung to his arm...
But because of his shout, the big bear turns its head toward them.
And before they can even come to their senses.
The big bear comes thumping toward their party.
"Uh, uhhh...?"
And Makli Hyun-ah and all the guild members can only open their eyes wide.
When it was far away, they didn't know because it was hidden by the tree's shadow...
But when they see it up close, they can tell.
The bear is wearing a modified hanbok.
On its head it is wearing a quite old-fashioned teacher's gamtu, and at its waist it has a scroll hanging...
Its outfit looks as if, if you give it the Four Treasures of the Study, it would sit neatly and do calligraphy.
[Hmm, good grief. I felt the mark of a Grand Perfection Heavenly Being cultivator, so I was trying hard to pretend not to know...but if you just scream and rampage like that, it's hard to pretend not to know, isn't it?]
"Huu-huaaaagh! Th-The bear is talking!"
"C-Can I touch it...?"
Park Sung-hyun widens his eyes at the appearance of the talking bear, and Ahn Geum blushes as she looks at the bear's belly.
Seeing this, the bear furrows its brow and growls.
[Anyway, Human Race brats who don't know manners. To come into my territory and go this crazy. I ought to just eat—]
And before the words 'eat you all up' even fully come out of the bear's mouth.
Park Sung-hyun screams.
"Run!"
And starting with [ID ChaebolMelonDirectorPOV] Park Sung-hyun, [ID DivineSwordPalaceLord] Kim Shin-ju, [ID ILikeCurry] Ahn Gyeong, and the others all start running like crazy to the opposite side.
In Ahn Gyeong's case, maybe because he is blood-related to Ahn Geum, he tries to grab her hand and run away together, but because Ahn Geum instead moves toward the bear, he misses the chance and just runs away by himself.
Makli Hyun-ah and Lee Seo-ah have their legs frozen and cannot run.
Seeing the two like that, Jegal Mikhail, even while stricken with fear, grabs Makli Hyun-ah and Lee Seo-ah by the arms and tries to run away together.
However, when Lee Seo-ah's wrist slips from his grasp because of sweat and he loses hold of her, Jegal Mikhail, holding back tears, starts to run away taking only Makli Hyun-ah.
"W-Wait, Mister Mikhail! My sister!!"
"Get a grip, Rihyunjok! If we stay like this, we're all going to die! I-I'm a coward and an introverted loser who pretends to be an extrovert...but I still know what's important. Timing is always, always the most important thing. If you miss the crucial timing, you can't do anything! Listen well. I just remembered now. This scenery here is exactly the same as the concept cafe scenery photo the guild leader sent us yesterday. And somehow, I can feel that something like the ability I got while filling out the concept cafe questionnaire is inside me!"
Jegal Mikhail widens his eyes and explains to Makli Hyun-ah.
The ability and constitution he wrote on the survey as wanting to have is [Complete Hypnosis].
"I-I don't know whether it's because I've lived making lots of delusional fantasies or not...but I can tell. This is reality right now! In truth, the guild leader is some kind of divine being, and it's obvious we've fallen into her trap and came to another world! I-I can tell because I've seen a lot of novel openings like this!"
H-Huh? What are you even saying!? That's nonsense!!"
"Then, fuck, does it make any sense that people float around in light and a damn bear wears hanbok and speaks human language? Anyway, listen up. You know isekai stories, right? Right now, we are in something like the opening part of an isekai story. We don't know who the protagonist is. But probably the one who survives is the protagonist. I'm rambling as I talk right now, but one thing is certain! We have to live! Only by surviving can we know whether you're the protagonist or not!"
"Stop talking this fucking nonsense and tell me what we're going to do about my sister!!"
"I said we have to live!! Don't you get it!? Everything has its timing! Your sister already missed the timing to run away! If we go back to save your sister, that bear will eat us! Bears rip people apart!! That's how my uncle died!!"
However, in the end, Makli Hyun-ah shakes off Jegal Mikhail's arm.
"It said something, didn't it! There might be room to negotiate, I'm going back! I can't leave my sister alone!"
"This god damn… Bears tear people apart! It's dangerous! I'm telling you, we have to live!"
"...Even so..."
At Jegal Mikhail's shout, Makli Hyun-ah makes a gloomy expression.
"Even so...I have to save my sister."
The one who always shined in the family is his sister.
He is a complete failure, a broken wreck, among the adults of the family.
Is it because he is an illegitimate child, or simply because his nature is the kind of personality that gets ignored?
In the household, no one, including his father, ever cared about Makli Hyun-ah.
But only his sister, Lee Seo-ah, looked after him.
'More than someone like me...my sister has to live!'
It is said bears tear people apart, but seeing that it speaks human words, maybe there is a person inside it, right?
Yeah, that must be it.
'We can live, we can definitely live!'
Thinking so, he turns his back on Jegal Mikhail and tries to go back to where the bear is.
However, in the end, unable to stand watching that, Jegal Mikhail pushes Makli Hyun-ah back and walks toward the bear himself.
"...Fine, move. If that's how it is, then I'll somehow bring your sister back too."
"Y-Yes...?"
"What can a scrawny guy like you even do...? I'll carry your sister on my back and somehow run up to here... When you see me running toward you, you run too! Got it? If I can't make it back within two minutes, run as much as you can too."
"M-Mikhail..."
ID EnricoEmporio.
Real name: Jegal Mikhail.
" I-I am actually a J*J* fan. Among them, I like a character called En**co Pucci and a character called Emporio Al**no. I'm even one of those guys who pushed the theory that the two of them are actually father and son. So last month in a related community...sometime in May, I even wrote a speculative post asking about how maybe Emporio is actually Pucci's son. Anyway, that isn't what's important... Pucci is a villain and Emporio is a character with a heart of justice... What's important is that, if the two of them really are father and son, then a 'heart of justice' isn't something you are born with, but something that a person's actions create and prove...that's what I think."
"..."
'What is he even babbling about all by himself, this otaku...?'
Makli Hyun-ah clicks his tongue inwardly.
It's not something a shut-in gaming addict like himself should say, but he can't understand Mikhail's nonsense as he mutters on and on about things only he knows.
"After my uncle died to a bear, I became a pathetic loser because of the shock. But...if I don't change even now, I can't go on like this, can I...?"
Jegal Mikhail turns to look at Makli Hyun-ah and smiles.
"...Thanks to your action of trying to go save your family even with a bear in front of you, I could feel ashamed. Thank you. Thanks to you, I can have courage. Don't worry, I'll go save your sister and bring her back!"
"...Mister Mikhail..."
Makli Hyun-ah cannot understand a single word, but he can understand the conclusion.
Jegal Mikhail, by some logic of his own, overcame his fear and is saying he will bring back Hyun-ah's sister!
Hyun-ah thought he was a bit of a loser-like person, but...
In Makli Hyun-ah's eyes right now, Jegal Mikhail's back looks more reliable and stronger than anyone's.
If he were a woman, he feels like he might have fallen for him.
The next moment, Jegal Mikhail runs off in the direction where the bear is.
And two minutes later,
Huuuuung!
"Uh...?"
Makli Hyun-ah feels some powerful formless force grabbing him and pulling him, and he is dragged off toward where the bear is.
Immediately after, Makli Hyun-ah stares blankly at the scene unfolding before his eyes.
[Chomp chomp, gulp...I ate well.]
"..."
[These are some very peculiar flavors. They are nasty and every single one tastes bad. But their constitutions are unique, so they do help with replenishing my vitality in their own way.]
"Uh, uhh..."
A cauldron.
In front of Makli Hyun-ah's eyes is a huge cauldron, and the cauldron sits over a fire, boiling furiously.
The bear in hanbok is scooping up the broth from the cauldron with a ladle and gulping it down, chuckling.
And...
In front of Makli Hyun-ah's eyes, there are three skulls.
[Hey, Human Race. Is this woman here your relative?]
Makli Hyun-ah looks at Ahn Geum and Lee Seo-ah, who are bound tight beside the bear.
He nods blankly, and the bear clicks its tongue and unties Lee Seo-ah.
[Tch, it is a bit much to touch the family of a brat whom a Heavenly Being stage senior has marked. Take her away! I will release this one.]
As if she has seen something horrific, Lee Seo-ah, with a hollow face, staggers as she walks toward Makli Hyun-ah.
"Hyun-ah, Hyun-ah...Mister Jegal...Mikhail..."
Lee Seo-ah points with a trembling hand at one of the three skulls.
"A-And Mr. Park Sung-hyun...and Mister Kim Shin-ju too..."
As if she has seen a sight that could make PTSD flare up, she leans on Makli Hyun-ah's shoulder, her voice shaking as she pants for breath.
"Th-They all...in just thirty seconds, that bear caught them and brought them here, and in an instant their bones and flesh got separated...got put in the cauldron...and got eaten..."
Makli Hyun-ah stares blankly at Jegal Mikhail, then looks at the bear.
"Wh-Why...why...?"
[Hm? Why, you ask? Well, it's just that you all dared to come into my forest, and without even paying me the slightest courtesy, you screamed as if you've seen something horrid and ran away, so I just had a little tonic meal. The only one who showed something vaguely resembling manners is this little brat here.]
The bear strokes the head of Ahn Geum, who is tied up beside it, as it speaks.
[So I only brought back and ate three out of the four who ran away. Judging by their bloodline, they don't seem to be your kin, so I ate them. Is there a problem?]
"Ah..."
[I also tried to bring back the Human Race who seems to share this brat's bloodline, but I saw him step alone in the spatial rift created because of the Ascension Gate and fall down to some faraway land ten thousand li away, so I can't bring him back. Tsk... Anyway, I am full now, and you are a brat whom a Heavenly Being stage senior has marked, so I will spare you. This human is someone who has paid courtesy to me, so I plan to raise her as a pet human. If you have no more business here, get lost. I can't kill you, but tearing off and eating one or two of your arms or legs is no problem.]
It is then,
Kurung, kurururung!
Far away, the sky rumbles, and some immense existences start to approach.
The bear, seeing them, has a terrified expression, unfolds the two scrolls at its waist, stuffs into them the cauldron it used when boiling and eating the guild members, then, after tucking Ahn Geum under one arm, starts hurriedly preparing to run away.
[Tsk, Heavenly Being stage seniors keep passing through. You too, hurry and hide yourself or something. No matter that you've received the mark of a Heavenly Being stage senior, if it's a Heavenly Being stage senior all the same, they could kill you without caring!]
The bear hurriedly tries to run off somewhere, but a lightning bolt suddenly falls from the sky and strikes the bear, and as a result it drops Ahn Geum just like that.
[Kuaaaagh! I, I will let go! I will put it down and go, so please, I beg you, do not take the demon core!]
The bear leaves Ahn Geum nearby, then starts fleeing in a panic, running away on all fours.
Ahn Geum, still bound, absentmindedly fiddles with the bear fur stuck to her hands with a regretful look on her face.
After some time, several humans come down from the sky together with light.
[Heh, how astounding. Is that not an Extreme Ghost Path Body? Makli Cheon-sa has already marked it, but...I desire it...]
[The Extreme Ghost Path Body is not the issue. Look at that. That is clearly the [Wind-Painting Sword Sea Impermanence Body (風塗劍海無常體)]! It is one of the Candle Dragon Race's legendary constitutions!]
A man brings down a radiant formation.
Kwarurururung!
A band of light falls from the sky and crashes down onto Lee Seo-ah.
Lee Seo-ah lets out a scream, but the band of light instead bores into her body, then transforms into sharp sword energy and is emitted.
Makli Hyun-ah realizes that, because of the sharp aura felt from Lee Seo-ah, he cannot approach her.
[And what about that child? Isn't that child's constitution the [Ghost-Face Killing Heaven Body (鬼面裂天體)]?]
Kugugugugu!
When a woman dressed in black plucks her pipa, countless black faces appear around Ahn Geum and glare at her.
At the sound of the pipa, the rope binding her snaps, and Ahn Geum, as if finding it fascinating, tries poking the eyes of the black faces or sticks her fingers and the like into their nostrils or ear holes.
[I also want to have that child with the Extreme Ghost Path Body (極限鬼燼體)...]
[Forget it, do you not know Makli Cheon-sa's temperament? Look, she's already stored even her own split soul inside the Ghost Path Body. If we try to lay hands on it, she'll use the Ghost Path Body as a medium and launch attacks.]
[Tsk tsk, what a pity...]
The beings who have been talking for a while up in the sky come down to the ground.
[Child, I am the former Martial Alliance Leader and one from the Jin Clan, Jin Young-hoon. This time, I reached the Grand Perfection Heavenly Being stage and am about to ascend. Come ascend together with me to the Purple Gold Realm. They say that in the Purple Gold Realm they have been carrying out a Candle Dragon Race preferential treatment policy recently, so you will receive tremendous preferential treatment.]
"W-Wait a moment..."
[Hahaha, it seems you two are related by blood. Do not worry, that rascal too is one whom Makli Cheon-sa has marked, and seeing that he has a wood-attribute single spiritual root, in about three or four hundred years he will soon ascend and you will be able to meet. Cast off concern for worldly connections now!]
The man with red hair and golden eyes who identifies himself as Jin Young-hoon slings Lee Seo-ah over his shoulder and flies up into the sky.
[Child, I am a Grand Elder of Black Ghost Valley and one from the Gongmyo Clan, Gongmyo Min-hee.]
The woman named Gongmyo Min-hee puffs on her long-stemmed pipe and speaks to Ahn Geum.
[If you come with me, I will let you become able to control those baleful curses that follow you around. Will you come along?]
"When do we leave?"
[...Very well, let us go.]
Gongmyo Min-hee flicks her sleeve, puts Ahn Geum into her sleeve, and then flies off to somewhere just like that.
"W-Wait, wait a moment!"
Makli Hyun-ah shouts toward the freakish people kidnapping his older sister Lee Seo-ah, but no one pays any attention.
"Wait a second, you lunatics! Huaaaaaaa!"
And so, Makli Hyun-ah ends up left alone in this bizarre forest together with the three skulls.
After some time, in order to somehow escape from the shock that everyone has been kidnapped and killed, Makli Hyun-ah, with a dazed face, starts to dig the ground to bury Jegal Mikhail's skull and the remains of the others.
It is then,
Flash!
Once again the sky flashes, and two human figures appear.
It is a man in golden robes and a giant in azure armor.
"Hey, Jin Myeong-hoon. What on earth is happening here? Why is everyone dead?"
"...How would I know, Cheongmun Hyun-seok Hyung-nim? Hah... For now, I will try contacting them... Ah, a reply just came in. Looking at it...they say they didn't expect this either. For now, the First King says...the overwhelming majority of Enders normally trip over rocks and die, or die after being eaten in Ascension Path. Our generation, thanks to ■■■, barely managed to hold its own..."
"..."
"Well, honestly, if we think about Seo Eun-hyun's 0th cycle, we were all on the verge of being torn apart and killed by Shi Ho, and if it were not for Azure Tiger Saint, our original fate would have been to just die there. In truth, I think this is about the average for Enders. Honestly, if you are suddenly dragged into the wild and dropped into Ascension Path, which is full of yaoguai, who could easily survive...?"
"Even so...I mean, why to some bear bastard? Haaah..."
"We also were originally almost annihilated by a single fox bastard, weren't we? Enders are ones whose fates are tricky to arrange directly, so it cannot be helped... Haah..."
The two figures conversing in the sky come down to where Makli Hyun-ah is and let out a sigh.
"First, let's send this kid to a safe place. The guide of the Makli Clan has put a split soul in them and is watching over him, but even so, Ascension Path is a dangerous place."
"Let us do that... Kid, are you alright?"
The giant in blue armor, called 'Cheongmun Hyun-seok,' clicks his tongue and offers words of comfort to Makli Hyun-ah.
"Do not be too shocked. From what I see, you seem to be someone who came from another world."
"Hyung-nim! If you say that—"
"Ei, be quiet. Anyway, kids like you who come from another world, when you die, your soul does not remain but disappears. It is probably returning to that otherworld. Who knows, maybe you will wake up again in your original home as if you had just had daydream. Do not be too discouraged."
Woo-woong—
Cheongmun Hyun-seok waves his arm toward the void and creates something like a black crack.
"If you go inside there, you will come out at the main house of the Makli Clan in Yanguo. Go in there and live in safety. Anyway, after the Owner of Myriad Stars was newly enthroned above the heavens, there are no longer many who abuse living beings to a horrible extent...but in a wild place on the level of Ascension Path, the law of the strong preying on the weak still governs in many ways, you see. It will be dangerous if you stay here until night."
Woo-woong—
Oh Hyun-seok pushes the still-dazed Makli Hyun-ah straight into the inside of the spatial fissure, and Makli Hyun-ah, holding one skull, is sucked straight into the inside of the black fissure and loses consciousness.
Hoping that, if he opens his eyes again, all of this will be a dream...
***
Blink—
It is a ceiling he does not recognize.
Makli Hyun-ah gets up from the spot with a blank look on his face.
It is a silk bed that looks quite luxurious.
"Wh-Where is this?"
"Ah...have you woken up, Daoist?"
"Uh...?"
Makli Hyun-ah flinches in surprise when he sees a very handsome young man come to his side.
"Wh-Where is this...?"
"This is the Makli Clan's main house. Yesterday evening we saw you, Daoist, fall in front of the main house, and seeing that inside you resided our Makli Clan Grand Elder's split soul, we hurriedly brought you in. Do you feel any discomfort anywhere?"
The young man pats Makli Hyun-ah on the shoulder and asks.
"Yes...nothing feels uncom—...uh..."
Makli Hyun-ah is about to say that nothing feels uncomfortable, then flinches in surprise when he sees the skull beside him.
"Ah, that is something you were clutching even while unconscious, Daoist, so we thought it might be the remains of someone precious to you and brought it along together:"
It is Jegal Mikhail's skull.
Seeing that, Makli Hyun-ah is only now able to regain a sense of reality.
The words Jegal Mikhail said yesterday.
That they have fallen into a completely new world.
And...
'Makli Clan. I definitely remember.'
It is the name of the clan he checked on the questionnaire that Guild Master Ji Hwa handed out.
'Then this place is...Mount Sumeru...World...?'
A completely different world.
Like the phrase 'xianxia concept café,' it is probably a world of the xianxia genre.
'J-Just how am I supposed to...live here...?'
Is this really a place where beasts wearing human clothes go around catching and eating people like yesterday?
It really is a terrifying place.
Makli Hyun-ah has no confidence that he can live in this frightening place.
"Daoist? Are you unwell somewhere?"
At the question of the handsome young man in front of him, who is patting his shoulder, Makli Hyun-ah trembles.
But soon, he looks again at Jegal Mikhail's skull and bites his lip.
—We have to live!
Live.
Jegal Mikhail, who saved him and then went to save Lee Seo-ah, told him to live.
Because he mixed in strange words, he does not remember everything he said...
But he still remembers clearly the part where he said he has to live.
'...Right.'
Makli Hyun-ah grips the blanket tightly.
'Mister Jegal Mikhail, you said it. Survive!'
Let's live.
Makli Hyun-ah decides, for now, to survive.
'I will survive, turn that damn bear who made you end up like that into bear stew...and I will go find the bastards who kidnapped my sister and rescue her...!'
He does not really know much about this thing called xianxia.
But from what he roughly heard, it is said to be a world where humans cultivate and live for hundreds and thousands of years and possess the power to split mountains and seas.
Is it because of this called the Ghost Path Body?
Or is it because of Jegal Mikhail's advice?
Cooling down his head, Makli Hyun-ah's eyes gleam.
'Live. Survive...and gain the same power as them!'
"Um, Daoist? Can you hear me?"
"...I am sorry, I was lost in gloomy thoughts for a moment... That aside...I am someone who comes from a rather distant country, so I would be grateful if you could explain the circumstances of this place to me."
At Makli Hyun-ah's words, the handsome young man chuckles and speaks.
"Hoho, you are finally starting to loosen up a little. Then first I will explain about Yanguo and the Makli Clan, and about the cultivators. Ah, also."
The young man cups his fist toward Makli Hyun-ah, and Makli Hyun-ah awkwardly imitates him.
"My introduction is late, Daoist. My name is Makli Hweol. Not long ago, I caught the eye of Elder Makli Hye-seo, received the Makli surname, and thus came to enter the Makli Clan."
"My name is Lee Hyun-ah...no, 'Makli Hyun-ah'. I become the adoptive son of someone called Makli Cheon-sa...and was sent here."
At Makli Hyun-ah's greeting, Makli Hweol pats his shoulder and smiles gently.
"Hoho, as adoptive siblings like Daoist and I, let us get along well."
That day, Makli Hyun-ah quickly comes to accept his identity and meets and exchanges greetings with Makli Hweol, another adoptive son of the same clan.
"...But haven't you been patting my shoulder a bit too much since earlier?"
"Hoho."
"..."