Discord:https://dsc.gg/wetried
An Immortal Art is a secret art that changes the world through personality and will.
Therefore, for gods and Governing Immortals who become Immortal Arts themselves and refine themselves to the level of a mantra, personality can already be said to be, in itself, a single law and an Immortal Art.
Among Governing Immortal, if a being is exceptionally strong or has accumulated many years, the very concept of a split soul disappears for them, and even a soul that is split stays always connected, like fingertips or the extremities of the body.
But because of that, if the main body becomes busy, the split souls, what you could call the body's extremities, tend to develop slight problems in their personality.
For Governing Immortals, who are aggregates of Immortal Arts, it means the power and will that go into the Immortal Arts are distributed differently depending on priority.
And at this time, while the Crystal King, Star Genesis Supreme Deity Seo Eun-hyun's main body in Mount Sumeru directly weaves fate and connection so that no innocent victims arise from the proceedings of divine beings, and while he weaves causality so that if innocent victims arise within their fates, they are definitely repaid...
Because the busy Seo Eun-hyun's will and concentration focuses on the main body, a slight flaw inevitably appears in the split soul on Earth.
"One iced Americano is ready."
"Yes, thank you."
Seo Eun-hyun takes the Americano with slightly vacant eyes and heads toward the café entrance.
Recently, because his main body stirred up things on that side, Seo Eun-hyun on Earth, as a split body, is inevitably in a slightly foggy state.
On top of that, Ji Hwa, who took over Oh Hye-seo's body, left the company, and recently Kang Min-hee also quit, saying she is going to graduate school, so working all night became Seo Eun-hyun's everyday routine.
As a result, recently Seo Eun-hyun's mental state is not very good.
"Ugh...coffee again. It's always coffee. When will I get back to an ordinary daily life?"
Of course, by Sumeru Mountain standards, even this is a sufficiently ordinary daily life, so Seo Eun-hyun's complaining can be called happy complaining.
Because he knows that, he can't truly get angry, but small irritations keep piling up in the split body.
'I need something to let off steam. Should I use a day of vacation? But what does one day of rest do? Then I have to work that much more for the one day I rested. Ah...I want to quit the company too and rest for a while somewhere quiet.'
Seo Eun-hyun walks out of the café with his coffee in a daze, thinking that.
Just then,
Clunk–
Seo Eun-hyun suddenly realizes the door is not opening.
'Why won't the door open?'
Seo Eun-hyun pushes the door a few more times, but it does not budge.
Then the words 'PULL' catch Seo Eun-hyun's eye, but Seo Eun-hyun only grows angry.
'Pull? This is ridiculous...a huge franchise café hangs up a horrible sign like 'PULL'. Is this something a Korean can possibly accept!?'
At this very moment with minor stress already piled up in the split body, and with consciousness concentrated on the main body so that a flaw appeared in personality...
Seo Eun-hyun, with all his strength, rages at the absurdity of the word 'PULL' and tightens his grip.
"For a Korean, there is no option called pulling. Do not stop me. I am a son of Korea!"
For a proud son of Korea, there can be no choice other than 'PUSH'.
Seo Eun-hyun breathes a faint energy into the door.
At the same time, faint sword energy blows into the café entrance door, and the doorstop that prevents it from being pushed open from the inside starts to grind as it gets shoved out.
It is a top-class application method, to the point that if a junior like Lee Seo-ah who learned the Crystal Glass to Treading Sea saw it, they would blurt out in admiration.
"O entrance door! You shall permit 'PUSH'!"
Kwaduduk!
With a small sound, the doorstop is cut off as it is, and Seo Eun-hyun succeeds in pushing out through the entrance door that says, 'PULL'.
Seo Eun-hyun glances back with a refreshed expression and sips his coffee.
"Now, people other than me will also be able to push their way out comfortably without caring about the horrible word 'PULL'."
Just as Seo Eun-hyun says, everyone can leave comfortably while pushing the door.
Because it was something done in an instant, nobody even suspects him, and only the café owner looks at the door as if something is strange and merely mutters, 'Uh...why does that push open?'
Seo Eun-hyun turns back toward the company and takes another sip of coffee.
'Someday, the café door will return to PULL again. Because the doorstop is going to appear again. But that is fine.'
"Because I will change it back to PUSH again."
A person's will does not end.
A person's heart never dies, either.
Nobody can stop a proud son of Korea from pushing a door open and walking out.
And...
Seo Eun-hyun's overtime is not going to end, either.
"Hah...fuck..."
Because he wasted his energy on something useless, Seo Eun-hyun feels fatigue come over him, and with tired eyes, he trudges toward the company.
***
"I can go home..."
That day, fortunately, is not an all-nighter but ordinary overtime.
Seo Eun-hyun comes down to the underground parking lot, leans against his beloved, his used Sonata, and mutters with hollow eyes.
"But does going home even mean anything...? Tomorrow is probably an all-nighter anyway. Isn't it better to just sleep at the company, or at a sauna nearby...? Ah, has it been a long time since I saw Yeon's face...? Ah...but since I'm stuck right next to her with the main body, I guess it doesn't matter..."
Seo Eun-hyun sighs as he opens the car door with hollow eyes.
It's been a long time since he saw Kim Yeon.
Of course, by the main body's standard, it's no different from being right next to her, so it's not a problem, but by the split body's standard, Kim Yeon also quit and became a civil servant after passing the civil service exam, so lately their schedules misaligned and they can't even meet.
"I just want to disappear..."
That's when it happens.
Thud!
Someone strikes the back of Seo Eun-hyun's head hard, and he hears a lewd, snickering laugh.
"I am going to grant that wish."
"Ueok!"
Before he passes out, Seo Eun-hyun closes his eyes as he sees a silver-haired someone binding him with green tape in a sly way.
October 28th.
The tail end of autumn, when it starts to get cold.
Late at night, in SJD's underground parking lot, Seo Eun-hyun gets grabbed by a silver-haired weirdo and bundled up and kidnapped.
***
When Seo Eun-hyun opens his eyes, what he sees is a familiar ceiling.
"Mm, this is...?"
For some reason, he feels languid and weak.
Seo Eun-hyun raises his arm with difficulty, and suddenly realizes his hand has become small.
"Ah, are you awake, Eun-hyun."
As Seo Eun-hyun comes to his senses, the door opens and he sees Ji Hwa coming out while drying her hair.
It looks like she just washed up.
"No, what is this?"
"What do you mean, what is this? Lately, you've been using overtime as an excuse and you don't even meet me, let alone Kim Yeon. For Kim Yeon, she's stuck to you with the main body so she can shrug it off, but what about me? I'm living here, holding my breath on this tiny patch of land in my main body, so shouldn't you compensate me for that!"
"It's only been about three weeks since I saw you."
Seo Eun-hyun is about to say, 'Can a great divinity like you not endure three weeks?' but Ji Hwa's gaze is not normal, so he decides to shut his mouth.
"Are you truly crazy? You leave me to sleep alone for three whole weeks and you can't feel even the slightest pang of conscience?"
"No, but Ji Hwa...you also seemed really satisfied with life on Earth... And if you come to Mount Sumeru with your main body, you can also stay with my main body, but you're the one who refused..."
"What did you say!? Don't be ridiculous. If I go to Mount Sumeru with my main body, I'll have to work!"
"..."
"As a Radiance Eight Immortal, I already did overflowing amounts of work while living, so now I don't need to work anymore."
Ji Hwa finishes speaking proudly, then looks at Seo Eun-hyun and continues.
"Anyway, that aside, you also need to rest. Nothing is good in excess, and what is so good about that human-world job that you keep clinging to it? Even if you leave that kind of company, you can still eat well and live well enough."
"No...because connections remain on Earth...There's something like social scrutiny."
"Then you should also become a civil servant, like Kim Yeon's split body."
"Civil service doesn't really fit me..."
"Tsk, you keep making excuse after excuse, so this's why I brought you here. From now on, for six months, work is forbidden!"
"What...then what about my social relationships?"
"I put your illusion on a puppet and sent it to work in your place. Other than Kim Yeon, nobody is going to recognize it."
"Uh, uhh..."
Seo Eun-hyun is briefly flustered and parts his lips as if to speak, but when he thinks it over carefully, he arrives at the thought that it actually seems good.
"Mm...well, anyway. What is the reason you made my body so young?"
"I thought about it carefully. Since the main body in Mount Sumeru is concentrating, you have a flaw in your personality right now. On top of that, because of overtime, even some toxic energy is rising."
"A flaw in my personality? I'm perfectly fine."
"Is a perfectly fine guy someone who goes around smashing a café door in broad daylight?"
"Smashing? How is a proud son of Korea supposed to endure 'PULL'...? Wait, how did you know what I did in the daytime? We agreed to restrict our consciousness domains on Earth..."
"I just disguised myself and followed you secretly, so do not worry."
"..."
"Anyway, that kind of trivial thing isn't important. You are in a state where a flaw in your personality is showing. The main body is working too, and in that state, at least you as the split body should be happy. It isn't good if both sides are crazy about work. This is advice from a former Radiance Eight Immortal who once governed the world. It means it is fine for you to let at least a split body play to your heart's content without thinking."
"Uh..."
Seo Eun-hyun makes a somewhat convinced face and nods.
"So the reason you made me into a child's body and kidnapped me is what, exactly?"
"What else would it be? If you stay in an adult body, because of social scrutiny and whatnot, you can't return to a child's heart and play happily. It means you should go back to a child's body, play happily, and rest."
"Uh...even if my body is a child's, my consciousness is at the original level, so doesn't that make it meaningless?"
"Ehehe, do not worry. For you, a connection parrot, isn't the happiest thing forming new connections?"
"What do you mean I'm a connection parrot...?"
"Gal! Anyway, I already found the best way to play for someone like you."
"...What is it?"
Seo Eun-hyun feels a strangely ominous feeling and tries to get up, but Ji Hwa grips Seo Eun-hyun's shoulder so he can't run, then lifts something beside him.
"Th-That's..."
"That's right, this."
A uniform made to fit a child's body.
No, it is clothes that should be called a kindergarten uniform.
"An English kindergarten. From now on, you will go to an English kindergarten together with your 'noona,' meet new and cute connections, and set down your brain and reason. You can rest happily."
"Wait, Ji Hwa. Kindergarten? What are you talking about? At my age, kindergarten is...no, more importantly, you probably don't even have money saved up. How are you going to send me to kindergarten!? English kindergartens are expensive these days!?"
"Ehehe, do not worry. How expensive can kindergarten be? More than anything, because I have quite a bit of money saved up while gathering loot, money is not a problem."
Ji Hwa lunges at Seo Eun-hyun with a delighted face, smacking her lips as she changes Seo Eun-hyun into the kindergarten uniform.
"Finally, I get to see you wearing this...no, I get to see you comfortably put down suffering and rest. This noona is happy!"
"What did you just say!? And why are you drooling!?"
"Sluuurp... Maybe it is because I didn't eat breakfast. That is not what matters. Don't resist, and change clothes obediently."
Afterward, Seo Eun-hyun gets his clothes changed over and over by Ji Hwa.
***
Bo-ooong—
Starting the next day, Seo Eun-hyun gets put on the kindergarten shuttle bus Ji Hwa signed him up for, and he commutes to kindergarten.
Thinking about Seo Eun-hyun's cute appearance that she watched all night, Ji Hwa happily sees Seo Eun-hyun off in front of the house.
Seo Eun-hyun stares at Ji Hwa past the school bus window with a blank expression, and Ji Hwa waves at him with a beaming smile.
A little later, only after the school bus gets far away does Ji Hwa notice something strange.
"Heok...!"
Only then does Ji Hwa realize what she has done.
"Wait, if I send Seo Eun-hyun to kindergarten, he can't be with me!!"
Faced with the horrible truth she couldn't notice because she focused only on changing Seo Eun-hyun's clothes, Ji Hwa collapses right there and can only scream.
"Kuaaaagh! No, no! This can't be!"
A drastic countermeasure is necessary.