Jisan Village’s festival continued all night.
Outsiders could sleep in any of the completely open village homes, enjoying free drinks and meat until morning. In the end, quite a few chose to stay rather than leave.
“What’s going on?”
“Oh, there’s supposed to be some big event on the last day. Like… some kind of ritual, I guess?”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Dunno. But I’m gonna film it and post them as Shorts.”
The outsiders muttered idly, either staying up through the night or falling asleep drunk in any random room.
And then, with the sun beating down brightly on the last day.
“Oh.”
“I think it’s starting now.” [The fortune of Jisan arrives~]
At last, the ritual began.
Doong, doong, doong—
The traditional band pounded their drums, and the villagers lined up on either side as if forming a path, creating a long corridor.
From the tile-roofed house.
To the village shrine.
And from the central tile-roofed house, at the start of this road, something finally emerged.
[OChosenOnedeliveruntoustheblessingofJisanofthecountlesspeaks]
It was a massive human palanquin.
Four people, rooster feathers pinned to their chests and their heads covered with plain cloth, carried someone upon it.
“Oh.”
“Hey, hey, this is for real.”
The outsiders chatted idly, only interested in the spectacle, but among them were those whose eyes glimmered, watching in secret.
‘This is a mess.’
Assistant Manager Eun Haje.
The one who had been called that by Kim Soleum observed the person atop the palanquin and the movements of the villagers.
At this rate, it looked like her task here on behalf of the project team would proceed smoothly.
Her sharp gaze turned to the outskirts.
Toward the well on the edge of the village, surrounded by abandoned houses.
‘The well.’
That was the objective of her assignment.
The agents of the Disaster Management Bureau still hadn’t figured out exactly why the villagers left them alone near the well, or why it was relatively safe there. They’d even checked it when it wasn’t festival season, only to find it just an ordinary blocked well.
But this ‘reporter’ knew the exact reason, and what needed to be investigated.
That well had once been a passageway, connected to somewhere else.
And during this strange festival, the entire village itself became a high-level zone of Darkness, and sometimes, the passage would come alive again.
So she had to proceed with the investigation now.
However…
“……”
After glancing once at Kim Soleum who was riding atop the human palanquin, the reporter quietly began to move. Not toward the well between the abandoned houses, but in another direction.
[OChosenOnedeliveruntoustheblessingofJisanofthecountlesspeaks]
Meanwhile, the palanquin procession continued on.
The traditional band opened the way, and as the palanquin passed, villagers bowed in reverence. Some staggered after it with feverish devotion.
But they always kept a certain distance, as if coming closer was not permitted.
The problem was, there were some for whom that rule didn’t matter.
“Wow! Look, this is the first time in decades they’ve held this event!”
A few outsiders, holding up their smartphones, came right up close.
Those who were drunk or had lost their judgment didn’t keep their distance, some even tapping the head-shrouded villagers carrying the palanquin.
These people had only come for the free food and drink at the village festival.
But the villagers didn’t stop them.
They only watched with smiling faces, eyes fixed anxiously on the safe progress of the palanquin.
“Ooh, not bad for a countryside festival.”
“They’re pros. Total pros.”
The villagers didn’t get upset.
They simply watched with earnest eyes to make sure the palanquin reached its destination unharmed.
“……”
Finally, the human palanquin reached the village shrine without incident and stopped.
Those who’d been carrying it carefully lowered the ‘raffle winner’ they’d been bearing on their shoulders. Two of them approached the shrine.
Then, they cut the golden rope around the shrine.
Tuk.
The golden rope fell to the ground. The two remaining people untied the golden rope around the feet of the one who’d ridden the palanquin, and hung it up again at the shrine.
Then, the doors of the shrine were opened.
Inside was…
“The doors are opening! Wow! Look at that! Gold!”
A golden rooster.
The golden rooster statue that had been the ‘special prize’ was enshrined inside the village shrine. And its size was enormous.
“Isn’t that just gold-plated though?”
“Crazy.”
It sat atop a round wooden pedestal, right in the center of the shrine where the altar should have been. It was, quite literally, the size of a person.
Apart from awe, greed sparkled in the outsiders’ eyes.
Most of them hardly noticed that behind the gold, the shrine’s original pole had been stuck upside down, just like the sticks in the lottery box.
[OChosenOnedeliveruntoustheblessingofJisanofthecountlesspeaks]
The one who had ridden atop the palanquin finally moved.
As the figure in white stood in front of the shrine, the villagers stepped forward one by one, covering the white robe with pieces of paper.
The papers were densely inscribed with writing in both Hangul and Hanja.
They were the villagers’ names.
And then, after three deep bows, they poured out a bottle of liquor over the top.
Jrrrrrk.
As the sacred liquor washed over it, the ink on the papers began to run and the writing disappeared, seeming to seep into the robe itself.
“MaywebefreedfromthetruthoftheworldOfortuneofJisanOChosenOne.”
“MaywebefreedfromthetruthoftheworldOfortuneofJisanOChosenOne.”
“MaywebefreedfromthetruthoftheworldOfortuneofJisanOChosenOne.”
The villagers bowed, prayed, wept, raising their hands and crying out to the sky, pouring out old, deep terror and desperation.