“Enlightenment… enlightenment is everything…”
Kirieon muttered in a flustered voice.
Enlightenment is everything?
Well, in my current situation, the only thing that mattered was the half-eaten fried dumpling in front of me.
Kirieon continued speaking.
“Don’t tell me you don’t believe me? Should I make a vow or something?”
“Uh, no, I don’t think that’s necessary…”
Suddenly, Kirieon stomped the ground in frustration.
The next moment, the entire area shook like an earthquake had hit.
“Y-Yes! I believe you!”
The entire restaurant trembled.
But I remained steadfast, chopsticks unwavering.
Dipping the dumpling into the now-quaking soy sauce, I spoke calmly.
“Still, I don’t want to cause that much chaos over some random door.”
Of course, I do want to level up to Heavenly Demon status.
But it’s not like I could see or touch that door anyway.
Just like how I couldn’t sense the Ghost Gate that Gamlo and Cheonsu opened.
“You really are something… Fine. Behold! This power! This authority!”
Without warning, Kirieon sprang to her feet.
She pressed her palms together in a dramatic pose that looked straight out of a martial arts ritual. Her lightly tanned skin shimmered under the sunlight.
…Okay, fine. Kirieon really is gorgeous.
Boing boing indeed.
Wakyaaaa—! D-Dangerous.
I nearly lost my grip on reality.
“See this? Gaining the Ghost Gate means gaining your own spirit realm—your own spiritual power. From the moment you receive it, you become a ‘god’ no one can deny!”
Kirieon shifted again, this time crossing her arms and spreading her legs wide.
She looked like she was mid-transformation in a Super Ranger show.
And that’s when it hit me—something absolutely, ridiculously important.
Kirieon is… the type who likes to organize things.
“National security-level intel…!”
This needed to be reported immediately!
Wait—what the hell am I saying? Calm down.
I closed my eyes and started singing the national anthem from start to finish.
And then—from the kitchen—I heard a low groan.
Gggggh…
Not that I saw anything. My eyes were shut.
Frankly, even if they were open, I probably would’ve only seen boing boing.
To me, the Ghost Gate was worth less than a plastic toy door.
“…Then can I go now?”
I swallowed the last fried dumpling and spoke.
I’d even gotten a free meal out of this. No reason to stick around any longer.
“I even made a sacred vow to prove my truth…
And still, you reject the Ghost Gate…
All because of… this stupid little restaurant…”
I opened my eyes just a sliver.
Kirieon’s face was a carousel of emotions—
It began with disbelief, moved through joy, anger, sorrow, a single inexplicable tear, a smile steeped in madness, then one free from it… and finally, eyes filled with desperate longing.
It was those desperate eyes that looked at me.
Right then, a voice rang out from the front.
“You really are noble. To be honest, I thought the head of the Qigong sect was exaggerating.”
A man dressed in a hanbok was suddenly seated beside me.
When did he get here?
Kirieon muttered something under her breath when she saw the man.
“Jobaek.”
“Hello, Sect Leader. I overheard your chat dragging on, so I dropped in.”
The man named Jobaek looked young.
But his gaze carried the weight of age, languid and jaded—
Like someone who’d lived too long and grown weary of everything.
“The other candidates were all so boring I could barely suppress a yawn. But I never imagined someone would actually give up the Ghost Gate over a tiny restaurant like this. You’re an amusing one!”
Jobaek gave a slight smirk.
“I’m looking forward to seeing what you do next.”
“Expect all you want. I’m heading out now.”
As I stood, Jobaek chuckled, seemingly even more amused.
“Ha! What an interesting fellow. You stood up against both Kirieon’s and my pressure? From what I sense, you haven’t even reached Vow Samādhi yet. And still, you’re saying you’d give up the Ghost Gate just for someone you met today? Someone you’re not even sure is innocent?”
Of course, I didn’t actually feel any pressure from them.
Jobaek snickered again and continued.
“I suppose it wouldn’t be right to strong-arm a junior. Let me try a different route. I’ll convince you.”
“...Do as you like.”
Thus began Jobaek’s so-called persuasion.
“As a practitioner yourself, you should already know what gaining the Ghost Gate entails. I won’t bore you with that.”
What can you even do with it?
Honestly… I didn’t really know.
But no way was I going to admit that.
“Instead, let me tell you what happens if you don’t obtain it.”
“Are you threatening me now?”
“Not a threat—just facts.”
Jobaek spoke, clearly enjoying this little game.
“You must’ve heard it from the Sect Leader, right? In order to gain the Ghost Gate, one must survive the spirit realm—especially the places we call hell—and return alive.”
“...I’ve heard.”
“Naturally, those places called ‘hell’ are fundamentally different from worldly anomalies—like the abnormal phenomena you might know. Even a special-grade phenomena like DMZ is a joke compared to real hell. Incomplete, laughable—just a shadow of the true thing.”
Even young spirit users talented enough to attempt the Cheonji Entry Trials often ended up enthralled in the DMZ.
And yet this was supposed to be far worse than that?
No wonder they called it hell.
Jobaek smiled as he went on.
“So, who do you think challenges such a place? People who see the mortal world as nothing more than dust to be brushed away. People who see fellow practitioners as prey to be devoured. That’s who you’ll be up against if you go after the Ghost Gate.”
“...Jobaek. Just what are you trying to—”
“Natural-born killers from the dark sects, war-hardened soldiers from the righteous factions, battle-obsessed noble clans—every last one of them is after the Ghost Gate. As long as you don’t compete for it, you’ll avoid clashing with them.”
“Why are you trying to scare him like this?”
Kirieon muttered in a clearly pissed-off voice.
But Jobaek only smiled in response.
That aside, for the sake of gaining a useless spiritual door that meant nothing to me, I was supposed to trek through hell and make enemies of some seriously dangerous people?
Who in their right mind would sign up for something so brainless?
Just as I was thinking that, Jobaek said something… interesting.
“I’m only telling the truth. From my position as a Baekdu, there’s no room for lies.”
Wait—he’s a Baekdu, an elder?
One of the top brass of Cheonji?
The same people who manage the Great Ghost Gate?
And then—something even more shocking came out of his mouth.
“And it’s not like everything ends just because you gain the Gate. Unless it’s a Gate you’ve cultivated yourself, you’ll have to visit the Great Ghost Gate at least once to stabilize it. You’ve heard the rumors, haven’t you? About what lies beyond it?”
I knew what was beyond the Great Gate.
Beyond that gate… was my little sister!
That bastard Joo Chul had said so.
“Because of her, the Great Gate is even more dangerous than hell itself. But if you give up now, you won’t have to enter hell. You won’t clash with mass murderers. You won’t have to set foot near the Gate. And someone else will ascend to the Celestial Realm.”
Jobaek declared.
“And the mortal world… will greet its next tyrant. Someone like that Cheonsu brat who made headlines last year.”
Jobaek grinned wide, waiting for my response.
“So? What’ll it be? Even now, do you still want to take the challenge?”
Of course I do, you crazy bastard.
Seeing Kirieon—founder of the Qigonggong Sect and the Qigong School—treating this Jobaek guy as her equal made it obvious.
He really was one of the Baekdu.
And now this Baekdu was personally giving me the opportunity to pass through the Great Gate? S~eaʀᴄh the NovelZone.fun website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.
Like hell I’d let that go.
“I accept the challenge.”
“Kuh… kuhuhu… HAHAHAHAHA! This is great! This is so great!!!”
Suddenly, Jobaek burst into a manic fit of laughter.
“When I explained the power and authority that comes with the Gate, you rejected it for the sake of a dingy little shop…
But the moment I told you about the ordeal required to gain it, you nodded without hesitation to protect others? That’s the kind of guy you are?”
Jobaek laughed like a madman.
“Ah, seriously… it’s been ages since I met someone this entertaining. Kirieon, I finally get why you like him.”
“...I don’t ‘like’ him.”
“Us Baekdu rarely step outside the Great Gate. So we almost never get to meet kids like this. I heard Gamlo ran into an interesting one during the last trial— Now I kinda want to meet that kid too.”
Jobaek muttered to himself.
“If only the Gate hadn’t cracked back then… I could’ve seen him with my own eyes.”
“Ugh, stop rambling. Time to move.”
Kirieon said bluntly, and Jobaek nodded.
The next moment, Jobaek was gone without a trace.
Kirieon simply stood there with her arms spread, staring at me.
And because she had her arms out like that…
Well, everything from her upper body was completely visible. No obstruction whatsoever.
“What are you doing? Come here.”
“W-Why?”
Without a word, Kirieon yanked me forward.
And then—she pulled me into a full hug.
“Mmph—!”
My entire field of vision vanished.
To be more accurate, I was completely smothered in boing boing.
All I could feel was soft squishiness… and the scent of sweat.
“Hang in there. We’ll be there soon.”
“W-Wait, go where—”
Fwoosh!
My body was suddenly floating.
Actually, no—it had launched into the air.
Holy crap.
Did I just become a Flying Heavenly Demon!?
“We’re heading to my homeland—
To the entrance of Seonnyeohyang, the forbidden realm of absolute no-men-allowed.”
Whhhhhhhhhh—
The wind screamed in my ears as we flew, and Kirieon’s voice echoed beside me.
“A barrier guards the entrance of Seonnyeohyang. If a man crosses it, the barrier will immediately send him to hell.”
A barrier that chucks men straight to hell, no questions asked?
Now that’s intense.
But wait… does that mean—?
Kirieon answered my unspoken question.
“You’ll be going to hell through that barrier.”
---The End Of The Chapter---
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