In an annex of the Hwangmyeong Mansion.
Hwang Jiho guided us out of the maze garden and into the annex instead of the mansion’s main building.
Among the annexes of various styles, he led us to one with modern structures and had the latest facilities.
I had a rough guess as to why we came here instead of the main house.
‘It could be because of Cheon Dongha, but the biggest thing we need to avoid is encountering the descendants.’
The descendants are Silver Tiger’s grandchildren.
But since they’ve never seen his face, it doesn’t seem to be a good idea for them to meet at this time.
‘I guess he doesn’t wish for Silver Tiger to face his descendants right away. I bet Silver Tiger nor his descendants know yet, so… It’s better to give it some time.’
Even though 16-year-old Eun Seho, the oldest of the three, is already grown up, it’s impossible for Silver Tiger to know their existence since he’s been asleep for a long time.
Cheon Sungheon played the PMH game, but the descendants weren’t mentioned in that.
Meeting now would only cause further confusion.
Both Silver Tiger and his grandchildren aren’t ready so it would be best for both of them to push their meeting back.
“Sit comfortably.”
At Hwang Jiho’s words, Silver Tiger, who was walking with a straight posture, settled down naturally.
There seemed to be no problem at first glance, but I saw a hint of silver energy wave glimmering and then disappearing.
‘He needs energy wave to assist him in walking.’
He didn’t lean on any of the tigers while moving here.
I wonder if his physical condition is really intact.
It’s inevitable since he’s been asleep for a long time.
‘More than the tigers, I think Cheon Dongha is worried the most about Silver Tiger.’
The tigers left him alone because they knew that Silver Tiger was trying to walk on his own, but Cheon Dongha looked impossibly restless.
Relief only came to him after we all settled down.
“You look used to this.”
Hwang Jiho said as he poured a baekmokdan tea into a silver teacup.
Hearing that made me realize another reason why Hwang Jiho brought us to a modern building and not to the hanok.
“You weren’t flustered by the air shuttle, and you naturally adjusted to the sofa’s backrest after sitting down. I don’t think you’ve encountered modern culture simply by wisdom.”
The world that Cheon Sungheon and I were in had advanced technology, although not as advanced as in this world.
“Yes, I’ve got used to it thanks to my hands-on experience.”
The tigers had a complicated expression at Silver Tiger’s words.
Rightfully so since they know that Silver Tiger has been asleep since the age of legend.
“Tell us what happened to you.”
Silver Tiger politely took a sip of tea and spoke.
“After I fell asleep, my soul went through reincarnation for a long time. I don’t remember it as clearly as I did before, but I do recognize it vaguely.”
Silver Tiger started the story from after he fell asleep.
He mentioned briefly the previous lives he remembered, but none of them were light.
His experiences were heavy enough to make the expressionless White Tiger’s face look dim.
“…Having committed a great crime, the lives I lived after reincarnation did not last very long. My soul also wandered far away from this world, so even if the Heavenly God tried to show mercy, he couldn’t reach me.”
“A world different from this one…”
Hwang Jiho looked at me as he said those words, his gaze full of meaning.
I ignored him and his attention went back to Silver Tiger.
“The Heavenly God tried to show mercy?”
“Yes. He came to me in a different world through dreams. There are boundaries in every world, but people’s dreams are always connected.”
Silver Tiger said those words as he looked at me.
“Do you remember, Euishin hyung? I told you I always had the same dream. The one in my dreams was the Heavenly God.”
I remember Cheon Sungheon saying that.
Cheon Sungheon seldom dreams, but it was always the same thing.
‘He said someone was looking down at him. So that was the Heavenly God…!’
Some time after I came to this world, I began to see it as something other than the ‘game world’ of PMH.
— I didn’t come into the game.
— You, who can only interfere in a limited way, called me from a different dimension. You left one of the “supporting roles” in this game vacant. By changing my information, you organized the past to accommodate me, give me powers like the ones in the game, and the ability to change this world’s future.
The transcendent universe affirmed my statements.
At that point, I’d already figured out that PMH wasn’t just a game.
Still, it was surprising that a small talk with my hoobae in the previous world was actually a clue to this one.
‘Wait a second, come to think of it…’
I recalled the first time I communicated with the transcendent universe.
— Was that failed game the selection process to bringing someone here?
The transcendent universe didn’t respond at that time.
The assumption that I didn’t come to a game dimension and the reasoning why the transcendent universe called me to this world finally made sense.
“Euishin hyung?”
Silver Tiger’s voice brought me back.
The tigers and Cheon Dongha were also anxiously looking at me.
“I remember. You told me because I said that I’m someone who doesn’t dream.”
“Yes…! You remember!”
Silver Tiger looked happy, and his tone and expression were the exact same as Cheon Sungheon’s.
After that, he briefly explained the situation.
The main gist was that he was Silver Tiger, Cheon Sungheon, and Cheon Eunha.
The image of Silver Tiger explaining things one by one reminded me of one of Cheon Sungheon’s presentations in college.
Except for the silver hair, everything down to his expression was the same.
‘The more I listen, the more I feel like it’s Sungheon who’s talking. He’s really him.’
Silver Tiger finished explaining and thanked the tigers for protecting his body, and me and Cheon Dongha for treating him as our dongsaeng.
Still, his stories gave way to a lot of questions.
Considering the time he was asleep, it was impossible to understand everything that happened to him right away.
Cheon Dongha was the first one to ask.
“Can I ask something?”
“Go ahead, Dongha hyung.”
He seemed to be asking both me and Silver Tiger.
“You and Euishin have met before. Was it before you had LIS? When your name was still Sungheon?”
Cheon Dongha seemed to care more about the relationship between his hoobae and his brother more than the age of myth.
His face was still complex.
“I did some research on Eunha before he got LIS. The records all felt like they were processed in some way. I thought they were incomplete or fabricated.”
It didn’t cross Cheon Dongha’s mind that I was from another world.
His conclusion was that all of the important things that happened were omitted from records, but parts of what he asked were true.
‘I think this should be the line. I don’t want Cheon Dongha to step into more dangerous and complicated things.’
Silver Tiger must’ve felt the same way as he only gave the half-truth and omitted a lot of facts.
“Doing a background check on Cheon Eunha wouldn’t show records of him being Cheon Sungheon or meeting Euishin hyung.”
“So you didn’t want me to bring Euishin because you were afraid that he would be worried?”
“Yes. I’m sorry I couldn’t tell you.”
“No, it was impossible to tell me then. I see…”
Cheon Dongha nodded, looking convinced.
He seemed to think that it wasn’t strange for Cheon Eunha to live under a different name and interact with others since he was a hidden, illegitimate child of a chaebol family.
“Let’s leave our conversation to that for now. Everyone looks exhausted.”
“Yes. Yellow Tiger-nim said that there wasn’t any big problem with Euishin hyung when he examined him, but I think everyone needs some rest.”
Are they saying that because I spaced out and replied late earlier?
Silver Tiger agreed with Hwang Jiho and no one else complained.
“First of all, Silver Tiger, use this building as your temporary residence. Feel free to tell me if you need anything.”
“You don’t have to do that. My place of residence is yet to be decided.”
“What do you mean? It makes it sound like you don’t want to stay here.”
“If Dongha hyung permits, I would like to live as Cheon Eunha.”
Everyone looked surprised.
“As Cheon Eunha, I want to enter Eungwang High next year and become a dormitory student.”
“You want to enter Eungwang High? If you are worried about your status, the Tiger Clan can easily arrange it.”
Hwang Jiho didn’t seem to like the idea of Silver Tiger living as Cheon Eunha.
Silver Tiger shook his head at the offer.
“It would be best for everyone else to assume that Silver Tiger is still asleep. Not many people would suspect the illegitimate child of the Cheon family is actually Silver Tiger. Considering the future, it would be better for me to live as Cheon Eunha.”
The response was divided into Silver Tiger’s words.
Cheon Dongha seemed to welcome the idea, while the tigers looked disappointed.
“Have you read the tianji? This age is different from the age of myth, and there are too many variables too…”
“I do not have the ability to see the future anymore. I was punished for a crime for going against what was fated to happen.”
Silver Tiger spoke flatly as he looked at me.
“However, I know what is going to happen in the future. Not as much as Euishin hyung knows though.”
***
“What about Euishin hyung?”
“White Tiger will keep an eye on him. It’ll be alright.”
“It’s a relief then, knowing that White Tiger hyungnim will look after him.”
About an hour ago, Cheon Dongha and Red Tiger left the mansion to prepare everything that’s needed for Silver Tiger to live as Cheon Eunha.
Jo Euishin said that he’d stay in his dorm to rest his worn-out body, but with just one word from the soft-spoken Silver Tiger, he had his tail between his legs and decided to stay at the mansion.
Yellow Tiger was pleased that there was one more method to hold Jo Euishin to his mansion, but the fact that it was the person he respected the most didn’t quite sit well with him.
“Yellow Tiger-nim, what happened after I fell asleep?”
“Don’t you know everything?”
“What I know is limited.”
Yellow Tiger was curious about the limited things that Silve Tiger knew, but he decided to answer his question first.
He explained at length what happened after Silver Tiger fell asleep.
The story of the days when the Heavenly God’s voice gradually faded wasn’t very pleasant.
When they got to the part about Blue Tiger and the Son of God…
Clank.
“…Blue Tiger-nim became ‘Hani’ and Son of God became ‘Gong Cheonghwon’?”
Silver Tiger, who has extensive knowledge and respect for the tea ceremony and etiquette, must’ve been so agitated that he clanked his cup noisily.
He looked surprised that they became human, but it seems like he already knew who Hani and Gong Cheonghwon were.
“The important parts are all roughly mentioned, so it’s my turn to ask you a question.”
“If it is about my sin, I would like to tell it next time when all the other tigers are here.”
“I am going to ask something else. It’s about your life as Sungheon.”
At Yellow Tiger’s words, Silver Tiger put down his teacup, this time silently.
“Yellow Tiger-nim must’ve approached the high school student Euishin hyung because you were curious about his identity, right? I would like to hear how far you’ve guessed.”
“At first, I thought he might be from the future. But then, that possibility was completely erased.”
“Why? Euishin hyung must’ve acted as if he knew the future.”
“Yes. But he can’t be from the future. Because Jo Euishin doesn’t exist in the future that he knows, the future that he showed.”
Yellow Tiger spoke in a confident tone.
“Jo Euishin must’ve existed in a different world, and that’s where the two of you met. You observed the future of this world in that place, didn’t you?”
