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The Eight Real Bears, the top most powerful of their clan.
They wanted to eradicate Cheonshin (Heavenly God) and Shinin (Son of God).
However, unlike Shinin who frequently comes and goes into the human world, it was almost impossible to harm Cheonshin who only comes down to earth when the heavens are open.
Since there’s no way for the malicious Bear Clan to be invited to the sky world, they came up with a way to come after Cheonshin from the earth.
The method devised by the Bear Clan was to erase the possibility of Cheonshin’s existence through sacrifices.
However, the Bear Clan failed to erase the existence of Cheonshin and Shinin, both of whom have their names engraved in the founding myth.
As a result two of the Eight Real Bears went insane, and three of them fell into a deep sleep.
In their failure, the item Wealth and Weight of Life was produced, and that was the secret of the Eight Real Bears in the PMH storyline.
‘It’s a fact that the Eight Real Bears failed to erase Cheonshin and Shinin. Cheonshin’s blessings remain, and Shinin reincarnated as a human. They haven’t disappeared. But what if they succeeded in erasing something else? Something we don’t recognize now?’
In having something erased, success nor failure can’t be proven.
Considering the nature of the Wealth and Weight of Life, which takes the price of erasing something, maybe someone from the Eight Real Bears was erased.
Perhaps they were Twelve Real Bears before, just like the Gonryun Twelve of the Gonryun Mountain.
Sidelentium’s words were like a stone thrown into a lake, creating ripples of disruption.
He observed me as if he was watching those ripples spread.
— It’s a possibility. I’ll be looking into it for now.
The item I gave him is powerful in itself, and it could also unravel new things.
His idea is plausible, but perhaps Sidelentium is still thinking about how to proceed with his research.
— This item is like an ‘eraser’, it uses the power of balance to erase possibilities in the human world. But if balance is disrupted through other forces, maybe non-human existences could be erased too?
The time I used the item to erase the energy waves and abilities of the illegal admittees during April Fool’s Day, a superior being covered in pure white bear skin handed over an item, saying that the thing I removed was too insignificant compared to the power of the card that I used.
The item I was given was called The Eraser’s Spare Change.
I used that item to eradicate the energy poison at the shipboard party.
I don’t know if I can describe it as “spare change”, but it was in the context of being a simple unit of value.
Anyway, it was clear that the superior being who handed me the item is consistent with the word that Sidelentium used — eraser.
‘If the eraser, the one who wishes to erase, uses something other than the power of balance…’
Sidelentium seemed to intend to solve this mystery through the Weight of Wealth and Life item card.
I have a playable character who does research on energy items too, and I could use my Player Identity light skill to help to some extent.
But I don’t feel like using it.
‘It’s too inefficient if I participate in the research myself. I’ll have to use all the available time for my light skill every day.’
I can’t invest all of my powers to find something that I don’t even know exists.
Therefore, I need a different method.
‘Let’s think. Is this item really the only clue?’
Cheonshin and Shinin.
The Eight Real Bears.
Something that disappeared.
There aren’t many things that came to mind, but an idea came quickly.
“There could be another clue.”
— Other than the Wealth and Weight of Life? Say it.
“We can assume that something that the Eight Real Bears wanted to get rid of has been erased. If that thing, let’s say X, has been removed, there are two possible reasons.
— What reasons?
“First, the Eight Real Bears are threatened by X and so they tried to get rid of it first. Second, it could be that X is something that protects Cheonshin and Shinin so they decided to erase that instead.
— I think the second reason seems likely.
“I agree. If the reason was the first one, they could’ve gotten rid of Cheonshin and Shinin next.”
Perhaps that X is inferior to Cheonshin and Shinin.
However, it’s clear that X is not an ordinary existence if the Eight Real Bears wanted to eradicate it, or if X truly is something that protects Cheonshin and Shinin.
In other words, whatever the reason is, Z is not an ordinary existence.
But did X really just disappear so easily?
Or perhaps it was only erased from everyone’s perceptions, and it’s still existing with clues that can lead up to it.
While I organized my thoughts, Sidelentium’s lips began to move.
— Do you think it’s possible that it still exists, just that we’re not aware of it?
“Yeah.”
— Something that disappeared so thoroughly that even I, an existence from the demon world, cannot recognize it. Even if your hypothesis is correct, then X is still virtually completely gone.
X, something unknown that even Sidelentium, an existence not from the human world but from the demon world, cannot recognize.
But there are two things that could possibly know what it is.
One is the Transcendent Universe.
‘I can only check the existence of X. I can’t do twenty thousand questions like Hwang Jiho suggested Sanryeong do.’
The other one was me.
I’m not from this world.
Therefore, I’d be less affected by the erasure of X committed by the Eight Real Bears.
“Tell me once you find anything.”
— Your face tells me you’re reliable. Alright.
Sidelentium said so, but it’s possible that this conversation is completely futile.
What if the disappearance of something didn’t happen in the first place?
Then the Eight Real Bears really only wanted to eradicate Cheonshin and Shinin, and though they did their best, they failed.
Sidelentium and I could be wasting our time on something pointless.
‘But now that I’m aware of the possibility, I can’t just ignore it.’
I don’t know if this mission would be meaningful or not, but I can’t feign ignorance because I see the possibility of something, an existence related to Cheonshin and Shinin and by extension the Tiger Clan.
We concluded the conversation, and Sidelentium said one last thing
— Tell my contractor if something happens. It’s a good price for showing me good things through the crow mask. If you want, I’ll even help you, even as something other than a guide.
If I want, huh?
It would be perfect if I could get help from a demon king.
Before I returned to my dormitory, Ryujang called me up and put out a paper bag.
The MITRON paper bag was full of seasonal cakes, pastries, and cookies prepared by him.
He did say he’d give me a present when we got in contact yesterday, and he didn’t fail to prepare it.
I think he prepared a lot more than the items I suggested to him though.
“It’s a gift. Have it with your friends.”
“Thank you.”
“I called in student Jo Euishin when he’s so busy, so this much is the least I can give.”
Busy.
I guess Sidelentium tells Ryujang what he sees through my crow mask.
When I was about to say my final greeting and leave…
“Student Jo Euishin, about the student Bread Shuttle…”
Ryujang suddenly brought up Bang Yoonseob.
The Bbang Shuttle incident was so famous that it’s not strange that Ryujang knows it, and Bang Yoonseob often comes to MITRON to carry out his duties.
Why did he mention him now?
It was out of the blue, but the next words were more so.
“He doesn’t buy cookies nowadays.”
“…Sorry?”
I haven’t told Bang Yoonseob to order cookies though.
No, why is he talking about cookies in the first place?
My questions deepend further.
“He’s been buying cookies a lot recently. The female student often with him likes cookies, you know. They went here together once too.”
…A female student who hangs out with Bang Yoonseob?
Joo Soohyuk and Ahn Dain haven’t even held hands yet, and here Bang Yoonseob is going on dates and buying cookies for a girl?!
From what Ryujang said, it’s possible that Bang Yoonseob simply likes MITRON cookies and maybe he and the female student just came to the same store by coincidence.
However, the Crow Demon King’s agent suggested one more link between Bang Yoonseob’s behavior and the female student.
“Since he stopped buying cookies, his errands for student Jo Euishin have increased significantly. He doesn’t come here with the girl anymore, and he got angry when I mentioned the cookies. Isn’t there a correlation between the two?
…Hearing the story so far, it’s hard to dismiss it as a coincidence.
Has Bang Yoonseob been coping with heartbreak through smoking?
It’s uncool to intervene in someone else’s dating life, but it bothered me somehow.
“It’s easy to be targeted when one’s mind is not stable.”
Ryujang smiled lightly.
“I’ve come to serve Sidelentium-nim with my own will. But usually, the relationship between demons and humans is one-sided.’
The words reminded me of Bang Yoonseob.
Bang Yoonseob wakes up for a while thanks to the Snake Clan’s order and falls into the hands of Joo Soohyuk.
‘Bang Yoonseob got possessed by Indivius.’
Indivius dug into Bang Yoonseob’s deeply rooted jealousy and inferiority complex toward Joo Soohyuk.
A simple broken heart is not the target of the priest of Indivius.
‘Is a different demon going after Bang Yoonseob? Or maybe something else is involved in this heartbreak thing…’
My footsteps as I walked to my dorm were heavy.
It’s possible that the agent just mentioned Bang Yoonseob to disturb my mind, but I couldn’t let go of the incident involving Bang Yoonseob in PMH.
While I was lost in thought about X and Bang Yoonseob…
Dingdong.
A device notification sounded.
I checked my messages right away to cool off my head.
[Yeom Junyeol] Teacher, I want to give you a gift. When can we meet?
Yeom Junyeol sent another message as my sunbae.
[Yeon Junyeol] Euishin-ah, I wanna give you a present. When can I meet you?
Is he going to give me two presents, one as a student and one as a teacher?
One is already enough, and I can’t accept two gifts.
I did my best to be polite, but when I showed a hint of refusing the gift, Yeom Junyeol’s tone visibly went down.
[Yeom Junyeol] It’s a bit shameless to send a gift this late…
[Yeom Junyeol] I’m sorry…
Ah, I made my student say those words!
I really am heaps away from being a good teacher.
In the end, I ended the conversation by saying that I’d be looking forward to his present.
I was relieved only after seeing the stamp that he sent.
It showed Hongryong smiling with both his hands up.
‘I should prepare two gifts for Yeom Junyeol’s next birthday too.’
Yeom Junyeol’s birthday is on February 4th.
There’s still a lot of time left so I can think about it well.
Though there’s a little problem with the timing.
‘The day the Dragon King’s shaman candidate is called to the Dragon Palace is on the first day of the first lunar month next year… That’s on February 12th. It would be on February 5th now since it will be pushed a week earlier.’
If there are no anomalies, I should be at the Dragon Palace on February 4th.
In PMH, Yeom Junyeol was absent in that scenario because he was studying abroad but now is different.
‘I wish Yeom Junyeol won’t be at the palace.’
I should greet him in advance then and ask him not to come to the palace on his birthday.
Monday, after the eventful weekend.
I headed to the Jiikhoe Conference Room.
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