Support Ex-Rank
A time on earth when the world was filled with myths and mysteries.
The Dragon King granted the Cintamani, a stone that grants wishes.
Some were cured of diseases deemed incurable, some were blessed with enormous wealth.
Of course, wishes didn’t always come true the way the wisher wants them to.
Those who wished for eternal life became stone statues and stood on the ground forever, and those who wanted fame became notorious and were executed.
When the wishes of humans were fulfilled, mountain spirits and sky spirits who witnessed them would spread the word, and the reputation of the Cintamani increased.
The Cintamani, which the Dragon King cherished, gained life.
The Dragon King closed his eyes and spoke to the Cintamani.
[Open your eyes.]
The Cintamani opened his eyes, their color a shade of jade.
His features were beautiful, and his jade hair and eyes shone like jewels.
When their eyes met, the Cintamani smiled and spoke.
— Whose wish shall I grant this time?
The Cintamani gained life and was interested in the joys and sorrows of beings who had emotions.
After gaining life, the Cintamani seemed to want to observe those beings by fulfilling their wishes.
The Dragon King saw through his essence based on his words and expressions.
His essence was amusement.
The Cintamani cannot live without amusement and joy.
Therefore, the Dragon King decided that it would be better for him to live on Earth rather than stay with him.
[You can do whatever you want.]
The Cintamani’s laughter deepened at the Dragon King’s words.
He seemed very happy to gain his freedom.
When he was about to leave his hands, the Dragon King advised the Cintamani.
[Remember that there’s a wish that you can’t fulfill on your own.]
The Cintamani couldn’t exert the same powers as before.
If he makes an undeserved wish come true, his spirit will be cut and his body will collapse.
Wishes related to life can be fulfilled only if the party wants to.
But despite the restrictions, the Cintamani was happy.
He enjoyed a cruise setting off from the Dragon Palace.
Looking around the continent and beyond the sea, the Cintamani reached the Korean Peninsula.
He heard what happened to the land from a mountain spirit and a sky spirit, both liking chatting with the dragon staying on the Peninsula.
‘Cheonshin and Shinin, the opposition between Tigers and Bears, foreign enemies…’
While the Cintamani enjoyed his time touring continents, many things happened on the Korean Peninsula.
Belatedly hearing the story, the Cintamani was disappointed that he hadn’t arrived sooner.
Even if he’s late, he decided to meddle in the situation.
He toured the land around the base of the Dragon Clan and spent his time observing the Tiger and Bear clans.
For a smooth observation, the Cintamani drew a line between the two clans.
However, not long after the war, the clans grew wary of him.
Time went by with them rarely having a point of contact.
Then, one day, the Cintamani encountered a young descendant who escaped the Tiger Clan’s territory.
‘That child is the descendant of the Tiger and Bear clan that I heard about.’
The red-haired descendant had a very fine face.
His right eye had a single eyelid that gave a neat impression, while his double-eyelid left eye gave a deep impression.
The Cintamani felt excited about what story might be hidden behind the face of the boy.
He waited for the descendant to find him and talk to him, but the boy just passed by.
The boy seemed preoccupied with something.
The Cintamani didn’t give up and followed the boy.
The place where they arrived was unexpected.
The boy was headed to the stronghold of the Dragon Clan.
‘He’s coming to our base. Does he have a business to do there?’
Then why didn’t the boy acknowledge him?
When he decided to treat the boy as a guest even if it’s possible that he was just lost, something unexpected occurred.
Just before they entered Dragon Clan’s territory, someone kidnapped the boy.
The boy resisted fiercely, but when he saw his opponent’s face, he looked devastated and was immediately subdued.
Those who kidnapped the boy began to move, carefully erasing their traces.
‘If that child disappears like this, it will appear that he disappeared from the Dragon Clan’s territory.’
The kidnapped boy is a descendant of the Tiger and Bear clans, but Hwangho, the head of the Tiger Clan, declared him a tiger descendant.
If anything happens to the boy, Hwangho would put his foot down and show the world the wrath of the Tiger Clan.
It was obvious what the Tiger Clan would do if it appears that the Dragon Clan harmed their descendant.
The Cintamani observed the Tiger Clan for a long time already.
He realized that his actions could be deemed suspicious.
Someone was trying to drive a wedge between the Dragon and Tiger clans.
At this evil scheme, the Cintamani rejoiced.
‘I have a reason to intervene!’
The Dragon Clan was at stake, so the Cintamani was able to move with a clear conscience.
He immediately followed the kidnapped boy, leading him to a hidden village of the Bear Clan.
The boy’s kidnapping seemed to be the fruit of the feud between the two clans.
Though the one who lured the boy using Ungnyeo’s name didn’t seem to be a bear.
— Hi?
After the Cintamani rescued the boy and escaped the village.
The deeply heartbroken boy didn’t respond.
The Cintamani suspected that it was out of desperation that the boy followed the man without suspicion.
He wanted to talk to the boy more, but his spirit didn’t live when he held onto the depressed child.
The Cintamani thought he should postpone talking to the boy.
— I’ll pray for you.
— …Where?
The boy spoke for the first time.
Although the boy’s voice was gloomy, the Cintamani listened, thinking that his voice was pleasant to the ear.
— There’s no one waiting for me anyway. My father is tied up, and my mother doesn’t want to see me…
The boy, who was much shorter than the Cintamani, bowed his head.
Perhaps his impressive eyes were filled with tears.
— …I don’t even have friends now.
A strong sense of betrayal and sadness was in the boy’s shaking voice.
The man who tried to kidnap him must be the only one that the boy considered a friend.
In the spur of the moment, the Cintamani decided to grant the sorrowful boy’s wish.
— I’m a magic stone. Why don’t you make a wish to have a friend?
The boy’s father is Jeokho, and his mother is Ungnyeo.
It was impossible to do anything about those two, but the Cintamani thought that he could fulfill the boy’s wish to have a friend.
After much consideration, the boy shook his head.
— I won’t make a wish. My fa— Jeokho-nim didn’t make friends by making a wish.
The boy’s admiration and pride in his father were felt in his voice.
The Cintamani adored the boy more and more.
He was interesting because no one had ever rejected his offer to grant a wish before.
So Cintamani made a proposal.
— Then I’ll be your friend.
— I don’t know your name though.
— Everyone calls me Cintamani.
— Is that a name?
— I do have a true name. But I can’t tell you.
The boy thought for a moment.
— I don’t want to call you “Cintamani.” It’s equivalent to you calling me “descendant” or “tiger”
There’s only one Cintamani on this earth.
He wasn’t difficult to distinguish, so he didn’t feel the need to make a name.
However, from the boy’s words, he began to want a name.
— Then let’s make a name. I want to be your friend, so I want our names to be a bit similar. Your father’s friends have names similar to his, right? What’s your name?
The boy raised his head when asked for his name.
He had a rather bright look on his face.
The Tiger Clan — Jeokho, Baekho, Hwangho, Cheongho — all have ho (tiger) in their names.
The boy seemed inwardly envious of having friends with a similar name.
The boy immediately said his name.
— Everyone calls me Jeho. Je, meaning orange-red silk, and Ho meaning tiger.
After hearing the name Jeho, the Cintamani replied.
— I’m a dragon, not a tiger, so I think I can’t use the character Ho. I’ll use Je from your name. What should the other syllable be?
He thought about putting Yong (dragon) as the second character, but the name Red Dragon wouldn’t suit him since he’s a jade dragon.
While the Cintamani was agonizing, the young Jeho suggested.
— Since you came from the sky, how about Gun meaning sky?
The Cintamani used his flying skills to rescue the boy.
From Jeho’s point of view, it would’ve looked like the Cintamani came from the heavens.
The Dragon Palace from where the Dragon King descends is on the sea floor so it’s not correct to say that the Cintamani came down from the sky, but he decided to use the name given to him by the boy.
—…Thanks for saving me.
When they approached the home of the Tiger Clan, Jeho said so and ran away.
Receiving a word of gratitude from the young Jeho, the Cintamani unconsciously looked ecstatic.
Seeing that attitude, he thought he could really be friends with Jeho.
After that day, the Cintamani began to call himself Yong Jegun, and the two became friends.
Jeho was reluctant to share a similar name with his father, so he uses pseudo-names instead.
He and Yong Jegun were close enough that he lets him choose his name.
Then one day, a woman wrapped in red clothes came to visit Yong Jegun.
It was Ungnyeo, Jeho’s mother.
— I heard you’re looking for a point of contact with the Bear Clan.
It was Ungnyeo who offered a deal.
Famous as the Cintamani and the Dragon of Amusement, the mother must’ve been worried that her son would suffer from being friends with him.
Ungnyeo must’ve been worried because she saw her son be deceived by someone he considered a friend before.
So Ungnyeo wanted to tie Yong Jegun to a deal.
‘There’s no need for that though.’
Yong Jegun already considered Jeho as his friend.
However, since things turned out that way, Yong Jegun decided to take the deal.
Something pleasant must’ve happened if the Bear Clan’s pride and the line were put together.
— Okay. In exchange, can you let me know if there’s anything amusing happening?
Despite the transaction between Yong Jegun and Ungnyeo, his friendship with Jeho continued.
Jeho eventually became a teacher, and Yong Jegun, who seemed to be interested, became one too.
They remained like that until the day Jeho became Kim Shinrok.
‘I wonder what kind of kids will come this year? Shinrok will be a homeroom teacher for a freshman class.’
Kim Shinrok will serve as the adviser of Jiikhoe and a homeroom teacher of a freshman class.
He gave Sung Siwan the idea, and the student immediately came to ask Kim Shinrok to be their adviser.
Sung Siwan was the cousin of Sung Gukeon, an old student of Kim Shinrok.
Perhaps that might lead to a reuniting of the two.
‘It would be nice if he could reconcile with his old student and maybe his father too.’
He especially hoped that Kim Shinrok would make up with his father, knowing that Kim Shinrok would be very happy if that happened.
He felt good at the thought of making fun of Kim Shinrok with all his strength.
‘That father and son care about each other so much so I’m sure they’ll make up one day.’
But the day that Yong Jegun awaited didn’t come.
On the day of Eungwang High’s practical exam, Yong Jegun heard the obituary of his only friend.
Support Ex-Rank
