Three Days for a God's Gaze

The initiation ceremony was composed of three stages in total.

"First comes the preliminary briefing, second the preliminary training, and third the main ceremony."

"……."

"…Or so I've been told."

Sizzle—

Yu Seong-un flipped the pork belly and asked,

"That right?"

"Ah, yes. That's correct."

Cha Eun-hyeok, the guardian of the prospective priest—who had briefly been lost in the meat—nodded.

Right after meeting them at the station, Yu Seong-un had decided they needed a place to talk, and under his direction they were now seated at a samgyeopsal restaurant. The enclosed private room was quite quiet and cozy.

"What we'll be hearing today is the preliminary briefing. Starting from the nature of the priest vocation itself, it's a session where they explain what kind of education you'll receive going forward and what sort of priest you can become."

"And the preliminary training is where the prospective priests get separate instruction before the main ceremony?"

"Well, you can't exactly put young children who know nothing through the main ceremony right away. They learn the etiquette to observe and the roles they'll have to fulfill during the ceremony… I think that was it."

Cha Eun-hyeok looked at his little brother, Cha I-sol, and asked,

"You said that right after the preliminary briefing you go into the temporary dormitory and learn the ceremonial etiquette, right?"

"Yeah. They said it takes about a day."

Having said so, Cha I-sol turned toward Yu Seong-un and Seo Ji-oh and grinned bashfully.

"…Yes."

"Ahaha, if it feels awkward, you don't have to force the formal speech."

"I'm good at speaking formally."

"Are you? That's impressive."

Yu Seong-un played along with a smile.

"So the whole event takes two days, then."

"No. One day for the preliminary briefing and training, two days for the main ceremony—three days total, they say."

"The main ceremony takes two whole days? Not my field, so I didn't know, but that's quite a long time."

"To receive a god's gaze, the longer the main ceremony the better, so I suppose that's why."

"That makes sense, then. Come to think of it, the more famous orders do tend to have long initiation ceremonies."

Ji-oh, who had been quiet until then, asked,

"Is a god's gaze absolutely necessary?"

"…Well, if a priest isn't chosen by a god, they can't do much of anything major."

Cha Ah-ra, who had been constantly reading the room in this thoroughly unnatural situation of eating pork belly with something that may or may not have been a monster, picked up the thread.

"Just becoming a priest doesn't mean you always get a chance at a god's gaze. The biggest opportunity is at the initiation ceremony when you're first recognized as a priest, and the rest… what was it again?"

"Basically whenever there's an event. Or if you find an opportunity in a dungeon, or prove your capability as a priest—that raises the odds of catching a god's eye."

"That's what they say, yeah."

While his older sister and brother traded explanations, Cha I-sol—with his soft, fluffy puppy-like hair—shoved a huge mouthful of meat into his cheeks.

"Thish ish sho good."

"Eat plenty."

Yu Seong-un smiled as if he found him adorable. Rural residents rarely got to eat out, so of course the boy was devouring it with relish—but even accounting for that, Cha I-sol ate with a heartwarming appetite.

Just watching him puts you in a good mood.

Ji-oh must have felt something similar; he was particularly diligent about setting meat in front of Cha I-sol.

"Thank you."

"You eat well."

"I eat really well."

"How admirable."

"Ehehe."

The three adults who knew Ji-oh's true nature watched the scene with a complicated feeling. The two Chas especially.

Oh, I-sol…

What are we supposed to do with that friendliness of his.

They had definitely talked about "Black Cloak" over dinner before coming up to Seoul, but looking at this, their little brother clearly had no idea that the "Seo Ji-oh" sitting in front of him and "Black Cloak" were the same person.

"……."

"……."

At the sight of Black Cloak openly doting on Cha I-sol, Cha Ah-ra, Cha Eun-hyeok, and Yu Seong-un exchanged glances.

Does he usually like kids?

Beats me.

Yu Seong-un shook his head, but thinking about it, when Ji-oh had first met Cha Ah-ra he had also been obsessed with feeding her something. He was always giving food as gifts to Yu Seong-un and others, too.

Considering all that, maybe he simply had a strong interest in filling people's stomachs.

"Hmm…"

Well, what was good was good.

"Ji-oh, what do you want to do?"

"Are you asking about the initiation ceremony?"

"It's taking longer than I expected. Are you all right with that?"

Ji-oh always seemed to struggle whenever he was outside the frame.

He's suppressing his rank down to ordinary human level—there's no way that isn't hard.

Even now, Ji-oh was holding his usual rank in check and maintaining an A-class hunter's level. Whether you called it his soul or something more fundamental, there had to be a toll—and Yu Seong-un wasn't sure he could hold out for three whole days.

"I was wondering if it might be too much for you."

"That much is fine."

"Then that's a relief."

Cha Eun-hyeok and Cha Ah-ra made faces of understanding at the exchange, while Cha I-sol—still diligently plucking meat—looked up with a puzzled expression.

"Hyung, you can't stay outside for long?"

"……."

"Is your body weak?"

Cha Eun-hyeok and Cha Ah-ra silently recoiled in horror, but Yu Seong-un, only mildly surprised, decided to watch how things unfolded. He was curious how Ji-oh would handle a young human's questions.

After a brief blank, Ji-oh answered.

"I don't think of my body as weak."

"Then what?"

"In my case, I believe my mind is the weak part."

"You don't seem like it, though?"

"I am making an effort to appear as though nothing is wrong."

Even for Yu Seong-un, that answer was unexpected.

…I'm not sure 'Ji-oh's mind is weak' is something you can really say…

But he thought he understood why Ji-oh had blamed his mind rather than his body.

Lowering one's rank inflicted far more mental agony than physical pain. By human standards, it was the equivalent of enduring having your limbs cut off and being beaten—and that was not something you could call "weak."

Looking at it that way, unlike other beings of the Source, Ji-oh did not seem to regard himself as a powerful existence.

No—more like he can't.

He often showed signs that his personality and memories weren't fully sorted out, so of course self-objectification would be difficult. Like an elephant with bad eyesight that had no idea how big it was.

"Hyung, which god do you serve?"

"God?"

"Yes. I can feel something warm…"

At Cha I-sol's words as he studied Ji-oh, gauging something, Yu Seong-un's eyes went round.

"You can feel that?"

"Huh? Um, yes. It's really warm."

"Oh…"

"Am I not supposed to feel that kind of thing?"

"It's not that, but priests who can sense other people's holy power are rare."

Yu Seong-un waggled his chopsticks.

"Especially a young priest like you with no affiliated divinity."

At that, Ji-oh murmured,

"'Affiliated divinity' makes it sound exactly like a political party."

"It probably is pretty similar? I hear the gods themselves have power struggles and fights over shares. The more believers a god has, the stronger their influence grows, which makes it easier for them to act…"

"They're called gods, but they don't seem to receive treatment as sacred as one would expect."

"Apparently they've taken on a more secular image in recent years since the Great Cataclysm."

Having said so, Yu Seong-un lightly clapped his chopsticks-holding hands together.

"Congratulations, guardians. Young Master Cha I-sol might well receive a god's choice at this initiation."

"Uh… for real?"

"Any god is going to covet good talent. I'm not a priest, so I can't guarantee it, but he looks gifted."

Yu Seong-un added an explanation.

"Holy power is force borrowed from a god in the first place, so unlike mana, it's hard for others to sense."

"Ah…"

"See, I'm an A-class hunter and I didn't even know Ji-oh could use holy power, or what kind of energy it was."

"Oh, so that's how it is…"

Cha Ah-ra looked at Ji-oh with a complicated expression.

I'm not sure it even makes sense for a monster to use holy power…

As if reading her thoughts, Yu Seong-un nodded. But he couldn't say it outright in front of Ji-oh, who believed himself to be human, so he let it pass.

Even through all of that, Cha I-sol remained undaunted.

"So which god does hyung serve?"

"I don't serve any particular god."

Yu Seong-un's face stiffened as he smiled awkwardly and whispered,

"Ji-oh."

"Yes."

"It'd be better to say you have one."

"Why would I say I have one when I don't?"

"Because people usually do."

Whether you were a chosen believer or a devout priest, wielding holy power meant you had received a god's selection in the first place. Claiming to have no god you served, when he had even healed Cha Eun-hyeok with holy power before, made no sense.

From a human perspective, at least.

"……."

"……."

"If you use holy power without serving a god, that just means you're a—"

"Shut it, flower pig."

"Sorry."

At her older brother's wise intervention, Cha Ah-ra shut her mouth.

The only beings who could wield holy power without serving a god were gods themselves. At minimum, it meant an existence of commensurate rank.

My mouth is a liability.

She managed fine in front of other hunters—so why did her tongue always run free only in front of Black Cloak?

While Cha Ah-ra quietly trembled in the eyes, Cha Eun-hyeok was also forcing himself to collect his wits.

…He's so completely different from any image or atmosphere I've ever associated with a "god" that I thought, surely not, not this one… but at this point, when they introduced Black Cloak to Cha Ah-ra as a monster you could talk to, wasn't that already wildly blasphemous?

So last night's suspicions—bordering on delusional paranoia—had been right? Cha Eun-hyeok was hit with profound shock and a sense of futility at a world that just kept careening however it pleased.

I really didn't need to know the truth about an existence this enormous.

He was thoroughly exhausted, but the youngest person present, Cha I-sol, remained brightly cheerful regardless.

"Whoa, so you can have holy power even without serving a god!"

No, you can't.

This guy is the weird one.

Why was he sitting here pretending to be human?

Cha Ah-ra, a porter hunter who had already seen everything there was to see, and Cha Eun-hyeok, who had been able to see strange beings since childhood, both expertly swallowed their true thoughts.

That said, they didn't bolt from their seats in horror. In this day and age, "gods" were about on the level of dragons who enjoyed playing at medieval fantasy. Eccentric deities who disguised themselves as humans or monsters to enjoy life on Earth made the news often enough.

"……."

Unlike the two Chas, who somehow managed to accept the situation, Yu Seong-un had his own complicated feelings.

…I knew Ji-oh was an existence deeply connected to the Source, but even so, having holy power is…

Yu Seong-un swallowed a quiet sigh.

It's a little strange. Simply having a high rank doesn't mean you can take on divinity.

Could it be related to Ji-oh's personality as well?

I still have no idea what kind of being he is.

Yu Seong-un scratched his neck.

He had known for a long time that Ji-oh was clumsy at imitating humans. Cha Ah-ra, who had been dragged all the way into Ji-oh's dungeon, and Cha Eun-hyeok, who seemed to have roughly caught on as well—at this point, what was the use of trying to hide anything more?

"……."

Perhaps sensing how quickly the atmosphere had turned awkward, Black Cloak looked awkward right along with them.

Don't look awkward.

If you start acting awkward too, the mood only gets worse.

Hesitating, Ji-oh said,

"…I also have a god I serve."

"Now you do?"

"What do you mean by that?"

"Uh, nothing, I was just saying."

Having dealt with the capricious, stubborn Children of the Source before, Yu Seong-un simply smiled cleanly and played along with Ji-oh. He had no desire to anger an unidentified existence whose true nature still hadn't been pinned down.

"So which god?"

"The Sun God."

"Right, that is the most common one…"

The Sun Church was a religion that had appeared all across the world even on Earth. In this small country alone there were over fifty Sun Temples. Plenty of people thought of it as a religion that had existed since before the Great Cataclysm.

And that also made it the perfect cover for saying, "Yeah, I'm a Sun believer," and lying about it.

"Ah, so that's why it was warm."

Only Cha I-sol bought into Ji-oh's words.

"I like the Sun God too."

"Thank you."

Why are you the one thanking him.

Does he genuinely have no intention of hiding his identity?

Cha Eun-hyeok nearly choked. For the first time in his life eating at a restaurant, he couldn't taste the food.

In truth, the reason Ji-oh had said thank you was because he had thought of the old gentleman resting in the master bedroom of his cabin.

Father will be pleased.

He had already been feeling sorry for the teddy bear, dejected from having so few believers—so feeling grateful toward Cha I-sol for saying he liked the Sun God was only natural for a son.

"Would it be all right if I introduced you to a Sun God of my acquaintance?"

"Hold on a second, Ji-oh."

Yu Seong-un hit the brakes.

"You should give Young Master Cha I-sol a chance to catch other gods' eyes too."

"I only said I would introduce him…"

"Why are you introducing him in the first place."

"Isn't it good to make more friends?"

"Can a god and Young Master Cha I-sol become friends?"

"Why not?"

"Oh…"

Ji-oh had simply been thinking of introducing the lonely teddy bear growing old by himself—but from the adults' perspective, who knew nothing of those circumstances, it sounded like he had said, "I'm basically the Sun God, and I want to make you my friend."

He really has an absurd lack of prejudice.

This was absolutely not a conversation to have at a pork belly restaurant.

"…Ji-oh, you really have a big heart."

"Thank you."

"Right. Let's eat."

He needed to get the initiation ceremony over with and send him back into the frame as soon as possible.

"……."

Bi Sa-beol blinked at the text that had come from Yu Seong-un.

"…The Sun God, is it."

He hadn't particularly expected that side of things.

I never sensed divinity from Ji-oh's portrait in the first place. The correct way to see it is that you can't feel it unless he deliberately shows it himself.

Besides, pinning Ji-oh's identity down as a "god" was far too unstable.

"That can't be the whole of it."

His divinity was only one of the many traits Ji-oh possessed.

He remained a confusing existence. He had the characteristics of a monster, the ambiguous qualities of the Children of the Source, and—if Yu Seong-un was right—the divine rank of a god as well.

"And at the same time, he resembles a human."

Sometimes he became a monster. Sometimes he became a human. In that case, sometimes he could also become a god. As if everything in the world were merely a derivative of him.

…But if you follow that logic…

In other words, it meant Ji-oh was the "Source" of all things in the world.

"……."

The Source.

"…Hmm."

Was there a possibility that it was a personified being?

If Ji-oh would just cause a slightly bigger incident, they could find out for certain—but for now, he could only regret how precious Ji-oh's goodwill remained.

(To be continued)