The Ones Named Ji-oh

"I've been curious about this for a while."

Arriving at the hotel, Yu Seong-un asked,

"Are your personalities split?"

"Whether my personalities are split, you say."

"I mean, like, multiple personalities or something."

"……."

Perched on the edge of the bed, Ji-oh pondered for a moment before tilting his head.

"I don't know."

"…Really?"

"But I do know that I change from time to time."

Ji-oh pushed back the black hood that had completely covered his face. As usual, Honey, who had been hiding inside, tumbled out with a soft thump and rolled onto the bed. Ji-oh scooped the little creature into his hand.

Right after, Ji-oh's "color" changed.

"……."

"……."

Platinum blond hair close to silver, and emerald eyes that resembled the sea of a famous resort.

"…Uh…."

Even the expression that had been nothing but gloomy and calm took on life.

It was the face of someone very gentle and mature. In the way he grinned so openly, one could also sense a grown-up playfulness.

"…So, does that mean the personality changed?"

"I don't think of this as a change of personality."

Ji-oh's way of speaking was still formal and measured. Yet unlike the earlier flatness that had sounded like a machine spitting out programmed words, his voice now held calm rises and falls.

"Because even now, I am still 'Ji-oh.'"

And yet the black-cloaked figure's words were true.

"……."

Yu Seong-un asked,

"…How many of those 'Ji-ohs' are there?"

"As far as I know, three for now."

"I see."

He could be certain of one thing.

There's Ji-oh's portrait at the center, and countless personalities together inside it.

How that was even possible was something he would only understand after hearing more of the story.

"The current Ji-oh… can I just call you Ji-oh?"

"It doesn't matter. I was called that before as well."

"If you 'were called that,' does that mean you have a real name separate from it?"

"It's not quite at the level of an alias or true name."

The Ji-oh tinged with pale colors looked like a thoroughly polite and refined noble, yet the faint smile that sometimes crossed his face let one sense a lighthearted cheer. It was a completely different impression from the "Seo Ji-oh" who felt heavier than a thousand-keun weight.

"At one time, in this form, I used the name 'Giovanni.'"

Should one say he looked like a warm, gentle, healthy and sturdy young man? The sort who would be doted on by elders wherever he went and would make plenty of friends.

"When people called me 'Ji-oh,' it was nothing more than a nickname. So it isn't strange for you to call me Ji-oh either, Mr. Yu Seong-un."

"…But that means you're a different person from 'Seo Ji-oh,' right?"

"Someone who resembles him a great deal, yet is an entirely different person. Right now we are simply one, but in the past it was that way."

"…I see…."

In that case, the probability that a person named "Seo Ji-oh" had actually existed on this Earth rose as well.

I'll have to talk this part over with the guildmaster. He seemed to be investigating something, so he might already have information.

While turning over the guildmaster, who grew strangely dank in unexpected places, Yu Seong-un soon arrived at a conjecture.

If Ji-oh's portrait is… repeating death and resurrection?

The existence of dungeons and the Source had already made clear that this world contained dimensions beyond Earth.

In that case, the "Giovanni" before his eyes might have been a kind of "Ji-oh's portrait" who had lived in another dimension.

…If I look at it that way, it also explains why the personality of the portrait called Ji-oh sits at the center. After finishing one life he returns to the state of a portrait and slowly reviews his previous personality…

Ji-oh had clearly said, "As far as I know, three for now." That meant more personalities could exist, and that Ji-oh himself was aware of the possibility.

If Yu Seong-un's own conjecture was correct, then how long would this portrait's personality review continue? Did it ever end? And if it happened to review a personality that harbored hostility toward humans….

"……."

No—this was still nothing more than idle fancy.

…But I understand at least that there is a center called Ji-oh's portrait, and that countless personalities named Ji-oh exist around it. That's reason enough to be prepared.

Yu Seong-un rolled his eyes.

If this is a situation where those countless personalities can be thought of as a kind of past lives for this portrait, then it also explains the mindset that lets him define himself simply as Ji-oh despite all of them.

Having finished a simple sorting of his thoughts, Yu Seong-un asked,

"…Then is there anything I should be careful about? Even if Seo Ji-oh likes sweet potatoes, Giovanni might hate them. If you could tell me points like that I should keep in mind, I'd appreciate it."

"I don't think there are any major points to watch out for."

"But, well, you know. If we set up something like rules, I can be more polite too… so we can both feel at ease in advance."

"Mm…."

Whether that nature sensitive to manners and good and evil remained even through changes of personality, fortunately Yu Seong-un's words got through. After a brief consideration, the pale yet gentle-toned young man answered.

"I find it hard to leave a patient alone when I see one."

"…Oh?"

Come to think of it, he had checked on Cha Eun-hyeok's condition after the man had been chewed on by Honey before.

"Did you say you were a doctor? No, a priest?"

"Both are correct. As a priest I also performed a doctor's work. I went further and built a hospital in a rural village and traveled around treating people."

"That's impressive."

"To be honest, even if you ask me for rules right now, nothing particular comes to mind."

The young man gave an awkward smile and continued.

"Something like hoping you wouldn't insult the Sun God in front of me, I suppose?"

"Speaking ill of someone is rude. I'll be careful so nothing like that happens."

"Thank you. And…."

"And?"

"……."

As if recalling something, Giovanni said,

"I might be a little sensitive about mermaids."

"…Mermaids?"

Come to think of it, even on Ji-oh's first sightseeing trip he had rarely brought up the topic of "mermaids." Under a reasonably logical inference, Yu Seong-un asked,

"When you were Giovanni, did you live with mermaids?"

"Yes. It was a world where the two races, humans and mermaids, lived together."

"In what sense are you sensitive?"

"In many ways…."

Ji-oh shrugged.

"I was eaten by a mermaid and died."

Just as Yu Seong-un was thinking that was certainly a topic one might feel sensitive about, Ji-oh continued in the same neat voice.

"But it wasn't because that child wanted to."

"……."

"At the time, humans and mermaids were in great conflict, and my students and I were captured for the crime of having formed bonds and received absurd punishments."

"…So that mermaid child ate you?"

"He must have been hungry."

He added a composed smile.

"I was already dying as well."

"…I wasn't planning on hearing about your death like this…."

"Was it a sudden story?"

"A little, yeah."

"I don't remember it well either."

At those words the color drained in an instant, and Ji-oh returned to shadow-like black. It was the person Yu Seong-un knew well—the "Ji-oh's portrait" and "Seo Ji-oh."

With an impression sunk cold and without a trace of a smile, Ji-oh continued,

"I'm still in the middle of recalling them."

"So you take time and gradually recall the memories of the personalities like that?"

"There are times when I get confused. Whether I liked the sea, or whether I hated swimming. Those trivial parts sometimes clash among the 'Ji-ohs.'"

"That really sounds like a headache—are you okay…?"

"It isn't as confusing a process as you think."

Ji-oh's voice was heavy and calm.

"It's closer to recalling forgotten childhood memories."

"Then that's a relief."

Suddenly Yu Seong-un thought he understood where the heavy silence he felt from Ji-oh came from.

…This portrait was forged from so many deaths I can't even imagine.

So of course he would be this heavy and quiet.

Because death was that kind of thing.

"……."

His mind.

Rose to the surface of the water.

"…Ah…."

He saw the sun.

"……."

"Excuse me, are you all right?"

A young voice reached him.

"Can you breathe?"

"…Cough, ahem."

"Thank goodness, you're awake."

"……."

When he opened his eyes he saw pure white pupils.

Eyes holding the mysterious color of pearls—something only mermaids possessed.

"…A mermaid?"

"Please don't worry. I have no intention of harming you."

"Why am I here…."

Only then did his mind clear.

"Ah."

He had gone out to the sea and been seized by some mermaid and dragged under.

"Did you save me?"

"Ah, yes."

The mermaid who appeared to be male spoke with apology on his youthful face.

"I'm sorry. The one who dragged you into the sea was my older sister."

"I've never heard stories of mermaids eating humans… Wasn't that a superstition?"

"It is a superstition. She didn't drag you away to eat you. It's just that my sister is very curious about humans, so she seems to have pulled you in to observe or analyze you more closely."

"Thanks to that I thought I was going to die, but I survived. Thank you for the kindness."

The young mermaid seemed to have expected him to get angry, but he wasn't particularly angry. Not only had there been no malice in the mermaid who had dragged him under the sea, he also recalled how very young she had been.

Even if humans and mermaids were said to have a rather bad relationship, he held no ill will toward mermaids. Especially since mermaids possessed different ways of thinking and emotional systems from humans, it wasn't strange for them to suddenly drag a human into the sea.

"Mm…."

Looking around, he found it was the same beach where he had first been walking.

"You brought me all the way here."

"Since my sister caused you trouble, ensuring your minimum safety is only natural."

"I understand well that meeting such a kind mermaid is tremendous luck."

After all, he had nearly died.

"However, there is a village nearby. You look like a considerably young individual even among mermaids, so if you stay here too long people might attack you."

"Ah, there was a village here?"

"Yes. Because three people recently lost family members to mermaids, they're quite worked up. If they see a young mermaid like you they'll try to take out their resentment on you… I'm grateful for the goodwill you've shown, but it would be better if you returned quickly."

"Thank you for giving me information necessary to protect myself."

The young mermaid seemed very happy, as if this were his first exchange with a human.

"I'm glad the first human I've spoken with is such a good person. Do you live in this village?"

"I was looking around thinking I might settle here. I'm a priest who left the temple to open a hospital, but mermaids don't like devotees of the Sun God much, do they?"

"My sister and I don't care about such things."

Mermaids served the god of the deep sea, and humans served the Sun God.

With different thoughts and different diets, humans and mermaids easily caused large and small conflicts, so this moderate conversation between them was like a miracle.

Perhaps the young mermaid did not want to let that small miracle slip away.

"My name is Iser. May I come visit you from time to time? If it's all right, I'll bring my sister as well and formally apologize."

"Iser… that's the language of the sea for the Milky Way. A good name."

The weak had to be protected and treated kindly. Even if the subject was not human but a mermaid, the warmth of the sun could reach anywhere.

"My name is Giovanni."

That was how Giovanni formed bonds with the young mermaids.

It had been a happy time.

"……."

Lying on the hotel bed, Giovanni blinked his eyes.

"…Ah…."

He was crying.

This, too, must be lingering attachment.

"……."

"Kkung."

"……."

"Kkureuk."

"……."

"Kkung-kkung-kkung…."

"Hatcha."

Only when he heard his son's discontented cries did Ji-oh come to his senses.

"The synchronization rate has risen considerably."

The last he remembered it had been around 31 percent, yet in a single day it had become 59 percent. Confirming Giovanni's synchronization rate that had nearly doubled overnight, Ji-oh finished grasping the situation.

"Is it because I dreamed?"

No—more than that.

"The one I saw at the event venue then…."

The child with blue hair.

"……."

"Kkuruuk?"

"Dad's not sleeping."

"Kkung."

"Right."

It was already hazy enough that he could call it a dream, yet somehow the child he had seen at the event venue and the child he had seen in the dream looked quite similar.

Perhaps the similar hair color had triggered the recollection of Giovanni's memories.

Could it actually be the child from the dream?

Thinking so, Ji-oh soon shook his head.

"No way."

No matter how generously one counted, it was a story from a dimension so distant one would have to cross at least twenty-five alleys to meet. There was no way a child who should be in Giovanni's dimension would be in Seo Ji-oh's dimension.

"Even if it were real, claiming to know someone as a 33.3-percent-pure Giovanni would be a bit lacking in conscience."

It felt like becoming a shady boss who slips gift certificates into the salary.

"……."

Well, anyway.

Ji-oh simply decided to go to sleep.

"Lie down, Honey."

"Kkung."

"You're warm."

No matter what past or future came crashing in, Ji-oh, with his thick nerves, did not care.

Though it might be better if he cared a little.

(To be continued)