Epilogue Chapter 59 - Sky and Sea (3)

“Please come in.”

Oh Kang-Woo opened the front door of his home and allowed Kwon Oh-Jin and his female companions inside. Although one might think inviting individuals from an outer world to his home was highly reckless, it was the best way to build an amicable relationship.

Kang-Woo inviting them to his home was no different from him saying he had no interest in fighting them. But of course, he sent his children to Kim Si-Hun’s home on the off chance something happened.

“Please excuse us.”

Oh-Jin lightly bowed to Kang-Woo and went inside. He and his lovers sat at the dining table and Han Seol-Ah served them coffee. The unique scent of instant coffee filled the table.

“Thank you very much,” said Oh-Jin as he and his lovers drank the coffee.

“Huh...?” Song Ha-Eun, the woman with the eyepatch on her right eye, turned to Seol-Ah once she drank the coffee and asked, “Is the name of this coffee...

Maxim

, by any chance?[1]”

Seol-Ah replied, “Oh, yes. I’m sorry. I lacked the time to brew coffee, so I went with instant...”

“No, that’s not why I asked...” Ha-Eun shook her head in disbelief and continued, “How can there be

Maxim Coffee

in this world too?”

“Pardon?”

“Our world has the same instant coffee. The name is the same too.”

“...”

Having the same brand of instant coffee in both worlds couldn’t be a coincidence.

“This place is also Earth, isn’t it?” asked Oh-Jin as he turned to Kang-Woo.

Kang-Woo clicked his tongue and nodded as if he had expected it.

“Considering your word choice, you must also be from Earth.”

“I don’t think it’s completely the same, but... yes, we’re also from Earth.”

“Huuu,” Kang-Woo sighed.

He couldn’t believe the otherworldly individuals beyond the Rift were also from Earth.

‘Are we in the Marvel universe? Are we getting parallel universes now? This is driving me insane.’

He was familiar with the idea of parallel universes since it was seen in many cartoons and films but his head hurt after it was confirmed to be real.

“Then do the Nine Hells exist there too?” Kang-Woo asked.

“Pardon? No, I’ve never heard of something like that.”

“Hmm.”

‘Our worlds don’t seem to be completely the same.’

“I don’t know about the Nine Hells, but... our world has entities known as

Celestials

.”

“Celestials?”

“Yes. They are divine beings... I suppose it would be better to show you than explain.” Oh-Jin gestured to the fairy on his shoulder and said, “Please, Vega.”

[Hmm. It’s difficult to manifest into my true form in an outer world, but... I can’t refuse your request.]

The fairy flew into the air and her body shone blindingly. She grew from the size of a palm to that of an adult woman in a flash. She slowly opened her eyes to reveal her shining golden irises. The fairy—no, goddess resembling a lone shining star in the night sky turned to Kang-Woo and his wives as her silver hair that reached her waist fluttered.

[I am Vega, the Celestial of Lyra.]

Her presence was overpowering. Kang-Woo could understand what Oh-Jin meant when he referred to Celestial as divine beings.

Oh-Jin continued, “Celestials bestow stigmata to humans and turn them into

Transcendants

.”

“Indeed, we do not have such entities in our world. Or to be more exact, we didn’t,” Kang-Woo clarified.

“...”

Oh-Jin’s expression hardened. Kang-Woo clicked his tongue and leaned back on his chair.

“You said earlier that you had come to this world in pursuit of the fly. Can you tell us in more detail?”

It was time to discover the identity of an insect flying around this world as it did whatever it wanted.

***

To summarize Oh-Jin’s story, he was the master of the

Black Sky

, one of the two darknesses born from the

Primordial

. He discovered traces of the Celestial of Musca, who possessed a portion of the Black Sky, having crossed over to another world. Hence, Oh-Jin was here to retrieve the Black Sky that the Celestial possessed.

“I see.” Kang-Woo nodded after hearing the explanation.

“So he’s here to retrieve the Black Sky’s power.’

He understood what Oh-Jin’s objective was, but there was a problem.

“I’m sorry, but could you withdraw from your objective of pursuing the Celestial?” Kang-Woo asked.

“Withdraw...?” Oh-Jin’s eyes narrowed.

Kang-Woo calmly explained, “You might have noticed it on your way here, but there is no

Law

in this world.”

The Law of Titans, which regulated a world’s various phenomena and protected it from otherworldly invasions, did not exist on Kang-Woo’s Earth.

“No

Law

?”

Oh-Jin turned to Vega in surprise. Vega, still in her true form, nodded.

[It seems he is telling the truth. I do not feel any restriction to my power even in my true form.]

“Wha...”

Oh-Jin frowned. The Law of Titans in his world had also been weakened due to the Black Sky’s influence but it was not gone like in Kang-Woo’s world.

“If you, a powerful otherworldly individual, use your power in a world not protected by a Law... the Rift you came out of might grow uncontrollably larger,” Kang-Woo remarked.

“I see.”

In other words, this world was like a snail without its shell.

‘I mean... this place seems pretty safe despite that.’

Having no Law to protect a world did not matter if it was inhabited by someone more powerful than the Law itself.

‘A human who can replace the Law of Titans...’

Oh-Jin smiled bitterly as he stared at the man named Kang-Woo. He had thought no one could match him now that he could control two of the Black Skies.

‘I guess I was merely a frog in the well.’

He felt fear— an emotion he had not felt in a while— when he shook Kang-Woo’s hand. It felt like sinking into a boundless sea.

‘The sky and the sea.’

The two darknesses born from the Primordial— the Black Sky and the Demonic Sea. No one could judge which of the two was stronger.

‘But at the very least... I wouldn’t come out unscathed if I fought this man.’

They had not compared their powers yet but Oh-Jin did not feel like he could win against Kang-Woo.

‘I have no reason to either.’

Oh-Jin was not dimwitted enough to not realize the meaning of Kang-Woo inviting them to his home. However—

“I am not questioning your capabilities, but I would like to confirm for myself that the power of the Black Sky is safely retrieved.”

“Meaning, you can’t leave yet?”

“With all due respect, you can’t expect us to leave after coming all this way in pursuit of the bastard just because you told us to withdraw, can you?”

“Hmm...”

Oh-Jin had a point.

“In that case, let’s do this.” Kang-Woo smiled after some thought and continued, “I will capture that fly and hand him to you. Meanwhile, why don’t you enjoy a vacation in this world?”

“A vacation?”

“Yes. It's not like our Earths are completely the same. Take your time to explore this world and find things different from yours.”

“I see.”

It was not a bad idea. They wouldn’t have to go through the trouble of searching for the annoying fly’s traces, and the people of this world would do all of their work for them.

“What do you think, noona?” Oh-Jin asked as he turned to Ha-Eun.

Ha-Eun placed one of her slender legs over the other and crossed her arms.

“I mean, I’d love to spend a leisurely vacation with you, but... it didn’t seem like there was much difference between our world and theirs just from what I’ve seen on our way here. Would we even find any differences?”

“Of course, you would,” Kang-Woo answered as he nodded.

Ha-Eun’s eye shone with great interest with how sure Kang-Woo was.

“Oh? Like what?” she asked.

“Haha, you see...”

Kang-Woo smiled to raise his guests’ anticipation.

‘I’ve succeeded in building an amicable relationship with them.’

Next up was to deepen his friendship with them.

‘After all, there’s no need for us to be hostile.’

Kang-Woo did not feel he would lose against Kwon Oh-Jin, but massive destruction to Earth would come with their battle. He would win the battle but lose in some way, shape, or form.

‘No, leaving all that aside, I’ve taken a liking to him.’

Despite this being their first time meeting, Kang-Woo felt a strange sense of familiarity with Oh-Jin. He could even become as close to him as he was with Si-Hun and Kang Tae-Soo.

‘In that case...’

It was only human nature to allow them to experience something they could never taste on their Earth. Kang-Woo snorted excitedly and stared at Oh-Jin and his lovers.

“Have you ever had kimchi stew?” he asked.

“Pardon?”

“Eh?”

“Kimchi stew...?”

Oh-Jin and the ladies dumbfoundedly stared at Kang-Woo. Naturally, kimchi stew also existed on their Earth.

“Of course, we ha—”

“NO! THE KIMCHI STEW YOU’VE BEEN HAVING IS NOT TRUE KIMCHI STEW!”

“Huh?”

‘What the hell is this man talking about?’

they thought.

“Only the kimchi stew my darling makes can be called true kimchi stew!” shouted Kang-Woo as he smashed his fist on the table.

“H-Honey! What are you saying?!”

Seol-Ah’s face turned bright red as she ran to Kang-Woo and shut his mouth. Ha-Eun, dumbfounded by the sitcom happening before her eyes, turned to Oh-Jin.

“Oh-Jin, this guy is a little off in the head.”

“Uhh... mm.” Oh-Jin smiled awkwardly and shrugged. “Well, let’s try it first and see how it’s different.”

Hence, the historical meeting between the Black Sky and Demonic Sea began with a sudden kimchi stew party.

***

“Man~ I’ve gotta admit, this is exceptional. Seol-Ah, was it? You’re an amazing cook!” Ha-Eun shouted.

“Oh, thank you very much,” Seol-Ah replied.

“Hey, who do you think you are to talk informally to Seol-Ah?”

“Oh? And you are?”

“Name’s Cha Yeon-Joo.”

“Oh, I’m Song Ha-Eun. Nice to meet you. Sorry for speaking casually at our first meeting. It’s just how I talk, so don’t take any offense. You can speak casually too.”

“Oh, umm... well, okay. I’ll do that. I find formal speech uncomfortable too.”

“Oh, looks like we connect pretty well! No wonder our hair color’s the same!”

“Pshh, what does hair color have to do with it? I mean... I guess I have to admit our personality’s pretty similar.”

“Though our boob size is completely different.”

“The fuck you say?”

Surprisingly, Seol-Ah’s kimchi stew acted as the perfect bridge between the two worlds.

1. Maxim is the name of a famous Korean instant coffee brand. ☜