Chapter 355

Solomon had spent a great deal of time resting to recover from the wounds inflicted by the Overlord during the Great War, the biggest battle in the history of the Core over its throne. Had things gone according to plan, he would have fully taken over Baal’s body by now, hunting for the “Keys” while consolidating his forces.

However, things had gone awry. Quite awry. During the trial of the Twisted Land, while defeating Ugnus and attempting to transfer his soul into its body to serve as a temporary vessel, he had suffered a grievous wound. Half of his soul had been destroyed, and with a single strike at that.

One could say he had been defenseless at the time, but Solomon’s soul should have been strong enough to withstand most attacks from even the Transcendents. Someone like Imfelheim may have managed to land a meaningful blow, but this was more than that; it was a critical wound. He wondered whether such power might be possible for the Overlord in his prime, but quickly dismissed the thought.

That attack had come from a blade. Based on what Solomon remembered from the Great War, the Overlord had never used a sword. Since it couldn’t be the Overlord, Solomon came to the most obvious conclusion: someone else was involved. But who?

The only one with power comparable to the Overlord’s was the Spirit Queen, but she didn’t wield a sword either. She was a spirit in the truest sense, a being who borrowed the forces of nature. Furthermore, the energy he had felt at the time of the attack bore no trace of a spirit’s power.

That left Solomon with one other possibility. One of the sword-wielding Transcendents—Imfelheim or Wei Zhongqi—had acquired one of the two Keys: the Cosmos. With the Cosmos, one could obtain immense power.

If that were the case, he wasn’t sure why they hadn’t come to kill him already. It would be the best time to finish him off. Solomon decided to temporarily borrow Baal’s body. Had he fully recovered his original power, it wouldn’t have been “borrowing,” but a complete takeover. Frowning, he lifted his head and turned his gaze toward Mount Yeongryunsan, visible just beyond the horizon.

***

Rain was pouring in sheets today, as if a hole had been punched in the sky. Dark clouds loomed above, and the downpour showed no signs of easing.

Byeol had come to the Deep Realm alone to play. She had planned to visit Kiriel, but he seemed busy writing a reflection paper, so she’d decided to let him be. She skipped into the house to leave her backpack inside, then came back out to check the sign posted on the door.

“Taking... the day... off,” she read aloud. “Huh...?”

She then searched the house thoroughly for Wei Zhongqi but quickly realized that no one was around. Left alone in the thatched home on the top of the completely deserted Mount Yeongryunsan, Byeol was starting to feel a strange sense of fear from the gloomy atmosphere.

“Hng... ugh...” Tears threatened to spill from her eyes out of loneliness, but Byeol bravely held them back.

Thunder boomed—

rumble, crash!

—and the rain only grew heavier. Byeol sat down on the wooden floor and wished for Wei Zhongqi to return quickly.

“Ah, wight! I have homework!”

She suddenly remembered the spelling assignment her teacher had given. Moreover, it was simple, just repeating consonants, vowels, and basic words twenty times. She quickly ran back into the room, grabbed her daycare backpack, and returned to her spot on the floor.

Thunder and lightning flared again, but this time, something felt different. The lightning was gray, and it was so bright that Byeol had to squeeze her eyes shut.

Then, suddenly, a man stood before her, right in front of her nose. He had two horns on his head and sharp, piercing eyes. He raised a hand, poised as if to grab her neck, but went no further.

Blinking, Byeol looked up into the man’s eyes and asked, “Mistah, did you come for food?”

The man remained silent for a long moment. The swirling dark energy in his hand faded away, and he slowly lowered his hand, glancing around as if searching for someone. He was none other than Solomon inhabiting Baal’s body.

Solomon looked down at Byeol. This child was utterly tiny compared to him. Her cheeks were plump, still full of baby fat, and her eyes were so pure and innocent, with no trace of anything even close to hostility. Her existence was the complete opposite of his own.

What is this child...?

he wondered.

She seemed far too weak to have survived the brutal Deep Realm. Her presence felt completely alien, out of place even.

Then, Solomon learned her name without even trying.

“Byeol can make you some wamen!” the child exclaimed.

Of course, Solomon had no idea what “wamen” was. But based on her tone, he could guess it was food.

He didn’t need food to survive, but for some unknown reason, Solomon gave a small nod. Then, he followed Byeol into the kitchen.

She pulled out a small stainless pot, filled it with water, added the noodles and soup powder, then stood on her tiptoes, struggling to place it over the flame.

Five minutes later, she remarked, “All done!”

𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

Steam billowed from the pot, and the spicy aroma of ramen filled the kitchen. Byeol placed the ramen, some kimchi, and chopsticks on a tray. With her tiny hands, she carried the tray back to the wooden floor.

“Eat up, Mistah!”

Byeol and Solomon were the only ones at the top of Mount Yeongryunsan in the storm-drenched Deep Realm. Solomon sat at the set table and picked up the chopsticks, but he didn’t know how to use them.

Watching him, Byeol gently offered guidance. “Like this, Mistah. Like this.”

Following the child’s instructions, he used the chopsticks to pick up some noodles. The Deep Realm was a place where kindness without cost was to be feared and doubted. But no matter how he looked, Solomon couldn’t find even a hint of malice in the child’s eyes.

“You’re not gonna eat it? It’s weally good...” Byeol said.

“Is that so...?”

“Yeah!”

Finally, he brought the noodles to his mouth. The noodles slurped with a distinct sound, and a sharp spiciness filled his mouth. For a moment, Solomon thought he had fallen into a trap and almost attacked Byeol. But after gulping down the noodles, he was fine. The noodles were just spicy, nothing more.

“Oh...” Solomon let out a sound of disbelief.

Byeol placed a piece of kimchi on top of his noodles.

“Eat this with it—it’s even better,” she said happily.

***

Solomon ended up cleaning out the stainless steel pot, drinking every last drop of the ramen broth. As he watched Byeol carry the pot back to the kitchen, he quietly looked up at the sky. The dark clouds were gradually thinning, and the rain was starting to let up.

What am I even doing here right now?

he thought. His original purpose had been to find Wei Zhongqi and test whether he had truly gained the power of the Cosmos.

Just then, Byeol came back from the kitchen, notebook in hand, and flopped down beside Solomon.

“What’s that...?” he asked.

“My homewuk.”

“Homework?”

“Mhm. Gotta wite.”

Byeol tied two pencils together. That way, she could write two lines at once with a single stroke. She’d learned the trick from Kiriel, who had recently been tasked with writing a reflection paper.

Byeol’s homework was titled

Children’s Korean Spelling Practice

. Of course, Solomon had no idea what those characters meant, so his eyes naturally gleamed with interest. Having accumulated vast knowledge from living in the Deep Realm for so long, he found these completely unfamiliar characters fascinating.

“What is this script called?” he asked Byeol.

“Hangul,” Byeol answered.

“And who taught you this?”

“My Daddy taught me. And Yong-Yong, and Sieh, and Mommy too...”

None of those names meant anything to him.

“I can teach you! Byeol can teach you Hangul!” Byeol offered suddenly.

When Solomon gave a small nod, Byeol smiled and ran into the bedroom. She returned with the first volume of

Children’s Hangul

. Solomon took the book and turned to the first page. The explanations were written in the Core’s language, so he could understand everything perfectly. The first page, then the second...

His expression grew serious as he continued turning the pages. From beside him, Byeol patiently began teaching him each letter, one by one. Eventually, after they had read through about a third of the book, Solomon felt his soul begin to drift away from Baal’s body. In about thirty minutes, Baal’s consciousness would return. It was time for him to return to the altar.

“I must go now,” he told Byeol.

Byeol looked visibly disappointed. Solomon rose to his feet. Just then, Byeol reached into her bag and placed something gently in the palm of his hand.

“It’s a pwesent,” she said.

“A present?”

“Mhm. Eat when you get hungwy, Mistah.”

The wrapper had the words “Choco Pie” written on it, though Solomon could neither read nor know what was inside. He slipped the Choco Pie into his pocket.

***

Back at the thatched house, Wei Zhongqi returned with a bag full of herbs. He often gathered useful herbs from the Deep Realm, adding them to food, turning them into medicine, or using them to make bamboo sap concentrate. He set the bag down on the wooden floor and saw Byeol there.

“Byeol, are you awake?” he asked.

“Yup!”

“Anything happen while I was gone?”

“We had a customer!” Byeol exclaimed.

“A customer? But I didn’t open today.”

These days, residents of the Deep Realm no longer came unannounced on off days. In the past, Wei Zhongqi had served a bowl or two out of pity, but with no breaks, he eventually implemented a strict no-service rule on his off days, so no one visited anymore. So why had one come today?

“So, what did you do?” he asked Byeol.

“I cooked wamen and gave it to him.”

“Good girl.” Wei Zhongqi smiled and patted Byeol on the head.

***

The Deep Realm, Solomon’s Altar.

Solomon sat on his throne, resting his chin on one hand, thinking back on the events of the day.

Byeol’s voice rang clearly in his ears.

“Mistah, did you come for food?”

Normally, he would’ve killed any resident he came across in the Deep Realm, but for some reason, he hadn’t been able to lay a finger on the child named Byeol.

His goal was to obliterate the world. To destroy everything and create a new one. To achieve Ataraxia, he needed to annihilate this foul, corrupted world, reduce it to nothingness, and return it to its origin.

Someday, if he were to become the King of the Dimensions, it would be his duty to carry that out.

Solomon pulled the Choco Pie from his pocket. He could still hear Byeol’s voice in his ear.

“It’s a pwesent.”

“Eat it when you get hungwy.”

An emotion he couldn’t quite name stirred in his chest. He placed a hand over his heart. The heart that barely beat... was now pulsing a little faster.

The dark clouds in the sky began to part. The Deep Realm, already dark by nature, had been shrouded in total darkness by the storm clouds. But now, a faint, milky light began to shine through. The rain weakened.

Solomon tucked the Choco Pie back into his pocket. Then, to heal the wounds on his soul, he began to return control of the body to Baal.

Time passed. Eventually, the dark clouds vanished completely, leaving not a single drop of rain.

I hope we meet again someday.

With that final thought, Solomon once again returned to his soul form.