Honbul: Flame of the Soul

A Naja from the Talisman Unit named Yoon Wonjoong had a young son.

Yoon Wonjoong had spent most of his life in the countryside before moving to Seoul, where he happened by chance to enter the Office of Narye. A lifelong bachelor, he married late and finally built a family of his own, only to separate from his wife not long afterward. In the end, all he had left was his seven-year-old son.

Yoon Wonjoong loved the boy enough to lay down his life for him without hesitation. He was a sincere, gentle man who raised his son alone, spending every spare moment after work at the child’s side. Watching his son grow a little more each day was the greatest joy of his life.

And then, the following year, he lost him in an accident.

After his son’s death, Yoon Wonjoong collapsed into despair. He stopped eating and drowned himself in alcohol. Unable to endure the grief and emptiness, unable to let go of his longing for the child, he eventually committed an act that should never have been committed.

He called back the soul of his son, who had already departed for the afterlife.

The boy had been kind-hearted and free of lingering regrets. He had passed on peacefully, without becoming a ghost. If Yoon Wonjoong had simply accepted his death, he could have carried the child in his heart and gone on living.

But he could not accept it.

And so he turned to necromancy.

It was a forbidden art even within the Office of Narye, something no Naja was ever meant to use. But Yoon Wonjoong belonged to the Talisman Unit. He wrote talismans, studied talismans, handled talismans every day. Forbidden techniques had always been within reach.

After endless research, he created a necromantic talisman by mixing his own blood into cinnabar paste.

“Kijun.”

At Yoon Wonjoong’s call, his son came running back to him as a ghost.

The man embraced the child and burst into tears. A soul that had already crossed over had now been dragged back into this world. The moment it returned, it became a ghost.

Yoon Wonjoong knew perfectly well how selfish he was being.

“I’m sorry... I’m sorry... Just stay with me until I die. Just until then...”

From that day onward, he came back to life.

He diligently drew talismans every day, and whenever he returned home from work, he bathed his son, played with him, and slept beside him exactly as he had before.

Those ordinary days became unbearably precious to him.

Whenever he left the house, Yoon Wonjoong covered the doorframe in talismans so his son could not leave. He was afraid the child might wander outside and lose his way into the ninth heaven, or that something terrible might happen to him.

And so the years passed.

Then one day, something happened that should never have happened.

After sharing a meal with another Naja, Yoon Wonjoong returned to headquarters and saw an impossible sight in the distance.

His son.

That morning, for the first time in years, he had forgotten to place the talisman on the doorframe.

And so, when the door opened, the child had stepped outside to look for his father.

Yoon Wonjoong froze where he stood.

Beside him, the other Naja clicked his tongue and casually pulled an exorcism talisman from his pocket.

Yoon Wonjoong hurriedly reached out.

“W-Wait...!”

But he was too late.

The child, who had been running toward him with a bright smile, burst into flames and vanished.

“Ghosts are getting out of hand these days. Even headquarters is crawling with stray ghosts now...”

It happened in an instant.

Yoon Wonjoong’s arms fell limp at his sides. Without saying a word, he muttered something about the restroom and staggered around the corner before clapping a hand over his mouth.

“Uh... ngh...”

Then he began to cry.

Not even words came out properly.

Because of his own selfishness, he had watched his son die before his eyes for the second time.

If he had never called him back, the child would have remained safe in the afterlife.

The Office of Narye did not guide ghosts to heaven.

It annihilated them.

His son no longer existed anywhere in the world.

When Yoon Wonjoong returned home, he sat alone in the empty room and stared blankly at the wall.

“Kijun... You have to answer when your father calls you...”

He tried using the necromantic talisman over and over again, but nothing returned.

“Where did my Kijun go... Come back to me... Kijun...”

Eventually, he collapsed to the floor, scraping at it as he cried in agony.

“Kijun...”

No.

That was not his son.

It had only been a ghost.

“Yes... just a ghost...”

No matter how desperately he tried to convince himself, resentment toward the Naja who had annihilated the child began to grow inside him.

If only that person had shown mercy just once.

If only they had let it slide just that one time.

No.

If only he himself had never become a Naja.

From that day on, Yoon Wonjoong came to hate both himself and the Office of Narye.

And eventually, he made up his mind.

He would take revenge on the one who killed his son.

He decided to place a curse on the Naja.

He wanted to quietly ruin the man’s life, to bury him beneath endless misfortune. Watching him continue on as though nothing had happened became unbearable.

Little by little, Yoon Wonjoong lost his mind without realizing it.

But to exact revenge, he first had to break the taboo forbidding harm against another Naja and the unauthorized use of ghostly force. So he devised a plan.

He would retrieve his own wooden tag, sever the blood contract, and cast the curse without anyone noticing.

As a Naja of the Talisman Unit, gaining access to the registry room where the wooden tags were kept was not difficult. The registry room was managed by the Talisman Unit itself, and its members rotated guard duty.

Yoon Wonjoong waited for his turn.

Then, after deactivating the barrier, he slipped into the registry room and quickly found the wooden tag bearing his name.

But he never achieved what he wanted.

What Yoon Wonjoong did not know was that the moment the owner of a wooden tag touched it, a spell would activate and set their body ablaze.

The instant his hand touched the tag, fire erupted around him, and he lost consciousness.

The incident became known afterward as the Registry Incident, and through it, the Office learned the previously hidden fact that touching one’s own wooden tag triggered a spell.

A month later, Yoon Wonjoong miraculously regained consciousness.

His revenge had failed.

All he had left was a ruined life, a body covered in horrific burns, and an official notice from the Office of Narye informing him that he had been expelled and would face disciplinary judgment once treatment was complete.

The charges were twofold.

The use of forbidden arts.

And attempted rebellion.

Yoon Wonjoong escaped during a brief lapse in supervision, dragging away a body that could barely move.

Defying the Office was the last act of retaliation left to him after being cast out.

To avoid pursuit, he fled deep into the mountains. Filled with hatred for the Office of Narye, he prayed day after day for heaven to punish the land below.

From then on, Yoon Wonjoong wandered the mountains in prayer.

“Grant enlightenment to wicked men...”

In the end, when a man loses everything, the only thing left for him to cling to is god.

“Grant enlightenment to wicked men...”

Snow or rain made no difference. Yoon Wonjoong climbed the mountains every day, offering up his own blood in prayer.

And on the thousandth day, his vision suddenly turned white.

He collapsed unconscious before the altar.

When he opened his eyes again, warm light poured down over him.

Then he heard it.

“Waa... waa...”

Like a man possessed, Yoon Wonjoong followed the sound.

“O heavens and earth...! O heavens and earth...!”

Listening carefully, he realized the crying was coming from beneath the ground.

Yoon Wonjoong dropped to his knees and dug frantically like an animal.

As the cries grew louder, the first thing he uncovered was a heavy stone slab.

After shoving it aside, he found a coffin beneath it.

Hands trembling violently, he opened the lid.

“Hah... ha...”

Inside lay a newborn child, sleeping quietly.

Yoon Wonjoong fell backward.

“Hah... hahaha... hah! Hahaha...!”

His blurred eyes filled with tears as he gently stroked the baby’s cheek.

He laughed and cried for a very long time.

The sound echoed endlessly through the mountains.

And only then did Yoon Wonjoong finally understand.

“The heavens answered me. They truly granted enlightenment...”

Tears streamed down his face as he gathered the baby into his arms.

“My baby... my baby...”

Terrified someone might see, he ran down the mountain clutching the child tightly against his chest.

“Come with this old man... Come live with me...”

From that day onward, Yoon Wonjoong completely lost his sanity.

***

“...Theo wanted to see the sea. A beautiful island sea, where emerald waves glittered beneath the sunlight. A place where no one would ever come looking for him. A place where he would never have to wait for anyone again. Lonely Theo wanted to go to the lonely sea so he would never be lonely anymore...”

The young boy stumbled through the words under the faint glow of a candle.

The book in his hands was a thin children’s storybook filled with large print and warm pastel illustrations.

It was the book he treasured most.

“Who made that noise just now?!”

An angry shout suddenly rang out from outside.

He wasn’t supposed to be back yet.

The boy hurriedly blew out the candle. Darkness swallowed the room at once. He quickly shut the book, shoved it away, and buried himself in the ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) pile of trash as though asleep.

“Who was it?! Huh?!”

The door burst open.

Elder Yoon stepped inside.

The cramped room was filled with mountains of junk and garbage piled high around the boy like a nest.

The old man slowly scanned the dark room before lowering his gaze to the child lying there with his eyes closed.

The boy looked convincingly asleep.

But Elder Yoon was not fooled.

“You little bastard! It was you! You!”

He grabbed the boy by the shoulder and yanked him upright.

“You don’t listen to a damn word I say, do you? I told you not to make noise! You wicked little brat, you ungrateful thing...”

Elder Yoon shook him violently before striking him over and over.

His clouded eyes burned with anger and madness.

The boy clenched his jaw shut and glared back with all the strength he had.

“I told you not to look at me like that! How many times do I have to tell you?!”

That glare only enraged the old man further.

SLAP!

The blows grew harsher.

Sometimes Elder Yoon lost his mind completely.

And once he crossed that line, there was no stopping him.

The boy endured the beating silently. His lips split open, and shallow wounds spread across his body, but none of it registered in the old man’s eyes.

Then suddenly, Elder Yoon froze.

“Uh... ngh...”

Clutching his head with both hands, he let out a twisted groan before screaming.

He shoved the boy aside and crawled frantically into the corner.

“Th-This is bad... bad...! They’re coming, they’re coming...!”

He dragged a blanket over himself and began trembling as though trapped in the middle of winter.

“The Naja are coming...! The Naja are coming! They found me...!”

His frantic eyes darted wildly around the room before suddenly locking onto the boy.

Elder Yoon lunged forward, grabbed the child by the wrist, and dragged him beneath the blanket as well, wrapping him up tightly as though hiding him from someone.

“This child is my grandson! My grandson! Who are you people?! Get away! Don’t come near him!”

He screamed at empty air, veins bulging in his neck.

At some point, Elder Yoon had become consumed by the delusion that someone would come and take the boy away from him.

And kill him.

Hallucinations and paranoia tormented him constantly now.

That was why he never allowed the child to speak to anyone, never allowed him outside, never let him leave the house.

As time passed, his obsession and possessiveness only grew worse.

Elder Yoon babbled incoherently, burst into laughter, then suddenly sprang up and began hurling curses at empty space while wildly waving his arms.

Then, just as abruptly, he fell silent.

After standing there motionless for a long while, he slowly knelt before the boy, pulled away the blanket, and gathered him into his arms.

“Seonoh... my Seonoh... I’m sorry. I’m sorry...”

The madness clouding his eyes had faded again.

Elder Yoon had named the child Seonoh.

Heaven’s enlightenment.

“Grandpa’s sorry... Seonoh...”

Tears streamed down the old man’s face as he rubbed his cheek against the boy’s.

The child’s cheek, scarred long ago by fire, felt rough and uneven beneath the touch.

Seonoh remained expressionless in his arms.

“...”

This was nothing unusual.

For four days, Elder Yoon would lose his mind completely.

Then for one day, he would return to himself.

When lucid, he was a gentle grandfather who loved his only grandson dearly.

At other times, he was something less than human.

Seonoh was sick of all of it.