Honbul: Flame of the Soul

“Once you enter this place, there are only two things you can do. One is live here with me forever. The other is take me with you and leave this place together.”

The boy smiled, scrunching the bridge of his nose. That peculiar habit was exactly the same as Jaegyeom’s.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

Jaegyeom narrowed his eyes slightly. In this place where reality and unreality were tangled together, the boy’s words were impossible to understand.

“You’re saying I can’t leave here by myself?”

“Yeah. You can’t leave this place alone.”

“Why not?”

“Because this is the place Myojeong created to imprison me.”

The boy pointed at the sacred rope hanging across the gate as he continued.

“But now that you’ve come in here, we can cut that rope and leave. Then I’ll be free too, so there won’t be any reason for me to stay here anymore.”

“Why did Myojeong imprison you?”

The sacred rope woven from twisted straw looked simple enough to cut.

“Myojeong trapped me here.”

“Why?”

“How the hell should I know?”

The boy kicked a pebble at his feet in irritation.

“At first, I was furious. Every single day, I imagined tearing Myojeong apart and killing him. But after all this time... I guess I just got used to it.”

The boy muttered gloomily. Accepting it had been unbearably difficult in the beginning. So for a long time, he had done nothing but rage. Whenever he found the slightest opening, he ran wild like an untamed colt.

“But seeing you like this makes me happy.”

Until now, Jaegyeom had thought Myojeong was only his enemy. But apparently, he had been another version of himself’s enemy too.

The realization made Jaegyeom let out a small laugh without meaning to.

“Me too.”

The boy felt like an old friend. Like a blood brother.

Maybe this really was his true self.

“Hey. So who are you?”

Jaegyeom asked, staring straight at him.

“Well, that’s something you have to figure out yourself.”

The boy giggled mischievously like a child.

“I have to?”

“Yeah.”

The two stared at each other for a moment before embracing tightly without another word.

It felt like hugging the closest person in the world. Like a brother. The embrace was comforting and strangely moving at the same time. A deep sense of fulfillment spread through Jaegyeom’s chest.

Warm.

Nostalgic.

“But why do you look exactly like me?”

“Well, because I’ve been living inside you for a long time.”

“So you’ve been with me this whole time?”

“Yeah.”

Still holding the boy tightly, Jaegyeom asked quietly,

“Then what were you doing here all alone the entire time?”

“Me? Just sucking my thumb while watching the outside world.”

“Watching the outside world?”

Jaegyeom glanced ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) around with a baffled expression. No matter where he looked, all he could see were mountain slopes. The scenery was peaceful and still.

“What is there to even see here? It’s nothing but mountains.”

“It’s all about perspective. If you want to see, you can see everything from here.”

Jaegyeom snorted at the boastful-sounding answer.

“What, do you have eyes on the soles of your feet or something?”

“Yeah. Something like that.”

The boy shot back without yielding an inch.

“Oh, speaking of that, do you want to see too? Come here.”

The boy’s eyes sparkled as he suddenly beckoned him over to one corner of the yard.

Several large and small earthenware jars stood clustered together there. The boy picked one and lifted the lid.

Inside was black water.

“What’s with the jars all of a sudden? Were you making soy sauce or something?”

Jaegyeom asked flatly, barely glancing inside.

“What kind of nonsense are you talking about, idiot?”

The boy burst out laughing with a frown.

“Don’t act like that. Look closer.”

What now?

Jaegyeom absently rubbed his lip, then leaned closer with mild curiosity.

Soon, his eyes widened.

“...Huh?”

The moment he peered into the black liquid filling the jar, a transparent light spread across its center.

Then an image unfolded.

Past and present.

The living and the dead.

Countless landscapes and every affair under heaven.

Everything appeared vividly within the dark surface.

“Oh. This... could this be...”

Finally realizing something, Jaegyeom looked up at the boy with wide eyes.

The boy crooked one corner of his mouth and nodded.

“Yeah. It’s Hwagyeong.”

Through Hwagyeong, the boy could observe everything in existence from this place, including life and death.

As Jaegyeom stared into the black water with fascinated eyes, the boy continued,

“Well, for humans like you, maybe it’s special. But beings like us can know anything happening anywhere if we put our minds to it. We just can’t watch every single thing all the time.”

At those words, Jaegyeom lowered his gaze to the ground beneath his feet.

The dirt floor had been worn smooth from pacing.

“....”

This was the place where the boy’s longing had been buried.

“Hey.”

“Yeah?”

“....”

After hesitating for a moment, carefully choosing his words, Jaegyeom finally spoke.

“I think I know who you are now.”

At those words, the boy slowly raised his head.

His expression looked playful, as though he were saying, Go ahead. Say it.

His straight, deep eyes locked onto Jaegyeom.

“You’re... a god.”

The boy’s gaze sharpened for the first time.

“Am I wrong?”

“....”

A slow smile spread across the boy’s youthful face.

“You’re pretty perceptive.”

Then he burst into giggles again.

Jaegyeom stared at him in disbelief.

He had never once imagined there could be another being living inside him.

The boy immediately saw through his thoughts.

“Why are you so shocked?”

“I didn’t know there was a god inside me.”

The boy smiled faintly.

“Is that really so strange?”

“Of course it is.”

The boy’s smile deepened.

“Why? Don’t all humans live with a god inside them?”

He shrugged playfully.

Jaegyeom, who had fallen silent in thought, slowly shook his head.

“I don’t need a god.”

The boy paused and stared at him.

“....”

Feeling that gaze fixed on him, Jaegyeom frowned.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“They say like master, like disciple.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means the two of you are exactly alike. Love him or hate him, you’re definitely that bastard’s son. Even though he was only human, he openly betrayed his own hometown.”

Jaegyeom couldn’t make sense of what the boy was saying.

“Still... I guess there really are humans like you who don’t need gods.”

The boy muttered to himself before lifting his head again.

“Then that means you’re the god of your own world.”

“What?”

The boy grinned as their eyes met.

“Hey. Do you really not want to stay here with me?”

“Why do you keep asking me to live with you?”

“Because I like you.”

At the boy’s innocent answer, Jaegyeom shot back teasingly,

“Then why don’t you come out with me instead?”

“Really? You’d let me?”

“There’s no reason not to. Your path is yours to choose.”

Jaegyeom trudged toward the gate.

Across the wide-open entrance hung the sacred rope woven from twisted straw, along with a net of cut hanji paper blocking the way.

Jaegyeom grabbed the rope with both hands and pulled.

“You’re really going to cut it? It won’t break easily.”

Without answering, Jaegyeom tightened his grip.

The moment he twisted the rope apart with brute force, it snapped far more easily than expected.

Nothing happened afterward either.

All the boy’s warnings suddenly seemed ridiculous.

“You were making such a big deal out of this? It’s nothing.”

Jaegyeom squinted slightly as he turned back toward the boy.

“....”

The boy stared at him with round eyes.

Then—

“I really do like you.”

He frowned and burst into delighted laughter.

His face looked deeply satisfied.

As Jaegyeom swept aside the sacred rope and paper net—

“Hm?”

Something caught his eye.

Tied to the center of the sacred rope was a paper talisman covered in dense classical Chinese characters.

It was unmistakably Myojeong’s handwriting.

The moment Jaegyeom recognized it, he unconsciously began reading.

“...By Cheolmangyeong, the Geumsae formation is established. This is what is called the Eight Formations used to capture and imprison evil spirits. Eight gates are sealed to bind the sinner’s body. One is the Gate of Scriptures, another the Gate of Water, one is...”

Murmuring the text aloud as he read, Jaegyeom turned the page.

“Then the writer says, by attaching the sinner’s name, shackles are placed...”

The moment Jaegyeom read the next line, his breathing stopped.

By attaching the sinner’s name, shackles are placed. Each stroke of that name becomes a lock and an iron net. The sinner is escorted here, and their true name is bound.

With that name—

The instant he read the following sentence, Jaegyeom’s vision spun violently.

“...!”

Jaegyeom covered his mouth.

The ground shook.

The entire space trembled around him.

Then blood tears began streaming from his eyes.

“You—what’s your name?”

“Huh?”

The boy stared blankly at him.

“Why are you suddenly asking my name?”

“Tell me. Your name...”

A splitting pain erupted in the center of Jaegyeom’s forehead.

He felt suffocated, dizzy, as though something were strangling him alive.

Clutching his forehead, he collapsed to his knees with a heavy thud.

“Answer me! What’s your name...!”

Blood tears streamed down Jaegyeom’s face as he glared at the boy.

“....”

The boy remained silent for a long while.

Then, slowly, he grinned.

“Me?”

By attaching the sinner’s name, shackles are placed. Those strokes become locks and iron nets. The sinner is escorted here, and their true name is bound.

With that name, shackles were placed upon calamity.

“Jae” for calamity.

“Gyeom” for sword.

“I’m Jaegyeom.”

This was the true name of the God of Calamity.