Subdued Soul Chronicle

Zaha climbed the stairs and headed to the back of the Hwarangs’ Hall. He entered one of the several annex buildings that were being managed by the Hwarang troops.

Seol Young knew what he was planning on doing even though he had never gone inside.

“Archives?”

“Right.”

While pointing to the records all over the place, Zaha asked,

“Do you know what this is all about?”

“This is a summary of the cases that the Hwarangs have resolved until now.”

Before going to investigate the evil spirit, Jin Rim brought out an old record of the Hwarang troops and read them to him.

“They said they wanted to find the records of the incidents quickly, so they were organized by their year, right?”

“I do not remember them being this clean. It seems like Jin Rim did a lot of work.”

Zaha found a key in the corner.

“Anyway, Seol Young-rang. This archive contains more than just case-solving records.”

“Um?”

Instead of answering him, Zaha unlocked the door with the key and went inside. Again, it was full of records, and they were all sorted by year.

Seol Young asked,

“What is this again?”

“Unsolved ones.”

Zaha said,

“A case that had to be closed because the answer couldn’t be found. A case that had to be stopped because the victims vanished or the investigation had been given up. Or just a story… All of those.”

And he began to skim through them from the recent logs and went back.

And then he stopped at a certain spot.

“I knew it was this.”

Seol Young approached and looked at it.

A man living in Shihui County met a woman on the street and married her. But the attitude of the woman was different from that of normal people.

Terrified of that, the man joined forces with several others to kill her and they buried her in the mountains.

But the woman dug herself out and rose up to kill the man and the villagers…

In the very next paragraph, Seol Young’s gaze stopped.

The woman’s name was ‘Mita.’ However, after that, she disappeared and couldn’t be found anywhere.

It was clearly written as such.

“It is the same with the 6th Wonhwa whom we think is the God of Cataclysm. The names also somehow overlap, but…”

“But they have one more thing in common. A woman who suddenly appeared caused a bizarre incident and then vanished.”

Zaha said while finding a brush and paper to copy it.

“I thought the fact that the evil spirit had both signs of the present and the past might be a change in eras. And it seemed to be right. She also appeared after she was no longer a Wonhwa, too.”

Then, of course, it was right to look for it among the unsolved cases.

If it had been resolved, she shouldn’t have reappeared.

Seol Young finally understood Zaha’s thoughts.

“Then maybe you can find more if we search?”

“Maybe?”

And the two began to rummage through the records.

And going back to the past, they brought out more things.

There was a certain shopkeeper selling mirrors around Wang Gyeong.

When he looked into the mirror, he saw a beautiful woman instead of his reflection, and the person said the woman’s name was ‘Mita.’

People rushed to buy this mirror. However, all of them were found dead the next day.

Accusations came, and the merchant suddenly disappeared before being caught.

While this record remained…

A new maid entered the house of Lee Byul Chun, and she was very beautiful. A fierce fight broke out between the master and the servants over this maid, and dozens died that night.

The maid named Mita disappeared that day.

There was also a record like this, and…

A strange shaman appeared in the palace. This shaman held a golden stick in her hand.

The golden stick was known to have the ability to revive the dead, so it was said that it was the same as the legend in the past.

The people of Gun Hyun worshiped this shaman called Mita. But after she left, the people died in a horrid manner and began to go insane.

That was what the records said.

Over the past 100 years, there have been sightings of a strange woman named Mita haunting people.

“I should have known this…”

Zaha mumbled.

“She appeared so many times in the past, and it even got recorded, but no one knew about it.”

“Even we found out about it just now.”

Seol Young said that without taking his eyes off the records.

“Did she change into the God of Cataclysm by appearing and doing all these things?”

“Maybe.”

The two continued to go through the records again, and from a certain point on, nothing came up about Mita.

“There isn’t anything more.”

Zaha set down the bundle of old bamboo sheet holders.

And he looked at the last record they had found earlier. The material looked damaged.

They could make a few words out of it, though.

…Mita… Curse… Tomb… Buried.

It was the oldest record they found, and looking back at the contents of the page, it seemed to be related to the time when King Jijung or King Beop Heung ruled.

At that time, the six Wonhwas didn’t even exist, even more, so the Hwarangs.

So, rather than being unsolved, it was a mysterious face.

“Strangely, only this part is damaged.”

“Do you think the evil qi had an influence?”

They tried to recover it, but it was impossible to bring back worn-out paper.

Seol Young looked at the blurred letters.

“Anyway, doesn’t this mean it started here? It might be that someone died at that time and continued to come back to life constantly and became a Wonhwa, and finally the…”

“Then we need to find out more about this one case. What kind of person did they kill and bury?”

Zaha handled the paper carefully and copied it.

“There aren’t that many clues around. But if we can dig through them, something should come up.”

“Yes.”

Seol Youn nodded.

“It seems like we have finally found a clue to its real identity. It definitely changed from eight years ago, and maybe we’ve gotten a little ahead of ourselves…”

But then, a sudden dizziness came over Seol Young, making his entire sight turn white, and the same thing happened to Zaha as he pressed his forehead with his hand.

“Again, it is cheating.”

“This means she won’t stand still. This Jeok Ryun-rang incident wasn’t just a supernatural calamity caused by the God of Cataclysm, it was something that we went to first. Now, as if waiting, something strange will happen.”

Seol Young shook his head to clear the dizziness.

“We need to be alert at all times. That was what I was going to say.”

The two got up with the records they had copied.

But…

The moment they opened the door and stepped outside, they had this odd feeling that couldn’t be explained.

‘What is this?’

It was as if they hadn’t been there earlier.

They just came out of a room they had gone into, and yet it felt like something had changed drastically around them.

It was then.

On the other side of the Hwarang’s Hall, the Golden Ring Troops appeared, and they all looked at Zaha.

“Governor!”

“Governor?”

Zaha looked at them. But Jin Rim wasn’t around. The boys were there because of him.

“The Governor? I?”

“You are joking around again.”

All the trainees smiled as if it were a daily occurrence.

But no one spoke.

Then Zaha asked,

“What about Jin Rim?”

“Uh? Did the Minister of Intelligence say he might come here? We shall make the preparations.”

Then the trainees hurried outside.

Jin Rim was the Minister of Intelligence now?

The highest department of the ministry that dealt with foreign envoys?

“When did Jin Rim quit and get to such a high position?”

Zaha was in shock and looked at Seol Young.

And he went stiff.

“Seol Young-rang your clothes…”

“What about them?”

The moment he looked down, Seol Young went stiff.

His clothes weren’t white. They were mostly white, but he had this golden and silver pattern belt worn on top of it.

It was an unfamiliar outfit.

“Isn’t this the clothing of the Sun and Moon troops? Why do I have them on me?”

“I want to ask you the same thing. Why are you wearing them?”

It was like he was possessed by something. Then the two of them walked around the building, only to stop again. The front yard was noisy.

Baek Eon, Song Ok, and Hyo Wol were talking to someone, and the moment Seol Young saw the person they were talking to, he was shocked.

Baek San.

In the form of a general with red armor and a red cape, he was laughing while being around his son and disciples.

“Teacher!”

“Oh, if it isn’t the sub?”

Baek San slapped Seol Young on the back with a laugh.

“This guy! How dare you go out of the White Tiger Troops saying you don’t like it, and then call me Teacher now?”

Seol Young was shocked.

“Uh? Me…?”

Baek Eon laughed.

“Father, if you say such things, Seol Young might head to the corner and cry alone. He is just getting used to it.”

Baek San laughed again.

“If you wanted to come back this fast, improve your skills quickly. Losing a bet on drinking and changing the troops! The Hwarangs will make you the first one to do it! Right, Governor?”

“….?”

Zaha looked at all of them.

“Then, after meeting His Highness, we should listen to how our Seol Young has been doing. Come on, kids.”

“Yes.”

Baek Eon, Song Ok, and Hyo Wol followed Baek San as they winked at Seol Young and stuck their tongues out.

And then they noticed someone walking across the street and stopped to greet them.

The person was Zaun. The person she was with was wearing the robe of the Golden Ring troops.

‘No?’

Seol Young looked at Zaha.

His face was becoming weird, and after everything that had been going on, this Hwarang seemed to be his dead brother-in-law.

The couple’s conversation could be heard.

“I really wanted to handle that work…”

“Right. Let us do what you want, wife.”

Zaun was so engrossed in their conversation that she didn’t see Zaha or Seol Young. She was just looking at her husband the whole time and only looked back after she entered the Hwarangs’ Hall and vanished.

“How…”

Zaha mumbled.

The situation was so absurd that even his painful memories of his brother-in-law seemed to have changed.

“Seol Young-rang, are we dreaming together?”

“But this isn’t a dream…”

It was real.

Everyone was calling Zaha the Governor and Seol Young his assistant. While they were walking as if they were possessed, it was still nice to see all of them now.

“Great Heavenly Pavilion Head!”

Seol Young and Zaha hurriedly ran.

“How did this happen? All the people killed by the God of Cataclysm are still alive!”

“And with her reading the heavens, she must have something to say about this change, right?”

Then they stopped at the pavilion, but then…

“Governor! Aide! What stupid trick are you trying to do by destroying the shrine?”

“Uh?”

“What? God of Cataclysm? If these two are put together, you two would be that!”

She passed by and sneered at them.

“When Jin Rim said he was quitting, I should have acted more to stop him!”

“….”

Seol Young and Zaha were shocked as they watched her leave.

That made it clear.

Zaha spoke,

“I don’t know how, but this isn’t the world we used to live….”

“…It seems like a world where the God of Cataclysm didn’t appear.”

Despite saying that, they couldn’t believe it.

But that was the truth.

“…”

The two looked at each other, shocked.