Master of All Sins

Chapter 1 : First Entry into Phantom world - 1

The next morning's dawn.

Normally, Geum Mo-a would have helped wash my body, which could not even move properly due to the pain of my illness, but today, for the first time since I was born, I washed myself.

Washing the body was an act of shaking off all the impurities accumulated through contact with others and cleansing the body and soul.

Therefore, sorcerers like us, who wielded spiritual power—the power of a pure soul—were originally not supposed to entrust their bathing to the hands of others.

Because the moment another's touch reached, it was bound to get mixed, whatever it may be.

‘I do not know whether the gift I received from my stepmother was truly an indulgence or if it was a truly sacred relic that simply broke the curse placed upon me, but for now, I am only grateful.’

Of course, I still limped on one leg, my stamina was exceedingly weak and my skin disease was not fully healed, so the pain was severe just from moving my body, but.

It could not compare to the sense of accomplishment and pleasure gained from washing my own body.

It would be fair to feel aggrieved for having lived without enjoying such a natural thing, but rather than regretting a life that was only a pain to look back on, I wanted to be satisfied with this moment I had barely obtained.

‘Is it not a relief that I became able to tidy myself before the Phantom world Gatekeeper Ritual.’

Phantom world, the world of monsters, which were extremely impulsive, emotional and dangerous beings possessing even great power.

In the past, a large number of monsters had burst out from this Phantom world, throwing the world into chaos.

The nation born when powerful sorcerers stepped forward to suppress them and close all the gates connecting the Phantom world and the human world, was Aeshin Hanguk.

Unfortunately, the sealing of the gates was incomplete, and the members of the royal family and The Eight Clans of the White Blood made it their profession to manage the gates located throughout the country, sometimes entering them to clear the area around the gates.

“……Finally, today is the day.”

It is on the birthday when one turns 18 that one obtains the qualification and responsibility to manage the gates of Phantom world as a member of The Eight Clans of the White Blood and they perform the Gatekeeper Ritual when they first enter a gate.

As the inside of Phantom world was full of unknown dangers, the descendants of the family entering Phantom world for the first time were naturally given appropriate support and a not-so-difficult task.

This was why the coming-of-age gifts of The Eight Clans of the White Blood were famous enough to be known throughout the country.

It was also the reason Geum Mo-a had gotten angry on my behalf when I first received the Indulgence as a gift.

‘I wonder if my stepmother knows that the Indulgence, which must have been given as travel money for the road to the underworld, was actually effective for me. I don’t know what will change just because I can move a little more comfortably and handle a small flame, but…….’

It was amusing to imagine my stepmother's face when she found out the truth and my own situation, where the path to survival was still slim, was even more amusing, so I chuckled under my breath.

As if hearing the sound, Geum Mo-a, who was waiting outside, knocked on the door and raised her voice worriedly.

“Young Master, are you alright? Young Master!”

“I am fine. I have finished washing, cough, I am coming out.”

After checking my body two, three times to make sure no dirty spots remained, I limped out of the bathroom.

Geum Mo-a, who was waiting, immediately approached with a large towel, but I pushed her hand away and took only the towel.

“Young Master?!”

“Today, I wish to avoid the hands of others. I am sorry.”

“What? I can understand drying your body, but the distance from this annex to the Shin Blood Great Gate is quite far. Are you planning to go there without my support?”

Geum Mo-a, who had been watching with an anxious face as if even me drying my own body was unsettling, shouted in surprise at my words.

Having prepared myself for this, I nodded my head firmly.

“As a body that has taken on the duty of a gatekeeper for the first time today…… Haa, how could I receive another’s support.”

“But Young Master, people's gazes won't change……”

“Haa…… The gazes of others are not important.”

It took me several times longer to dry my body than when Geum Mo-a's helped and I replied, breathing heavily.

“My heart is what's important.”

“To me, the Young Master's health is the most important. How about you quietly give up and receive my support?”

“I refuse. Just prepare a cane.”

“Young Masterrr!”

I chased away the fussing Geum Mo-a and wrapped my entire body in bandages.

They were bandages made by Curse-sealing Masters, who specialize in healing arts that prevent harm from befalling a person's soul and body through sorcery, created with their spiritual power, and their price was by no means cheap.

‘Probably from now on, I won’t be able to receive these bandages either……. But what does that matter?’

It was a relief that the inflammation had been considerably alleviated thanks to the Indulgence, reducing the need for bandages.

Perhaps there would be no major problem even without the bandages.

Nevertheless, I hid my body by wrapping it entirely in bandages, except for my eyes and nostrils, so that my skin was not exposed.

There was no need to let others, especially the family, know that my body had improved even a little.

Over the bandages, I wore my undergarments and a top and finally, I put on an overcoat with the Shin clan's insignia engraved on the back.

When I looked in the mirror, it was amusing, as if a corpse or a monster was wearing human clothes and pretending to be human.

“Young Master, you even put on all your clothes by yourself…… sob.”

“Such a fuss.”

“What about your meal? You will have it, right?”

“No.”

As it was harder to find a healthy part of my body than a sick one, my stomach was also not good, so on a day like today when I had to appear before others, I had no choice but to fast.

Geum Mo-a argued that I couldn't starve and offered me rice porridge, but I refused even this.

Realizing that she truly would not be able to approach me all day, Geum Mo-a asked me with a frightened expression.

“Young Master…… You won’t stop me from following you into the gate, will you?”

“Cough cough…… I will not stop you.”

But she probably would not be able to follow me in.

It was not that there were no people who took their subordinates into the Gatekeeper Ritual, but Geum Mo-a's special position was the problem.

As I could see from the attitude of the servant who had thrown down the Indulgence yesterday, she was a much more valuable being than me, who was soon-to-die.

Especially my eldest brother, who had been dissatisfied for a long time with Geum Mo-a serving only me, would not stand by and watch her follow me into the jaws of death.

“Haa…….”

As I, having completed all my preparations by simply combing my hair, blankly set my gaze beyond the window, Geum Mo-a seized the opportunity and spoke to me again.

“You're looking at the garden. Are you perhaps recalling your first meeting with me?”

“……Yes.”

“Oh my! Really?”

When I was very young, when my biological mother was still alive.

Our first meeting was when I discovered Geum Mo-a curled up and asleep under a tree that grew in the annex garden.

Even if it was an annex, it was still a building belonging to the Shin clan, so the fact that she had penetrated the protective barrier without any commotion was a testament to her promised talent.

My mother, who was pleased with the smart and kind girl, took in the young Geum Mo-a, who was trembling hand and foot in fear of punishment, as a handmaiden.

“Sob, to think that the Young Master who disliked me so much at first has become so honest now…….”

“Whereas you, cough. have never changed.”

I, who was sickly and could not go outside and naturally had few opportunities to interact with others, was wary of Geum Mo-a at first, but she cared for me with all her heart, regardless of my ugly appearance.

This was the same even after my biological mother passed away and the family members, taking note of her beautiful appearance and spiritual power comparable to a first-class sorcerer, wanted to bring her into the main building.

At a young age, she formally took the test administered by the family and obtained the qualification of a handmaiden, confidently becoming my aide and staying by my side.

So close that I did not feel the void left by my biological mother.

‘Thinking about it again, I can't understand. I have no memory of treating her specially in any way.’

Standing there and looking at the garden with my blurry eyes sharpened, I finally gave up and turned my head.

We would soon part ways, so what would it matter to find out now.

There was only one thing I wished for, that she, who would be left alone, would live a peaceful life.

“Then let us go. The cane?”

“Here you are……. Can I really not support you?”

“No. Follow behind me. Cough, be careful not to touch my shadow.”

If it had not been for the help of the Indulgence, I would have broken out in a cold sweat just by walking to the main gate of the annex.

Taking the well-worn wooden cane from Geum Mo-a, I picked up the Indulgence, which had been unresponsive no matter what I did since yesterday and carefully placed it in my chest pocket, then pushed the main gate open myself, using the cane to support myself.

“……!”

At that moment, along with the stinging sunlight, countless gazes poured onto me.

On the wide, modernly paved road, unlike the inside of the Shin clan which maintained the tradition from when Aeshin Hanguk was founded long ago, more people than I had imagined had gathered to watch me come out.

"Were there this many people in the Capital City(Seoul) who knew that my Gatekeeper Ritual was being held today. No…… that can’t be.’

Surely the Shin clan must have spread the news to commemorate the day they cast off the shackles that had been vexing them for so long.

Was the joy of throwing their direct heir into the jaws of death greater than the stain it would leave on their own faces, a stain not easily erased?

Or…… did they hate me that much.

“Wow, the pictures circulating on the community were so blurry I didn’t know…… he looks much more terrible in person.”

“He probably knows it himself, that's why he's wrapped up so tightly. He's taller than I thought, though.”

“He’s really using a cane. The Shin clan should be loaded, can't they even treat one leg? Didn't they say there was some incredible woman in the Vatican?”

“It's a curse, they say, a curse. They said even the special-grade curse removers couldn't lift it, but I don't know if it's really a curse.”

“Oh, how pitiful.”

“What's pitiful, he was born as a member of The Eight Clans of the White Blood, he must have lived a life of luxury until now.”

“Is that The Eight Clans of the White Blood? But how come he doesn't have a single guard?”

“They said he was an abandoned child, and it's really…… but the handmaiden behind him is incredibly pretty? Why on earth is she with a cripple like that?”

“Really. What a waste, such a waste.”

The emotionless gazes and voices pouring in indiscriminately from all directions pricked my body like tangible arrows.

Due to the difference in status, there was no one who dared to openly mock or insult me, but the spiritual power I was born with made even voices whispered from afar feel as if they were shouting right next to my ear.

My illness had just gotten a little better, yet just listening to the voices of others who were happy about my misfortune, it felt as if my physical condition was worsening again.

“Those bastards are now……!”

“It is fine. Cough!”

The incensed Geum Mo-a tried to step forward and drive the people away, but I shook my head.

I wanted to clearly remember this childish trick of gathering people to mock me on my way out, the last gift from the so-called noble Shin clan.

As it was, thanks to the Indulgence, which my stepmother must have thrown at me as a mockery, unexpectedly taking effect, I had almost forgotten what kind of people the family was.

I straightened my overcoat and lifted my head.

“Let’s go. I may be shabby, but I will not be wretched.”

“Why are you shabby, Young Master, they are the shabby ones.”

“Cough, as long as you know, it is fine.”

Tap, I began to walk, stepping forward with my cane.

Even though my dermatitis had improved slightly, my body creaked all over just the same, so each step was slow and painful, but I stepped forward steadfastly without stopping for a single moment.

Watching me, some clicked their tongues, some felt pity, some quietly sneered and some even secretly took out their phones to take a picture.

Did I look so ridiculous that an ordinary person with no spiritual power could capture me in a lens at will.

-Crackle

“Ah, my phone!”

“You idiot, he's still a direct descendant of The Eight Clans of the White Blood. You live in the capital and you don't even know how much trouble it is to take a single picture of a sorcerer?”

“If there were any guards around, you would have really been caught. I told you to be careful even breathing in Sector 1!”

A sorcerer's spiritual power protects its master from all sorts of harm.

Taking a photograph, which captures a person's exact appearance in an instant, was dangerous in that the photographed object could be used as a material for curses and all sorts of other spells and the vast spiritual power possessed by a sorcerer could prevent this beforehand.

That was why the photos of me circulating in public were blurry.

However, I had not anticipated that the other party's camera equipment would break.

Was it because the spiritual power freed by the influence of the Indulgence had increased, my resistance had also become stronger.

“Young Master, just now…….”

“We must hurry.”

Ignoring all the people and walking silently for about 30 minutes, after passing the buildings owned by the Shin clan and entering the mountain path, the crowd gradually thinned and in their place, people wearing clothes with the same insignia as the one on my overcoat increased.

They were the household members of the Shin clan, including the sorcerers active on the front lines.

“You are very late, Young Master.”

“I ask because I do not know, did you perhaps set the time for the ritual?”

“……No, sir.”

The other sorcerers glared fiercely at the one who had stepped forward for nothing and, unable to properly answer my words, shook his head and retreated.

They all disliked me, but I was still the glorious direct heir of the Shin clan.

Except for another direct heir or my parents, no one could dare to insult me to my face.

At least, it had to seem that way on the outside.

I could understand the feeling of wanting to say a word out of high spirits because the superior one did not want to serve was going into the Phantom world to die, but now that he had been branded, he would not be able to work properly in the Shin clan anymore.

“You are late.”

But this time, it was someone I could not dare to ignore or rebuke.

The one blocking my way was the heir of the family who shamed his own family in front of others without knowing any shame, the eldest son of the Shin clan, my older brother, Shin U-in.

“Late? Yes, brother. Cough cough…… To think you came even earlier than me, I did not know you were looking forward to the ritual so much.”

“Your speech is as clumsy as ever. I am telling you that you! are late to this place.”

Shin U-in, glaring at me as if he would only be satisfied after making me a fool in front of the household, reached out his hand.

But before his hand could touch me, a discharge in the air repelled it.

That advanced defense spell, which I could not even dream of, was cast by none other than Geum Mo-a.

“Young Master Hwe-in is about to enter the Phantom world. We cannot allow the touch of others, so please understand.”

I laughed inwardly at the sight of Geum Mo-a, who had been grumbling so much in the morning that I was rejecting her under the pretext of cleaning my body, now using that as an excuse to fend off my brother.

“Mo-a…….”

If it had been anyone else, my brother would have been thoroughly enraged, but after checking the expression of Geum Mo-a whom he admired, he just swallowed his saliva and took a half step back.

“Your loyalty is always so upright to see. It is just a pity that its direction is fatally wrong.”

“It is my decision whom I will serve.”

“……The worthless fool, with his ugly greed, torments Mo-a until the end without letting her go.”

When his words didn't get through to Geum Mo-a, Shin U-in spoke again, glaring at me.

I replied calmly.

“Before it gets any later, I would like to perform the ritual.”

“Yes, I too was sick and tired of facing you. Hurry up and disappear from my sight. Forever.”

Shin U-in stepped aside with an expression of regret that he couldn't throw some more venomous words at me before I died.

I thought as I stepped forward again, leaning on my cane.

Why did my brother, born from the same mother, hate me so much?

Was it because our mother became weak and ill while giving birth to me?

My brother's resentment was understandable, but I too was frustrated and felt it was unfair.

I had also lost my biological mother, so since I could not resent and curse myself, who on earth was I supposed to blame.

“You are late.”

The voice that blamed me for the third time today came from my stepmother, who was waiting for me in front of the Shin Blood Great Gate, the Phantom world gate that the Shin clan was in charge of.

Instead of meekly bowing my head, I replied in a calm tone.

“Cough…… I have received the gift you sent with gratitude, stepmother. Please convey my gratitude to my father as well.”

“……Yes, it is a relief that it is not a debt of gratitude.”

She must not have expected that I, whom she considered as good as dead, would give such a spirited answer; she too faltered for a moment.

I was the direct heir of the Shin clan in name, but she couldn't go around proudly boasting that she had given me something like an Indulgence for my coming-of-age gift─how could she have known that I had spoken with sincerity.

‘As I thought, stepmother does not seem to know. Then is everything just a coincidence, or did someone know me and make it so that I would get the talisman…… could it be father? No, that can’t be.’

Forcibly pushing away my deepening thoughts, I opened my mouth.

I suppressed the rising cough, even using my spiritual power, and tried my best to feign normality.

It was with the intention of finishing the ritual before my stepmother could spout any more nonsense.

“Hwe-in, the third son of Shin Yu-hyeon, wishes to undertake the duty of a gatekeeper in accordance with the will of Aeshin. May the gods of heaven and earth look upon this favorably, grant blessings, and repel evil.”

“I, Ye-ryeong, wife of Yu-hyeon, will assign the task as a proxy for the gods of heaven and earth.”

My stepmother declared, even more flustered by the sight of me, who, for some reason today, was speaking eloquently without even coughing.

“Hwe-in, direct heir of the Shin clan, to prove your bloodline, you are to return after forming a Shikigami contract with a 7th-grade or higher monster from the Phantom world.”

“……!”

No one must have known the contents beforehand; the people around them stirred at the task proclaimed by her mouth.

The monster grades set by the country existed from special grade down to 10th grade, with 10th grade being the lowest, a level that could in fact be defeated by a civilian.

But 7th grade…… if unobstructed, it could annihilate a whole street on its own.

To not just defeat such a monster but to subdue it and form a Shikigami contract, for me, who could not even handle proper sorcery and had been fighting against illness all my life, was practically a death sentence.

“I accept the task.”

But I accepted the task without any argument.

Was it because I had gained confidence from being able to handle a small flame?

Not a chance, I just felt that it was meaningless to refuse a task once given to me.

What meaning would there be in requesting another task from people who only wished for my death.

What meaning would there be in being able to handle a tiny flame.

What meaning would there be in my body becoming a little more comfortable.

I had already had enough experience of despairing while clinging to a thread of hope.

I am sick and tired of it now.

‘But still.’

When the ritual ended, the sorcerers who had been standing guard in front of the Shin Blood Great Gate simultaneously unleashed their spiritual power, creating a crack in the strict seal placed on the gate.

What was called a great gate was actually in the form of a blue mist swirling in the empty air, and it slowly formed a transparent path according to the sorcerers' incantations.

If the gate opened just a little wider, the evil inside would pop out and if it was maintained for too long, the evil demonic qi would flow out, so I had no time to delay.

‘I wanted to live a little longer.’

I crushed the weak child's heart that had inadvertently slipped out.

Clutching the chest pocket where the Indulgence was with one hand, I threw myself beyond the opened Shin Blood Great Gate.

Behind me, a commotion arose as Geum Mo-a suddenly tried to follow and I could hear Shin U-in shouting something in a loud voice, but immediately after, my vision darkened and everything disappeared from my side.

It was the same when I, having arrived in the Phantom world, opened my eyes again.

By my side, nothing, and no one, remained.