The Outer God Needs Warmth

Once upon a time, a familiar face kept popping up.

Rebecca Rolfe is blonde. Before I entered, or maybe after I went in and out, her skin wasn’t the pale white you’d expect, but a glowingly radiant white.

“Such a cute girl. Who are you?”

“That’s an outsider.”

Before I could answer Rebecca’s question, Hyungkesuni, who was sitting with her back turned nearby, responded.

“A journalist from another country?”

“Acting like you don’t know.”

Rebecca chuckled at Hyungkesuni’s grumbling. I remember their relationship was pretty bad at the end.

What a bizarre sight.

Rebecca got closer to me. Taller than me. Though she’s on the shorter side, she was basically an adult by the standards of the first world.

Then she approached so close that our noses nearly touched, locking eyes with me. This felt a little too real. Ever since I left, Rebecca had been wandering around without warmth or even light.

“You’re not lost. You’re not uncertain about your goal, and you don’t hesitate.”

Does she really see people this well? Or is she just pulling memories out of my head?

As I worried, could the witch indeed pull memories out and read them?

I don’t know. So I guess I should just move forward.

At the very least, I should head towards that castle over there. The white castle towering far away in the square I’m standing at now.

“Do you have the key?”

Rebecca asked me an off-topic question while looking at me. The only key I have from here is one.

It’s strange that a fantasy would make sense. I pulled out the key I had in my pocket.

“That blubbering king gave it to you? A cruel and merciless king, right?”

“He didn’t cry.”

That was Tisah, the king. But I never saw him cry. Even when I glanced back as I was leaving, he wasn’t shedding a single tear.

“A king can only cry when there’s no audience. But how bizarre it is that he casually handed over the key.”

Rebecca looked back. Hyungkesuni was still turned away, so only her back was visible.

Instead of doing anything special, Rebecca grabbed thin air.

Clink

Then a heavy bundle of keys appeared. She examined them one by one and then picked one, silently pointing it to her lips with her index finger, offering it to me.

“If the king permitted it, I have nothing to say. Now, if you go that way, you can exit this place.”

The shape was similar to the key I got from Tisah. However, unlike the key labeled “despair,” this one just had scratch marks on it. The engraved letters had been scraped away. What words were inscribed there?

With that question in mind, as I gripped the key, Rebecca pointed to a place that once was the Headquarters of Future Hope Church.

I guess that means I should go.

I greeted Rebecca and looked at Hyungkesuni. She was still staring back. So I left her behind and resumed walking.

I opened the door of a building on one side of the square and stepped inside. But what awaited me wasn’t the inside of the building, but a long corridor surrounded by dirt.

As soon as I entered, the door slammed shut with a thud. That means I can’t go back, right? Moving straight down the corridor, I encountered another door.

It wasn’t a wooden door but an iron door. Such a door didn’t exist in the underground temple. Pulling it open revealed a desolate rock desert beneath a star-flooded night sky.

Stepping outside, I found a wide open space with just a doorframe standing empty. It felt as if there was nowhere to go.

Considering everything that’s happened, someone should be in this place. I looked around.

And I found someone. No, it would be more accurate to say someone who used to be someone.

There lay a corpse of a woman whose head had been replaced with a massive lock. Wondering if the key would fit here, I shoved the one labeled “despair” into the keyhole.

But it wouldn’t turn.

Even when I tried the key with the erased name, it was the same.

Looking around, I couldn’t find any key that would fit here. Searching my pockets didn’t yield anything useful either. Thinking that maybe I could see something with my own body, I pulled off her clothes, but there was nothing but a shiny memory-less white body. I couldn’t learn anything.

Not finding anything again in my pockets, I discarded the notion and headed to my destination. Even in this rocky desert, the white castle could still be seen in the distance.

As I strolled along the path I used to run often, I spotted a steam locomotive.

Not one powered by magic stones or anything, but a real steam engine. It was loaded with coal at the back.

There it stood in the vast expanse. And before it, the tracks stretched long.

This meant I should get on, right? I stepped into the shabby train station made of stones beside the train.

There was no one at the station. Just a platform with no chairs whatsoever. I boarded the train there.

Once inside, I saw a man. He stood at the stairs leading up to the passenger car, dressed in the garb of the second world.

It’s a guy I know, but also someone I’ve never seen directly.

Eunjai.

Even when I got on, he didn’t talk to me. Instead, he drew his sword and pointed it at me. Then he swung it.

Or at least he tried to swing it.

It was as if he couldn’t swing at me; the blade stopped just where my hair brushed against it.

He glared at me, then sheathed his sword and pointed to the locomotive instead of the passenger car. From what I knew, there was coal behind it, so I had to go around to reach the engine.

But this is a fantasy.

As I opened the door towards the locomotive, the engine room appeared immediately.

It wasn’t a proper engine room. Instead of where coal should go, a massive lump of iron was tightly affixed there as if welded.

In the middle of that iron mass was a keyhole. Opening this would likely make the train start, right?

Hoping for the best, I took the key out and shoved it in, turning it.

Then I heard the sound of an engine starting, and the train slowly began to move.

This place is a complete mess.

The train itself isn’t moving, but the surroundings are strangely shifting. Usually, there would be a sense of inertia when riding in a vehicle, but here there’s none at all.

Even though the background is receding, the distant white castle isn’t getting any closer.

Since this is a dream-like world, it wouldn’t be odd for the background to move back.

Then the quickly passing scenery darkens as if entering a tunnel, revealing jungles and swamps.

Of course.

It’s the second world.

Soon, the background stopped completely. I guess that’s the effect of the train coming to a halt. I turned around. There’s no exit here. So I returned to the passenger car.

I opened the door. But Eunjai was nowhere to be seen. Instead, I found the sword he had aimed at me sticking in the entrance, with a key hanging from it.

This new key was engraved with the word “anger.”

Upon picking it up, I found a very familiar place. The path leading up to Cheonma Church. If I go up, there’s Cheonma Church, and if I turn left here and go on, I’ll find my old house.

I made my way towards the house.

No, I tried to.

But a building I often saw in the second world was blocking the path. The entrance was nailed shut with planks. It was supposed to be an empty hill, but there shouldn’t be a building here.

I guess it’s telling me to take a detour.

Following the hill, I walked past the established city. A massive building perched on top of the cliffs and towering rock formations.

In the original world, it was a ruined building, but here it’s perfectly intact. If I go this way, will I meet Cheonma?

Thinking that, I stepped inside the building. Upon opening the door, I expected to cross a bridge that used to hover over an abyss below, but it led directly into a room.

Inside were two people.

And in between them was a Go board. As the fishman placed a stone, the young man with white stones followed suit. But the Go board was peculiar.

Instead of being filled with a grid pattern, the board had a kaleidoscopic curve filling it. Go? Well, since it’s using black and white stones, I’ll call it that.

The players were a young man and the fishman.

Though I’ve never seen them in person, I recognize them from memories.

Wonsi Cheonjon and Daegon.

It’s their appearance when they were young, or perhaps before they turned into gods.

“Looks like we have a guest.”

The fishman rolled his eyes to stare at me.

After all, everyone here is a fake. Just replicas that look like the real deal, pointing me down the path without any real conversation. This time would be no different.

“You should call me ‘master.’”

Wonsi Cheonjon replied.

“Guest indeed. When’s there been a time when it stood on its own?”

At Daegon’s question, Wonsi Cheonjon narrowed his eyes.

“Well, unlike you.”

How strange.

It’s too significant to pass off as insignificant chatter. Daegon frowned.

“A troublesome guy. So what’s the guest here for?”

At Daegon’s question, I pointed towards the distant white castle.

“I’m heading that way.”

Neither Daegon nor Wonsi Cheonjon gave me a glance, continuing to look down at the Go board. There was no response. Thinking it might be hard to answer, I was about to move when Daegon spoke again.

“It’s better if you don’t go.”

“Put differently, it means you must go.”

The one responding to Daegon’s remark was none other than Wonsi Cheonjon. Unlike Daegon, he continued to focus on the Go board as he spoke.

“There’s no target to conquer at that castle.”

“The guest can just leave.”

Wonsi Cheonjon claimed there was no witch above.

According to Daegon, I could leave anytime.

Daegon’s words were correct. Just like every time, if I pressed down on reality, I could easily exit this world. I had some certainty about that, actually.

However, Wonsi Cheonjon’s remark posed a slight problem.

“There’s no witch above, you say?”

At that, Daegon and Wonsi Cheonjon both burst into laughter. As if I’d told a funny joke, they laughed for a long time before both their gazes turned to me.

“Except for the guest, there’s no witch.”

“That’s the master’s castle.”

Their eyes shifted away from me, sneaking a glance behind me.

“A man named Nietzsche once said, if you gaze long enough into the abyss, the abyss will also gaze back at you. Be cautious if it follows you.”

“The master is a greedy person. He desperately strives to grasp something shining. Yet, he doesn’t hide the most important thing.”

They weren’t giving me advice.

In other words, it meant the witch was following me. It seemed they were saying opposing things, but in conclusion, they were trying to obstruct me.

“Where’s the door?”

At my question, both sighed deeply and rose from their seats. Then they moved the Go board aside.

There lay a deep pit beneath it.

I stood before it. It was clear both disliked me. But I also had the confidence they wouldn’t obstruct me.

What if I’m deceived?

I could just do it again afterward.

“They both disappeared, huh?”

Then suddenly, sensing something strange, I questioned them.

“It’s fake for the guest.”

Daegon answered without a hint of expression.

“Calling me master, am I not?”

Wonsi Cheonjon smiled, suggesting I contemplate the meaning.

In other words, it meant they had no intention of providing a proper answer, so I jumped into the pit.

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