Chapter 128
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During King Sejo's reign, there was a small village.
This village was inhabited by simple people, but unfortunately, contrary to their nature, the land was extremely harsh to people. There were many stones, making farming difficult, and there wasn't even a well in the village, so they had to fetch water from far away.
The only consolation was that there were no tigers in the nearby mountains, so there was no danger of tiger attacks.
One day, as the villagers were struggling to live by helping each other…
A monk visited the village.
The monk, who had walked for a long time on a hot summer day, was so thirsty that he stopped by the village and asked for a glass of water, and a resident gladly agreed to the monk's request and invited him into the house.
But strangely, no matter how much time passed, the resident didn't appear.
Had they forgotten? Or had something unexpected happened?
The monk waited curiously in the room, and after several hours, the resident returned covered in sweat and handed the monk a bowl of water. Surprised by this sight, the monk asked why they were so sweaty, and the resident replied:
[ There's no spring in this village, so I had to go far to get water. ]
Shocked, the monk asked how far they had gone, and it was over 10 li (about 4 km) away.
Moved by the resident, the monk thought that such a person should be blessed, and decided to repay the resident who had walked a long distance in the sweltering heat just to serve him a glass of water. So he tried to repay them using the sorcery he had learned.
However, to the eyes of the monk who had learned feng shui while staying at the temple, the geography of the village was truly unsatisfactory. There was no place for water to flow nearby, and it was hard to find a place where rainwater could collect. Although the mountain landscape was good, it wasn't suitable for farming.
So the monk used the sorcery he knew to find a place where water might come out.
[ Using sorcery, it seems water will come out if we dig into this rock. ]
[ There's water under the rock? Oh, monk. How can water come out if we dig into a rock? And there's no strong person in our village who can break this rock. ]
[ Don't worry. I'll take care of it. ]
The monk used a staff-shaped cursed object he carried to drill a hole in the rock. Then he drove a wooden stake into the drilled hole and repeatedly froze and thawed it to create cracks in the rock.
After continuing this work for five days, spring water began to gush from the rock crevice, and that place became a well that all the villagers could use.
[ Originally, huge and old rocks like this can have spirituality and might require sacrifices, but I will substitute it with the staff I have, so feel free to use the water. ]
The monk said this and threw his staff into the rock crevice, and then the muddy water coming from the rock crevice became incredibly clean water.
The villagers, for the monk who had thrown in his seemingly precious staff for them, brought a lightning-struck willow tree that they had been keeping in the village storehouse and offered it to the monk.
[ A dozen years ago, lightning struck and burned down a huge willow tree at the entrance of the village. We obtained a piece of wood that retained the shape of the lightning, and since you don't have a staff now, it would be good if you accept this and make it into a staff. ]
The monk accepted the lightning-struck willow offered by the resident. But instead of using it as a staff, he carved it well and made a frame for the well.
[ Your heart is pure, so this is truly a blessed thing. So I've given this well special abilities, now this well will produce hot water in winter and ice-cold water in summer. Also, this water will never dry up no matter how severe the drought, and it won't easily overflow no matter how much the water rises. ]
But the monk cautioned the villagers:
[ However, this well will definitely overflow three times. Not because of typhoons or the sky, but it will overflow like shedding tears every time a great change happens in the country. So use it well, and when the water overflows, you should hide yourselves. And when the water overflows for the third time, the end times will come, so you must leave the village. ]
The monk disappeared suddenly after leaving these words.
And the well had overflowed twice so far...
The first time was on New Year's Day when the Japanese invasion of Korea in 1592 occurred.
The second time was the year when the country was lost due to the Japan-Korea Annexation Treaty of 1910.
This well also foretold national calamities through changes in water level, with the water rising as if about to overflow on June 24, 1950, and again in 1999.
People considered this well a treasure because of such mystical properties.
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This is truly a well-made cursed object.
The End Times Well was a cursed object considered a national treasure before the regression.
Before the war, as it was a cursed object related to prophecy that existed one or two in each large country, it was considered 'important but not something to pay much attention to', but when World War III broke out and all sorts of crazy people started to appear, making it not strange for the world to end at any time, cursed objects with the ability of prophecy and warning became like sacred objects.
A treasure that could prevent the worst-case scenario of everything being destroyed without knowing anything.
The last bastion that could allow humanity to continue existing.
An alarm that gave a chance to prevent global crises.
This couldn't be considered simply as a national asset.
Humanity's treasure.
A treasure necessary for humanity's continued existence.
That was why cursed objects with the ability of prophecy and warning were absolutely not touched even in the midst of everything going to hell.
But it wasn't all good to receive such precious treatment.
People with low social status like Jinseong before the regression couldn't even approach it.
People with high social status…
Unless you were someone who acted as the face of the nation or represented the nation's military power, you couldn't even approach it. It was plastered with all sorts of magic and sorcery, guarded using ability users who had reached high levels, and sometimes even the terrain was changed to protect the cursed object.
You couldn't even dream of sneaking in, and breaking through by force was impossible even if you came with nuclear weapons, the security was so tight.
There was still tight security now, but it was nothing compared to before the regression.
Let's see. Magic barrier, periodic satellite surveillance, CCTV, sensors, I can even see a TOD (Thermal Observation Device) far away on the mountain slope. The police probably patrol periodically, and there are likely people prepared for any eventuality in nearby houses.
Only now.
There was no other chance but now.
If war broke out, a high-level ability user would be stuck right next to the well guarding it, and anything approaching, be it animal or machine, would be chopped up and turned to powder. No, before even reaching the well, you'd become a beehive from a bullet shower or your body would be shattered into thousands or tens of thousands of pieces by bombs.
Although there were ability users prepared for contingencies, with the focus on surveillance now.
It had to be at this point to approach the well, satisfy curiosity, and have a smooth meeting with the target.
Seeing that the CCTV is looking my way, I've already been spotted. Now there's no time.
Jinseong changed the shape of his mask to make the mouth wide open. Then the jaw part split in all directions, creating a hole, and swarms of shining things came out from there. Insects that looked like they were made of folded banknotes flapped their wings and flew in the sky, while insects made of gold fell to the ground with a thud, unable to bear their weight.
The golden bugs slowly crawled on the ground, making tracks. Their bellies, sagging under their weight, made long marks, and their six needle-sharp legs poked holes in the ground.
The flying insects flapped their wings made of banknotes, flying around like mayflies and then gathering to fly towards one place like moths finding a light.
And only after confirming that the insects had flown away did Jinseong start to move.
Crackle-!
As he stepped into the boundary of the magic barrier, the barrier activated.
The metal embedded in the stone lantern turned red-hot, and the antenna shook with a buzzing sound. And along with this, devices hidden in nearby trees and soil all activated at once, shooting electric shocks at him.
An enormous amount of electricity caused sparks everywhere, flowing through the gold Jinseong was wearing and emitting light. Moreover, corona phenomena emitting blue crown-shaped light occurred in various places.
But Jinseong, trusting the golden armor he was wearing, used teleportation to approach the well in one breath.
Then he threw himself into the well.