Chapter 156: Early Coming of Age Ceremony (8)

"Impurity, huh..."

Impurity.

A word used to mean something that wasn’t right.

However, the impurity Jinseong spoke of was slightly different from this dictionary definition.

"Impurity is something that is not good."

Impurity was something that caused harm.

Impurity was something that was not beneficial.

Impurity was something that people avoided.

People didn't casually approach places where terrible events occurred.

They were wary of abandoned and unmanaged places.

People were reluctant to visit shops in dark, damp alleys.

The reason human instinct felt uneasy even when a place where thousands or tens of thousands of lives were lost was cleaned thoroughly was because the impurity stemming from their death throes remained.

The reason curses befell families that committed evil deeds for generations was because this impurity accumulated and materialized.

Impurity may seem similar to misfortune at first glance, but its essence was not easily found, and it didn't exert its power properly unless it accumulated for a long time.

But conversely, if impurity accumulated, it could exert an incredibly malicious power.

Like the cursed object carefully sealed in Jinseong's room.

It could exert a terribly powerful influence that destroys objects, causes mold to grow, makes even living things rot, and causes all sorts of pests to swarm just by its presence.

"And when such impurity accumulates in layers, it can influence the flow of fate itself. It becomes a disaster dwelling in nature, a cursed object harboring curses when it dwells in things, and a nightmare that disrupts a person's fate and destroys their mind when it dwells in people. Therefore, as causing harm with this in itself belongs to evil karma, it would be right to perform it in a land where people neither live nor have use for."

"No, what I mean is..."

Lee Yang-hoon was about to say something after hearing Jinseong's explanation but closed his mouth tightly.

"Right. Since you're obsessed with collecting sorcery, you might have obtained such sorcery. But... Sigh. Do you really have to do this?"

"I must."

"Why?"

"Because that's how symbols will dwell in me, and I can greatly amplify the power of sorcery."

In short, he's doing it to enhance the power of sorcery.

Lee Yang-hoon pressed his forehead as if he had a headache.

Then he sighed and asked:

"If it's a coming-of-age ceremony, can't you do it next year?"

"No. I need to do it as quickly as possible."

"It isn’t that much of a wait..."

Lee Yang-hoon tried to persuade Jinseong to wait.

But Jinseong's stubbornness didn't break easily, and eventually, he gave in to Jinseong's persistence and decided to grant his request.

"Alright. Since you're insisting so stubbornly that you need to do it now, I guess I have no choice. Okay, I'll grant your request. So, you need help to go to North Korea?"

"That's right."

Lee Yang-hoon spoke with a face that really didn't want to agree, a face full of worry:

"Alright. I'll contact a general I know and try to arrange something. A DMZ tour, or maybe a safe zone tour should be possible..."

"Thank you."

*                     *                     *

Jinseong's request was quickly fulfilled.

Lee Yang-hoon used his connections to allow Jinseong to legally go beyond the DMZ.

He created a group with the purpose of 'checking the conditions of soldiers in the frontline areas' through the military human rights center and included Jinseong with a suitable excuse.

Thanks to this, Jinseong didn't have to break through the extremely strict security to go north.

He didn't have to use consecutive space-folding or body-hiding sorcery, nor did he have to walk through the DMZ full of landmines and cursed objects. Instead, he just had to sit comfortably on a bus.

Very comfortably, indeed.

"Ahem, that young man..."

"Don't mind him. I heard he's from some big company..."

"But it's not like he's going on a tour..."

"Isn't his clothing too strange to be called tourism?"

"Not just the clothes, but what he brought is too..."

Jinseong was sitting in the very back seat of the bus, placing his luggage and taking a comfortable posture.

The problem was that this comfortable posture was one you'd expect to see on a Buddha statue, with his arm supporting his head and his body relaxed.

He wasn't just occupying one or two seats, but the entire back row, and for lying down at that.

Of course, it was bound to be an eyesore.

Moreover, if he had at least mixed words to create familiarity or asked for understanding, it might have been different.

But Jinseong was doing this without even exchanging words with the people from the military human rights center.

Of course, they couldn't help but find it absurd.

However, the people from the military human rights center couldn't directly speak harsh words to Jinseong.

This was because rumors were rampant that he was a parachute appointment pushed in by a big company using its influence.

He wasn't someone they'd be with for long, just someone they'd see for a few days and never encounter again in their lives. So they thought there was no need to make an enemy unnecessarily.

Moreover, his appearance was incredibly bizarre.

Tight leather clothes with ragged cloth pieces draped over them, and even a golden pyramid on top of an iron A-frame carrier. Furthermore, cloths of the five cardinal colors were wrapped around the A-frame, as if he was performing some sort of shamanic ritual.

That wasn’t all.

As if he was going camping, he had loaded the bus's luggage compartment full of firewood, and even brought a sack of salt.

Just why?

Why on earth would he need such things?

The firewood could be understood.

One could think he might want to enjoy the atmosphere with a campfire in some secluded place.

But the salt, the A-frame carrier, the pyramid - what on earth were those for?

It was an incredibly bizarre combination.

If one thought he might be broadcasting with some strange concept, that wasn't it either.

Then why on earth was he carrying such things and dressed so strangely to go north?

It was behavior that could only be described as peculiar.

An eccentric who habitually did strange things.

An eccentric incomprehensible by common sense.

That was why people whispered about Jinseong but never tried to mix words with him, and while they paid attention to his every move, they didn't try to get involved. No, they might speculate about his actions, but they never thought of directly going to ask him.

They didn't want to get entangled.

Thanks to this, Jinseong was able to reach his destination without the hassle of mixing words with people.

As the bus passed through the 'Unification Gate', they could enter the land of deciduous forests where moths as big as human heads flew around and roe deer and wild boars lived and breathed. On both sides of the poorly paved road, fences formed walls, topped with rusted barbed wire. All the fences were strung with sacred ropes, and religious symbols were erected as statues at regular intervals.

Outside the fences, wide and deep concrete moats were created, filled with water heavily laden with salt.

Inside the fences, a thin stream of water, too small to even be called a brook, flowed along the watercourse, all made of consecrated holy water.

Sprinklers were installed in various places, ready to spray holy water if evil spirits or demons appeared.

Bump.

Jinseong continued to look at the scenery outside, enjoying the bumpy ride of the bus.

As he enhanced his eyes with sorcery, he could see concrete structures in the distance.

Buildings that would have been used as guard posts in the past.

But now they were buildings without human inhabitants, containing only mechanical devices to intercept evil spirits and demons.

If evil spirits and demons appeared near those buildings, they would immediately set off fireworks to inflict damage, or spray showers of holy water in all directions. And they would emit strong magnetic fields or use high-voltage electricity spread like nets through wires to subdue evil spirits.

It's strict.

The Republic of Korea was called a barren land for sorcery.

Therefore, to block evil spirits and demons without relying on sorcery, they had no choice but to use any means necessary.

Electricity.

Magnetic fields.

Gunpowder.

Holy water.

Magic barriers.

Formation techniques.

And this wasn't the end of it. Summoners with the ability to exorcise or break evil were also on standby nearby, and spiritual mediums like shamans were also stationed in Goseong or Paju, ready to come to the DMZ at any time.

And in case they failed to intercept, self-propelled artillery was ready to pour shells into the DMZ at any time, and satellite weapons and magical science weapons were also on standby to blow away the entire DMZ and safe zone area in the worst-case scenario of great evil spirits or demons appearing.

Perhaps because of this?

Jinseong couldn't see any evil spirits or demons.

He could only see roe deer running excitedly through the forest, wild boars rolling around in the mud, and martens leading their families around.

After the DMZ tour ended and the bus passed through the 'Recapture Gate' to reach the land of former North Korea.

Hoo.

Jinseong straightened up and looked out the window at the feeling he got as soon as they passed through the gate.

Even though they had just crossed a gate with a fence as a boundary, it felt like they had come to a completely different world.

The scenery, too, as if affirming Jinseong's words, showed a completely different appearance from just a moment ago.

A desolate space.

Bare mountains without a single tree, dry and crumbly soil without a trace of moisture like garbage, and the remains of buildings destroyed by bombs. And Christian symbols and metal Buddha statues scattered here and there.

It was a landscape that seemed to weakly mutter that when civilization collapses, it becomes like this.

After passing through this desolate land for quite some time, the destination 'Safe Zone' came into view.

A small area where religious facilities seemed to make up half, no, 70% of it.

Military chaplains in uniform were standing guard there, and soldiers were going about their daily routines inside. The bus drove relentlessly on the salt-laden road and stopped in front of the gate dividing the safe zone.

Then, waiting soldiers came out to spray holy water on the bus with hoses and scanned the entire bus with strange-looking equipment. Only after confirming several times that there was nothing unusual did they allow the gate to be opened, and they scanned each person getting off with strange equipment.

And finally, when it was Jinseong's turn.

"No abnormalities."

The soldier holding the equipment carefully inspected each item Jinseong had brought and judged there was nothing unusual, and let Jinseong into the safe zone as is.