487 - Chapter of Samsara #3

When I first saw it, I thought it was an illusion.

Could Luna, the cabin, and everything else be nothing more than phantoms created because I couldn't bear the solitude?

Similarly, that streetlight lurking in the darkness. The figure of the man standing blankly beneath it was someone who absolutely shouldn't exist in this place, so I had no choice but to doubt my own eyes.

The man was wearing a white shirt and black pants.

His half-rolled sleeves revealed arms that were thick for his age, reminding me of the times I had been beaten soundly by them. It was enough to make me shrink back in fear instinctively.

His chest was broad, and his face, with its tanned skin and lack of laughter, looked quite stubborn. In reality, he was on the stubborn side, too.

Anyway, why is that man here...?

━So, which way do I have to go to find Valhalla? Hey, you there. Uh-huh, is this not the place?

I stepped past the bearded man who was calling out something. Leaving the cabin, I went into the small yard, opened the gate, and walked over the darkness, slowly heading toward the streetlight.

"Hassan, wait for me...!"

Luna followed diligently behind me. She had said she was sleepy just a moment ago. It seems her drowsiness had vanished in an instant.

And so, I walked through the darkness with Luna and stood under the streetlight. Perhaps because he was standing directly beneath the light, the man's face was cast in shadow.

"Father, what are you doing here?"

The man was my father.

I could tell for certain by the blood beginning to boil in my body that this was neither a fake nor an illusion. The same blood flows through this man and me.

Sreuk-.

The man's eyes turned toward me. Then, he slowly opened his mouth.

"You run away from home without a word, and the first thing you say when we meet after all this time is that? You heartless punk."

"No, well..."

"So, who is the young lady next to you?"

It seemed my father was more curious about Luna, who had followed me, than about me. Luna, who had been clutching my sleeve as if afraid of something, poked only her face out slightly from beside me.

"I-I am the Goddess of the Small Yard, Luna Noxdoti...! E-e-eyo...."

This situation seemed quite foreign to Luna. Usually confident with anyone, she hid behind me and trembled as if feeling shy.

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Then she whispered softly to me.

"Is that Hassan-ssi's father? What do I do? I came out looking so messy...! I should have put on some makeup and changed into cleaner clothes...!"

"I don't know either. What the hell is even going on...?"

I felt the same way.

There was so much to say, and it felt like I should say a lot.

But all of that was swallowed deep down into my throat and stomach, leaving only a sense of longing and an inexplicable relief to fill my heart.

As I stood there in silence, my father spoke first.

"You probably have a lot you want to ask."

"...I did."

"If you say 'did', does that mean you don't anymore?"

"Because now, it doesn't really matter. So, how are you here? What about the rest of the family?"

I looked around. I expected to see my mother or my younger sister, but around the streetlight, there was only a pitch-blackness like a dark sea.

Father added a brief explanation as if to clarify.

"This is the realm of chaos. A crossroads where all sorts of worlds intertwine. Originally, it's a place where no one but those blessed by chaos can enter, but since the world has become disordered, entry has become possible."

"...."

"What, you don't believe me?"

"No, it's just... hearing words other than talk about boiled bellflower and deodeok juice coming from the mouth of the father I know is a bit strange...."

Chaos, worlds-. Hearing such crazy talk from my father's mouth made me feel like my own head was going to get all jumbled up.

At that, Father looked around and pointed to a bench sitting under the streetlight.

"Well, let's sit for a bit then. Let's hear what you've been up to while you were out of the house. Your mother is furious, asking where the hell you've been wandering off to."

Holy shit, so that's how it is. I wondered if, while I was in this world, time in that other world had stopped like it does for the Digidestined.

Apparently not.

"And Seon-ah sold your computer on the used market. Your game console, your shoes, your bag-"

"Wait, seriously-?"

These were truths I didn't really want to know.

Anyway, after that, Father and I sat on the bench and talked about this and that.

How long had it been since I'd talked with my father like this? To begin with, we weren't the type of father and son who shared many conversations.

At most, did I have a lot to say when I came out on my first leave from the military? But, I think that's just how it is between a father and a son.

Because there isn't much to share.

However, because there had been a gap of nearly two years, I had quite a few stories to chatter about this time.

I briefly recounted everything from becoming a slave, killing Goblins, killing and defeating various things, meeting the gods of Hypos and becoming a god myself, up to the current situation.

Father just nodded as he listened to my story.

In fact, he didn't seem very interested in what I had done.

Then, he suddenly clenched his fist as if angry.

"You little punk, so you're saying you have three wives now?"

"No, well... no, that's not what I meant. Why are you fixated on that while ignoring all the other important stuff?"

"If not that, does it mean there are more? Is that how I raised you? There's a girl with a child in her belly, and you're here doing this?"

Shit, even though I have a mouth, I have nothing to say.

"You, hey, you've been like that since you were a kid. Doing everything half-heartedly. No motivation to do anything. No will. Just starting a bunch of things-"

"...."

Why do I have to listen to a lecture even in this situation?

I felt a surge of anger rising from deep within my gut. I am now a full-grown man. I'm past the age of being scolded by my father.

"So, just tell me how you got here, Father. If you know the way here, you know the way back, right?"

"The reason I came here. There is a reason. I've decided to sell the Shop. I put it on the market. I came to tell you that."

"Wait, seriously?"

"Seriously, you punk. Why are you like this? Have you been living for two years getting tricked by people?"

"No, selling the Shop...."

"That, what is it. Your mother's greenhouse. Over there, that, some new city development or whatever is starting. The value went up a bit. So we decided to retire and stop working."

"Ah-."

"And I got caught for food hygiene laws and got my business suspended. I paid a fine and all. Anyway, well, so I decided to close the shop."

"Ah-, hygiene laws. I knew that would happen someday."

Honestly, it was a shop where it wouldn't be strange for it to close at any time if a report was filed and officials raided it.

That's why I studied hard to operate it legally after I took it over.

Now, it doesn't matter anymore.

"So, what are you going to do once you sell the shop, Father? Just... play at home?"

"If I did that, I'd be walking on eggshells. A man, you punk. No matter how hard he's worked, from the moment he stops bringing in money, he's a burden. I have to do something too. So, I'm thinking of writing a book."

"You, Father, a book?"

"Yeah. Like a martial arts novel."

I remembered that among the medical books crammed into the Shop, there were often martial arts novels mixed in. Retiring and writing a book. It fits, if it fits.

Father continued.

"So, I want to shut myself away in a quiet place for a few years and focus on writing. I'm looking for a place, but home is a bit much. There's the dog. Your sister and your mother are noisy. Lately, there's even a cat. It's being raised in your room."

"Wait, even a cat...?"

"Seon-ah insisted so much on raising one. So we ended up with it. Thanks to that, it's so chaotic lately. Fur flying everywhere. Crying every night."

I recalled the noisy house.

It was so noisy that I could never study at home. It was inconvenient during exam periods, but now I miss that noisy atmosphere a little.

"So, I'm looking for something like a quiet private study. But, looking over there, there's a perfect place."

Seuk-.

The place Father was pointing to with his finger was none other than the cabin where Luna and I were.

"...."

"...."

Sons and fathers are like that. At some point, they reach a stage where they understand each other's intentions without having to talk anymore. That's why conversation beyond a certain point becomes unnecessary.

At least, that's how it was for my father and me.

So I could understand the meaning of what my father was trying to do.

"Father...."

"As you know, someone has to be sitting in that spot. But it's not you. In my eyes, you don't have the right to sit in that spot."

"No...."

"You don't have the right yet. You're not prepared. A guy who finds it hard to even take over a Shop can't just sit around in a place like that. I know you."

"...."

"Hassan, the God of Samsara? What a joke. You, punk, are still a greenhorn. What can a guy who fumbles around in fear of a single Spider do?"

Father continued to criticize me.

It was fine even if he was provoking me.

Normally, blood would have rushed to my head and I might have flared up, but I've grown older now. I can at least understand what this situation means.

My father is saying he will shoulder the yoke of samsara instead. That was something I was supposed to shoulder alone.

"Father, you'll be left all alone. Truly."

At that, Father slightly raised the corners of his mouth. Did he smile?

"Am I the same as you? I have experience. If it's me, it's even possible to go back and forth from here. Because I made such a contract with Chaos. I can cross over between this side and that side."

"Wait, really?"

Shit, is there such a contract function? Where can one make such a contract? While I was lost in curiosity, Father scratched his chin.

"Well, going outside would only be about once a week even for me now. That's enough to think of it as being away on a business trip. But you can't do that."

"No, even so...."

Even so, sitting still in the same space for six days a week is something a person shouldn't do. I worried for my father.

"Hassan, this father of yours is used to solitude. And to narrow, dark places. No, rather, it's precisely such places that give me a sense of stability."

"...."

"If you ever have children, the time will come when you understand my heart."

"Father-."

"Then, let's do this. Shall we arm wrestle for the first time in a while? It's boring to just do it, so let's make a bet. We'll decide according to the winner's words."

Sreuk-.

As Father waved his hand in the air, a small platform of sorts appeared under the streetlight. A platform that looked perfect for resting our hands and arm wrestling.

I had never once won an arm wrestling match against my father.

My father was like an impregnable fortress; he never seemed like someone who would be toppled.

Sreuk-.

But in this moment as we gripped each other's hands, I could feel instantly that my father's strength was not as great as it used to be.

I didn't know if Father had become weaker or if I had become that much stronger....

"Then, was it Luna? Could you act as the referee? It has to be fair."

"Ye-yes.... Then, re-ready, go...!"

With Luna's clumsy shout, the arm wrestling between Father and me began.

"Hey, are you even trying?"

"...."

Compared to my father's trembling arm, I was calm and serene. To the point where I wondered if Father was just pretending to exert strength.

Had I become too strong?

Or maybe it was true that Father's strength had weakened.

They say that in this world, gods increase their power according to the size of their faith. Father's Followers had been all but annihilated, and his very existence was on the verge of being erased.

Then it was only natural for his strength to have weakened like this.

It's somewhat sad.

"You've become strong, Hassan."

Kwaaaaak-.

At that moment, a pressure so strong it felt like my palm would be crushed came in.

"But, as expected, you're still no match for me. Come back after training for at least another 100 years."

Simultaneously, my hand was abruptly forced down in a direction it shouldn't go.

"Uwaaaaah!"

What the hell, such power suddenly? What was that act of being weak until just now? Was it a performance?

I quickly put strength into my arm in a panic, but my arm, which had already tilted as far as it could, was forced down until my knuckles finally slammed against the platform.

Kung.

"Ugh-."

"You let your guard down-. You're not going to use that as an excuse, are you? Anyway, the victory is clear. Luna, it looks that way to you too, right?"

"Ye-yes.... It's... Father-nim's victory...!"

I stood up, panting heavily.

I lost.

Was it because of that?

Something like purple smoke billowed from my body.

Seuseuseuseu-.

It looked as if my soul was escaping, and the smoke that escaped began to rapidly seep into Father's body.

"God of Samsara, so this is the feeling of the authority-. Good. It's not particularly difficult."

I realized that the divinity that had been dwelling in my body was being transferred to Father.

To think things would turn out like this because of a single arm wrestling match, a single moment of being caught off guard by sentimentality.

"Good, then while I'm getting used to the power, I'll send you two back to the surface first."

─Hades Samsara Beam.

Jiiiiiiing-.

"Whoa-."

A strange beam of light emitted from Father's hand pierced through my body. Simultaneously, my body became blurred and began to vanish starting from my hands and feet.

"No, wait, Father-"

"Hassan, you have work to do up there. In fact, your coming to this place, and the world becoming this disordered, must all be that fellow's will."

"That fellow-?"