Overgeared

At a palace surrounded by peach trees and clouds...

The clothes of the court ladies as they walked through the corridors looked like they were alive.

“Didn’t I tell you to shift your gaze?”

“Do I have to burn your eyes for you to listen?”

The yangbans warned Zibal who kept looking around. Zibal wanted to capture all the scenery of the divine world he would never see again. Thus, a strong resentment filled him.

‘Who the hell do they think they are?’

Zibal’s boss was the grandmaster. The other party had no right to command Zibal even if they were gods. Zibal felt great displeasure at the attitude of the nobles who threatened them. He wanted to raise his eyes and shout at the yangbans. However, he barely suppressed his anger and endured it.

‘I will do as they say—when in Rome, do as the Romans do.’

It would damage the grandmaster if he made a disturbance. Zibal controlled his mind and looked like any other Neo Red Knights. He walked silently as he stared at the heels of the yangbans walking in front. The yangbans clicked their tongues.

“In any case, they won’t understand our words.”

“Cattle and humans are curious and difficult to control. That’s why they have to starve from time to time.”

“......”

The grandmaster’s expression stiffened as he walked through the shabby Hwan Kingdom that was unlike Asgard. The thoughts of the yangbans were uncomfortable.

‘Why do they despise humans?’

Not all gods cared for human beings. A prime example was Hexetia, the blacksmithing god. He was jealous of human beings and even attempted to annihilate humanity. However, there were few gods who loathed or despised humans. In order for a god to gain divinity, human faith was necessary. Thus, it wasn’t good to be disinterested in the humans who believed in them. Some gods felt grateful to humans.

If there were humans who believed in him and served him in the past, Hexetia wouldn’t have implemented such an unreasonable plan of annihilation. In that sense, the attitude of the yangbans was really hard to understand. The reason why the gods regained their divinity after being defeated and expelled during the war of the gods was because the humans of the east believed in them and served them. Why were the humans treated so badly?

‘It isn’t enough that they aren’t grateful to humans. It is hard to understand them being compared to livestock.’

The grandmaster questioned it before he realized something.

‘...Do they take human service for granted rather than being thankful?’

In retrospect, there is one such person among the Western gods—Martial God Zeratul, who argued that it was natural for humans to worship his strength. The grandmaster thought of the cut from Zeratul and felt a great pain from his chest. It was a pain in his memories.

The grandmaster’s chest was clean without a single injury. That’s right. The grandmaster’s current body had no encounter with Zeratul. The body of the grandmaster that had been cut by Zeratul and suffered a deep wound was sealed in a pit. It was like the seven malignant, no, the seven good people.

‘Zikfrector?’

Grid had already experienced the ignorance and contempt of the yangbans several times. Grid just thought of it as a dog barking and the yangbans’ bullshit entered one ear and went out the other. Then he saw the grandmaster’s stiff expression. He was worried because the grandmaster’s bright face was gray and looked worse than before.

‘Is the Curse of Sloth affecting him again?' [1]

In fact, the Curse of Sloth was a very rare curse. In Satisfy’s worldview, the only ones affected by the Curse of Sloth were the vampires and Grandmaster Zikfrector. Grid had a long association with the vampires and was tired of the Curse of Sloth.

“Steady your mind,” Grid whispered to him. He was concerned that things would become twisted if the grandmaster became tired and was unable to make a normal judgment.

“How many times do I have to tell you?!” One of the yangbans kicked at Grid’s shin. She was angry because a human woman dared to raise her head when she was warned to walk by looking at the ground.

‘These XX guys.’

Grid’s expression distorted. He had been keeping his head low the entire time and he only looked at the grandmaster for a moment, yet violence was committed?

‘If you want to hit someone then hit Zibal.’

It was unfair. He felt bitter like he was sitting next to a noisy person in class.

“......???” Zibal was flustered. He wasn’t sure why Overgeared Queen Irene stared at him after she was kicked in the shin by a yangban called Haejin.

“In any case, human beings don’t understand how good they have it. It would be easier to just pull out their eyeballs from the beginning,” Haejin complained after she confirmed that the human woman had lowered her head again after looking at Zibal.

At this moment...

‘You want to pull out these pretty eyes?’

Grid’s anger rose as he was trying to calm his heart. He clearly engraved the name of Haejin in his mind.

‘I’ll pull out your eyes later.’

Grid and the grandmaster’s group walked for quite a long time. It took two hours to arrive at the palace after arriving in the Hwan Kingdom and an hour or more to walk through the corridors inside the palace. It happened when Grid was bored and feeling impatient...

“You look deep in thought.”

A new person’s voice was heard. Grid and Zibal reflexively wanted to raise their heads, but they suppressed their instincts and bowed more deeply. The yangbans guiding the party were spurred into action. These arrogant guys started to bow deeply.

“I greet the god who controls the wind.”

The god who controls the wind?

Zibal had no information on the Hwan Kingdom and was unable to identify this person. He was just guessing that it was one of the gods who had been expelled. On the other hand, Grid knew the theme of the Hwan Kingdom and knew exactly who had appeared in front of them.

‘Pungsa.’

One of the three masters who ruled the weather along with Usa and Unsa, Pungsa was the one who caught a glimpse of Grid as he stood over Hangyeol’s body. Dante gained the deity stat because Grid was using Dante’s appearance at that time. Grid’s heart thumped. He was excited as he anticipated the moment when Irene would gain divinity.

The grandmaster stared at Pungsa and opened his mouth, “Did Hanul agree to meet me?”

“......!”

The expressions of the yangbans distorted. Even the others were stunned. The Five Seniors were gods. Moreover, the grandmaster’s wish was to cooperate with the Five Seniors to drive out the gods of the west. They thought the grandmaster would be respectful to Pungsa, so it was natural to be shocked.

“This crazy...!”

The yangbans almost started a fight. The grandmaster used to be the messenger of the gods, so he was on the level of the yangbans and angels at most. It was blasphemy that he would dare to treat a god like this. The yangbans had unwrapped the swords tied around their waists like belts and were surrounding the grandmaster when Pungsa yelled at them, “Go away!”

“......!”

There was a sudden storm and apart from Pungsa and the grandmaster, the rest of them struggled against the wind trying to sweep them away. They were unable to withstand the violent wind and soon fell to the ground.Finally, Grid and Zibal were able to look up at Pungsa.

Pungsa was surprisingly young. He was a man in his early 30s who gave off a rather nervous impression. However, the long eyebrows under the combed hair stretched down to the cheekbones and made it difficult to guess his years. Pungsa didn’t say many words. He stared at the yangbans with a serene gaze and ordered them, “Withdraw.”

“...I understand.”

The confused yangbans lowered their heads. They clicked their tongues as they passed the grandmaster and soon disappeared into the corridor.

Pungsa glanced at the entrance of the great hall. “Go in. Hanul is waiting for you.”

Pungsa’s gaze was only directed at the grandmaster. He treated Grid, Zibal, and the Neo Red Knights as air.

The grandmaster stated, “They are people attempting to help me revive the seven good people.”

It meant he would take them into the great hall.

“The apostles who will help you resurrect the seven good people... I understand. They are your strongest subordinates, so they can face Hanul.”

Pungsa nodded and let Grid and the grandmaster’s group inside the great hall.

“......!”

“......!”

The group entered the great hall and their eyes shook with amazement. This place was the interior of the palace but there was a garden and lotus pool so it didn’t feel like it.

“Gasp.”

Zibal sucked in a breath. It was because as he approached the unusually clear lotus pond, he could see down to the ground. The territories of the Pa Kingdom and the Kaya Kingdom could be seen at a glance. By zooming in, it was possible to observe a specific area in detail. It was also possible to peek at the facial expressions of people going back and forth. He could even hear the contents of the conversation. It was a creepy, perfect observation. It was correct to say that the entire East Continent was being monitored. However, the territories of the Cho Kingdom and the Xing Kingdom were covered in flames and fog, respectively, making it impossible to peek at them.

‘Grid’s words were true.’

Zibal shook off the goosebumps on his arms and hurriedly joined the rest of the group. He walked along the stone path with Pungsa and found a pavilion floating in the center of the lake in the distance.

“Over there.”

Pungsa waved his hand. The wind blew and the lake was cut in half. It was the moment the bottom of the lake that was as deep as the river was revealed, making a path. Thanks to this, the group was able to move to the pavilion on foot.

“......?”

In front of the pavilion, the grandmaster stopped from where he had been walking alongside Pungsa. Grid and Zibal also stopped walking. For the first time, the grandmaster bowed down. “I greet the god.”

“......!”

Grid’s eyes widened. A man was sitting at an angle on the stairs leading up to the pavilion. It was because the name of the god who made the grandmaster bow was ‘Chiyou.’ Unlike Pungsa, who solely focused on the grandmaster, Chiyou alternated looking between the grandmaster and Grid. Then he nodded with a satisfied expression.

“It is nice to see you.”

This was the end. Chiyou disappeared without a trace from his seat.

“Go up.”

Pungsa shook his head and moved up the stairs. Grid followed the group and could see Sobyeol, Usa, and Unsa sitting around a small table.

The grandmaster also greeted Sobyeol, “You are Hanul’s child.”

Sobyeol smiled brightly. “It is nice to meet you, Zik.”

Unlike the actual Dangun myth, Satisfy labelled Pungbaek as Pungsa by using ‘sa’ instead of ‘baek.’[2]

It indirectly exposed that the three gods—Pungsa, Unsa, and Usa—had the same authority and the reason was revealed. Satisfy placed Sobyeol over the three Sas. (Sa since all three have sa at the end of their name)

Then the being on top of all the gods...

“Welcome.”

It was Hanul, the absolute god on the same level as Rebecca and Yatan.

[1] Changing the Curse of Idleness to the Curse of Sloth

[2] Dangun, legendary founder of the first Korean state Gojoseong. According to the myth, he was said to be born from a bear who transformed into a woman and a god, Hwanung. Hwanung, the son of the supreme deity Hwanin asked his father to descend to Earth and live there instead of Heaven. He brought 3,000 followers with him, including the Earl of Wind (Pungbaek), Master of Rain (Ubaek), and Master of Clouds (Unsa). The three gods are based on them. https://www.ancient.eu/Dangun/