Chapter 303

"To be precise, the exact term would be ’child of the Source’, but we usually just lump them together under the name ’Mystery’. That goes for most of the wondrous phenomena or beings we see."

Yoo Sung-woon asked with a smile.

"Now, do you have any questions here?"

"You’ve only said a few words, and you’re already giving me a chance to ask a question?"

"I have to quickly cram a Gardener’s knowledge into you before I can explain our ultimate goal. Even if that weren’t the case, it’s a time to introduce concepts you’re learning for the first time in your life, so it’s better to build a solid foundation step by step through Q&A. So?"

"...Mystery, at least... I’ve heard of a few times."

Cha Eun-hyuk asked in an unconfident tone.

"I usually hear that word a lot from religions related to gods."

"Because Divinity can also be seen as a type of Mystery."

"Wait, if we go by that logic, shouldn’t dungeons or monsters also be called Mysteries?"

"Oh, piercing through to the essence already. You definitely have the aptitude for it."

"...? Really? They count as a type of Mystery too?"

"They’re all slightly different, but in the end, we consider them beings within the same flow."

Yoo Sung-woon continued his explanation.

"A Mystery can be expressed as fate, rules, or a story. In most cases, they don’t deviate from the framework of those three. Let’s use the ’One-Eyed Jindo’ I mentioned earlier as an example."

He took out a translucent pad and showed a drawing of the ’One-Eyed Jindo’ on it. It was a drawing depicted in such detail it was almost like a photograph.

"This is the form of the ’One-Eyed Jindo’ drawn by a Gardener. Is it the same as what you remember?"

"Ah, yes. The one I saw was black, though..."

"The explanation for the black one is included here too. Since the meaning differs by color."

"So that differs by meaning too. If it’s just a dog, the difference based on color... doesn’t seem like it’d be significant."

"When observing Mysteries, you have to react sensitively even to a single color like this. You have to assume everything has a meaning. A black Jindo doesn’t stay close to its subject of protection and maintains a sense of distance. It judges that there’s no problem with protecting them even if left like that. You must have been very mature for your age since you were young?"

"...Is this a real dog? Or a dog’s soul?"

"No, it’s just a Mystery mimicking the Jindo, a dog native to Korea."

Yoo Sung-woon said while showing ’One-Eyed Jindo’ in three colors.

"Among Mysteries, there are those that specifically follow a ’story’ like this. In this case, most of them simply take on a form related to the ’story’ or repeat actions from it. They’re completely different from the Jindo dogs you know."

"Mimicking... Then why one-eyed of all things? Couldn’t it have mimicked it in more detail?"

"It’s mimicking, literally. It can’t become the perfect original itself. That’s why most Mysteries of this type have parts that clearly differ from the original. Just like how the eye of the ’One-Eyed Jindo’ is embedded vertically right in the center like this."

"..."

Cha Eun-hyuk unconsciously looked at ’Hunter Seo Ji-oh’. He tilted his head.

"Is there a problem with me?"

"Ah, no. There isn’t."

Yoo Sung-woon told Cha Eun-hyuk, who was acting like that.

"This one is an exception."

"An exception, I see."

"Very much an exception, so I’d like it if you just didn’t use him as a reference from the get-go. This guy is too advanced of a course for you to learn about already."

"I will keep your advice in mind."

"Now, shall we get back to the explanation."

Yoo Sung-woon pointed at the drawing of the ’One-Eyed Jindo’ again.

"These are Mysteries that mimic the story of a Jindo dog protecting its owner. Barring exceptional cases, it’s their rule to only protect young children under the average age of 7. From what’s been discovered so far, it ranges from a minimum of 1 year old to a maximum of 13 years old, was it? After that, it is their fate to disappear or cycle around finding another subject to protect."

He smiled brightly.

"The dungeons, monsters, and skills that people know are the Mysteries that humans can most commonly see and encounter. To speak of it in terms of the most basic stage of Mystery, it’s like the surface of the sea, or above it."

"Seeing as you specifically used the sea as an analogy..."

"It means there’s a long way to go below it. You could compare it to the deep sea and the ocean floor. As expected, you catch on quickly. Good to see."

Yoo Sung-woon showed him a diagram.

"In other words, Mysteries also have stages, and in a single dimension, humans can mostly see and encounter a unified stage of Mysteries commonly. In Earth’s case, dungeons, monsters, and skills—which can be seen as stages 1 to 3—belong to that ’commonly visible’ realm."

"Then what about this stage 0 marked outside here...?"

"Thinking of Earth before the Great Cataclysm would be the best example. Back then, Earthlings were in a state where they couldn’t see any Mysteries at all, right? So I marked it outside the diagram. I suppose you could say it’s essentially the initial form of a dimension least affected by Mysteries."

Yoo Sung-woon showed cases of various dimensions.

"As I said earlier, the stage of Mystery that humans of a specific dimension can perceive is generally uniform. But among them, there are exceptionally a few humans who can see and feel deeper Mysteries."

"Are those... ’talents’ like us?"

"Exactly, I’m glad you seem to understand well. You could call them a slightly faster-evolving new humanity, or you could call them mutants. This perspective varies slightly from Gardener to Gardener, so you should take your time and think about it later too. Solidifying your identity is important in this industry."

"You said it wasn’t a job."

"Well, let’s see. If you really want to get into it, it’s closer to being a freelancer? There are Gardeners who are like hermits living in harmony with Mysteries completely buried in nature, but... average people still need money to make a living no matter what."

"T-That is true."

"Among these ’talents’, we call the ones who are a bit more specialized and given a specific mission ’Gardeners’. If that’s hard to understand, it’s slightly different, but you can think of them as saints who serve a Divinity."

Having said that, Yoo Sung-woon laughed.

"Of course, it’s a field without that level of prestige!"

"Weren’t you pitching to me right now? Are you sure it’s okay to show me the rock bottom from the start?"

"I told you, it’s not something a sales pitch can fix. I’m just giving you an explanation. Whether you accept our crazy proposal later or not is your decision, as well as the Source’s."

"It’s complicated, so please explain it to me step by step..."

"Ah, right. I got sidetracked again."

Yoo Sung-woon shrugged. He continued his explanation.

"No one knows what form or structure the end of these Mysteries will take. Even though we’ve grasped various dimensions through dungeons so far."

"Is there a specific reason it hasn’t been revealed to that extent? Just thinking about it, trying to completely establish that kind of knowledge in 30 years’ time seems like too... vast of a realm, but..."

"Of course, there are other reasons. Cha Eun-hyuk, think of the universe. Can we boast that we completely know about the universe?"

"Ah, that’s not true. We don’t even know its end."

"It’s exactly that kind of feeling."

It was a similar context.

"Why hasn’t the universe been conquered yet, even though the time humans have spent exploring space is longer than the time spent exploring Mysteries? It’s because the concept is so broad and the effort required to grasp it is too great. Mysteries are almost exactly the same."

It was quite a headache, though.

"Above all, the deeper people delve into Mysteries, the more they lose their reason and get encroached upon by them."

"...It gets to that point?"

"A person can’t remain intact if they enter a black hole, right? You can’t say it’s the exact same logic, but you can just roughly think of it like that."

"What exactly happens?"

"To say they become something that isn’t human would be the most accurate for now. So they become another form of Mystery. Or they just become a cell of a Mystery."

"That’s creepy."

"That won’t happen at the level of Mystery you’re seeing and feeling right now, so rest assured."

Yoo Sung-woon smiled.

"But judging by the fact that there are stages, the final and most advanced stage must exist, and experienced Gardeners can faintly sense its presence. Earthlings have decided to call it the ’Source’."

"What exactly does that do?"

"I’m sorry, but we really don’t know. What it does, what its purpose is, whether it has reason or not, whether it has an ego or is just a system. No human has been able to define what realm it belongs to."

"...It really is similar to the universe."

"It’s the most convenient concept for making newbies understand."

While many people don’t know about Mysteries, there’s almost no one who doesn’t know about the universe. No matter if it’s an era where compulsory education has vanished, knowledge from before the Great Cataclysm could be passed down in plenty of ways.

While highly specialized knowledge might be difficult, a brief story about the universe could be passed down through word of mouth. Therefore, people usually relied heavily on the analogy of the universe when explaining things to a newbie Gardener.

"Humans on Earth currently categorize Mysteries into three broad stages: dungeons and monsters, Divinities and children of the Source, and the Source... roughly like that."

"Dungeons and monsters are tied together, and Divinities and children of the Source are... uh..."

"As I said before, they’re really ’three broad stages’. If we were to subdivide them, we’d have to dig endlessly. So just ask about the specific parts you’re curious about. What kind of explanation do you need?"

"...I don’t know what order they’re in."

"Right, shall I break it down one by one?"

Yoo Sung-woon nodded readily.

"The reason dungeons and monsters are grouped together is because this is the realm everyone can see at the earliest stage. Let’s call this stages 1 to 3. Then, Divinities and children of the Source require the next stage. Think of this as the middle stage. Lastly, the Source exists. Consider this the final stage."

He summarized.

"It’s essentially the beginning, middle, and end."

"Pardon me, but... isn’t that grouping them a bit too broadly, no matter how you look at it?"

"But we can’t subdivide realms that Earth hasn’t even experienced yet."

"...Wait, hasn’t yet?"

"You’re quick on the uptake as expected. I’m thinking of explaining that starting now."

Yoo Sung-woon said while swiftly operating the pad.

"The evolutionary process of a planet and dimension also includes the realm of accepting Mysteries. The same goes for humanity. The moment it reaches a certain point and gains the capacity to perceive and accept Mysteries, or the moment a specific condition is met, Mysteries begin to materialize and take form."

"Uh... Then..."

"Right, Earth named that moment the ’Great Cataclysm’. Any dimension where humans exist has generally gone through this process, or will go through it... That’s the most recent theory. Since it’s a theory from the Association’s research institute, it isn’t completely lacking in credibility."

"..."

Cha Eun-hyuk asked with a pale face.

"...Is this really something I’m allowed to hear?"

"It’s fine, I got it all approved before coming here."

"Can’t I just farm and sell bunggeoppang?"

"It’d be better to do that after you’ve heard the whole story."

"It’s because just knowing about it feels like it’ll have a profound impact on my life."

"But don’t you think peace went out the window the moment you got involved with Ji-oh?"

At that, Cha Eun-hyuk looked at Ji-oh, and the black cloak spoke naturally like a robot that had been inputted with a command.

"Would you like to be friends with me?"

"...I’ll have to think about it a bit..."

Cha Eun-hyuk looked at Yoo Sung-woon again.

"...If that’s the case, does that mean those Mysteries have constantly existed since before?"

"To be exact, it would be correct to see it as them having been accumulating."

"Accumulating?"

"What you pointed out is exactly right, Mysteries have constantly existed since before."

Yoo Sung-woon, who had been continuously rummaging through the pad, soon found something.

"Ah, here it is. Want to take a look at this?"

"...What is this?"

"Jangsanbeom. I figure you would have heard of this much. It’s especially famous among people in the provinces, right?"

TL/N: Jangsanbeom is a modern urban legend from South Korea about a terrifying white-furred creature that mimics human voices.

"Of course I know it. Isn’t it one of the indigenous monsters said to often make their nests and live in the backwaters of Korea? That, uh, tiger? Form... that mimics human voices..."

"Well, Jangsanbeom is a ghost story created quite close to the time of the Great Cataclysm... but it’s still true that it’s a Mystery created before the Great Cataclysm. This is also a Mystery that mimics a ’story’."

"...If so, are things like Dokkaebi also Mysteries that existed before the Great Cataclysm?"

TL/N: Dokkaebi is a legendary, nature-associated spirits from Korean mythology and folklore

"You hit the nail on the head. You have good application skills. Dokkaebi is the most representative example of Korean Mysteries."

Yoo Sung-woon folded his fingers as he gave examples.

"Dokkaebi, yokai, demons, angels, or beings referred to as ghosts are types of Mysteries that have existed since before. Do you know a little about shamans or exorcist priests?"

TL/N: yokai is supernatural spirits, monsters, and entities in Japanese folklore

"Ah, yes, I know them. 3rd-class citizens living in the provinces like us tend to have quite a bit of that kind of folklore knowledge. I don’t know the specifics, but a little..."

"Seeing, encountering, and exorcising ghosts; you probably heard of it in a similar context, right? And there were also cases of people being able to see ghosts before the Great Cataclysm. These people are the ’talents’ I mentioned earlier."

"...That existed during the Stage 0 period?"

"Good, you’re understanding it very well."

Yoo Sung-woon nodded in praise.

"To the Earthlings who lacked the ability to perceive Mysteries until before the Great Cataclysm, after the Great Cataclysm... it’s as if a different kind of sense, function, and organ formed. You can consider it an evolution in its own right."

"...And that kind of evolution occurred due to the accumulation of Mysteries?"

"...Broadly speaking, the Great Cataclysm is in the same context. If humans evolved to be able to see, encounter, and materialize Mysteries, then Earth evolved to allow the doors of Mystery to open."

"Can you even call that evolution?"

"There are many people who call it deterioration, too."

He smiled bitterly.

"What do you think a dungeon is?"

"A dungeon? I think it’s... another dimension."

"There are dungeons that were newly created from the very beginning. Those ones are usually low-grade dungeons. Simple dungeons where monsters exist without any special story, and you just have to defeat the boss to destroy it."

Yoo Sung-woon gently rolled his eyes.

"These guys are identified as dungeons born from the Source in the first place. Even though they have their own stories and rules, they’re extremely basic. There is no complex causality."

"Ah, right. I’ve heard from my younger sibling that the higher the grade of a dungeon, the more detailed its stories or rules are. No, of course, she can never go to places like that, but."

"And those upper-grade dungeons are generally forms that appeared from existing dimensions deteriorating."

It might be a slightly scary thing to say, but...

"They are also dimensions that have been completely encroached upon by Mysteries."

"Encroached upon... Wait, then."

"Right, Earth is going down the same path."

"...Are we doomed to perish?"

"Ah, of course, we still have a long way to go to reach that point."

Yoo Sung-woon shrugged.

"But the scary part is that we could get closer to it at any given time?"

"..."

"Hmm, to explain a little more... most monsters are born from these dungeons. But some create dungeons themselves."

One could easily understand this if they recalled the mermaid monster from before.

"However, the very beginning of such a monster also starts from a dimension encroached upon by Mysteries. The moment a specific dimension is so full of Mysteries that it becomes Mystery itself, a certain being with a fate, rules, and a story transforms into a monster. Usually, there are many humanoid monsters in these cases."

That was the natural order. That there must be a parent to have a child. That if there is a beginning, there is an end.

"Uh... honestly, I don’t know if this order is completely correct either, but if I were to summarize it..."

Yoo Sung-woon organized a diagram on the pad. It was a rough outline that read: [Source of Mystery (Mother) → Garden (Blood vessels and organs close to the Source) → Dungeon (A type of child of the Source) → Monster (Child of the dungeon)].

"You can just consider this to normally be the order."

"Normally, you say."

"It’s an industry with a lot of variables, after all."

That was why there was a lot of overtime, too.

"Ah, for reference, humans and their world are drawing a separate trajectory from the vein of Mysteries."

"I’m sorry, but I don’t understand that one bit."

"To put it simply, the academic disciplines of science and magic can coexist with each other, but they are in completely different contexts. I’ve rarely taught newbies, so my words are coming out a bit difficult."

Yoo Sung-woon laughed awkwardly.

"So, well... organisms born on Earth, including humans, and the planet itself that sculpted them. The universe surrounding it... all the material realms that early humans could at least perceive, even if they couldn’t understand them. Things that just existed from the beginning. Things you can see and touch... Things whose existence can be discovered through the development of technology and civilization."

"..."

"Put that in the realm of ’science’ that I used as an analogy earlier."

"...In science..."

"It’s just that the broadest realm in the field of science is the universe, and the deepest concept in the field of magic is the Source. Though the probability of humans ever being able to see the end of either is extremely slim."

Therefore, there were definitely troublesome points.

"We don’t know what will happen when these two different realms completely fuse together. According to the claims of a certain scholar, eventually, if the realm of science accepts the accumulation of Mysteries beyond its limit... the end of that evolution will ultimately be Mystery, though."

"...W-Wasn’t turning into a dungeon the end of evolution?"

"No, we don’t know. We don’t know the stage after dungeons. We just know that when a certain level of Mysteries accumulates in a dimension, it transitions to a stage called a ’dungeon’."

"Then what do we do?"

"That’s why a Gardener’s role is important."

Yoo Sung-woon smiled broadly.

"Wow, we finally got to Gardeners."

"My head is way too complicated right now..."

"It’s fine, I just came to give you a taste of it anyway, so you don’t need to think too deeply or try to learn it all. No one can force you into this line of work, after all."

He continued his explanation.

"As you know if you’ve listened up to here, the Source is a kind of mother body. It’s essentially an aggregate of Mysteries, and from here, Mysteries flow out and their aftermath reaches our planet."

"...It’s not something separately materialized, right?"

"I’m not too sure about that either. As I said before, it’s an undefined realm. However, there is exactly one way for humans to independently manage the Mysteries flowing out from there..."

"Is that, Gardeners?"

"It’s Gardeners managing Gardens."

Yoo Sung-woon nodded.

"As I just outlined, a Garden is the organs and blood vessels of the Source. Such points exist all over Earth. They likely exist in other dimensions and planets, too. And if we appropriately manage these guys, we can stop the accumulation of Mysteries."

He rolled his eyes to the side.

"In other words, it’s preparing for a situation where Mysteries overflow so much that humans can’t protect themselves. So that no further unexpected evolution, or deterioration, occurs... we manage and repair the Gardens—the veins and organs of the Source—protecting the realms of reality and Mystery."

At the long explanation, Cha Eun-hyuk asked.

"...So neither side overflows?"

"So they don’t overflow."

It was to prevent cold water from overflowing into hot water, eventually becoming a single pool of lukewarm water. Even if they didn’t know exactly what would happen in that case, at the very least, it wouldn’t be good for humanity as it is now.

"It’s presumed that the most primitive form of these Gardeners were probably priests or shamans. They didn’t exactly know of the existence of Mysteries."

"Ah..."

"But since they were ’talents’ who had advanced a little further than Stage 0, they possessed above-average aptitude... Even before the Great Cataclysm, they managed the shallowest stage of Mysteries they could see and encounter."

"Then were those people Gardeners too?"

"It would be hard to say they were. In the end, they hadn’t evolved enough to perceive Mysteries, and so they couldn’t even know of the existence of ’Gardens’. You can’t call those people Gardeners who manage Gardens."

It was a pity.

"In the end, it was only after enough Mysteries accumulated to necessitate humanity’s evolution that we became able to manage Gardens, right?"

"But you said the Great Cataclysm occurred because we couldn’t manage them before that."

"Then what could we have done? It was a time when there was absolutely no one who could see, perceive, or manage a Garden. In other words, the Great Cataclysm was inevitable."

Yoo Sung-woon beamed as he looked at Cha Eun-hyuk.

"So even now that we grasp the situation, we must do our best to mediate between Mystery and reality. Otherwise, another Great Cataclysm could break out. Wouldn’t we be too sorry to our future descendants then?"

"..."

"Of course, just as a beginning implies an end... dimensions and planets were formed in reality and living beings were born on them, so letting Mysteries bring about their conclusion might be the most ideal cycle."

Some Gardeners say that is the natural order.

"Saying that Mystery and reality repeatedly return to each other in this way, giving rise to the beginnings of dimensions and planets, and their ends caused by Mysteries. Even if we don’t know for sure whether these two are truly cycling, they say where there’s an end, there’s a beginning, and where there’s a beginning, there’s an end, right?"

That was how it was.

"But so many Gardeners are working because they don’t want any more chaos."

"...What do you want me to do?"

"That’s why I need your help."

"I..."

"Please sell some bunggeoppang."

"..."

After a long while, Cha Eun-hyuk asked.

"Pardon?"

He was calm, but it was a kind of scream.

So the food stall mentioned earlier wasn’t a joke?

***

From here, let’s move on to Ji-oh’s ’inspiration’.