WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: WeTried Translations
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◈ Ophidian of the Immortal World ◈
Chapter 3: Cheong-O
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Jegyeong licked up every bit of bloodstained dirt around him as if entranced.
He swallowed a fair amount of soil too, but he didn't care.
After diligently cleaning(?) the area for some time, he finally came back to his senses.
It was like being doused with ice water in the middle of a daze.
‘Damn.’
He had no idea what had happened and was still reeling when an unfamiliar sound came from above him.
“Snake. Big snake. What are you thinking about?”
A bird chirped softly.
Normally, the sound would have passed by like background noise, but for some reason, Jegyeong could understand it.
“What?!”
Startled, he raised his head.
A bird hovered above him, silently flapping its wings. Compared to the two birds he had seen earlier, it was small enough to seem like a chick, though it was not especially small for an ordinary bird. Overall, it resembled a crow.
Its beak was shorter, however, and its feathers had a bluish tint.
It also seemed to give off a faint glow.
Jegyeong narrowed his eyes at the unusual bird.
“Were you the one talking?”
“Yep. That was me.”
The snake and bird made different sounds, yet they could communicate.
Jegyeong immediately realized it was because of the bird. No matter what sound he made, the bird could understand him, and it could make him understand its own sounds as well.
“Who are you?”
“Me? Cheongo. That’s my name. Do you know what a name is?”
“I do.”
“Huh? You do?”
Cheongo tilted their head, as if it were strange that Jegyeong knew such an incredible secret.
“How did you do it?” Jegyeong asked.
“Do what?”
“How are we talking to each other?”
“We? No. I can talk to you. I’m special. I’m the only one who can talk to dumb beasts like you.”
The bird puffed up, clearly eager to boast about how special they were.
Yet Jegyeong found the display neither irritating nor bothersome.
This bird was the first being in this world he could actually talk to. Cheongo’s way of speaking could be a little grating, but there was no denying they were extraordinary.
“Why are you the only special one?”
“Because I’m a special bird. An Immortal gave me Ignition. They even gave me a name. Cheongo. That’s my name. It’s mine alone. Do you have a name?”
Ignition? An Immortal?
He understood the words, but not what they meant.
Jegyeong calmed his confusion and continued asking questions. Fortunately, the boastful little bird seemed to enjoy talking. Once Jegyeong coaxed Cheongo along a little, the bird began pouring out words as if they had been waiting for someone to ask.
“You want to know what Ignition is? It’s something good. Very good. Before, I was a dumb bird who only knew how to eat and sleep. But after the Immortal gave me Ignition, I became smart. Now I can talk and listen. I even have a hobby. I groom my feathers. See? There isn’t a single feather sticking out of my wings. They’re perfect.”
Cheongo spun in place and spread their wings wide.
The faint blue glow traced a circle through the air, mysterious and beautiful.
“You said an Immortal... What is an Immortal?”
“An Immortal? An Immortal is an Immortal. They can do anything. I want to become one too.”
Cheongo said an Immortal could kill terrifying beasts with a single glance and flatten the earth with a gesture.
The explanation was rather scattered, but one thing was clear. Immortals were immensely powerful beings.
Judging by the reverence in Cheongo’s voice, they greatly admired them.
‘An Immortal...’
Cheongo’s description made Jegyeong think of immortals from xianxia stories. Not the immortal who appeared from a pond holding three axes, but the kind commonly found in xianxia fiction.
There had been plenty of so-called xianxia novels among the genre fiction he enjoyed in his previous life. In those stories, humans cultivated to become immortal beings.
The Immortals Cheongo described seemed similar to the cultivators portrayed in those novels.
‘Come to think of it, those two people seemed like that too.’
The instant he saw them, terror had overwhelmed him and he had hidden himself, so he had no chance to observe them closely. Still, when he recalled those vague memories, the powers they wielded did seem similar to the methods of xianxia immortals.
Of course, he couldn’t be certain.
The settings and descriptions varied wildly from one xianxia novel to another.
‘Don’t tell me I fell into some xianxia novel?’
Falling into a fictional work, like a novel or comic, was one of the clichés of genre fiction.
There had been many stories in his previous life about people reincarnating as slave merchants in games or business tycoons in trashy dramas. Could he have become one of those protagonists himself?
He didn’t think so, but perhaps it really was possible.
‘Whatever the case, meeting Cheongo was lucky.’
Even while he was lost in thought, Cheongo kept delivering a long speech about how incredible Immortals were.
They almost seemed to identify themselves with that Immortal.
Jegyeong quietly listened without interrupting Cheongo’s boasting. The longer Cheongo spoke, the happier they seemed.
He didn’t want to upset this useful bird, his sole source of information.
“Yeah. That Immortal really sounds amazing.”
“Of course! Naturally! The Immortal was the greatest in the world!”
Was that Immortal this little bird’s master?
Jegyeong thought for a moment before cautiously bringing it up.
“That Immortal must have treated you well.”
“Yeah. They treated me really well. They gave me lots of delicious food too...”
Cheongo, who had been so lively moments ago, suddenly drooped.
“But they’re gone now.”
“Hm?”
“The Immortal. They’re gone now.”
“Gone?”
“Yeah. They died.”
Cheongo looked sad, as though they didn’t want to say any more.
Taking the hint, Jegyeong didn’t press further and changed the subject.
“That’s unfortunate.”
“What’s unfortunate?”
“I wanted to meet that Immortal too. If they gave me Ignition, I could become smart like you.”
“Ah!” Cheongo nodded. “That is unfortunate. You don’t have enough fortune. The Immortal said I was fortunate.”
Cheongo puffed up again, then glanced at Jegyeong and added another comment.
“Um. But you’re smart too. Not as smart as me, of course. Most of the others can’t understand me even when I talk to them.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. Most are like that. Unless Spiritual Essence sprouts, beasts are all dumb. But beasts whose Spiritual Intelligence has sprouted are really rare. I’ve only seen a few.”
Spiritual Intelligence. Another unfamiliar word.
When Jegyeong asked, Cheongo eagerly began sharing their knowledge again.
According to Cheongo, having Spiritual Intelligence sprout meant that a creature without intelligence gained it for some reason.
It was like planting a seed in barren soil and making it germinate.
The Ignition Cheongo proudly talked about was one example. Another was when a beast seized an opportunity on its own and became a Demon Beast.
‘Demon Beast.’
It seemed increasingly likely that this was a xianxia world, or something similar.
Jegyeong tried to draw information from Cheongo without revealing his intentions. He didn’t need to guide the bird much anyway. Cheongo readily spilled useful information on their own.
All Jegyeong had to do was occasionally respond or show that he was listening, and Cheongo happily babbled on.
They were an incredible chatterbox.
As Jegyeong listened, though, he came to understand the bird’s circumstances.
Cheongo had gained Spiritual Intelligence and could speak with all kinds of beasts, even humans, but very few creatures could understand them.
No matter how good Cheongo’s speaking skills were, they couldn’t show them off to someone who couldn’t listen.
Cheongo vented their pent-up frustration. Through that, Jegyeong learned that there were no beasts with awakened Spiritual Intelligence nearby.
He also learned that Cheongo had seen humans other than the Immortal.
“Humans... I’ve seen them across the river. Bad ones! They tried to catch me.”
“They tried to catch you?”
Cheongo nodded like a woodpecker.
“Humans are always like that. They catch beasts even though they aren’t food. Do they take them away to eat them?”
As someone who had been human in his previous life, Jegyeong felt strange hearing a beast insult humans.
But that was all.
He had already separated and accepted his past life and current one. To him, humans were no longer kin that stirred nostalgia for his former life. They were simply dangerous beings who could harm him at any time.
“I saw them across the river. But last time, lots of them crossed the river, so I got scared and ran away.”
“Which way is the river?”
“That way.”
Cheongo pointed in one direction with their beak.
Jegyeong tried to remember it and vowed that he would never rest his head in that direction, even while sleeping.
“Yeah. I should go now.”
After talking to themself for a long while, Cheongo said goodbye.
Jegyeong had been growing uneasy after staying in one place for too long, but he tried not to show his relief.
The little bird had emotions as rich as any human’s, and Jegyeong didn’t want to offend someone he could not control.
Once Cheongo flew away, Jegyeong moved a short distance before climbing a tree.
As he traveled, he carefully watched his surroundings. At some point, he noticed that the trees had grown larger and their colors darker.
He didn’t know if this meant their branches were sturdier, but he climbed one anyway. He had no choice but to experience everything with his own body.
‘Hmm...’
Leaning his body against a thick branch, Jegyeong felt that this potential bed seemed sturdier than the ones he had used so far.
Still, it swayed enough that he didn’t feel safe sleeping on it.
He silently climbed back down and continued in the same direction as before.
As the darkness began to visibly thin, Jegyeong climbed the largest tree he could see.
Fortunately, its branches were strong enough to support him.
It felt like he could use this place for several days.
‘Something’s strange.’
After settling into a suitable spot, Jegyeong grew flustered by the unusual state of his body.
He had no clock, but around this time, his body would normally grow heavy, even if he had finished hunting easily.
Now, though, he was full of strength as if he had just woken up.
Jegyeong began considering what had been different about this day.
The first thing that came to mind was the mysterious bird, Cheongo, but simply talking with Cheongo was unlikely to have affected his condition.
That left only one other unusual thing.
‘That blood.’
He recalled the two Monstrous Birds that had fiercely fought each other and the blood they had spilled.
He also recalled himself licking it up as if bewitched after they left.
‘I should’ve asked about that too.’
Had Cheongo seen them? Probably.
Cheongo was smart, and judging by what they said, they had some caution as well. They must have revealed themself only after the Monstrous Birds were gone.
‘It doesn’t seem like a bad thing.’
A few drops of blood from those Monstrous Birds had drawn him in intensely.
Like a starving person suddenly drawn toward a feast laid out before them, Jegyeong had been drawn to those few drops of blood.
It was far from normal, yet at the time, he hadn’t felt the slightest doubt or hesitation. When he thought about why, it was probably because he had been certain the blood would benefit him.
If someone asked how he could be so certain... all he could say was that it had been instinct.
Right. It came back to instinct again. As always.
He didn’t want to be led around by instincts he couldn’t control, but this time too, his instincts seemed to have been right.
Strength overflowed through his whole body. He felt as though he could crush that wild boar in one go.
It might only be a temporary strengthening or awakening effect, but somehow, he didn’t think so.
‘I guess I’ll find out with time.’
That was a problem for later.
The immediate problem was that he couldn’t sleep.
Jegyeong forcibly closed his eyes and began counting sheep in his head.
* * *
Since becoming independent, Jegyeong had never once slept soundly.
No matter how tired he was when he closed his eyes, he never let down his guard completely.
That caution had kept him from being seriously hurt in several small crises.
Most small beasts capable of climbing trees didn’t dare attack him because of his size. Occasionally, though, foolish flying beasts would mistake him for something dying in its sleep and bravely attack.
“Snake. Wake up.”
At the sound of chirping, Jegyeong reflexively opened his eyes and raised himself.
When he saw that the one who had woken him was not an attacker but the small bird giving off a faint blue glow, his vigilance eased.
“How did you find me?”
“Hm? You were easy to find. There aren’t any big snakes like you around here.”
That was both an advantage and a drawback of his large size.
‘There aren’t any of my kind nearby?’
Cheongo’s words allowed him to infer something useful.
At the very least, there was a high chance that none of his kind lived nearby. If snakes as large as buildings were numerous, the local ecosystem wouldn’t be this quiet.
“I’m hungry. Do you have food?”
“No,” Jegyeong replied, half dumbfounded and half annoyed.
Then, at that very moment, a decent idea came to him.
“Come to think of it, I’m hungry too. I should find something to eat.”
His eyes gleamed as he spoke warmly to Cheongo, who flapped their wings while keeping a safe distance.
“So, I think I might need your help.”
“Hm?”
Footnotes:
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