WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: WeTried Translations

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◈ Ophidian of the Immortal World ◈

Chapter 9: Never-forgetting Garden

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When Jegyeong regained consciousness, the world of light had vanished, replaced by something like smoke that filled his surroundings.

‘No. Is it mist? Or clouds?’

Whatever it was, it completely blocked his vision.

Jegyeong could neither see nor hear anything.

‘Huh? See and hear?’

The thought had come to him naturally.

He had always relied on those two senses to grasp his surroundings, so he had done the same this time.

But Jegyeong soon realized he had not used either of those senses, because he had no body at the moment.

“You’re an unusual newcomer.”

Before confusion could take hold of him, someone emerged from the mist.

Jegyeong called them someone only because he could not tell what they were.

He could not even tell whether they were human or beast.

Their form resembled a huge, indistinct silhouette. He knew they existed before him, yet he could make out nothing else about them.

“You are...”

“You must be confused. You must have many questions as well.”

Jegyeong had no idea how it worked, but they could communicate.

It was smoother than speaking through a shared language.

“Ask whatever you wish. I’ll tell you all I know.”

“You... who are you? Were you the one who invited me?”

Jegyeong was extremely cautious.

He did not believe the invitation had carried ill intent, but before an existence he could not gauge, he felt naturally cowed.

“I am a Guide. More precisely, the current Guide. And I was not the one who invited you.”

Jegyeong remembered that the other had just called him a newcomer.

This Guide likely welcomed newcomers like him.

“The one who invited me called me kin. What did that mean?”

“You have guessed already, haven’t you? Those who carried over their past lives.”

“You mean... reincarnation?”

“Reincarnation? Dying and being born again? Well, it isn’t exactly the same, but it is close enough. You may understand it that way.”

Jegyeong’s feelings became complicated.

He was happy that he was no longer alone, but he also felt a small sense of loss.

‘So I wasn’t the protagonist of a novel after all.’

Jegyeong mocked himself.

Had he secretly expected that, even while struggling day after day just to survive?

Protagonists only existed in novels, games, and comics.

This was reality, and reality naturally had no such thing as a protagonist.

“Is there anything else you wish to know? Let me offer you some advice. Ask as much as you can. Opportunities like this are rare.”

The Guide was friendly toward him.

Why? Because they were kin? Or was the Guide simply generous toward newcomers because that was the role?

“Where is this place?”

“It is a Small World adjacent to the Azure Basket Realm. It is called the Forget-Me Garden.”

“The Azure Basket Realm?”

“The world in which we live.”

“If this is one world... are there other worlds?”

The Guide laughed.

Jegyeong could not see their lips curl upward or hear their laughter, but he could clearly tell they were amused.

“Of course. The world you lived in during your past life is one.”

“Ah...”

Jegyeong found himself speechless.

“There are countless worlds in this universe. Some say the Great Thousand World stands at the top of the universe, but I do not believe it. Who can know without seeing it for themselves? In the end, each of us only looks up at a patch of sky no larger than the opening of the well we live in.”

Jegyeong did not fully understand the Guide’s words.

Even so, he could feel the vastness contained within them.

They stood facing one another here, yet what they saw and contemplated were completely different.

The Guide had called him kin, but Jegyeong could not dare think of himself that way.

“I do not know about your previous life. I do not know what you remember or what you think. But now that you have opened your Spirit Awareness and entered this place, you have stepped onto the boundless Immortal Path. In that sense, we are kin and Fellow Wayfarers.”

“It feels like more than I can bear.”

“Most who first came here felt as you do. I did as well. But you will soon adapt. Simply setting foot here means you have seized a great stroke of fortune, but you are especially fortunate.”

Jegyeong was puzzled by the Guide’s subtle implication.

“Why is that?”

“Because you are not of the Human Race.”

“Uh...”

Jegyeong almost asked how the Guide knew, then realized how foolish that question would be and swallowed the words.

The Guide had not invited him, but the fact that they held a place in the Forget-Me Garden alone suggested that they were an extraordinary being.

Even if Jegyeong was currently in a strange, bodiless state and could not tell whether it was a soul or a mind, that would mean little before the Guide.

“You were human in your past life, correct?”

“Yes.”

“Excellent. Ones like you are rare.”

“You mean a human being reborn as a beast?”

“Yes. Your case is even rarer. I have seen those whose Spirit and Flesh were misaligned a few times, but you are the first I have seen who is so stable. It is very impressive.”

“Is that so...”

He had received praise, but it did not make him particularly happy.

Perhaps it was because none of this felt real yet.

From receiving the invitation to the Forget-Me Garden to speaking with the Guide now, everything felt unreal.

“But why is it fortunate that I am not of the Human Race? Are there many races in this world besides humans?”

“A good question. The fact that you are asking it suggests your territory is not a disputed region.”

The Guide sounded somehow pleased.

“That is right. Countless races inhabit the Azure Basket Realm. The Human Race is the most prominent. Next is the Demon Race. There are also a small number of Other Races, but the Human Race and Demon Race are currently competing for dominion over the Azure Basket Realm.”

Did every world have conflict?

Compared to his past world, the conflict in the Azure Basket Realm seemed far fiercer.

This was a conflict between entire races.

“What is the Demon Race? Do you mean monsters?”

“Partly. In truth, the name Demon Race is not very accurate. It lumps together demon spirits, Demon Beasts, demon fiends, and all sorts of other things under one name. For reference, you are also classified as part of the Demon Race.”

“Then you are...”

“I am of the Human Race.”

Jegyeong had expected that, but his heart still felt heavy.

When his stream of questions halted for a moment, the Guide said with a laugh, “I can guess what worries you. But there is no need to take it so seriously. It is true that the Human Race and Demon Race oppose one another, but that opposition is not so absolute. They stand against each other without yielding at the racial level, yet individuals and small groups often interact. There are even quite a few cases where they fall for each other.”

“Ah...”

Was that last part a joke?

It had to be a joke. Love that crossed the boundaries of race?

Still, setting aside that final jest, the Guide’s words brought him considerable comfort.

It meant the Guide could interact with him regardless of race and was willing to do so.

“That is why I said you were fortunate. Interaction with other races can greatly benefit both sides, provided neither side betrays the other’s trust.”

“Even if you put it that way, I don’t understand any of it.”

Jegyeong gave a wry smile and shook his head.

Of course, without a body, he could neither smile nor shake his head, but the feelings he wished to express clearly took some form.

The Guide could undoubtedly sense them.

“You do not need to know yet. You have only just opened your Spirit Awareness. For now, think only of surviving somehow and growing stronger. Hmm. Judging by your form, are you a snake? I would like to give you advice, but the cultivation of Demon Beasts depends greatly on Bloodline, and their traits vary enormously according to their growth environment. There is not much I can tell you.”

“Bloodline? What is Bloodline?”

“It is power, and a kind of talent. Take the Human Race as an example. When parents are exceptional, their children are often exceptional as well. But among the Demon Race, that inheritance of talent is far stronger. The more powerful the ancestors and parents, the more powerful the Bloodline passed down to the next generation.”

In other words, they were a race specialized in being born with a silver spoon?

If the Human Race’s spoons only went as far as copper, then the Demon Race’s went beyond gold, to diamond and even higher.

Just hearing it made his insides ache.

Jegyeong did not think his own spoon was made of dirt, but neither did he think it was as remarkable as the Guide described.

If his Bloodline were truly so exceptional, he would not have trembled at the sight of those two Demon Birds.

He did not entertain any hopeful expectations.

No expectations meant no disappointments.

Rather than clinging to empty hopes, Jegyeong wanted to focus on reality.

Being invited to the Forget-Me Garden and being able to ask the Guide questions were both tremendous opportunities he had never expected.

Jegyeong wanted to make the most of this chance.

To do so, however, he needed to be somewhat honest, and that meant taking a risk.

He still had not forgotten his parents being dragged away by two humans.

The Guide seemed so extraordinary that someone like Jegyeong would not even be worth noticing, but what if?

What if the Guide suddenly decided to make snake soup?

What if they suddenly changed their attitude and tried to harm him?

At the same time, Jegyeong knew such worries were meaningless and useless.

Would speaking make him vulnerable, while staying silent would make him safe? Of course not.

The moment he received the invitation to the Forget-Me Garden, his safety was already out of his hands.

Once he had climbed onto a tiger’s back, was it not better to stay alert and gain something than to close his eyes and bury his face in its fur?

“As you said, I am a snake.”

Jegyeong revealed some details about himself.

He told the Guide how he had lost his parents shortly after hatching, how he had been shocked by the sight of the two Demon Birds, and how he had swallowed the Lotus before receiving the Forget-Me Garden’s invitation.

He had thought his life had been fairly eventful, but when he put it into words, it ended almost instantly.

“You said I should survive and grow stronger. I want that too, but I do not know how. I do not even know whether I am a Demon Beast. If I am not, how can I become one?”

“Hmm. I cannot tell whether you are a Demon Beast. You have only just entered the Forget-Me Garden, so your mental form has not properly taken shape. Furthermore, Demon Race cultivation generally leans more toward the body than the mind. Until their cultivation reaches a certain level, it is not easy to discern. That is why I cannot see through your cultivation at present. You said you opened your Spirit Awareness after eating that Lotus, but Spirit Awareness is unrelated to cultivation level, so it cannot serve as a reference.”

The Guide thought for a moment, then spoke again.

“The method to become a Demon Beast is simple. Strengthen your Qi and Blood, then use that foundation to resonate with the Spiritual Energy of heaven and earth. Since you have already opened your Spirit Awareness, it should be easy for you to resonate with Spiritual Energy. The key is to build up your Qi and Blood. In other words, consume plenty of good things.”

“Uh...”

If Jegyeong had possessed a body here, he would have only blinked.

Consume plenty of good things?

So he simply had to eat a lot and sleep well?

It was that simple?

That was... no different from what he had been doing all along.

“I know it may sound rather ridiculous. But that is simply how Demon Race cultivation works. They have almost no systematic traditions passed down through generations, so their cultivation methods are extremely simple. In truth, even calling it cultivation feels strange. They simply struggle for survival according to instinct, and the outstanding few among them rise to prominence.”

Jegyeong sensed neither malice nor contempt from the Guide.

The Guide’s tone was calm, as though they were only stating the facts.

At least, the Guide truly seemed to believe what they said.

Jegyeong suddenly grew curious.

If the Demon Race’s cultivation methods were so poor, how could they compete with the Human Race for dominion over this world?

Could it be because they simply outnumbered humans?

“One more piece of advice. Seek places where Spiritual Energy is dense. You have no cultivation method, so you cannot directly use it for cultivation, but simply coming into contact with denser Spiritual Energy brings many positive effects. The Demon Race, whose bodies are naturally strong, benefits even more. But be careful. Even beasts that have not developed Spiritual Intelligence instinctively seek good things, so Spiritual Lands with dense Spiritual Energy are likely to have owners. If you can handle them, all will be well. If not, you may be seeking trouble for no reason. Be as cautious as possible when seeking a Spiritual Land.”

“Thank you for your guidance. I will remember it.”

After that, Jegyeong asked everything that came to mind.

Later, quite a few of his questions could have been called trivial, but the Guide never showed annoyance and answered each one kindly and in detail.

Jegyeong could not help admiring the Guide’s thorough professionalism.

The Guide truly deserved the title of Guide.

As he enjoyed the feeling of his mind filling with knowledge, Jegyeong suddenly realized that quite a lot of time seemed to have passed.

According to the Guide, it was his mind that had come here.

That meant his body was still coiled before the pond, left completely defenseless.

Jegyeong told the Guide of his concern and said that, though he was sorry, he thought he needed to return.

The Guide readily agreed, as though they understood.

“Then go back. I will not come to greet you next time, so you will have to explore the Forget-Me Garden on your own. But there is no need to worry. Everyone here is kin. They may not be especially warm, but they will not harm you. Conflict within this place is also strictly forbidden.”

“Thank you. But... how do I return here?”

“You saw the Gate, did you not?”

The Gate?

Did it mean that enormous celestial body, no, that eye?

When Jegyeong asked, the Guide confirmed it.

“Ordinarily, you only need to extend your Divine Sense toward the Gate. But you have only just opened your Spirit Awareness, so try opening it as much as possible. If you can sense the Gate, you will be able to come. If not, you must wait until you acquire Divine Sense.”

The Guide kindly explained Divine Sense as well.

According to the Guide, Divine Sense was a spiritual perception wielded through mental power.

Once one could use Divine Sense, one could basically sense everything within its range. It also possessed various other abilities.

Jegyeong thought of the frog that had sensed enemies entering the mist through the mist.

‘It is an even more advanced ability than that.’

In any case, Divine Sense was a prize Jegyeong could only look at from afar for now.

If opening his Spirit Awareness could not reach the Gate, it would likely be quite a long time before he could enter the Forget-Me Garden again.

“I hope to see you again soon. I guarantee you will come to like this place as well. Diverse exchanges bring diverse benefits. You may even meet someone from your hometown here.”

Someone from his hometown.

Jegyeong silently lowered his head.

Of course, his mental form had no head to lower, but the respect and gratitude he wished to convey would surely have reached the Guide.

“May I ask your name?”

Jegyeong could feel the Guide’s goodwill.

Whether that goodwill was applied uniformly to all kin or came from a strong sense of professional duty, gratitude was still gratitude.

“My name is Yu Jeonggyeom. Until we meet again, take care of yourself.”

The moment the Guide, Yu Jeonggyeom, finished speaking, Jegyeong’s consciousness was drawn away somewhere without resistance.

A dizzying sensation like being swept up in a fierce whirlpool flashed through him, and Jegyeong’s body trembled as though he were having a seizure.

“Huh?”

That was right. His body had trembled.

He had returned to his snake form.

“Jegyeong! Were you sleeping with your eyes open?”

Cheongo chirped irritably above his head.

Footnotes:

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