— "W-What the…!"
The ancestor was flustered upon seeing me open the door.
The look on his face said it all — Why are you opening that?
I smirked.
"Curious, aren't you?"
— "Don't be ridiculous. Didn't I tell you? There's nothing there. No information can reach it anyway."
"Exactly."
I was judging based on his own words.
"If there's really nothing, why are you trying to stop me?"
He fell silent.
And that wasn't the only strange thing.
"Usually, you stop time or pull some other stunt, but this time… nothing?"
— "That's because…!"
"Then it's one of two things."
I held up a finger.
"Either you're too weak now to do anything…"
I raised another.
"Or you simply can't do it here."
"Right?"
No answer. Which meant yes.
The ancestor couldn't stop me here. Something was preventing him.
Even in this artificial world, something was blocking him.
Yeah, something was definitely off.
"Nothing in that prison room either…"
And yet he still tried to block me.
What's in there?
This place didn't exist in the original world. I couldn't even approach it before — the pressure was overwhelming. I couldn't even think about getting near it.
But now… it's different.
I had to see it with my own eyes.
Let's see how messed up this is.
— Haaah…
The ancestor trailed off. From the moment I opened the door, he had stopped talking. That meant I was right.
I pushed the door fully open.
From the now completely open door, a wind blew.
Fwwwoooooosh—!!
But it wasn't cold. It was hot.
As I stepped inside…
Rustle.
"Hm?"
I felt something beneath my foot. I frowned and looked down.
"…What?"
I widened my eyes.
It wasn't the stone floor I'd been walking on. It was grass.
A green meadow peeked through.
I looked around, shocked.
"What…?"
It was a small room, not that big — but full of life. Green fields filled it, even creeping up the walls, softly glowing.
Nature — in a place where it shouldn't exist.
Where was the light coming from? It was bright, clearly lit.
"What the hell is this place?"
What kind of space was this? Why was something like this hidden under the Gu family's compound?
Puzzled, I walked forward.
"…Is that a tree?"
There it was again. Another damn tree. Why were there so many trees lately? Not even surprising anymore.
With a heavy sigh, I walked toward it.
As I got closer and could see it clearly—
"…Huh?"
Something about the tree was… off.
On closer look, it wasn't just a tree.
"There's something inside…"
Something was embedded in the tree.
What was that?
I peered closer.
"…Hah."
I gasped.
There was a person embedded in the tree.
Eyes closed — fused with the tree.
And that wasn't what shocked me the most.
"That face…"
I had seen that face before. Though their eyes were closed and they were bound to the tree — I had seen that person before.
I had to have.
"Ancestor…?"
The founder of the Gu family. The one who once appeared before me claiming to be the origin of our bloodline.
He used to appear in my childhood form, or as me.
But once — just once — he appeared in a form I'd never seen before.
A fierce-looking young man with red eyes.
And the person embedded in this tree looked exactly like that.
No.
"Is he even human?"
There was something off.
"Why are his ears so pointed?"
They were longer than any human's.
And—
"What's on his forehead?"
Something small, like a horn… no — it was fire?
Yeah. Fire.
A horn of fire. On his forehead.
The ancestor had a horn. What the hell.
Just staring at the horn made me feel weird.
— "Enough. Stop obsessing over the horn."
"…Whoa. You're still here?"
I froze at his voice. He was still around?
"Funny, I can hear you clearly now. I couldn't before. Must've been cut off once I came in here."
— Sigh…
He sighed deeply.
I asked.
"What is that?"
No beating around the bush. I asked why that thing was stuck in a tree.
The ancestor responded with disbelief.
— "You're calling a person that?"
"Person?"
Seriously, are we calling that a person?
It had a horn of fire.
Even I, who look human, don't go around saying I am one.
— "That's not the point."
"It's not important, I guess, but it's pissing me off."
You call that human when it has a flaming horn?
— "That's not the issue right now. No, never mind…"
He sighed again, repeatedly.
— "You already know, don't you? That is my physical body."
"…Your body?"
I narrowed my eyes. I'd expected as much.
They looked exactly alike — that made sense.
But still. His body?
"…Your body is still intact after all this time?"
It must've been hundreds of years. That's how old the Gu family was.
That body should've decayed long ago.
— "It didn't die. Naturally, it remains."
"…Excuse me?"
It didn't die?
Shocked, I asked again.
"…You're saying it's not dead?"
— "The mind died long ago. The body did not. It may still look like a body, but by now, it's practically a demonic artifact."
"Demonic… artifact?"
So first he says it's human, now he calls it a demonic item?
"What the hell is it?"
This was the next room beneath the Gu family's underground chambers. And it held… the ancestor's body.
I asked him what it meant.
— "It is the source."
"The source?"
— "The deep-rooted origin of karma. The root of the flame you all wield. The fateful chance that lets you wield karmic fire — all of that comes from that."
"What kind of bullshit is that?"
— "Descendant."
"Yes?"
He sounded frustrated. Like he was mad I didn't get it.
After being cryptic, now I'm the problem?
— "Do you know why other sects cannot master Gu's flame arts?"
"Of course. Only direct descendants can use it. When someone leaves the clan, they give up the art — like any sect."
I always thought it was just a rule.
— "Wrong."
He said I was mistaken.
— "Gu's fire is a continuation of karma passed through blood."
"…What does that even mean?"
— "Unless you're a direct bloodline of the main family, you cannot produce the flame. And if you're not born to the family head, it will be weaker."
"…Huh?"
— "Gu-ryun. Do you remember how he got weaker over time?"
"…!"
At the mention of the First Elder, my mind reeled.
"…Wasn't it just aging?"
— "No. Even a rough flame doesn't fade like that. He weakened because the head of the clan changed. The blood connection faded."
"…Seriously?"
That was why the First Elder weakened?
— "And besides, that child never truly used flame as its foundation. That's why the decline was slower. But in the end, even he will turn to ash."
"Huh…? So it's all because they're not direct descendants?"
— "Gu's flame originates from that."
I looked at the ancestor's body again.
To ensure they inherited karma, they used the ancestor's blood — and those with purer bloodlines gained stronger flames.
"…The wall this world created — it doesn't apply to you. Because that wall only applies to humans."
"…Only to humans?"
— "Remember what you said. You claimed that thing wasn't human."
His voice turned bitter.
— "You're right. It's not human. Which means it's not bound by the world's rules. That's why the heads and heirs grow stronger — they're no longer human."
"..."
I was stunned.
Becoming head or heir…
I understood what it really meant now.
It means… becoming less and less human.
To inherit Gu's karma, you must evolve into something non-human.
To become a vessel, just like—
"Just like the ancestor did?"
Just like Namgung Myung, who let go of everything but obsession.
"…Ha."
I was speechless.
"So you locked that thing underground all this time?"
I wondered what they'd buried so carefully down here…
"It's just your crap, isn't it?"
— "Crap?"
"What else would you call it?"
A giant pile of crap.
Grit.
I clenched my teeth, staring at the ancestor's body.
"What are you, really?"
— "What?"
"What the hell are you?"
What are you? No… what are we?
To that…
— "I… don't know anymore."
His voice turned bitter.
— "I lost my name. I can no longer go where I once wished to. Only the name someone else gave me remains. And if I go by that name…"
Fwoooosh—
Hot wind blew from the sealed wall.
And in my mind, I heard the ancestor's voice, now deeper.
— "Dokkaebi."
That's what they called me.