Black Corporation: Joseon [EN]: Chapter 814

814. The Star Falls (8)

“Hmm… what should I do…”

Hyang, after much deliberation over the letter left by Sejong, let out a long sigh and held the letter in his hand.

“Hoo~. He told me to be the only one to see it, so I could just bury it… but this damn curiosity…”

Smiling wryly at his choice to open the letter, unable to overcome his curiosity, Hyang broke the seal.

“Hyang, listen…”

-Hyang, listen.

From a young age, you were a child who showed extraordinary talent.

At an age when ordinary children could barely grasp the Thousand Character Classic [a foundational text of Confucianism used for literacy], you had already mastered a high level of Confucian classics, and your debates with the guests of the Crown Prince’s Office were admirable.

Your level was so outstanding that people said, ‘It’s not the insight of a child.’

I was very happy every time I heard the guests’ words.

What parent wouldn’t be happy to see their child’s excellence? I was happy too.

However, at some point, I realized that your dedication to mathematics was not to deeply understand and awaken to the virtues of the sages.

Rather, you were working so hard to get rid of Confucianism as quickly as possible, considering it a shackle.

Having removed the shackles, you then devoted yourself wholeheartedly to the things you wanted to do.

And you did so by using clever tricks to avoid the criticisms of the noisy officials.

The most representative example was the golden pen.

Creating the golden pen, proving its usefulness, and selling it to help the country’s finances, as well as preventing talk about you doing things with the money from the Insoon Department [a government agency], was quite ingenious.

How could that come from the mind of a child who wasn’t even 10 years old?

The same goes for your policy presentations.

(Omitted)

In the past, several of us, including myself, gathered to talk about you.

Among the things that many people said at the time, there were three main overlaps.

One was that you already knew what we didn’t, so we were struggling to explain it as easily as possible.

Another was that we had figured something out after much deliberation, but you seemed to already know it.

Finally, if there was something we absolutely needed to know, you would subtly lead our thoughts in that direction.

At the time, those who gathered had many questions about this.

And that’s not all.

Even in the process of creating Hangeul [the Korean alphabet], your behavior was unusual. You gave the impression that you were using things I was still only contemplating with familiarity.

This question became even stronger as I examined the papers that came out of your room.

(Omitted)

As these things overlapped, I sometimes felt like you weren’t my son.

It felt like a person from hundreds of years in the future was living in my son’s shell.

And every time I had these thoughts, I would rebuke and restrain myself.

How could I be such a wretched human being as to be jealous of my son and have such absurd thoughts? I told myself to refine myself further and work harder during that time.

And I did so.

Of course, I am also human, so occasionally such grotesque thoughts would creep in and torment me.

However, I have been watching you since your mother gave birth to you, and you are indeed my child.

Of course, those who worship the Buddha speak of reincarnation. However, even if there is reincarnation, it flows along with time and is reborn in the future, not against time.

Going back in time is against the heavens and against reason.

Therefore, my conclusion is that you are far superior to others.

Maybe not to the extent of the Buddha, who took three steps as soon as he was born and said, ‘Above the heavens and below the heavens, I alone am honored.’

Again, you are my child. My proud child.

Now, the time has come for me to finish my journey in this world.

Looking back, I have been walking a new path.

Every day was a new day I had never experienced before, and every step I took was on land I had never set foot on before.

Walking a new path every day, not the path of yesterday, I am proud to have done my best.

Therefore, even though I am walking the path of the afterlife, not the path of this world, I will walk with a light heart.

So, I want to give you one last request.

Unleash everything you are holding onto.

I know very well that you still have a lot inside you.

This is not my misjudgment. It is the conviction I had when I saw you looking at the Miscellaneous Records I presented.

You, as well as Wan, who learned from you, the ministers with deep experience, Jung In-ji, who explores knowledge with scholars in the research institute and Area 51 every day, and even I, were the only ones who found something in the phrases that were considered trivial. You must have already thought of something similar to what I had thought, and you must have realized its value in your own way.

Therefore, before you leave this world, unleash everything you have inside you.

Even if the scholars’ knowledge and the artisans’ skills cannot keep up, unleash it.

Even if we cannot reach it now, it will be a great milestone.

I earnestly ask you not to disregard my request.

I still have the strength to add a few lines.

Looking back, I think you are the type of guy who would solve it even knowing it is impossible now.

One of your bad habits is hiding things and releasing them little by little, and the other is setting up a stage and watching.

You’re probably thinking of releasing everything right before you die, right?

And you’re sure to laugh as you watch the scholars get frustrated and die.

Don’t get cursed even after you die, and release it in advance on your own.

Don’t get cursed when you don’t have to.

This is my last request.

* * *

“Hoo~.”

Hyang, having finished reading Sejong’s letter, let out a long sigh and smacked his lips.

“Tsk… he knew me too well. Come to think of it…”

Not long after Hyang created Area 51 and the research institute, the actions of those around Hyang began to change little by little.

Until then, the reaction was mostly ‘Why this?’ or ‘Is it really possible?’ However, from a certain point on, when Hyang gave them tasks, they did their best to produce results rather than questioning them.

The same was true of the budget issue.

Of course, he had been of great help to the budget with Area 51 and various events. However, he still had to be mindful of the Ministry of Finance every time he set the budget.

But at some point, the pressure he received in budget allocation began to weaken little by little. Of course, he had to be mindful of Kim Jeom, who was in charge of the country’s coffers at the time, but even Kim Jeom no longer opposed him unconditionally as he had in the past.

Of course, he had to be scolded by Sejong every time he requested additional budget.

“You rascal, get out!”

Hyang, recalling the old memories, looked at the letter with a sad expression.

It was because of the sentence ‘You are my son’ in the letter.

It took Hyang a considerable amount of time to recognize Sejong as his father.

It was a natural reason in a way.

It was not easy to accept that Sejong, a great man who would be remembered in history, was his biological father.

In addition, he had a strong belief that only his 21st-century parents were his parents.

That is why Hyang was even more polite to Sejong when he was young.

Reading the contents of the letter, Sejong knew that Hyang was distancing himself from him.

However, Sejong embraced Hyang until the end.

“That’s why they say that children only have regrets when their parents pass away…”

To hide his suddenly depressed heart, Hyang forcibly changed the subject.

“Anyway, he told me to unleash it and go… how should I unleash it? Rubber seems to be coming into my hands soon, and the situation has already deviated completely from the history I knew…”

Hyang crossed his arms and began to ponder.

“Since history is already a mess, should I push it through while saying, ‘Shut up and follow me!’? No. This will give me a headache. Hmm…”

Hyang worked hard to find an easier and more comfortable way.

“Should I write something like Miscellaneous Records and throw it out before I die? Nah~. That’s no fun for me…”

After much deliberation, Hyang came to a simple conclusion.

“Let’s go as we are now. If it doesn’t work out, I’ll just write a Miscellaneous Record. Anyway, I’ll be cursed a lot later just for the things I’ve done so far…”

It was a decision that Sejong would have immediately shouted, ‘You rascal!’ if he had heard it.

* * *

Having decided on the future, Hyang looked at the letter in front of him.

The envelope containing the letter had Sejong’s order written on it.

-Burn it after reading it.

“But somehow it’s a waste… It’s a letter that clearly shows my father’s human side and his constantly striving attitude…”

It was a pity for Hyang to erase Sejong’s paternal love and his fiercely self-disciplining appearance revealed in the letter.

After much deliberation, Hyang’s decision was ‘sealing’.

“Let’s see… a suitable book…”

Hyang searched through the books that were full on the bookshelf and took out one.

“This will be good.”

Hyang chose ‘Area 52 Top Secret Work List’.

“It won’t be released immediately after I die. It’s a book that will be opened at least 100 years later. If they find it then, the historians will be in an uproar. They’ll say, ‘We have discovered the human side of Emperor Won.'”

Smiling at the thought of what would happen in the distant future, Hyang inserted Sejong’s letter into the book and put it back on the bookshelf.

As a side note, Sejong’s letter, which Hyang left behind in this way, was discovered 200 years after Hyang’s death.

As Hyang had predicted, the discovery of the letter turned the world’s historical community upside down.

‘The letter left by the emperor who shook the history of the world as he died.’

This alone was of tremendous historical value, but the recipient of the letter was also a problem.

-If Emperor Won opened the door to the empire, the 1st Emperor paved the way for the empire.

-The one who plunged the world into chaos.

-The one who left the biggest mark on the history of the world’s scientific development.

-Are you even human?

This was because Hyang, who received such evaluations, was the recipient.

With the eyes of historians as well as interested ordinary people – mainly imperial citizens – focused on it, the contents of the letter were revealed.

Most of the people who learned the contents of the letter were moved by Sejong’s human side and his constantly striving appearance, as Hyang had predicted, but some fixed their eyes on other parts.

“Look here! Even Emperor Won had traces of questioning the 1st Emperor! He’s an alien disguised as a human!”

Dozens of conspiracy theory books filled with such claims were published and sold like hotcakes.

Amid the global frenzy, the Imperial Household Spokesperson sighed on the broadcast.

“Haa~. Everyone. Let’s think about the environment. Let’s think about the trees that were sacrificed to print those books.”

“Is that all?”

At the reporters’ questions, the spokesperson asked back with a tired face.

“Aren’t you tired of saying and writing the same thing every time?”

“Ah…”

At the spokesperson’s words, the reporters nodded without realizing it.

They were also copying what the spokesperson was going to say from another manuscript.