Godsent Top Star [EN]: Chapter 271

271. What’s the Reason? (1)

I don’t know what spirit possessed me when I started running.

I couldn’t even think of taking a car or catching a taxi; only one thought circled in my head.

‘I have to go to Madam Kang right now!’

Even if Dongja-ryeong [a spirit child] hadn’t appeared crying, I probably would have started running mindlessly at that moment.

There was no logical reason why I had to do that.

‘It has to be now.’

I just had a strong feeling.

When I thought about it, there was no real reason for Madam Kang to come to mind.

Looking closely, it was all just a series of coincidences.

Being tormented by unpleasant dreams intermittently for several weeks.

Going out for a dawn workout to relieve stress.

Coincidentally, a heavy flowerpot fell and shattered right in front of my eyes.

The bizarre appearance of the fragments was also a possible coincidence.

But.

[Let’s go.]

[It’s time to go.]

[Let’s go together.]

The fact that the dream resurfaced.

And the fact that the system, which strangely urged me to choose between death and life at that moment, came to mind at the same time.

‘This isn’t a coincidence.’

It couldn’t all just be ‘likely coincidences.’

No.

It might be, but at least not for me.

My body was instinctively moving ahead of the thoughts filling my head.

Come to think of it, it was strange from the beginning.

‘Suddenly recurring dreams. It didn’t make sense.’

Then and now.

It was natural to think it was strange.

It was bound to be strange, so I couldn’t help but think that way.

Especially if it was related to my mother, Kang Yeon-hwa.

‘Why didn’t I realize it right away?’

The answer came quickly.

‘Because that’s what she intended.’

Because Kang Yeon-hwa herself wanted it that way.

The constant sense of rejection.

The dreams I had so often but couldn’t quite grasp the core of.

It made sense if Kang Yeon-hwa had directly intervened in all of those things.

-You’re not there yet. I told you not to neglect your training. Get up and study.

Madam Kang always emphasized that I had a great amount of power, and I needed to train and study to handle it properly.

In fact, when I was young and received teachings from Madam Kang, I couldn’t even try to be cunning.

The reason was simple.

Because Madam Kang wouldn’t allow it.

-Tsk tsk. What good is having that much power? You need to know how to handle it properly. That’s why I keep telling you not to skip studying and training!

I felt wronged.

Wouldn’t anyone get restless if they had to do ascetic training and read books full of eye-straining Chinese characters at a young age?

Madam Kang had definitely said that I had more power than anyone else.

But even so, I could never escape Madam Kang’s control.

-So, training and studying…….

‘So, you’ve been blocking me until now?’

Over the past few weeks, the dreams had become increasingly specific.

‘Even deliberately using your power to hide the truth that I should have seen……?’

Unanswered questions swirled inside me.

‘But why?’

The dream.

The dream that had tormented me for weeks was not a nightmare.

Rather, it would be more accurate to call it a revelation to help me.

But Kang Yeon-hwa blocked that prophecy and revelation.

[It is time to go.]

The voices of the spirits were not directed at me.

Of course.

It must have been directed at Kang Yeon-hwa, not me.

Kang Yeon-hwa must have tried hard to hide all those facts, but just yesterday.

I could clearly hear the voices of the spirits with my own ears.

Why?

Because it became harder to block my vision any longer.

‘This is driving me crazy.’

Faster.

Even faster.

I was running as hard as I could, but it felt too slow.

“Uh……?”

“Oh, over there……?”

“It’s Yeon-woo!”

“Is he filming?”

There were people who recognized me running with a stiff face without looking around.

Some people took out their phones to take pictures.

Some people even called out my name loudly.

But none of that reached my ears.

Fortunately, people didn’t get angry or upset at my lack of attention.

Because they knew how kind I was to my fans.

-Is he filming a running man shoot? Our Yeon-woo is so fast!-

-Yeon-woo sighting! It looks like he’s filming a chase scene. Is he finally getting caught after being exposed? #Dramatic_Tempest

Sightings began to appear one by one on social media, including Instagram.

There was no camera setup or control for filming, but everyone didn’t have any particular doubts.

I was panting, not realizing how many people I had passed by.

I didn’t realize what they were shouting at me.

“Huff, huff…….”

My chest, which had been running non-stop, rose and fell sharply.

I barely came to my senses after seeing the front gate that I had been going in and out of every day until recently.

The front gate, which had been visited by many people, from ordinary people to powerful people sitting in high positions, was surprisingly ordinary.

It was so ordinary that it was hard to believe that a shaman from a Manshin [a hereditary shaman family] background lived there.

A Korean-style house that could be seen anywhere.

The front gate was made of wood to match the Korean-style house, so it had a traditional style.

But it wasn’t a unique and distinctive shape that couldn’t be found anywhere else.

If it was a Korean-style house, most of them would have a similar shape, so it was ordinary if it was ordinary.

However.

“Damn it.”

A low curse escaped my mouth.

My gaze quickly scanned the surroundings.

A situation that would look like an ordinary daytime residential area to other people.

But the world I saw was completely different.

“This is driving me crazy. What the hell is this…….”

I couldn’t figure out what had happened.

The person I needed to ask would be beyond the swarming evil spirits clinging to the darkness.

There was no time to think further.

“Hoo…….”

My body moved first, even before my breathing had calmed down.

Because of the two humans who would nag me if I got even a scratch on my body, I couldn’t even think of hurting myself.

Even the amulets I used to relieve stress were all drawn with red pens on scrap paper.

But.

At this moment, no words of dissuasion came to mind.

Trickle!

A drop of blood formed on my burst lip.

Before it could even flow down, my thumb immediately wiped my lip.

The red bloodstains embroidered the air.

And.

[Kieeeek!]

[Keureureuk!]

The evil spirits that were clinging to the barrier surrounding the wall, or more precisely, the wall itself, screamed and disappeared.

Some of them didn’t even leave a sound and were annihilated.

Nevertheless, the number of spirits gathered was still enormous enough to make the wall look black.

“Is this all coming for Madam Kang……?”

There is only one reason why they gathered like this.

To take possession of the vessel that contained great power.

To take away Kang Yeon-hwa’s body.

[Heueong. Yeon-woo. I’m so scared. What if something happens to our Yeon-hwa?]!

Even though Dongja-ryeong was shedding tears, he didn’t stop swinging his tiny fists.

The evil spirits hit by the small child’s fists screamed and disappeared in handfuls.

It was no use at all because they were quickly filling the empty space and swarming in.

“…….”

My eyes looked at the barrier that was barely being held up precariously.

A power struggle that I didn’t know when it had started.

I had no idea what state Kang Yeon-hwa, who was maintaining the barrier inside, was in.

[Mine…… mine…….]

[Ihikhihik!]

[Delicious smell…….]

I kept biting my lip and drawing blood to clean the surroundings, but the situation didn’t change.

Since they are creatures with strong instincts, their desire to survive must also be strong.

The fact that they don’t even think of running away even though annihilation is right in front of them means that the prey inside is incredibly tempting.

‘……It also means that Madam Kang’s condition is not good.’

[Yeon-woo-ya. Do something. Something terrible is going to happen to our Yeon-hwa. Uh-huh, uh-huh……!]

I felt like I knew why Dongja-ryeong was crying and only came now.

It would have been too much to handle alone.

Even in front of Dongja-ryeong, who is at the general level, the guys who are glaring and swarming beyond the barrier are swarming in.

‘This is endless.’

The barrier was barely and faintly maintaining its precarious existence as if it might collapse at any moment.

On the other hand, there are plenty of all kinds of evil spirits, *japgwi* [minor, miscellaneous spirits], and spirits that have smelled the feast and gathered outside.

My eyes turned to one place.

I saw one of the roof tiles that had been placed on the wall was broken and lying on the ground.

The sharp cross-section came into view clearly as if telling me to look at it.

I slowly picked it up and said.

“What to do.”

At the same time, the sharp stone fragment roughly scratched my skin.

Red blood dripped down the spot where the eerie pain had cut through my arm.

“I have no choice but to drive them all out.”

*

It was a house I hadn’t been to in a long time.

Unlike the outside, the inside was quiet as if stagnant air was lingering.

“I smell blood.”

A clear voice was heard from the inner room.

The paper door opened, and a woman dressed neatly in hanbok [traditional Korean dress] walked out with cold eyes.

“Did you have to draw blood so harshly?”

The spot where I had roughly scratched with the sharp tile cross-section was so deep that even now, after entering with a barrier, drops of blood were dripping from my fingertips.

“It’s like you’re going to spread rumors all over the neighborhood that you’ve set up a barrier.”

The woman, Kang Yeon-hwa, glanced at the fingertips that were darkly staining the dirt floor with dissatisfied eyes and nodded.

From the room, thread and bandages flew to me as if they were alive.

They were the spirits who were living with Kang Yeon-hwa.

Kang Yeon-hwa had silently accepted some of the good souls who had missed their time and wandered around Gucheon [a Buddhist concept of the afterlife].

[It must hurt…… Doryeong [a respectful title for a young boy]…….]

[Oh my, look at this blood. Who would treat Doryeong if not us?]

Chatter chatter.

These people, whom I had often seen since I was young, were not afraid even though my blood was dripping.

Instead, they chattered like Madam Kang.

[Don’t fight with Yeon-hwa…….]

[Yeon-hwa is very tired, so you have to be nice…….]

The small souls, who were not even *japgwi*, whispered slyly and floated into the sewing box.

“Why did you come back in?”

A clear voice was directed at me.

Instead of answering, I returned the question.

“What were you going to do?”

“What?”

“Those guys outside. Do you know a lot of them came?”

“You’re not asking because you think I wouldn’t know, right?”

Madam Kang, who is always perfect, only turned her head slightly and stared at me.

It’s the same tiger-like gaze as always.

It was a face I hadn’t seen for about two years, but there was nothing different from before we broke up.

“Is your arm okay?”

“Why?”

“You came with such a strong smell of blood, can’t a mother worry?”

A frosty voice fell.

“If you were worried, you should have called me before. Instead of blocking me from coming.”

“I didn’t call you because it’s not something you can do by coming.”

“Wow…….”

Because I was dumbfounded, a hollow sound came out automatically.

“I’ve been having very annoying dreams for the past few weeks, you know?”

“Really? It seems like your sleep was lacking. Why didn’t you eat something to nourish your body?”

“No. I said it was a dream with the same content repeated. You know what this means, Mom.”

“Really? You didn’t have a dog dream [a meaningless dream]?”

“Wow…….”

Even at times like this, Kang Yeon-hwa is Kang Yeon-hwa.

Even the posture of sitting upright is not disturbed.

Her neatly combed hair and the knife-like wrinkles on her starched living hanbok were no different from usual.

If the power that blocked the dream had not disappeared.

If it hadn’t been for the terrible sight I had run to see.

Kang Yeon-hwa would never look like a dying person.

But clear evidence was scattered everywhere.

As if telling me to look at her.

I quietly looked at Kang Yeon-hwa and asked.

“Why did you save me?”