Chapter 005 – The Death Spirit Sovereign Token
The next morning.
I dragged my exhausted body out of bed and headed to the bathroom.
Yesterday had been one hell of a day.
I had gotten my head chopped off by that bastard Asae-gwi, died, met that old chicken geezer in the afterlife, returned five years into the past, solved a serial murder case, and even had to put up with Arang's hysterics.
It had been an exhausting day.
Hmm... I really was unusually busy yesterday.
That meant I had to calm down my special constitution, where stress immediately showed itself through my body.
With alcohol...
I drank three bottles of makgeolli yesterday, so I guess I'm feeling a little better...
Ugh!
When I looked into the bathroom mirror, I saw dark circles under my eyes.
If I wanted to look good in front of Miss Eyes, my skin was important.
I decided I would have to take better care of it from now on.
My daily life, living alone in a tiny ten-pyeong studio apartment, was ordinary just like everyone else's.
For breakfast, I either ate a convenience-store lunchbox I'd bought the day before or simply skipped the meal.
I'd never even dreamed of having dessert after breakfast.
Instead, my after-meal drink was a cold can of beer.
Soothing my rough morning throat with the sharp carbonation and alcohol of beer had become such an important part of my daily routine that I couldn't skip it even for a single day.
Of course, as a civilized man living in modern society, I naturally washed my face and brushed my teeth.
And finally, there was the most important routine of all.
The one that determined my mental health for the entire day.
Just ten minutes of concentration could decide everything.
A satisfying bowel movement.
If I failed, my uncomfortable stomach would ruin my mood for the rest of the day.
Yeah... there you go. You're finally sticking your head out.
Successfully launching the first one was extremely important.
Some doctor I once saw on TV had said that a healthy adult male needed to produce about two bananas' worth for it to count as a proper bowel movement.
Mine wasn't exactly banana-sized.
It was closer to a giant snake.
Still, I had to let at least two of those snakes see the outside world if I wanted to start my day feeling refreshed.
After three minutes of painful endurance, the first giant snake finally entered the world.
Feeling satisfied, I focused my mind again.
The second one slowly began sticking its head out.
—Inhwang Chasa-nim, could you please finish as quickly as possible?
Gah! Arang, don't tell me you're watching right now?!
—Do you think I'm insane?! I turned the screen off the moment you entered the bathroom!
It's fine if it's you, Arang. You'll see it someday anyway.
—......
At this point, Arang felt like family.
No.
More like my wife.
We didn't live together, and I couldn't touch her, but if she was watching me twenty-four hours a day, weren't we technically closer than a married couple even though we hadn't gotten married?
—We don't have much time, so I'll tell you first. Just listen while you're... doing that. Congratulations on your awakening, Inhwang Chasa-nim. Jeong Cheon-nim, the Saryeong Jijang and chairman of the Association of Netherworld Chasa, has sent you a gift.
There's even something like that? But who exactly is Saryeong Jijang Jeong Cheon-nim?
Talking with Arang while taking care of business seemed to be making the second snake struggle.
—He is the leader who oversees every Chasa except for the Three Great Chasa. He is also one of the Four Great Generals of the Celestial Realm, a Chasa general possessing tremendous martial strength.
Why would someone that important send a gift to someone like me? Is he trying to butter me up in advance so I'll think well of him later?
—No! Jeong Cheon-nim isn't that kind of person! He's truly dignified, noble, and an incredibly virtuous person!
Arang was shouting loudly enough to tear her throat apart.
It seemed my assumption had been wrong.
Well, if someone wanted to give me a present, I could just accept it.
Ding-dong. Ding-dong.
At that moment, someone rang my doorbell.
Whoever it was kept pressing it over and over again, completely unaware that I was currently engaged in a very serious matter.
In the end, thanks to both Arang and the bastard ringing the doorbell, I failed to give birth to the second giant snake.
I reluctantly pulled my clothes together and headed toward the front door in an extremely foul mood.
Then I opened it.
A man dressed in a perfectly fitted uniform that made him look like some kind of Gestapo officer bowed deeply toward me.
"Jeong Hu, a Nahan-class Combat Chasa of the Netherworld and captain of the Covert Chasa Unit, greets Inhwang Chasa-nim."
Bang!
I immediately slammed the door shut.
I didn't even want to look at the bastard who had ruined the birth of my second snake.
—Open... the door.
Arang sounded like she was speaking through clenched teeth while desperately suppressing her anger.
Yes, ma'am.
Yesterday, I had promised Arang that I would listen to her from now on.
So I opened the door again.
"Inhwang-nim, did I perhaps do something wrong?"
The man named Jeong Hu looked genuinely hurt.
Well, he had respectfully greeted me only to have the door slammed in his face.
I supposed he had every right to be confused.
"What exactly do you want? I've never even seen you before."
"Did Arang-nim not tell you that Saryeong Jijang Jeong Cheon-nim would be sending you a gift?"
"Ah... that thing. So what's the gift?"
"Yes. It is a command token proving that you are an advisory director of the Association of Netherworld Chasa. It is called the Saryeong Jijonpae."
Jeong Hu handed me a round object that looked like an old royal command token.
"I don't really need something like this..."
I decided to follow the old saying that one should always refuse a gift at least once before accepting it.
"Inhwang-nim, that is an extremely important object that allows you to issue absolute commands to every Netherworld Chasa."
"So?"
"As long as you possess that token, every Netherworld Chasa must show you the same loyalty they show Saryeong Jijang-nim and obey your commands."
Maybe it was just my imagination, but this guy seemed desperate to make me accept the Saryeong Jijonpae.
He looked like the type who absolutely had to complete any mission he was given.
He had probably been ordered to deliver this gift to me, which meant his stubborn personality wouldn't allow him to leave until I accepted it.
"Then if I ordered you to die, would you die?"
"Yes."
Jeong Hu answered without the slightest hesitation, as though it were the most natural thing in the world.
Just as I thought.
"Earlier, you said you're a Nahan-class Combat Chasa. Do Chasa have different ranks?"
I decided to gather some information about them while I had the chance.
"Yes... about that..."
Jeong Hu explained that the Chasa of the Netherworld were divided into Ordinary Chasa and Combat Chasa.
Ordinary Chasa made up the majority and handled administrative work in the Netherworld.
Combat Chasa, on the other hand, were a fighting force that devoted themselves to martial arts in order to defend the Celestial Realm and Hell.
There were roughly fifty thousand of them.
That was about three percent of all Netherworld Chasa.
Combat Chasa were classified according to their combat strength into three ranks:
Baekho-class.
Cheongryong-class.
And Nahan-class.
Now that I looked carefully, there was a strange image of a man engraved on Jeong Hu's chest.
That must have been the symbol of a Nahan.
"Then what's a Covert Chasa?"
"You can think of us as a special unit similar to an inspection or internal affairs division."
The Netherworld's Chasa seemed much more organized than I had expected.
There were apparently all kinds of different divisions and classifications.
"All right. You can go now. Tell Jeong Cheon-nim that I'm very grateful."
"And Inhwang-nim, the Saryeong Jijonpae has another function..."
Apparently, he wouldn't consider his mission complete until he explained that too.
"I need to get to work, so tell me another time."
"But..."
"Didn't you say I'm the Saryeong Jijon? Didn't you say every Netherworld Chasa has to obey the Saryeong Jijon's orders unconditionally?"
"...Yes. Understood."
Jeong Hu finally walked away with an exhausted expression.
For a while, I watched his back as he trudged away with his shoulders hanging weakly.
I wondered if I had been a little too harsh on him.
Still, that guy and I were clearly on completely different wavelengths.
After Jeong Hu left, I held the Saryeong Jijonpae in my hand and infused it with the energy of the Black Spirit.
The token seemed to melt into my palm before completely disappearing.
A tattoo bearing the same symbol as the Saryeong Jijonpae then appeared on my palm.
Hmm... I was worried carrying it around would be annoying. This works out nicely.
—Inhwang-nim... why were you so mean to Captain Jeong Hu?
Arang's voice was filled with disappointment.
Why? You don't like it?
—How could I possibly like it?
After spending so much time with me, even Arang's way of talking seemed to be gradually becoming more like mine.
I admit what I did at first was wrong. I've always had a pretty rotten personality, so I tend to do whatever I feel like doing.
But the second part wasn't like that.
I didn't like the idea of him obeying me unconditionally. Honestly, I wanted Jeong Hu to talk back to me at least once, but he didn't.
—What do you mean?
Arang seemed unable to understand what I was trying to say.
I hate things like that. People blindly obeying something just because it's an order.
I asked that guy whether he'd die if I ordered him to, and he answered like he really would.
If I actually told him to die, would he really kill himself? Then what does that make me? Am I supposed to become a murderer?
Arang didn't answer.
After a moment, she changed the subject.
—I'll tell you what Captain Jeong Hu couldn't finish explaining. The Saryeong Jijonpae has one more ability. Chasa Summoning.
You mean I can summon Chasa?
—Yes. From now on, whenever you need one, you can summon any Chasa you want directly to your location.
This thing is ridiculous. So I can call Chasa whenever I want and make them do whatever I want?
—Yes.
What the hell? This is basically a slave contract...
I didn't feel particularly happy about it.
For some reason, it felt like something similar had made me sad a very long time ago.
—And today, I wanted to explain evil spirits to you. Since you'll be dealing with them from now on, you need to understand them properly.
Aren't evil spirits just... evil spirits?
—No. Evil spirits have their own system and hierarchy too. They're classified according to their strength and abilities into Gwi-class, Salgwi-class, Gwanggwi-class, Pokgwi-class, and Magwi-class.
According to Arang, Gwi-class evil spirits were the weakest type.
They looked like ordinary humans, but their intelligence was limited, making their speech awkward and clumsy.
However, their physical strength far surpassed anything an ordinary human could imagine.
Next were the Salgwi-class and Gwanggwi-class evil spirits.
Under normal circumstances, they looked human.
But once they entered combat, they could transform into their evil-spirit forms and unleash tremendous fighting power.
Above them were the Pokgwi-class.
They were among the highest-ranking evil spirits.
Most of them had committed horrific crimes in their previous lives before eventually becoming evil spirits.
They were so powerful that even in the Netherworld, ordinary Chasa couldn't deal with them.
Only general-class Chasa could stand against them.
Especially dangerous were the Five Great Pokgwi, the strongest among the Pokgwi-class.
They were said to possess strength comparable to the Four Great Generals of the Celestial Realm.
Then there were the Hybrid Evil Spirits.
Strangely enough, an evil spirit could evolve into a hybrid by devouring an existence stronger than itself.
For example, if a lowly Gwi-class evil spirit somehow managed to devour a Pokgwi-class evil spirit, that lowest-ranking Gwi-class spirit could evolve all the way to the highest Pokgwi-class while gaining strange and unique abilities.
Hybrids could also evolve by devouring beings from the Celestial Realm or Hell.
If one managed to consume an immortal or divine existence more powerful than itself, the increase in its abilities would be almost impossible to imagine.
—For example, the Mahonsudo used by the Asae-gwi who killed you before your regression is an ability that normally can't be found in a Gwi-class evil spirit.
I see. Then what about the highest rank, Magwi-class?
—Magwi-class naturally refers only to the Three Great Evils of the Netherworld. Daeryeok Magwi, Gwangsal Magwi, and Pacheon Magwi. Those three evil spirits belong to the Magwi-class, and among all evil spirits, the Three Great Evils of the Netherworld are practically gods.
Listening to Arang's explanation, the hierarchy of evil spirits seemed surprisingly complicated.
From what I could understand, Pokgwi, the Five Great Pokgwi, and Hybrids were all extremely dangerous.
As for the Three Great Evils of the Netherworld...
I didn't even want to think about them.
I was only a Level 2 Inhwang Chasa and didn't possess a single offensive skill yet.
I wasn't exactly in a position to worry about the Three Great Evils of the Netherworld.
Crap!
I looked at the clock and realized I was about to be late.
Between meeting that Covert Chasa first thing in the morning and listening to Arang explain evil spirits, I had completely lost track of time.
I hurriedly got dressed and rushed out of the house.
