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But had there not been such an event long ago?

The tale of a diminutive one who dared to fight against a giant that seemed unbeatable.

He was large and fierce, clad in heavy armor while wielding a spear and shield. No one dared to challenge him, for his majesty was likely beyond imagination.

Yet a boy, chosen by divine will, stepped forth with a smooth stone in hand to stand against him. With the magical aid accompanying his sling, the stone struck the giant’s head and sent him crashing down. Could this be anything but a miracle? This was indeed the grand feat of the Almighty, and you, the people, should not question His existence even for a moment.

Whoosh—!

Whoosh—!

Whoosh—!

Doubt it not.

Whooooosh—!

The sound slicing through the wind.

A long cloth cradling the smooth stone cut through the air, echoing with the sound of the wind. High above, a figure with the boy’s face twirled the cloth holding the stone in the air. The wind-cutting sound grew increasingly intense as the spinning continued.

Finally, Jinseong’s hand loosened just a little, and one side of the cloth holding the stone began to unravel. The stone, caught in its spin, flew forth propelled by its own inertia, slicing through the air toward an unseen destination.

The speed was so rapid and fierce that it seemed to rival the bullet fired from the sniper’s rifle moments ago. The inscription on the stone promised to be more formidable than any bullet could ever deliver.

In this manner, the stone reached its target with astonishing swiftness.

If he were a true warrior, he might have sensed it through instinct or intuition.

He could wield magic but was physically weaker than an ordinary person, which was his shortcoming.

Thus, Kenneth failed to perceive the oncoming stone.

And so, the stone struck its target without hindrance.

As the stone approached a certain distance, a field of magical force was generated.

A barrier of physical force arose from Jinseong’s magic, intercepting the stone to shield against a direct hit to the head. It undulated, altering its shape little by little, trying to damage the projectile just as it had done with the bullet before.

However, a stone shot from such a height could not easily be stopped by merely that.

Crack—!

A crack formed on the stone as it met the magical field.

This crack suggested a future where, like the earlier bullet, the stone would shatter into unrecognizable fragments; yet despite the cracks radiating in every direction, even finding undamaged parts became increasingly difficult, the stone remained intact, keeping its form.

Instead, the inscription upon it began to glow bright red, as if it had just emerged from an extremely hot place.

The color of the letters twisted into a deeper shade of red, until it reached a point where it seemed it could not redden any further…

Boom—!

It exploded.

Like an egg popping in the microwave.

“Gah!”

The stone, now ruptured, delivered a staggering shock to Kenneth.

It was a blow far greater than that of the previous bullet.

Kenneth’s eardrum ruptured, blood oozing from his ears as his vision blurred wildly. Blood spurted from his nose, and whether he’d bitten his tongue or not, blood flowed from the corners of his mouth as well.

His body swayed as if he were on the brink of collapse, and the rosary he had been gripping fell helplessly to the ground.

“Done.”

Seeing Kenneth dazed as if struck by a concussion, Jinseong nodded. With an expressionless face, he lifted the cloth—a moment ago thrown with the stone—to his chest, grasping the ends with both hands, and began to twist.

With each rotation, the cloth thinned out.

The more it thinned, the tougher and denser it became.

What had been fluttering about transformed into a rope.

Jinseong tied the ends of that rope together, forming a loop, and with one hand gripped the knot and began to move his wrist slowly up and down.

And the motion of his wrist quickened as the action continued…

Poom—!

Poom—!

The sound of the whip cracking echoed.

The sound, reminiscent of shaking a towel or cracking a whip in the air, grew sharper as the intervals between each crack shortened. With each shortening gap, the speed at which the knot struck increased, and the loosely tied knot gradually untied itself.

Finally, the knot that linked the two ends was freed, and the rope that once resembled a short loop unfurled, returning to its original shape as a whip. The whip smacked against the bare ground, causing its twisted form to unfold and restoring it to the fluttering cloth.

“Look. The snake hidden in the thicket is no different from this. Remember this well.”

In that brief moment, Jinseong exclaimed his invocation as if waiting for the moment to cast it, tossing the cloth into the air.

And the cloth became a snake.

* * *

Have you ever heard of a flying snake?

I’m not talking about a feathered snake or a winged serpent from myths and legends.

There really exists a flying snake among the actual animals.

The snake, scientifically known as *Chrysopelea paradisi,* is found in the tropical rainforests of Southeast Asia.

Commonly called the paradise tree snake, this snake glides from tree to tree. To be precise, it doesn’t fly in the traditional sense, but considering it can glide up to 46 meters, one can’t help but wonder how a snake without wings can achieve this.

Even from a modern perspective, it is mystical, so much so that its gliding method has only recently been revealed—imagine how much more astonishing it was to the people of the past.

In ancient times, people marveled at the flying snake.

They believed it had invisible wings, or possessed magical powers that allowed it to soar through the skies; some thought it flew due to the blessing of the gods. Others believed that an unseen giant supported it during flight, while there were those who thought it befriended the trees, granted permission to glide between them.

And so, mystery breeds reverence and misinterpretation, which in turn gives rise to magical meaning.

Thus began attempts to mimic the snake or gain magical powers through it.

They adorned their clothes with patterns resembling those of the paradise tree snake, or crafted garments from its shed skin. They sourced dyes to match the colors of its scales and even tried to emulate its eating habits.

In this way, they sought to embody the blessing received by the paradise tree snake, hoping to leap over the trees and glide like it to catch animals.

Some attempted to apply the snake’s magical effects to objects rather than themselves, etching its patterns onto spears and arrows, adding scales to ensure safe hunts among the dense woods and wishing for their projectiles to fly farther.

And some gleaned lessons from it.

They realized that the fluttering cloth at night and the rope on the ground were not so different.

Through this realization, they proclaimed with their hearts.

When hidden in darkness, an object’s essence becomes easily obscured.

The cloth and the rope are not different, nor are the rope and the snake.

The cloth is beneficial, and so is the rope.

Thus, does merely being concealed by darkness change the nature of beneficial and non-beneficial things?

Does the moonlight, which brushes by and reveals outlines, and sunlight, which spreads across the world and unveils reality, alter their essence?

Regardless of how one perceives through sense, the essence remains unchanged.

With wisdom, I advise you, disciples, to possess the eyes that see through essence, so as not to be misled into erroneous judgment by momentary blindness hidden in the darkness.

* * *

The transmission of enlightenment becomes a story.

The story is transmitted orally and transforms.

It remains as legend where there is a place, and as folktale where there is none, and thus it continues to be passed down.

And now, that story has manifested as magic from Jinseong’s hands.

If in the darkness the cloth, rope, and snake are no different,

Look.

Was what I threw cloth or snake?

Swoosh—!

The darkness blurs the essence, rendering the outline indistinct, unrecognizable.

As humans perceive objects according to their perceptions,

Here and now, the cloth has become a snake.

The sky-flying snake glides through the air.

With its mouth agape, it twists and weaves as it soars.

And at last, it softly lands upon Kenneth, whispering into his ear in an instant:

[ Verene praecepit vobis Deus, ut non comederetis de omni ligno paradisi? ]

 

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