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Clue of Immortality.

Upon hearing that word, Park Jinseong’s smile stiffened.

“Immortality… Hahaha.”

But that was only for a moment. Soon, a smile returned to his face. A smile similar to before, yet it bore a slightly different vibe upon closer inspection.

“As the Emperor of the ancient Jin Kingdom once did, immortality is often the harbinger of destruction. Ashtosh Singh, O Sage of Flames, do I appear to you as one who chases such a futile thing?”

“Futile, you say…”

Ashtosh gazed at Jinseong with his bleached-white eyes and spoke.

“Is it truly futile?”

As if to suggest not to deceive one’s heart. His tone hinted at not wearing a mask even in such a place.

Ashtosh looked at Jinseong as if he knew everything.

“How many scoff at those with great ambitions, great dreams? Yet it is precisely such enormity that has allowed humanity to progress this far. I affirm human desire, and I believe that those positive ripples will contribute to humanity’s advancement.”

Ashtosh stated that the greater the dream, the greater the goal, the greater the ripple that follows.

The reality is that most do not even approach that goal, but if one does not give up and continues to move forward, they can indeed draw closer to it.

If they press on without caring about the taunts of those who claim their aspirations are absurd or childish, they can certainly leave a significant mark on the world and generate impact.

Thus, he said.

“A few years ago, I encountered a shaman who claimed to have studied the doctrines of the Church of Satan. Hahaha, I remember the first words he spoke when he brought that up…”

Satan has been the Church’s best friend, maintaining its business for many years.

“I did not deny that. Other Sikhs felt aversion toward his expression, his religion… But I accepted it.”

Thesis, Antithesis, Synthesis.

Wherever there exists one, there must also be the opposite.

He respected him for the world operates this way, and did not oppose his views.

“He said that desire is the driving force behind the world’s advancement. While excess may bring trouble, a lack of it can also be problematic. Thus, people must move forward while maintaining a balanced desire…”

“The Church of Satan. Hahaha. I have seen them in California.”

“…Is that so?”

Ashtosh looked at Jinseong with curiosity, as if he felt something strange from his words. But that was all. He didn’t ask him anything or press him for more details.

Had he done just a little research on Park Jinseong, he would have known that he had never been to California.

“And based on the insights gained from that shaman, how could seeking immortality be a flaw? If there are those who wish to burn their brief lives to leave a mark in history, there are also those who wish to live long and thin. And if a fleeting flame is intense, then the opposing force must also be strong, as that is natural.”

If something exists, its opposite must also exist.

If something becomes strong, its opposing force must grow stronger too.

That is the principle of the world.

Reason and paradox.

Thesis and antithesis.

This is the fundamental essence and law that sustains this world.

Ashtosh spoke to Jinseong based on the insights he had acquired.

“O Seeker, O Seeker. When a flame is contained within, it merely radiates its heat, but when it connects with the outside, it blazes fiercely, emitting both light and warmth. Please shed the shell that hides your desires and show me that flame.”

“Hahahaha.”

Park Jinseong burst out laughing at Ashtosh’s words.

“Flame, flame, flame… Yes, Sage. Did you acquire that knowledge while exploring the Collective Unconscious?”

“Something like that.”

“Then what reason do you have to share that knowledge with me?”

“Because you are a flame.”

“You wish to control the flame?”

“I merely want to pave the way for it to move.”

Collective Unconscious, Collective Unconscious.

That vast and broad mental realm.

Hahaha.

Park Jinseong couldn’t help but laugh at the space where Ashtosh must have acquired that information.

Back in the days before time twisted.

In that untrodden land he could barely fathom exploring.

That place he lost interest in after the death of his precious companion, Danbi.

If he had been interested in that place, would he have been able to acquire this information too?

He briefly thought back to the past and felt the pangs of regret.

‘No. That wouldn’t have been the case.’

But he soon swept that regret away.

Even had he taken interest in the Collective Unconscious back then, he wouldn’t have found anything.

This is not about fate or destiny.

Countless people have died, and the world has barely remained as it is.

No matter how much one explores such a place, could they have truly found anything?

The Collective Unconscious is permitted only for humans.

In those days where there were more ghosts than people, and overwhelming numbers of corpses than ghosts.

What meaning would there have been in visiting such a place?

It was surely filled with those suffering from the tragedies of war, half-mad and driven to madness, and those who had completely lost their minds, unable even to accurately portray their own unconscious.

‘If only Danbi hadn’t died so soon, would there have been a chance?’

Well, who knows.

But that too holds no significance.

She chose a death that satisfied her.

Even if that situation could be revisited, she might still choose that death.

For at that time, Anastasia was just that kind of person.

“…Flames do not concern themselves with that which they cannot consume.”

“Haha. Truly so.”

When you think of it this way, it becomes quite an interesting matter.

Before the rewind, he had a companion who explored the Collective Unconscious but didn’t obtain that clue.

After the rewind, he obtained that clue from someone he encountered for the first time, who wasn’t even a companion.

Such is the marvelous principle of the world.

By what appears to be coincidence, just by such a slight difference, the distinction becomes so vast…

“Indeed. Those words were truly interesting, it’s something I cannot help but listen closely to.”

“Is that so?”

For a moment, Park Jinseong’s gaze scanned Ashtosh’s entire figure.

A height that could be described as colossal, yet a body so meager that it hardly matched that height.

Even while inside an exceedingly luxurious camper van, he exuded an aura of restraint.

It seemed as if he were using his own body as firewood.

Like well-dried firewood, which can ignite flames whenever needed…

‘Perhaps this man places greater weight on the mental realm than the physical world.’

If his physical body is firewood, then what is the flame?

Where is the flame that ignites it?

If his essence, his heart, is the flame, then where on earth is that heat and light?

Park Jinseong gazed into his eyes.

An obstacle that appeared to be the Master of Magic.

Yet he observed that obstacle as if it were a veil, aiming to hide what lies within.

It did not reveal itself.

But the fact that it was hidden could be seen.

Ah, indeed.

“That’s right. When hidden, the flame only emits heat. Hahaha!”

Jinseong couldn’t help but sympathize with what Ashtosh had just said.

Those words ring true.

Truly those words ring true.

Hiding, concealing.

Sealing it tight enough so that light does not leak out.

And continuously feeding well-prepared firewood into it.

Then the light will not leak outside, and only heat will remain.

A flame that cannot burn satisfactorily will yearn, and yearn for just a breath of air.

And when a hole is pierced, it’ll roaringly blaze, like a serpent’s tongue, licking out in all directions.

Truly like a flame.

It seems to converge inward, yet within lies a desire for destruction that cannot be hidden, truly like a flame.

Desire, desire.

It is desire!

Park Jinseong understood.

He realized that this shaman before him.

This shaman who appeared to be transcending the world.

Was in fact a being truly similar to himself.

Just like other shamans, he was driven by a longing for goals.

And that longing had reached a level bordering obsession.

And thus, he realized that he, who moved and lived by obsession, was indeed very similar to this being.

Which is why.

Because he was a being akin to himself, Park Jinseong understood why Ashtosh would refrain from sending him to China while uttering the “Clue of Immortality.”

He grasped the true purpose of this shaman, who seemed to offer advice to a fellow practitioner as if he had transcended the world.

“Tell me, Sage.”

Park Jinseong asked with a bright smile.

“Is the number of people so important?”

 

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