IGWNI Ch 5

I am free! Fuck Ramia and all that shit!”

After yelling at the top of his lungs, he felt much better. Yoon Jaewoo, who had been laughing and shouting for a while, got up from the floor. Rubbing his aching limbs, he carefully looked around again.

It was a beautiful world.

Yoon Jaewoo realized anew, through this forest, that a world with color could be so beautiful. Dazzling colors, enough to hurt his eyes, were each showing off their own beauty.

The blue sky, red flowers, green grass and branches, pink rocks, and….

Yoon Jaewoo rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand and checked the color of the rock again. It was still pink. Not reddish from reflecting the light, but a distinct pink. It was the color of a rock in bloom. The flower next to it was a transparent silver. The bush next to that was purple.

“What is this?”

It wasn’t culture shock, it was color shock.

The colors were jumbled together like a picture painted by a kindergartener who didn’t have a proper grasp of color.

He wasn’t sure where this was, but it definitely wasn’t an ordinary, normal world.

Yoon Jaewoo unwrapped the cloth around his neck and wrapped it around his burst and injured right foot.

Taking out a piece of fruit from his pocket and biting into it, Yoon Jaewoo started to think about what to do next. Only when he was left with the core of the fruit did he decide to stand up and look around.

Even though he was tired and exhausted to the point of being unable to move, Yoon Jaewoo was a natural athlete. His stamina and tenacity were second to none.

He broke off a suitable branch and used it as a cane to replace his immobile right foot.

With his weight shifted to the cane, the movement of his left foot became much easier. He first sought the sound of water. Where there’s water, there’s food. That was the first law of survival.

“Boy Scouts does come in handy.”

As he walked through the thick bushes, the sound of water grew closer. The moment he arrived at the small spring, Yoon Jaewoo’s mouth fell open.

“…Huh.”

He remembered visiting the rainbow-spring when he went to New Zealand for training. He’d been told that the water appeared in various colors due to special soil components mixed in the water, hence the name rainbow spring. Yoon Jaewoo had just nodded, thinking, “Oh, I see.”

His friends, who had gone with him, were fascinated and gawked from the railing, but Yoon Jaewoo hadn’t felt much at the time.

Rainbow spring, my ass.

If the New Zealand government ever saw this place, they would surely demand a name change immediately. There were small springs scattered around, and each one was a different color. The light blue or greenish springs were fine, but there were also pink, orange, and even yellow springs, so Yoon Jaewoo pinched his cheek to see if he was dreaming.

“Ow, ow. That hurts. …Haha.”

Rubbing his stinging cheek with his palm, he approached the spring. Even up close, the water was a brilliant, primary color. He considered dipping his hand in to check, but decided against it in case it caused problems. Instead, he picked up a small stone and threw it into a pink spring a short distance away.

Plop, the moment the stone sank into the water with a ripple, something vigorously jumped out of the water’s surface.

“Whoa!”

Clutching his pounding heart, Yoon Jaewoo checked what had jumped out.

It was a fish. …With pink scales.

With a sense of disbelief, Yoon Jaewoo picked up another stone and threw it into the orange spring. An orange fish jumped out. He tried the light blue spring, the yellow spring, and so on, with the same results.

“Hahahaha. …The color coordination is amazing.”

Thinking it a truly incomprehensible world, Yoon Jaewoo walked around the spring. The color of the grass also varied depending on the color of the spring water.

Maybe they put dye in the water.

He suddenly felt thirsty. He’d thought about drinking the spring water, but he couldn’t bring himself to drink the intensely colored water that looked like it had dye in it. He decided to eat the fruit he had brought from the castle and rummaged through his pockets.

“Huh, …huh?”

He tried searching with his other hand, just in case, but it was the same. Yoon Jaewoo’s face paled.

It’s gone. It’s not there. It was definitely in my pocket in the snowfield, where could it have…

Yoon Jaewoo retraced his steps. It was likely that it had been flung out due to the impact when he fell here. Or he’d dropped it on the way. It had to be one of the two.

As he was walking, using his wooden cane to part the bushes, he noticed a branch shaking. He’d thought it might be the wind, but the surrounding leaves weren’t moving at all. Something that had shaken the branch had passed by. It was a deer.

“Hey, what? That’s mine.”

The deer was eating the food from the bundle Yoon Jaewoo had packed. Yoon Jaewoo waved his cane and shouted, “Hey! Get away! Hurry up!”

He limped towards the deer to retrieve his food bundle. The deer looked at Yoon Jaewoo with its large eyes, then hesitated and stepped back.

“Yeah. Go on. Get out of here, shoo.”

He was relieved that it was a deer, not a ferocious animal. Just as Yoon Jaewoo reached for the bundle, the deer, which had stepped back, raised its antlers and charged. The situation was so sudden that Yoon Jaewoo froze on the spot without even thinking of dodging. At the same time, a large hand reached out from behind and pulled him away. Red hair brushed against Yoon Jaewoo’s cheek.

“You’re really stupid, aren’t you?”

Startled by the sneering male voice, Yoon Jaewoo turned around. It was Yatenbaum. He looked at the deer, which was smiling and looking at them. The deer raised its antlers and prepared to charge again.

Yatenbaum raised his hand. The language he muttered in was not of this world. Just before his words faded, the deer split in half with a thud. The grass withered and the flowers burned where the deer’s blood touched.

“That’s a Binbleun deer.”

“…”

“Something like you would be instantly killed if you got hit by its antlers.”

Yoon Jaewoo’s face, which had thought the deer’s eyes were pretty and considered petting it, turned pale.

“What on earth do you rely on to wander around like that? Hahaha.”

Yatenbaum burst out laughing.

“Tell me about it.”

“Eek!”

Yoon Jaewoo was startled by Eustace, who appeared again without a sound. His legs tangled and he collapsed onto the ground.

Yatenbaum clicked his tongue and offered a hand. However, it was Eustace who reached out first and scooped up Yoon Jaewoo. He picked him up like a sack of potatoes and frowned, as if very displeased with the situation.

“I made you understand language, yet you go out through Ramin’s Door.”

It seemed that was the name of the small wooden door that led outside. Yoon Jaewoo didn’t answer and just lowered his head. He sullenly muttered that he had no obligation to listen to Eustace.

“Did you regenerate him properly? Does he even understand what’s being said?”

There was mockery in Yatenbaum’s voice as he asked.

“I know, right. Should have regenerated his brain instead of his ears.”

“Still, he’s not normal. He walked all the way to the end of that path.”

“I’m an athlete. That’s nothing.”

Yoon Jaewoo tried to join their conversation, but was ruthlessly ignored.

“Usually, a Ramia would wander around for a bit and then find their way back, wouldn’t they? Especially with Ramin’s Door.”

“Right.”

“Just how far did he come from?”

“No idea.”

Eustace’s gaze at Yoon Jaewoo was cold. Then Eustace glanced at Yatenbaum.

“By the way, what are you doing here?”

Accusation and suspicion towards his counterpart flashed across Eustace’s face. Yatenbaum smiled faintly and replied.

“I happened to be passing by and saved your Ramia from being attacked by a Binbleun deer. Instead of a thank you, do I have to be interrogated like this?”

“I didn’t know you’d be passing through Najaf Forest. Didn’t you say you were going straight west?”

“Is this Najaf Forest?”

Yoon Jaewoo asked, but again, no one answered. Yoon Jaewoo muttered, “Damn it,” and kicked the ground in frustration.

“I came here because I wanted to stroll through Najaf Forest after a long time. Is there something wrong with that, my brother? Isn’t this Dweord’s land?”

“You have no right to say that, considering you’ve entered this land for the first time in centuries.”

“Centuries…, how old are you guys?”

He thought it was too much, even for gods. Even Jesus, who came to Earth to save humanity, looked quite old. What were these guys?

“How old are you? How old are… ah, forget it. What good would it do me to know?”

Giving up on finding out the ages of the two gods, Yoon Jaewoo waved his hand.

“Why did you drag this thing all the way here?”

Eustace glanced at Yoon Jaewoo and asked Yatenbaum. A deep smile spread across Yatenbaum’s strong features. There was no yielding in their gazes as they looked at each other. Yoon Jaewoo, standing between them, just wanted to get out of there as quickly as possible.

If they were to start fighting, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to look for a chance to escape. …Fight. Fight.

“I’m curious.”

“About a Ramia?”

“No. Of course not. I’m curious about you, Rau. There’s no reason for you to take in a black Ramia at a time like this. A Ramia that defiles your pure white world.”

“What did you say?”

Even though he promised himself not to interrupt their conversation, he couldn’t help it. Yoon Jaewoo looked incredulously at Yatenbaum, who was making discriminatory remarks about him being dirty and black.

“Defile? What did I do? Did I want to come here? No, let’s say, for argument’s sake, that I defiled it. Then just let me go. I’ll leave. You two live happily ever after.”

Saying that, Yoon Jaewoo coolly turned around, only to have the back of his neck grabbed by Eustace’s hand, leaving him dangling in the air.

Whether Yoon Jaewoo yelled or not, Eustace ignored him and simply stared silently at his cousin, the god of the western lands, Yatenbaum.

Eustace, who had been silencing his opponent with his stare, finally spoke.

“This is my land. It’s none of your concern.”

It was a slow, quiet voice, but it carried the majesty of someone who could crush his opponent’s throat at any moment.

“Interfering in my land is an act of violating my authority. I take it as an act of war.”

“You’re willing to go to war over such a lowly Ramia?”

“Even the lowliest insects in my land are mine.”

Yatenbaum’s gaze at Eustace turned red. The smile that had played on his lips hardened. The kind-looking man with the relaxed expression was gone.

We’re screwed.

The thought crossed Yoon Jaewoo’s mind that if the two gods were to fight, the land and sky they were standing on would not survive.

I’m going to die too. I’ll probably disappear without a trace. …Don’t fight. Don’t fight!

“Hahahahaha.”

Suddenly, Yatenbaum burst out laughing. He patted Eustace’s shoulder with his large hand.

“I’m joking. Anyway, that stubborn personality of yours never changes, it’s always fun to tease you.”

Eustace’s eyes crinkled in amusement. A cold wind swept past Yatenbaum’s hand, which was patting his shoulder. Something large and solid was severed. Yoon Jaewoo screamed. Blood spurted from Yatenbaum’s severed hand like a fountain.

The brightly colored earth was awash with bright red blood. But neither Eustace nor Yatenbaum, whose hand had been cut off, seemed to care. The only one screaming with a pale face was Jaewoo.

“My, my. What a temper.”

Yatenbaum picked up his hand, which was wriggling on the ground, and brought it to his bleeding wrist. Pressing it on with a slight force, as if assembling Lego, the severed wrist quickly settled back into place.

Yoon Jaewoo blinked his wide eyes. It wasn’t an amoeba that regenerated when cut, what was this terrifying ability?

“You’re surprised, Ramia.”

Yatenbaum smiled and patted Yoon Jaewoo’s frozen cheek. Each time his hand touched him, sticky blood smeared on Jaewoo’s cheek, proving that the scene he had just witnessed was not a lie.

“…What is this? How is that possible… oh right, you guys are gods. I keep forgetting.”

Muttering to himself, Yoon Jaewoo recalled how Eustace had easily revived him when he was dying from the snake bite.

“Did you teach him that you’re Dweord?”

“He’s not that stupid, he’ll understand that much.”

“…I’m not that stupid.”

Even though he knew his opinion would be ignored, Yoon Jaewoo muttered softly.

“But why is he always so surprised?”

“Because he’s stupid.”

“Hahahaha. It seems like you’ve picked up something truly amusing.”

“Yeah, it has to be amusing. That’s how I’ll survive. …Sigh.”

Accepting that this escape was a complete failure, Yoon Jaewoo sighed deeply. The thought of how he would plan his next escape made his chest tighten.

Wiggling his recently reattached wrist, Yatenbaum spoke with a casual expression.

“I know this stupid, black Ramia didn’t fall here.”

“Why?”

“Why?”

The same word came out of both their mouths. Of course, Yatenbaum only answered Eustace’s question.

“The moment he fell here, he didn’t know what to do. Approaching a Binbleun deer, no less.”

Eustace’s hand sharply struck Yoon Jaewoo’s back. Yoon Jaewoo protested, “Why are you hitting me?” but received no reply.

“Then he must have fallen somewhere else.”

“I picked him up when he lost his memory after falling. That’s all.”

“Rau. You don’t pick up unconscious Ramia. You don’t even touch dead food.”

“Eek!”

Yoon Jaewoo flinched and struggled again to escape Eustace’s grasp, but it was as useless as giving CPR to a dead fish.

“I tried picking one up. Sometimes you have to learn to eat dead food too.”

“I’m not dead! Don’t kill me!”

“Hahahaha. Right, right. That’s why you even regenerated his ears. But if you’re going to do it, do it properly. Why only the ears?”

Yatenbaum’s gaze rested on his right leg. Yoon Jaewoo looked at Eustace with a sense of foreboding.

Eustace’s indifferent blue eyes flicked back and forth between Yoon Jaewoo and Yatenbaum. Neither denying nor confirming.

“The sight of him limping through that snowfield with that leg was quite pitiful. You lack compassion as a god.”

Yoon Jaewoo’s eyes widened. If what he understood was true, Eustace was saying that he could also heal his leg.

“Can you heal my leg?”

Yoon Jaewoo asked.

His voice was filled with desperation. A lifeline of hope had been thrown into a life he had given up on. A single ray of light had pierced the dark mire.

Clutching his pounding heart, Yoon Jaewoo asked again.

“Can you heal my leg? This, this leg.”

He pointed to his right leg with his finger. The right leg with scars running from his ankle to his inner thigh, the mark of the accident that would never let him go from that horrific memory, the disfigurement that had taken everything away from him.

“Can you heal it? Huh? Can you?”

Yoon Jaewoo grabbed Eustace’s sleeve. Eustace frowned, seemingly annoyed by his sudden action, but Yoon Jaewoo didn’t notice.

“I’m asking if you can heal me. Answer me! You damn god!”

“My, my. It looks like the Ramia is quite angry.”

Yatenbaum narrowed his red eyes and smiled. Yoon Jaewoo was desperate. Even if it was just a pastime for them, for him, it was a chance at everything.

“Please heal me.”

Yoon Jaewoo knelt on the floor. With his leg that didn’t bend properly because of the pain.

Hadn’t he thought that if there was a god, he’d do anything if they would only heal his leg? This was nothing.

Yoon Jaewoo bowed his head to the ground. Now that he had met a god who could heal him, he was prepared to do anything.

“Please heal me. I’ll do whatever you ask, just please heal my leg.”

“Does it sound like he’s begging you to heal him?”

At Yatenbaum’s voice from above, Yoon Jaewoo opened his eyes wide and nodded. As his gaze met Eustace’s, who was looking down at him, Yoon Jaewoo adjusted his posture and pleaded, “Please.”

“Why should I?”

“…What?”

“Why should I heal this thing’s leg? He’s already running around like that, annoying me to death.”

After a low chuckle, he added in a murmur, “It’d be better to cripple the other leg too.”

Yoon Jaewoo’s lips trembled.

He hadn’t felt this cold even when he was walking through the snowfield. It was as if he was standing naked in the middle of a snowfield, having ice water poured over his head.

“Annoying.”

Eustace said with a slight smile. It was a confirmation.

Regardless, Yoon Jaewoo clung to Eustace’s clothes. He discarded his pride and begged. He pleaded and pleaded again, begging him to heal him, promising to do anything if he did.

But Eustace brushed him off lightly, as if shooing away an annoying insect. He repeated this several times. The more he did, the stronger the force with which Eustace repelled Yoon Jaewoo became.

“Ah! Fuck! Heal me! You’re a god! That’s what a god does!”

Yoon Jaewoo yelled and clung on.

“That’s what a god does. Not killing and breaking people, but saving and helping them! That’s a god!”

Whether they understood or not, he poured out the words in his heart. The words he had screamed towards an unseen god while lying in a dark, single room. Now, he was praying desperately to the god before his eyes.

“Help me! Please, heal it! My leg! If you just heal it, I’ll run away on my own! Fuck, if you want that black bead so badly, I can retire from soccer and come back!”

Eustace clicked his tongue. He slightly raised his hand. An invisible force threw Yoon Jaewoo to the ground. Pain shot through his back, and his vision flashed white. Yoon Jaewoo swallowed a moan and clenched his fists.

Anger came before pain.

Why were these so-called gods so cruel to him? What had he done to them? What had he done wrong?

“Fuck, I’m so good! Do you even know? If you’re going to take it, don’t give it in the first place!”

Yoon Jaewoo stood up. Whether he died by becoming a bead someday or died right here and now, it was all the same. Yoon Jaewoo picked up whatever he could find and threw it at Eustace. He just wanted to land a hit on him before he died.

Small stones and grass fell short. The more he did so, the more his incompetence fueled his anger. A large, pumpkin-like fruit came into Yoon Jaewoo’s hand. The tough skin was as resilient as a ball. Yoon Jaewoo picked it up, pulling it from the vine.

“Look closely! See how well I can kick! Fuck, look how great I am!”

Yoon Jaewoo threw it into the air.

He was a rare ambidextrous kicker. He used either foot to score, depending on his mood that day. This was one of the reasons why goalkeepers hated facing Yoon Jaewoo. With his perfect shooting skills, boasting a near-perfect success rate in penalty shootouts, Yoon Jaewoo moved his leg towards the falling fruit.

A proper kick was a powerful shot exceeding 150 km/h. He gathered all his strength into the tip of his foot before he died. His last wish was to score one last goal before dying.

“Fuck you!”

However.

The fruit, which he thought would fly off with a bang, exploded the moment it touched his foot. Like a deflated balloon, the fruit’s skin lost its elasticity and flew away, and the liquid inside splattered.

“Aaagh!”

Yoon Jaewoo covered his face with his hands, but the juice had already splashed onto his face. Even washing his face with the world’s hottest onion wouldn’t sting his eyes this much. Yoon Jaewoo screamed and covered his face.

Yatenbaum roared with laughter at the sight, and Eustace slowly closed and opened his eyes, his face contorted.

“Agh! It burns! Water! Water!”

It felt like all the moisture in his body was being drained out as tears and snot. As he flailed, Yoon Jaewoo’s eyes caught sight of the shimmering surface of the water in the distance.

It was the multicolored spring he had seen earlier. The spring he had been hesitant to even touch because he didn’t know what was in it, but now it was his only salvation.

Yoon Jaewoo ran towards the spring without hesitation. His clothes snagged on branches and his arms got scratched, but he charged on fiercely.

“No!”

What do you mean no, damn it! My eyes are about to pop out!

Ignoring whatever was being shouted from behind, Yoon Jaewoo jumped into the spring. With a splash, the cool sensation of the water enveloped him. Like a sentient being, the water gently embraced Yoon Jaewoo’s body.

Yoon Jaewoo wiped his face with his hands. Over and over again.

Once he could finally open his eyes, he slowly lifted his eyelids underwater. The water was even more beautiful and vivid than it appeared from the surface. The fish swimming gracefully through the water shimmered like jewels. The spring, which had seemed small, was deep and wide. It was beautiful. The underwater world was another world with perfect colors.

After staring blankly at the scene for a moment, Yoon Jaewoo suddenly felt his breath shorten and moved his arms. As he rose to the surface, air rushed into his lungs and he coughed violently.

“Cough, cough. Ah, damn it.”

Yoon Jaewoo wiped the water from his face. As he swam out, Yoon Jaewoo remembered what an embarrassing thing he had done.

Damn it. Should I just stay in the water?

Looking at the feet of the two men standing tall in front of the spring, Yoon Jaewoo blushed.

“Would it be better to just stick my head in and drown?”

Yoon Jaewoo muttered weakly, clinging to the edge of the spring. He wouldn’t be able to complain even if that ill-tempered, omnipotent bastard stepped on him and drowned him in the spring.

However, Eustace remained silent.

There were no words telling him not to leave the spring, no threats to turn him into a bead, not even Yatenbaum’s boisterous laughter.

Yoon Jaewoo hesitantly lifted his head and looked up. He met the gazes of the two gods looking down at him.

The time two players facing each other on the field have is only a few seconds at most. Reading each other’s thoughts and moving their bodies in that short moment was the most essential skill when stealing the ball.

Yoon Jaewoo could read the emotions on the two gods’ faces. Surprise, bewilderment, and slight admiration.

“…Why are you looking at me like that?”

His voice trembled as he asked. The current situation was several times more frightening than the entirely predictable future of possibly being trampled and drowned.

Water got in his eyes, so he blinked a few times and looked at Yatenbaum again. Yatenbaum muttered, “Well, well.”

He turned his gaze to Eustace. His face, which looked somehow angry, remained hardened. Yoon Jaewoo hesitantly tried to push himself out of the spring.

“Let me help you.”

Yatenbaum took Yoon Jaewoo’s hand. Yoon Jaewoo mumbled, “Thank you,” to Yatenbaum, who pulled him out of the water as easily as pulling a radish from the field.

However, even after he was out of the water, Yatenbaum didn’t let go of his hand. Yoon Jaewoo awkwardly shook his hand, saying, “Let go,” but Yatenbaum tightened his grip.

“Rau.”

Yatenbaum called him, his gaze fixed on Yoon Jaewoo. Eustace’s cold gaze also remained on Yoon Jaewoo.

Under that persistent, scrutinizing gaze that seemed to scan his entire body, Yoon Jaewoo involuntarily blushed. He lowered his head in an inexplicable shame. He felt naked.

“Rau. My brother.”

Yatenbaum continued.

“Give him to me.”

Yoon Jaewoo was about to retort with “What the hell are you talking about?” but then he nodded, thinking that Yatenbaum had a 0.001% higher chance of healing his leg than Eustace.

“Give him! Let’s give him! Don’t be stingy…”

Before he could finish, Eustace’s white hand grabbed Yoon Jaewoo’s other arm. It was a strength incomparable to the force Yatenbaum was holding him with. Before Yoon Jaewoo could scream, Eustace had pulled him into his arms. Held tightly, Yoon Jaewoo heard Eustace’s voice throughout his entire body.

“Mäden.”

It was a gentle, low call.

The question of who Mäden was quickly disappeared. The only man in this place who could be called Mäden was Yatenbaum.

Yatenbaum smiled and responded with his eyes. Then a cold voice overlaid the call.

“Have I ever given up something that has fallen into my hands?”

That question was the decisive statement that sealed Yoon Jaewoo’s fate.

He had scored a goal, but he couldn’t tell whether it was in the opponent’s goal or his own, and Yoon Jaewoo had to chew on that unknown fear with his trembling body.