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Chapter 57: North Pole (3)
Chapter 57: North Pole (3)
Chapter 57: North Pole (3)
If asked where a person's life is recorded in the soul, I could simply answer that it is recorded on the back.
I think I've mentioned this before while investigating the structure of the soul.
Anyway, thanks to having precisely understood that fact, it was not difficult to implement the function of the object that Mang asked to be made, and I was able to complete the tool Mang wanted by engraving that technology into the bronze mirror I had prepared in advance.
It was a simple tool that, when reflecting the soul in the mirror, retrieves and reads the memories recorded on its back.
And one more thing as a bonus.
Since paper had not been invented in this era, I had no choice but to hand over to Mang an object made of bamboo slips, which were used as books in this era, along with the bronze mirror.
[What is this?]
"Would you like to unfold it?"
Upon my words, Mang carefully unfolded the bamboo slips.
[There's nothing written on it...]"Ah, it's working properly."
I smiled and handed over a soul I had roughly caught nearby to Mang.
"Would you like to reflect this soul in the bronze mirror?"
It was a soul I had picked up around here not long ago.
When I read the memory in a mirror, I found that he was a stupid man who died after being stoned in the back of the head in the middle of the night while acting as a gangster in the city.
Truly, such a foolish human.
[You mean to test the mirror, I understand.]
Mang reflected the soul in the bronze mirror, and at the same time, a faint light leaked from the mirror, showing the soul's memories.
Of course, reading an entire lifetime takes a lot of time, so it significantly shortens the process, selecting and summarizing only important events or scenes of committing sins.
Otherwise, it would take an immense amount of time to view each and every human life.
[Amazing. To implement the function I wanted so precisely.]
"Hehe. That's not all. Would you like to unfold those bamboo slips now?"
[This? There was nothing written on it...]
"It will be different this time."
Well, those bamboo slips. The Book of Life and Death is an object used in conjunction with the bronze mirror.
Honestly speaking, a document with the lifespan of every living being written on it... was too much! Yeah!
Well, it might be possible using the power of creation. But this time I wanted to do it on my own.
Instead, I approached it in a slightly different way with the Book of Life and Death.
[Hm? The letters are automatically...!]
"Isn't it fascinating?"
The memories read through the bronze mirror are automatically recorded in the Book of Life and Death, and through those memories, it evaluates various possibilities and records the lifespan if the soul had lived a life without committing sins or any major problems.
Simply put, it's an object that displays the lifespan the soul would have had if it had lived a righteous life.
Well, it's a tool for evaluating possibilities, so it can't be completely trusted... but it gives a rough idea of the expected lifespan.
Of course, a righteous life doesn't necessarily mean a longer life, so there are cases where the expected lifespan is shorter than the actual lifespan.
[But this is strange. This person died at the age of 28, but it says died at 78...]
"That means the person had the lifespan to live up to 78 years. However, due to various problems, he died without living even half of his lifespan."
[Didn't live his full lifespan?]
"You could think of it that way. Of course, it's just a possibility, so it could be wrong."
You never know if one day, suddenly getting into a quarrel, bearing a grudge, and then being hit in the back of the head with a sharp stone while walking at night could happen.
"Using these objects, you can read the memories of the soul and understand whether its life was in the right direction, can't you?"
Upon my words, Mang nodded slightly.
[If these objects can judge a righteous life, they will be helpful in evaluating the life the soul has lived.]
"Exactly. But these objects are not omnipotent. They only judge lifespan, so they can't assess the weight of the sins committed."
[That part will have to be judged separately.]
I nodded slightly. And the role of judging the weight of those sins... I don't plan to leave it to Mang.
It's not right to assign too much responsibility to one person. Of course.
That role... If Seres says he will work in the afterlife, I'm thinking of entrusting it to him.
While making these items for Mang, I also prepared in advance the item for that task. I plan to hand it over as soon as Seres decides.
If a system is established where the afterlife is operated by the three of them...
Thanatos, who commands the dark spirits that gather the souls of the dead.
Mang, who checks if the souls of the dead lived their rightful lifespan through the mirror and the register.
Seres, who weighs the sins of the souls on a scale and decides their treatment.
It was planned to be organized in such a composition.
Of course, it could change depending on the situation. Anyway.
[It seems like these amazing items would have proper names, what are the names of these items?]
"I've named the bamboo slips the Book of Life and Death, but I haven't decided on a name for the mirror yet. I was thinking between Karma Mirror and Clear Mirror."
Karma Mirror, meaning a mirror that reflects human karma, and Clear Mirror, meaning a mirror so clear and pure that it reflects a human's entire life.
Honestly, either would be fine!
[Then why not use both names? It seems like it would work either way.]
Hmm... Is that so? Well, let them call it whatever they like.
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Whatever the name of the mirror that reflects life, it wouldn't make much of a difference.
[Anyway, to prepare such items... I can no longer refuse your proposal.]
"Un. I was only waiting for those words."
Making such items is nothing if it's for a seasoned newcomer!
[However, I am the mountain god of this mountain. If I leave this mountain, I become no different from other spirits. What do you plan to do about this issue?]
"I've thought about that as well."
If you're bound to this mountain, why not make this mountain a part of the afterlife?
Of course, I don't mean physically moving it. It's about giving a bit of direction to people's perception, creating a belief in the god of the afterlife through their faith.
"So, let's hide this mountain first."
[What?]
"Don't worry. It will be over soon."
I just smiled at Mang.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Shengdu, the capital and largest city of Yeonara
In the largest city in the East, where the most people live, a strange story began to circulate.
[North Mangsan Mountain has disappeared.]
What is North Mangsan Mountain? Isn't it the mountain located north of Shengdu, where countless people are buried, like a public cemetery?
But one day, the mountain simply vanished.
Where the mountain used to be, thick fog now lingered, and undertakers heading to the foggy North Mangsan Mountain to find burial sites ended up on the other side of the mountain without understanding why.
It was a ghostly scene.
Some said that the mountain god of North Mangsan Mountain was angry.
That covering the mountain with graves had angered the mountain god.
Some said that North Mangsan Mountain had become the afterlife.
The mountain covered in death had sunk into the afterlife.
No one knew the truth.
Only the fact that North Mangsan Mountain was no longer there was certain.
After a very short time, another rumor spread.
The mountain god of North Mangsan Mountain had become the god of the afterlife.
That he had become a god who judges the dead in the afterlife.
Along with that, the fog that enveloped the place where North Mangsan Mountain used to be thinned, and North Mangsan Mountain disappeared without leaving a trace.
Truly, It was a ghostly scene.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Through such a process, Mang was no longer the mountain god of North Mangsan Mountain but had become the god of the afterlife.
[It's absurd. Just by spreading rumors...]
"Human beings, on one hand, fear what they do not know, while on the other, they also respecting and admiring."
It was a method that could be used because the knowledge accumulated by humans was not yet extensive.
Humans, who could not even understand natural phenomena and imagined the existence of gods.
It wasn't difficult to induce thought by a bit of manipulation and spreading rumors.
Thanks to this, Mang was no longer bound to the mountain, and at the same time, his appearance changed slightly.
A crown... He was still wearing a hat with a flat, square plate on top, but the color of the cloth draped from the hat had changed from white to black.
And the clothes he was wearing... Although they were mostly green and brown, now they were entirely black.
Probably because black is close to the color of death in human perception.
[Then what happens to North Mangsan Mountain where I was?]
"Hmm... Well, I thought about sinking the mountain into the ground, but I figured you wouldn't like that much. So, I attached it to the edge of a nearby mountain range."
[You speak so calmly about such an abnormal event. It wasn't a big mountain, but to move it so easily...]
"What, that isn't a big deal."
I looked at Mang and smiled slightly.
[Since I'm no longer the mountain god of North Mangsan Mountain... I guess I can't use the name Mang anymore.]
"Un. For you, I will come up with a name. A name as the new god of death."
[A name?]
Un. A name is important. It's a word that represents one's existence.
To the extent that a name alone can somewhat determine the fate of an existence.
"I've prepared two names. One to be called in the East and another in the West. Which one would you like to hear first?"
Then Mang... No, he's not Mang anymore. The new god of death spoke without hesitation.
[Since the mountain I lived on was in the East, please tell me the name I will be called there first.]
"Right. I thought so."
I smiled and opened my mouth.
"Yama. That is your name in the East. In the West, you will be called Moros."
The name of the judge of the afterlife, and the name of a god meaning death in Greek mythology, like Thanatos.
There could be no names more fitting for the manager of the afterlife.
Thus, the second manager of the afterlife was confirmed.