Chapter 10
Back when he was human, Dakjae remembered the day he committed an unforgivable sin and heard the furious decree of heaven.
After being judged by the Ten Kings and passing through the final gate of the underworld, Dakjae had begged the King of the Underworld to make him a goblin (dokkaebi) instead of a death messenger. He had never once regretted that choice.
It was repentance for a past he could never tell anyone about. Just being given a chance to atone was enough, and he deeply accepted the meaning of the heavenly punishment of eternal life. So he thought it was fine.
He thought he would be able to accept even this cursed day when it finally came.
“Imaemangnyang (evil spirits and monsters). Your face is very dark. Are you alright?”
The grim reaper, Ganglim, who appeared like smoke, handed him a towel. Dakjae only gave a small laugh. In the end, everything was already set by heaven, so there was no point in a goblin worrying about whether he was okay or not.
“Ganglim. How many souls are we guiding today?”
“Twenty-seven.”
“We’ll be short-handed. I’ll help you.”
“What? No, that is not necessary. It is not that many, and how could I possibly ask for help from a deity like you…”
Dakjae grabbed Ganglim’s shoulder.
“I want to run away.”
Because Mu Jang-seung’s reincarnation, Gang Hae-an, would soon come to the shaman house to find Kim Bari. He instinctively knew something would happen, so it was better to leave.
“Let’s go.”
Dakjae picked up his coat and pushed Ganglim forward. Leaving Bari alone in the shrine, he walked out. His steps were heavy, but he did not look back.
It felt like leaving a child alone by the water… but there was no choice.
This must also be part of heaven’s plan.
Meanwhile
On a clear sunny day, sudden fox rain began to fall.
Bari looked back and forth between Hae-an and Kang-ho, who were standing in front of her, and let out a hollow laugh.
“You two were stuck together even in your past lives, and now again in this life. Truly touching.”
She clapped her hands sarcastically and gave a thumbs-up.
Hae-an’s irritation was already reaching its limit.
“Choi Kang-ho. Did you lie to me just to come to a place like this?”
“It’s not like that…”
“You said you found a lead on the Chilseongpa case. Are you joking?”
Overwhelmed by Hae-an’s pressure, Kang-ho hurried to explain.
“Team leader, I’ve been to so many fortune-telling places since I was young with my mom. This will definitely help. Don’t reject it outright. Since we’re already here, just ask something. Everything’s been going wrong lately, and I know you’re frustrated too.”
But Hae-an refused firmly.
“Stop interfering in useless things. I handle my own life.”
Kang-ho sighed. He knew it wouldn’t be easy, but he didn’t expect him to be this stubborn.
“Ah… ugh…”
Hae-an suddenly stopped walking in the yard. A sharp headache hit him and he grabbed his head.
Bari clicked her tongue.
“Not bad. You endured this far.”
A human who had opened spiritual vision and even the ability to see spirits, yet refused divine help… that required extreme willpower.
“So it’s confirmed. Mu Jang-seung has awakened.”
A shadow fell behind Hae-an.
“Bring him in. Now.”
Kang-ho quickly supported the staggering Hae-an and brought him inside.
The inner shrine was filled with sacred paintings, shaman tools, and divine objects radiating strong energy.
Bari stared at Hae-an’s pale face.
“If you don’t want to collapse here, you should drop that pride of yours.”
Hae-an clenched his teeth but refused to believe her.
“You don’t want to believe it… rather than can’t.”
Bari stepped closer.
“Twenty years ago, you used to see things that were not human.”
Hae-an’s eyes shook.
“And you still can.”
Kang-ho was shocked.
Bari picked up ritual bells and a fan.
“For someone who doubts everything, there is only one solution.”
She opened her eyes sharply.
“Experience it yourself.”
A bell sound echoed.
Hae-an collapsed unconscious.
Vision
When he opened his eyes again, a completely different world appeared.
People in royal palace clothing were fleeing in panic.
Hae-an saw beings that were not fully human.
A giant man lying fallen like a monster, and beside him a fox-human woman crying.
Something in his chest tightened.
Memories he had long forgotten began flooding back.
A voice echoed.
“You are only paying for the sin of not understanding love.”
A dying man with a sickle wound caressed the crying fox spirit.
And Hae-an realized—
That dying man was his past life.
A woman stood in the storm, laughing madly.
The one who stabbed the sickle into Mu Jang-seung’s chest.
The same woman who had appeared in his nightmares for years.
Her face was exactly Kim Bari’s.
“…No way.”
Hae-an stepped back in shock.
He saw everything but could not accept it.
He felt horror, sorrow, and suffocating pain all at once.
The memory continued.
“I did not kill the king and queen because I lacked love… but because she was my entire world.”
The dying Mu Jang-seung wept.
“If there is a next life… I will find Bari and apologize sincerely.”
And then he disappeared into dust.
Back to reality
Kang-ho, worried that Hae-an still had not woken up, finally raised his voice.
“Hey! What did you do to him?”
Bari turned calmly.
“He will wake up soon.”
“You look like you almost killed him!”
Bari scoffed.
“He still bows his head before his master as always.”
She tapped Hae-an’s forehead.
At that moment, Hae-an opened his eyes and coughed violently.
“How was it? Seeing your past life with your own eyes?”
Tears were in his eyes.
He suddenly grabbed Bari’s wrist.
“Kim Bari. What are you?”
He had finally remembered everything.
The woman he met at his father’s funeral at age nine.
The woman he saw in the hospital at nineteen when he was dying.
The same woman who appeared whenever he stood at the edge of life.
She had never aged.
“Tell me. What are you!”
Hae-an’s mind was breaking.
Bari smiled coldly, as if she had waited for this moment forever.
“Didn’t I already tell you many times?”
She leaned closer.
A past-life couple who once married and had seven sons.
“I am your wife, Gang Hae-an.”
Mu Jang-seung and Bari Princess… after a thousand years, they finally recognized each other again.
