Chereads / Beyond the Boundary of Life / Chapter 6 - 00:00:06

Chapter 6 - 00:00:06

Beom-seok left the Haashatari household and made his way to the village. Leaving the gate of his household, Beom-seok started his journey. Using his 'knowledge, he navigated himself towards the village without difficulty. Beom-seok has already memorized the map of the whole village, the Alka Kingdom, the Ashtaroth forest, the Tiz mountains, and other areas related to the novel. His 'knowledge' skill helped him to memorize all the information he absorbed.

"So, this is what the village looks like." Beom-seok marvels at the sight of bustling people. Stores lined up in the streets while children played near the fountain. "Indeed, I am in a fantasy novel." It occurred to him that this is his reality right now. For the past few days, Beom-seok waited for him to wake up in his delusion and come back to his original place, but days had passed and he still possessed Isid's body.

"It's still early; I guess I'll take a look here first." He fastened his hoodie and curiously went to some stores. He first went to a shop that sells pens and paper. "Young man, are you here to buy some papers?" the owner asked. Beom-seok hesitated; bringing things like this to his journey would not be good. He then decided that he would buy what he needed after getting the necklace. "No, I am just looking." After the pen and paper store, he went to the store that sells accessories. A tsavorite garnet caught his attention; it reminds him of the Marchioness. "How much for this?" the old woman clicked her tongue. "That will be costly, and looking at your clothes, you will not afford buying it." Beom-seok calmly laughed. "It's the same," he whispered. The old owner frowned and looked at Beom-seok as if he were crazy. "Ha, it is the same here. I guess humans are humans whichever universe they are in." This is not the first time someone has judged him based on his appearance; in his original world, it's a common thing. People tend to judge and criticize someone based on how they perceive them. Everyone judges others the way they see them, creates their own bias against someone, and believes that that is the truth.

"Please forgive my mother; would you like to look at this garnet?" the woman chimed in. Beom-seok opened his mouth and said, "No, I would like to buy this tsavorite garnet and this blue topaz." The woman nodded in response. She wrapped the two accessories and handed them to the young man wearing a hoodie. Despite wearing plain clothing, the woman feels that the young man is rich. His enunciation is clear and good; there is no hesitation in his words. He walked and stood with dignity and authority, despite his appearance. 'Is he a traveler? What? the woman asked in her mind. 'I never saw him here, the woman snapped back at the present when the young man handed him a gold coin. "Ah, this will be too much, she panickedly voiced out. 'A gold coin? Is he a noble? her mind is screaming. The accessories that they are selling are not of high quality. They are gemstones gathered from a dungeon by his husband; they appraised them, but these gemstones are ordinary and do not value that much. Beom-Seok scratched his head. 'Is a gold coin too much? But these are good gemstones; they looked ordinary, but my 'knowledge' skill is telling me that they are not.'

Beom-seok gave the gold coin and put the accessories in his pocket. "Thank you, he said, and he left. The daughter of the old owner shouted when Beom-seok left. "Wait, your change!" The woman clasped her hands together and said, "Thank you! Come back again." She knew that the young man did not hear her, but she still gave her sincerest thanks to the young customer.

Beom-seok continued his journey to the boundary of the village. He entered the forest and used his 'knowledge' to find the hidden dungeon. The Pelon Forest is known for its maze-like path. People who went into the forest went missing for weeks and months before they were discovered at the entrance of the forest. Based on the novel, Pelon Forest is alive and has been occupied by elves and fairies. The people in the village believe that the Pelon Forest is cursed and dangerous, but in the novel, it's not. The fairies and elves who live in the forest acted based on the people's hearts and motives; they could see a human's deepest motive when they entered the forest.

"Another human entered the forest," Tekoa, the son of the Chief elf, muttered. He had enough of the humans whose greed and evil entered the forest. Tekoa sighed and followed the human from a distance. 'Jahath and Penuel come here.' Tekoa contacted the two fairies using the trees and plants. At that time, Beom-seok felt the rustling of the trees as the wind blew. 'Is it another human? ' Jahath asked. 'Probably, you know how insistent humans are,' Penuel answered him. The two of them went to Tekoa's location. 'I don't know if he's brave or stupid by entering the forest alone.' Penuel agreed to Jahath's statement. 'He's also young, what the heck is he doing here?' Penuel whispered to Tekoa. 'That is why I called the two of you.' Jahath and Penuel nodded and did not hesitate to go to Beom-seok. Fairies are beings which cannot be seen by human's eyes unless they decided to show themselves to them, but Beom-seok is different. He can see them and even hear them. While he was walking, he caught a glimpse of an elf at the tree observing him, later on the elf was joined by two fairies with green and blue wings. Beom-seok pretended to not to see them and continued walking. 'Why is that I can see them? Is it because I am not an entity that belongs in this world?' he thought to himself.

'He looks like a noble despite his clothing. He does not have any weapons with him. Isn't he peculiar, Jahath? "

At that moment, Jahath stopped and stared directly into Beom-seok's eyes. He knows that the human cannot see him, despite that fact he has an inkling that the human is staring directly at him. His eyes looked bored and a calm aura. 'Jahath, there's something wrong with this human.'

'What do you mean, Penuel? '

'I cannot smell him! ' Penuel shouted. 'What?! What do you mean? ' Fairies can smell a person's attribute. Penuel is one of the fairies who can smell someone's attributes.

'He does not have a smell.' Penuel is bewildered. This is the first time that he has encountered someone who does not have a smell. In their history, there is no record of someone like him, but he remembered the chief's story. A person who does not have a smell is someone who does not possess an attribute.

'Jahath, I think he does not have an attribute,' Penuel softly said. The wind blew, and the trees rustled. Penuel stopped in front of Beom-seok and said, 'No, there's a faint smell. An unknown scent.'

Jahath held Penuel's hands and said, 'An anti-mage.' Jahath's breath became slower. He feels like he is suffocating. The human in front of them is someone who defies the natural in their realm. 'There's an anti-mage in front of us, Penuel.' The wind blew again, and Beom-seok felt that the time flowed slowly. He heard the loud ticking of the clock, reminding him of his death. At that moment, he was reminded of one of the students who always stays late at school. He is someone who does not have a good grade, is always late and absent, but is always on campus after classes. Beom-seok was curious about his story. That person is a human being, breathing, living, and having emotions. One day, Beom-seok decided to stay late at the school and wait for that student. In their first encounter, Beom-seok did not say anything to him but accompanies him all throughout the day. The student finds it strange but does not say anything. The second day, Beom-seok gave him snacks but still did not talk to him. The student hesitantly accepted the snacks and left. Their routine is just like that; sometimes they listen to music together and eat together, but their day ends without someone talking. Then one day, the student stopped coming to the school, Beom-seok became worried and asked for the student's details. As a teacher, it's not difficult for him to acquire such information. That day he decided to visit the student's house.

He knocked on the apartment's door. "Hello, this Beom-Seok from Parada Central School," no one answered. On his second knock, Beom-seok realized that the door had been opened. "I'm coming in." He was greeted by the smell of cigarettes and a heap of trash as he entered. He called the student's name, but no one answered. That day, he found the student's body lying on the floor in his room while his arm was bleeding. The student intentionally stopped his own clock. Beom-seok did not hesitate to call an ambulance and help the student. The smell of blood mixed with cigarettes felt bitter in his mouth. When the clock's faint ticking sound faded to silence, Beom-seok persisted despite it. He stayed with the student until the sound of the clock went back.

The wind rustled, the leaves kept falling, and the faint smell grew. 'He's an anti-mage, Jahath! ' Beom-seok smiled when he remembered the student's voice telling him his name.