Chapter 57: North Mangsan Mountain (3)
If someone were to ask where a person’s life is recorded in the soul, I could simply answer that it’s written on the back.
I think I’ve mentioned this before while examining the structure of the soul, you know?
Anyway, thanks to having fully grasped that fact, implementing the function of the object that Mang requested was a piece of cake. I was able to finish the tool Mang wanted by engraving that technology into a bronze mirror I had prepped in advance.
It was a straightforward gadget that, when you shine a soul in the mirror, pulls out and reads the memories recorded on its back.
And as a little bonus on the side.
Since paper hadn’t been invented in this era yet, I had no choice but to hand over a bamboo slip item, which served as a book back then, along with the bronze mirror to Mang.
[What is this?]
“Wanna take a look?”
At my words, Mang carefully unfolded the bamboo slips.
[There’s nothing written on it…]
“Ah, but it’s working just fine!”
I flashed a smile and handed over a soul I’d casually caught nearby to Mang.
“Care to reflect this soul in the bronze mirror?”
It was a soul I just picked up recently.
When I checked its memories through the mirror, it turned out to be a foolish guy who got himself killed by a rock to the back of the head while playing gangster in the city late at night.
Seriously, what a silly human.
[So you mean to test the mirror, I see.]
Mang reflected the soul in the bronze mirror, and at that moment, a faint light leaked from the mirror, showing the soul’s memories.
Of course, reading every detail of a lifetime can take ages, so it cuts it down significantly, summarizing just the important events and scenes where sins were committed.
Otherwise, it would take an eternity to view every single human life!
[Amazing! To implement the function I wanted so precisely!]
“Hehehe. That’s not all of it. Now, would you like to check those bamboo slips again?”
[This? But it had nothing written on it…]
“Trust me, this time will be different.”
Well, those bamboo slips? The Book of Life and Death is something that works in conjunction with the bronze mirror.
To be honest, a document that wrote down the lifespans of every living being… was a stretch! Yeah!
Hey, using the power of creation could probably make it happen, but I wanted to give it a shot myself this time!
Instead, I went with a slightly different method with the Book of Life and Death.
[Huh? The letters are appearing by themselves…!!]
“Isn’t that fascinating?”
The memories read using the bronze mirror automatically get recorded in the Book of Life and Death. And through those memories, it evaluates different possibilities, recording the lifespan if the soul had lived life without any major issues or sins.
In simple terms, it displays how long the soul would live if it had lived a good life.
Sure, it’s just a tool for examining possibilities, so it’s not completely reliable… but it gives a rough idea of the expected lifespan.
Of course, living a righteous life doesn’t always mean a long life, and there are cases where the expected lifespan turns out to be shorter than the actual lifespan.
[But that’s strange. This person died at 28, but the record says 78…]
“That just means he had the potential to live up to 78. Unfortunately, due to various issues, he didn’t even manage to live half of that.”
[So he didn’t fully live out his lifespan?]
“Pretty much. You can think of it that way. Of course, it’s all about possibilities, so it might not be completely accurate.”
You never know, right? One day he could get into a fight, develop a grudge, and wind up getting hit on the back of his head with a sharp rock while out at night.
“If we use these items, we can read the soul’s memories and understand whether its life was on the right track, can’t we?”
At that, Mang nodded slightly.
[If these items can judge a righteous life, they’ll definitely help evaluate the life the soul has lived.]
“Exactly! But these items aren’t perfect. They only assess the lifespan, meaning they can’t gauge the weight of any sins committed.”
[We’ll need to evaluate that part separately.]
I nodded slightly. And the responsibility of assessing those sins… I’m not planning to dump that on Mang.
You can’t just pile too much responsibility on one individual, after all.
For that role… if Seres decides to work in the afterlife, I’m thinking of handing it over to him.
While creating these items for Mang, I also whipped up something in advance for that job. I plan to pass it on the moment Seres makes his call.
So if we organize a system where three of them manage the afterlife…
Thanatos, commanding the dark spirits to gather the souls of the dead.
Mang, checking if the souls of the dead lived their expected lifespan through the mirror and the register.
Seres, weighing the sins of the souls on a scale and deciding their punishment.
That’s sort of how I envisioned it all going down.
Of course, it might change based on what goes down. Anyway.
[It seems like such amazing items must have proper names. What are they called?]
“I named the bamboo slips the Book of Life and Death, but I haven’t pinned down a name for the mirror yet. I was torn between Karma Mirror and Clear Mirror.”
Karma Mirror, as in the mirror that reflects human karma, and Clear Mirror, as in a crystal-clear mirror that reflects a human’s life story.
Honestly, I’d be fine with either!
[Then why not just call it both? It seems to work either way.]
Hmm… Is that really a thought? Well, let’s just let it be whatever everyone decides to call them.
Whatever the mirror that reflects a life is named, it’s not like it’ll change things much, right?
[But still, to prepare such items… I can’t deny your proposal any longer.]
“Ahh, finally! I was just waiting for you to say that.”
Creating such items isn’t a big deal for a seasoned newcomer!
[However, I am the mountain god of this mountain. If I leave, I’ll just be another spirit with no distinction. What will you do about that?]
“I’ve got something in mind for that too.”
If you’re bound to this mountain, why not make this mountain part of the afterlife?
Of course, I don’t mean to physicall move it. I just plan to guide people’s perceptions a bit, creating a belief in the god of the afterlife based on their faith.
“So first, let’s conceal this mountain.”
[Huh?]
“Don’t worry about it. It’ll be over in a jiffy.”
I just smiled at Mang.
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
Shengdu, the capital city of Yeonara.
In the biggest city in the East, populated by the most people, a wacky story began circulating.
[North Mangsan Mountain has vanished.]
What’s North Mangsan Mountain? Isn’t it that mountain located north of Shengdu, where tons of people are buried, almost like a grand cemetery?
But one day, poof! The mountain just disappeared.
The place where the mountain used to stand was now cloaked in thick fog, and the undertakers heading to the foggy North Mangsan Mountain to find burial spots ended up on the opposite side without a clue why.
That must have felt like a ghostly prank.
Some said the mountain god of North Mangsan was furious.
That the anger of the mountain god stemmed from covering it with graves.
Others claimed that North Mangsan Mountain had turned into the afterlife.
That a mountain entangled in death had sunk into the afterlife.
No one knew the truth.
Only the concrete fact that North Mangsan Mountain was no longer in its spot was obvious.
Then, after just a little time, another rumor began to spread.
That the mountain god of North Mangsan Mountain had transformed into the god of the afterlife.
That he had taken up the role of judging the dead in the afterlife.
Along with that revelation, the fog enveloping the area formerly occupied by North Mangsan Mountain lightened, and the mountain itself vanished without a trace.
Truly, it felt like a ghost story.
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
Through such a bizarre turn of events, Mang was no longer the mountain god of North Mangsan Mountain but had absorbed the title of the god of the afterlife.
[This makes no sense. It was all just rumor spread…]
“Humans, on one hand, fear what they don’t understand, while on the other, they tend to respect and admire it.”
It was a handy method since humans hadn’t built up extensive knowledge yet.
Still unable to comprehend natural phenomena and imagining god-like entities.
A tiny bit of manipulation combined with gossip to steer thought wasn’t too difficult.
As a result, Mang was now free from the confines of the mountain, and at the same time, his appearance shifted slightly.
The crown… He was still wearing that unique hat with a flat square plate on top. The cloth draping down from it, however, shifted from white to black.
Also, the outfit he wore… While it had plenty of green and brown, it was now an entirely black ensemble.
Probably because black is seen as the color of death by human standards.
[Then what happens to North Mangsan Mountain, where I used to be?]
“Hmm… Well, I considered sinking the mountain into the ground, but I reckoned that might not sit well with you. So, I stashed it at the base of a nearby mountain range instead.”
[You speak of such abnormal events so nonchalantly! That mountain may not be massive, but to move it so easily?]
“What? This is child’s play.”
I smiled slightly as I looked at Mang.
[So, now that I’m no longer the mountain god of North Mangsan Mountain… I guess I can’t use the name Mang any longer.]
“Yeah… For you, I’ll come up with a brand-new name—one befitting of the new god of death.”
[A name?]
Yeah. A name is important—it’s a word that represents one’s existence.
So much so that just a name can dictate some aspects of an entity’s destiny.
“I’ve lined up two names. One from the East, and one from the West. Which one do you want to hear first?”
Then Mang… No, he’s not Mang anymore. The new god of death answered without hesitation.
[Since my mountain was in the East, please tell me the name I will be called there first.]
“Sure! Figured you’d say that.”
I grinned and spoke.
“Yama. That’s your name in the East. You’ll be called Moros in the West.”
The name of the judge of the afterlife, and a name in Greek mythology that represents death, akin to Thanatos.
There couldn’t be better names for the administrator of the afterlife.
And thus, the second head of the afterlife was officially named.
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