Episode 9. The Fallen Seat

by God of Music · 2026-08-31

Kwaaaang.

The sound of water shaking the heavens and the earth struck my ears.

Cold water spray slapped my face, and my body was plummeting down through the air.

Muhyun opened his eyes.

The sky was visible. It was the real sky. Not a mist of white and blue, but a sky with flowing clouds and a sun hanging, the sky of a world where people live.

And beneath his feet, a gigantic waterfall was gaping wide.

He had returned.

But whether this place was truly the world he had left behind, he still could not tell.

As he fell, Muhyun looked around. Black cliffs. A thousand-foot water stream. The vague outline of a valley beyond the mist. It felt familiar.

'Is this the Falling Cliff Song.'

It seemed he had returned to the place he had fallen from. That cliff, that waterfall. However, there were no screams or drum sounds from the upper plains. The battlefield had ended. Then when had he returned?

'How much time has passed.'

He thought as he fell.

'It feels like I’ve lived thirty years in the celestial realm. No, maybe more. Was it forty years? I stopped counting halfway. According to Master Wigi, I played thirty thousand games of Go, so even if I count one game a day…'

The calculations became lengthy.

Then the faces of the immortals passed by one by one. The Okheonomo who said to repay while alive. The Pacheon Old Man who said to clash fists next time he came. Remembering that promise made him laugh. Fighting with an immortal. Still, he had to try it someday. If he went now, could he withstand three rounds? Or two rounds?

If it were the old Mu-hyeon, he would have screamed while falling from the cliff, replayed his past life like a lantern, or at least fainted. Now, he was just calculating while letting his body be carried by the falling wind. After all, this was the second fall. The better part was that this time he wasn't stabbed in the back, and his body was not the same as before.

With just a little bit of energy, he could slow his fall. If he touched the cliff a few times, he could stop before hitting the water. After thirty years of training, that was nothing.

'By the way, the sound of the waterfall is still the same. Back then, that sound felt like a beast's cry, but now it sounds quite…'

That moment of distraction was the cause of trouble.

Bang!

The column of water falling below the waterfall turned into a whirlpool and swallowed Mu-hyeon whole.

'….'

Underwater, Mu-hyeon was momentarily dumbfounded. His body was one that pointed to a waterfall rising upside down in the celestial realm. Yet, he was being pulled into the worldly waterfall like pickled cabbage.

'I’ve trained for thirty years.'

The current flipped his body and pushed him against the rocks. His body, which was set upright again by reverse strength, was not harmed by that much, but his posture was beyond his control. He considered struggling but stopped. It was better to ride the flow than to forcibly resist it. That was the way of Master Wi-ki and the breath of Ok-heo-no-mo.

'It’s not about losing to the water, but riding it.'

Convincing himself like that, Mu-hyeon was swept downstream.

As I drifted away, I found the underwater world quite enjoyable. I could see the texture of the whirlpool, and the path of the water winding around the rocks was visible. If Teacher Wi-ki had seen it, he would have said it was a good scene. Just when my breath was getting short, the current inevitably pushed me up close to the surface. Wondering if I was flowing toward a place determined by the sky, Mu-hyeon chuckled underwater and swallowed a mouthful of water.

I drifted for a while. When the whirlpool spat me out, the current caught me, and when the current got tired, the riffle took over. In the meantime, Mu-hyeon saved his breath and confirmed two things. First, his body was fine. Second, he was hungry. The spring water of the celestial realm had sustained him for days, but the water of the mortal world only made his stomach swell when he drank it.

Eventually, the current became gentle, and pebbles touched the tips of his toes.

Mu-hyeon crawled out to the riverbank and lay flat on his back.

The sun was tilting toward the west. It was the sun of the mortal world. Was the setting sun this red? The sky of the celestial realm was always white and blue, so it felt like he was seeing a sunset for the first time in decades.

"Hah."

A laugh escaped him.

He had returned. He didn't know when, but he had returned to the world of humans, to a world where the sunset was red, the water was cold, and he was hungry.

Insects were chirping. The smell of wet earth mixed with the scent of water. Somewhere, a bird took flight. The celestial realm was beautiful, but it lacked these things. Hunger, the sound of insects, and the arrival of evening. Experiencing evening after decades was so delightful that Mu-hyeon lay there for a long time, still wet.

I raised my body and looked down at my appearance. What I was wearing was still the uniform from that day's duty at the mountain. The back was split with a knife mark, and the light blue uniform was stained with faded blood, worn out like a rag. It was strange that it hadn't worn out after decades of use, but since it wasn't an item from the celestial realm, it seemed it hadn't been affected by the time of the celestial realm. There was no black belt at my waist. My hands were empty.

'First, I need to find someone. I need to know what time it is…'

I walked along the river.

How long had I walked? A heavy smell mixed with the fishy odor of water brushed against my nose.

It was the smell of smoke.

Looking up, I saw a thatched roof in the inner bend of the stream, below the mountain slope. Thin smoke was rising from the roof as if dinner was being prepared.

Muhyeon quickened his steps. Then he suddenly stopped and looked down at his disheveled appearance again. The blood-stained uniform and unkempt hair. If I knocked on the door like this, I would look like a water ghost ready to grab a sickle. I washed my face in the stream, roughly tidied my hair, and left the bloodstains on my clothes as they were, unable to do anything about them.

Upon reaching the hut, Muhyeon cleared his throat outside the gate.

"Is anyone there?"

There was a rustling sound from inside, and an old man with a hunched back opened the door and looked out. Judging by the roots of arrowroot and bundles of dried herbs hanging under the eaves, he seemed to be an herbalist. The old man scanned Muhyeon's appearance from top to bottom and narrowed his eyebrows.

"…What brings a young man out here at this hour? Who are you?"

Young man. That word felt strangely unfamiliar. The unfamiliar face in the surface of the spring came to mind. It was the first day of living with a face that no one knew.

"I am just a passerby. I was swept away by the water and was wondering if I could borrow your eaves for one night."

"Swept away by the water?"

The old man's eyes stopped at the faded bloodstain on Mu-hyeon's back.

"...That doesn't look like a wound caused by water."

"Yes. This is an old one."

Mu-hyeon answered calmly. The old man examined it for a while, clicked his tongue, and opened the door further.

"Come in. For dinner, we only have rice porridge and wild greens."

"That sounds like a feast."

As he was about to enter, Mu-hyeon noticed a pile of firewood in one corner of the yard. Next to a log with an axe half embedded in it, there was a mess of firewood that had been chopped but not stacked. It must have been a burdensome task for the old man's bent back.

"Sir, may I pay for the meal first?"

"Meal payment?"

Mu-hyeon rolled up his sleeves and grabbed the axe. After one meal's worth of time, the firewood was stacked against the eaves along the hut's wall. He also filled the water jar. The old man stood at the door, staring blankly at the scene before murmuring.

"Was he really someone who fell into the water?"

"Before falling into the water, he was a gatekeeper. Gatekeepers usually have a lot of odd jobs."

"Well, that's something."

The old man's tone noticeably softened after that.

The rice porridge was indeed a feast.

It was the meal of someone who hadn't eaten in decades. Mu-hyeon emptied three bowls and only glanced at the old man on the fourth bowl. The old man, with a look of disbelief, pushed the entire pot toward him.

"How many days have you been starving?"

"It's hard to count."

"Well, you're quite the strange gentleman to say that."

Despite that, the old man brought out more wild greens. Mu-hyeon, chewing his rice, subtly asked.

"Sir, which town is this?"

"This is the land of Seongseo. If you go down the mountain path for half a day, you'll reach the market."

Seomseo. Then the volcano is not far away.

"By any chance, have you heard any news from the outside world lately? How things are going out there."

The old man's complexion darkened.

"News from the world, huh? What would an old man like me know about the news while digging herbs in the mountains?"

The old man lit his pipe and continued speaking slowly.

"Still, when I go down to the market to sell herbs, I do hear some things. These days, it's all about that. They say there was a big fight in some valley down there, between the righteous faction and the evil faction, and the righteous side was completely devastated."

Muhyeon’s hand froze.

"...When did that fight happen?"

"Well, they said it was about a month ago."

The old man added while puffing on his pipe.

"They say a large sect called the Volcano Sect was also completely ruined in that fight. An elder named Jangmunin or something passed away, and there are even rumors that the sect's gate was burned down. But then again, rumors tend to exaggerate, so I don't know how much of it is true."

A month ago.

Just over a month.

Muhyeon stood still with his spoon in hand for a while.

It had been thirty years. At the very least, thirty years. He had crossed time and returned, yet only a month had passed here. The gravestone buried in weeds, the unfamiliar land buried in white snow, were not there. Among all the many worlds that brushed past through the gaps, it was this place, just a month off from where he had left.

You Cheongak is alive. Wang Cheolsan is alive. Jin Gon’s mother and siblings are still in that village.

They say heaven decides.

It seemed heaven had placed him where he was meant to be.

"Why is that? Is it someone you know who went out to fight?"

The old man asked. Mu-hyeon put down his spoon, paused for a moment, and then answered.

"Yes. I was… in that valley."

The old man's pipe stopped smoking.

"...You? A young person like you in that hell?"

"I'm older than I look."

The old man had a disbelieving expression. Then he saw the blood-stained scar on Mu-hyeon's back again, and this time he didn't ask anything. The face was that of a child, but the back was not that of a child's. That silence was appreciated.

"Just surviving is a blessing from heaven."

"Yes. Heaven helped me."

Mu-hyeon answered sincerely. The old man nodded as if savoring that response, then offered a mat and a blanket in one corner of the room.

"Take care of your body. Think about tomorrow when tomorrow comes."

"I haven't asked your name yet, elder."

"What trouble is a name? In the lower village, they just call me the herb elder."

"I am called Jin-mu."

The name slipped out first. Not Jin-mu-hyeon, just Jin-mu. It felt somehow reluctant to say the name that would have died falling from the cliff, so he swallowed one character. Only after saying it did Mu-hyeon realize that he had been thinking of it that way. If it were thirty years ago, he would have answered everything asked and even what wasn't asked.

"Jin-mu. That's a good name."

The old man nodded without any suspicion. A new name quietly settled on top of the dead name. At that time, Mu-hyeon did not know how long that name would serve as his own.

That night, Mu-hyeon lay down under a person's blanket in a person's room for the first time in a long while.

My body was fine, but I couldn't sleep. A month. Just a month. When I closed my eyes, the light of the crossroads came to mind. The voice that said there was an old mother and younger siblings. The person who said it was a hundred times better to be alive and provide for the family. I could finally go repay that promise. It's late, but before it becomes too late forever.

'Brother. I have returned.'

And one more thing.

Desertion.

Mu-hyeon opened his eyes in the darkness. I was the one who turned my back on the battlefield. The shout that said that guy was running away still lingered in my ears. Desertion during wartime is punishable by death. If a bulletin had circulated, I would be on the list of deserters by now. Or perhaps on the missing persons list. It might have been better to be dead.

Whichever it was, there was only one place to confirm.

Hwasan.

I had to go back. The place that gatekeeper Jin Mu-hyeon had to return to was only that one from the beginning.

It was a ridiculous thing. After learning from four immortals for decades and passing through the gate of Dharma, what I was finally going back to was standing in front of the mundane gate. Yet, I wanted to do that ridiculous thing. Wearing my work uniform in the morning, standing in the designated spot, swallowing yawns, and leaving work when the sun sets. I had crossed thirty years for that tedious day.

'When I return, I should first show my face to Yu Dae-in. No, should I stop by the village first? When I receive my first salary….'

Thoughts pushed sleep away. I had countless sleepless nights filled with worries, but it was the first time I couldn't sleep because I had so many things I wanted to do.

Just as dawn broke, I finally managed to close my eyes, but a frantic voice from outside the door reached my ears.

"Hey, young noble. Wake up."

"What is it?"

"A signal fire has risen from the lower village."

The old man's voice was trembling.

"That's a signal that bandits have entered. I've heard that the scattered remnants from the valley fights have turned into a band of robbers and are roaming the village, and indeed…."

Mu-hyeon pulled back the blanket and got up.

Beyond the paper window, the sky below the mountain was tinted reddish in the dawn twilight.

"Please stay here, elder."

"What? Are you really planning to go down? Listen, young noble. Those are people even the guards can't handle. Just surviving from the valley is a stroke of luck for anyone."

Mu-hyeon turned back as he opened the door. And without realizing it, he smiled very naturally.

"I've had four bowls of rice."

"What does that mean?"

"I have to pay for the rice. I will be back."

As he stepped out of the private gate, the old man shouted something behind him, but Mu-hyeon's steps were already gliding down the mountain path at dawn. For the first time in thirty years, it was a path in the world where he had something to protect.