Starting the day after Kallen possessed her, Yoon-seul could feel it again.
A presence beyond the forest. It was the same presence she'd faintly sensed the first time she'd prayed in the empty room. Back then, it had been far away. Now it was close. No—not that it had come closer. It had approached her from that direction.
Whenever Yoon-seul sat by the stream to pray at dawn, that presence watched her from deep within the forest. There was no hostility. Quite the opposite. Curiosity. Expectation. And a very leisurely summons that seemed to say, “Come over here.”
On the morning of the third day, Yoon-seul stood up by the stream and looked into the forest.
“...Should I go?”
Kallen reacted inside her. Alertness. A warning that it was dangerous.
“It’s okay, Mr. Kallen. It doesn’t feel bad.”
Kallen didn’t seem convinced, but Yoon-seul was already walking.
The forest was deep.
The forest behind the village was bright only at the entrance. Once she went in a little farther, the trees grew dense, and sunlight split into thin rays as it filtered through the leaves. Moss-covered rocks, ancient trees with exposed roots, flowers she didn’t recognize. It was similar to the mountains of Korea, but different too. The air was thicker. Every time she breathed, she had a stronger sense that something was entering her lungs.
Yoon-seul followed her senses as she walked. It wasn’t that she knew the direction. She was going wherever her body pulled her. A shaman’s instinct. Just like her teacher used to say: “Wherever your feet take you is where you’re meant to go.”
How long had she walked? Thirty minutes. No, maybe an hour.
The forest opened up.
The trees had drawn back in a circle. An empty clearing. In the very center stood a single tree. It was different from the others—not in size, but in presence. Its trunk was silver. Its leaves swayed without any wind. Its roots rose above the ground, and water welled up between them. A small spring. The water was so clear she could see the bottom.
Yoon-seul stopped.
The tree was breathing. She wasn’t speaking metaphorically. Its trunk really was slowly swelling and shrinking, like it was inhaling and exhaling. And with each breath, the air throughout the clearing rippled.
“...Wow.”
A gasp of wonder escaped Yoon-seul. She wasn’t afraid. It was beautiful. It inspired the same kind of awe she felt watching the sun rise from a mountaintop or moonlight shatter across the surface of the sea.
She stood before the tree.
And then she felt it. The tree wasn’t the presence. The tree was a door. Something beyond it was watching Yoon-seul.
The Spirit King.
She knew without knowing its name. Her senses told her. A being who governed all the nature in this world. The king of mountains, rivers, wind, and earth.
Light spread from the tree’s silver trunk. It took shape. Not the shape of a person. If she had to describe it, it was fog made of light. Within that fog, something like eyes looked at Yoon-seul.
Emotions poured into her.
Welcome. Expectation. And surprise.
Yoon-seul immediately understood the reason for the surprise. The Spirit King had sensed Kallen inside her. A dead person’s soul dwelling inside a human body. It was something the Spirit King had never seen before.
Yoon-seul lowered her head. It was a natural greeting, like greeting the mountain god when she went to pray in the mountains, or the Dragon King when she went to pray by the sea.
“Hello.”
The fog of light trembled. Was it laughing? Or surprised?
Another emotion reached her. This time, it was closer to words. Not a language, exactly. A mass of images and sensations.
What are you?
“I’m a shaman.”
What is a shaman?
“Someone who serves the gods. When a god descends into my body, it can experience the human world. I become the vessel.”
The Spirit King’s light grew brighter. Much brighter. The entire clearing lit up. The leaves all shook at once. It wasn’t the wind. The Spirit King’s emotions were stirring nature itself.
Expectation. Joy. And longing.
Can I do it too? Can I descend into you?
Yoon-seul answered honestly.
“Not right now.”
The light dimmed slightly.
“My vessel is still too small. There’s barely room for one ghost inside me right now. If someone like you came in, the vessel would break.”
The Spirit King remained still for a moment. Then another emotion reached her. This time, it was different. The joy subsided, replaced by something deeper and heavier.
Advice.
Make your vessel bigger. But don’t rush.
Images came to her. A vessel overflowing with water. A vessel cracking. A vessel shattering. If the vessel broke, both what it held and the vessel itself would disappear.
A chill ran down Yoon-seul’s spine. It was a warning. She understood what it meant: if she forcibly let a being she couldn’t handle possess her, her body wouldn’t hold up.
“...Yes. I understand.”
The Spirit King’s light softened again. Then another emotion came.
Goodwill. Pure goodwill.
Something extended from the fog of light. A ray of light. Thin and warm, it slowly approached Yoon-seul’s chest.
Yoon-seul didn’t move. It didn’t feel dangerous. Quite the opposite. It felt like a mother placing a hand on her forehead, or a grandmother taking her hand.
The ray of light touched her chest.
It was warm. Not hot—warm. The light passed through her skin and seeped inside. The vessel within her reacted. It wasn’t the vessel itself that changed. It felt like something had wrapped around the outside of the vessel in a single layer. Like a protective barrier.
A blessing.
The Spirit King’s blessing.
One last emotion reached her.
This is my mark. The spirits of my domain will recognize you. And when you pray in nature, you will be able to reach a little deeper.
Yoon-seul’s eyes widened.
“Then...”
That meant her prayers would become more effective. In the mountains, in the fields, in the rivers, by the sea. Whenever she prayed in nature, the Spirit King’s blessing would help her prayers. Her vessel would grow faster.
“Thank you.”
Yoon-seul bowed deeply. She meant it. This was the first gift she had received since coming to another world.
The Spirit King’s light gradually faded. One last emotion came through.
I will wait. Until the day you can contain me.
The light disappeared. The silver tree remained as it was. The spring between its roots continued to burble. But the air in the clearing had changed. It was clearer, lighter.
Yoon-seul stood there for a long while.
Something warm remained in her chest. The Spirit King’s blessing. She pressed a hand to her chest. She could faintly feel something engraved above her heart.
Kallen reacted inside her. Awe. He had just witnessed a being unlike anything he had ever experienced in life. And that being had bestowed its blessing on the human he inhabited. Kallen couldn’t understand it, but he knew one thing.
This woman was no ordinary person.
Yoon-seul turned around. As she left the forest, she muttered to herself.
“The Spirit King said it would wait for me, so I’d better grow up fast.”
Her steps felt light. Leaves clung to her bare feet. She still had no shoes.
But something strange was happening. As she walked through the forest, the grass seemed to move out of her way. It was as if moss had been laid over sharp stones in advance. Branches seemed to shift just slightly away from her face.
The Spirit King’s blessing.
Nature was looking out for Yoon-seul.
Yoon-seul smiled. It was an oddly cheerful smile.
“Oh my, thank you.”
A shaman from another world thanking the grass. An animal that looked a little like a squirrel stopped to stare at Yoon-seul as it passed by. It didn’t run away.
Yoon-seul waved at the squirrel.
The forest stirred quietly. It wasn’t the wind. The entire forest was laughing—very softly, very gently.