SFNFS Ch 3

Chapter 3

Wolin= Omega

Yangin= Alpha

Im gonna use omega and apha in the translations

 

“I should have come to see it myself last year and the year before that. It’s such a shame I missed the grand festival and that marvelous miracle.”

“That was exactly when you started working, wasn’t it? At the Hongu Trade Guild?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

At the mention of the Hongu Trade Guild, Bipa inadvertently turned his gaze away. Among the group seated together, the person clad in the finest fabric nodded in agreement.

“I started working at the Seogyeong branch of the Hongu Trade Guild around that time. But right then, I got reassigned to another branch, so I couldn’t come to Seogyeong for a full two years. That’s why I missed the grand festival both times, yes.”

Though his tone held subtle pride when speaking of working at the Hongu Trade Guild, clear resentment seeped through the latter part of his story.

Drinking the self-poured cup of alcohol alone, Bipa blinked as a question formed in his mind.

The Hongu Trade Guild was known to be considerate of the hometown ties of its regional office employees. Unless there was a pressing reason, they wouldn’t keep someone away from home for two years. Then why had that man been made to?

—Barely had Bipa formed the thought when the man who worked at the guild spoke again, answering the unspoken question.

“At that time, huh? I was already drowning in the workload of learning a new job, and suddenly, the head family of the guild decided to emigrate abroad!”

“You had absolutely no way of refusing?”

“Of course not! What way could there have been? When the entire guild—from the highest rank down to the lowest—was thrown into chaos, how could a newly joined low-ranking worker insist on staying in his hometown, huh? Ha! Just thinking about it again makes my blood boil.”

Ah, so that was it.

Bipa instinctively lowered his gaze. Feeling awkward, he lifted his empty cup and sipped pointlessly. Naturally, nothing entered his mouth.

“Yeah, I remember. Back then, the whole country thought that family was moving to another nation. There was already unrest because of the royal family, and then rumors that even that household was abandoning the nation—what a frenzy that caused… But now that I think about it, isn’t it quite funny? All that commotion over a mere guild, even more than when the crown prince was killed by the prince, inciting rebellion.”

At that, the third man, who had quietly sat with arms crossed, finally opened his mouth.

“Well, what else could we expect? It’s one of the top three guilds in the world. Who knows how many connections they had, from slaves to royalty? Honestly, when I heard the Hongu Guild might become a foreign trade guild, the first thing I worried about was how I’d get my mother’s medicine. If the world’s leading medical and pharmaceutical center moved overseas, that’d be a national loss—no, a tragedy for the entire country!… It’s such a relief that the rumors of emigration turned out to be false.”

“Well, that’s true… but why do you sound more defensive than someone who works there? Do you get something from them or what?”

“Get something? Of course I do. I get my mother’s medicine through them, don’t I?”

“Ahem, now now, let’s not make a scene, gentlemen. I was in the middle of telling my story. Why are you all getting worked up like this? Anyway… ahem, have any of you ever heard why the Hongu Guild caused such a stir back then?”

As the man who claimed to be an employee of the Seogyeong branch posed the question secretively, the two who had been bickering widened their eyes. Sensing that he might reveal an insider’s secret, they both quickly lowered their voices and answered.

“We… don’t know.”

“We haven’t heard anything at all.”

“You know, that famous youngest child of the Hongu Guild.”

“You mean Omega?”

“Yes, that’s the one. From what I’ve heard floating around internally… the whole reason they almost left the country was because that golden child threw a tantrum at his mother and sisters, demanding they go.”

“Gasp! That infamously spoiled brat again?”

“Pffft—!”

Bipa, who had been quietly sipping his drink while listening, suddenly choked. He quickly reached for water and drank, narrowly avoiding an embarrassing scene, though the liquor that had trickled under his chin had already soaked the front of his robe.

“…Are you alright?”

The men, who had been talking loudly, turned to Bipa in sudden concern. The stinging pain in his nasal passages persisted, but Bipa forced a smile and nodded his thanks.

Fortunately, their attention on him ended there. The three men turned their heads back and resumed chatting as before.

“Seriously. All that uproar in that household was because of the youngest son? Why? Why on earth did he suddenly want to go to some distant foreign land?”

“I don’t know the exact reason either… but isn’t it obvious? What reason could there be? A pampered, arrogant young master probably got bored of mundane life in Gae-gyeong.”

“Well, yeah… imagine how spoiled he must’ve been! As soon as it was confirmed that he was an Omega at birth, his family even created a special medicine that cured dongnyeol, which other Omega just lived with all their lives like it was natural.”

“Exactly. That young master, probably never even suffered from dongnyeol once in his life, born an Omega and all pampered—he must have turned out quite rotten. Tsk tsk, they say a beloved child should be disciplined more. No matter how wealthy the family is, how can you raise a child by just spoiling them?”

As if to confirm the sentiment, not only the group but others at surrounding tables nodded in agreement. Watching them, Bipa gave a bitter smile and fidgeted with his soaked robe.

If only he had quietly gone where he was supposed to. Then his heart would have remained at ease. Instead, by stubbornly coming here, he ended up hearing unpleasant gossip—not only about himself, but also his family.

That the Hongu Guild had tried to betray the country, that its foolish youngest son had pushed the family to abandon the nation—

It was all gossip the world had enjoyed spreading for the past two years. And it wasn’t entirely untrue, either…

Indeed, when you’re born the youngest son of the richest guild in the world, you naturally develop the tolerance to laugh off most forms of slander.

Up until a moment ago, Bipa had fully intended to laugh it off.

But distortion of this kind—no matter how seasoned a person—was difficult to swallow without indignation.

What is so wrong about parents cherishing their child? What’s the problem with creating a medicine to ease a lifelong affliction their child must suffer?

And does someone have to suffer through dongnyeol to be a “true” Omega? If someone lives without experiencing that painful ailment, are they automatically deemed worthless?

Then what about ordinary people without spiritual power—are they all disrespectful, shallow creatures?

Bipa grumbled inwardly.

Sokin referred to ordinary people without spiritual power, while Iin referred to extraordinary people who possessed mystical energy.

Long ago,

A great calamity began when the sun veered off its course and fell, dragging seven other disasters with it into the mortal world. That time of chaos was also known by another name: the Seven Calamities.

A disaster that robbed the world of light and left people blind in darkness, a disaster where stars lost their place and deviated from the sky’s orbit, a disaster of massive fires scorching the earth, a disaster of endless floods drowning and sweeping away all life, a disaster where violent winds overturned heaven and earth, a disaster where thirst reigned from the lack of drinkable water, and finally, a disaster where spirits of those who died prematurely from the preceding calamities turned into mangnyang and roamed the land.

These were all heavenly disasters beyond human control, and so the immortals of Ilcheongung, followers of the extinguished Ilcheonja, descended voluntarily to Earth.

They righted the stars, extinguished fires, stemmed floods, calmed the winds, and devoted themselves to rescue efforts, but they could not save everyone. Thus, they ascended and pleaded before the Supreme One to send forth a new sun.

But the Celestial Sun (Cheonil) was a power held only by Ilcheon, and a sun like before could only rise again if he returned from oblivion. In place of that, the Supreme One built the Ilwolju from shattered sun fragments and hung in the sky a heavenly sphere (Cheongu) that would radiate light across the world through its power.

‘But who could possibly emit such light?’

‘Let it be a shared effort.’

So the immortals of Ilcheongung combined their powers to imbue Ilwolju with spiritual energy, and the Cheongu finally shone bright. Amid the screams that filled the world, cries of hope began to ring out.