Episode 9
If the woman had claimed that refusing to offer a ritual would bring him illness, harm to his loved ones, or a string of misfortunes, Joon-wan wouldn’t have believed her.
‘Those who make such threats are charlatans, not priests.’
As a folklorist, he particularly despised those who exploited people’s fears for financial gain, like shamans who preyed on the vulnerable.
But the rain…
Whoosh!
The incessant sound of the downpour, which he had been oblivious to during his confrontation with the mysterious woman, now filled his ears.
[Unseasonal heavy rains have concentrated damage in the earthquake’s epicenter, causing landslides and potentially disrupting the autumn harvest…]
Experts voiced concerns about the delayed recovery from the earthquake due to the unexpected torrential rainfall, warning of falling rocks and landslides.
Whoosh!
He heard the anguished voices of farmers interviewed on television, lamenting the potential ruin of their crops, their livelihoods hanging in the balance. The sound of the relentless rain hammered against his ears.
The rain hadn’t stopped since that night.
The woman, who claimed to be a dragon transformed into an earthworm due to his words, had asked if he didn’t find the constant rain strange and then fallen silent, as if giving him time to contemplate.
Joon-wan’s mind raced.
“…So?”
He couldn’t bring himself to believe her.
“So, how do I perform this ritual? How much does it cost? What kind of effort is required?”
He asked, still struggling to accept her claims. The woman tilted her head at his questions.
“Cost? I’m not familiar with human affairs.”
“…”
“It’s enough to prepare rice with sincerity in a new pot.”
She paused, her expression thoughtful.
“Well… warm soup or boiled meat prepared with clear well water drawn at dawn… freshly made rice cakes and sweet rice drinks… and some clear alcohol would be… appreciated.”
She glanced at him, gauging his reaction. She seemed to think he couldn’t fulfill her requests.
“Even if you don’t have everything, rice is essential. You must have rice. But the most important thing is sincerity.”
“…”
“Pray for me with the utmost devotion, as if you could make grass sprout from stone. Pray for me to ascend to the heavens again.”
As if in a trance, Joon-wan found himself changing clothes, grabbing his car keys, and leaving the apartment, leaving the woman behind.
Her requests weren’t particularly expensive.
‘I can do that much, can’t I?’
He knew that con artists often started with small, seemingly harmless requests to gain people’s trust.
However, there were too many unanswered questions to simply ignore her.
‘If the rain stops, it’s not a big deal, right?’
He tried to convince himself, but his unease persisted.
What was happening to him? Perhaps, from the moment he saw the giant earthworm ascending to the heavens, he had entered a different reality, while still living in the real world.
Like someone losing their mind.
‘Maybe I am going crazy.’
He drove through the rain.
***
The Nogume offering.
It was a traditional method of offering sacrifices to the deities of heaven and earth.
Instead of using a cast iron pot from home, a portable brass pot was used to cook rice in the mountains, and the entire pot, with the freshly cooked rice, was offered as a sacrifice. Well water. Warm food, not cold.
These elements were all meant to demonstrate the sincerity of the offering.
Drawing clear well water at dawn, cooking rice with it, and ensuring the food remained warm until it reached the mountain all required significant effort.
Yes, the essence of the ritual wasn’t money, but sincerity.
But how did this woman know about such traditions?
‘Is she a shaman?’
Joon-wan felt completely bewildered.
‘If not, how did she learn about this? The internet? That’s possible. Or could she be a student stalking me? Maybe someone who attended my class…’
His rational mind urged him to reconsider, but every logical explanation led to a dead end.
‘I don’t know. I’ve never seen her before.’
Shouldn’t he at least recognize a stalker’s face? Especially a face as striking as hers, yet he had no recollection of ever meeting her.
‘I’ve never seen her before.’
She didn’t seem particularly old, but she didn’t appear young either. She could have been ten, twenty, thirty, or even forty years old.
‘But what am I doing?’
He parked his car at a supermarket and stepped out.
‘What am I doing?’
He realized he had been mindlessly filling his shopping cart with alcohol, sweet rice drinks, instant seolleongtang, bottled water, and other items, as if possessed.
The essence of offering sacrifices to deities wasn’t about spending money, but about conveying sincerity. However, expressing that sincerity had become incredibly easy in this world, and cheap.
‘I must be going crazy.’
He added a brass pot, brass bowls, and single-serving food items to his cart.
‘I wouldn’t be doing this if I weren’t crazy.’
Finally, he bought an assortment of jeon (Korean pancakes) from a liquor store and returned home.
He had thought she might be gone, but as he opened the door, he found her sitting on the sofa.
‘Why am I letting a crazy woman stay in my apartment and even listening to her?’
It made no sense.
He unloaded his groceries onto the kitchen island, and the mysterious woman stood up, her eyes sparkling.
Tinkle, tinkle, tinkle.
The sound of bells accompanied her every movement, seemingly emanating from the ornaments adorning her waist.
He glanced at the bells and frowned.
‘Are they replicas?’
The ornaments looked like artifacts excavated from an ancient royal tomb.
‘She’s going through all this trouble just to deceive me?’
If she was a con artist, she had done her research. The woman smiled, oblivious to his suspicions.
“Well, what have you prepared?”
Joon-wan ignored her and started cooking. He hadn’t cooked much lately, living alone, but he hadn’t forgotten how.
‘Don’t stop now, Min Joon-wan.’
Most of the food he had bought was pre-prepared anyway. He simply microwaved or heated them on the stove.
“Oh my, that’s not how you do it…”
The woman hovered around him, nitpicking his every move.
“Oh dear, sincerity is key, sincerity…”
She flashed him a sweet smile when he glared at her.
“Well, do as you please. Times change, don’t they? I’ll try to be patient.”
Despite her words, she seemed quite pleased. Her satisfaction reached its peak when the food was ready.
However, the most crucial step remained for Joon-wan.
“Pray.”
The woman sat at the dining table, her expression benevolent.
“…”
“Now, pray to me.”
Joon-wan couldn’t understand why he was serving dinner to a crazy woman instead of kicking her out.
‘Should I kick her out now?’
But the words that came out of his mouth were different.
“So… what should I pray for?”
His thoughts and actions continued to diverge. He couldn’t believe what he was doing, yet he couldn’t control himself, seamlessly adapting to the situation.
‘Why am I doing this?’
It felt like he was under a spell.
***
“So… what should I pray for?”
I tilted my head at his question.
‘What to pray for? Pray for the dragon right in front of you to ascend to the heavens, of course!’
Judging by his question, he had never prayed for anything with sincerity in his life.
‘Oh my, how arrogant…’
I refrained from clicking my tongue.
‘Still, his efforts are commendable for a first-timer.’
It was quite endearing, wasn’t it?
He had braved the storm, ventured out, and returned with offerings that would have taken days to prepare. Sweet rice drinks, alcohol, warm food, everything was there.
‘It’s alcohol made with newly harvested rice. The color is beautiful. Where did he even get all this?’
I was genuinely impressed, though I tried not to show it.
‘A few days ago, he only gave me rotten watermelon rinds.’
The steaming soup, boiled meat, jeon, and rice wine filled me with gratitude.
‘When was the last time I received such a sincere offering?’
I couldn’t even remember the last time humans had offered me sacrifices, praying for a bountiful harvest.
‘Smile a little.’
My gratitude overshadowed his grumpy expression, which resembled someone who had just bitten into a sour persimmon.
“Pray for whatever your heart desires. As you gaze upon me, your true desires will naturally surface.”
He frowned again.
“Do… I have to pray out loud?”
“Do as you please. It doesn’t matter.”
The rituals and procedures were human inventions. The only thing that truly mattered was the heart.
“…”
He made a face as if he had just stepped in dog poop. He clasped his hands together, then released them, then clasped them again, then released them again.
I waited patiently, a hint of amusement in my eyes.
‘Hurry up. The food is getting cold.’
Finally, after much agonizing and brow-furrowing, he clasped his hands together.
“…”
He closed his eyes and bowed his head over his hands, remaining silent.
Despite the circumstances, it was a sight that warmed my heart. Would you believe me if I said that?
‘Yes, I’ve been waiting for this moment.’
I had been forgotten by humans for far too long.
‘I think I’ve been yearning for this moment…’
I had longed for someone to acknowledge me, to remember me, to pray for me.
‘This very moment.’
Click.
I picked up the brass spoon, watching him pray. And I began to eat.
‘Delicious.’
The rice at the bottom of the pot was slightly burnt, but it was delicious. The soup, boiled meat, and jeon were all warm and comforting.
I raised the cup of rice wine, gazed at him, and took a slow, deliberate sip. The warmth spread through my body.
‘It’s been a long time since I’ve received an offering in human form.’
Forgotten memories resurfaced.
‘Once upon a time… a very long time ago… I was a god. I had a shrine, priests…’
Vague glimpses of the past flickered in my mind, memories lost to the passage of time.
Flash!
And then it happened.