Beginning Beyond The Horizon

Floating in the middle of the sea, all Michio could see was the crystal-clear blue sky. He thought to himself that this place is indeed peaceful and beautiful. If he leaves here alive and returns to Tangzan, he will definitely find such a peaceful place and spend the rest of his life there. Just when he thought he could meditate, he felt Bong's hand grab his collar and begin to pull him away.

"Bong," Michio said. "You should take a rest. You have been dragging me for a long time. You must be very tired."

Bong snorted and continued swimming. "The boat is floating at a steady speed. If we hurry up, we can probably catch up."

Michio sighed, feeling sad that Bong was swimming longer than his break time. He promised himself that when everything was resolved, the first thing he would do was learn to swim so that he would no longer be a burden to others.

Michio said, "Bong, I swear to you, when this mission is complete, the first thing I will do is learn to swim."

Bong chuckled and said, "Good idea, man, dragging you with me isn't going to be as much fun as I thought." He stopped swimming when he felt the water around him begin to swirl and bubbles rise to the surface. Bong looked down and saw a huge black creature slowly moving towards him and Michio. "Michio... I think there is another Kylista living in this sea." 

"A what?" Michio started to panic, and he forgot that the reason why he was alive for this long was because he was back floating. In panic, he began to drown. As Michio struggled to emerge from drowning, he dragged Bong underwater with him.

As Bong was about to speak, Michio began to grab him, and Michio pulled them underwater multiple times. Bong also swallowed several mouthfuls of salt water. As the two struggled to stay afloat, they felt their feet had touched the ground and their bodies slowly emerged from the water. Bong and Michio stood on a huge black turtle shell, with red symbols written on the shell. Bong and Michio were confused and at a loss.

"Is this good or bad?" Michio asked still holding Bong's left arms.

Bong quickly pulled his arm away and said, "Whether it's good or bad, it's better than soaking in water now." He tasted the strong salty taste in his mouth. He turned to Michio. "You almost killed us, monk." He sighed. "You must learn to swim; I will teach you personally."

Bong felt that the empty turtle shell was harmless, and his legs were still shaking from swimming; he decided to sit down.​

Seeing that Bong had already sat down, Michio also sat next to Bong, and he asked, "Where do you think this turtle shell will take us?"

Bong sighed and said, "To be honest, I don't have any clues, but hopefully it will take us to meet the others." 

Michio turned to looked at Bong and asked, "What if this thing doesn't take us to them?"

Bong said, "Then we will have to figure something out." He paused for a moment. "Michio, do you think if we didn't talk at all and only sit in silent, will that Kylista appear?"

Michio said, "I don't know." He turned to Bong. "What do you think?"

Bong said, "I think that Kylista is blind. The reason she didn't step out of her comfort zone to hunt was probably because the noise was too loud, and it confused her."

Michio said, "So this may have nothing to do with the curse U-ri mentioned."

Bong said, "I don't believe so." He looked at Michio. "Actual experience is more real than legend. The reason why I believe the Kylista is blind is because you and others fell into the river. You were the person closest to the Kylista but the Kylista did not charge at you, but instead she charged at the others who were making the most noises." 

Michio said, "It makes sense." He sighed, looked ahead and saw a white shining object in the distance. He pointed excitedly at the shiny object. "Bong, look!"

Bong turned to look at where Michio was pointing and he quickly stood up. "Michio... that's the round boat."

Michio stood up and shouted, "Hey!" He waved and turned to Bong. "Do you think they can hear me from here?"

Bong said, "Stop shouting, we will find out when we get there. Do you know understand a single thing I just shared with you? What if there is another Kylista roaming this sea?"

Michio quickly covered his mouth.

In the boat, Hajime turned his head and looked in the direction where he seemed to hear some sound. He saw the black turtle shell approaching them. "Guys, I believe that's Michio and Bong," he said.

U-ri put down the Book of Life and stared in the direction Hajime mentioned. "Well...it's them," he said. "Only Michio would wave like that."

Near noon, the black turtle shell reached the oracle boat, and Michio and Bong climbed aboard onto the oracle boat. As soon as Bong saw Abrafo, he threw a punch at Abrafo's face, and Abrafo caught Bong's fist.

"Hey," Abrafo said, trying his best to resist Bong's fist. "It's not really a welcome greeting."

Bong looked at Abrafo angrily and said through gritted teeth, "You bastard left us to die. We were standing in front of you, but you left us behind."

Abrafo said, "Hey, I tried my best to swim to you, but the stupid sea only floats in one direction. How could these handsome hands swim against the angry tide?"

Hajime opened his right palm, and the black turtle shell disappeared and reappeared in Hajime's right hand, returning to its original size. Hajime said, "Abrafo is telling the truth."

U-ri said, "He screamed your name for a long time."

Bong said, "We were also screaming when we saw you, but you guy just left without us."

Hajime patted gently on Bong's arms and said, "We didn't hear or see you and Michio."

Bong pulled his hand away and said, "We didn't hear you either, but we did saw you guy."

Abrafo couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Then why do you feel the need to hit me?" Abrafo asked irritably. "Since you can't hear us and we can't hear you, you have no reason to be angry with me. These are things we have no control over."

Bong said, "Because I was very angry that you left without me."

Hajime smiled and said, "But at the same time, this turtle shell was also discovered by Abrafo, otherwise I don't know how I would have come to find you two."

Michio smiled at Abrafo and said, "Thank you."

When the sun began to set, the people in the boat were tired, thirsty, and hungry. Meiji cried several times after waking up and fell asleep again. The men knew that they would soon need to find something to feed Meiji. As adults they could go without food for two or three days, but Meiji as a baby could not do the same.

Yul looked at Meiji sleeping in his arms. Meiji's cheeks turned red from the sunlight and his cries of hunger. "No one knows how long this boat ride would last before we reach No Man's Land; in any case, we will need to find food soon." He stared at the sea. "We can hold on, but Meiji cannot."

U-ri said, "Baishui has indeed prepared some food for us, so this means that the distance to No Man's Land is not far. I believe we will arrive soon."

Abrafo said, "If we didn't come across that Kylista, we would have reached our destination long ago."

Bong said, "You talk like you know where No Man's Land is."

Abrafo said, "I calculated based on U-ri's words and the food prepared by Baishui. Speaking of Baishui, why didn't that bastard tell us that there is a Kylista living in that stupid river. Believe me, when we are done with this, I'm going to give him a piece of my mind."

Bong said, "Speaking of this, the legend U-ri told us about the Kylista is only partially correct. I know this because I have observed it. I believe Kylistas are blind."

U-ri looked up at Bong and said, "Now this is something new. How did you know?"

Bong said, "When we fell into the river, Michio was the closest to that Kylista. Instead of attacking Michio, she chose to charge at the three of you who made the loudest noise while swimming away. I predict that the reason the Kylista didn't leave the river was because there were too many sounds outside the river, which would confuse her and make her an easier target. So, it's not that she's cursed to guard her territory, but more like she's blind and uncomfortable hunting outside of her comfort zone because she's afraid of becoming an easy target for other predators."

U-ri said, "I think that's why Baishui told us never to get off the boat, but like Abrafo said earlier, he should have warned us not to talk."

Yul said, "Maybe even Baishui doesn't know about this."

Hajime looked at the people sitting around him and said, "Who would've thought that we end up talking too much." He stared at U-ri who was writing down what Bong had shared with them. "U-ri."

U-ri stopped writing and looked up at Hajime. "What's wrong?" U-ri asked.

Hajime said, "I promised Librarian Ru that after our journey is over, you will send him a copy of the book of life that records our journey to No Man's Land."

Abrafo asked, "How did you make such a promise with him?"

Hajime said, "In exchange for the Trap Pavilion."

U-ri chuckled and said, "Well, if I survive this journey, I will send him a copy of the Book of Life."

U-ri continued writing, and soon the coracle boat came to a stop. It might be because he was drifting at sea for too long or it's because he was not sure when they will reach land, so he only concentrates on writing to keep his mind from going insane and he failed to realize that the coracle boat was approaching a white sandy beach. 

After U-ri finished writing, U-ri looked around and found that everyone else had closed their eyes, so he raised his head and saw a line of mountains standing in front of them. The first sound he heard was that of a waterfall. He stood up, rubbed his eyes, and stared at the green mountains. He thought it might be an illusion, but he rubbed his eyes repeatedly, and the green mountains still stood.

"Everyone!" U-ri said excitedly. "We're here."