My name is Lee Seol. I have another name. That's what others call me. It's Imugi. Yes, I am that Imugi, the dragon or monster that becomes a dragon after 1,000 years, according to the legend that later becomes a divine dragon. That's why people fear me. Dragons, in a way, are divine gods and monsters, so I aspire to become a god. Of course, even if I, a mere mortal, were to become a god, the gods wouldn't be pleased. But I will strive to become a god. From the day I made that resolution, I have strived to become a god. Of course, I know the gods won't be pleased with me trying to stand on their equal footing. But my resolve will never waver. People might think of Imugi as a male snake. After all, the dragon's courage is often associated with men. But I am a woman. A female snake. The day I began striving to become a god, I heard the god's call in my ears. To be precise, it was the voice and the words of the god.
God: Why do you work so hard? Even if you weren't a divine being like a dragon, the priestesses would still want to worship and live just because of you.
"Why do you ask me, God? Because I have a reason to become a dragon."
God: What is it?
“Because I will definitely stand on equal footing with God.”
God: Stand on equal footing with me... Are you rebelling against me?
“Of course, God would think it a joy to be on equal footing with Him. But that’s not it.”
God: Then why?
"There is a separate reason why I must stand on equal footing with God, becoming a divine being, a god, and a dragon. I cannot tell you that now."
God: ...Okay
So it seemed like God was stepping down. But I didn't know what would happen next. Unaware of this, I resorted to every trick I could think of to become a god. Like, bewitching people into loyalty, or kidnapping them and imprisoning them in a complex. But those weren't the conditions for becoming a god. Of course, I didn't know that. Then, one day, a man suddenly appeared before me.
“Who are you?”
“Wow... Still, it’s the first time in my life that a monster like Imugi, the one that the shamans want to worship, doesn’t recognize my energy...”
I tried to spew venom at the man without revealing his identity. But he stopped me, and only then did he reveal his identity.
“He asked who you were.”
"Ah, I understand. I'll tell you. Get rid of that poison. I'm called Darkshini, a monster that feeds on the dark side of people—on fear."
“Are you a dark man?”
“Oh, you’re surprised that Darksini is a man! Well, most people think of Darksini as a woman, but not me. I’m a man, and I am. But most people think of Imoogi as a man, but the Imoogi in front of me is a woman. We’re in the same situation, so please understand.”
“By the way, why are you here? What are you planning to do?”
“The reason we came here is to help each other.”
"Let's help each other? You and I have nothing to gain from each other."
“Why? Aren’t you trying to become a god?”
“How do you know that...”
"It's obvious. Isn't this a story that all humans know? The Imoogi wants to become a dragon and become a divine god."
“How are you going to help me...”
“It’s simple. I’m a dark person, so I can’t gather fear easily right now. Gods can’t do bad things. So, if I gather people’s fears, you can pretend to help them and comfort them. Then, people will think that there’s nothing to be afraid of and forget about it. Then, when you leave those people, I can reappear and draw out the fear deep in their hearts and eat it. Then, you, although you’re a fake, will have an easy time becoming a god through good deeds, and I can fill my belly, which is nice. Isn’t it a win-win situation? You, Imoogi-nim, haha.”
“Are you asking me to hold your hand now?”
"That's right. You're quick to understand, Mr. Imoogi."
"Then if we're going to hold hands, we should introduce ourselves first, right? I'm Lee Seol, the Imoogi. You're the only one who's dark?"
“Oh, Imoogi, your name is pretty. Is your name pretty because your face is pretty?”
“Shut up”
“My name is Min Yoongi, and I am a dark person.”
“You have a cool name too.”
“Wow, I’m hearing all these compliments from Imoogi-nim. I should mark it down on my calendar.”
" shut up "
"Hey, you're being harsh! Mr. Imoogi, then since we're on the same team from today on, I'll be staying here. Shall we start for real today?"
" okay "
And so, Eoduksini came to live in my house. From that day on, Eoduksini and I began our fake charade, a charade that was all talk and no action. Of course, if God knew, he would have condemned me for plotting treason against him and punished me. But that didn't matter to me. Because I was a god, worshipped by humans, and that was all I needed, so I didn't fear any divine punishment. If I could become a god, a sacred dragon, and be worshipped by humans simply as myself, then I could do anything, any evil or ugly thing, if it meant tricking God into becoming a god. I was confident I could withstand such punishment. So now, no one could stop me or stop me. Because I was an imugi who would one day become a god and a sacred dragon. As I pondered this, Eoduksini seemed to have chosen his next target.
"Imugi, I've chosen my next target. How about this woman?"
“Good! Do what you want, I’ll go in later.”
“Yes, I understand, Mr. Imoogi.”
“And by the way.”
“Yes, Imoogi”
“When we’re alone in my house, call me by my name, not that damned Imoogi. Seol said.”
“Hey... But still, how can I call you Imoogi like that?”
“Shut up and call me if you want.”
“Oh my gosh... I told you Seol-i is so prickly.”
“Okay, we’re alone in my house again. If you say anything about Imoogi-nim, I won’t let you stay still.”
“Yes... No, yeah...”
“Okay, I like it.”
“Then shall we go? Seol-ah.”
“Okay, let’s go, Yoongi.”
Seol and Yoon-gi headed to the house where their target woman was and knocked on her door. When the woman opened the door at the sound of the knock, Seol, the imoogi, hid herself using her powers, and the woman could only see Yoon-gi in the darkness. When the woman saw Yoon-gi, perhaps because of his appearance, she began to smile brightly at him. Although Yoon-gi was dumbfounded by this smile, he had no choice but to suppress her fear. He smiled brightly, just like the woman had smiled, and spoke to the woman.
“What is your biggest fear? lol”
“Huh? What do you mean?”
"Okay haha"
“He’s a strange person...”
For a brief moment, Yoon-ki saw the woman's greatest fear and drew it out. Then, as if to prove his words true, the woman saw what she feared most, and soon, a singing voice began to emanate from his closet.
♪ Doorkeeper, doorkeeper~ Open the door~ I can't open it without the key~
Which gate should I enter? Let's enter Dongdaemun. ♪
And the woman fell on the floor after opening the wardrobe, and the cause was darkness, so Yun-gi felt that the woman had fallen, released his powers, and spoke to the Imoogi Seol who appeared again.
"Seol-ah, it's your turn now. Go in and pretend to take away the fear."
“Yeah, Yoongi, but Yoongi.”
" huh? "
“Why are you smiling at that woman?”
“Oh my, is Seol jealous? Does she like me?”
“Wh... What are you talking about? Do you want to die...? I’ll go anyway!”
" lol "
Seol-i fled the scene as if avoiding the scene and entered the woman's house. She quickly picked up the collapsed woman, laid her on the bed, and used her powers to wake her up. The woman looked at Seol-i, then backed away in surprise. Then she asked.
“Who are you? How did you get in here?”
“Ah... I was passing by here and there was no one there, but the front door was wide open, so I went in, but there was no sign of anyone, so I wondered if there was someone inside and what was going on, so I came in. I apologize for barging in. I apologize if I was rude.”
" ah... "
“Now that you’re awake, I’ll be going now.”
“Ah... no. Please stay with me for just a moment...”
“What’s wrong? What’s wrong?”
“Yes... I saw something scary...”
“Oh, then I’ll stay with you for a little while.”
" thank you... "
Seol-i sat on the woman's bed, carefully holding her in her arms and leaning against her, patting her shoulder as if to comfort her. Once she calmed down, she started chatting with her about various things, making her feel like her fear had disappeared and she had found stability. Perhaps thanks to this, the woman felt much better and, without knowing who Seol was, smiled brightly at her and expressed her gratitude.
"Thank you. Thanks to you, I feel like my fears are gone. I feel at ease."
"No. I'm glad I could help. I'll be going now."
"Excuse me, I received your help, and I feel bad about not doing anything. Here's my business card. Please contact me later. I'm so grateful that I'd like to buy you a meal later."
" thank you "
"No. Then please contact me and take care."
" thank you "
" yes "
As soon as Seol came out of the woman's house, Yoon-ki went back in and drew out her fear again, and when the fear started again, the woman fainted again. Yoon-ki entered the woman's fear and began to feed off of her fear, and the fear was so great that Yoon-ki did not come out of it for a long time. And after some time, Yoon-ki came out of that fear, left the woman's house, and approached Seol-i, caressing his stomach and saying to Seol with a smile.
“Oh. It’s been a while since I’ve had a full meal! I’ve eaten a lot.”
“Are you full?”
“Of course haha”
Seol-i's efforts to become a god were not good efforts, but rather evil ones. But Seol-i seemed unwilling to stop. Then, the god called out to her.
God: Imoogi, what's going on? There's a record of you helping humans.
“Of course. Haha, because I literally helped humans.”
God: Is that so? Well done! If you continue to help humans like this, you will be able to become a god.
“Thank you. Haha”
God: Yes
Seol-i was delighted by God's praise. But Seol-i didn't know that God was deceiving her in order to keep an eye on her.
God: I'll have to watch how far you go to deceive me and cross the line.
Seol-i didn't know that and immediately started searching for another target with Yoon-gi. They found the target right away. Seol-i and Yoon-gi started to do the same bad things to this woman that they had done to the woman before. After doing this for several days, Seol-i began to have doubts. She couldn't believe that God would make her a god when he didn't say anything about her doing this. The fear that if she continued like this, not only would she disappear, but she herself would disappear, began to dominate Seol-i's body and mind. That's why she couldn't stay sane even when she was with Yoon-gi because of fear. Yoon-gi was worried about Seol and asked her.
"Seol-ah, what the hell is going on? Why are you so out of it?"
“Yoongi...”
"Yeah, Seol-ah, tell me."
“I’m scared...”
“What? What is it that scares you so much?”
“I’m afraid that I’ll be destroyed later because God doesn’t say anything even though I’m doing this…”
"So what do you want to do? I'll follow your opinion."
“We just want to apologize to everyone we’ve done bad things to and try to be good now.”
“Well, our actions are not good actions because they are harassing others.”
" huh... "
“Okay, okay, if that’s what you want, let’s do that from now on.”
“Yeah, thanks for listening to my opinion... Yoongi.”
“No, I used to do things my way, the way I wanted, but now I don’t want to do that anymore...”
" huh? "
“Now, Seol, what you want is what I want, and Seol, if you’re happy, I’m happy, and Seol, the way you want is the way I want…”
" that... "
"Yeah, that's right. I've come to like you... Not as a monster versus a monster, but as a person to person since we've both become humans! But that doesn't mean I'm denying that I'm a monster."
“ ... ”
“I’m not asking you to answer right now, Seol-ah. If you become a god and achieve your goal, you can answer after you achieve all your goals.”
" huh... "
“Oh, you’re pretty because you answer well! Haha”
-side-
When Yoon-ki kissed Seol-i on the forehead, Seol-i was flustered, so Yoon-ki smiled and answered her.
“Huh...?”
“We are monsters, but among humans, we use a forehead kiss to swear eternal, unchanging love. I, too, will swear to you, Seol, my eternal, unchanging love.”
" huh.../// "
Yoon-gi said with a smile, looking at Seol-i's red face.
“If you become a god later, please answer my heart. I will wait for your answer no matter when.”
“Ugh...”
"Well, now it's your turn to make the effort, not mine. So, let's just apologize and go our separate ways, shall we? Let's go apologize first."
" huh... "
Yoon-ki held Seol-i's hand, and Seol, holding Yoon-i's, went around apologizing to those who had been harmed by their actions. It took days, but they continued to sincerely apologize. Thanks to this, fortunately, those people accepted their apologies and forgave them. Of course, God was watching over them, and as he looked down at them from heaven, he muttered.
God: Finally, everything is starting to fall into place. If you didn't stop and keep going, I was going to destroy you both, so that's good! Imoogi... It's dark, so I'll watch over you two from now on. Haha.
The two decided to live their lives truly helping people. Seol, the imoogi, is literally a giant snake, but he's also a monster, so even though he has abilities, he uses his powers to help people. Of course, he occasionally uses his powers to help people when his powers alone aren't enough, and he strives to become a god. The same goes for Yoongi, the dark sage. Previously, Yoongi was a vicious sage who drew out people's fears, forcing them to face them with difficulty. But now, he's put that behind him and, like Seol, has begun to use his powers to help people, relying on his strengths rather than his abilities. Like Seol, he occasionally uses his powers to accomplish tasks that require his strengths. The dark sage's powers aren't evil, but rather, they literally eliminate people's fears by feeding on them. Of course, even if Seolgi uses her powers, they're healing wounds. The two lived their lives helping people, and God, of course, was watching. God spoke to them.
God: You're doing really well... I thought Imoogi would rebel against me, but no! So Imoogi, Seol and Amuksini, Min Yoongi, what are your wishes?
Yun-gi was the first to answer those words.
“You don’t have to grant my wish. It’s a wish that God can’t grant anyway.”
God: Why can't I listen?
“My wish is one that only I, the Imoogi, can grant.”
god: ?
“ /// ”
“If Seol-i becomes a god, she will answer my confession. My wish is for Seol-i to hear the answer to my confession, so God cannot grant it. Haha.”
God: Hahahahahaha is that so?
“ /// Min Yoongi, you... ”
“So, you don’t have to grant my wish. Why? Seol-ah, haha.”
“ /// I don’t know, Mr. Lee...”
God: Then, Imoogi, tell me your wish.
“My wish is to become a god. That is, to become a dragon.”
God: Then let me ask you, why do you want to become a god? Imoogi Lee Seol
“In the past, humans hoped for gods because they wanted people to worship them as gods, but that is not the case anymore.”
God: So how is it now?
“Now I want to become a god and help humans, a god who helps people.”
God: Your thoughts have changed to the right ones! Good. I will grant your wish. Shall I make you a god right now?
"No. Not right now. I've only put in a little effort. I want to work harder before I can claim the position of God."
God: I understand. I will do so. When you wish to become a god, look to the sky and call to me.
“Your God”
So, God left them and decided to watch over them from heaven. And they literally began to make good efforts. Of course, Imoogi and Eoduksini had lived bad lives and had a bad image, so it was natural for people to see them in a bad light, so the two decided to just accept that fact and move on. However, the current Imoogi and Eoduksini live helping people and living well. They are different from the Imoogi and Eoduksini of before. Of course, they are both Imoogi and Eoduksini, so they cannot be said to be different. However, the two of them continued to live well, and as they continued to live well, helping people, the Imoogi, Seol, continued to strive to become a god, and the Eoduksini, Min Yoongi, also helped Seol. As the two of them lived helping people, someone asked them a question.
“Why are you helping us like this?”
“Why?”
They both answered that question simultaneously.
“I just want to help you and be helpful to you.”
After saying that, the two looked at each other and laughed. The people, seeing them, expressed their gratitude and began to laugh along with them. Of course, they knew that if these people found out that they were demons, Imoogi and Eoduksini, they would despise them. But even knowing this, they simply wanted to help people. They didn't know what image this help would leave behind for future generations. But for now, they resolved to put that aside and follow the path they truly desired.
“But what do you think of me?”
“Yeah, what?”
“I confessed.”
" hey! /// "
“Why lol”
" I don't know!!! "
The two of them had a relationship of A and B, but now they've moved on from that and are getting along well, even joking around with each other. Then, Seol-i looked at Yoon-gi and said.
“Don’t you want to become a god like me?”
“God...? Not really.”
"But why do you live your life helping people like me? It's not like you really want to be a god."
“I don’t really want to become a god, but if I like someone, I want to follow them and do things together, no matter which path they choose and which direction they go.”
At those words, Seol-i felt her face turn red and quickly covered her face with her hand, then spoke as if scolding Yoon-ki.
“You don’t say things like that so carelessly. Where did you learn to say things like that!!!///”
“Why are you serious haha”
At those words, Seol-i lowered her hand and smiled at Yoon-gi. Yoon-gi, as if in return, smiled brightly at Seol-i. As they laughed happily together, the two vowed to continue helping people, whether they became gods or not, and that vow has remained true to this day. Perhaps their efforts over the past several days were being rewarded, but the god came to visit them again and asked Seol, the imugi, first.
God: If you've done this much, you can become a god. Will you become a god?
“Yes, I will become your god. But I have one more wish.”
God: What is that? This theory
“Please make Yoon Ki-do a god too.”
God: Why do you want that?
“If I become a god, wouldn’t the time Yoongi can meet me definitely be shortened?”
God: That's right
“So, I want to become a god like Yoon-gi and live happily together as gods.”
God: There has never been a case in history where a dark person became a god. Still, do you want Min Yoongi to become a god?
“Yes, please.”
God: It's dark, Min Yoongi, what do you think?
"If that's what Seol-i wants, then what Seol-i wants is what I want. So, just like Seol-i said, I will become a god too."
God: Since Imoogi Lee Seol has worked hard to become a god, I will make them both gods. Imoogi Lee Seol will immediately transform into a dragon once he becomes a god. Are you dissatisfied with this?
“No, there isn’t.”
At those words, God turned the two into gods, and Imoogi Lee Seol immediately turned into a dragon. After Seol turned into a dragon, Yun-gi spoke to Seol.
“So what’s the answer to my confession?”
“Ah haha okay let’s date”
“Haha I love you Seol-ah”
“Yeah, I love you too, Yoongi.”
This story could be the story of the Imoogi, which never existed in history, becoming a dragon, or a god. It could be the love story between the Imoogi and the Eoduksini, who are of different species. It could also be a detailed account of the actions of the Imoogi to become a god. Neither Yoongi nor Seol can know or predict how this story will be portrayed by Seol-i and Yun-gi's descendants in the future, or whether humans will write the story with the image they have in mind, or whether it will continue to be told as a negative story like in the past. However, it seems unlikely that it will continue to be written as a negative story. Perhaps it will continue to be told and passed down as a love story between gods who were once monsters of this world. No one knows how the story ends.