READ NOVEL ONLINE Chapter 21
[ Each Transcendent Being has different tastes and preferences… but we Transcendent Beings really like humans. ]
To a Transcendent Being, the human race holds such a position. They are intelligent yet infinitely weaker than us, and however, their appearance and actions are just so cute that simply watching them brings joy.
It’s like seeing cute animals from a human perspective.
So, they engage with humans, cherishing them.
Some Transcendent Beings approach young geniuses, altering them to fit their tastes.
Some Transcendent Beings approach humans they fancy and shower them with offerings under the name of support.
Some Transcendent Beings enjoy conversing and empathizing with those who meet their preferences.
Some humans argue that this means Transcendent Beings are taming them, that humans are like pets to the Transcendent Beings… but…
What does that matter?
Transcendent Beings thought humans were cute, and humans, with the help of the Transcendent Beings, found happiness.
And this relationship didn’t change even with the emergence of the first Transcendent Being from among humans. If anything, it might have deepened.
One day, while Transcendent Beings happily flourished with humans, the first Transcendent Being appeared among humans.
The hero who called himself Gilgamesh (𒄑𒉈𒂵𒈩) grew through countless hardships and adversities, eventually transcending his race and attaining the position of a Transcendent Being, reaching the higher dimension where Transcendent Beings reside.
And the Transcendent Beings who saw Gilgamesh…
Cheered.
The excitement stemmed from various reasons. They were thrilled that the first Transcendent Being had emerged from a race they cherished, and that such an existence wouldn’t come easily, even more, they rejoiced about that.
But the main reason was his appearance.
[ Humans are cute before and even after their transcendence. How can anyone not love them? ]
Transcendence is a transformation of existence.
It’s the elevation from a being in three-dimensional space to four or five dimensions.
Naturally, everything changes dramatically accordingly.
Just as a monkey transforms into a human, they become an entity perfected beyond their race.
The human race, too, was perfected into a single entity through transcendence, surpassing the limitations of their species.
However, Transcendent Beings didn’t expect much when the first Transcendent Being from humans appeared, thinking he would resemble them closely.
But surprisingly.
To their great delight, that expectation was betrayed.
Perhaps due to the singularity of the human race, or perhaps due to the circumstances surrounding his transcendence, he transcended while maintaining nearly all of his original form.
Since then, humans who transcended through enlightenment or through their souls have appeared from time to time, maintaining at least a semblance of their original humanity, garnering much love and cuteness from other Transcendent Beings.
This is the reason why Transcendent Beings are friendly towards humans.
If humans appeared to Transcendent Beings as hideously disgusting as cockroaches, the existence known as “Contractor” would never have come into being.
Humans ought to be grateful for their cuteness.
“Always saying cute, cute… Is it really…?”
Iserin, having heard a truth she did not wish to know, wore a subtle expression.
Should she be happy or disappointed…?
She had no idea what expression to make and could only look at the demon with a delicate face.
In the end, she chose to change the subject, wanting to turn away from the uncomfortable truth.
“So, what do you mean, that my brother is strange…?”
The demon, while delighting in Iserin’s cute appearance, felt a wave of disgust rise on mentioning Jinseong. The demon hesitated, pondering how to express this.
[ We Transcendent Beings can see Karma. ]
“Uh, yeah. I learned that in school… it’s divided into Karma and Dharma…”
[ Then, do you know exactly what it is? ]
“No… Well, they said I could learn when I go to grad school… they were asking if I had thoughts about that…”
[ A person who hasn’t even gone to college talking about grad school. How dreadful. You should steer clear of that evil spirit-like being. ]
The demon advised Iserin, then continued speaking.
[ The way one perceives Karma varies from Transcendent Being to Transcendent Being. It’s akin to how different sensations are among creatures. Even if the same object is viewed, the eyes of an insect cannot be the same as a human’s, and even if the same sounds are heard, the ears of a rabbit and a bat are not the same. ]
“Yeah… that makes sense…?”
[ Likewise, the ways Transcendent Beings perceive Karma are similar. So, even if they witness the same thing, the understanding and what they witness differ, yet the essence can be clearly grasped. However, since this pertains to perception, it’s difficult to convey to others, which is why the existence of Karma has become obscure to humans. ]
Expressing sensations directly is truly a challenging task.
No matter how much you describe a bat’s echolocation, it cannot be fully understood, and even if you explain how a hawk perceives vision and color while soaring, one cannot vividly recall it.
Seeing and feeling Karma also brings difficulty in expression and explanation, and often, even when discussed, it leads to misunderstandings.
Thus, the demon enjoyed using metaphors to explain to the contractors.
That was the easiest to understand and didn’t pose many difficulties in speaking.
But since it is a metaphor, it carries the potential for miscommunication.
[ To put it metaphorically, Karma is your external and internal forms. The soul and flesh structure your being, and they are your essence and the framework you possess. Your spirit serves as the pillar that stabilizes and anchors you. And Karma can be seen as everything that makes up your external and internal forms. ]
“That’s hard….”
[ It would be. Understanding something that is absent is a challenge, even for geniuses. ]
The demon spoke as if it had not expected Iserin to understand from the start. As if looking at a lacking child, Iserin felt a flicker of anger arise, but at the words that followed, she could only gaze at the demon with a subtle expression.
[ If we use the earlier metaphor of a kitten… can we say that a contractor, despite lacking understanding, possesses great imagination? Picture it. Close your eyes and visualize. You could say you’re a curious little black cat with bright eyes. A crest is engraved on your chest, and you carry surgical tools on your back. Additionally, adorned with glittering jewel accessories all over your body. ]
“That sounds cute…?”
[ Indeed. ]
Following the demon’s description, Iserin visualized and finally grasped the demon’s explanations.
If such a kitten were suddenly in front of her, she felt she could genuinely shower it with affection.
[ Here, the breed and gene of the cat represent the physical and spiritual aspects, while its personality is the spirit. And everything else—the flesh, fat, organs, muscles, brain, eyes, and fur that comprise the cat. The emblem engraved on its chest and the accessories and tools it carries are the Karma. But this is not an exact explanation, so just understand it roughly as such. ]
To fully understand this, one must view it through the eyes of a Transcendent Being.
The demon finished speaking and gazed at Iserin.
[ And this is why Transcendent Beings do not favor shamans. ]
“Oh, now that you mention it… didn’t they say there have only been three shamans in the entire history of contractors?”
[ That’s due to the peculiar preferences of certain Transcendent Beings. ]
“In school, they just mentioned that and left it at that…”
[ That would be the case. ]
The demon tapped the ground lightly with its hooves and said.
[ Humans, no matter what abilities they acquire, their essences have little difference. As previously mentioned, a warrior is just a cat wielding a sword, and a wizard is merely a cat employing magic. Even a summoner interacting with summon creatures merely has the smell and habits of a cat change slightly—the cuteness remains intact. ]
“Cats…”
[ However, magic is strange in that… some spells can affect even beyond the realm of Karma. ]
Karma is a trail, a trace.
But just as traces cannot be broken or altered, and trajectories cannot affect their owner, no matter how much Karma accumulates and changes its form, its essence does not change.
Yet some spells can entirely flip that essence.
[ Since I likened it to a kitten earlier, I shall use a kitten again. ]
A kitten with wings.
A kitten with horns on its head.
A kitten that carries a turtle shell on its back.
A kitten with no legs, slithering like a snake.
[ It’s fortunate if it still resembles a kitten. In severe cases, it can transform into a tiger or lion or leopard, or even become a golem cat. How can one possibly like shamans? ]
“Still, I haven’t heard that contractors and Transcendent Beings reject shamans…”
[ Naturally. It’s just an altered appearance; it’s not wrong, is it? Even if their looks change, they still retain their own cuteness. Just because it doesn’t fit one’s taste doesn’t mean there’s a reason to reject them. ]
The demon took a brief pause and continued.
[ However… your older brother is not just different; he’s closer to being wrong. ]
Wrong?
Not just different, wrong?
Iserin felt a slight unease at the demon’s words.
According to what the demon had explained earlier, was it not said that shamans alter the essence of beings?
So, if it described his essence as “wrong,” might there be a severe problem with Jinseong’s body?
[ Let me tell a story. ]
“Uh, uh-huh….”
[ Suppose you are an ordinary person. One day, while walking, you pass by a plain man. His attire is typical, and his face is nondescript—just an ordinary face. He’s of no special height or build, neither too small nor too large. Looking closely, everything seems plain. So, contractor, do you feel anything strange about that man? ]
“Oh, no. That can’t be…”
[ Later, you saw that same ordinary man again at a long crosswalk at midnight. He seems exactly the same as before, even on close inspection. His height, his build, everything is the same. Now, did you feel anything odd? ]
“No.”
[ Then again, you spot that man once more. He stands at the distant horizon, precisely as you saw him before. Even under careful observation, there’s nothing odd about him, right? ]
“I don’t see anything odd…?”
The demon smiled.
[ Therefore, let me ask you, contractor, my contractor. ]
Always unchanging in appearance,
Clearly visible regardless of place,
Cognizable even in the dark as in daylight,
Ignoring perspective,
Standing nonchalantly at the edge of the horizon…
[ Can you still call that a human? ]