Fabre in Sacheon’s Tang

The last expression on Yohwa’s face before my vision faded sent a chill down my spine.

I had been distracted by thoughts of wedding night rituals, consummation, and my Great Dragon, and forgot that Yohwa actually liked me quite a lot.

There were moments when she expressed feelings that seemed to transcend species, and I began to worry—if we ended up alone inside her mindscape, would it be okay?

Right now, I was in the body of Tang Hwa-eun’s confirmed fiancé.

If Yohwa were to confess her love, I would have to reject her—but if I did, she might throw a fit and lie down refusing to register the bond, wasting time inside the mental realm.

Though time inside the mindscape moved slower, if I dragged it out too much, the wedding day might pass entirely.

But it was already too late for that concern.

Soon, my consciousness faded, and when I came to, I was in a place I had never seen before.

“A forest?”

Yohwa’s mental world was a forest.

And not just any forest—there were trees that looked to be at least a hundred meters tall, growing densely around me.

Massive trunks with leaves the size of a human face filled the area.

Yohwa licking her lips kept popping into my head, making me anxious, but my first priority was finding Yohwa.

That was the only way to get back out.

“Still, this place seems hard to search...”

As soon as I saw the forest, I realized it wouldn’t be easy.

Until now, most mindscapes had felt like open fields, and even when they weren’t, they hadn’t had trees this massive—so it had been easy to find landmarks where the mindscape’s host might be.

But here, with these giant trees growing so close together, my visibility was limited, making the search much harder.

Still, I decided to climb the tallest tree near the edge of the forest.

Scouting the surroundings always came first, right?

“With how tall this thing is, climbing won’t be easy.”

I usually relied on Cho or Yeondu for help getting to high places, so using just light footwork and my hands to scale a tree like this wasn’t easy. After a long climb, I pushed aside the massive leaves and finally saw the open sky.

Thankfully, the tree was solid and didn’t bend much, so I hung near the top and scanned the area.

What met my eyes was a sweeping view of treetops rising here and there.

I looked around to see if there was anything unusual—and fortunately, contrary to my worries, I spotted something.

A tree far bigger and taller than all the others.

A single tree stood tall and proud above the sea of forest.

Its overwhelming size and the way it made my heart race gave it a mysterious presence.

In the fantasy games I used to enjoy in my past life, there were often trees called World Trees, and while this one might not be exactly that, it felt like some ancient tree that could’ve grown from a World Tree seed.

“That must be it.”

If Yohwa was anywhere, she’d be there.

It wasn’t too far, but given the terrain, I figured it would take some time to reach it.

That was because to head for that tree, I’d have to detour often around the trees blocking my path.

And if I did that, my direction would shift slightly each time, so I’d need to climb another tree periodically to recheck my bearings.

Because of the dense forest, if I strayed even a little from my course, I could end up far from the destination.

In other words, I’d have to repeat the same tree-climbing process as before.

I let out a sigh, about to descend and start running toward the large tree—when a thought struck me.

“Wait, wouldn’t it be faster to jump from treetop to treetop?”

If I could use the tops of trees as stepping stones in a straight line, I could move much quicker.

It was a bit of a gamble, but I immediately activated my light footwork and launched my body toward the nearest tree.

–Thud.

My body shot through the air just as I intended, and soon my foot touched down on the top of a second tree.

From there, I kicked off again toward the next tree.

Then to the next, and the one after that.

Stepping only on treetops, I dashed across a green-carpeted forest like running across an open field.

“Nice! My light footwork’s actually not bad, huh?”

I hadn’t been diligent with my martial arts training, but since I used this a lot while moving, it had improved more than anything else.

Feeling confident, I continued leaping from one treetop to the next.

According to Hwa-eun, once you mastered light footwork, you could reach the level of Grass Leaf Glide—stepping on mere blades of grass as you moved. This felt kind of like that.

After a while, I finally reached the biggest tree.

Up close, it was even more massive—so big it was hard to take in with a single glance.

I landed on one of its huge branches, then began leaping down from branch to branch.

–Thud. Thud.

Pushing past enormous leaves, descending lower and lower.

–Shhhk.

As I moved between branches, I parted the leaves—and saw a patch of grass below.

It seemed this was the final branch.

The moment I landed on it, I spotted a figure down below.

A woman with pitch-black hair, but streaked in front with crimson strands like highlights, looked up at the sound of my landing.

She wore a flowing dress of crimson silk, her face partially veiled with a golden mesh.

Even from her eyes alone, I could tell she was a stunning beauty.

It had to be Yohwa. Just as I launched myself to land beside her, she leapt up toward me.

We flew toward each other in mid-air.

“Yohwa! Watch out!”

Afraid we’d collide mid-air, I twisted my body and shouted—but Yohwa flicked her long sleeve, wrapping it around a leaf to change her direction.

Then, hanging from the leaf-wrapped sleeve, she extended her other arm and snatched me from the air, pulling me into her embrace.

Even though it was a mental space, a sweet scent wafted in.

With a fresh fragrance, Yohwa hugged me tightly.

As if she had no intention of ever letting go.

With an awkward expression, I said,

“W-Wow, so this is what our Yohwa looks like?”

Just as I feared, it was a very... intense hug.

***

Behind the golden translucent veil, an expressionless face.

A cold beauty with a beauty mark near her lips.

Yohwa was clinging to my arm as we sat on the grass.

Like she needed to recharge her “So-ryong battery.”

“Y-Yohwa, I think we should head out now, yeah?”

The atmosphere was heating up, so I tried to suggest we leave, but Yohwa stared at me and silently shook her head.

“You don’t want to?”

She nodded.

With a troubled look, I said,

“But if we’re too late, everyone will worry...”

In response, Yohwa formed a small gap between her thumb and index finger.

Probably saying, “Just a little longer.”

“Just a little longer like this?”

She nodded again at my question.

If this mood builds up and she suddenly confesses, that’ll be trouble.

There was still some time, but if she got caught up in the atmosphere and blurted out a confession...

I couldn’t let things go on like this forever—but there wasn’t much I could do.

If I tried to leave by force, she’d definitely say no.

In the end, I decided to grant Yohwa’s wish.

I’d keep a close eye on her, and if things started to go weird, I’d suggest leaving right away.

Keep a close watch...

So far, it wasn’t too awkward, and if I thought of her like a younger sister, I could maybe justify sitting like this.

No, wait, there’s no way I’d be like this with my younger sister...

That thought kept rising in my mind, but I brainwashed myself: Yohwa’s just a little sister who happens to really like her oppa.

You know those characters in Japanese visual novels—brocons who are crazy about their older brothers?

But my thoughts just kept spiraling.

Wait, if she’s a brocon, then she’s technically a heroine? That’s bad. Amitabha. Amitabha...

Maybe because they kept calling me the Heavenly Master at Podarlap Palace, but I found myself chanting.

How long had I been muttering “Amitabha”?

–Tap, tap.

Suddenly, I felt a touch on my shoulder.

“Huh?”

Crap.

I was supposed to be keeping watch, but I’d gotten lost in thought and failed to monitor Yohwa.

Could she be about to confess, caught up in the moment?

I looked at her with a tense face—only to see her pointing at the sky.

Don’t tell me... she’s fully recharged?

“You want to go now?”

I asked hopefully, and Yohwa nodded.

Th-Thank goodness.

A hug and a bit of sitting together—that was it. I was relieved, even grateful.

“Alright then, let’s get out of here!”

I quickly reached for Yohwa’s hand to kiss the back of it.

But even after agreeing to leave, Yohwa pulled her hand back.

Still expressionless, she shook her head.

I made a face like, Why?—and Yohwa curled her index finger.

Just what was she planning now?

“Why, Yohwa? Didn’t you say we should leave?”

When I asked why she pulled her hand away after just saying we should leave, Yohwa pointed at her own forehead.

“You want me to do it on your forehead?”

It seemed obvious she wanted something on her forehead, so I asked—but Yohwa still shook her head.

Then she gently touched my forehead with her finger.

Wait, is she saying she wants to do it?

“You... want to do it yourself?”

It sounded like she wasn’t asking me to do it, but rather saying she wanted to do it herself—so I asked again, and finally, Yohwa nodded.

“Well, I guess... it doesn’t matter if it’s you, Yohwa.”

In the mindscape, a kiss was the ritual for forming a bond.

Who initiated it didn’t really matter.

I leaned in, quickly bringing my forehead toward her.

Then Yohwa removed her veil, rolled it in her hand, and draped it over my eyes.

She must’ve been shy.

Despite having already hugged me, she suddenly decided to get embarrassed over this—was my thought, when—

A soft, moist sensation touched my lips.

“Wh—?!”

Startled, I opened my eyes. Through the veil covering them, I saw Yohwa’s dangerously curved smile.

It was the same smile I had seen just before we entered the mindscape.

This wasn’t cheap at all!

I thought I’d gotten off easy—but nope, that was a dangerously high price.

This... this must’ve been Yohwa’s real goal. And at that moment, my vision slowly darkened again.

***

As I exited the mindscape in a fluster, what I felt was an overwhelming surge of energy.

A massive force that had gathered in my dantian suddenly burst forth in all directions the moment I woke up.

The energy surged through my meridians, spreading even to the tiniest capillaries.

I quickly calmed my panicked thoughts.

I remembered what Grandpa had said—never let your mind wander or get distracted.

Then, I started feeling like the tips of my fingers and toes were dissolving.

That dissolving sensation crept inward from the extremities and slowly converged toward my dantian.

A short while later, everything melted away—until I was nothing but mu—emptiness.

And from that void, like a butterfly forming in a cocoon, something began to rebuild from the very thought of “me.”

First came the dantian.

Then the internal organs, bones, flesh, and blood.

As I slowly sensed all those things being rebuilt, I finally felt my new body come under my control.

Energy surged out from the dantian and spread effortlessly to the tips of my fingers and toes.

And once that swirling force was neatly gathered back into my core, I heard a cautious voice.

“So-ryong, can you hear me?”

When I opened my eyes, I saw Hwa-eun in front of me.

There was something black and sticky clinging to her skin, like when she’d undergone her own transformation.

It was probably the impurities being expelled from my body.

That meant my bone-shedding and marrow-cleansing had succeeded.

I still had to confirm whether I’d truly become a “Great Dragon,” but first, I flexed my fingers and asked Hwa-eun,

“How long was I out?”

“Two days.”

Yohwa had delayed things a bit, but knowing I still had two days left until the wedding gave me some relief.

But when I thought of Yohwa, memories from the mindscape surged up, and my eyes went wide.

And in my widened gaze, I saw Hwa-eun looking at me with a flushed, pink face.

I gave her an awkward smile, recalling what had happened in the mindscape, and Hwa-eun blushed all the way to her ears.

Then Grandpa’s voice rang out beside me.

“So-ryong grew up real nice, huh?”

“Our little Hwa-eun looks like she’s on cloud nine.”

“I-It’s not that! He just—just successfully completed his transformation!”

Judging by Grandpa’s teasing, Sister Seol’s words, and Hwa-eun’s reaction, I must have taken on the full form of an adult.

I still had to check during my bath if I had truly become a Great Dragon, but first I looked over toward where Yohwa was.

I was worried—what kind of look would she be giving me now?

But something strange was happening.

Yohwa had her head bowed and remained frozen.

Like she was asleep.

But her body was sprawled outward in all directions.

I called her name, but Hwa-eun answered that she still hadn’t woken up.

“Yohwa?”

“She hasn’t woken up yet.”

“She still hasn’t?”

That was odd.

Usually, spirit creatures that bonded with me would awaken long before I did.

But just then—

“Wh-What’s that?!”

“Golden light?!”

Suddenly, a golden radiance burst from Yohwa’s body.

She began to glow, and then her body fell forward in a bow—toward me.

Or rather, her shell did.

At the same time, Yohwa emerged from her back.

“A molt?!”

She was molting—her back had split open, and the Yohwa that crawled out had a spider’s face gleaming with gold.

From behind me, I heard Grandfather Mandok Shingun’s astonished voice.

“C-Could it be?! The Golden-Faced Spider Queen is real?!”

At the same time, I heard Yohwa’s first voice.

‘-Kisit. “Oppa~?”’

Despite her cold expression, her voice carried a hint of playfulness.

That short kiss in the mindscape hadn’t made me feel anything—but hearing her voice now made my heart thump.

–Thump thump.

A dangerous moment.

Wait—am I?! Am I starting to have feelings for Yohwa?!

That fleeting thought crossed my mind—but no, that had to be a misunderstanding.

I had to explain to my heart why it was racing—so it wouldn’t get the wrong idea.

Heart, listen. You’re thumping because we heard the name Golden-Faced Spider Queen. That’s it. Do not misunderstand.

They say when men and women exercise intensely together, they can fall in love easily.

Because your heart races from exertion, and you confuse it for affection.

So I had to explain it clearly—my heart was pounding because I’d just heard the name Golden-Faced Spider Queen, not because of Yohwa.

Golden-Faced Spider Queen.

–Thump-thump. Thump-thump.

As I repeated the name to myself, my heart started pounding even harder.

Yep. That was it.

Phew... that scared me.