[Genius]
: Someone born with innate talent far superior to others, possessing exceptional ability or skill.
Gi Jae-eon, the second son of the prestigious and long-established exorcist family Gi, was what one would call a genius. Even before turning sixteen, he demonstrated tremendous skill by going out to the field and exorcising yokai. Truly flawless. A talent destined to lead the future of Korea’s exorcism world.
But Gi Jae-eon became a hated man.
“Huff, gasp...! Ugh, ugh!”
Ughhhk-!
It was a demonstration for apprentice exorcists.
All he had to do was recite a simple jubeop for the poor souls who failed to attain peace and remained wandering... something not very difficult for Gi Jae-eon.
But this time was different.
Just a minute before, with his usual cold, expressionless face, he had been chanting “May it be...” but suddenly, his face turned pale as he vomited and collapsed. It all happened in an instant. His tall frame tilted to the right and fell straight down. Those who expected Gi Jae-eon’s exorcism, those who were confident he would succeed, even his secretary who alone was busily managing his next schedule—all stared dumbfounded at the fallen figure.
“Jae, Jae, Jae-eon!”
The belated shout was useless.
It couldn’t reach Gi Jae-eon, who had already lost his mind and was rolling on the vomit.
And so, overnight, the genius of the century collapsed.
The person trembling inside the dark room was indeed Gi Jae-eon. But his appearance had changed greatly since the day he collapsed. His once glossy hair was now dry and rough, dark circles under his eyes marked by prolonged insomnia, and his complexion was so pale as to remind one of a corpse. Unlike before, when he was usually indifferent and showed no emotional fluctuation, now he was hypersensitive and had even chosen self-isolation. Everyone who knew Gi Jae-eon was shocked. That Gi Jae-eon? The second son of the Gi family?
“No way. It can’t be him...”
“I heard someone saw him convulsing and shaking all over! Ugh!”
“There are rumors he suffered a severe head injury.”
“The family’s reputation must be ruined.”
“Is it possible he’s cursed?”
“If even the Gi family falls to a curse, this is serious!”
The rumors grew louder as they rolled.
As the days went by with Gi Jae-eon refusing to eat and clutching his blanket while sobbing, as the nights when he screamed without sleeping increased, people grew more anxious.
[What kind of curse could it be?]
The entire exorcist association, beyond just the Gi family, began to stir.
Eventually, Gi Tae-ho, head of the Gi family, decided that his second son was under a curse so severe it was almost impossible to deal with, and sent him to Seoul where the best haejusa (curse breaker), Kim Young, was located.
But unfortunately, Gi Jae-eon’s strange condition wasn’t due to a curse difficult to handle. That was a completely wrong assumption from the start. The truth lay elsewhere.
[PTSD]
That is, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, a mental illness.
Yes, he was a sick man.
“I have come back again.”
A survivor returned from a truly horrific future.
The tragic hero, the strongest exorcist, Gi Jae-eon.
Gi Jae-eon boarded the car headed to Seoul, taking in the rapidly changing scenery. The sky was blue with fluffy clouds drifting peacefully on a clear day. Everything was vivid. That was why he wanted to die. The world he had endured was not nearly so beautiful.
On that day in 20XX when white snow fell.
‘It’ suddenly appeared and took away many things from our side. The despair that stretched out like shadows led countless people to despair and death. It was unstoppable.
It was around then that Gi Jae-eon’s pride was shattered.
Genius? What a joke. What use was a fool who couldn’t even protect his family and comrades?
Yet Gi Jae-eon fought. Half by his own will, half by force. People feared that if he gave up, it would truly be the end, and they made him retract his surrender.
Seeing their desperate pleas, Gi Jae-eon accepted. Driven by the sense that ‘I am the only one,’ even when his left arm was torn apart, his organs twisted, half of his face crushed, he chanted jubeop every day.
“May it be... may it be...” He fought like that for years. Clinging desperately to recall the lost sun in a world ruled by the black night.
Gi Jae-eon fought even when his will was broken, paying a price of countless losses.
Many sacrifices, endless resentment, and a tightening burden around his neck.
Still, there was an end.
The result was victory.
Human victory.
Because he was human, he tried to make them yield; because he was human, he did not yield.
When darkness cleared and light rose again.
When people’s safety was guaranteed.
When blossoming peace arrived.
Gi Jae-eon committed suicide.
He left this world without regrets, relying on the rope he tied himself. He could no longer endure.
Every night, the faces of those he protected and those he could not haunted him.
At the moment of death, Gi Jae-eon shed tears for the first time.
Tears of liberation.
“Ah, now I can sleep.”
But he opened his eyes again.
Back to 13 years ago.
What woke him up, he did not know. Perhaps ‘it’ was a curse born of grudge.
He didn’t know.
What Gi Jae-eon accepted was only one thing.
“Fear.”
The fear of having to face it again.
That was why, cowardly, Gi Jae-eon chose to run away.
[Mental breakdown]
That was the reason the man was broken.
What looked like a sudden change to others was actually a desperate struggle to survive.