CDBW 07

Chapter 7

“Where did you sell your fountain pen, and why are you carrying something like that?”

Zuhan snickered when he saw it.

“Oh, right. Our dear little brother can’t use character magic without a fountain pen, can he? It must be tough being someone as stupid and talentless as you.”

“Shut up.”

Wenling replied curtly and swung the brush through the air.

Then, with a short shout, he thrust his fist forward.

“‘Pierce!’”

Wenling’s fist shot forward like the tip of a spear.

A body trained in Tai Chi combined with character magic—this was the method he had developed to compensate for his poor skill with the art.

“‘Is the mantis that refuses to yield before a chariot showing courage… or mere recklessness?’”

But Zuhan did not back down.

Characters burst out from both of his arms and deflected Wenling’s attack. Watching this, Zuhan sneered.

“My little brother’s gotten a lot stronger since the last time I saw him. Our parents must be so proud. The family’s useless underachiever who lives off the family name can finally pretend to be a proper person.”

“Shut up.”

Wenling bounced on his feet a few times and aimed the edge of his hand at Zuhan’s neck.

Zuhan hurriedly shouted,

“‘Coil like a snake. Climb like vines. Devour like mist!’”

Characters burst from Zuhan’s arms and hands in the form of red cords.

In an instant, they wrapped around Wenling’s neck.

“Urk!”

A groan escaped Wenling as the characters tightened around him.

Zuhan threw him far away without hesitation.

“Since my vacation’s been interrupted, I might as well vent some frustration.”

“Ghk!”

Bound by character magic, Wenling crashed into the nearby sand.

Looking down at his younger brother, Zuhan smirked.

“Do younger brothers always try to act tough unless they get beaten up regularly?”

Humming to himself, Zuhan prepared another attack.

Wenling struggled to raise his right arm and quickly wrote a single character toward himself.

“‘Silence!’”

The character covered Wenling’s face.

At once, a moment of stillness settled around him.

A temporary isolation from all sound and noise.

As soon as Wenling confirmed it, he shouted toward the sea.

“Now!”

Yunseol, who had been waiting for the signal beneath the water, lifted her head out of the sea.

Then a sharp sound burst from her mouth.

“Piiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!”

A piercing shock slammed into Zuhan’s ears.

Clutching his ears, he collapsed.

“GAAAAH! What is that?!”

As his concentration broke, Zuhan’s character magic tore apart and disappeared.

This was their chance.

The moment he was freed, Wenling quickly moved his brush.

“‘Become stronger!’”

Crimson characters flashed from Wenling’s fingertips.

But the improvised brush he was holding had clearly reached its limit.

The moment the character was completed, the brush shattered in his hand.

Wenling clenched his teeth.

If this failed, there would be no second chance.

“Take this!”

With that shout, Wenling grabbed Zuhan and hurled him into the sea.

Splash!

Zuhan fell straight into the nearby water.

“Gasp! Gasp! S-someone help! I can’t swim! Help!”

Flailing wildly, Zuhan struggled in the water.

Then something cold and sharp suddenly grabbed the back of his neck.

“Do you recognize me?”

With those words, Yunseol revealed herself.

Zuhan stared at Yunseol’s face—now transformed into a mermaid—and his eyes widened in shock.

“Don’t tell me… the Jeju Branch Chief?”

“That’s right. I’m impressed you recognized me. If I’m holding you by the scruff like this, you won’t be able to run away like last time, will you?”

Zuhan panicked.

“You were a mermaid? That’s impossible! Mermaids disappeared more than a hundred years ago!”

“Whether I’m a mermaid or not isn’t what matters right now.”

Yunseol slowly tightened her grip on his neck and glared at him.

“What matters is that I’m very hungry… and right now I feel like tearing you apart and eating you.”

“If you eat someone like him, you’ll get a stomachache. He’s extremely rotten.”

Wenling wiped the blood from his lips and trudged across the beach.

“What a memorable vacation.”

Despite being captured by Yunseol, Zuhan still wore a relaxed smile.

“My estranged younger brother suddenly shows up and beats me up, and I even get to see a real mermaid with my own eyes. Quite the unforgettable holiday.”

His eyes glimmered with something like anger.

“When I was little, I watched Disney’s The Little Mermaid and dreamed of befriending a pretty mermaid like Ariel. But seeing one up close like this really shatters that fantasy. Just like someone once said—there are no dreams or hope in this world.”

Hearing that, Yunseol seemed to think of something and began softly singing.

“Under the sea, under the sea, darling it’s better…”

Zuhan brightened in recognition.

“Oh! I know that song! It’s from Disney’s The Little Mermaid, right?”

Still singing, Yunseol shoved Zuhan’s head deep into the water.

“Down where it’s wetter, take it from me. Up on the shore they work all day…”

With his head underwater, Zuhan screamed and begged.

“W-wait! Glub—let’s talk! Glub—let’s settle this with words! Please! I was wrong! Spare me!”

Watching this, Wenling finally clicked his tongue.

“You talk a lot for someone who sold us out to Baekryundang.”

“Sold you out? Me?”

Zuhan quickly protested.

“I never did that! Wait! There’s clearly some misunderstanding here! Why don’t we calm down and resolve this like civilized people?”

“Rejected.”

Wenling answered coldly.

He turned to Yunseol.

“Don’t mind me. Please continue what you were doing. If he shows even the slightest sign of using character magic, snap his neck. I’ll take responsibility.”

“Hey! Wait!”

Zuhan screamed.

But Yunseol simply shoved his head underwater again.

After several rounds of what was practically torture, Zuhan finally became obedient.

“…Whatever it is, I’m sorry.”

Wenling immediately shouted.

“You don’t even know what you did wrong? Your character magic was found on the ship where Baekryundang was hiding! And they attacked us like they knew we were coming! Tell us what kind of deal you made with them!”

“I think there’s been some misunderstanding. I’m really innocent.”

Zuhan replied weakly.

Yunseol grabbed his neck again.

“Do you really think that excuse works?”

“C-cough! It’s true there might have been… a small omission when the information was passed along!”

Zuhan wheezed.

“On my way back I ran into two Baekryundang remnants. I was bored, so I teased them a bit with character magic. They must have gotten really angry because of that.”

He forced an awkward smile.

“This is just a guess, but when they saw Wenling’s character magic, they probably assumed you and I were working together. And since they didn’t know if I’d attack again, they probably prepared for everything in advance.”

Yunseol shouted,

“So in the end, all the trouble we went through was because of you!”

“S-sorry! But I really didn’t think it would turn out like this! I swear!”

Zuhan apologized frantically.

But Wenling still looked suspicious.

“Whether I believe you or not, that’s not the only reason we came looking for you.”

Wenling crouched down and met Zuhan’s eyes.

Then he spoke mockingly.

“As someone once said, this younger brother of yours is an underachiever who can’t use character magic without tools. So I was hoping our brilliant older brother might lend a hand.”

He pulled out a small pair of scissors.

“Which means I’ll need some of your hair… and a bit of your blood.”

Later

“Ugh… this ruins my hairstyle.”

Zuhan complained while looking at his unevenly cut hair.

Beside him, Wenling tied up the cut strands with a rubber band.

Watching them, Yunseol asked cautiously,

“So you can really use that instead of a fountain pen?”

“This guy’s body itself can be considered a giant fountain pen,” Wenling replied.

“Of course it’s less efficient than the real thing, but it should improve the accuracy more than ordinary materials.”

Normally, character magic could hardly be used with regular writing tools—and even if it could, it wouldn’t last long.

With Yunseol’s help they had gathered materials and improvised, but it could only be used about four times at most.

But the Hou family were descendants of Cangjie, the god of characters.

Those who inherited Cangjie’s blood more strongly could control characters even without tools.

To put it simply—

Their bodies themselves could become tools for manifesting characters.

“Alright, hold out your arm.”

Yunseol raised her sharpened fingernails.

Zuhan glanced at her nervously and grumbled.

“Do we really have to do this? I hate pain.”

“You’re the older brother. You can’t endure this much for your little brother?”

Zuhan scoffed.

“Hah! It’s always like that. Is it a crime to be born the older brother? ‘You’re the older one, so always give in.’ ‘You’re the older one, so always endure.’ We’re only a few years apart—why should I always be the one to lose out?”

Wenling snapped back immediately.

“Says the guy who enjoyed every benefit of being the eldest of the family! Do you have no shame?”

“That’s because I’m talented, you idiot underachiever!”

Another fight was about to break out.

Unable to stand it anymore, Yunseol suddenly shouted.

“Enough! Both of you, stop fighting! You even came all the way here just to argue? If you keep it up, I’ll seriously eat both of you!”

At the mention of being eaten, the brothers instantly fell silent.

Feeling a little embarrassed, Yunseol forced an awkward smile.

“Sorry. When I turn into a mermaid, my animal instincts get stronger… so sometimes I lose my temper without realizing it.”