1 The Punishment From the Celestial Emperor

In the heavens, a youth who wore a headdress of crow feathers looked around before he slid a door open while holding a basket. Once he closed the door, he revealed a grin at the sight of a man sitting against a wall with his eyes closed.

"I got you some food!" He placed the basket on the table and took out the dishes.

The man opened his eyes half-way and asked, "Plain steamed buns?"

The youth nodded. "Yep! I didn't forget about that, Hyung-nim."

While the man quietly ate the food, the youth was watching him happily. He couldn't take his eyes away from this legendary being in front of him. He wished he could freely call his name out but he feared he would be found out. After all, no one knew that there was such a being in the heavens because he was secretly helping him to hide from everyone.

The man took a sip out of the teacup before he opened his mouth. "As the son of Cheon-Sin, you sure have a lot of free time. Is it truly fine for you to spend this much time here?"

The youth, Haemosu, was not only the first son of the Celestial Emperor but also God of the Sun. He was an important figure with great responsibility, yet he spent most of his time with the man, neglecting his duties. However, Haemosu didn't mind the gossips about him from the other deities.

He only laughed and said, "Are you afraid someone will find out? Don't worry, I'm the son of Cheon-Sin, who would dare to spy me? Besides, I have never mentioned anything about this. Hyung-nim should rest assured, I will do everything to keep you hidden from my father and everyone else."

"Is that so…"

Although Haesomu was positive and confident about his ability, it soon proved him wrong when he was, one day, suddenly summoned by the Celestial Emperor. When he entered the heavenly courtroom, his face paled as soon as he saw his hyung-nim and realised that he was found out and got captured.

He couldn't believe he had failed, but there was nothing he could do about it at the moment. He knew everything was over and he couldn't evade the misdeed he had conducted.

"Heavenly Father, please listen to my words first!" Haesomu immediately fell to his knees and begged.

This time, Haesomu had angered the Celestial Emperor to the point all the deities present felt the heavy pressure; it took all of their strength to stand up and pretend they weren't affected.

The Celestial Emperor was indeed furious; he didn't expect his son to immorally bring an unknown being to the heavens without his knowing. Who knew how long it had been going for? Just thinking about it enraged him.

"Listen to your words? What is there to listen? You secretly brought an unidentified being to the heavens and hid him and now that you have been found out, you want to say it was a mistake?"

Haesomu trembled when he heard his father speak. He shook his head hurriedly and denied, "That is not true! Haesomu couldn't tell Heavenly Father about it because he didn't want anyone to know! He was all alone when I found him and I pitied him so I let him stay at my place."

Seeing the state of his son, the Celestial Emperor let out a sigh. "No matter what, this is a sin. You know the rules, my son, yet you committed it anyway. I cannot ignore this matter. Have you never thought what this unknown being can have caused here? You don't know what he is, what kind of things he could bring upon the heavens."

Haesomu widened his eyes and opened his mouth to say, "You don't realise who he is, he's actually—!" but he stopped mid-way, his next words got stuck in his throat as he remembered that he promised to never reveal his hyung-nim's identity to anyone.

The Celestial Emperor raised an eyebrow and inquired, "He is actually, what?"

Hanging his head down, Haesomu gritted his teeth in frustration and defeatedly responded, "He is… You are right, I don't know his identity. But, I strongly believe he is not dangerous."

The Celestial Emperor shook his head in disappointment. "Enough. Both of you shall receive your punishment. Haesomu, you shall be confined for two hundred years. You are never to be allowed to get out, eat, drink, or have contact with anyone until your punishment is over. As for you there, who refuse to identify yourself," he shifted his gaze at the figure next to Haesomu, "you shall be banished from the heavens and enter the underworld to repent your mistake."

Once his father decided something, he rarely took his words back. Haesomu was depressed, he never predicted something like this would happen. Not only had he disappointed his own father, but he had also disappointed his hyung-nim.

The next thing that happened, however, surprised him. His hyung-nim spoke up and even asked mercy for him.

"Your son isn't at fault. I threatened him to make him hide me. This was all my doing, so you shouldn't punish him. You should only punish me. I will even take his punishment. No, even more."

Haesomu eyed him at the corner of his eyes with tears leaking out. Hyung-nim…

No one believed what they had heard, it had been such a long time since someone was willing to take all the blame.

Haesomu saw this and took the opportunity to beg for mercy and forgiveness. "Please forgive us, please forgive him. Heavenly Father, have mercy and don't punish him. It's my fault, not his. Don't be tricked by him!"

Seeing how each of them took the blame and began to reprimand themselves, the Celestial Emperor was speechless. Just from this, he knew that the unidentified being was most likely not a threat, but he couldn't let the matter slide by as he couldn't risk it. However, It wasn't advantageous to confine his son at this time and since the unidentified being willingly took full responsibility, he would listen to his words.

"I see, then, I shall be merciful and let God of the Sun, Haesomu, be freed from his punishment. In consideration of the unknown being's unselfishness, he shall be assigned a task."

The deities watching on the sidelines gasped at his words. Any tasks given by the Celestial Emperor were bound to be significant on many levels. They couldn't wait to spill out everything to the others afterwards. This was a piece of huge news.

The Celestial Emperor narrowed his eyes and continued, "He shall be sent to a world on verge of destruction. There, an evil party exists who had invaded and is slowly taking over the world in a gruesome way. His task is to defeat them and send the mastermind to King Yeomra. If he succeeds, he shall be freed. If he fails, he shall be banished from the heavens and enter the underworld."

His words were final and all the deities present dispersed except for God of the Sun and the unidentified being, as well as the Celestial Emperor himself. Haesomu was happy and relieved that his hyung-nim was given a chance.

"You will be entered inside one of the humans of the world and occupy their body. You may choose any of the available ones. However you deliver your task is up to you, but you cannot use your energy. This means you have to gain your strength solely from the world. If you happen to die before you finish your task, it is over for you. I have given you a chance, I hope you will not disappoint me."

The Celestial Emperor didn't say much about the task but he was clear about it. The man with unknown origin looked straight at the Celestial Emperor with no fear and silently nodded his head. Not saying anything to Haemosu, he let the celestial guards guide him to the portal of the chosen world. When he reached the portal, he checked the information of the world.

'This is...amusing. That Cheon-Sin really didn't hold back, did he? How should I approach this? Oh? This one seems fine,' he thought as he selected a person from the world to take over.

Once he was finished, he entered the portal and the celestial guards watched his body disappear.

Back in the heavenly courtroom, Haesomu stood frozen, feeling sad that his hyung-nim didn't bid him farewell and ignored him. The Celestial Emperor sighed and drove him out of the room as he didn't have anything left to say to his foolish son.

Not long after the matter was settled, a figure in dark appeared in the heavens. If the Celestial Emperor saw him and felt his energy, he would recognise him as Seokga, the legendary rebellious trickster deity.

Seokga's dark gaze landed on a certain area in the heavens, his eyes revealing a tint of light. "Mireuk..."