It had been a month since Jaehwan arrived at the Forest of Madness. He spent most of his time inside the hot springs within the forest.
Through the steam of the springs, Jaehwan saw the shadow of the leader. It had been a month, but he still couldnât find a way to get closer to him. He was now even suspicious if this leader actually existed.
ââŚYouâre always here these days.â
Like today, Runald often visited Jaehwan However, he wasnât here to look for Jaehwan as he was only here to run away from the âladiesâ. Runald was very popular with them.
âThey always want to scrub my body.â
Those âladiesâ always scrubbed Runaldâs body. Jaehwan commented, âIâm sure itâs a good thing for you.â
ââŚThatâs nonsense.â
âYou never know. Their scrubbing might have some secret trick.â
âThatâs as stupid as the [Setting] that makes you become more powerful as you get naked.â
âYeah, right?â Runald sighed.
âKaravan says something similar nowadays. What was it? The philosophy of scrubbing or something.â
âKaravan said that?â
He then realized it had been a while since he had seen the man. Karavan used to visit Jaehwan often to rant when they first came to the forest.
âI must recover my link with Ignis, and kill those sons of b*tches.â
Or-
âI will hang those bastards who I scrubbed the Hell Flame.â
He then returned hopelessly. However, it had been 2 weeks since the last time he visited. Jaehwan just thought Karavan had given up⌠but sharing the âPhilosophy of Scrubbingâ? It was very interesting.
âWhatâs he doing these days?â
âSame as always. Scrubbing people. I think heâs come to like it now.â
ââŚHe likes it?â
âHe says, âScrubbing is a serious business, kid. Youâre too young to understand.'â
Runald imitated Karavan and shrugged.
âI wasnât sure where he was going with it. He said scrubbing is âgoodâ and that we always have to scrub⌠so that weâll find the true meaning of life. And in the end, you will find the true understanding of the world through scrubbing⌠Something like that.â
If it was months ago, Jaehwan would have burst into laughter. However, he was different now.
âI see. Clothes or scrubbing⌠I think it doesnât matter what you call it.â
âWhat?â
âI guess Karavan is on the right path after all.â
ââŚAre you serious?â
Runald frowned as he took a few steps back. It seemed like he was growing suspicious of Jaehwan.
âI think heâs understanding the Unclothing.â
âUnclothing?â
âThese people call it Metamorphosis. I just call it the Unclothing.â
Unclothing. The way of taking off the âclothesâ that covered the layers of spirit. It was the daily routine of all the warriors here had and their secret to becoming powerful.
âAnd what exactly is that?â
âWhat Iâm always doing.â
Runald looked at Jaehwan who was still inside the water and asked in a doubtful voice, âA bath?â
âYeah, you can say that.â
Jaehwan shrugged and looked around. The heat in the spring was very intense. Throughout the month, Jaehwan had a total of 37 moments where he couldâve died. He kept on walking through the boiling hot water in hopes of meeting the âleaderâ on the other end of the steam.
But he couldnât get to the leader yet. The only thing he could do was to keep walking.
For hours, or sometimes for the entire day, he walked towards the âleaderâ until his world power ran out. In all of those near-death experiences, he met many of his old selves from different times.
-Dammit, again?!
-Stop it already!
Sometimes he even heard voices. And as he remembered the old days, he felt his layers being taken off as his power greatly increased.
The steps were always the same. Ra-hamad appeared from somewhere and brought Jaehwan out from the spring, mumbling âOuroborosâ. It was then that the dayâs âUnclothingâ had finished.
Runald asked, âJaehwan, what are âclothesâ? I think these people really consider it seriously.â
âClothesâŚâ
Jaehwan didnât know, but he didnât say it. He was âunclothingâ right now so he couldnât just say he wasnât sure what it was. Jaehwan even had asked Ra-hamad what âclothesâ actually were, but Ra-hamadâs answer was just this:
âOuroboros.â
Jaehwan was annoyed.
âAnd what is that supposed to mean? You always just say âOuroboros.'â
âOuroboros is Ouroboros.â
âCanât you simplify it? It doesnât help if you make it complicated.â
âItâs not a matter of complicating.â
Ra-hamad then spoke to Jaehwan with a sympathetic look on his face.
âYou are out of the system, but still live in the system.â
That was very striking to Jaehwan. Jaehwan then realized in the future that word was going to lead the way in the fight against Big Brother.
âJaehwan?â
Runald was looking at Jaehwan. He answered, âOh, what were we talking about?â
âAbout clothes.â
Jaehwan thought. Runald wanted an answer to which he did not have.
âOuroboros.â
âWhat?â
âClothes is Ouroboros.â
ââŚAnd whatâs that supposed to mean? Oh, the warriors did say âOuroborosâ when they pointed at my genitals.â
Ouroboros while pointing at the genitals? That seemed like a very different meaning. Runald quickly covered his genitals as he realized Jaehwan was looking right at it and asked, âA-anyway. So, what is Ouroboros?â
âI donât know.â
ââŚAre you making fun of me?â
âI donât know everything!â
Runald then shouted angrily.
âBut you are doing that Unclothing thing! You are unclothing but you donât what youâre taking off? It doesnât make sense!â
He was right. Jaehwan then asked, âRunald. Do you know what is life?â
ââŚWhat? Life?â
Runald couldnât answer. The question wasnât easy. He could say whatever, but he couldnât just say it out loud. Life couldnât just be described by words.
Runald shook his head.
âIâm not sure.â
Jaehwan nodded. âExactly.â
âWhat?â
âYou donât know what is life, but youâre living it, right?â
Runald then became astonished. He stared at Jaehwan with an admiring look on his face.
âW-wow! That is brilliant! You are brilliant!â
ââŚâ
âI see⌠Ouroboros⌠our lifeâŚ!â
It seemed Runald was going to start talking nonsense, so Jaehwan waved his hand and stopped him from talking.
âRunald, letâs end it here.â
âHuh? Why?â
âBecause I feel like Iâm dying.â
ââŚWhat?!â
Runald became frantic and Jaehwan spoke in an âOuroborosâ kind of face.
âTake me out after about 10 minutes. Okay?â
And Jaehwan feel unconscious. It was his 38th near death experience.
And after another month, he finally was able to reach the end of the hot spring.