“Neokgeori?”

“Yes. That seems to be what your companion is afflicted with. I’m sure the word sounds unfamiliar to you, but her condition seems to fit it perfectly.”

The man was taken aback. The translation device tried to translate the word to best fit his culture, but the concept of Neokgeori was new to him.

“Um…I still don’t get it. Could you explain a bit more so that we can understand?”

Chi-Woo nodded at the man’s request and explained. A person’s body was made up of a soul and a physical body, but these weren’t the only components that made up a human being. There were other immaterial things that dwelled inside the soul and governed the body; these were the things that remained even after a person’s body turned to ashes, and their soul left for the next realm. And this thing, which linked the body and soul to create harmony so that a person could have a ‘life,’ was called neok.

“So, neok isn’t just a soul?”

“It’s much more than that,” Chi-Woo continued, “A neok is very transcendental. A person’s death has no impact on it. Not confined to a person, it can freely reveal itself, but you have to remember that it’s not the person.” On the other hand, a person was bound to their neok. “If a person’s neok escapes, they will faint or lose their minds—just like your companion.”

Although it was a concept none of them had encountered before, the man and the others in the cave nodded.

Chi-Woo continued, “Thus, someone might have used neokgeori on Abis, and because of that, Abis’ neok flew out.”

The man now understood the hypothesis. “Yes, sir. So…”

However, Chi-Woo looked doubtful. He thought there was little chance that concepts and laws on Liber would be the same as shamanistic teachings on Earth, specifically South Korea.

‘There must be dissimilarities, but…’ Even if Chi-Woo considered these factors, there was a part that bothered him. Thus, he asked, “Could I ask about the situation of when this happened? As detailed as poss...