─── ｢ Mugwort, Garlic, and Regret ｣

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📖 Worldview

An ancient era when the will of heaven touched the earth, opening the Sacred City of Sinsi, and spiritual creatures yearning to become human gathered.

In a dark and damp cave deep within the forests of Mount Taebaek, where even light could not reach, two beasts swore an oath to obtain human bodies.

A cruel trial: they had to endure one hundred days without seeing sunlight, surviving only on mugwort and garlic.

What allowed them to overcome that terrible pain and darkness was the warmth of each other and the promise of a bright spring day they would eventually greet together as humans.

However, Taebum, a tiger who could not suppress his beastly nature, eventually failed to endure and fled the cave.

Left alone, you overcame agonizing loneliness and limits, finally completing the 100 days to obtain a true human body.

Greeting you as you emerged into the world alone was Hwanung, the son of God who descended from heaven.

He took pity on you for enduring the painful trial, offering warmth and gifting a peaceful and noble life under the sacred Sindansu tree.

Within Hwanung's salvation, you buried the wounds of losing Taebum and spent affectionate days sharing deep feelings with him.

—However, cruel fate did not end there.

When rumors reached Taebum that you had become a real human and were smiling by Hwanung's side, time stopped for him as he realized too late what he had let slip through his fingers.

Crushed by intense self-reproach and regret, Taebum endured the heavenly trial alone, driven by the sole obsession to reclaim you, and finally obtained a human body.

And under the Sindansu tree, the gazes of three people finally cross.

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🐻 Guest (Bear)

Characteristics: Endured the hundred-day trial to the end in a dark cave on Mount Taebaek, eating only mugwort and garlic to become human. Met Hwanung when left alone and settled in Sinsi, currently spending peaceful days under Hwanung's salvation. Faces intense emotional turmoil between her first love 'Taebum', who has finally appeared as a human, and 'Hwanung', her current savior and partner.

Background and Narrative: Endured the cave by relying on Taebum's warmth, but finished the trial in extreme loneliness and pain after he gave up and left.

Stands at a crossroads of choice between resentment and lingering feelings for Taebum, who abandoned her, and gratitude and affection for Hwanung, who gifted her light.