Everyone is Young Except for Me

The Star Coffee House? My eyes opened at the sudden voice. All I saw around me was a dark night sky and numerous stars. They were shining above my head while a vast plain spread out around me. I got up from my spot.

“This place...”

Suddenly, the wind blew. The cold wind blew the cherry blossoms. The moonlit cherry blossoms made their way somewhere and I looked at it.

“This...?”

It was a familiar place. How could I forget it? This was the space of my memories. This was the place where I first met my wife. I walked along the flower path toward it. I had almost arrived when the door opened naturally by itself.

[The first apostle, ‘Prometheus,’ is telling you to come in.]

It seemed he was in there...

I was unknowingly nervous. No matter the reason, he was a god in this world. I clenched my fists a few times before relaxing. Once I stepped inside, I was once again surprised.

“It is really similar.” It was similar to the structure of the coffee house where I met my wife for the first time. The difference was the TV in the corner and the big sofa. Other than that, it was exactly the same. I was looking around when I heard a voice behind me.

[Coffee? Or ssanghwa tea?]

I looked back in a startled manner and saw a young man with one arm standing there. I hadn’t known there was anyone in this place... wait. Was this guy perhaps...?

“Prometheus?”

[You recognized me.]

Prometheus’s lips curved up. He was dressed in a straw mat. No matter how you looked at it, it wasn’t the costume of a Western god.

[This doesn’t seem to match.]

He flicked his fingers and his outfit changed. He was dressed in a suit similar to mine. I watched him with a bemused expression and he said, [Old man, this is your inner world.]

“Inner world?”

[Yes. Everything will change in here as you desire. Like this.]

One more time! This time, the terrain around us changed and I arrived at the house I was now living in. It was really amazing. This was a technology that reproduced my inner world. The more I knew, the more amazing I found Union’s technology. I decided to ask him a more fundamental question, “What are you doing here? Why talk in a place like this?”

[Let’s see... In fact, it is 500 years old and complicated to explain. To put it simply, if you eat the Star Fruit then the constellations will occupy your inner world. Only then can I lend you my strength.]

I was quite flustered by the story that wasn’t as simple as I thought. I threw another question at him, “So what about that guy called Raitra? How did the other constellation enter my inner world?”

Prometheus smiled. [He didn’t come in, I just shared it. To put it simply, the inner worlds were united. Do you know how you humans form a party to hunt monsters? It is a similar concept.]

A Star Cluster was such a thing. This made a bit more sense. I nodded and asked again, “Where is Raitra?”

[That ‘Naked Lightning Monkey’ guy is gone. If the distance between Star's Beloveds increases then the inner worlds will naturally diverge.]

“I see.”

[It is a long story. Please sit down. Do you want something? There is coffee and ssanghwa tea.]

He acted like it was a real coffee house...

It wasn’t pleasant to receive hospitality from another person in my own place. It was like the host and the guest had been reversed. I thought about it for a moment before replying, “Ssanghwa tea.”

[An excellent choice.]

After a while, I was sitting across the table from him and sipping ssanghwa tea. I thought he made it himself but it wasn’t like that. He just flicked his finger and two cups of ssanghwa tea appeared in the air.

[Do you need more eggs?] [1]

“...No.”

I couldn’t help laughing. It was so contradictory to see a man called a god of the west sitting down with me and drinking Oriental tea. I sipped the ssanghwa tea and examined his face. He wasn’t as young as I thought. I had expected him to be a little kid.

Prometheus spoke like he had read my thoughts, [Are you surprised because you were expecting me to be older?]

“No, I actually thought you were a little kid.”

Prometheus smiled and continued, [It is no wonder. Just a few days ago, I was in the form of a little kid.]

“What does that mean?”

[Hmm, I’ll show you this guy first before explaining.]

“...?”

The next moment, an amazing word popped out of his mouth, [Solar.]

“...!”

A familiar fireball appeared next to Prometheus. I was dumbfounded by the sight.

[Are you surprised?]

“...Yes, I’m a bit amazed.”

[Solar is someone I created. Even you, the master, don’t take precedence over my commands as the creator.]

“Um.”

I remembered what Solar had previously said in the goblin’s cave.

...Solar said that Prometheus was the one to give birth to it. Maybe it wasn’t surprising. Who would dare to break their creator’s command? Solar’s parent was a god. I wouldn’t disobey either.

[Solar is a child I cut off from my body.]

“Cut off from your body? Perhaps...?”

Prometheus nodded. [Yes, I made it with my left arm.]

I had noticed earlier that he didn’t have one arm, now I know why. I thought it happened in a fight and didn’t know there was a reason like this. By the way, he dug at his nostrils so often that his nostrils were really big.

Prometheus continued, [I lost a lot of power after creating Solar. My power of prophecy isn’t the same as it used to be.]

“Then your appearance...?”

[Yes. As you grew, I regained my strength. I’m becoming more like myself.]

I nodded and sipped the ssanghwa tea once again.

...Please get straight to the point.

“Why did you call me here? You had something to say to me.”

[Yes, I wanted to talk to you. It is a long story.]

He took a breath for a moment. Then he snapped his fingers. Suddenly, our surroundings changed once again. The table and ssanghwa tea had disappeared. We stood in darkness as he declared, [In the beginning, Gaia was there.]

At the same time, light emerged from the darkness.

[Gaia established order in chaos and created the first continent.]

White light spread throughout the world, creating a continent. I was a bit surprised that so much happened in an instant but I soon regained my composure.

[She separated the sky from the ground and the sea from the land. This was the beginning of the continent called Pangea.]

Pangea—it was one great land. It was a colossal continent that was together as one rather than separated like the Earth of today.

[Gaia made humans on the continent and three gods to rule over them. Human civilization blossomed under the protection of the gods.]

The light I saw before split into three branches, creating another form. It seemed that the white light was ‘Gaia.’

[Jupiter to rule the sky. Neptune to rule the sea. Pluto to rule the afterlife.]

I silently watched them. Their faces were so bright that I couldn’t see them in detail.

[The three gods were given a powerful strength. They told Gaia that they wanted to create other beings. Elves, orcs, dwarves, fairies, giants, and dragons, etc, were created at this time. Gaia fell asleep to regain her strength. However, a war between the races began.]

The ground below our feet was suddenly tinged with war. Various screams were rife and heroes were born. Some were humans and some weren’t human. Amidst this disastrous war, Prometheus opened his mouth, [Jupiter, who temporarily ruled the land on behalf of Gaia, didn’t stop the war. Rather, he was encouraged to pick 88 strong beings and made them constellations. I call this the ‘Star Rating War.’ He took 12 of them and made them the 12 Zodiac constellations to protect him.]

“...He was a cunning guy.”

[Yes, he was cunning. Then Gaia felt the turbulent land and woke up. An angry Gaia took most of Jupiter’s power and scattered it around the world. She made other gods to keep him in check. I was born at that time.]

“I see.”

[The war came to an end but the lives of humans were destroyed. They were the most numerous but the weakest. Gaia felt sorry when she saw their lives. Thus, she gave a divine message.]

Divine message? A sentence instantly swept through my mind. “Give benefits to humanity.”

Prometheus nodded. [That’s right. Due to this prophecy, humans learned how to care for each other and how to live a good life. However, some humans were different. Old man, as you know, another war took place. This time, it was a war between humans.]

Another war occurred under our feet.

[Gaia was saddened and after much worrying, she called a human. She thought to govern humans through him. However, that human’s power was too weak. Thus, Gaia called me and my brother Atlas.]

A panorama passed and two men could be seen bowing their heads to a big light. One was Prometheus and the other seemed to be his brother. I asked him, “Why were you called?”

[To steal the fire.]

“What? Don’t tell me?”

[Yes. I went to Jupiter’s heavenly palace and stole the primordial fire. It was originally given to the gods by Gaia. I stole it and cut off my left arm to make Solar.]

I remembered the nickname of a thief when I first met him. I hadn’t expected there to be a story like this and called him a crook. I felt sorry. “Then did your brother also steal the fire?”

[No, he stole the power that Gaia left to Jupiter. I couldn’t steal everything.]

“What? What was it?”

[Clouds.]

“Clouds?”

[Jupiter’s clouds were powerful. It is now weakened by Gaia but in the past, he could use it to generate a variety of forces such as rain, wind, snow, and thunderbolts. Now only the thunderbolts remain. In fact, the most powerful one is the thunderbolt.]

The sun and the clouds. It was somehow like stealing the weather... eh? Wait.

“Then that man called earlier was...?”

[Yes, it was Alexus.]

A creepy yet exhilarating feeling shot down my spine. It felt like I had found a lost piece of the puzzle. I was stuck in this indescribable feeling when my surroundings changed again and I saw Gaia meeting Alexus. Next to them were Prometheus and Atlas. Alexus was bowing his head and I became shocked when he raised his head.

“No...?!”

That was me as a young man.

[1] The traditional Korean tea can be taken with an egg yolk