A sentence every Korean would recognize.
The one that begins with “나랏말싸미 듕귁에 달아”, explaining the background of the creation of Hunminjeongeum.
“There was a dynasty called Joseon, right? They used this thing called Hanja—a complicated script that was hard to memorize.”
“For the lower-class farmers, it was really challenging. There were so many people who couldn’t even write their own names.”
“It was normal for the time, but… one king thought differently.”
“He felt pity for those who couldn’t express themselves because they couldn’t learn letters. He thought it would be good to have a script that was easy to learn, unlike Hanja.”
“——————So he decided to make one himself. A new script.”
“The spoken language of this country differs from that of China, and therefore it is not compatible with Chinese characters.
Many ignorant people, though they wish to express their thoughts, cannot communicate them properly.
I feel sorry for this and have therefore created twenty-eight new letters.
I simply wish for everyone to easily learn them and use them daily without difficulty.”
“And that’s how the Hunminjeongeum, the correct sounds for teaching the people, was born.”
훈(訓) means teaching, 민(民) means the people, and 음(音) means sound.
So Hunminjeongeum means “The correct sounds for teaching the people.”
Teo tapped the floor with his tail, pride clearly visible.
“Isn’t it amazing?”
“Yes! This Sejong guy was pretty incredible!”
‘Well, of course, no one can compare to Lord Teo.’
But contrary to his expectations, Lucia didn’t look impressed.
Her eyes followed Teo’s footprints, her head tilting slightly.
– Tilt.
‘Why does Lord Teo hold such a high opinion of a mere human? A lower being?’
Sure, King Sejong was undoubtedly remarkable.
Even Lucia admitted that creating a logical and easy-to-learn script like Hangeul was an incredible achievement.
But still, he was just human.
On the other hand, Teo?
The most noble being under the sky. The last dragon.
A being literally on a different level from humans.
So why did he admire a mere human?
She simply couldn’t understand.
Not until she learned more about dragons.
– Flip.
‘Thanks to the translation artifact, I’ve almost mastered Rune script… Huh?’
“Dragon Behavior and Studies?”
While collecting information from foreign lands, she stumbled across a peculiar book with an intriguing title.
Without hesitation, she purchased it.
All because she wanted to understand Teo better.
“An illustration… gasp!”
‘Is this what Lord Teo looks like? How can anyone be this breathtakingly beautiful?’
Through the book, she finally saw what dragons looked like.
‘This is a slit eye…’
“Gasp, gasp… gasp…!!!”
She panted like an animal, drooling uncontrollably.
“So dragons are obsessively fond of gold?”
‘Sh-Should I bring a few on my way back? Maybe he’ll let me touch his scales as a reward♡’
One of Teo’s hobbies: collecting gold.
Realizing this, Lucia was overjoyed, feeling the effort she put into learning Rune script was paying off…
But the most important piece of information lay elsewhere.
– Pause.
‘Wait, amusement? Dragon habits?’
Her eyes caught on two words, amusement.
She immediately straightened her posture.
It looked significant at first glance.
[Dragons, who live long lives, mingle among other species to relieve boredom….]
“Hmm. Hmm.”
The book explained it as follows,
Amusement. A dragon, concealing its true form using polymorph or similar magic, would live among other species and enjoy life as one of them.
Because of this, dragons out for amusement often became the protagonists of various heroic tales.
Given that they were beings far superior to humans, this made sense.
[Even dragons themselves find it shameful and try to hide this shady activity.]
[According to one record of a dragon’s amusement, this act is considered lowly even among their own kind….]
[Dragons who are discovered during amusement do not flee out of concern for ecological neutrality, but because they’re embarrassed.]
Sadly, amusement was not an honorable act among dragons.
Fundamentally, it was pretending to be an inferior being.
If compared to humans, it was akin to dressing up as a pig and jumping into a pigsty.
A kind of peculiar deviance.
This was how humans interpreted the concept of dragon amusement.
“…Grr?”
‘What’s this? Why do I feel like I’ve just been unjustly slandered?’
If Teo knew, he’d feel incredibly wronged.
History had long been rewritten to suit the victors.
Records about dragons were heavily distorted as well.
Not to mention, Teo was still a hatchling.
He hadn’t even tried human transformation, let alone amusement. He was a dignified dragon.
If he found out about this, he’d lament, “Why do I have to take the blame for what my ancestors did?”
And he’d probably thump his tail against the ground in frustration.
But, unfortunately, he wasn’t going to find out.
‘It’s better not to mention this, right? No, I should burn every book related to it.’
– Whoosh.
Out of loyalty, Lucia erased these records from existence.
As a result, books about dragons disappeared from the market entirely.
The few remaining copies, handwritten in Rune script by nobles and high-ranking officials, became rare treasures worth dozens of gold coins each.
More than 30 years after dragons had gone extinct, interest in them had waned considerably.
Thus, Lucia succeeded in erasing all information about amusement from public knowledge.
Of course, she shared it with Teo’s five closest aides.
– Whisper whisper.
“Is that true, Lucia?”
“I’m telling you, Teo-sama… was King Sejong!!”
Once again, however, it was far from the truth.
Lucia’s eyes sparkled.
“Didn’t you ever find it strange? Why Teo-sama sometimes praises humans so highly?”
“Well, of course. There’s no way our noble lord would genuinely admire those lower life forms.”
“Exactly! So clearly, King Sejong must have been one of Lord Teo’s names during his amusement!”
It felt like all the pieces of the puzzle had finally come together.
How did Teo manage to create Hangul, an original script unlike anything else in the world?
He’d already made it once before.
Why would a dragon hold humans in such high regard?
Because the human he was praising wasn’t just any human—it was Teo himself, from his amusement days. Insulting Sejong would essentially be insulting himself.
When viewed this way, everything made perfect sense.
This was why Lucia so seriously advocated the “Teo is Sejong” Teory.
“What? You think I’m actually King Sejong?”
“…Sylvie! What nonsense are you spouting? That’s so disrespectful to Lord Teo!!”
“If anything, the disrespect is toward King Sejong. I’m not him.”
“…What?”
“I was born on the day I met you lot. I haven’t had the time to indulge in amusement.”
“But, my lord, if that’s the case, how do you know about King Sejong?”
“I spent time in another dimension. King Sejong is a famous figure there.”
Of course, Teo denied it. Firmly, leaving no room for misunderstanding.
It was his way of ensuring he didn’t steal credit for the inventions of great figures.
“…Oh, I see!”
“To think he enjoyed amusement even across dimensions! Truly, Lord Teo is extraordinary!”
The five retainers didn’t listen.
It wasn’t hard to imagine Lord Teo doing just that.
[Ah, this is what is called selective breeding. By pairing specific organisms…]
[Selective breeding? It refers to improving genetic traits of cultivated or bred organisms…]
[Genetic traits? Characteristics determined by genes inherited from parents, which are classified as dominant or recessive according to Mendel’s laws…]
[Genes are the basic units of hereditary information, composed of specific nucleotide sequences in nucleic acids.]
‘He knows everything about everything. That’s just who Lord Teo is.’
It wasn’t just Hangul that they had learned from him.
Knowledge that began with “Ah, this is—” poured out in a flood—knowledge so vast that no one but a dragon could retain it all.
Even the five, who had evolved into the highest life forms, found it impossible to master everything, so they divided the subjects among themselves. Still, it was overwhelming.
‘How can we believe he was just born?’
Thus, the five retainers were convinced.
There was no way even Teo could have grasped the secrets of the universe the moment he was born.
He must have lived in another dimension, spending time on amusement and making countless inventions.
‘So, from now on, anyone Lord Teo admires must be Lord Teo in disguise.’
‘No need to question it. Just act amazed and pretend we don’t know.’
‘We need to show him how much we worship him!’
And so, an absurd misunderstanding was born.
Teo: The same as King Sejong and countless other historical greats.
If Teo ever found out, he’d probably groan in frustration, wondering why no one believed him.
But for now…
“Truly an incredible individual. To think they accomplished such inventions!”
‘To have saved billions of humans all on his own, as expected of Lord Teo! Truly remarkable!!’
Clap, clap, clap, clap, clap!
“Right. He’s one of the greatest chemists in history.”
‘Is it because they didn’t talk about his later years? Everyone seems to be worshipping him. Well, I guess, just hearing this much, it makes sense.’
Unfortunately, he didn’t realize the truth.
This was because the five of them had respected Teo’s sort-of concept, not-a-concept, and delivered performances worthy of their lives.
“Roar!”
‘To think they like it this much. Maybe, when we have time later, I should put up a statue. Something like a pure gold statue of King Sejong in the capital so linguists can worship it every day…’
And so began a misrepresentation, not a misrepresentation, that Teo himself never wanted.
* * *
Afterward, Teo and his subordinates’ lives became busier.
Teo dedicated himself to teaching the five while also focusing his magical abilities on laying the foundation of the nation.
The women honed their individual specialties, tirelessly researching and developing.
Even with knowledge, putting it into practice was no easy task, but…
“For Teo-sama’s sake!”
“Master told us to make it, so we’ll make it!!”
One transparent dragon, five of the highest-ranking species including subdragons.
With their combined efforts, unmatched even in this world, nothing was impossible.
It took only ten years.
That was all the time it took to establish a foundation in what had once been nothing but a forest.
“Then, Teo-sama, we’ll begin contacting the Orcs first!”
“I’m counting on you, Lucia.”
“…Yes!!!”
And then, finally…
“The, the Grukshar wrote!!!”
“A genius! Even greater than the Orc Lord!!!”
“Orcs aren’t ignorant anymore!! Orcs write now!!!”
-Shaking with emotion.
‘The beautiful script Teo-sama created has finally…♡’
————Hangeul began to spread.