The all-knowing Player (Solo Leveling)

Funerals

A/N: This chapter focuses on Korean funerals. If you're not familiar with those, I'm here to explain to help you understand what happens in this chapter! Please remember that, as someone who isn't familiar with the Korean culture, I may be wrong. If that's the case and you notice it, please let me know! If you already know how it works, you can also just skip this note. Anyway, here's what my research taught me: 

Funerals happen over 3 days, at the end of which the body of the deceased is either buried or cremated (the latter option is preferred nowadays). During those three days, the relatives of the deceased come to visit and pay their respect to the deceased, but only the close family stays for the burial/cremation. 

It's an event to honor the deceased, but also for the living., so it's not uncommon for people to eat and play cards during a funeral. 

When entering the altar room, you have to write your name and any message you want to leave to the family on a book, then salute the family members of the deceased with a bow. The chief of the family is called the chief mourner and wears an armband. After writing your name on the list, you give money in an envelope to the chief mourner. The closer you were to the deceased, the more money you give. 

After saluting the family, it's time to pay your respects to the deceased. In the back of the room is the altar with a photograph of the deceased in the middle. You bow twice in front of the altar (on your knees and all), then put a flower next to the photograph (usually a white one) or burn an incense stick. 

Like said before, funerals are also held for the living, so playing games or eating afterwards isn't strange. This part isn't relevant for the chapter, so I'll cut the explanation here. If you want to know more about it, you can find a lot of information on the Internet. If you're too lazy to search it up and you didn't understand something I explained, feel free to ask! I'll do my best to answer. 

That'd be all. Thanks for making it this far in the story, I hope you'll enjoy this chapter!

All eyes turn towards us as soon as we step into Shin Chun-Hee's altar room. I hold my breath, fiddling nervously with the stick of the chrysanthemum between my fingers. What if they know what I did? What if they're here to frame me? My eyes search the room for something, anything, to give me the assurance that everything is alright. I meet familiar brown ones who stare right back at me, not surprised to see me here. But I am. What is he doing at this funeral? Did he know Shin Chun-Hee? Or did he simply come as the Association's representative? The knot in my stomach slightly loosens at the sight of the man who nods in recognition.

Feeling Yool move next to me, I turn around to see him write his name on the list next to the entry. I follow Seon-Ji, write my name down too and bow in front of the chief mourner, who bows back with tired, blood-shot eyes. We give him the customary envelope, prepared by Yool beforehand. The sight of the old man with graying hair weakened by the death of his two children digs a hole in my chest. His wife stands next to him, her dull eyes underlined by dark circles and so pale that it seems that she could break at any moment.

"You are the hunters that she saved, aren't you?" she asks. Despite her poor state, her voice is strong.

"Yes." I bow in front of her and try to refrain from biting my lip. I am the one responsible for her death. I knew what it meant when I pushed my dagger in Shin Chun-Hee's chest. But seeing her mourning parents and friends around her altar is different. I don't belong here. "I'm sorry."

I should have said 'I'm sorry for your loss', but my voice seems stuck in my throat. All I can do is apologize. Apologize for having watched their son die without moving. Apologize for not having been strong enough to save him. Apologize for having caused their daughter's death. Apologize for having been strong enough to survive.