“Name? Are you talking about a new name for this bird?”

” Ppi-ppi!”

“Peepers?”

As if it disagreed with the name I chose, the Purification Bird, which had been rubbing itself happy previously, flew up and pecked at my eyebrows again.

“Ouch, stop it.”

” Ppi-ppi! Ppi-ppi!”

“What’s wrong with Peepers? It’s straightforward and cute since it keeps chirping.”

My head was already a mess. I had never thought that a bird would be born from a purification item, and I certainly had never considered that I would have to name it.

” Ppi-ppi! Ppi-ppi Ppi-ppi-ppi!”

I eventually caught the bird, which continued to peck at me as if it didn’t like the name.

” Ppi-ppi! Ppi-ppi Ppi-ppi-ppi ”

As I held it, it struggled, seemingly in protest.

‘How annoying.’

In the end, I suggested a new name for this irritating bird.

“Fine, let’s call you Salt.”

“Ppi?”

“You’re white like salt.”

Except for its black bean-like eyes and red beak, the bird’s whole body was white.

It was also true for white sugar, but given the bird’s current personality, salty Salt seemed more fitting. As soon as I released the now calm bird, it flew onto my face like a prisoner. And then, it pecked at my forehead with its beak.

A stinging sensation was brief, followed by a warmth that enveloped me.

[The ‘Purification Bird’ has been registered as the pet ‘Salt.’]

[You have become the owner of Salt.]

“Pet?”

“Ppi!” Salt, who had landed on the pillow, answered with one wing raised.

“You’re a pet?”

“Ppi-” Salt, who didn’t seem to care about my incredulous expression, was busy preening its feathers.

Just then, I heard the sound of the door opening from outside.

‘Seo Taeju must have left work early.’

Thinking about the morning incident, it was right not to care whether he came in or not.

“Still, he’s necessary for now,” I muttered as if brainwashing myself before hearing a thump outside as I was about to get up.

‘This guy, is he trying to vent his anger now that he has shown his face in the morning?’

“You stay put and don’t come out,“ I earnestly ordered Salt, who was grooming its fur, and went out to the living room.

I thought that the jerk would appear as soon as I went out, but the living room was just the same as before when I entered the room.

“What? Wasn’t that Seo Taeju who came in?”

As soon as I stepped out, I expected to see the burly guy, but the living room looked exactly the same as before I entered my room.

‘What? Didn’t Seo Taeju come in?’

Wondering if I had misheard, I scratched my head and walked towards the entrance, where I saw someone lying on the floor.

“What’s with you? Why are you lying here? Are you drunk or something?”

I approached the guy who was unresponsive and having a tête-à-tête[1] with the floor.

‘There’s no smell of alcohol, but maybe he got poisoned in the dungeon? Or is it overwork?’

As I was making various guesses, a message window suddenly appeared before my eyes.

[Passive ‘Diagnosis’ is activated.]

“D*mn it.”

There hadn’t been any issues with Seo Taeju’s corruption level or appearance when I encountered him this morning. Even if something had happened, it shouldn’t have deteriorated this badly in such a short time. But out of nowhere, his corruption level is at 94%.

‘Why did the level suddenly shoot up like this? What did he do while he was outside?’

I bent down to check Seo Taeju’s condition. Pale face and blue lips. It was clearly the same symptom of contamination that Shin Sooha had shown.

“Why is this happening all of a sudden?”

“… Don’t … worry… about… it… Just… leave.” Seo Taeju’s face was full of cold sweat, gritting his teeth as if the pain was severe.

‘He didn’t ignore my question; although he couldn’t answer properly. What a foolish guy.’

In the novel, the pain from corruption was described as if the whole body and internal organs were being scraped by shards of glass. It was so painful that even breathing made one want to die, I remembered reading that description.

As if to prove those words, Seo Taeju’s fists were tightly clenched, and the tendons in his hand were bulging, trying to suppress his groan.

“What did you do to end up like this?”

“Leave… me… alone.” Seo Taeju eventually passed out, unable to finish his sentence.

I grabbed Taeju’s feet and dragged him towards the sofa. No matter how much Seo Go-woon had worked out, it was impossible for him to lift Taeju’s body with his arms that couldn’t even hold a plank position for 10 seconds.

After dragging Seo Taeju onto the living room rug, I went to the room to pick up Salt.

“Don’t chirp from now on.”

“Ppi?”

“Shh. Just purify quietly, got it?”

Without waiting for an answer, I rushed to Taeju and placed the Purification Bird on his forehead.

“Ppi.”

“Hey, I told you to be quiet.”

Salt, looking sulky, stretched out over Taeju’s head like a rice cake.

‘Did it get faster?’

I opened my eyes wide at the distinctly faster speed compared to when purifying Shin Sooha.

It was written in Salt’s explanation that it could purify more than it did when it was an egg, but I didn’t expect 10% to be purified at once. As I watched the purification speed in astonishment, a big hand suddenly grabbed mine.

“Let go, it’s annoying.”

“…What are you doing right now?”

As Taeju got up, Salt almost fell off and quickly flew up.

‘But why does his expression look like that?’

His sullen expression made me suddenly angry. It wasn’t like I saved him from drowning and asked for a bundle in return, but his expression didn’t sit well with me at all.

‘…I’ll endure it for now. After all, he’s necessary.’

I forcibly suppressed the rising anger within me. Right now, my goal is to avoid causing any trouble with this guy as much as possible. If I get angry here, it won’t do me any good.

‘He’s a difficult complainant. A complainant. If you offend a complainant, you’ll end up on the national complaint center…’

As I repeated to myself that he was a complainant, my heart quickly calmed down. Just like in my days as a police officer, I wore the brightest smile I could muster and spoke, “I moved you because you were lying down. What did I do wrong?”

“F*ck, that’s not what I’m talking about right now! What the hell did you just do?”

‘F*ck? What the hell did I do?’

I shook off Seo Taeju’s hand. I knew I had to endure, but the words had already escaped my lips, “So… You know, f*ck. I moved you here so you could rest more comfortably. Does that warrant such a f*cking scolding, you ungrateful bast*rd?”

For a moment, Seo Taeju’s eyes turned icy.

‘But… What does he want?’

My eyes also sank coldly, just like his.

“…”

The awkward silence that ensued was broken first by Seo Taeju. “Are you trying to dodge the question on purpose? What the hell are you talking about? That’s not what I asked!”

“The bullsh*t is what you’re spewing right now. You were whining and all, but now you’re going nuts.”

‘Could it be that this bast*rd noticed the purification after he woke up from fainting?’

I clicked my tongue inwardly. I knew that purification could be achieved through Salt’s purification, but I didn’t know exactly what the sensation of being purified felt like, so I couldn’t tell how or what he had noticed.

‘It’s annoying, but should I just play dumb? Judging by his personality, he probably won’t let it go, though.’

I didn’t want to explain the truth, so I was wondering what to do when Seo Taeju continued to glare at me.

“What are you looking at?” With a heart of steel, I summoned Salt. Salt, who had been flying around the wide floor, chirping, landed on my head. “If you’re in pain, go to the hospital. Don’t take it out on innocent people.”

Just as I was about to get up, pretending nothing was wrong, Seo Taeju grabbed my wrist as I tried to rise.

“What are you doing? Let go!”

“Sh*t, what did you just do? Tell me honestly before you go!”

“Ah, seriously, this guy… Why do you make a fuss even when I try to help you? Is it a crime that I moved you to the living room because you looked like you’d freeze to death? Or is it so wrong that I came out of the room?”

“Stop talking bullsh*t, sh*t. What the hell are you? And what is this energy I’m feeling from you? What the hell are you up to?!”

“Energy? What kind of nonsense is this…”

Energy? No way…

As if to confirm my suspicion, the corruption level of the rude guy, which had not budged until just now, was dropping significantly.

‘No way, is he being purified through me because Salt’s on my head?’

Meanwhile, Seo Taeju, thinking that I had hit the nail on the head with my muddled words, began to interrogate me again.

“Tell me what you did. If you don’t, I’ll cut off all support.”

I gritted my teeth and let out a hollow laugh at the sight of the man threatening me. It didn’t matter whether he cut off support in my current situation. I had no particular need to spend money, and if I needed money, I could sell the luxury items that Seo Go-woon had hoarded like an ant.

‘Is this a threat? Should I just ditch this guy and gather the others?’

Seo Taeju, who was growling as if he was about to bite me, still looked young. Just like me when I was young, bristling with thorns towards everyone.

‘Right, he’s like that because he’s been wronged by Seo Go-woon a lot. He wasn’t a bad guy originally.’

“Let go first. You’re making me sick.”

Even a police officer using such force during an interrogation would have been illegal. And I was more on the side of being handcuffed than handcuffing, which was close to repulsive.

“Let go.”

In response to my words, Taeju dragged me to the couch and forced me to sit down.

Currently, Taeju’s corruption level is at 0%. Even though he no longer needed purification, he didn’t let go of my hand.

“Don’t annoy people and let go.”

When I tried to shake off his hand roughly, this time Taeju gave me a suspicious look.

“Let go nicely, you bast*rd.”

Proving that it wasn’t a joke, Taeju finally released my hand with a sincere voice and sat on the sofa opposite me.

“You always saying irritating things.”

As I held onto my wrist in anger and scowled, Taeju pointed to Salt, who had flown over as a captive.

“Speak. What is that?”

“Ppi!”

As if the word ‘that’ offended him, Salt poked Taeju’s finger with his beak. But perhaps the guy’s tough steel body didn’t feel anything, and Taeju stared at me without caring about being pecked on.

I picked up Salt, who was expressing his anger with “Ppi ppi! Ppi!,” and placed him on my knee.

“Quiet down.”

As I spoke briefly to Salt, who didn’t seem to be calming down, he soon became quiet.

“Simply put, this is the newly born Purification Bird named Salt. His ability is to purify corruptness. You just received purification as well.”

“Corruption? What are you talking about? Explain it clearly. What corruption did I get?”

The exact nature of the ‘corruption’ that hunters experience has not yet been fully explained. Originally, it was something that was supposed to reveal after Shin Sooha’s death, who had been researching about it at that time. But since Shin Sooha didn’t die, corruption was only known externally as a side effect experienced by hunters.

“In simple terms, high-level hunters accumulate corruption in their bodies every time they kill monsters. Salt is the one who purifies that. The ‘energy’ you mentioned is called purification.”

“How did you know that? And where did he come from?”

“…I found out by chance and obtained him by chance.”

The protagonist, Seo Taeju, was originally a hunter whose corruption level was not high until the middle of the novel. So I didn’t think I would ever have to show Salt to anyone, so I didn’t bother to come up with an excuse.

“I’ve transmigrated into this body, I know because I read it in the novel,” I couldn’t say that.

That’s why I used the word ‘chance.’

“You’re talking like it’s just a coincidence. Where did you steal him from?”

At this instant moment, I momentarily forgot that there was not an ounce of trust in this guy.

This bast*rd.