CH 8

In this situation, the best response I could give to that guy is to remain as calm as possible.

“What are you so curious about? I didn’t steal it, and it’s none of your business, so mind your own.”

Although Seo Go-woon, the character in the novel, was a good-for-nothing and trash, he wasn’t the type to steal.

‘How could a cowardly little guy like him who’s too scared of monsters to even enter a dungeon steal something?’

At best, he had relied on Seo Taeju, the vice-guild master of the Noeul Guild and also an SS-ranked hunter, to spread some false rumors about himself among the public. Stealing was only possible if his guts had disemboweled out of his body.

‘It’s like the saying that ‘even if the great thieves of history were caught by the police, it wasn’t without reason that they were so confident.’

On the other hand, even Seo Taeju, who knew that Seo Go-woon wasn’t that capable of such things, which was he kept his mouth shut while staring at me intently. Although the disdainful gaze I saw this morning was gone, the guy still seemed to be suspicious of me.

I later raised both of my hands and spoke, “What do you get from staring at me like that? Fine, to make it short, this thing was legitimately obtained by me from the Tower.”

“The Tower?”

“Yeah. The Tower.”

“You’re saying you’ve been to the Tower?” Seo Taeju snickered at my explanation. “Tell me something more believable, like a dog stops pooping. I’ll only believe you if you make sense.”

“Dog stops pooping… you really have the nerve to say that… Fine, think whatever you want. I’m tired of entertaining you.”

“Fine. If there’s any problem, I’ll just ignore your last words or whatever.”

“Sure. Do as you please.”

‘He may not know this, but I don’t have time for causing trouble right now. I need to train this weak, short-lived body of Seo Go-woon, save the hunters who are destined to die, and soothe and appease the people I’ve saved so they can climb the Tower as quickly as possible.’

Just thinking about the predicament I was in made me breathless.

Seo Taeju, who seemed unsatisfied with my docile response, asked again, “…Have you ever shown that bird to anyone else?”

Surprised by the unexpected question, I raised my eyebrows, to which he frowned once more in return.

‘What an annoying personality, seriously. I remember him not being the kind of person who pays attention to others. He should’ve just maintained his indifferent-to-the-world concept.’

“Hey, are you not going to answer?” Seo Taeju couldn’t stand the brief moment of silence, and pressed me again.

“No. I never intended to show it to you either.”

Although I purified Shin Sooha with the Purification Bird, the bird actually had just transformed from an egg, so it wasn’t totally a lie.

“Then don’t show it to anyone other than me from now on. It’s dangerous.”

Taeju, who was described in the novel as being incredibly smart, detected the danger that the Purification Bird, or more accurately, the value of the bird could bring with just one purification.

I agreed with him on this point, so I nodded. “I know that too.”

“No, you don’t. You don’t know what it feels like to be purified.”

‘What on earth is he blabbering about? Purification isn’t just ordinary? Does it have a certain feeling?’

In the novel, it was described as feeling like one’s body was submerged in warm water, but it seemed that the person experiencing it had their own unique sensation.

“What does it feel like?”

“It feels like I want to kill you right now and make that thing mine.”

For a moment, I saw a familiar look in his eyes. A hateful gaze that felt entitled to snatch something from others and possess it—the look of a criminal. The eyes of Taeju in front of me, who was speaking, sparkled eerily to which I sensed he was being 100% truthful.

‘This guy, who has almost everything, feels this way?’

I looked down at Salt, sleeping with its head resting on my palm.

“This bird is registered as your pet, right?”

“Uh? Yeah.”

“Then you could be in danger too. Because of its homing instinct.”

In the case of a bonded item, others could not use it, and if someone took a pet away, the pet would eventually return to its owner on its own. If someone forcibly stole Salt, this little thing would also return to my side due to its homing instinct.

“Use your head and think about it. How does someone else use a bird with a homing instinct?”

“They’d kidnap me. You don’t need brains to know that.”

“That’s right. And they’d force the bird to be used.”

I had seen many similar things in my previous life. Of course, I knew the implied meaning behind the word ‘force.’ Kidnapping would lead to everyday violence, and in the worst-case scenario, one might no longer appear human. To prevent escape, cutting off legs would be nothing to a kidnapper with no conscience.

But obtaining the Purification Egg wasn’t just for Shin Sooha and Seo Taeju. There was another hunter I had to save using the Purification Egg.

“I’m not going to save you. Whether you die or get used, I’m going to leave you alone. Take care of yourself.”

“Fine. Please do that. Just stop caring.”

“I’m not joking. I’ve kept our parents’ will to the best of my ability.”

In the novel, Seo Go-woon’s parents left a will to Seo Taeju before they died. It was a will asking the latter to take care of his reckless brother. As a result, Seo Taeju couldn’t ignore the will of the parents who cherished him like their own son. That’s why, even when Seo Go-woon did such reckless things like plundering money, Taeju held back, thinking of the will.

“I got it. And you don’t have to observe their will anymore. Why are you still keeping their will like a fool?”

I just blurted out my true feelings.

If Seo Go-woon hadn’t died in the novel, this guy would have been under Seo Taeju’s control for his entire life. Even though I possessed Seo Go-woon’s body and this guy was being a jerk to me, Seo Taeju himself was actually a good guy.

“What?”

“Why are you still keeping such a foolish promise? It’s because you act like that, this kid… no, I mean me, grew up to be a good-for-nothing.”

“What are you talking about…”

“Don’t worry about it if you don’t understand.”

As someone who read the novel to the end, I know that. In the plan, only a few people absolutely needed to be saved through purification. I saved one of them, and the rest could be purified sneakily like what I did with Shin Sooha when the opportunity arises.

‘This guy has been through a lot too, so there’s no need to make him suffer more. If it doesn’t work out, there will be at least one other person who can take his place.’

On the other hand, Seo Taeju, who had frowned at my words for a moment, looked at me suspiciously for a while before standing up from his seat.

“Whether you believe me or not, I won’t bother you anymore.”

Hearing my words, he looked down at me with the same expression he had when he said, ‘a dog stops pooping’ earlier and then walked towards his room.

I let out a sigh and sank into the sofa.

“I’m tired of all this. It would be great if I could just go back to reality after sleeping,” I tried to think positively.

But there was no need to even think positively; since I could feel it—there was no way for me to return.

“Purification.”

Taeju, who plopped down on the sofa, held out his hand.

[Passive skill ‘Diagnosis’ is activated.]

‘Did this guy entrust me with his purification?’

I looked at the insolent guy as if he were ridiculous, sighed, and called for Salt, “Salt.”

Salt, who had flown from my room as a prisoner, now sat comfortably on Taeju’s hand. Taeju let out a lazy sigh and sank into the sofa.

Purification must have been good for him, as Taeju came home for lunch every day to receive it.

However.

[Seo Taeju – Contamination level 0%]

“Ppi ppi!”

When the purification was over and Salt returned to me, the insolent Taeju left the house without even saying a word as if he only had that one task.

‘I wonder if he’s trying to clear all the dungeons in our country by himself since he acts so busy.’

Tsk tsk, I clicked my tongue as I finished hanging up the laundry.

I had told him that I had grown up now and didn’t need his protection, so I would take care of the housework, and he should mind his own business. Hearing my words, Seo Taeju had scoffed, seemingly waiting to see how long I would last.

‘Did he think I would give up after a day or two?’

On the contrary to Seo Taeju’s expectations, he would have never known that cleaning came second after my first hobby, which was shooting. In fact, there was no activity as calming as cleaning. Moreover, since the house became cleaner as I moved around, I ended up killing two birds with one stone.

On top of that, this house was spacious, which allowed me to have plenty of time to think. A wide, sparkling clean house – even imagining it was nice.

“Finished.”

After tidying up all the towels, I returned to my room and opened the wardrobe.

“I need to sort out my clothes too.”

I couldn’t adapt to Seo Go-woon’s taste at all.

Seeing the bright colors made me shudder every time I saw them. I would wash the clothes I wore when I went to the tower in the evening and wear them again in the morning, but I could only last like this for a day or two. While it didn’t matter now since I had nowhere to go, however, considering the people I had to save in the future, I needed to buy clothes as soon as possible.

“I should visit the supermarket tomorrow,” I sat at my desk, thinking about the location of the supermarket I saw during my morning run.

Then, I opened my notebook to check who I had to save next.

“Anyway, the next one in line was… Michael, right?”

I picked up a pen and circled Michael’s name.

He was the guild leader of one of the top three guilds in the country, the Holy Spirit Guild, and currently the most virtuous figure in this country who could cast a protective barrier with his holy power.

“I remember him dying during the early monster wave.”

The problem was, I didn’t know the exact date of Michael’s death.

In the novel, it was only described as “A monster wave occurred in the middle of Gangnam. Michael, who was saving people, died after his mana was completely exhausted.”

“Since the exact monster wave that kills Michael isn’t mentioned, I can’t close the Gate right away.” I tapped my diary with my pen and pondered. “How can I save this Michael guy?”

The monster wave that killed him progressed in less than an hour but resulted in countless sacrifices. The number of monsters that poured out was as many as those in an average monster wave that lasted for several hours, and the monsters that could only be seen in S+ dungeons came out in droves.

‘It would’ve been nice to save him since he’s a good guy.’

Michael, who didn’t know that fact, spread a protective barrier to protect ordinary people. His intention was to hold out just until other hunters arrived. However, the number of monsters that poured out for 40 minutes was too overwhelming. The late-arriving hunters tried their best to kill the monsters, but it took time to eliminate all the S-ranked monsters.

‘It’s a waste to just let him die.’

In the end, Michael’s protective barrier disappeared when his mana was exhausted, and the monsters circling the barrier immediately carried out a massacre. Even the description in the novel depicted the scene of the massacre as hellish.

“Hmm, should I casually bring it up to Seo Taeju?”