Shin Sooa did not even bother responding to those words, instead struggling to shake off Seo Kangrim’s grip.

But by then, merely breathing was already a struggle for her.

Feeling her twitch weakly within his grasp, Seo Kangrim opened his mouth.

“It hasn’t even been thirty minutes since the drum sounded. There is still time until the next one.”

“…….”

Only after hearing those words did Shin Sooa drop her dagger.

With a taenggang, the blade rolled across the floor.

She slowly rolled her eyes to look at Seo Kangrim.

“You said you wouldn’t come…….”

“I never said I wouldn’t. I said I would be late.”

Seo Kangrim fed Shin Sooa a bit more of the Recovery Potion.

She shook her head in an attempt to refuse, but Seo Kangrim’s stubbornness prevailed.

As he forced the potion down her throat, a bit more focus returned to her eyes.

Sensing she was ready to stab herself the moment the drum sounded, Seo Kangrim quickly got to the point.

“Why did you do this? If it were you, Ms. Shin, you could have won easily.”

“No. I…… cannot defeat my shadow.”

Her voice carried not resignation, but something closer to absolute certainty.

Shin Sooa stared at him with eyes as unyielding as wood and spoke.

“You would understand, Mr. Kangrim. Since you know what my abilities are…….”

Her abilities?

Seo Kangrim hastily opened her Fortune Window.

Only after seeing it could he understand her.

Since entering the final Demon Realm, Shin Sooa had acquired a new Special Ability.

The ability itself was one Seo Kangrim recognized.

It was an ability Shin Sooa had also possessed in his past life.

However, the timing was different.

In his past life, she had acquired these abilities after leaving the Education Facility.

The abilities themselves were not inherently bad, but the timing was terrible.

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[Special Ability] Bloodshed Impulse

[Rank] Third Ghost Grade

[Description] Upon contact with human blood, the user’s power increases. Continued use fosters dependency on this ability. If a target dies by this ability, additional Karma is accumulated.

▼

[Special Ability] Weight of Karma

[Rank] Third Divine Grade

[Description] As Karma accumulates, the user’s power increases.

═══════════════

They were abilities that grew stronger the more she harmed others.

They were the same type of abilities as Seo Kangrim’s ‘Fortune Stealing’ or Nam Yujun’s ‘Murder Impulse’.

An ordinary person would have gladly welcomed these two abilities, but Shin Sooa was different.

She refused to use these abilities.

Some might call Shin Sooa foolish for it.

To refuse using an ability that made her stronger with every slash and attack.

However, these abilities came with drawbacks as well as benefits, namely, dependency.

Even if one retained their sanity at first, their violence would escalate as time went on.

They would eventually find joy in harming others and growing stronger from it.

Knowing this all too well, Shin Sooa had avoided harming others whenever possible.

Whenever she did end up in massive contact with human blood, she would lock herself in her room for days to suppress the urges.

Sounding exhausted, Shin Sooa spoke in a sluggish voice.

“I don’t use Bloodshed Impulse, but the shadow…… is different. With every attack, my shadow grows stronger.”

The shadow only copied Shin Sooa’s abilities; it did not inherit her convictions.

Seo Kangrim knew all too well how terrifying a Demon Beast with ‘Bloodshed Impulse’ could be.

Moreover, a shadow wielding Shin Sooa’s abilities would be more than a match for most people.

“So…… please leave quickly with the others, Mr. Kangrim.”

“What about you, Ms. Shin?”

“That is something I will handle myself…….”

Was she planning to die here?

Seo Kangrim stared into Shin Sooa’s eyes and blamed himself.

Since the circumstances had changed, he should have considered the possibility of her acquiring the abilities earlier.

“……Talking so much is exhausting. I will sleep a little.”

Shin Sooa closed her eyes, her voice frail.

Her thin eyelids quivered slightly.

He watched Shin Sooa for a moment before stepping outside the Prison.

“Ah, Master.”

Yoon Bom, who had been waiting outside, jumped up from her seat.

Her expression carried a hint of guilt.

Jang Taeheon looked the same.

“I know we shouldn’t have done that. No matter what she said, we should have stopped her…….”

But they wouldn’t have been able to stop her.

How could ordinary people stop a madwoman?

Instead of reprimanding them, Seo Kangrim took a seat.

“It’s fine. Who could stop Ms. Shin once she sets her mind to something?”

His thoughts were tangled in various ways, but he couldn’t afford to waste energy on pointless matters.

‘I need to get everyone out of here as quickly as possible and then leave myself.’

Just like Shin Sooa’s, Seo Kangrim’s shadow would grow stronger the longer it operated in this place.

No, his situation was worse than Shin Sooa’s.

Seo Kangrim fiddled with the Saw Bone Belt fastened around his neck.

“Oh, Master!”

Just then, a door opened, and Yoon Gyeoul appeared.

Father Yohan and Dokgo Jun were beside him.

Father Yohan hurried over, looking delighted.

“Brother! It is a joy to see you.”

“Yes. Me too. And you dropped this.”

When Seo Kangrim pulled a rosary from his coat and handed it over, Father Yohan was overjoyed.

He received it preciously and spoke.

“Thank you so much! I had given up hope after losing it…….”

“That’s a relief.”

“But meeting you, Brother Seo Kangrim, brings me more joy than the rosary! Brother Dokgo Jun arrived two days ago, and now you are here today.”

“Weren’t you with Dokgo Jun from the start?”

At that, Dokgo Jun smiled faintly and spoke.

“Yeah. I came in a bit late because of the deadline. That’s why our paths split.”

Seo Kangrim stared at him intently.

It was true that Dokgo Jun had been nowhere to be seen on the day the doors opened.

However, Seo Kangrim had never run into him during his time alone in the Education Facility either.

‘Did he come in while I was training in the Demon Realm? Something feels off…….’

The lingering sense of unease simply would not go away.

As Seo Kangrim remained silent, Father Yohan belatedly spoke in a flustered tone.

“Oops. I will go check on Sister Shin Sooa’s condition.”

“I just gave her a Recovery Potion, so she should be fine.”

“Ah, you have already seen her?”

When he nodded, Father Yohan said nothing more.

A sorrowful light merely lingered in his gentle eyes.

The others wore similar expressions; only Dokgo Jun maintained his usual face.

Yoon Bom deliberately raised her voice as if trying to change the atmosphere.

“Now that Master is here, our search party has grown. We’ll find it in no time!”

“That would be nice, but I wonder how strong Kangrim’s shadow is……. It seemed stronger than the original.”

Jang Taeheon said with a sigh-laden voice.

Yoon Gyeoul, who had been listening, tilted his head and asked.

“The shadow is stronger than the original?”

“Yeah. It seemed stronger than me. Maybe a bit faster, too.”

Yoon Gyeoul still looked puzzled by those words.

“Mine was about the same level as me. How about you, sister?”

“Mine was similar to me too. I didn’t really get the feeling it was particularly strong…….”

“But Ms. Shin’s shadow is stronger than her, too. That’s why she’s weakening herself like that.”

“Isn’t that because of Bloodshed Impulse?”

Seo Kangrim, who had been quietly listening to their conversation, suddenly felt a gaze.

He turned to find Dokgo Jun staring at him.

He smiled, the corners of his eyes crinkling in amusement.

“Seo Kangrim, you’ve got something nice around your neck.”

He had turned up his collar to hide it, but it must have slipped during the recent fight.

At his words, the others also turned their gazes to Seo Kangrim’s neck.

Those who belatedly noticed the Saw Bone Belt all wore the same expression.

Yoon Gyeoul stammered in shock.

“M-Master, is that on your neck?”

“Yes.”

“Then you’ll die……!”

“I just need to get out before that. I’ve only been in here for a day.”

Seo Kangrim was more worried about the others than himself.

The rest had been in here for four days, leaving them with little time to spare.

Although there was no time limit, no one wanted to experience having a part of their body sawed off.

‘The next most serious case after me is Dokgo Jun.’

Dokgo Jun had Saw Bone Belts fastened around both wrists.

Shin Sooa had hers on her left arm.

Yoon Bom and Yoon Gyeoul had theirs on their ears, Jang Taeheon on a few fingers, and Father Yohan had a belt on his little finger.

Losing a finger or an ear would be painful, but it was nothing compared to losing an entire arm like Shin Sooa.

Father Yohan, also seeming worried about Shin Sooa, glanced toward the Prison and spoke.

“We need to find Sister Shin Sooa’s Identification Tag and get her out of here soon. Will we be able to find it before a week passes?”

“Father, don’t worry! We’ll find it. Let’s go search again.”

“R-right. People from other zones might come, so someone needs to stay here and guard Sister Shin Sooa…….”

It was obvious what would happen if members of another zone found the weakened Shin Sooa.

Yoon Gyeoul glanced at Seo Kangrim and spoke.

“Master, how about you stand guard? You look a bit hurt.”

“Yes, Master. Just in case, please stay here.”

Seo Kangrim nodded, not refusing their suggestion.

He also had a bit more he wanted to discuss with Shin Sooa.

“It seems we need one more person to stay. Who would like to remain?”

“Ah, Father. I’ll stand guard with Kangrim too. I’m a bit tired.”

Dokgo Jun said this with a face that showed no sign of exhaustion whatsoever.

A few people cast him suspicious glances, but Father Yohan simply smiled.

“Will you? Then we leave it to you, Brother Dokgo Jun.”

“Father, it seems like Dokgo Jun is just making excuses…….”

Jang Taeheon also seemed to agree with Yoon Gyeoul’s words.

However, Father Yohan merely pushed them out the door.

“Brother Yoon Gyeoul. We must not suspect others. Now, let us hurry and go find the Identification Tags.”

Leading the others, who still cast skeptical glances, Father Yohan left the room.

Now, only Seo Kangrim and Dokgo Jun remained at the Prison entrance.

Silence fell in an instant.

Seo Kangrim continued to look down at the floor, speaking without giving Dokgo Jun a glance.

“Wouldn’t it have been better to choose a different location? There was no need to put Ms. Shin in a Prison.”

At those words, Dokgo Jun glanced back at Seo Kangrim and smiled.

“Well, that was Ms. Shin’s decision. She figured the shadow might weaken since there’s no dirt or plants here.”

As he said, this place contained nothing but stone and iron.

He knew it was a place that could weaken the ‘Tree Leaf Seed Technique’ even slightly, but Seo Kangrim still didn’t like it.

Having to lay a bloodied, half-dead person on a stone floor.

“Is that all you wanted to ask? I thought you’d ask something else.”

Dokgo Jun wore a peculiar expression.

He somehow looked as if he was enjoying himself.

Seo Kangrim glared at him and asked.

“Was it you who sent the Space-Time Dispatch?”