10. Relationships and Boundaries

I was walking while holding someone’s hand.

Looking up, I saw a face from long ago.

A relative on my mother’s side, if I recalled correctly.

The person wore a frightening expression.

The hand dragging me along was brutally rough.

Where the relative hauled me off to, another relative was waiting.

He shoved me toward the other person and shouted.

“We can’t take this child anymore! Ever since he came into our house, nothing but bad things have happened!”

“So you’re dumping him on us? Our kids got into accidents and were hospitalized too!”

Right, I remember this conversation too.

After my parents passed away, I was placed with relatives.

But as accidents occurred in every household I entered, they began passing me around like a burden.

“But we can’t just abandon the kid. What do we do?”

“Isn’t all this happening because he refused the Divine Descent?”

“Didn’t that shaman tell us to find someone who could be his teacher?”

“Right, let’s take him to that person and have them perform the Descent Ritual1!”

Banners fluttered in the wind.

I stood before the shaman’s house, gazing up at the fluttering banners.

It was a peaceful quiet I hadn’t felt in a long time.

Outside, all manner of auditory hallucinations had pressed in on me, suffocating and relentless. But stepping inside, my body felt remarkably at ease.

Just then, someone placed a hand squarely on my shoulder.

“Are you Kangrim?”

I looked up and saw an unfamiliar face.

A woman who appeared to be around my late mother’s age, with a rather stern demeanor.

She looked down at me quietly and spoke.

“My name is Seo Hwakyung.”

“…….”

“They tell me they want me to perform the Descent Ritual on you…….”

She glanced briefly into the shrine as she spoke.

The relatives cowered, watching her every move.

“You don’t actually want to receive the Divine Descent, do you?”

I gave no answer.

Hwakyung clicked her tongue with mild irritation.

“You don’t?”

“……I don’t want it. But if I don’t receive it, the people around me get hurt…….”

She studied me in silence.

Her intimidating expression softened slightly.

She looked somewhat troubled, and perhaps a little pitying.

“What’s with that look on this kid.”

She grumbled, then crouched down to meet my eye level.

“The deity trying to descend upon you is too powerful, so I can’t protect you completely. But I can shield you to some extent.”

“…….”

“Become my disciple. Until you learn how to protect yourself.”

Hwakyung grasped my hand firmly.

I flinched and tried to pull away, but she wouldn’t let go.

“You’ll get hurt too, ma’am.”

“Are you underestimating me? Don’t worry. I have a deity who protects me as well.”

She laughed confidently.

Then, as if holding my hand wasn’t enough, she placed her other hand on my shoulder.

Hwakyung looked at me with unwavering eyes.

“It’s painful now, but someday it will be alright. Good people will come into your life, and you’ll be able to find happiness.”

“…….”

“So, Seo Kangrim.”

Just then, the scenery behind her seemed to ripple faintly.

Like the surface of water disturbed by a thrown stone.

Hwakyung placed her hand on my head and spoke.

“Now open your eyes. It’s time to go back.”

* * *

The air in the room settled in a calm stillness.

Slowly opening my eyes and looking around, I took in the neatly organized interior, pristine as a hotel room.

The only difference was the array of medical devices surrounding the bed I lay on.

This was probably a hospital.

Through my hazy consciousness, memories belatedly surfaced.

We had barely managed to all reach level 30, and awakened the Twelve Zodiac.

In the Saw Bone Room, I had barely defeated the Shadow before collapsing myself.

I was certain I had died…….

But what happened to Shin Sooa?

As I bolted upright, the devices attached all over my body ripped free with a series of snaps.

The IV in my arm tore out forcibly, blood welling up, but this wasn’t the time to worry about that.

I tried to force myself up, only to end up rolling on the floor.

“Ugh……!”

Every inch of my body screamed in agony.

A pain as if every bone in my body had shattered and was piercing my organs.

Was this the penalty of ‘Roar of the Cornered Rat’?

Even breathing was difficult, but I wasn’t dead.

I was about to crawl my way out when the door flew open.

“Patient Seo Kangrim! Please don’t move!”

The people who entered were nurses.

They tried to force me upright and back into bed.

They were ordinary people at best, yet I couldn’t push their hands away.

“Shin Sooa, what about Shin Sooa…….”

“Are you asking about Patient Shin Sooa? She’s safe too. So please calm down!”

She was hospitalized too?

No, of course she was hospitalized.

The last I saw of her, she was in such a dreadful state. If she made it out of the Demon Realm, she would certainly have been hospitalized.

As I reluctantly lay back down, the nurses hurriedly tidied the room and said,

“Please wait a moment, we’ll bring the person in charge shortly. You’ve been asleep for a whole month. Thank goodness you’ve woken up.”

A month. A whole month.

Thanks to dreaming of my teacher, it seemed I had woken up sooner than expected.

No, something else bothered me more.

If a month had passed and Shin Sooa was still hospitalized, she must have suffered severe injuries as well.

Just then, a notification window appeared before my eyes.

[Spirit Beast ‘Rini’ is being summoned from the Spirit Realm!]

[Spirit Beast ‘Yorongi’ is being summoned from the Spirit Realm!]

The moment a vortex of magic power materialized, two creatures burst forth from thin air.

Heavy lumps dropped onto my stomach.

“Keul-leok!”

Taking damage from something like this—the penalty really was severe.

The moment they saw me, both creatures scrambled over frantically, licking my face.

“Wung-wung!”

“Kyaang!”

Tears even brimmed in Rini’s eyes.

Even Yorongi, who always acted prickly, wagged its tail furiously—they must have been worried sick about me.

“I’m awake now. I’m fine…….”

As I stroked and soothed the two creatures, something bizarre entered my field of vision.

An unfamiliar figure stood in the hospital room.

I wondered if a nurse had remained behind, but the attire was different—and one of its limbs was missing.

Only then did I realize it wasn’t alive.

As I watched for a moment, it quietly faded from view.

I used to see such things often as a child.

Whether to call them ghosts or demon beasts.

Either way, they were all entities that didn’t belong to the living world.

After receiving the Suppression Ritual and living with my teacher, such visions had ceased, and I’d forgotten about them entirely.

But why could I see them again, all of a sudden?

[You are approaching the Boundary due to accumulated karma.]

I smiled bitterly at the notification that floated before me.

So this was the penalty of karma.

I had been expecting it ever since I began stealing the fortunes of hundreds of people.

It had stayed dormant at the Education Facility, but it seemed to have finally activated now.

Accumulating karma brought several problems.

One of them was drawing closer to ‘the Boundary.’

No one knew exactly what that boundary signified.

Some called it the boundary between the living and the dead. Others called it the boundary between humans and ghosts.

As karma accumulated and one drew closer to the Boundary, they would see what shouldn’t be seen and hear what shouldn’t be heard.

And if one were to cross that Boundary…….

“U-ung?”

Rini suddenly thrust its face toward mine.

That startled me.

It stared at me as if wondering what I was looking at, so I stroked Rini.

“No, it’s nothing.”

Drawing closer to the Boundary was an ominous sign, but on the other hand, there was good news as well.

Checking my Fortune Window, I found that my Fate Rank had increased.

═══════════════

[Name] Seo Kangrim

[Rank] Third Ghost Grade

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After clearing the Snake’s Room and recruiting Jang Taeheon, my Fate Rank had risen to Second Human Grade.

And now it had jumped two ranks at once to Third Ghost Grade.

I must have truly been on the verge of death in that place.

Not just me—Shin Sooa had nearly died too.

Anyway, I wanted to get up and check on Shin Sooa’s condition, but the nurses showed no sign of returning.

I had grown accustomed to the pain, and my limbs moved.

Stepping out for a moment should be fine.

Just as I was about to send the spirit beasts back and leave the room, the door opened and someone walked in.

“Seo Kangrim, you’ve finally woken up.”

The people who entered were Team Leader Princess and an unfamiliar man.

Checking his Fortune Window, I found his name was ‘Joo Sungtae.’

From his attire, he appeared to be a Death Messenger as well.

Team Leader Princess approached me with a composed expression.

“It’s been a while, Seo Kangrim.”

Team Leader Princess pulled up a chair and sat down across from me.

I was a patient, after all, yet there was no word of congratulations on my recovery.

As if she had known I would wake up.

She crossed her arms, studied me for a moment with a hard stare, then abruptly fired off a question.

“Why didn’t you tell us you had an ability that steals other abilities?”

So it had been exposed to the Bureau as well.

It was neither surprising nor particularly unfortunate.

I had always known that among my Special Abilities, ‘Fortune Stealing’ would eventually be discovered.

I was fully aware that it might be exposed during the final Demon Realm.

The only reason I had kept it hidden was to earn the trust of Shin Sooa and the others.

If everyone had made it out safely, it no longer mattered if the truth came to light.

When I didn’t answer, Princess pressed the question again.

“Answer me. Why did you hide your ability?”

“I was worried this would be the reaction.”

Those words gave Princess pause.

My answer wasn’t particularly strange.

If word got out that I could steal abilities, being persecuted by everyone was only natural.

It was such an obvious truth—who would honestly disclose that from the start?

Princess watched me in silence before posing her next question.

“Have you ever killed someone intentionally to steal their ability?”

“No.”

“What about unintentional cases?”

“There have been instances where I acted in self-defense.”

When we entered this facility, we had signed contracts.

The contract included clauses regarding injury and death.

A warning that injury or death could result from encounters with demon beasts or conflicts between cadets.

Indiscriminate murder would naturally be punished, but self-defense was given some leniency.

Even so, murder was still murder.

Joo Sungtae apparently felt the same—I could sense hostility in the way he looked at me.

I glanced at them and asked.

“So, what happens to me now? Will I be punished?”

Princess didn’t answer my question.

She simply watched me in silence.

Finishing her observation, Princess spoke.

“Congratulations, Seo Kangrim.”

Princess continued with an impassive expression.

“You have completed your training with the highest marks among all cadets across every zone.”

Joo Sungtae beside her wore a look of sheer disbelief.

Unable to contain himself, he burst out.

“Team Leader, you can’t seriously be considering such a dangerous individual……!”

“Shut your mouth, Joo Sungtae.”

At Team Leader Princess’s low, threatening voice, Joo Sungtae fell silent.

Princess continued slowly.

“And I have a proposal for you, Seo Kangrim, as our most outstanding cadet.”

“A proposal?”

She extended her hand toward me as if offering a handshake.

A clear voice rang out.

“Fate Protection Bureau Team 2 offers Seo Kangrim a full-time position.”