At my sudden outburst, Shin Sooa stopped in her tracks and looked at me.

As if wondering what had gotten into me.

I approached her and held out my hand.

“Let me see that.”

“The fingernail clippings?”

“Yes.”

Though puzzled, Shin Sooa handed me the tissue containing the clippings.

I took it and immediately activated my special ability.

[Special Ability ‘Ten-Foot Blaze’ is activated!]

Flames erupted from my palm, incinerating the tissue and clippings whole.

At the sudden flare of fire, Shin Sooa’s eyes went wide.

“Mr. Kangrim, what are you doing?”

“It’s best not to discard parts of your body so carelessly.”

I said, brushing the remaining ash from my hand.

“Some special abilities require obtaining a piece of someone’s body to activate. There are also cases where you insert hair into a Straw Doll and drive nails into it.”

“What’s a Straw Doll?”

“A straw effigy. Looks like a curse doll.”

That was why there had been those desperate to get their hands on my hair.

I paused to think, then continued.

“And my ability works similarly. Some of them require acquiring a body part to activate.”

I might need their cooperation later, so I gave them a brief explanation.

After hearing me out, Shin Sooa spoke with a serious expression.

“Do you happen to need a body part? I should have just given you the clippings earlier, then.”

“…That wasn’t my intention, actually.”

“Still, you never know. It’d be a waste. I’ll start saving my clippings from now on.”

“Me too, Master!”

“No. Don’t save them.”

The mental image of the two of them collecting clippings to hand over to me made me feel a bit ill.

But on a separate note, these two were truly peculiar.

Offering to cooperate without even knowing what it would be used for.

Whether they were just naive, or genuinely trusted me….

“Also, I’d appreciate it if you kept my ability a secret. If it gets out, it’ll cause trouble in more ways than one.”

“Ah, that’s true… You’re getting a lot of attention right now, Master!”

What was that about?

I stared blankly, not following, and Yoon Bom tilted her head.

“Oh, Master. You didn’t know? When I woke up this morning, the community forums were in an uproar.”

Community forums?

Wondering what the commotion was about this time, I went online and checked the forums.

The moment I opened the main page, several articles caught my eye.

「Awakened Ones Trapped in Demon Realm Rescued in Large Numbers.」

「Time Flowed Differently — Survivors Trapped for Years.」

「Protection Bureau’s Efforts Prevent Greater Casualties.」

Unexpectedly, the articles were fairly prominent.

Demon Realms with distorted time flows were rare to begin with, and the story of a Manshin who devoured humans was certainly sensational….

Skimming through the content, I found a brief mention of myself as well.

「The efforts of the Protection Bureau’s Death Messengers prevented a greater tragedy. It was revealed that another awakened individual had accompanied the Death Messengers.」

「The awakened individual’s name is Seo Kangrim, confirmed to be the top cadet at the Education Facility…」

「Who is Seo Kangrim, the awakened one who lifted the survivors’ curses and vanished without a trace?」

Right, at this point even Human Grade Demon Realms still made the news.

About five years later, Human Grade would become the standard, so I’d forgotten about that.

Yoon Bom’s eyes sparkled as she spoke from beside me.

“Master, you’re amazing! I felt a little left out when you left yesterday saying you had business, but you were rescuing people the whole time!”

“Mmm…”

That wasn’t exactly what happened, but it felt awkward to deny it.

I let Yoon Bom’s overenthusiastic gaze slide and browsed other message boards.

Plenty of posts about me had been uploaded there as well.

-Who is Seo Kangrim that he’s hanging around with Death Messengers?

-He’s the top-ranked cadet at the Central Branch Education Facility!

-According to the survivors, he carried around a Spirit Beast and used Purification.

-A Spirit Beast?? That was a thing?

All sorts of things had been posted overnight.

There were posts from people curious about me and reviews from the survivors, but my eyes were drawn to a different kind of post.

[Title: I was in the same Education Facility as Seo Kangrim and his personality is trash]

Right, this was familiar territory.

Checking the content, I found it filled with insults and slander about me.

-So what if he’s first? That bastard goes around selling the 5,000 Spirit Jade he received as free provisions.

I didn’t recall selling 5,000 Spirit Jade.

Without my knowledge, I’d apparently become a tycoon.

-His personality is one thing, but he’s a murderer. He has a special ability that steals the fate of the dead, so he’s killed several people. At least ten, probably?

-The survivor rescue this time? That only worked because the Death Messengers were there. Otherwise he might have killed them all.

Numerous comments were attached beneath the post.

There were about a hundred, but the content was all similarly themed.

-That’s right, Seo Kangrim killed members of our zone too! He brazenly claims there’s no evidence, but he’s the culprit.

-Are they just letting criminals run free?? What is the Protection Bureau doing?

-I want to know what his face looks like so I can avoid him;;

In response to the comment asking to see his face, the poster kindly attached a photo of me.

It was blurry and only showed my profile, but I was still recognizable.

“M-Master… Are you okay? This person is terrible! Even uploading a photo! You didn’t do anything wrong!”

Unlike me, who was watching with interest, Yoon Bom looked at me with concern.

Shin Sooa’s expression was also grim.

She spoke with a serious face.

“Shouldn’t we catch him and teach him a lesson?”

“Right, Unnie1?”

“No, no. Let it be.”

The scary part was that Shin Sooa and Yoon Bom would probably actually do it if they said so.

Who knew what would happen if a former Five Great Sects leader and a former assassin affiliated with the Five Great Sects decided to “teach someone a lesson.”

Shin Sooa still wore a stiff expression as she said,

“But still, Mr. Kangrim, aren’t you upset?”

“No. I’m not. I don’t really care about posts like this…”

It wasn’t empty courtesy — I meant it.

I’d experienced this countless times in my past life.

I was about to close the forums after a quick browse when another post caught my eye.

It was also about me, but the topic of discussion was different.

-Seo Kangrim?? Isn’t this the guy Dokgo Jun was talking about?

-What did Dokgo Jun say about him?

-Go watch this and then come back and talk.

What had Dokgo Jun been saying?

A link was attached at the bottom of the comments, so I clicked it.

The title on the video was quite something.

[I Was a Web Novel Author Earning Hundreds of Millions, and After Awakening, I’m a Divine Grade Manshin?]

…Just from the title, I could roughly guess the content.

He’d been quiet after leaving the Education Facility, and it turned out he’d been doing interviews this whole time.

In my past life, Dokgo Jun had quickly risen to fame as well.

Curious about what he’d been spouting, I played the interview.

[Mr. Dokgo Jun, you continued serializing even after entering the Education Facility. Do you plan to keep working as a novelist while active as a Manshin?]

[Well, my main profession is novelist? Clearing Demon Realms is just a hobby and data collection.]

[I see. When I heard you were establishing a sect, I thought you’d be opposed to the idea.]

In my past life, he had founded a sect called the Gidam Sect immediately after leaving the Education Facility.

It was similar to the future I knew, which put me somewhat at ease.

[How would someone go about joining your sect, Mr. Dokgo Jun?]

[I’d say you’d need to be at least main or supporting character level, at minimum.]

[Um… Are you saying their rank needs to be high?]

[Actually, it’s less about rank and more about something else. I know someone who’s a protagonist but only Insect Grade.]

His eyes gleamed with a sinister light.

The interviewer seemed quite flustered by Dokgo Jun’s words.

[Insect Grade? You’re saying you’d bring an Insect Grade Manshin into your sect?]

[Yeah. He’s my one and only partner.]

At that moment, Dokgo Jun looked directly at the camera.

As if staring right at me.

He grinned broadly and waved.

[Seo Kangrim, are you watching? I’ll be coming to see you soon…]

I immediately shut off the video.

He was the same as ever, whether inside the Education Facility or out.

I thought he’d lost interest after fleeing the Saw Bone Room, but apparently not.

Meanwhile, Shin Sooa, who had been watching the video beside me, gazed at me steadily.

“You’re not planning to join the Gidam Sect, are you?”

“Hard to say.”

If I assumed the worst-case scenario where Baekyoung came and annihilated everyone, Dokgo Jun wouldn’t be a bad ally to have.

It wouldn’t matter much if Dokgo Jun died, after all.

However, Shin Sooa seemed a bit taken aback by my answer.

“Are you really his one and only partner?”

“No, no. That’s impossible.”

Yoon Bom also looked at me with eyes full of betrayal.

Only after I denied it several times did they both seem to believe me.

Though their gazes were still a bit unsettling.

Just then, my phone rang.

“Excuse me for a moment.”

I stepped away from the two and took out my phone.

It was an unknown number.

It could be Kang Dohyun or someone from the Fate Protection Bureau, so I answered.

“Yes, hello.”

“[Ah, is this Seo Kangrim’s phone?]”

It was an unfamiliar woman’s voice.

Soft and warm, yet somehow unpleasant.

“Speaking.”

“[Hello. I’m the Asura Sect sect leader.]”

the Asura Sect.

It was the first sect to emerge, and it had an adversarial relationship with the Flying Tiger Sect.

Along with the Gidam Sect, it was also one of the most notorious among the Five Great Sects.

The reason the Asura Sect had been able to quickly establish itself as a sect and build its foundation was that they had originally been a single organization.

The Asura Faction, a notorious organized crime syndicate, was their origin.

Being an organized crime syndicate to begin with, they attracted no shortage of controversy.

“[Um, Mr. Seo Kangrim?]”

“I’m not interested. I’m hanging up.”

Nothing good came from associating with gangsters.

After I hung up, Shin Sooa and Yoon Bom looked at me quizzically.

“Master, what was that?”

“Spam call.”

I’d hung up for now, but knowing the Asura Sect’s nature, they would obviously keep trying to contact me.

If used well, they might actually be of some help, though…

Just then, the doorbell rang.

“Gyeoul must be here. Just a moment!”

Yoon Bom rushed over and opened the door.

But the person on the other side wasn’t Yoon Gyeoul.

Yoon Bom tilted her head and asked,

“Who are you?”

“Thank you for opening the door.”

The visitor was a young woman.

She had the overall air of a daughter from a noble household.

A woman draped in a flimsy dress, smiling gently.

Holding a phone in her hand, she spoke in my direction.

“I’m sorry if I’m interrupting. I really wanted to meet you, so I came here.”

…She’d called from right outside the room.

Tracking down my phone number, finding my residence — both were equally troubling.

Though with the Asura Sect’s information network, it would be a simple matter.

I stared at the woman and said,

“And who are you?”

“I’m Shin Ara, the Asura Sect sect leader you just spoke with on the phone.”

“You’re the Asura Sect sect leader? Why should I believe that?”

I already recognized her face, but I feigned ignorance, not wanting to get entangled with her.

At my words, Shin Ara’s expression turned slightly troubled.

“Hmm. I guess I’m not very famous. But I really am the sect leader. Sooa can vouch for me. Right, Sooa?”

Saying that, Shin Ara looked at Shin Sooa with a warm, friendly expression.

But Shin Sooa spoke with intense wariness in her eyes.

“…Why are you here, Unnie?”