It would be troublesome if Dokgo Jun were to take an interest in me.

Just as I was about to slip away, a notification window appeared.

[First Clear of the Third Room, ‘Room of Cold Ice’!]

[Achiever: Dokgo Jun (Solo)]

It was a First Clear notification.

The crowd began to murmur softly as the first clearer emerged.

“He already cleared it?”

“I’ve only managed five species so far…”

Dokgo Jun showed no reaction, as if being the first clearer was only natural.

He glanced at me briefly, but his gaze was utterly indifferent.

Then he turned his head and walked away.

It was a relief that Dokgo Jun seemed to have no interest in me.

I glanced at the people surrounding me and spoke.

“Mr. Dokgo Jun achieved the First Clear. He’s stronger than I am, so you should stick with him.”

“But you seem stronger, Mr. Seo Kangrim…”

“I just got lucky. I have companions waiting for me, so please excuse me.”

Right on cue, Yoon Bom and Yoon Gyeoul came down to the lobby, and I moved in their direction.

Yoon Bom greeted me cheerfully.

“Hi, Kangrim oppa! Wow, looks like someone got the First Clear while we were away.”

Yoon Gyeoul was blinking at the notification window.

Then he looked a little apologetic.

“Honestly, I thought you’d be the one to get the First Clear, Kangrim oppa… Was it because you were traveling with us?”

“It doesn’t matter.”

I hadn’t planned on getting the First Clear anyway.

If I had, Dokgo Jun would have taken an interest in me again.

Besides, the hidden clear rewards in this room were better than the First Clear rewards, so I had no regrets.

“Then let’s get going.”

We headed toward the snowfield, which was now familiar to us.

It was still morning, and the sun hung high in the sky.

While moving to a hunting ground I had scouted earlier and hunting, I felt a strange gaze from the air.

So it was finally beginning.

[You can sense the presence of a god.]

From the third Demon Realm onward, the gods begin to observe humans.

In order to grant Divine Descent1.

Among people, those who awaken their abilities and hunt demon beasts are classified as Hunters.

And among Hunters, those who receive Divine Descent are called Manshin2.

Receiving Divine Descent grants immense power in an instant.

Because of this, the majority of outstanding Hunters were Manshin.

For that reason, many people wanted to receive Divine Descent, but the gods were selective and chose their humans carefully.

In my case, in my past life, the gods showed no interest in me.

No god would want to descend upon a weak human, after all.

[Several gods are watching you.]

But in this life, there were gods who had taken notice of me.

They were unwelcome gazes.

If they were interested enough to pay attention to me, they might have already sent Divine Descent offers to Yoon Bom or Yoon Gyeoul.

I glanced at the two from a distance, but there were no particular signs of that.

Only the sound of them bickering loudly reached my ears.

“Yoon Gyeoul, why do you keep stealing my demon beasts?”

“If you don’t like it, then you should catch them first, noona.”

Yoon Gyeoul seemed to find Yoon Bom’s anger amusing and kept egging her on.

I shouted at the two of them.

“Don’t go too far, and never go off alone.”

“Got it, Hyung!”

“Yes, oppa!”

As long as the two of them kept traveling together, there wouldn’t be any problems.

Especially since only relatively weak demon beasts appeared in this area.

For now, I decided to butcher the demon beast I had just hunted.

[You have acquired ‘Snowfield Saber-toothed Tiger Hide’.]

[You have acquired ‘Snowfield Saber-toothed Tiger Bones’.]

[You have acquired ‘Snowfield Saber-toothed Tiger Meat’.]

“Phew…”

By the time I finished butchering, both my hands were soaked in blood.

One could obtain quite a lot of useful materials from a Snowfield Saber-toothed Tiger’s carcass.

As I gathered the items and stood up, something flew toward me.

-Piseong!

Thanks to ‘Senses’, I could sense the incoming attack without even seeing it.

I twisted my body to dodge the attack and let out a sigh.

“What do you think you’re doing?”

I turned around and saw Cheon Gunam standing there.

Unlike his usual demeanor, he had a triumphant expression.

I had spared his life because I didn’t want to accumulate karma, but it seemed he was seeking his own death.

“I’m going to pay you back exactly for the humiliation you caused me last time.”

“Do you think you can win?”

“Of course.”

Cheon Gunam showed not a trace of fear.

He actually looked amused.

He grinned and spoke.

“I received Divine Descent.”

═══════════════

[Name] Cheon Gunam

[Rank] First Human Grade

[Five Elements] Water

[Deity Name] Little Guest of Plague

═══════════════

True to his words, a ‘Deity Name’ field had appeared in his Fortune Window.

Cheon Gunam spoke with a confident voice.

“I can hear the voice of a god. I really am the protagonist. That’s why a god chose me…!”

Now even Cheon Gunam was spouting protagonist nonsense.

Having a guardian god attached to him seemed to have gone to his head in more ways than one.

From the looks of it, he had also received a new Special Ability.

He spoke with a vicious glint in his eyes.

“I’ll make you regret this, Mr. Seo Kangrim.”

At those words, over a dozen Water Bullets were loaded around Cheon Gunam.

The surrounding temperature was low, so the Water Bullets took the form of icicles and rained down fiercely toward me.

-Kwagwagwak!

The Water Bullets struck perilously close to my feet.

Normally, I would have dodged them easily, but the terrain was disadvantageous.

This place was surrounded by snow and ice.

Because of the Water Overcomes Fire principle, my body’s condition was poor.

As I dodged the attack, I heard a gleeful laugh.

“People need to see you like this!”

[Special Ability ‘Water Bullet’ activates!]

Without even giving me a moment to catch my breath, a second attack flew in.

Compared to last time, both the attack power and speed had clearly increased.

It wasn’t just the effect of Divine Descent—the Cold Ice Demon Realm itself was a favorable location for Cheon Gunam.

This place was covered in snow on all sides.

For Cheon Gunam, who used water to create his Water Bullets, it was nothing short of paradise.

Conversely, it was a disadvantageous place for me.

I needed to put as much distance between us as possible.

I sprinted to dodge the Water Bullets.

“How long are you going to run, Mr. Seo Kangrim!”

Cheon Gunam shouted as he chased after me.

As I fled with all my senses on high alert, a notification window appeared before my eyes.

[The energy of Water overcomes Seo Kangrim’s destiny!]

[The energy of Water has stacked 2 times, reducing Seo Kangrim’s stats by 20%!]

At that moment, my legs lost their strength.

It felt as if my entire body had been submerged in water.

At the sudden penalty notification, I looked up at the sky.

Snow was falling.

It was already hard enough to move, but with the snow falling, the strength began to drain from my body.

“A god is with me! Running is useless!”

Cheon Gunam had become emboldened, backed by a god.

But not all gods were equal.

The Little Guest of Plague, the Cheorwon Doryeong, was one of the deities known as Guest Deities3.

Another name for the Guest Deities was the Mama Goddess, deities who could both inflict and cure smallpox.

Looking only at that, he didn’t seem like a bad god.

He was a god of plague, but he could also cure disease.

However, even among the Guest Deities, they weren’t all of the same rank.

The Cheorwon Doryeong4 was one of the lower-ranking Little Guests among the Guest Deities.

At this level, I could fight him.

I took out an item from my Storage Pouch.

* * *

The bullets made of water relentlessly pursued their prey.

Cheon Gunam was chasing Seo Kangrim with a confident smile.

‘After receiving Divine Descent, I feel like I could fly.’

While hunting alone in the snowfield, Cheon Gunam had heard the voice of a god.

Overjoyed that a god had chosen him and taken an interest, he accepted the Divine Descent without hesitation.

The Cheorwon Doryeong lent his power to Cheon Gunam and even granted him a new Special Ability.

═══════════════

[Special Ability] Mama

[Rank] First Human Grade

[Description] Borrows the power of the Guest Deity to afflict the target with Mama. When attacking while the Special Ability ‘Mama’ is active, the struck area becomes infected.

═══════════════

Upon receiving Divine Descent, his magic power had increased dramatically, so no matter how many Water Bullets he fired, he didn’t tire.

Moreover, this place was surrounded by snow on all sides.

The water, the material for his Water Bullets, was in abundance.

‘Seeing as Seo Kangrim uses fire abilities, his Fortune must also be fire-attribute.’

Cheon Gunam had also begun to notice the general elemental relationships as he progressed through three rooms.

Water extinguishes fire.

In other words, he was Seo Kangrim’s natural enemy.

As proof, Seo Kangrim was only running away without daring to approach.

“You’re good at running, I’ll give you that! Just like a rat!”

Despite Cheon Gunam’s mockery, Seo Kangrim didn’t stop.

In fact, the distance between them was gradually widening.

Cheon Gunam was starting to run out of breath.

‘Damn it, why is he so good at running?’

Cheon Gunam’s feet were sinking into the snow, causing his speed to gradually drop.

The shoes he was wearing were winter boots bought from the shop, but there was a difference between him and Seo Kangrim.

Seo Kangrim had wrapped thin chains around his shoes to prevent slipping.

As the distance grew wider the more he chased, the Cheorwon Doryeong’s voice echoed.

【He’s a bad guy, right?】

【You should only give punishments to bad guys】

【Gunam, he’s a bad guy, right?】

“Yeah, I said he is.”

As the Cheorwon Doryeong kept spouting nonsense, Cheon Gunam was growing genuinely annoyed.

‘Dokgo Jun was a weirdo, and my guardian god is a weirdo too…’

As he grumbled inwardly.

He saw Seo Kangrim leap down a slope.

Cheon Gunam hurriedly chased after him and looked down, only to see something wriggling in the snow.

‘He just jumped down, that’s all.’

Cheon Gunam gritted his teeth and fired Water Bullets toward that spot.

The moment the Water Bullets struck, a loud scream erupted.

-Kuwek!

The thing thrashing in the snow was a small Snow Pig.

When it was hit by the Water Bullets laced with Mama’s energy, blisters began to form all over its body in an instant.

‘Damn it, I hit the wrong thing.’

Cheon Gunam looked around, and when something moved, he fired Water Bullets again.

But that, too, was a Snow Pig, not Seo Kangrim.

Whenever Cheon Gunam saw something move, he immediately attacked, but they were all demon beasts.

“Damn it, Seo Kangrim. Where are you!”

Cheon Gunam screamed and fired Water Bullets at something moving once again.

Another scream erupted.

-Kreureung!

It was a pig’s scream, but distinctly different from before.

What emerged from the pile of snow was an adult Snow Pig.

Its size was incomparable to the juveniles.

-Kreureung!

The adult Snow Pig’s eyes burned with the ferocity of a beast of prey.

Only then did Cheon Gunam realize that things had gone wrong.