Cheon Gunam felt a sense of unease at Dokgo Jun’s attitude, but this was no time to question it.

Even at this very moment, his body was growing colder and the snowflakes were falling thicker.

He shouted desperately.

“Help me! Seo Kangrim attacked me and I was running away…”

Cheon Gunam recounted every detail of what had transpired.

A tale of how he had been caught in Seo Kangrim’s scheme and ended up in this wretched state.

Dokgo Jun merely listened with an impassive face.

He spoke with a hint of disappointment.

“Hmm… I’ve been thinking this for a while, but Cheon Gunam, you seem too weak for a protagonist.”

“…What?”

“A protagonist should be able to overcome something like this without breaking a sweat. Losing to Seo Kangrim of all people…”

Dokgo Jun said this with a bright, innocent smile.

“Maybe the protagonist is the type who hides his power?”

“Y-yeah. I’m the protagonist. So help me right n—”

“If you’re the protagonist, you’ll find a way out on your own, won’t you?”

“…What?”

Before Cheon Gunam could say another word, Dokgo Jun took a step back.

Seeing this, Cheon Gunam shouted in panic.

“No! No! I’m not the protagonist! So please, help me!”

At those words, Dokgo Jun stopped and looked back.

Amidst the falling snow, his eyes gleamed with a coldness colder than the frost.

“You’re not the protagonist?”

“Th-that’s right.”

“If you’re not the protagonist, why should I bother saving some extra?”

“…!”

Dokgo Jun wore an expression of utter contempt, as though looking down at a pebble.

He then pulled up his hood and began walking toward the snowfield.

Cheon Gunam’s desperate cries echoed behind him, but soon dissolved into the howling wind.

The snow quietly blanketed the Demon Realm.

6. The Fourth Door

Hot blood splashed across my face.

A Small Ogre toppled backward, scattering blood through the air.

Small Ogres were closing in from all sides, yet I felt no fear.

Before I knew it, the surroundings had grown still.

Perhaps thanks to the Sword Draw ability, mopping up the Small Ogres had been effortless.

I was wiping the blood from my blade and scanning for survivors when voices drifted from the entrance.

“Kangrim! We finished clearing this side too!”

“I did it all, brother.”

“You were just providing support from the back!”

Yoon Bom and Yoon Gyeoul were bickering as usual.

Then, someone appeared approaching from behind Yoon Gyeoul.

The Demon Realm was too dim to make out the face clearly, but I could see their mouth opening wide.

“Where is Seo Kangrim?”

Hearing that voice, I felt as though my very soul had frozen solid.

A voice I could never forget.

It was Baekyoung’s voice.

I tried to sprint toward Baekyoung.

But my feet wouldn’t move.

I looked down—dead Small Ogres were gripping my ankles.

No, not Small Ogres. Members of the Flying Tiger Sect.

[Why were you hiding in the back?]

[We would have lived if not for you.]

[You killed us.]

Through the sea of faces, I could see Yoo Harang, Jang Taeheon, and Kang Dohyun.

They clutched at my feet and refused to let go.

I tried to scream at them to let go, but someone clamped a hand over my mouth from behind and seized my throat.

Shin Sooa’s voice reached me.

[I never should have brought you into this sect.]

I wanted to scream.

But my mouth wouldn’t move.

My entire body was bound, and I couldn’t even close my eyes.

-Seogeok!

In that moment, Baekyoung’s blade cut down Yoon Bom and Yoon Gyeoul.

The two, now corpses in an instant, stared at the void with hollow eyes.

No, they were staring at me.

Their lips moved, and voices emerged.

[Why didn’t you save us?]

[Why did you get involved with us when you had no power?]

It felt as though voices were pressing in from every direction.

The dead whispered in my ears.

[Seo Kangrim, you killed us.]

* * *

Seo Kangrim opened his eyes, exhaling ragged breaths.

His face was pale and bloodless.

His eyes darted frantically around the room while his heart pounded violently.

Only after a long moment did he realize he was lying in his own room.

‘Was it a dream?’

He hauled himself up groggily.

He had sweated so much that his shirt was soaked through as though he had fallen into water.

Seo Kangrim rubbed his face with dry hands and glared into space.

‘What a vile dream.’

He had rarely dreamed since reaching adulthood.

A nightmare after such a long time.

An ordinary person would have dismissed it, but Seo Kangrim took it seriously.

‘Surely it wasn’t a prophetic dream.’

Knowing that his dreams tended to be accurate, Seo Kangrim couldn’t help but feel uneasy.

Even if events didn’t unfold exactly as in his dreams, he had experienced similar occurrences on several occasions.

‘spirit gift had gone dormant since childhood, so…’

He was recalling the Baekyoung he had seen in the dream.

And he posed once again the question he had replayed hundreds of times since the day he met her.

‘Where could Baekyoung be? Even Sect Leader Shin Sooa seemed not to know her.’

He had never seen Baekyoung, nor had he ever heard the name.

Someone of that caliber should have become famous in no time.

Seo Kangrim’s eyes gleamed coldly.

‘If she was that powerful, could she be a Death Messenger at the Fate Protection Bureau?’

The Fate Protection Bureau kept a great deal of information classified.

Moreover, since most of them concealed their faces, there was a high probability that even if Baekyoung were among them, she would be unrecognizable.

‘But there’s no evidence. It’s just my hypothesis.’

At present, there was simply too much he didn’t know.

Just as he was about to try to recall more—

-Ttok ttok

A knock came at the door.

When he opened it, familiar faces stood before him.

“Kangrim, are you awake?”

“Kangrim, did you sleep well?”

Standing at the door were Yoon Bom and Yoon Gyeoul.

Unlike in the dream, both looked perfectly fine.

Yoon Bom studied Seo Kangrim’s face and exclaimed in surprise.

“Did we wake you? I-I’m so sorry…!”

“No. Why are you here?”

“Well… we wanted to go hunting with you, Kangrim!”

Yoon Bom said this with a shy smile.

Her eyes sparkled with goodwill toward Seo Kangrim.

They had never been on bad terms, but ever since he saved Yoon Gyeoul, the twins had become exceedingly warm toward him.

“Ah, Mr. Kangrim!”

While they were talking in the hallway, several passersby stopped to greet Seo Kangrim.

In his past life, these same people would have ignored him and walked right past.

“Mr. Kangrim, I heard! You saved Yoon Gyeoul yesterday?”

“That’s right! Kangrim saved him!”

Yoon Bom beamed as though she were the one receiving praise.

Yoon Gyeoul nodded and added:

“I really thought I was going to die. If it hadn’t been for Kangrim, I really would have…”

Yoon Gyeoul’s face was filled with gratitude as he looked up at Seo Kangrim while saying this.

Seo Kangrim averted his gaze and said:

“I just happened to save him.”

“Mr. Kangrim, you’re modest too! You should be more proud! You saved a person’s life.”

“That’s right. Honestly, the Cold Ice Demon Realm seems dangerous in so many ways. That person still hasn’t come back either…”

Seo Kangrim, who had been quietly listening to the conversation, spoke up.

“That person?”

“Mr. Gunam.”

At the mention of Cheon Gunam, people’s expressions darkened.

They lowered their voices and whispered among themselves.

“It’s already been two days, hasn’t it? What could have happened…”

“H-he’ll come back soon! There might be a rest area or something…”

Throughout the conversation, Seo Kangrim’s expression remained unchanged.

Like someone who had known this would happen all along.

‘As expected, he’s dead.’

Seo Kangrim had deliberately spared Cheon Gunam’s life the day before.

Because the aura of death had already been flickering around him.

[The Sal energy in Cheon Gunam’s fate is growing stronger!]

Unlike in his past life, killing energy had begun to seep into Cheon Gunam’s fate.

And it was none other than Ghost Kill—a killing force as potent as White Tiger Kill.

‘It started the moment he got tangled up with Dokgo Jun.’

Cheon Gunam’s fate had become tainted with killing energy from the very moment Dokgo Jun first took interest in him.

The two had the worst possible fortune compatibility.

And with that, misfortune had begun to cast its shadow over Cheon Gunam’s destiny.

[Due to Dokgo Jun’s influence, Cheon Gunam is beginning to show a tendency toward self-destruction through overconfidence.]

[He resembles one who has lost all judgment and leaps into a fire pit, yet there is no Noble Person nearby to save him.]

If he had stopped deluding himself into thinking he was the protagonist, he might have lived.

But intoxicated by false power, he never woke up.

‘Cheon Gunam’s stats and Special Ability weren’t worth stealing anyway, so there’s no need to go looking for his corpse.’

While Seo Kangrim was lost in thought, the others were still worrying about Cheon Gunam.

One person let out a short sigh.

“Phew, I told you it was too dangerous. Anyway, take care of yourself too, Mr. Kangrim.”

After saying their piece, the group departed.

Yoon Bom and Yoon Gyeoul remained at Seo Kangrim’s side.

He glanced at the two and asked:

“Why aren’t you going?”

“We want to go hunting with you!”

Seo Kangrim didn’t answer.

Seeing his reluctant expression, Yoon Bom pleaded softly.

“They say the fourth Demon Realm is opening now. Sooa is going too, and we’d really love it if you came along…”

Shin Sooa had helped during the rescue of Yoon Gyeoul, so the twins had grown close to her.

This was an excellent situation for Seo Kangrim.

‘Perfect. Once they get close to Shin Sooa, they’ll naturally join the Flying Tiger Sect.’

However, he himself wanted to avoid getting involved with Shin Sooa as much as possible.

He also felt that his absence would help the three of them grow closer.

“I have other business to attend to. You two go ahead.”

“Kangrim, it’s not that you don’t like us, is it…?”

“It’s not that I dislike you. I just have things to do right now.”

The two looked disappointed but eventually nodded.

Seo Kangrim closed the door, leaving behind the twins who glanced back several times as they walked away.

‘I do have other business to attend to, after all.’

He opened his Storage Pouch and retrieved a single item from within.

It was the item he had received as a special reward from the Cold Ice Demon Realm.

At first glance, it appeared to be nothing special.

But among all the training cadets, only Seo Kangrim knew the true value this item held.

[This item’s grade cannot be measured!]