[The special ability ‘Poison Resistance’ activates!]

I had expected her to pull some trick.

Between my ‘Poison Resistance’ and Rini’s ‘Purification,’ most poisons wouldn’t work on me, but—

-Peok!

The moment the words left her mouth, Joo Hyeryung shoved the table in front of me with her foot and lunged to subdue me.

But she was far too slow.

I immediately circled behind her, grabbed her by the hair, and forced her to her knees.

“Kuhak…!”

“Hye, Hyeryung!”

“Nobody move.”

With one hand, I wrenched both of her arms behind her back; with the other, I held her head in place.

Joo Hyeryung struggled, but it was pointless.

“To poison your benefactor—isn’t that a bit much?”

“But… you’re too strong! I had no choice!”

She spat the words out as if retching.

I stared down at her in silence, then shifted my gaze to the others.

I could handle them, but I couldn’t afford to waste time.

At the same time, I couldn’t simply let her go.

“You said you were right-handed, correct?”

-Ppudeudeuk!

“Aagh!”

【Haha, look at Kangrim’s character!】

【Breaking a right-hander’s right arm—what a personality!】

I snapped Joo Hyeryung’s right arm without hesitation.

As she screamed, the others raised their weapons and charged—until I glared them down.

I watched them falter under my gaze.

“Do you want one arm to become two?”

“…!”

“I’d say one arm is a cheap price for attempted poisoning.”

Part of me wanted to cut off a leg as well, but she might bleed to death.

I pulled Joo Hyeryung to her feet.

“I’ll be taking Joo Hyeryung with me for a moment. I won’t kill her. Come find her in thirty minutes.”

“What kind of insane—!”

I didn’t wait for them to finish. I opened the door.

The next room appeared to be a conference room.

I scanned the doors, but there were no traces here either.

Bloodstains dotted the floor sporadically, so I decided to follow them as a trail.

“You killed Nam Yoojun, didn’t you? That’s what happened, right?”

When I dragged Joo Hyeryung into the next room, she glared at me and spoke.

She was right, so I had nothing to say.

After passing through one more room, I sat Joo Hyeryung in a chair and bound her with cord.

There happened to be plenty of cut cloth nearby.

“If you wait here, your people will come soon.”

“What? You’re leaving me like this? What if a demon beast comes?”

“That’s not my concern.”

The drumming echoed irregularly, but it wouldn’t sound again for at least an hour or two.

The likelihood of someone from another zone coming in and harming Joo Hyeryung was higher than a demon beast finding her.

But that wasn’t my problem.

I ignored Joo Hyeryung’s screams and followed the bloodstains onward.

* * *

Seo Kangrim recalled the time he had entered the Saw Bone Room with Shin Sooa in his past life.

True to his role as the underachiever of Zone 2, he had been the last to enter the Saw Bone Room.

And beside him stood Shin Sooa.

Shin Sooa had long since earned the right to enter the final Demon Realm, yet she had waited for him.

Only after a considerable amount of time had passed were they able to step through the final door.

By the time they entered the last Demon Realm, most people had already escaped. The room bore only the traces of battle—no sign of anyone remained.

[Ms. Shin Sooa, why didn’t you go ahead without me?]

He couldn’t understand it.

Why an awakened one of her caliber would go out of her way to keep him around.

Ever since his ‘Fortune Stealing’ had been discovered, everyone had shunned him.

Even setting that ability aside, there was no reason to bring the weak Seo Kangrim along as a party member.

Shin Sooa looked back at him and spoke.

[I like you, Seo Kangrim.]

[…Why?]

He couldn’t comprehend it.

Even he himself couldn’t find a single redeeming quality.

When both humans and gods turned their backs on him, why did Shin Sooa wait for him?

Shin Sooa silently searched the Demon Realm and said,

[Seo Kangrim, you haven’t used Fortune Stealing even once, have you?]

[No.]

[That’s what I like about you. Choosing not to walk an evil path when it would be so easy to do so.]

Even hearing that answer, Seo Kangrim’s frustration didn’t ease.

This person was laboring under a misunderstanding.

He hadn’t refrained from using ‘Fortune Stealing’ out of goodness.

He simply lacked the power to kill anyone.

If he had been even Human Grade, he would have killed many people and stolen their abilities.

[I need someone I can trust. Even after we get out of here, I want to keep in touch with you, Seo Kangrim.]

Even as he thought Shin Sooa was mistaken, Seo Kangrim nodded.

His reason for traveling with her was far from noble.

He was watching for an opening to kill Shin Sooa and steal her fortune.

From the very start, Seo Kangrim hadn’t believed in Shin Sooa’s kindness.

He assumed she had some kind of plan.

He knew his ability was rare.

He figured Shin Sooa wanted to exploit that power, wearing a mask of virtue to use him.

Even so, he didn’t feel any particular sense of betrayal.

He had experienced countless people who used and betrayed him.

He planned to use Shin Sooa moderately and then betray her in turn.

He never believed that Shin Sooa genuinely wanted and trusted him out of pure goodwill.

Because someone like that couldn’t possibly exist.

‘That’s what I thought at first.’

Seo Kangrim mocked himself as he fought his way through the Demon Realm.

He had joined Flying Tiger Sect to reap benefits at Shin Sooa’s side, with the eventual goal of killing her.

And now that same person was desperately struggling to save the people of Flying Tiger Sect.

It was absurd.

‘Nothing here either.’

He had passed through several rooms, but there were no traces.

When Seo Kangrim opened the western door, he found a Tea Ceremony Room.

As he stepped inside, a mechanical clicking sound came from around his neck.

[Saw Bone Belt Stage 1 is progressing!]

‘Has a day already passed since I entered?’

The Saw Bone Belt shifted slightly with each day that passed inside the Demon Realm.

Since only one day had elapsed, there was no sensation of the saw blade touching skin yet.

He felt a twinge of anxiety, but not from the fear of his neck being cut.

‘Where on earth is everyone?’

He was tracking the bloodstains to find Shin Sooa, but had yet to encounter anyone from Zone 2.

Instead, he had wasted time fighting members of other zones—people he had no need to meet.

They had charged at him as if he were a demon beast the moment they laid eyes on him.

‘I found an Identification Tag, but it was useless.’

Only a day had passed, yet he felt the urgency of a man on death row.

Just then, Yorongi nipped Seo Kangrim’s hand lightly.

“Kyaaang!”

It didn’t hurt—he was trying to get his attention toward the door.

Looking closely, drowsiness filled the little creature’s eyes.

Only then did Seo Kangrim realize how much time had passed.

“Alright. Go get some rest in the Spirit Realm.”

At his permission, Yorongi nodded and dissolved into light, vanishing.

Rini looked envious.

“Once Yorongi wakes up, I’ll send you next.”

“Woong woong!”

He couldn’t send both spirit beasts to the Spirit Realm simultaneously, not knowing what might happen.

So the spirit beasts were taking turns resting while he traveled throughout the day.

【Hey, but the spirit beasts get to rest—aren’t you taking a break, Seo Kangrim?】

【Seems like you don’t value your own life.】

“I’ve been taking Medicine Pills, so I’m fine.”

Seo Kangrim had been moving without rest for over a day.

Thanks to the Life Return Pill he had taken, his body brimmed with vitality, and he could go several days without sleep.

Even without the Life Return Pill, he couldn’t have afforded to rest.

‘No traces, so tracking is difficult’

He deliberated among five doors, then opened the northern one.

It felt as though a breeze was blowing from somewhere unseen.

‘Is this… a Stable?’

The interior was completely empty, as if the building had just been newly constructed, and there was no smell of animals.

However, something familiar caught his eye.

Something had fallen on the floor.

【Huh? What’s that?】

【Isn’t that a necklace?】

【You idiot, that’s embarrassing. Don’t go around calling yourself a god anywhere.】

【Then what is it?】

【It’s a rosary. Have you never been to a cathedral?】

【You crazy bastard! How would I go inside another god’s house?】

Seo Kangrim picked up the rosary from the floor.

To someone unfamiliar with it, the shape could easily be mistaken for a necklace.

Black beads were strung together like a necklace, with a crucifix hanging at the end.

‘Is this the rosary Father Yohan used to carry?’

He remembered seeing Father Yohan frequently holding it.

The rosary’s design wasn’t particularly unique, so it could have belonged to someone else, but the probability of it being Father Yohan’s was high.

‘It seems certain he passed through here…’

The first clue he had found stirred not joy, but urgency.

If Father Yohan had dropped his rosary, it meant the situation had been dire.

Moreover, he hadn’t come back to retrieve it.

Looking around the room, it was riddled with blade marks, bullet holes, and arrow strikes.

‘Which direction did they evacuate in?’

The footprints on the floor were difficult to distinguish.

He approached the door in the direction of the clearest footprints and opened it.

As he stepped into the next room, a massive bookshelf caught his eye.

Something was moving behind it.

‘Could it be the Zone 2 people?’

The moment Seo Kangrim hurried deeper into the Library, his hopes were shattered.

What emerged from behind the bookshelves were black Shadows.

And not just one or two.

-Ga, gageok…

The Shadows pouring out from between the shelves seemed endless.

Not just a handful—at a glance, easily several dozen.

The Shadows began to fill the room.

【There are way too many of them!】

【That’s twice as many as the ones in the Suragan, isn’t it?】

【Man, Kangrim’s luck is completely shot.】

As they said, there were more this time.

Bad luck was par for the course, so it didn’t matter.

Instead of lamenting, he needed to cut down as many as possible.

-Gageok!

A Shadow charged at him from the front.

Its right arm hung broken and limp, swinging a spear with its left hand.

Seo Kangrim drew his sword, impaled it, and simultaneously launched flames at a Shadow attempting to ambush him from behind.

-Peong!

Its head blew apart in a burst of black ash.

As Seo Kangrim dispatched the Shadow, he shouted,

“Rini, cover the rear!”

“Woong!”

[The special ability ‘Water Catching’ activates!]

Moisture gathered from the air, forming a massive sphere of water.

The water gently but firmly engulfed the Shadows.

The Shadows thrashed about trapped within the water, but they didn’t seem to die.

Still, with the enemy numbers reduced, Seo Kangrim found it far easier to move.

‘Good. At this rate, it’ll take some time, but I can bring them all down…’

-Taang!

The moment Seo Kangrim heard the gunshot.

Blood was already seeping from his flank.

When he turned around, a small Shadow stood aiming a rifle at him.