【That is an excuse. Shin Sooa never wanted you to live in the first place.】

I ignored the shadow’s words, planted my sword like a walking stick, and rose from where I lay.

My entire body felt as though it were crumbling apart.

I knew that returning to the darkness from moments ago would bring painless comfort, but I had no choice but to stand.

As I walked forward, countless voices echoed from behind.

【Shin Sooa must have regretted bringing you along.】

【She must have wished never to cross paths with you.】

【She must have wished for your death.】

Every inch of my body ached, and my head rang.

If Shin Sooa knew the truth behind all of this, she would surely despise me.

But even if she did, there was only one thing I had to do.

I had to save Shin Sooa and get her out of here.

-tuk

As I wandered aimlessly, my foot caught on something.

There was nothing ahead—only absolute darkness—but a wall most certainly existed.

I had to get out of here.

-kwajik!

I raised my sword and drove it down against the wall.

Pain traveled through my arm in full force.

The wall seemed as though it would never break, but I kept striking it over and over.

【Foolish. How foolish. Even if you escape this place, nothing but pain awaits you.】

Mocking voices filled every corner of the space.

They were voices so loud they seemed to blur even the darkness itself.

I bit down on my tongue to keep from passing out and kept swinging my blade.

-kwak, kwagak!

How much time had passed?

After hundreds, perhaps thousands of swings, faint cracks began to form—but they were nothing more than tiny fissures.

The pain had already drained all sensation from both my arms.

As I forced my sword upward, a sound reached me from the other side of the wall.

-kwak, kwaak…….

The sound of something striking downward.

I was not swinging my blade at that moment.

Then whose sound was that?

【……Mr. Kangrim!】

A faint voice came through, accompanied by the sound of chopping.

That voice was coming from the other side of the wall.

Someone outside was breaking through the wall, slowly widening the gap.

Light spilled in through the opening.

【……out!】

It was only a sliver, but the light was blinding.

I began hacking at the gap like a madman.

With both sides striking the wall, cracks began to spread with sharp snapping sounds.

【Seo Kangrim, snap out of it!】

With that cry, the entire darkness fractured, and light poured in from all directions.

My eyes snapped open.

Shin Sooa was right in front of me.

“Mr. Kangrim!”

She dropped the blade she had been holding and pulled me out.

The shadows clinging to my body snapped free in succession.

I looked back and saw a massive black mass writhing in what seemed like agony.

【Seo Kangrim, you’re back-!】

【Hey, you okay? You alive?】

【I thought you were dead for sure when the Shadow Thief swallowed you!】

【You’d better thank Shin Sooa!】

【She kept trying to pull you out of the shadow!】

The person who had been breaking through the wall from the other side was, as expected, Shin Sooa.

She urgently examined my condition and spoke.

“Mr. Kangrim, are you okay?”

“I’m fine. But what happened……?”

“You hadn’t come out even after a considerable amount of time had passed, so I came in to check…… and you were being devoured by the shadow. Dokgo Jun was holding it off.”

The memory of nearly being consumed by the illusion the Shadow Thief had projected surfaced in my mind.

I had heard it stimulated a target’s trauma or desires to swallow them whole—it was a far more vile experience than I had been told.

As I tried to sit up, my gaze fell on Shin Sooa’s left arm.

Her arm was gone, severed clean off.

“Ms. Shin Sooa! What on earth happened? Why is your hand……!”

“……Time passed, and the Saw Bone Room’s belt activated.”

Dried dark-red blood caked the end of the bandage.

Just how long had I been inside that darkness?

More importantly, why hadn’t Shin Sooa left?

“Why didn’t you leave? You could have just taken your Identification Tag and walked right out……!”

“You saw me being devoured by the shadow and you’re asking why I didn’t just leave?”

She was out of her mind.

I couldn’t fathom why she would sacrifice her own arm for someone she had known for barely any time at all.

“Where’s Dokgo Jun?”

“Dokgo Jun…… left before the time limit. Said he couldn’t write novels if both his wrists got cut off.”

【That bastard is genuinely insane, I’m telling you.】

【Even so, he tried to pull you out when you got swallowed?】

【Then he said something about how Seo Kangrim wouldn’t want him getting hurt, that you’re the protagonist so you’d survive anyway, and ran off.】

【What a joke of a guy.】

They were mocking Dokgo Jun, but he was the sane one among them.

At least that man understood the value of his own body.

Why couldn’t Shin Sooa grasp even that basic principle?

What kind of person in this world would give up their arm for someone they had known for less than a few months?

I couldn’t contain my fury.

“You should have left too, Ms. Shin Sooa! Why would you foolishly stay here!”

“Stop bringing up something that’s already…… over……”

Shin Sooa couldn’t finish her retort before crumpling forward.

I rushed to help her up, but belatedly realized the problem.

Shin Sooa’s condition was appalling.

She had been on the verge of exhaustion for some time.

With one arm sawed off, there was no way she could have been in decent shape.

She had been continuously striking the shadow while suffering severe blood loss—the physical toll must have been devastating.

【Seo Kangrim, you bastard! Why are you yelling at the person who stayed behind to save you!】

【Shin Sooa kept attacking the shadow even after her arm got cut off.】

【Shin Sooa is seriously not normal either…… how do you endure having your body sawed apart while you’re still alive?】

【She’d swing until she passed out, then wake up and swing until she passed out again.】

I had no words to offer against the gods’ rebuke.

I was the fool—why had I been venting my anger at Shin Sooa for no reason?

I should have gotten her out of here immediately.

Just as I tried to help her to her feet, my vision darkened.

《Come back…….》

The voice came from behind.

It sounded as though it originated from some impossibly distant place, yet also as if it were whispering right beside my ear.

When I turned around, the shadow had already spread in all directions, engulfing the entire room.

Walls, ceiling, floor—everything was coated in black.

Even the door was submerged in darkness.

【Wait, that thing isn’t dead?】

【And it even blocked off the door.】

【Looks like we’ll have to take it down to get out.】

As the gods said, fleeing like this seemed impossible.

What looked like a giant black boulder squirmed as though brought to life, and from within it, a human-sized shadow stepped forward.

《Child, come back…….》

The shadow’s voice was identical to my own.

A resonant, buzzing voice followed.

《I do not wish to harm you, but if you refuse to return…….》

The shadow extended its hand, and something flowed out from its dark palm.

Black tar-like substances distorted and coagulated, beginning to take shape.

[Special Ability ‘Demon Beast Creation’ activates!]

Demon Beasts born from the shadow raised their heads one by one.

Damn it, it had stolen that ability too.

Checking the description, it was an ability that consumed magic power to create new Demon Beasts.

I urgently summoned Yorongi and Rini from the Spirit Realm.

“Ung? Uuuung?”

“Kyang?”

Both creatures appeared startled by the sudden change in circumstances.

I gripped the Seven-Blade Sword and stepped forward.

“Protect Shin Sooa.”

In my current condition, I didn’t have the capacity to fight the Demon Beasts while also protecting Shin Sooa.

Moreover, the Seven-Blade Sword, made of wood, had sustained damage from prolonged exposure to flames earlier.

If I could just open the door—even one—and get Shin Sooa out…….

【You’re assigning both Spirit Beasts to guard Shin Sooa?】

【What about you, Kangrim?】

【Yeah! One of them should fight alongside you!】

“I have my reasons.”

I cut them off with that and walked forward.

The Demon Beasts that now filled the Garden flashed their eyes and roared.

-keooo!

The Demon Beasts charged at me all at once, baring their teeth and claws.

From every direction, they were desperate to tear my limbs apart.

-chwaak!

My shadow didn’t attack me directly, but black thorns shooting out from all sides hindered my movement.

As I slashed, tore, and pierced through the Demon Beasts blocking my path, ability notification sounds rang out as if mocking me.

[Special Ability ‘Demon Beast Creation’ activates!]

[Special Ability ‘Demon Beast Creation’ activates!]

[Special Ability ‘Demon Beast Creation’ activates!]

Damn it, how much magic power did it have left?

When one fell, two rose. When I cut down two, four sprang up.

My body was beginning to fall apart under the Demon Beasts’ assault.

【The shadow’s stupid too! Attacking Seo Kangrim only deals damage to itself!】

【Hang in there, Seo Kangrim! Hold out while the Spirit Beasts handle them!】

【Right. Just a little longer…… huh?】

Just then, the shadow slowly raised its arm.

Like mine, it was an arm that had been shredded by the Demon Beasts’ teeth and claws.

At that moment, a distortion appeared at its fingertips.

[Special Ability ‘Regeneration’ activates!]

As ‘Regeneration’ activated, the shadow’s wounds began to close instantly.

Before I knew it, the shadow was pristine, without a single scratch.

Without even a moment to curse, the Demon Beasts lunged at me again.

-seogeok!

I swung my blade on pure instinct, without even thinking.

The corpses of the Demon Beasts I had slain were piled high, but it seemed it still wasn’t enough.

Still not enough?

Just a few more kills and it should……!

“Kyang!”

As I fought the Demon Beasts without rest, Yorongi, unable to watch any longer, charged in.

Just before Yorongi could unleash its Flame Bullet at a Demon Beast, I split the creature in half.

“Don’t interfere!”

“Keong?”

“Stay beside Ms. Shin Sooa! Absolutely do not intervene!”

At my words, Yorongi flinched and stepped back.

I couldn’t let a single Demon Beast escape.

The faint notification sounds ringing in my ears were my only hope.

[You have acquired 10 Merit Points.]

With this many Demon Beasts, I would accumulate Merit Points little by little with each one I eliminated.

I would gather them and raise my stats.

For now, that was the only hope I could cling to.

Meanwhile, my shadow pressed me even harder.

《Child, why do you struggle so?》

《Why do you seek to accumulate such karma?》

《Why do you attempt what no one will ever acknowledge?》

The shadow’s voice echoed inside my skull.

Shut up, shut up.

That thing’s magic power seemed endless, as Demon Beasts continued to spawn from within the shadow without cease.

《Child, sleep within me.》

The shadows of countless Demon Beasts surrounded me.

My body was already a wreck from swinging my blade.

There was no end in sight to this battle.

Why was I going this far?

If I killed myself, the shadow would disappear too.

Why was I using such a foolish method?

As if reading my thoughts, one of the Demon Beasts opened its massive maw and charged at me.

Within that mouth lay darkness.

A peaceful darkness.

If I died like this, I would find comfort…….

“Mr. Kangrim, you can’t die!”

But there was a voice crying out for me not to die.

I let out a roar and swung my blade.

The moment the Demon Beast was cleaved in two, a notification window appeared before my eyes.

[‘Strength’ grows to Stage 30!]

[All stats have reached Stage 30!]

[Conditions fulfilled! The second trait ‘Twelve Zodiac’ blooms!]