Chapter 51
Taepyeong-ro, famous for having the most expensive land in Taepyeong City.
The place known as Taepyeong-ro, or District 1.
A huge building standing in the heart of Taepyeong-ro, constructed entirely from pure white marble and glass.
The headquarters of Salvation Trading Company, which had earned the constant ire of nearby undead residents for emitting divine power every day thanks to Heaven’s blessing.
The first-floor lobby of Salvation Trading Company was a place where sacred hymns always played.
“Let us pray for everyone’s peace once again today.”
Every employee was an angel.
They all had the exact same hairstyle and wore the exact same clothes.
All the men had pompadours.
It was company policy for all the women to twist their hair up, exposing the napes of their necks.
Aside from their hair colors, they all looked identical, giving the place an almost factory-like feel.
Their customers were people in need of salvation and rest.
The company president’s policy—that wearing the prescribed attire was essential to keep guests from becoming alarmed—had created Salvation Trading Company’s current atmosphere.
In the lobby, where not a single sound could be heard apart from prayers and hymns.
Whirr-.
The automatic doors opened smoothly, and disaster arrived.
“Bring out whoever’s in charge!!!”
A clear, thunderous roar shattered the silence.
The one who strode in, silver hair flying and huffing with fury, was none other than Jinjo.
Jinjo.
One of the beings who had given the angels the most trouble during the Holy-Demon War.
A being regarded as a disaster among the angels, said to have faced thousands of them alone without falling.
The quiet Salvation Trading Company began to stir at her appearance.
“W-wait, what? The Lord of the Blood Kin?”
“W-why is she at Salvation Trading Company……!”
Several veteran angels who recognized her flinched in shock, while the less experienced angels merely stared blankly at Jinjo’s arrival.
Why was everyone trembling before such a small woman?
That was the expression on their faces.
As she strode toward the counter, the angels standing behind it began slowly backing away, drenched in cold sweat.
The holy halos floating over their heads flickered like fluorescent lights, cowed by her presence.
Bang!
Jinjo slammed both hands down on the desk.
At that moment, red demonic energy surged from her body and blanketed the entire lobby.
“Jinjo clearly warned you! Jinjo told you not to loiter near Jinjo’s territory in those disgusting white suits!”
“Pardon? What does that mean…….”
At the desk employee’s blank, mumbling response, as though he knew nothing, a vein popped on Jinjo’s forehead.
“Are you going to pretend you don’t know? Jinjo’s subordinate said he was startled by those filthy winged things’ multilevel-marketing pitch!”
“T-the manual says not to trespass into Jinjo’s territory. There shouldn’t be an employee who would violate the manual…….”
“Are you saying Jinjo’s subordinate lied?”
“……”
The low-ranking angels at the desk trembled, doing nothing but watching each other’s expressions.
Since they had no idea what was happening, even answering felt dangerous.
“Tell the boss to come down. He’ll know, that bastard.”
Then the elevator doors at the back of the lobby opened, and a man with long, dazzling golden hair walked out.
“Please calm down, Jinjo.”
His golden halo was on an entirely different level from those of the angels on the first floor.
At the sight of the three overlapping halos, all the employees bowed their heads.
It was Michael, the CEO of Salvation Trading Company and a high-ranking angel.
The light emanating from him swept away all the red demonic energy surrounding the lobby.
Wearing a business smile, he stood before her and bowed politely.
Despite Michael’s outward aura being far stronger, he treated Jinjo with the utmost courtesy.
“It appears there was a mistake in the way our sales team handled things. They are still very young, you see, and failed to realize that it was Jinjo’s territory.”
At that, Jinjo’s brow furrowed.
“Does saying it was a mistake make everything all right?”
“They are currently undergoing their initial punishment. They’re undergoing ascetic training in the punishment chamber to realize their mistake and repent.”
Jinjo clicked her tongue at those words.
“In addition, we will convene a thorough disciplinary committee in accordance with company regulations, so please set aside your anger just this once.”
“If I see you bastards doing business in my territory one more time…….”
Jinjo glared at Michael and gave him a clear warning.
“Next time, you’ll be the one going to the punishment chamber.”
“We’ll be careful.”
***
[Breaking News] Salvation Trading Company lobby in District 1 of Taepyeong City covered by mysterious red fog…. Business temporarily brought to a standstill.
…….
After work, I came home and quietly turned off my phone after checking the Taepyeong City news.
A mysterious red fog.
There was only one person who could do something like that.
The manager.
I remembered how she had gotten angry the moment she heard an employee of Salvation Trading Company had come to our store to solicit business.
‘Looks like she went straight there.’
The manager must really have been furious.
I hadn’t thought she was the kind of person to go that far.
I caught a glimpse of the small, silver-haired silhouette mosaicked in the news article.
A manager who would storm the headquarters for the sake of her employee.
I swear my loyalty.
After checking the news, I approached the World Tree, which was gently purifying the air in my room as usual.
“Come on, time to drink some water.”
Then I reached for the spirit water I had carefully placed beside the World Tree.
Water dense with highly pure mana sloshed inside the bottle.
I unscrewed the cap of the faintly sparkling glass bottle and poured it over the World Tree.
Trickle.
The spirit essence I had received from the little spirit’s mother in return for giving her daughter candy.
Water drawn directly from the water spirit’s body.
At first I considered drinking it myself, but it seemed the World Tree would absorb it better than I would, so I sprinkled it on the tree as soon as I got home.
The day I received the water, I sprinkled some on the World Tree, and it exuded a richer phytoncide scent than usual.
Trickle.
From that day on, I continued sprinkling small amounts of spirit water over the World Tree.
When I poured the water on it, the spirit water seeped into the World Tree sapling in an instant.
Fwoosh.
A deep phytoncide scent filled the room, and
Sway, sway.
The World Tree sapling gently moved its branches from side to side.
Branches moving on their own in a room without even a breeze.
It seemed there was a reason people called it mystical.
“Do you like it that much?”
As though answering me, the World Tree sapling gently moved its branches, making a faint blue light ripple.
The leaves that had absorbed the spirit water glimmered as fresh as if they had just sprouted.
“That’s a relief. Drink plenty and grow big and strong.”
I set down the bottle of spirit water and carefully reached out my hand.
The touch of the tender leaves beneath my fingertips was as soft as the down of a newborn baby.
Sway.
Watching the leaves react with a light bounce whenever I touched them, the corners of my mouth lifted before I knew it.
This is strangely addictive.
I wonder if this is how it feels to play with a Wakppubol or Malangi.
I gently stroked each leaf front and back, as carefully as handling a baby, afraid one might break, wiping away the dust.
Crackle.
Every time I rubbed a leaf, the World Tree sapling gave off a faint vibration and flashed blue.
It was almost as if it was ticklish, or perhaps throwing a little tantrum because it liked its owner’s touch.
“I told you about that fallen angel customer named Gabi yesterday, didn’t I?”
I spoke while gently stroking the adorably budding shoot at the very top of the World Tree with my finger.
“That angel customer came again today. At first glance, they seem a little hopeless, but perhaps because they’re an angel, there’s something strangely endearing about them. Whenever I see those deep eyes with their oddly decadent allure, I can’t easily shake them from my mind. But they really must have been an incredibly powerful angel in the past. I saw a picture of them today, and they had as many as eight wings spread out behind them.”
The little World Tree sapling was my own tiny bamboo grove.
A place where I could share things I couldn’t tell other people, or casually confide the small events of my day.
At first, I had started by telling it about my daily diversions, wondering whether the World Tree, which had to spend every day alone, might get bored.
It was a routine I had begun because I happened to remember Ms. Priella’s request that I take good care of this World Tree.
As I continued talking while stroking it, I liked how my mind grew calmer.
“The manager seems to have gone there to complain, because it even made the news.”
It had now become a place where I recorded the events of my day like a diary.
And every time I did so,
Fwoosh.
It swayed its leaves with a faint blue glow, as though delighted.
It really does have a cute side.
“Let’s stop cleaning for today.”
Refreshing air filled the room.
I figured I’d sleep soundly again tonight.
***
The teleport gate of the project guild Sonya belonged to.
Hummm.
A teleport portal shimmered—the one activated when the emergency escape crystal issued to hunters entering the Tower was used.
The portal was red, the color displayed after passing the 70th floor.
Sonya was the only one who used this color.
“An emergency escape by Sonya?”
“What happened?”
“Check everyone’s condition!”
“Have the medical team stand by! Quickly!”
The hunters at the scene hurried toward the portal.
Flash!
As the forced-return portal opened, Sonya was flung forward from it.
Thud.
She dropped roughly to her knees on the floor.
Her entire body was drenched in sweat and the monster’s red blood, and her breathing heaved roughly like a beast’s.
Grrr.
A sound resembling a beast’s growl rumbled from her mouth.
“Hah, haaah…… V-Vice Captain…….”
The guild-affiliated A-rank support who had accompanied her to the 74th floor sank down nearby, trembling with a pale face.
His body, wrapped in special devices and equipment to assist Sonya, was also covered in wounds.
But the wound that caught the guild members’ eyes first was the clear set of claw marks on his nape.
Those claw marks were unmistakably Sonya’s.
Could Sonya have…?
Had she attacked an ally?
Sonya, whose self-control was stronger than that of any beastkin?
A werewolf, one of the Seven Heroes?
Everyone stared at the two of them in stunned horror.
Sonya’s eyes were bloodshot.
It was a symptom seen when some carnivorous beastkin entered a berserk state and lost their reason.
Sonya, famous as the strongest of all beastkin, had been unable to overcome her berserk state.
Everyone was left speechless at the fact.
The person herself was no exception.
Sonya looked down at her own claws with trembling eyes.
‘If I had been even a little later…….’
If she had been even one second slower to regain her reason and shatter the forced-return crystal, his neck would have been torn clean off.
“Are you all right?”
It was only after quite some time that Sonya managed to pull herself together in response to the guild members’ questions.
“…I’m sorry.”
She spoke to the support member dispatched with her.
“I-I’m fine…….”
“I’m all right, so take care of the support member first.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
The medical team took the support member away.
Sonya looked down at her bloodstained hands.
Her fingertips were still trembling faintly.
An uncontrollable sense of excitement was still boiling in her veins.
I want to fight.
I want to fight.
I want to kill the enemies in front of me.
Even after leaving the dungeon, the voice in her head continued to echo.
She squeezed her eyes shut and suppressed the adrenaline surging through her.
“Haaah.”
Yusera’s advice had been accurate.
-Don’t enter the 74th floor alone.
-If possible, bring someone who can restrain you.
-Don’t bring a hunter who’s too strong. Otherwise, the difficulty of the 74th floor will rise too much.
The 74th floor was packed with numerous monsters.
It had a vicious gimmick in which the number and stats of its monsters increased exponentially in proportion to the number of entrants and the hunters’ level.
But that wasn’t the problem.
Monsters were no problem for her.
The real problem was.
[74th Floor - Cradle of Desire]
A dungeon that amplified the desire coiled in the deepest recesses of its conquerors to the limit.
Struggle and battle.
The dungeon nurtured Sonya’s fighting spirit—the desire to crush and defeat stronger enemies.
At first, she thought she simply enjoyed fighting monsters.
And at some point, she became focused on killing her enemies.
Having focused not on winning, but on killing, she began to feel pleasure in killing her enemies.
Winning was what she liked; killing was not supposed to be fun.
Her twisted desire swelled more and more.
As her reason evaporated and her vision turned red, every time she tore into an enemy’s flesh, a pleasure so intense it raised goosebumps ran up her spinal cord.
When the support member who had accompanied her cast a binding spell to calm her, Sonya almost charged at him, recognizing even that as an enemy.
It hit her then.
If she had taken even a little longer to recover her reason, she would have killed her comrade and become the 74th floor’s new boss.
‘Haa…….’
Sonya tipped her head back while rubbing her face.
The guild master and guild manager, who had only belatedly grasped the situation, approached.
“Ms. Sonya…….”
“We’ll halt the current attempt and devise a new route for conquering the floor.”
They must have received the report as well.
What had happened to Sonya just now.
What would happen to her body if she continued conquering the 74th floor.
“Forget it. I’m going to stop conquering it for a while.”
Her speech had changed from the polite form she normally would have used.
Sonya herself, however, did not notice.
The two people standing opposite her nodded as if they had realized how serious the situation was.
“Understood. We’ll suspend the conquest for now and halt every process related to conquering the 74th floor. We’ll review the footage from the site and inspect what went wrong.”
After hearing the guild manager, Sonya waved a hand dismissively and stood up.
“Do whatever you want. Right now……. I don’t feel like doing anything.”
She had never felt such a sense of loss before.
She had failed several times while conquering the Tower.
It had happened more than once.
But she had never felt this helpless.
After all.
Beastkin found it harder to control their desires than other races.
The hardest desire to control, in particular, was the urge to fight.
The dungeon that stimulated it had stopped her.
No matter how much she thought about it, she couldn’t come up with a way to suppress this instinct.
That was why her emptiness was even greater.
Even though she had brought someone along on Yusera’s advice to bring one more person, she had failed.
If she hadn’t brought the support member…….
‘Let’s not think that far.’
It was an exceptionally difficult dungeon for her.
Bringing a hunter who was too strong would raise the dungeon’s difficulty beyond what she could handle.
But if she brought a mediocre hunter, she wouldn’t be able to control herself when she went berserk.
Even an A-rank had risked his life to calm her down.
After trudging into the shower and washing up, she clenched her fists tightly.
She couldn’t organize her thoughts.
No matter how much she thought, she couldn’t find the answer.
She had thought that perhaps a path would reveal itself after experiencing the 74th floor.
Instead, her mind was even more muddled.
Even after cooling her body with cold water, the excitement that had heated her up did not easily fade.
“Should I go for a run?”
She simply felt like running for the first time in a while.
Maybe it would make her feel a little refreshed.
She went outside.
She covered her face completely with a mask and cap and ran.
But no matter how much she ran through the park,
her overheated body and mind did not calm down.
And every time that happened,
-Welcome.
It felt as though she could hear Kim Mincheol’s voice.
Sniff, sniff.
Without realizing it, she raised her head and turned toward the convenience store where he worked.
‘Would I calm down a little if I saw Mr. Mincheol?’
If the World Tree pollen on his hand could calm her down a little……?
It wasn’t because she wanted to see him. Absolutely not.
Sniff, sniff.
‘I can smell it, Mr. Mincheol’s scent.’
He must have gone to work today, too.
‘If I smelled his scent just one more time, I think I might calm down a little.’
An impulse stirred, and
She moved.