He thought he might be dragged into an interrogation room, but the place they arrived at looked more like a reception room.
The man with the ‘Paranormal Incident Response Agency’ badge hanging from his neck, realizing that no response came to any of his questions, gestured for him to eat and left some snacks and coffee before leaving the room.
[‘Death and Beauty’ sob as they search for Death and Rest.]
Kim Shibaek carefully read the writing on the small wrapper, about the size of two fingers.
“It’s in English, right? What was this called again… Lotus?”
He mumbled the pronunciation a few times but soon gave up.
He was never good at studying. He hadn’t passed the exam to become a police officer but was specially recruited.
Still, it had been decades since then, and remembering that the letters were English was something.
When he popped the snack into his mouth, it crumbled sweetly and nuttily.
Had he eaten it before? He wasn’t sure.
[‘Death and Beauty’ despair, saying there is little divinity left in this world.]
The coffee didn’t feel unfamiliar since there were similar fruits back in Slecht.
The bitterness of the coffee and the sweetness of the snack together tasted nice.
‘From the letters and words I’ve seen on the way here, I’m certain this is Korea…’
However, there were some doubts. He had been in Slecht for close to 70 years.
A similar amount of time must have passed on Earth, but this place didn’t seem like the future 70 years later.
Although the streets had changed somewhat, they hadn’t transformed as much as one would expect over 68 years.
Most notably, from the few words he had heard, it seemed the language hadn’t changed at all in that time.
On the other hand, there was the strange problem of beasts appearing, which hadn’t existed before.
‘Could this be some kind of parallel world?’
Since there was another dimension like Slecht, it wasn’t impossible for there to be a parallel world where beasts existed on another Earth.
[‘Death and Beauty’ sob, saying they might as well die.]
[‘Death and Beauty’ mourn.]
Kim Shibaek crumbled the snack into pieces, poured some coffee onto a saucer, and carefully placed the small crow-like incarnation of Beyondoe, who was sobbing so hard that it soaked his scalp, onto the table.
“Would you like a snack? It tastes better with the bitter coffee.”
Beyondoe, barely opening his swollen eyes from crying, sniffed and pecked at the crumbled snack with his beak.
[‘Death and Beauty’ eat the tear-soaked snack.]
Beyondoe, despite having lived for an impossibly long time, was still considered quite young in the divine realm, being a 4th-generation god.
This meant he knew almost nothing.
There was a reason his incarnation was an immature fledgling.
Seeing him cry in fear in this unfamiliar world, it was clear that getting any useful help from Beyondoe would be difficult.
After calming the God down, Kim Shibaek sank back into contemplation.
‘It feels just like when I first arrived in Slecht, but how did I end up in another world again?’
He was worried about Slecht, where he had disappeared right after the eradication of Edocus, and he was also concerned about bringing Beyondoe to this strange world.
The badge that man, Kwak Yoonsang, had earlier resembled his old police badge. But the ‘Paranormal Incident Response Agency’ was a department he had never heard of. Was this truly a parallel world?
If this was his real Earth and not a parallel one…
[Hyung.]
His heart, which had been still, throbbed just a little.
Could he see that boy again?
No, but 68 years had passed, so he had likely died.
Perhaps he could at least find some trace of him…
[‘Death and Beauty’ sniffle, saying at least this world makes good snacks.]
“At least you’re enjoying something.”
Breaking more snacks, Kim Shibaek opened his status window to check the current situation.
[Name: Kim Shibaek]
[Title: Apostle of ‘Death and Beauty’]
[Nationality: Atrebattum]
[Affiliation: Temple of ‘Death and Beauty’]
[Achievements: The one who encountered a god. The first to meet ‘Death and Beauty’. Beast Slayer. Guardian of Holm. The one who acts on behalf of a god. The first to act on behalf of ‘Death and Beauty’. The first apostle of ‘Death and Beauty’. The first great warrior of ‘Death and Beauty’…]
—
He quickly skimmed through the long list of achievements and checked the most recent ones.
[Achievements: …Terror of Edocus. Nightmare of Edocus. Savior of Slecht.]
‘Savior of Slecht’ was the last achievement he had gained when he destroyed Edocus’ core. There was no issue with this.
However, the abilities listed below were concerning.
While his other quantified abilities remained unchanged, his divine power had significantly decreased.
Considering he had possessed the purest divine power not only in the Temple of ‘Death and Beauty’ but across all the temples in Slecht, this reduction was a critical issue.
During the beast attack earlier, had his divine power been intact, he wouldn’t have had to bother with wielding his sword for every strike.
‘At least I still have enough divine power to maintain Beyondoe’s incarnation, so I can manage for now…’
Kim Shibaek sighed, pressing his forehead.
Amid his growing concerns, a knock sounded at the door.
The man who had led him here, Kwak Yoonsang, entered.
Kim Shibaek opened his mouth slightly but then closed it again. In this unknown world, where he couldn’t even figure out the contours of the situation, it didn’t seem wise to reveal his cards too soon.
Kwak Yoonsang, bowing slightly, cautiously spoke.
“Hello? Hola? Nihao? Konnichiwa? Privet”
“…”
As Kim Shibaek’s lips pressed tighter together, Kwak Yoonsang became more flustered.
The young man, who had seemingly dropped from the sky, looked like a native Korean, but he didn’t seem to understand the language at all.
Reflecting on his racial biases, Kwak Yoonsang tried greeting him in English, Spanish, Chinese, Japanese, and even Russian.
Still, the result was the same. Watching the man’s lips move as if whispering to the crow during the beast hunt suggested he wasn’t someone with communication difficulties.
“Swadika, Kamusta?”
Even when he used a translation app to greet him in Thai or Filipino, it made no difference.
“My name is Kwak Yoonsang. Kwak Yoonsang, Yoon, Sang.”
He emphasized his name while tapping his chest, thinking this was universal body language. But the young man only smiled gently in return.
‘Judging by his skill in hunting beasts, he’s definitely an S-rank hunter…’
Since the great upheaval 21 years ago, when monsters began to appear, the number of S-rank Awakened and Hunters has essentially become a measure of national power.
Information about S-rank Hunters is practically public knowledge, yet there was no Hunter in any country who matched the appearance or abilities of this young man.
How old was he?
Perhaps in his mid to late twenties.
No matter how much one tried to estimate, he certainly didn’t look older than thirty.
His gentle expression made him seem younger.
His overall appearance was refined, with delicate features, and though he had a tall and slim frame, his well-defined muscles gave him an air of strength.
A magician? His physical abilities were too exceptional to be explained by magic alone.
A fencer? As someone who had once been a fencer, there’s no way he wouldn’t recognize a swordsman with such skill.
Various questions ran through his mind, but the young man only smiled silently. It was impossible to keep staring at his face, so even though he knew communication would be difficult, Kwak Yoonsang opened his mouth again.
“Is the bird eating the snack your pet crow?”
Using the word “pet,” which he had only seen in novels or historical dramas, deepened Kim Shibaek’s curiosity.
Was this not Korea?
Or had the meaning of the word “pet” changed over the past seventy years?
Kwak Yoonsang made a gesture as if asking for permission to pet the bird, but flinched when the crow raised its head.
‘What kind of baby bird looks this fierce?!’
Baby animals with fur are supposed to be cute and adorable, a universal truth.
Yet this crow, no larger than his palm, had bloodshot eyes that made it look like it had just crawled out of hell.
He felt as though petting it would lead to its beak piercing through his fingers.
Those crazed red eyes gave him no doubt.
[‘Death and Beauty’ rub their bloodshot eyes, wondering what this human’s foolish gestures mean.]
Trying not to show that he, an A-rank Hunter, was intimidated by a mere crow, Kwak Yoonsang awkwardly withdrew his hand with a forced smile.
As the one who had discovered this young man, he had a duty to recruit this mysterious S-rank individual to South Korea.
“Allow me to introduce myself again. I am a Hunter in the Paranormal Incident Response Agency of the Republic of Korea. Do you understand the Republic of Korea?”
He tried various terms—Republic of Korea, South Korea, Korea—but the young man’s expression remained unchanged.
Kwak Yoonsang even handed him a pen and paper, urging him to write something if he could, but the young man only looked down at them, making no move to respond.
Kwak Yoonsang felt like he had swallowed a whole box of sweet potatoes, leaving him feeling choked up.
It would be great if he could at least figure out this guy’s nationality.
Please…
[‘Death and Beauty’ ask you if my apostle’s original homeland wasn’t Korea.]
Naturally, Kim Shibaek heard it too.
Whether it was a parallel world or seventy years in the future, at least the fact that this place was Korea was certain.
Maybe it was time to stop pretending not to understand if he wanted to gather more information.
While carefully planning how to extract as much information as possible without revealing his own cards, Kim Shibaek noticed Kwak Yoonsang’s injury.
If he could heal the wound, it might lower his emotional barriers a little.
Kim tapped the bandage wrapped around his hand, gesturing toward Kwak Yoonsang.
Puzzled, Kwak Yoonsang asked, “Uh… are you asking me to remove the bandage?”
Though he wasn’t sure why, Kwak Yoonsang complied, as he was essentially in a subordinate position. He unwound the bandage, revealing a long cut that had stopped bleeding.
As soon as Kim Shibaek reached out toward the wound, Kwak Yoonsang’s eyes widened in shock.
A faint light surrounded the injury, and it healed instantly.
“…!”
Unable to believe the unrealistic scene he had just witnessed, Kwak Yoonsang repeatedly touched his now-healed hand. Kim Shibaek smiled, and though his expression had seemed stern when he was silent, the smile gave him a much gentler, peaceful aura.
Kwak Yoonsang’s heart pounded.
Not in a romantic way, but in a way that made him feel as if, if Kim Shibaek were to ask, “Do you believe in the Way?” he would shout, “I believe in you!”
Though all kinds of awakened abilities were manifesting across the globe, there was not a single healer.
‘I must recruit him. I absolutely must recruit this young man…!’
Just as Kwak Yoonsang’s patriotic determination began to burn, commotion erupted from beyond the door.
“Guild Master Taewoon! No matter how much you’re the Guild Master, this is—ugh!”
“A formal protest to the guild… argh!”
“Waaaaah!”
The screams grew louder, and the commotion seemed to be heading straight for this room.
As Kwak Yoonsang hurriedly stood up, the firmly closed door was flung open with a loud bang, as if it might fly off its hinges.
A tall man, so tall that his head nearly touched the door frame, stood in the open doorway.
“Guild Master! What are you doing?!”
Ignoring Kwak Yoonsang’s protests, the man’s gaze slowly swept over the room.
Even with just that, the oppressive presence he exuded made the air ripple, weighing down the atmosphere.
Finally, the man’s emotionless eyes landed on Kim Shibaek.
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