What does attraction feel like?
It has already surpassed the limits of human senses in terms of demonic energy and mana.
Attraction has a more metaphysical feeling than that.
To be more precise, I can’t feel it.
I can neither create nor control it.
Rather than feeling the attraction itself, I can only infer its entire form by groping around the enormous flow it creates.
It feels like being placed in the middle of countless colliding ocean currents.
I can’t change or control the currents, but I can choose which one to ride with a single step forward.
And once I make that choice, it’s done.
As a weak human caught in the massive flow, I can no longer turn back.
‘It must be the right path toward the current world, right?’
Thinking that, a sudden wave of anxiety begins to wash over me.
I didn’t choose because it was marked as ‘the way to the current world’; I simply picked the direction where the strongest and stickiest attraction was acting.
I had a strong intuition that this side was the current world.
The reason for my slight uncertainty was because there was an equally powerful attraction flow lingering nearby.
I thought my head would ache trying to contemplate between those two attractions.
In the end, I chose the one with the strongest flow that I picked at the beginning.
‘It’s not a power I can use multiple times in a row. I must succeed in one shot.’
If it were a bigger and stronger being, they could hop on the flow anytime and head where the attraction pulls them, but for me, this might just be one of those rare opportunities in my life.
I gained this one chance only after erasing my existence and eliminating the attraction between the demon world and the Great Judge of the Underworld.
‘Life is a series of gambles. Ah, no. It’s a series of choices.’
There’s no point in contemplating further.
The longer I linger in the void, the more my body wilts away.
So I made my decision and took a step forward.
And right afterward, I start to feel a force pulling my body somewhere.
‘Here, not just me but everyone is in danger.’
Only I erased my existence, but in this void, everyone is facing the threat of annihilation.
One slip of the hand, and they’ll fall into a place they can never reclaim, completely vanishing.
No one will remember or recognize them.
That’s why I tightly grabbed the warm and cold hands in both my hands, applying strength as if to break them.
Later on, I couldn’t even tell if I was applying strength as my senses dulled, but still, I didn’t let go as hard as I could.
Now, I and this girl are inseparable.
I live because Mi Jeong exists.
Mi Jeong exists because I am.
I exist for her.
She is here for me.
The day Mi Jeong dies is the day I die.
······And the day I die is the day Mi Jeong gains her freedom.
“Kuhuhh······!”
The salty taste bursts in my mouth and my eyes open.
I regained my senses and instinctively jumped to my feet.
Before me was not the familiar dark and gloomy scenery but a bright world unfolding.
An endless sandy beach.
The sea was constantly rolling in, merging with the sand.
“Huh······.”
As I confirmed this, a wave of relief washed over me, and my strength drained away.
I returned.
To the current world. The current world I longed for so much.
After many sacrifices, I finally came to keep my promise in the current world.
I couldn’t help but smile.
“······You’re awake?”
“Yeah.”
Beside me, Mi Jeong, squatting down, greeted me with an expressionless face.
Her voice still seemed emotionless at first glance, but I could tell.
Inside her, enormous joy and happiness were nestled.
No······.
It seems that the emotions Mi Jeong is expressing are not just that.
“······It’s a success.”
“What did I say? I promised to bring you back.”
“······Success.”
“Yes. Success.”
“······Success. Yoo Jin’s, everything. Sacrificed, success. Yoo Jin, alone. Sacrificed, success.”
Her grip on my hand grew stronger.
While her strength wasn’t nearly enough to hurt me, I felt an inexplicable pain deep within my chest.
“······I thought, I was of the same mind as Yoo Jin.”
“That’s-.”
“······But it wasn’t. Yoo Jin is, cunning. Yoo Jin would sacrifice his life. To save me.”
“That can’t be true. You’re just a slave brought in for free.”
“······Is that the look you give a slave?”
“······.”
I was left speechless.
Mi Jeong stared straight into my eyes and then slyly cuddled up to me.
She brought her hand to her chest and started casting an unknown curse, pulling in all the demonic energy around.
“······I will curse myself. From now on, the moment Yoo Jin’s heart stops, I die too.”
“Hey!”
“······So, don’t think about sacrificing yourself for me.”
“······!”
At first, I thought it might be nonsense, but it wasn’t.
The curse was truly taking effect, embedded deep within Mi Jeong’s heart.
The condition was ‘if Yoo Jin dies’, and the effect was ‘Mi Jeong’s death’.
Dumbfounded, I stood there for a moment, but then Mi Jeong smiled awkwardly as she looked up at me.
“······Now it’s fair, right?”
“You little.”
“······Uuuh.”
I tugged at her cheeks, and she whimpered while crying.
I was briefly overwhelmed with irritation but decided to accept it.
As Mi Jeong said, it hadn’t been fair up until now.
With this, we became, quite literally, one body.
Not just metaphorically, but literally.
“Hah······.”
First, let’s calm down and assess the situation.
Considering the climate and terrain, we’re probably somewhere on the northwestern coast of Galia.
The sky is still blue, and the flora and fauna appear to be fine, so it seems Draken hasn’t descended yet.
Looks like it’s not too late.
“My body’s in terrible shape······.”
Right now, I can’t honestly say I’m fine.
First off, talking with the God of Underworld for a long time took a toll on me.
On top of that······.
“Profile.”
[User Name: X X]
[Age: XX years old]
[Data has been corrupted.]
The system window has gone completely haywire.
When trying to summon my profile, it says the data is corrupted.
“Stats window.”
[Be 각각멈내기후보났뱍역을갚음버블러고]
[세비먹여호론거시가날라불법빌트수]
[엄별도이졷량멱배넣법급군비일이라고폐차절멈내기]
[지방미은부아수삭제밤겨고고임도내은족모화회도이죽소버라보자린]
When I try to summon the stats window, it’s a total mess.
If it were just a corrupted font, that would be one thing.
But my body feels heavy, and my strength feels diminished, so it seems the ‘Guardian Knight’ trait isn’t activating.
It’s not just the ‘Guardian Knight.’
Weak Point, Heavenly Armor Plate, Camouflage, etc. aren’t activating either.
The only thing I can count as a blessing is that techniques like Curse Technique Formation or Swordsmanship traits remain as I’ve already ingrained them into my body.
As long as my memories aren’t erased, my enlightenment will never vanish.
“Then from now on······ Huh?”
Let’s find the village first and see how people recognize me.
As I was contemplating this and stepped forward, I noticed something caught at my feet and looked down.
There, a woman with smooth, chocolate-colored skin was collapsed with her nose in the sea.
“Ah.”
Only then did I realize.
I didn’t bring just Mi Jeong; I also brought this girl along.
I was unconsciously carrying one more person while I crossed over.
One hand had Mi Jeong.
The other had her.
The former Great Demon.
Belphegor.
“I said I would bring you, but…”
To be honest, I wasn’t planning to bring her at the last minute.
I didn’t expect the return trip to be so perilous.
So I actually forgot about promising to bring Belphegor until now.
Who would have thought that I desperately grabbed onto Belphegor to save her without even realizing it······.
“Wait. Is she dead?”
A chilling sensation ran down my spine.
Could it be that I brought her to the current world safely only for her to drown from drinking too much seawater?
With that thought, I hurriedly dragged Belphegor onto the beach and gave her a swift punch to the chest.
“Ugh?!!”
Belphegor woke up, spitting out seawater.
Thank goodness she isn’t dead.
Her demon body is remarkably more resilient than a human’s.
This girl still can’t die.
Unlike Luna or Kali, she still has a chance.
She needs to pay off her karmic debts and sins while she’s alive·····.
I don’t expect her to redeem herself.
I just feel an aversion to robbing anyone of the opportunities that exist.
“Wh-where is this?! Argh, ugh?! Th-this is the current world·····!”
Belphegor suddenly beams a bright smile as she looks around.
Her expression was akin to someone who had returned home after a long journey.
How amusing it is.
The demon fears their home, the demon world, yet they enjoy living in the current world, filled with humans who despise demons.
“What on earth did you do? You····· What are you? Are you even human?”
She momentarily rejoiced, then caught her breath and looked at me with a hint of suspicion before stepping back.
“Am I human? I’ve come into contact with Draken, faced the God of Underworld, and even partially became a demon after visiting the demon world. But still, I am human.”
This isn’t just my unilateral claim; I am surely a human.
Rather, it’s through all those experiences that I can proclaim it.
I am not fair like the God of Underworld, nor can I live without committing sins like demons.
I am far more cowardly, foolish, and a being chasing after absurd dreams.
I am human.
“I think I understand.”
Around that time, a way to reconstruct ‘my inner world,’ which I destroyed by my own hands, pops into my head.
It doesn’t take much contemplation; it’s simple.
Where does that inner world dwell?
It dwells within sentient beings.
So,
“I just have to give birth to life.”
“W-what?! What?!?!”
I just need to create one life.
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