Doing Good Deeds Will Bring Blessings¿

Jeong Daon’s gaze was fixed on Lee Manbok’s arm as he clutched his bleeding head and cautiously backed away. Wrapped around his wrist was a bracelet with a design that looked as if it had been inspired by a snake. Judging by the mana flowing from it, it seemed to be an item, but to Choi Miyeon’s eyes, it was hard to tell what made it so special.

However, it appeared that Jeong Daon saw something different, as she scoffed. “The Emile Bell is at least just a legend. That thing looks like a piece made by grinding up at least three souls.”

At those words, Lee Manbok’s shoulders flinched and trembled.

Choi Miyeon was horrified. “Don’t tell me…that thing also has one of those soul cores inside it? Is it really possible to produce that much power?”

“Seems like it’s not impossible.”

As she replied, the girl briefly glanced off into empty space. Was she reading a system message?

“Sacrificing other people’s lives to make an item like this and then going around scamming people by calling yourself the Savior incarnate… you really are a despicable pie—human.” Her tone was stiff and flat, as if she were reading from a book. “I don’t think roughing up a piece of social cancer like this would really provoke public backlash. Don’t you agree?”

It wasn’t wrong, but it was such an absurd thing to say given the situation that Choi Miyeon was left dumbfounded. “…What exactly are you doing right now, Jeong Daon?”

Still, regardless of how Choi Miyeon reacted, Jeong Daon, who seemed focused on something else, finally looked away from the empty air, as if she had found what she wanted. “Hm. Apparently, giving a bit of punishment to a criminal who stirs public outrage is still within acceptable limits. Not bad.”

Choi Miyeon had no idea what Jeong Daon was talking about. “Pardon?”

“For that alone, I’m truly grateful. Thanks to scum like you infesting society, a devil like me can obtain justification for personal revenge.” This time, her words were directed squarely at Lee Manbok.

Lee Manbok, who had been steadily retreating while keeping an eye on the leopard up until then, braced his core and shouted angrily, “What kind of nonsense are you spouting?! An item? This is a miracle I performed—gyaaaah!” His words went no further. The enormous black leopard, which had been standing quietly, swatted Lee Manbok with its massive paw.

Seeing the ridiculous sight, Jeong Daon curled her lips upward into a thoroughly wicked-looking smile. “Oh? Then go on and show me that miracle again. You managed to kill a desert whale that huge; taking care of a little cat like this should be easy.”

“Grrrrr!’

Calling it a “little cat” was a stretch given its size, but compared to the unreal scale of the desert whale, it wasn’t exactly wrong.

“You insolent wretch! Do you think miracles can be used so casually? At the very least, they require time—n-no! Stop! Don’t!”

Just as Lee Manbok was about to make excuses, he suddenly began to panic. The leopard had latched onto his arm. More precisely, onto the bracelet Jeong Daon had pointed out.

“You can’t! Let go!” Contrary to his earlier excuses, he was clearly struggling desperately to keep the bracelet from being taken.

The guards, guild members of the Truelight Church assigned as escorts, looked at one another.

N-no way.

That can’t be it, right?

If the executive had been present, they might have reassured them—but they were currently down, injured by the desert whale’s earlier attack. And under normal circumstances, perhaps things would have been different, but after being dragged into a dungeon by an unexpected assault, then facing the desert whale’s attack on top of that… They were all mentally exhausted, and doubt began to creep in.

When Lee Manbok had defeated the desert whale, they had been blinded by relief and exhilaration and hadn’t thought much of it. But if he truly possessed power on that level, there had been no reason for him to be toyed with like that in the first place.

“Grrrrr!”

“Aaaagh! S-stop it! Let go, I said!”

Being threatened by that black-leopard-like monster was one thing. But more than anything else, he was being humiliated by a young girl who didn’t look strong at all, and he wasn’t able to retaliate in the slightest. Even if that opponent was Jeong Daon, the Hunter who had recently risen to fame, it didn’t change the fact that if Lee Manbok truly were an omnipotent god…he would have never been put in a situation like this to begin with.

“After using an item once, there’s probably a cooldown. That’s why he can’t pull off that so-called miracle again.”

Jeong Daon’s completely indifferent tone only made her words sound more convincing.

Could it be…?

“You blasphemous fools!” Sensing that even the guards, whose loyalty he had believed unshakable, were beginning to doubt him, Lee Manbok’s face flushed bright red. “How dare you doubt me now! Ungrateful wretches, have you already forgotten who saved you just moments ago?!”

“N-no, sir! Father!”

“No one doubted you!”

“Ah, I think everyone’s doubting you. Right, Nabi?”

Thud!

“Aaagh!” After shouting at the believers, Lee Manbok was struck by the black leopard’s paw once again and collapsed to the ground in a pathetically ridiculous manner.

“If there’s room for doubt, then it’s the duty of a religious leader to erase it. Go on, show us that so-called miracle again.”

At those mocking words, Choi Miyeon suddenly felt uneasy. What is she doing?

Judging by what was happening, that black leopard seemed to be under Jeong Daon’s control. If so, she clearly had more than enough power to kill Lee Manbok on the spot, so why was she deliberately provoking him? If Jeong Daon was right and that item had a cooldown, shouldn’t she hurry and finish him off or seize it before it could be used again?

And Choi Miyeon’s unease soon proved justified. After being toyed with like the leopard’s plaything for so long, a sudden look of delight spread across Lee Manbok’s face.

“You insolent wretch!”

With that shout, Lee Manbok raised his hand.

And Choi Miyeon felt the same flow of mana she had sensed earlier, when the desert whale had been attacked.

That—!

“You damn unbeliever! Die!” With a triumphant cry, he lifted his hand and aimed it at Jeong Daon. Explosive currents of mana surged violently around him.

“A-as expected of the Father!”

“Father, finish her off in one blow!”

Sensing that movement, the guards looked at their leader with eyes full of expectation. Just like when he had slain the desert whale, that beam would soon pour forth from his hand. Another miracle would descend.

At least, that was what they thought, right up until Jeong Daon casually waved her hand through the air.

“Pearls on a pig.”

What Jeong Daon did exactly was beyond the comprehension of anyone present. If someone like Han Jaeyeong had been there, they would have been horrified.

Interfering from the outside to completely halt the activation of magic embedded in an item was something utterly inconceivable. You would have to instantly grasp the nature of the magic sealed within the item just by observing the flow of mana and then cast the precise countermeasure. Even without understanding all that in detail, one thing was clear: the moment Jeong Daon extended her hand, the violently surging flow of mana came to a complete stop.

“Wh-what…?!” Panicking, Lee Manbok desperately flailed his arm and shook the bracelet.

But nothing happened. There was no miracle, all that remained was a pitiful old man standing there awkwardly with both arms outstretched.

Jeong Daon curled her lips upward as an uncomfortable silence hung in the air. “Is that it?”

Lee Manbok’s eyes trembled as if he were staring at something impossible. He wailed in disbelief, “T-th-that can’t be! This makes no sense!”

“Just because you possess magic you don’t even understand doesn’t mean you’re its master, you vulgar con artist.”

“Wh-what…?!”

Trying to retort, Lee Manbok hurriedly looked around. “What are you all doing?! Go grab that woman already!”

But this time, no one moved. Only a cold silence flowed. The guards who had risked their lives to protect their leader until now didn’t take a single step.

Instinctively, Lee Manbok realized…it was over.

D-damn it!

The moment he reflexively turned his back and tried to flee— Smack!

“Aaaagh!”

A sharp pain lashed across his cheek.

Seeing that, Choi Miyeon gasped in surprise. “That…”

“Yes. I got it from Lee Arin. It’s more useful than I expected.”

What had just lashed across Lee Manbok’s cheek was the short whip Jeong Daon was holding. It was a modified riding crop, and in terms of sheer destructive power, it couldn’t really compare to a sword or a blunt weapon. But this wasn’t about pain so much as humiliation. Lee Manbok’s face turned from blue to a deathly white.

“Y-you, you damn—aaagh!”

Smack! Once again, Jeong Daon mercilessly snapped the whip across Lee Manbok’s cheek. “Do you even know how cruel and miserable the magic engraved into that bracelet is?”

The girl, who wasn’t even an adult yet, was openly mocking a white-haired old man. The grotesque, reality-defying sight was suffocating. It was as if she had studied how to most thoroughly crush someone’s pride.

“This makes no sense!”

He had been stomped underfoot, and now even whipped across the face. And no one came to his aid. It was a pitiful, miserable sight.

Lee Manbok wailed, “Th-this isn’t how it was supposed to go! With this, I was supposed to be invincible…!”

“Right. That’s exactly what I’m talking about.”

Jeong Daon looked down at Lee Manbok with a blank expression. There wasn’t a trace of sympathy to be found. No—her face looked almost inorganic, as if it held no emotion at all. Just as she had said, it was the gaze one would cast upon some lowly creature.

“There’s no way trash like you, someone who wouldn’t even rank F, could have created an item like this on your own.”

Watching Jeong Daon speak like that, Choi Miyeon felt goosebumps rise along her arms. How should she describe it? Just half a day ago, when they had eaten lunch together and walked around the building, she had thought Jeong Daon had a peculiar aura, but the Jeong Daon before her now felt like a completely different person. No, was she even human to begin with? A fear like staring at something incomprehensible washed over her.

“A soul core is magic far too advanced for people like you to create.”

“Wh-what?”

“So someone must have taught you how. For example, whoever set up the barrier around your lab.” Her eyes, holding a cold, inhuman light like that of a reptile, fixed clearly on Lee Manbok. “Where is that person now?”

That person?

“Heh heh heh, look at this stupid bitch!” With nothing but malice left in him, Lee Manbok narrowed his eyes and shouted, “Do you think I have to answer just because you ask? How dare you be so insolent!”

“Good. That’s more like it. Honestly, this is more in a demon’s line of work than helping a contractor.”

Setting aside the exchange between Lee Manbok and Jeong Daon, by that point, everyone had begun to notice something strange.

The system message had clearly said the dungeon was cleared.

Time until dungeon escape becomes available: 00:10:00

The system will protect the user until dungeon escape.

When the desert whale had been defeated, there hadn’t been much time left until escape. So why couldn’t they leave this dungeon?

Warning! Dungeon rank is increasing.

Due to a system error, dungeon escape cannot be executed for users.

Warning! This dungeon is of a level beyond what humanity can currently handle.

User evacuation is strongly recommended…

That was the last message Choi Miyeon was able to register. After that, she couldn’t perceive anything at all.