By Zephyria 
It didn’t take long to realize that the Apostle of Death and Beauty had become a member of the 7777 Guild. Edokus had risked the danger of being slaughtered if discovered, infiltrating the guild to scout for information. Whether he intended to counterattack or take advantage of a lapse in vigilance, he needed to know something to kill the bastard and survive.
Since most of the customers in this cafe were guild members, keeping his ears open allowed him to pick up useful tidbits even from trivial chatter. For example, that the Apostle of Death and Beauty was cohabitating with the man who was the Guild Master, and that they were extremely intimate.
Taking the Guild Master hostage was another option to consider. The fatal problem, however, was that he lacked the power to do so.
‘…No. If I had that much power left, the Apostle would have noticed me by now.’
Edokus’s power, being mere fragments, was utterly minuscule. Thanks to that, his magical energy didn’t stand out, allowing him to blend in among the humans successfully.
A system to purify the magical energy of the city existed in this world called Earth, but it wasn’t as perfect as mak slecht. If he had infiltrated mak slecht naked as he was now, even his faint magical energy would have been detected early on, and his entire body would have been scorched by automatic defense magical tools. Edokus tried to convince himself that this was a blessing in disguise, a phrase he had recently encountered.
Even so, since his face hadn’t changed, it was obvious he would be discovered if he came face-to-face with the Apostle. Edokus, with his face wrapped in a hat, sunglasses, and a mask, remained tense and searched cautiously, intending to flee the cafe the moment he spotted even a strand of the Apostle’s hair.
Even when his abilities were intact, the Apostle of Death and Beauty had been his nightmare and his terror. However, he knew the Apostle’s one and only absolute weakness. A weakness that he couldn’t fully exploit in mak slecht.
‘This is definitely the Apostle’s original world.’
At first, the unfamiliar world had been nothing but confusing, but as he gradually adapted, he became certain. This was the hometown of the Apostle, who had crossed worlds one day.
Initially, he guessed that the Apostle had chased him here, but once he was sure this was the Apostle’s home, the reason became ambiguous. Perhaps, conversely, he had been swept up in the Apostle’s return. Though the sequence of events was unclear, one thing was certain: as long as the Apostle existed, his own survival and well-being would vanish like bubbles.
He had to kill the Apostle.
If he didn’t kill him, he would die.
Clutching the core that had been granted in place of the heart he offered to chaos, Edokus took a deep breath while his heart trembled. This world was the only place where he could properly exploit the Apostle’s weakness.
Sixty-eight years ago, Edokus did not reveal himself immediately after becoming a Servant of Chaos. Driven by the fear of death, he explored the continent, waiting for the right moment. It was around that time that he encountered Kim Si-baek, before the latter had gained fame as the Apostle of Death and Beauty and a grand warrior.
Since Kim Si-baek was not particularly renowned at the time, Edokus didn’t think of harming him and causing unnecessary commotion. However, since his own essence was fear, he glimpsed terror within the nightmares of Kim Si-baek, who was sleeping in the next room.
〈It’s alright. It’s a thing of the past.〉
Overhearing a conversation that seemed to be with the young crow, the avatar of Death and Beauty, Edokus sneered. Once a soul is fragmented by destruction, it can never return to the state it was in when it was whole. If the illusion that it was now “alright” were the truth, he wouldn’t have had nightmares.
Later, when Kim Si-baek became his nightmare and terror, he bitterly regretted not killing him that day, but it was too late. High priests, including the grand warrior Gloiuken, always guarded the Apostle’s side, and the Apostle’s divine power was immense.
It is not so now.
The Apostle is alone. There is no grand warrior Gloiuken, nor is there even a young priest to attend to him. His divine power has weakened to a degree that cannot be compared to the past. Now is the chance. This was the only time.
A tiny crack that the man himself might not even perceive. An absolute and unique weakness. A fragmentation of the soul from which there is no return.
For Edokus, that alone was enough.
Just then, along with the Apostle’s name, a single word caught his ear.
‘…Amusement park?’
✽ ✽ ✽
The quest was as expected.
To complete the quests so far, he had watched movies, searched for and eaten convenience store recipe dishes, and taken photos of the interiors of cafes with over 100K Instagram followers. If he had to pick the only achievement he gained while performing the quests, it was that Biyendwe liked the stool he made in a one-day class, and it became his dedicated seat.
And as for the system’s achievement, it was likely that he had been continuously exposed to the lives of ordinary people through external activities. Even so, it was unnecessary and useless to him. What meaning was there in experiencing the lives of others when he was someone who had to return?
Suddenly, he felt a soft touch on his shoulder. When he reflexively turned around, his cheek was poked by an index finger. A mischievous laugh echoed in his ear.
“What are you thinking about so deeply that you can’t even hear me calling you? Ah, were you looking at the photo we took together? You’re cuter in person than in the photo.”
“Why are you stating the obvious?”
Kim Si-baek didn’t notice the presence of the guild members nearby, who were stealthily distancing themselves upon hearing those words.
“When did you get here?”
“Just now. I heard you were helping the kids with their training in the training room, so I came to watch.”
After returning from the field with the 2nd attack squad, there were many requests for Kim Si-baek to check their posture or help with training.
With the development of steel and gunpowder, most ancient martial arts using cold weapons had become obsolete, except for swordsmanship that had established itself as a sport, like fencing or kendo. However, the era had changed due to the Great Cataclysm.
Hunters who used guns as their primary weapon were only Awakened with shooting-related traits, like Yang Eun-ho; to deal damage to magical beasts, weapons made of magic stones were the most efficient. However, simply gripping and swinging a sword didn’t make it swordsmanship.
Most learned kendo or fencing, which had been passed down to the present, but there were also many hunters who chose weapons other than swords. Scholars who researched severed martial arts were in the spotlight, and some hunters created their own martial arts by rolling around in actual combat.
Kim Si-baek had the talent of being selected as a national representative at a young age and had learned fencing systematically. On top of that, he had encountered various weaponry, including swordsmanship, in mak slecht and raised holy knights. It would not be an exaggeration to say that no one could provide better instruction than Kim Si-baek.
While they weren’t officially taking him on as a disciple for formal tutoring, even just a few pieces of vital advice were a huge help. The training room was crowded just to hear a single word from Kim Si-baek, and Yang Eun-ho was even considering creating a formal instructor position.
Though the hunters who had crept toward him while he sat on a chair near the entrance during break time—hoping to pick up even a crumb of knowledge—had been chased away by Tae-un.
“Any quests pop up today?”
Before Kim Si-baek could answer, letters appeared in the air as if responding to Tae-un.
[It’s starting to get exhausting thinking of the quest phrasing OTL Let’s hang out at an amusement park!]
[Quest 08]
[Ride two or more attractions at the amusement park (0/2)]
[Time remaining: 72 hours 00 minutes]
For some reason, the quest phrasing was becoming increasingly half-hearted. By the way, was OTL the correct emoticon to use in that situation? It would be better to just get rid of it rather than forcing the use of outdated emoticons that didn’t even fit.
While carefully reviewing the quest, Kim Si-baek unconsciously murmured, “Amusement park?”
“Amusement park? Do we seriously have to go to an amusement park?”
“Within three days.”
“What the…”
Tae-un chewed on a low word. He thought he heard something like ‘What a load of bullshit’ following it, but he must have misheard. His boy is kind; he doesn’t use foul language.
“What does it say to do at the amusement park?”
“It says to ride attractions and have fun.”
“I’ve never been to an amusement park. What am I supposed to do for fun?”
“I’ve never been either.”
It felt awkward to go to a place where children play at this age, but since it was a quest, there was no choice. Just then, Pi Min-hyeong, who was opening the door to the training room, overheard a piece of the conversation.
“Huh? You guys going on a date to an amusement park?”
“Somehow, it turned out that way.”
Tae-un, who naturally accompanied him on quest execution without being asked, tilted his head. However, unlike them, who had never been to an amusement park, the father of a child immediately realized the problem with this date.
“It probably won’t be very fun for you.”
Tae-un looked up, and Kim Si-baek also asked, puzzled.
“Is there a problem with the amusement park?”
“Not a problem, per se, but…”
Pi Min-hyeong scanned the long-limbed friend from top to bottom, looked as if he were about to answer, and then beamed.
“You’ll see when you go, hyung-nim.”
For some reason, it reminded Kim Si-baek of the smile Pi Min-hyeong had right after tricking Tae-un into a playground trap when they were young, making him feel slightly uneasy.
“More importantly, hyung.”
“Yeah?”
“In three days, it’ll be exactly two weeks since I started my life of abstinence.”
“….”
He felt even more uneasy.