By Zephyria 
✽ ✽ ✽
The swarm of dead magical beasts fell from the sky like rain. Though the individual creatures were small, hundreds of millions plummeted at once, and the pain of being hit while defenseless was considerable. However, the hunters cheered as if they couldn’t even feel the pain. Lee Sarang, who would have normally screamed at the sight of magical beasts pouring down, collapsed and sobbed loudly.
The kun, which every Korean, regardless of age, had regarded as a blade embedded in their heart, had been subjugated. Many had lost family and relatives to the kun. Amidst the cheers that bordered on frenzy, Kim Si-baek silently gazed at the quest in his vision.
“Hup.”
Gloiuken, who had approached before he knew it, caught a kun’s magic stone falling from the sky with one hand. The magic stone was as large as a basketball, but it looked relatively small in her grip.
“Good work.”
“I am ashamed. I should have been able to defend more securely.”
“You did your best while neither your divine power nor your sacred artifacts were fully intact.”
As he patted her shoulder, Gloiuken lowered her head slightly.
[Death and Beauty holds its head high, proclaiming that my apostle has saved even the perils of another world.]
Kim Si-baek could only manage a bitter smile. If it weren’t for the magical energy that allowed him to determine the location of the core, he wasn’t certain he could have subjugated the kun that had undergone swarm transformation.
Gloiuken repeatedly tossed and caught the magic stone with one hand.
“Magic stones of this size are rare; it should fetch a high price. This one had an exceptionally condensed magic stone.”
[Death and Beauty evaluates that it is as if the will of Chaos was more deeply imbued within it.]
That might truly be the case, considering the quest guided by the system was linked to the kun.
“Hyung-nim! You’re the one who crushed the one with the core earlier, right?! That light was the power of faith!”
“I told you my brother has a great eye! Thanks to you, the revenge against the one who took my eyeball ended well!”
“Ah, seriously! Stop pestering me! I’m not sending Hyung-nim to the Tohu Guild!”
“Hey! Show some respect to your elders!”
Pi Min-hyeong and Justina also rushed toward Kim Si-baek, completely exhilarated.
“But how did you recognize the magical beast with the core among so many of them?”
“Hmm, I just took a guess and it was right.”
“Ohhh! Luck is a skill too! Hey, Tae! Hyung-nim’s luck is this killer, so how did a guy like you…”
Pi Min-hyeong, who had been blurting out whatever came to mind in his excitement, belatedly realized Tae-un was missing and looked bewildered.
“Huh? Where did that brat go?”
Since the timing was perfect, Kim Si-baek slipped away using the excuse of going to find Tae-un.
The sacred relic hanging from his neck pointed the way, tracking the magical energy. He intended to go alone and in silence, but Gloiuken and Nasluik followed him keenly.
“You must be tired, yet you don’t even rest.”
“I think I’ll be more tired if I stay behind and have people prying into who I am.”
That was true. Once the excitement of victory faded and reason returned, more than a few people would likely harbor suspicions about Gloiuken’s identity, which Gwak Yun-sang had been forcibly insisting upon.
“I shall leave the cleanup to Your Excellency’s follower and withdraw.”
“…Are you talking about Section Chief Gwak? That man is a civil servant.”
“He was a public official? He serves so well that I assumed he was a servant.”
Vowing never to tell Gwak Yun-sang this, Kim Si-baek walked into the ruins.
As if everything were a source of dissatisfaction, Nasluik grumbled incessantly.
“The level of magic here is so low that I couldn’t do anything properly. It’s like trying to teach a child who barely knows basic arithmetic the mathematical formulas needed to launch a spaceship; it’s too much for them to follow. If it weren’t for that, the kun’s attack would have been easier to…”
[Death and Beauty shakes its wings, stating that your god strongly agrees with your sibling’s opinion.]
Knowing the reason for the constant complaining, Gloiuken—who would normally have shut her sibling’s mouth at the right moment—silently studied the map. Nasluik was still afraid. Afraid that Kim Si-baek would not only be late in returning but might decide to stay in this world forever.
Even Gloiuken, who had hardened her resolve, was not entirely at ease.
‘Your Excellency seems to have a great deal of affection for him.’
Even after spending decades in mak slecht, Kim Si-baek had always held a deep affection for that sibling named ‘Un-i’ in the depths of his heart. Having reunited with such a person in his hometown, how must Kim Si-baek feel?
Even if this world did not remember him, Tae-un’s presence was perceived as something far greater. Seeing his gaze, which was deeply soaked in a color other than joy despite the quest nearing its end, added another layer of anxiety.
‘And there seems to be another reason.’
The Servant of Chaos that Kim Si-baek mentioned he had an eye on… perhaps… Gloiuken cut off her thoughts there. It was a territory Kim Si-baek had not yet permitted her to enter. She only hoped that when he placed Tae-un and themselves on the scales of judgment, the weight would tilt even slightly toward their side.
Magical beasts appeared here and there, but they were no threat to them. Thanks to cutting straight across Seoul, where ruined buildings and magical beasts roamed, they arrived at the location indicated by the sacred relic shortly.
Kim Si-baek’s gaze sank as he looked at the old, shabby ruins common in Seoul. Gloiuken asked, just in case.
“Is this perhaps the institution where Your Excellency stayed during your childhood?”
“…Yeah. It’s been a really long time.”
The old building was small enough to be seen in a single glance. Nasluik, who had descended from her back, raised a hand.
“It looks like there’s a lot of dust inside; shall I clean it with magic?”
“No, it’s okay.”
Kim Si-baek bent down and lifted the sign of the Somang Orphanage, which had been broken in two. The part where ‘Orphanage’ should have been written had disappeared, nowhere to be seen.
He injected divine power into the ring he was fiddling with to project a photo. The contrast between the old but neat photo and the ruined orphanage was profoundly bittersweet.
Clumsily built barricades on the walls had collapsed, and the bleached bones of magical beasts lay scattered beneath broken wooden pillars. The playground equipment was twisted by intense pressure or rusted a dark red, creaking with a grating sound whenever the wind blew. Even the place where children had played happily showed signs of traps being set.
Nasluik, who was about to grumble again about the place being too small, shut her mouth upon seeing the photo Kim Si-baek projected. Kim Si-baek swallowed a sigh that threatened to escape and stepped inside.
Inside the old building, footprints were stamped everywhere, as if magical beasts had roamed there after people had fled.
We’ll definitely come back!
I want to come back before I become an adult.
The box buried in the backyard is mine, so don’t touch it.
Thank you for no one getting hurt!
Chicken!!
The walls were filled with scribbles written crookedly by the children before they left the orphanage. Kim Si-baek silently stroked the letters. All the children had become adults and returned here.
He looked around to see what writing Tae-un had left, but he couldn’t find the familiar handwriting of the child. When he counted the entries, only Tae-un’s was missing.
“….”
Kim Si-baek rubbed his face, feeling ominous imaginations swell uncontrollably.
Even after arriving at the Somang Orphanage, the quest did not update, but he had a guess as to where he should go.
“Biyendwe-nim, I will go from here alone.”
[Death and Beauty answers powerfully that your god trusts my apostle.]
As Biyendwe, there was no way he wouldn’t notice the turmoil stirring within him, but the young god tried not to show it. Accompanied by Gloiuken, who was as usual, and Nasluik, who revealed her anxiety without filter, Kim Si-baek climbed the stairs.
Dust rose in clouds throughout the orphanage, which had seen no human traffic for a long time, but the stairs were relatively cleaner. As if someone had climbed up here not too long ago.
Kim Si-baek removed the glowing sacred relic from his neck and put it in his pocket. Even without using a tool, the magical energy was gradually becoming clearer. He took a deep breath as the magical energy thickened with every step up the stairs.
And finally, he grasped the handle of the door leading to the rooftop.
Screeeeeech.
The rusted hinge moved with a sharp sound, as if forbidding the approach of others. The place he hadn’t seen in decades but could never forget. The very place that had been swept away by the rift 68 years ago.
“Hyung, you’re here?”
Tae-un, who had been sitting curled up, raised his head and greeted him.