I Became a Foreign Worker Loved by Transcendents

Everything was consumed by the void that devoured both the living and the dead.

No one knew what it looked like inside.

Not even I, who walked in here of my own accord.

“Hey there, Miss. Are you coming to your senses?”

Therefore, I had no idea that such a situation would unfold.

I thought I might be digested and die as soon as I entered.

I had also considered that, just like when I faced it in reality, a hellish scene of countless maws charging at me might unfold.

“Oh, you’ve woken up. What a relief. I was worried you’d stay asleep forever…”

But what appeared in front of me at that moment was an old man with a gentle atmosphere.

“You are…?”

“It feels odd to ask you this as soon as you’ve woken up, but… could you do me a favor?”

But why was he standing before me?

Before I could even ask, the old man opened a book in front of me and pointed at the words in the center with his finger.

“I would like you to read the words in this book.”

“Words, you say?”

“Yes, can you not read?”

“Oh, no. I can read.”

I answered without thinking. Even as I carefully read the words in the book, I couldn’t help but question the situation.

Surely, I had entered the belly of that monster… so why was I now teaching an old man I’d never met to read?

“…Oh, so that’s what those words meant.”

While I was feeling confused, the old man was overjoyed just from learning the words.

Then, as he stood in front of me, he bowed his head and expressed his sincere gratitude.

“Thank you, young one. Thanks to you, this illiterate old man can now read a bit more of his books.”

“Oh, no. Don’t mention it. It’s not a big deal.”

“Maybe to you it isn’t, but to me, it’s a debt I could never repay even if I gave you a thousand pounds.”

A gentle smile formed on his lips as he looked down at the worn book with affection.

It meant that he cherished the book in his hands that much and was giving meaning to the insignificant time he had spent before.

“Even though this body will soon be buried in the ground, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with learning something before that time comes. Learning bit by bit means that I lived a better life than yesterday… By repeating that, my end will be better than if I had simply repeated the same days over and over, wouldn’t you agree?”

The old man grabbed my hand tightly as he said this.

The wrinkles and calluses on his hand told me indirectly about the years and hardships he had experienced.

“Thank you, young one, for allowing this worthless old man to live a little better.”

As this old man, who had lived so steadfastly, expressed his gratitude for learning to read, I felt a slight pang in my heart.

Even what seemed like a fleeting and insignificant connection to me might have great value to someone else—that realization dawned on me.

-Screeeech!

But before I could even indulge in my thoughts, a fierce storm arose.

Reflexively, I shut my eyes and tensed my body. When I opened them again, I noticed that the scenery in front of me had changed.

In the place where the old man had stood, there was now a group of people gathered in what appeared to be a village square.

“The borders have been closed. No one can leave the village anymore.”

“Damn it, why did this have to happen to us…?”

“It’ll surely get better with time.”

The people were talking in one place, their expressions grim.

Most of them looked pale and weak, but those who still had the strength rushed around the village, tending to the sick.

“This isn’t the time! More people in the village are falling ill.”

“We need to keep their body temperature up. Get firewood—anything! If necessary, tear down the house beams!”

They moved the collapsed people into the town hall and shoved any firewood they could scavenge into the fire.

In the process, they burned not only firewood but also household items, shelters, and even valuable possessions. Their situation was that dire and urgent.

“Oh no, not that! You can’t!”

But even in such an emergency, there were still people who couldn’t bear to part with their belongings.

An old man, who no longer had the strength to hold a plow…

“What do you mean, ‘not that’? People are dying, and you’re worried about a book!”

“The children are sick!”

Despite the old man’s desperate pleas, the villagers seized his cherished book and threw it into the pile of firewood.

“Oh… oh no…”

The book was burned, despite his protests.

The old man collapsed to the ground, watching in despair as his book burned, but no one in the village pitied him.

“People are dying, and he’s throwing a fit over a book? Isn’t that just selfish?”

“I’ve never liked that old man! While everyone else was struggling, he wasted time learning to read something useless!”

“If he lived as a farmer his whole life, he should die as one! What does he think will change just because he learned to read at this age?!”

The villagers berated the old man sitting by the fire, then turned away from him and left.

All that remained in the end was a pitiful old man who had lost the only joy in his life.

“That’s not… true.”

Even in his miserable state, the old man spoke out loud.

“It’s not useless… not at all. Even if it’s just one letter a day… Learning even one thing is so meaningful…”

Even though no one understood his feelings, he stared at the fire that was consuming his treasure and wept sorrowfully.

The letters he had always sought to understand turned to ashes, buried under new firewood, and the villagers treated him as if he were a madman.

“Why does the sky even take away the simple wish of this old man who found joy in learning to read?”

Until his last breath, he remained in that spot, cursing the fire as it slowly burned out.

“Oh, oh… the learning…”

And time passed, and he was resurrected.

He was resurrected along with the people who had perished from hunger and cold in the isolated village plagued by disease.

“I couldn’t… learn more… What a regret…”

But if he were merely driven by hunger, he would be satisfied with consuming the flesh of the living.

True regret arose from an obsession that far surpassed mere survival instincts.

Even if that obsession began with something as trivial as learning to read at the end of one’s life.

That pure obsession was stronger than the love-hate relationship toward one’s parents, stronger than the ideals of a superior being, and stronger than the King’s pursuit of beauty in life.

“…Gorgon Zola.”

That was the foundation of a calamity that even surpassed the Corpse Lord.

Such a simple yet vivid desire, if supported by power, could become an unwavering catastrophe.

All it took was unfulfilled regret and the power granted by a transcendent being…

-Screeeech!

The moment I realized it, a fierce current of power began to crash over me.

The power tore at my body as if it were ripping me apart, and even my mind felt like it was being sucked into another realm.

The reason it didn’t feel completely unfamiliar was simple.

It was because I had experienced this when I entered the afterlife and when the memories ended and the area collapsed.

-Screeeeech!!

But what was happening now was on a completely different level from what I had experienced before.

The impact of the space collapsing was not happening just once but repeatedly.

The space collapsed as soon as it was created, only to be recreated again, an endless cycle repeating itself.

At the moment I realized this phenomenon was consuming me, it dawned on me.

This space was the stomach of the Devourer, indiscriminately consuming the memories of the living and the dead.

The remnants within were unlike the clearly structured afterlife—they were a chaotic jumble with no order.

“Ugh, argh…!”

Gorgon’s memories were clear enough for me to endure, but the other memories kept forming and breaking down, endlessly tangled together.

The resulting current of power was something no sane mind could withstand.

“Aaaaahhhhhhh!!”

I’m going to die.

No, if this continues, I’ll end up in a fate worse than death.

My very existence would crumble to dust, and I would be completely erased from this world.

That terrifying moment was right before me, and there was no way out.

“Pull yourself together!!”

A voice rang out at the moment I was ready to surrender to fear.

The familiar voice pierced through the current of power, and I tightened my grip on my fading reason, focusing my attention there.

“Get a hold of yourself!! If you lose consciousness here, you’ll be completely absorbed!!”

“A-Annabel…”

“Never forget! You must not forget who you are!!!!”

Responding to that shout, my senses slowly began to return.

I could feel my body regaining sensation, and I gritted my teeth and shouted at the top of my lungs.

“I am…”

Even in this whirlpool of chaos that threatened to erase my very existence…

I repeated the name that I could never forget.

“I am Woo Hyo-sung…!!”

I repeated only that one name over and over, resisting the force that was tearing me apart as I kept moving forward.

And then…

“Huff, huff…”

When I came to my senses, I found myself in a dark place.

Though it was so dark I couldn’t see anything around me, the very lack of sensation brought a sense of calm.

So, even inside the Devourer’s stomach, there were safe zones.

Relieved by that one fact, I cautiously turned to look at Annabel, who was stabilizing beside me.

“Annabel, are you okay?”

“I felt like I was going to lose it… but ironically, your power seems to have helped me keep my mind.”

“That’s a relief. I’m glad we’re both safe.”

“Relief? It’s because of you that we’re in this mess, and you still have the nerve to say that?!”

Annabel immediately scolded me, jabbing her finger into my forehead. Her sharp eyes clearly showed how genuinely displeased she was with our current situation.

“Let me clarify something—I’m only helping you because I’m a being derived from your power, so I have no choice. If I were the one in control, I wouldn’t have fallen for your foolishness in the first place!”

“Ah, yeah. Sure. It’s all my fault. I’m the foolish one…”

I knew it, too. Surviving was just a fortunate outcome, after all.

Entering the parallel world, exploring past memories, and delving into even deeper darkness—it was foolishness, and no one knew that better than me, just a mere human.

“…Still, you’ll help me till the end, right?”

After all, this was the path I’d chosen.

As long as I had survived without losing myself, I must stick to my beliefs and push forward for the future.

“You damned fool.”

Perhaps she couldn’t entirely deny my resolve?

Annabel stopped scolding me and folded her arms, turning her gaze toward a specific spot.

“If you’ve come to your senses, get up already. Given how bad things are, that kid won’t last much longer.”

“Ah, right. Let’s head out.”

I immediately stood up and looked in the direction Annabel was gazing.

It was dark all around, but there was a clear difference in the atmosphere. Inside this Devourer’s stomach, filled with the remnants of the dead, I could sense another living presence like mine.

“…It’ll be okay.”

Yeah, for now, it’ll be fine.

If this really was a safe zone miraculously formed within the Devourer’s stomach, then she hadn’t been exposed to the chaotic currents of power we passed through, and her mind should still be intact.

I’m sure of it…

-Tak, tak, tak, tak.

Holding on to that hope, I moved forward and was soon met with a small light illuminating the darkness.

The only thing visible was a fire burning on wood, with blue flames flickering through the cracks…

-Tadak, tadak!

However, since the surroundings were filled with darkness, even the small flames illuminated the area clearly.

The first thing that caught my eye in the light was a crystal seen beyond the campfire.

Inside it, a faint figure of a girl curled up and sleeping could be seen.

“…Ga-ram.”

I could recognize her immediately.

Although she was much smaller than the last time I saw her—no, rather than smaller, I should say she had grown younger.

Despite the fate of being a hero, she had always been small, weak, a crybaby, and full of fear…

At a time when she was still far too young and fragile to fully accept the world as it was.

-Tadak, tadak.

In front of the crystal where the girl was imprisoned, another shadow could be faintly seen.

A man was crouching there, right in front of the blue campfire.

His only protection was a ragged cloth covering his lower body, and a paper bag on his head.

“Tae-yang.”

I recognized him immediately.

I had received grace from him, and I was someone who remembered him.

“Tae-yang, is that you?”

“……”

But he didn’t say a word.

He just sat there in silence, staring at me.

The blue glow visible through the paper bag on his head showed that he had already fallen, no longer human, but something else.

“I’ve come to take Ga-ram back.”

Yet, if there was still a shred of reason left in him…

“Please, step aside…”

-Whoosh!!

But what returned to me, even in my desperation, was the sight of him roughly pulling a log from the burning campfire.

And then he charged at me.

Without a word, he swung the flaming torch, engulfed in unbearable heat, mercilessly.

-Boom!!!

I regained my stance after being thrown back by the intense blast, steadying my weapon and aiming it at him as I caught my breath.

“You expected this, right?”

“Yeah.”

As Annabel said, there was nothing surprising about it.

The reason Ga-ram ended up here was because of his lingering regret.

Assuming that a wraith born of that regret wouldn’t block my way would have been far too optimistic.

“He’s just a remnant. The only thing left of him is the will to protect that kid, even in his final moments…”

“I know.”

The girl was still visible beyond the burning campfire. In front of her stood the man, holding a single torch.

It wasn’t a mistake to see him as a knight.

Like me, his will to protect that girl was strong, and that was why he appeared as a trial blocking my path.

“Then you know what you have to do, right?”

“…Yeah.”

Yes, at this moment, the one I had to face was the knight who sacrificed his life to save that girl.

-Whoosh!!

A knight who had never known defeat until his final moments.

He was the wraith of the strongest hero ever known.