You Will Be Blessed If You Do Good Deeds¿

CRACK!

Finally, the door broke open.

The cult members wielding hammers entered the room, their excitement brief as they stepped inside.

"Come out, Lee Ah-rin... cough, cough!"

However, their joy was short-lived. The room was thick with smoke. And it wasn’t ordinary smoke.

Choi Mi-yeon immediately recognized the nature of the smoke. It was a Sandstorm item used by hunters to escape monsters in dungeons, an item Choi Mi-yeon had helped develop.

This was a memory from when she still believed in her abilities and was striving to develop as a hunter before she entered the Water Balloon State.

"Lee Ah-rin, this lunatic stole a laboratory item."

"Is she crazy? How dare she do this!"

The others quickly realized the nature of the item as well.

Most of the people gathered here to monitor Jung Da-on were not only members of the True Light Church but also registered, official hunters in the guild.

Although, since the people present were hastily gathered after Jung Da-on's sudden visit, their abilities were mostly in the C to D range.

"Lee Ah-rin, you’ve got some brains. If you spray this smoke around the central garden, it’ll be hard to clear it up."

"Even so, if she climbs the building’s outer wall, she’ll only end up on the roof. Going down will just bring her to the garden."

"Looks like she’s planning to climb out via the building’s outer wall. Where’s the nearest police station?"

"Even the closest one is a ten-minute drive. We should block the parking lot first."

"Do you know where Lee Ah-rin parked her car?"

Despite the chaotic situation, they were well-versed in the building’s layout and had quickly formed a response plan.

Just as they were about to rush out through the door, a sharp scream pierced the air.

"Ah! What’s this!"@@novelbin@@

"Why is there a cat here!"

Without warning, sharp claws started attacking the people within the smoke.

After a brief moment of observing the situation, Choi Mi-yeon shouted in surprise.

"No, it’s just a stray cat! Don’t hurt it!"

She thought the stray cat she had left with Jung Da-on earlier had been startled by the smoke and was attacking people randomly.

But that misunderstanding was quickly shattered.

"Ahh! This isn’t a cat! It’s a monster!"

"What? What do you mean?"

Hearing someone shout in the smoke, Choi Mi-yeon froze in shock. And they were right.

"Ah!"

In the smoke, a black shadow appeared and knocked one of the cult members completely to the ground. A wet, sticky substance spread across the floor.

Looking down, it was clear that the sticky substance was blood.

This was no ordinary cat rampaging around.

Choi Mi-yeon staggered backward, panic written on her face.

"What is... this?"

"Choi Mi-yeon, pull yourself together!"

A loud smack rang out as someone hit her back.

Turning around, it was Jung Soo-yeon, someone who had known Choi Mi-yeon since she was little.

Her name was similar to Mi-yeon’s, and they had grown so close that they considered themselves like sisters.

Although her hunter abilities were almost nonexistent, Soo-yeon was a dependable presence in the group, almost like an older sister to the younger members.

"Soo-yeon, unnie."

"You crazy idiot!"

And that influence hadn’t changed.

Jung Soo-yeon shouted, her face full of life.

"Even if it’s a monster, it’s small. It won’t die. Everyone, just go outside!"

"Yes, yes!"

"What about the fallen people?"

"Leave them for now and go!"

Everyone was still confused, but they followed Soo-yeon’s command and quickly exited the room.

Meanwhile, Choi Mi-yeon, who had barely regained her senses, crawled through the smoke and managed to close the window.

Since the Sandstorm item had been spread around the central garden outside the building, closing the window caused the smoke to gradually settle, revealing the scene.

"Where the hell did that damn cat go!"

Despite the smoke clearing and the obstacles vanishing, the cat that had been attacking people just moments ago was nowhere to be seen.

It seemed to have already left the room.

Only one cult member lay on the floor, blood pouring from their shattered skull.

Soo-yeon gritted her teeth.

"This isn’t a stray cat. This is a monster Jung Da-on brought with her, isn’t it?"

"No, I found it in the central garden."

"That’s when you got tricked! Stupid! Why pick up a cat like that? You should’ve just thrown it away!"

"...I’m sorry."

Given the situation, Mi-yeon had nothing to say in response. As she bowed her head in apology, Soo-yeon’s expression softened slightly.

"...I know you like animals. But with things being like this... you understand, right? Mi-yeon."

Soo-yeon’s voice was comforting. It was the voice Mi-yeon had heard since childhood. After her mother passed away, Soo-yeon had taken care of her as if she were her true sibling, and her words had always been a source of strength.

That was why Mi-yeon believed Soo-yeon—because, when Mi-yeon had received an A-rank rating, and when she collapsed and became a Water Balloon during training, Soo-yeon was always there to comfort her.

"Yeah... But unnie."

"Mm?"

"What Lee Ah-rin said earlier... It couldn’t have been true, right?"

However, there was one lingering doubt in Mi-yeon’s mind.

The comment about her father and how she was the only one who didn’t know what was happening to him.

At first, it hadn’t bothered her. But the moment she noticed the sudden silence from the other cult members outside the door, Mi-yeon felt a chill run down her spine.

What did that silence mean?

"Is something really happening to my father?"

"Of course not!"

Thankfully, an immediate answer came.

Soo-yeon sighed in disbelief.

"Mi-yeon, don’t listen to what Lee Ah-rin’s saying. She’s just crazy and saying whatever comes to her mind. Obviously, you’re the strongest hunter here, so they’re trying to shake you up."

"Right? Yeah."

Mi-yeon, reassured by Soo-yeon’s words, finally felt relief.

"How close are my dad and the higher-ups?"

Her dad always had late-night drinking sessions with the higher-ups, even after work, and would spend long hours with them. He spent more time with them than with his own family, so if something had happened, he would’ve told Mi-yeon by now.

There was no such thing.

There couldn’t be.

"Right. If I hadn’t been shaken up, we wouldn’t have had to break the door down like ordinary people. If you’d just broken it down earlier, we could have caught both of them."

"Ah... I’m sorry."

She apologized, but then a new question arose.

Right now, Mi-yeon still had abilities, but she couldn’t use physical force recklessly. Her body had weakened, and using her powers recklessly would bring unbearable pain.

Still, Mi-yeon decided to let it go.

Soo-yeon, being like a true sister to her, probably didn’t want to point out her Water Balloon state and might have been trying to show consideration instead.

No, that must be it. Soo-yeon was like a real family member to her.

"By the way, this is bad. If we escape the building like this..."

"Lee Ah-rin has nowhere else to go, so she’ll probably come back soon."

They understood each other well because they shared the same fate.

There were no places for Water Balloon hunters to go, especially those in this state.

Hunters in the Water Balloon State had to take a body-enhancing potion every six hours, or they would die quickly.

And those potions were incredibly expensive, as they weren’t covered by insurance. Only the True Light Church provided them free of charge for hunters who couldn’t participate in dungeon raids.

Though Lee Ah-rin might be acting crazy right now, she would likely realize that there’s no way out and return to the cult soon enough.

"The problem is with Jung Da-on. If we let her slip away, it’ll get noisy."

The True Light Church was already misunderstood by the public. If Jung Da-on misunderstood things and started making noise in the media, it would become a bigger issue.

However, Soo-yeon shook her head at Mi-yeon’s concern.

"That’s not the issue. Today, we were supposed to bring Lee Ah-rin to the leader. She’s already here at this branch. What are we going to do about this?"

"Wait, Lee Ah-rin?"

Mi-yeon widened her eyes in shock.

"Why would she meet with the leader?"

Her voice was sharp with disbelief.

Even though she grew up in the True Light Church, Mi-yeon had only met Pastor Imanbok once—after her A-rank rating and before heading for basic military training.

But why was Lee Ah-rin meeting him?

"Unnie, didn’t you hear Lee Ah-rin talking about killing the leader? Didn't she say something like that... about how we’re making illegal human experiments?"

"We don’t decide that. If the leader says to meet, we meet."

"That’s... true, but..."

"She’s been acting out lately, but an A-rank Water Balloon hunter is rare. We had to keep her around. Ugh, this is a mess. What should we do?"

Soo-yeon began nervously biting her nails.

"My responsibility was with these branch hunters, and I’ve let them slip through... Damn it."

Mi-yeon fell silent.

Something in their conversation felt off.

‘Why would they need to keep an A-rank Water Balloon hunter?’

But despite her thoughts, Mi-yeon pushed the strange feeling away.

Soo-yeon had risen to a high position in the church over the years. Unlike Mi-yeon, who had failed as a hunter, Soo-yeon always did everything confidently and meticulously.

There must be some reason Mi-yeon didn’t know.

After all, Soo-yeon was a good person, and the True Light Church, which had saved her, was a good place.

There was nowhere else for Mi-yeon to belong.

That was a belief Mi-yeon couldn’t let go of.

And she wanted to help solve Soo-yeon’s dilemma.

So Mi-yeon made up her mind and spoke up.

"By the way, unnie, does it have to be Lee Ah-rin? I’m also an A-rank."

"Mm?"

At first, Soo-yeon seemed surprised, then she took Mi-yeon’s hand.

It was a hand Mi-yeon had loved since childhood. The warmth of Soo-yeon’s hand calmed Mi-yeon.

"Thank you, Mi-yeon. I didn’t think of that! There’s a way!"

"We’ll make them think we’ve escaped the building."

"That’s obviously the answer."

I dusted off my hands, which had gotten dirty from climbing the outer wall.

Instead of climbing all the way out, Lee Ah-rin had gone up two floors and reentered the building through an already open window.

She looked at me, breathing heavily, and smiled.

"And frankly, you’re too weak to climb the building on your own."

"...I’m a mage, though."

In fact, since I was still just a low-level mage, most of my stats were invested in mana, and my physical strength was only slightly better than that of an ordinary person. Even with the item I had, my body wasn’t conditioned for climbing, so it was tough. If Lee Ah-rin hadn’t helped me, I might have fallen.

"And this is more interesting."

I took a moment to catch my breath and looked around the room.

The space was almost like a fortress, and I had wondered if this was part of her plan all along.

"It’s an abandoned warehouse that I remodeled. No one would have imagined this. I even put another layer of wallpaper on the outside to hide the door."

Earlier, the women’s dormitory had a regular wooden door, but this room had a solid steel door instead.

And all over the walls were papers cut out from True Light Church articles. The faces of Pastor Imanbok were covered in red pen curses, suggesting she must have scribbled on them whenever she was angry.

But the thing that surprised me the most was the firearms lined up by the window.

Though firearms were one of the most powerful weapons in modern society, they weren’t commonly used by hunters since there were cases where creatures without physical bodies, like the shadow ghosts, existed.

Besides, firearms were still illegal in Korea.

"Where did you get these guns?"

"3D printers have come a long way these days."

Lee Ah-rin answered nonchalantly while checking one of the guns.

"They’re distributed underground, but they’re quite common for low-level hunters. Sometimes they’re faster than magic or swords."

"Against monsters?"

"No, of course not. These guns wouldn’t even pierce monster hide. They’re obviously for human use."

She spoke chillingly.

"More hunters have killed humans than monsters. Dungeons are the new gold mines, and the owners of these mines aren’t set. Of course, there’s going to be war. And when a dungeon is cleared, the corpses inside disappear without a trace, so what’s there to be afraid of?"

Click!

I watched Lee Ah-rin load the gun, lost in thought.

...If I were alone, would she shoot me right now?