You Will Be Blessed If You Do Good Deeds¿

"Please, save me. Please! I have a wife and child at home..."

That was the last words he spoke.

Crunch Crunch

The magic circle opened its mouth wide like a starving beast, tearing apart the man's body, devouring him whole.

For a while, the office, which had been filled with screams and cries, fell silent in an instant.

Not long after, the blood and flesh scattered across the floor vanished as if it had been washed away.

On the surface, it seemed as though nothing had happened.

Choi Mi-yeon asked.

"Is that summoning magic? It's only been a month since the last dungeon was cleared, but it seems like your level has gone up already."

"Yeah."

After clearing the last dungeon, as promised with the system, my overall level increased by five.

I opened the system window.

• Jeong Da-on (Normal)

• Potential Ability Rating: S-rank

• Health: LV. 21 (Limit: None)

• Strength: LV. 20 (Limit: None)

• Magic: LV. 45 (Limit: None)

• Overall Level: LV. 23 → 28

• Suitable Dungeon for Clearing: C-rank Dungeon

Most encouraging was that, as I had declared, all of my remaining stats were allocated to magic.

Before, I used to drain all my magic after casting a 4th circle spell two or three times, but now I should be able to cast a 4th circle spell about six times.

'Of course, typically, you'd only have the ability to cast 3rd circle spells at best.'

But I wasn't a typical magician whose abilities could be gauged simply by stats.

If I had the time to improve the magic circle, I could use it even more efficiently.

The spell I just used was a 4th circle spell.

'Summoning demons is pretty efficient.'

Call Beast.

It’s a type of summoning magic that calls forth a demon from another dimension to serve under your control for a limited time.

The demon I summoned this time was a Ghost Piranha.

A devouring monster that can kill a person without leaving a trace—it’s a very efficient monster for these types of tasks.

However, summoning magic requires a cost.

Most demons require not only magic but also a price to be paid, but this time, I had plenty of fresh flesh and blood to feed it, making the summoning quite efficient.

Now that I’d fed it well, the resources required for the next summoning would be much less.

However, despite this, I was still far from regaining my full strength.

I needed to keep adding useful cards like this to my deck.

‘I can’t rely on just incantation magic forever.’

The effects were great, but incantation magic itself was a process that overworked the body’s magic circuits, so the aftermath was the real problem.

Still, the fact that I was steadily increasing my stats was a good sign...

• The system leaves the evaluation of Jeong Da-on’s actions up to the judgment of societal members.

• Results are being calculated...

• The majority of societal members believe that Jeong Da-on’s actions should be considered with some leniency.

• Some societal members believe Jeong Da-on’s actions are a “necessary evil.”

• Quest, "You Will Be Blessed If You Do Good Deeds," has been completed, and Jeong Da-on’s ability limits have been slightly weakened.

• Strength has increased by 2 points.

Most importantly, at this point, I had completely pierced the flaw in the "You Will Be Blessed If You Do Good Deeds" quest.

Just like during the True Light Church incident, if the actions were something that most members of society could empathize with, even murder would not result in restrictions being placed on my abilities.

In fact, if I was targeting criminals who gained social sympathy, my abilities could even become stronger.

The scope was small, and the system adjusted the stats automatically, but aside from that...

‘Well, to be more specific, it was indirect murder.’

If I had truly killed these people with my own hands, there would have been a high chance of restrictions being placed, no matter the circumstances.

The system sees me as an obstacle to the survival of humanity, so it would make sense.

But conversely, as long as I didn't “directly” kill anyone, they didn’t care.

"Feels like it was worth it."

So, what I need is an accomplice.

"Thanks for helping me."

"No problem."

And Choi Mi-yeon, who had helped me this time, smiled brightly.

Choi Mi-yeon was in a “water balloon” state, a condition where Hunters must be injected with medication every few hours just to maintain their physical state.

But that didn’t mean she couldn’t use magic.

If the magic circle and the magic needed to cast it were provided externally, she could use magic without issue.

Like the role of flipping a switch.

It was similar to how I had controlled the desert whale last time.

I could prepare everything that was needed.

‘Good thing the lower floor of the office was vacant.’

I had drawn the magic circle with great effort on the ceiling connecting the office to the empty space below.

Surprisingly, acts of killing among humans were not considered a threat by the system.

Like a foolish collective intelligence.

Looking around the office, now empty of the six humans, Choi Mi-yeon shook her head.

"You were asking questions for quite a while earlier. Did you get the information you needed?"

"Only things I expected."

The loan sharks, the fake owner, and the high-ranking official at the Central Administrative Office.

Despite torturing them until dark, the fruits of my labor were minimal.

"The low-rank Hunters were sent into that dungeon, and their identities were sent through a messenger, and then the payment was made."

Bitnaerim had used an untraceable messenger app to make the transactions.

It wasn’t much different from the route they had used for distributing illegal potions.

The only difference was that what they trafficked wasn’t potions, but humans.

Bitnaerim had lured low-rank Hunters desperate for cash into their dungeon under the pretense of a mission.

They specifically targeted people without families, those who would not be missed if they went missing.

They had killed nearly a hundred people.

"Seems like human trafficking has become subcontracted."

I heard that for every low-rank Hunter sent, about 5 million won worth of virtual coins were deposited into their "client" accounts.

It was shocking to think that a human life was valued at such a low price, and even more so that someone would sell it for that amount.

The people in Bitnaerim didn’t even realize what they were doing, they just wanted to fatten their own bank accounts, trafficking humans along the way.

Choi Mi-yeon shook her head.

"They’re no different from cult leaders. They deserved to die. After all, they can’t be punished properly by the law anyway. Sending them to prison isn’t going to make them repent."

She spoke like a true accomplice of the devil.

But it wasn’t entirely her fault; this meant that society itself had become so corrupt that personal vengeance could gain societal sympathy.

A society that no longer believes criminals will be punished or reformed in prison.

And that’s where the system’s leash on my neck has a weakness.

If society were truly based on the idea that doing good deeds would bring blessings and bad deeds would bring punishment, I wouldn’t even need to interfere.

"But who was the wish for this time?"

Choi Mi-yeon’s face looked a little excited as she asked.

I felt a little bad for possibly pouring cold water on her expectations, but I shook my head.

"It wasn’t anyone’s wish."

Inside the dungeon, no living being remained.

At least, the Doll Buddha, which had turned into a creature that drained the souls of others, had died in the sunlight.

It was a completely different case from Lee Ah-rin.

This was just...

"Just... me venting my anger."

"Venting?"

"Yeah, I’ve seen too many terrible things in that dungeon."

The true face of the True Light Church was horrifying, but the place where the Soul Core was discovered was just as dreadful.

The bodies drained of magic, sucked dry to the last drop.@@novelbin@@

The Doll Buddha, an S-rank monster that devoured countless souls.

And...

• "Dear my sibling. Welcome home."

"Wow, there’s blood on your lips."

"Don’t worry about it. Just thought of something disgusting."

Sibling, my foot.

I had been reborn into a completely different body than my past life, and I didn’t want to concern myself with the ties of my previous life.

In this current life, my only family was Jeong Da-jeong.

That was the only reason I had to remain human.

‘...But "home"?’

That phrase kept bothering me.

It wasn’t surprising that the enemy of humanity was targeting me now, but to say "Welcome home"?

The landscape of that dungeon did look eerily similar to my past life, but that didn’t prove it was the same dimension.

In fact, the possibility of that was slim.

There are countless dimensions in this universe. While dungeons do connect to other dimensions, there’s no set method to connect to a specific one.

So, I wondered if that scenery had been recreated by my past-life enemies to torment me...

‘But that would have taken a lot of effort.’

And then, there was the paper Leo had swallowed, which seemed to have traces of time on it.

I had thought that "the enemy of humanity" first discovered me two months ago.

That the system had discovered me, and then that enemy had found me.

But what if that wasn’t the case?

What if they had discovered me long ago, and had been preparing to torment me all this time?

"Ugh."

"Are you okay?"

It was then.

Choi Mi-yeon, looking a little dizzy, swayed slightly.

I instinctively grabbed her arm.

Her pale face, already showing signs of sickness, had grown even paler.

"Ah, I’m fine. This much... it’s nothing."

She said, but she didn’t look fine. She seemed to be in a condition where she could collapse at any moment.

This wasn’t the time to be caught up in baseless paranoia.

"We should head back now. Sorry for the interruption in your treatment."

"It’s okay. Honestly, I feel a lot better. It was a good distraction."

It was hard to tell whether she was being sarcastic or not, saying that death had been a good distraction.

Choi Mi-yeon gently declined my arm and stood on her own.

"My treatment is much better than I expected. The new medication is really improving things."

"Really?"

"Well, there’s no possibility of a full recovery. The doctor has treated 'Water Balloon' state Hunters before, so I’m getting support, and most of my hospital bills are free. I wish I had known about this system earlier."

She chuckled lightly.

"Then again, maybe I didn’t need to. The True Light Church provided everything for me, after all..."

That’s right.

Before Choi Mi-yeon killed Imanbok, the True Light Church had provided all the treatment for her, so she never had the need to find such a system.

But that wasn’t out of goodwill—it was just like raising a pig to slaughter.

Now, Choi Mi-yeon had no such sanctuary.

"The doctor says that despite Imanbok's death, many of the cultists are still holding out, claiming he’ll resurrect."

"I’m sure."

I heard there were still successors within the organization claiming Imanbok would come back.

Of course, now that the True Light Church’s laboratory had been destroyed, they wouldn’t be able to replicate the "miracle" he caused, and their influence would gradually diminish.

Whether they would look for a new “god” or decide to endure a mundane life was unknown.

"Let them keep believing. They’ll believe whatever they want anyway."

Just like Choi Mi-yeon had done, if people don’t figure it out on their own, no one can help them.

Even demons can punish villains, but they can’t change people’s beliefs.

That’s something even gods can’t do.

"That’s true."

For a moment, Choi Mi-yeon’s face darkened, but she soon brightened up again.

"If something like this happens again, call me. If I can send a few more to hell before I die, I’ll do it gladly."

I looked at Choi Mi-yeon.

"Is that your wish?"

"You talk like you want someone to grant such a wish."

She smiled as she said that.

"But I’m not altruistic enough to sacrifice my soul for someone I don’t even know, sorry. If I were that kind of person, my dad or Lee Ah-rin..."

Choi Mi-yeon couldn’t finish her sentence.

In truth, I didn’t need to hear more.

After a brief silence, Choi Mi-yeon spoke again. She tried to force a cheerful tone, but I didn’t point it out.

"By the way, should we leave it like this? You said the police are investigating. There’s no trace left, but..."

"It’ll be fine."

If my guess was right, it would be.

"Well, we've been out long enough. Let’s head back now."

"Do you think there will be another chance like this?"

"It’s going to be hard for a while. I’m going for basic training soon."

"Oh, no."

Choi Mi-yeon laughed as if it was funny.

"That’s going to be annoying, huh? I wonder if someone like you will be able to endure it."

"What’s wrong with my personality?"

"Well, I guess it’s not your fault. It’s probably everyone else’s problem."

"....."

And then, after that.

The police decided that Bitnaerim, which disappeared without a trace, had set the fire to destroy evidence and then fled.

The high-ranking official from the Central Administrative Office, Ki Jeong-hyun, who had suddenly disappeared, was suspected of fleeing abroad after withdrawing a large amount of cash from an ATM just before his disappearance. They believed he feared being investigated for bribery.

For the six humans who vanished overnight, the results were surprisingly minor.

As expected, just as I thought.