The man was eating a human corpse.
That must have been his food for the past few years.
That’s also the only food.
“Ah, ahh… … .”
An old man, or rather a man, approached the people while making strange noises.
There was a black stain of blood stuck to the corner of his mouth.
As he got closer, he could also see that the whites of his eyes had turned black.
Kang Do-hyeon said, wary of the man’s movements.
“Anyway, this guy is a human, right? If we just subdue him… … .”
“Ahhhhhhhh!”
The man screamed like an animal and then suddenly appeared in front of Kang Do-hyun.
As if I had suddenly teleported.
The movements were so fast that it created that illusion.
“Ugh… … !”
Kang Do-hyeon tried to put the talisman he had on the man, but the man was faster.
The man who avoided the amulet opened his mouth wide.
Soon, teeth dug into Kang Do-hyeon’s arm.
-Ugh!
“Sergeant Kang Do-hyeon!”
Annabi swung her staff and sent the man flying.
The man did not fall down even after being hit, but jumped backwards with animal-like movements.
Kang Do-hyeon said, wrapping his bleeding arm.
“It would have been okay if you didn’t help me.”
“I don’t think it’s the right time to talk about that.”
The man was looking at Seo Kang-rim and his group with eyes filled with caution and greed.
His beard was dirty with saliva flowing from his mouth.
It was clearly a gaze looking at prey.
“Have you been here so long that you’re going crazy?”
“Even the person who was a statue couldn’t speak properly.”
“Should I subdue that one too? It would be easier to just kill it.”
This number of people could kill the man, but subduing him would be a bit more difficult.
Then the man jumped up again, kicking the seat.
-Bang!
It was surprising where such strength was hidden in that twisted body.
The man seemed to become even more excited when he smelled blood.
The man ran around on the floor, walls, and ceiling, crying.
“Ahhhh!”
An unknown aura flowed from the man’s body.
Just getting closer was enough to cause my body to buckle under the pressure.
Once again, the man seemed to disappear from his sight, and Seo Kang-rim instinctively swung his sword backwards.
-Wedge!
The Chiljido sword only cut through the air instead of the man.
But the man ran away screaming as if he had been stabbed.
“Ahhhh… … !”
A scream of pain was leaking from the man’s mouth.
He was staring at Chiljido as if he was looking at something disgusting.
As if an animal that had never seen light was exposed to the sun.
[Strong yang energy radiates from ‘Chiljido’!]
[More effective on targets with strong yin energy!]
The number 7 is known as the number with the most positive energy in ancient yin-yang theory.
Because of this, the seven-branched Chiljido contained strong yang energy.
Although its effect was not fully realized in its unrefined state, it began to take effect after being repaired.
“Huh, huh huh!”
At that moment, Rini jumped up and down, bit the hem of Seo Kang-rim’s clothes with her mouth, and tried to drag him towards the stairs.
Annabi also hurriedly retreated, dragging Seo Kang-rim with her.
“Mr. Seo Kang-rim, are you okay? Let’s go downstairs for now.”
Annabi said in a worried voice.
That was understandable, as Seo Kang-rim’s shoulders were soaked in blood.
Although he tried to counterattack the man in a hurry, he was unable to avoid the attack.
“Yes, I think it would be better to step back for a moment and come up with a plan.”
Kang Do-hyeon did not respond to Seo Kang-rim’s words, but obediently retreated downstairs.
Perhaps because of the influence of the Chiljido, the man did not chase after her.
While chewing the medicine and treating his wound, Kang Do-hyeon opened his mouth.
“The sword you were using earlier. Is that a Chilji sword?”
“huh.”
“It must be a sword with strong yang energy… … Judging from the fact that he ran away after seeing it, is that man also a demon?”
Annabi said with a puzzled look on her face.
——————
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“But on the outside, he looked like a human. Is that person also under a curse, Mr. Seo Kang-rim?”
“It’s a little different from a curse.”
“If it were a little different… … ?”
“That guy got too close to the border, Linney told me.”
When you enter the top floor and encounter the man.
Seo Kang-rim was looking at the man’s fortune telling.
His fortune telling was very distorted.
═══════════════
[Name] Lee■#
[Rank] §■Pum (@■■)
[Five Elements] ■(%)
[Shinmyeong] ^$*■? ■■
═══════════════
His fate was so damaged that little was left to read properly.
Annabi’s expression hardened slightly at the word “border.”
“If it’s a boundary… … are you saying that it became like that because of accumulated karma?”
“yes.”
Karma can be accumulated as a penalty for supernatural powers, but it is often accumulated as a result of human evil deeds.
Things like theft, assault, torture, and murder.
The more serious the crime, the greater the amount of accumulated karma.
The act of humans cannibalizing humans would also be one of the most depraved sins.
At those words, Annabi became quiet.
It seemed like his head was in a mess because he was thinking about something.
At that moment, Kang Do-hyeon suddenly spoke up.
“Are you okay? You look pale.”
“It’s okay now.”
Just a moment ago, he was in such bad shape that he couldn’t avoid the man’s attacks, but now he had regained some stability.
Seo Kang-rim still felt the traces of the illusion lingering before his eyes.
‘When I looked at the fortune teller, I saw the man’s past.’
A great shaman reads the past, present, and future.
Of these, the future was the most difficult to read, while the past was relatively easy to read.
Before meeting Seo Hwa-kyung, Seo Kang-rim could only read other people’s fates in fragments.
It was an ability that had been weakened by receiving a massage, but this time, the man’s past was clearly visible.
‘Why are you doing this? Is it because of the border?’
My head was pounding and my stomach was churning.
That would be the case, as the man’s memories were heavily polluted.
The man’s past appeared as if he was dreaming while awake.
[Now, let’s become the first ones to conquer this magical realm!]
A party was entering the dungeon.
The men were the first team to conquer this magical realm.
Since they had already conquered a similarly difficult level of magic, everyone was confident.
Until time passes.
[Whew, how many days have passed?]
A week passed while we were fighting off the monsters that appeared in the village and searching for the statue.
After finding the mansion, it took a week to unlock it.
Each floor had barriers in place, so it took ten days to destroy the statues and occupy the second floor.
[Do you have any food left?]
[There’s nothing now. What should I do?]
As time passed and we fought against so many demons, we ran out of food.
The Holy Eucharist appeared before their eyes.
At first, they also found it suspicious.
[Suddenly food… …? Isn’t this too suspicious?]
[Isn’t it poisonous?]
[I’ll try it first. I’ve raised the poison tolerance quite a bit.]
[I have an antidote and powers. It’ll be okay.]
After one person carefully ate the food and declared that it was not poisonous, everyone’s faces brightened.
People started eating food in a hurry.
If I hadn’t eaten it, this Demonic Realm would have ended in Human difficulty.
As we ate the food, people began to turn into statues one by one.
Those who had not eaten tried to fight back, but there were too few of them.
During the battle, all but one of the survivors were killed.
The sole survivor was that man.
The man fled from his former comrades, but he could not conquer this magical realm alone.
I waited for rescue, but no one came.
One day, another day passed.
People stopped coming, and the man was left alone, consumed by fear and hunger.
Then something caught the man’s eye.
It was the body of a colleague.
There is nothing to eat.
However, if you eat the food inside, you will turn into a demon.
The man did not want to starve to death, and he also did not want to turn into a demon.
So the man made his choice.
He endured, swallowing his karma, while waiting for reinforcements to arrive.
After holding out for a year, the second party arrived.
However, they were too weak and died before they could attack.
It was fortunate for the man that he died as a human being and not as a statue.
The man wanted to return as a human being.
He made his choice again.
And then, a dozen years passed.
“Hey, Seo Kang-rim!”
Seo Kang-rim suddenly raised his head at the strong force shaking his shoulder.
Kang Do-hyeon was looking at him with a stern face.
“Wake up. What if you lose your mind in this situation?”
“… … It’s okay now. I’ve come to my senses.”
In reality, the condition was not good yet.
The fear, despair, and madness the man felt made me sick to my stomach.
Kang Do-hyeon looked at Seo Kang-rim suspiciously and turned his head toward Annabi.
“I’ve seen cases of humans getting close to the edge, but this is the first time I’ve seen one like that. Have you ever seen the Annabi Chasa?”
“No. I was on edge, but I think I had a mental breakdown because I was isolated for so long.”
The criteria for getting close to the border varied from person to person.
Some people’s ego didn’t collapse even after killing 100 people, while others reached the boundary after killing just one person.
Usually, the speed tends to accelerate when the person is mentally unstable.
She said with a serious face.
“But since it didn’t become a demon, there’s a chance it might return to how it was before.”
Annabi spoke in a somewhat awkward manner, her voice trailing off.
“But I’m not sure if we can capture them. They’re getting closer to the border, and they seem stronger than we expected.”
Those who come close to the boundary become increasingly distant from humanity.
You lose your ego and reason, but at the same time, you gain great power.
That’s why there are people who deliberately accumulate karma.
The ending was miserable for everyone though.
“There’s nothing we can do. Let’s capture him alive for now. The problem is how to capture him without killing him… … .”
The opponent is now in a situation like an unleashed beast.
It was a more difficult opponent to capture than to kill.
While Kang Do-hyeon and Annabi were thinking of a method, Seo Kang-rim opened his mouth.
“How about doing it this way?”
* * *
The smell of blood was strong in the darkness.
Seo Kang-rim and his group returned to the fifth floor and prepared to capture the man.
According to Seo Kang-rim’s plan, Kang Do-hyeon took the talisman out of his bosom and was setting up a trap.
‘I accepted it because there was nothing better than Seo Kang-rim’s plan… … .’
Seo Kang-rim suggested a way to capture the man by utilizing Kang Do-hyeon’s abilities and the terrain.
On the fifth floor there was a long, wide main hallway, with smaller rooms on either side.
Seo Kang-rim’s plan was to install a capture talisman in a small room and lure the man to capture him.
‘I don’t feel like following Seo Kang-rim’s instructions.’
It was a situation that somehow hurt my pride.
It seemed like I was being manipulated by Seo Kang-rim from the past and even now.
Despite being the messenger of the Fate Guardians.
Feeling unnecessarily upset by that fact, he shouted at Seo Kang-rim.
“Do you think this will be enough? What if my amulet isn’t powerful enough to catch a man?”
“You won’t fail. It’s an amulet written by my brother.”
At those words, Kang Do-hyeon’s hand flinched for a moment.
Seo Kang-rim’s voice was filled with strong trust.
“I trust my brother’s skills.”
