Chapter 116: Ten Years in a Coma? My Goodness!
I was standing in front of a building with a familiar appearance.
[Sun Orphanage]
The moment my eyes landed on the sign embedded beside the main gate, I realized what I was experiencing.
A dream.
More precisely, a grotesque dream that belonged in the category of nightmares.
‘It’s come again.’
Since it was a frequent visitor that came consistently, the moment I recognized the situation, the lucid dream began.
It was always like this.
My mind was clear, but I was not granted the authority to manipulate the dream world as I pleased.
Instead, my body moved on its own, stripped of free will.
“……”
Soon, my ungrateful eyes forced their owner to witness an unpleasant scene.
At the orphanage entrance.
A girl was approaching me, her entire body covered in deep bruises and dripping blood.
“It hurts….”
“……”
I stared at Yunji’s eyes for a moment before placing my hand on her blood-stained head.
“Today the concentration of resentment seems a little lighter. If possible, could you tear me apart or trample me like before?”
Naturally, no answer returned.
Still, that was fine.
Some emotions did not crumble even when they flowed only one way.
“I hope next time we can at least have a brief conversation.”
While wiping Yunji’s blood-smeared face, I pulled out a sharply tightened strand of web from my index finger.
Thud.
A sharp sting pierced my neck.
The hazy consciousness sharpened, and my vision abruptly flipped.
“……”
The next moment.
I was lying on a hospital bed.
It was the only bed placed in a wide and comfortable hospital room filled with a pleasant fragrance.
《You’re finally awake! :D》
As if it had been waiting, a line of text appeared before my eyes.
《Famous Location — Wings of the Sky》
《The most prestigious healing facility in District 3. Ordinary people cannot even enter, but explorers belonging to the Ashen Wolf Guild may use it if they pay a large amount of Merit Points accumulated through clearing labyrinths.》
Glossary - The Evil God, Your M…
“How long was I lying here?”
I threw aside the blanket colored like the blue sky and tried to stand, only to stagger.
Truth immediately displayed large letters in panic.
《You were unconscious for about one day. The side effects of the hand-mirror artifact have not fully disappeared, so do not overexert yourself for a while!》
“Thanks for the quick explanation.”
Only a day had passed, yet the pounding heaviness in my head had already lightened considerably.
As expected, Wings of the Sky was different.
Still, complete recovery would be difficult, so I would likely need to visit a more exceptional healer later.
I stepped away from the bed and slowly walked toward the window.
Crackle, crackle!
As I gazed at the sunset sky where the sun was slowly sinking, lightning crackled wildly at my collarbone.
The divine will was unusually rough, causing slight delays in interpretation.
“So you were bored out of your mind while I was unconscious.”
Since there were no other believers worth watching besides me, even a single day must have been tedious.
To have bored such a lofty being.
As a cultist of the polluted sky, I could only feel deeply apologetic.
So I decided to offer a proper apology.
“I was too weak and fainted. Please look upon this and forgive me.”
Rustle.
I unfastened the top two buttons of my clean patient gown and slightly opened the collar.
A refined service that avoided excessive exposure.
The slightly lowered head, as if embarrassed, was the key point.
Crackle—!
Lightning filled with a will impossible for an ordinary intelligent being to describe burst from the tattoo near my collarbone before fading.
It seemed the gesture was pleasing.
Twitch.
Soon the Silent One also sent a greeting.
But I had no idea what was being said.
Perhaps because their only cultist among their three believers had been unconscious, their divine power was far weaker than before, making it impossible to understand.
“Yes. I also think chicken skewers are the king of street food.”
I gave what was probably the closest possible correct answer and looked out the window.
Even after a long time, the Herald of Cataclysmic Genesis, Okail, sent no further will.
“It seems Lord Okail wasn’t worried about my unconscious state at all.”
I nodded with satisfaction.
That was exactly how an Evil God should be.
Whether their cultist lived or died, they should remain faithful only to their own desires.
And a true cultist must accept such neglect and indifference with joy.
“Please continue maintaining such a dignified attitude befitting an Evil God.”
While touching the area of my thigh where the chain tattoo lay, the hospital door opened and the tiger beastman siblings entered.
“Oh?”
“Kar!”
Marlin ran over and grabbed my hand.
“You finally woke up! You were lying down for ten whole years!”
“I see.”
I nodded calmly.
Truth had clearly said it was only a day, but I trusted my ward.
“……”
“……”
“Why are you staring at me like that?”
“…Why aren’t you surprised?”
“My goodness.”
I raised my shoulders and covered my mouth in shock.
“Ten years lying down. I truly can’t believe it.”
“…Ah, seriously! You’re so annoying!”
Marlin poked my side repeatedly with her index finger, nails extended.
I grabbed her finger and shook it up and down like a handshake.
“Did anything happen while I was unconscious?”
“There was a small commotion when our patron collapsed immediately after exiting the labyrinth.”
Abel chuckled.
“People made all kinds of guesses about why you fainted. The current leading theory is that you collapse frequently anyway, but you just looked healthy in the [Battlefield of Sun and Moon] because you turned into a vampire.”
I had wanted to be known for an intellectual image, but somehow I had gained the frail attribute instead.
Although the rumor wasn’t entirely baseless, since elf-blood cultists grew physically weaker because of the curse Fertilizer Sprout.
Zap!
The lofty one protested that frailty belonged to Longboy and should not be stolen.
“Longboy” referred to Odilon.
Admittedly, he was the type whose knees might give out just from walking.
“However, Patron.”
Abel’s smile faded as he lowered his voice.
“You fought in quite a painful manner during this guild war as well.”
“Abel’s right. Didn’t we make a promise before? Hmm… what exactly was it again?”
“……”
The siblings simultaneously turned cold gazes toward me.
Terrifying.
More terrifying than receiving a call from Deputy Director Choi, the evil spirit, at three in the morning.
“…I’m sorry.”
Words alone would not solve it, so I made a practical promise.
“Next time, if my appearance becomes increasingly miserable during battle, I’ll overlay an intact appearance using illusion-type Mysteries.”
“…What kind of promise is that?!”
“As expected, you never fail to surprise us….”
The siblings’ eyes softened slightly.
Since the [Battlefield of Sun and Moon] guaranteed safety, they were never truly furious from the start.
If they had been, they would have shown heavy emotions immediately like last time.
“Was there anything else I should know?”
“The half-elf who infiltrated the guild war has been imprisoned in District 3.”
The Schemer had been personally thrown into prison by Targon.
Apparently he continued resisting and was punched directly by the gray orc who returned as a “Level-9 Berserker.”
I sighed regretfully.
“What a terribly boring place to be imprisoned. Prison in District 4 is much better.”
“What do you mean?”
Marlin’s ears perked up.
“Isn’t prison the same everywhere?”
“No. Each district of Pletika has its own prison with unique characteristics.”
For District 3, it was an underground prison.
Because of various mystical surveillance systems, once you entered, you would never see sunlight again until your sentence ended.
“Once you enter the underground prison, you must remain in darkness constantly. That’s why it’s considered excessively harsh.”
“Thinking about not seeing sunlight for decades really is terrifying.”
“Hm? That’s nothing. Just imagine you’ve become a vampire with extreme sunlight avoidance syndrome.”
“…You must have quite the imagination.”
Marlin shook her head and poked my back.
“Then why do you think the underground prison is so terrible?”
“Escaping prison should be enjoyable only after surviving countless traps. But that place is just dark and has no other dangers. They crush the will to escape through boredom as a form of defense. A truly inhumane scheme.”
“……”
Before I could finish explaining the terrifying design of the underground prison, Abel spoke.
“Anyway, that ninja was interrogated by the Ashen Wolf Guild. Surprisingly, he cooperated and confessed everything quickly.”
The murders of Rigobert of the Ashen Wolf Guild and Laenis of the Fire Turtle Guild.
And the leaking of mystical information about Ashen Wolf Guild explorers.
Considering the Schemer possessed the infiltration-specialized Mystery [Skin Garment], the damage could be considered relatively minor.
‘Because he was a follower of Ernysiv….’
A practitioner of balanced suffering.
An Evil God of painful harmony and obsessive order.
Since Ernysiv pursued “harmony,” just like Arteine, his followers did not kill indiscriminately.
If the deity had pursued mass slaughter, Ernysiv would have shared the fate of the thirty-seven Evil Gods destroyed during the Great Holy War.
“And now he just sits there blankly without motivation.”
“Really?”
“Yes. They say he sits in the same position all day.”
Since I ordered him through the Ritual Usurper to abandon his faith, he must have lost all will.
For the Schemer, Ernysiv had been the meaning of his life.
Seeing a fellow half-elf sunk in misery hurt my heart, but life was always full of tragic things.
‘…Still, I will not deny that he had no choice but to fall into faith in Ernysiv.’
I did not like the atmosphere in parts of elf society that despised half-elves either.
I especially disliked those old-fashioned elves who still believed, “If you fall in love with a human and produce a half-elf, you can just kill or sell the child.”
The world’s perception of half-elves was still far from harmonious.
“But that half-elf… what exactly is he?”
Marlin suddenly asked with a frown.
“Even the Fire Turtle Guild Master was furious.”
“A half-elf who fell into the worst environment and ultimately grew crooked instead of upright like me.”
“Upright? Who?”
She looked around, so I grabbed her head with both hands and forced her to look at me.
“Where are you looking? Right here stands the most upright cultist in District 6.”
“…You do seem more upright than other cultists.”
Marlin reluctantly admitted it.
Abel nodded beside her.
“What’s wrong with the other cultists? When I wave and greet them warmly, they shyly turn away. They’re just introverted.”
I wanted to build friendly relations with my neighbors in Cultist Town, but they were all too shy even to return my greetings.
“That’s because you’re too—”
“By the way, where are the other expedition members?”
While pinching her cheek, I asked.
Marlin forced my hand away and answered.
“At the Ashen Wolf Guild headquarters. They’re holding a banquet to celebrate the guild war victory. Our expedition was invited too.”
“Then why did you two come here?”
“How could we enjoy ourselves without you, Kar?”
Marlin said it as if it were obvious.
Abel’s expression also confirmed his sister’s words.
A decision that filled a sponsor with satisfaction.
“Good children.”
I patted both of their heads at once.
Marlin smiled and flicked her ears.
“The housemaid also came with us nearby because she said she couldn’t enjoy herself while you were unconscious. But right before this building she suddenly said she had something important to do and left.”
“Hmm.”
On the surface, she refused the banquet for the same reason as the siblings.
But her intention was probably different.
《She came to earn points, then withdrew so the siblings and you could have a pleasant conversation. For reference, that agent had already asked the healer when you would wake up.》
《She even considered that you might deduce this. Truly impressive social strategy!》
An astonishing level of social maneuvering.
But surviving as a thief in the slums required at least this much.
“Children, since I’m awake now, shall we go enjoy the banquet?”
When I asked while patting their heads, both siblings’ tails wagged energetically.
“Yes!”
“To be honest, we were a little disappointed, so this is great.”
The food would probably be inferior compared to Charlotte’s cooking, but a crowded gathering of people would be lively.
Moreover, I could also find new partners for religious activities dedicated to the lofty one, which I missed while unconscious.
“Then let’s go.”
After finishing a major task, one must enjoy a party.
A truth all members of the exploration industry—except Odilon—would agree with.