Nun Route? #1
"Huff...!" "Ah!"
Suddenly holding my breath and clutching my neck, the lady in front of me reaches out in surprise. My head had just been cleanly severed. And by the very warrior I had trusted.
"Are you alright!" "Ah... I'm fine."
I quickly regained my composure. It wasn't the first time I'd been beheaded, after all. And it wasn't like I hadn't died a few times before. The execution had been so clean that there was almost no pain. There was mental shock, though.
"Something just got caught in my throat for a moment." "Is that so?" "Could you give me some water?" "Just a moment."
I immediately assessed the situation. The regression point appeared to be right after receiving the black stone. Receiving items also seemed to update the regression point. Fortunately, this was before I had taken out the grimoire.
One ironclad rule. Never take out the grimoire within the warrior's domain. A grimoire is, after all, a book containing wicked knowledge. A clergyman like the warrior would never let it slide. He had already established his domain around the Itaewon temple where he resided, and the moment the grimoire was detected, he would immediately summon the target to a place called Mecca. His defenses were that thorough. No matter what, he was determined to slay any sorcerer.
If a top-tier holy warrior like him had prepared this much... it meant the grimoire was far more dangerous than I had imagined. It likely possessed power on an unimaginable scale. An item that far exceeded my expectations.
I recalled what I had just seen in Mecca. Hundreds of millions of Islamic warriors from across the ages. They stood ready, armed with everything from Mamluk cavalry to modern terrorists. Were all the warriors who had ever existed in Islamic history now spirits gathered in Mecca? Behind them loomed a colossal deity formed from black stone. Perhaps it was the form of Allah himself... Did that mean gods truly existed, and their followers all became spirits?
"..."
An overwhelming, crushing sense of religious awe washed over me. No matter how wicked an existence might be, if it were transported to Mecca, it would never survive. How could anyone stand against hundreds of millions of spirits and their god?
Yet a question arose. If the warrior possessed such overwhelming power, why had he been unable to use it during the giant incident? With hundreds of millions of Islamic warrior spirits at his command, he should have been able to crush the giant. And if gods truly existed, he could have gone toe-to-toe with it. But that had never happened. Did the army of gods and spirits only exist within the special realm of Mecca?
Ah. Come to think of it, I had heard something back then. The warrior had said his connection to Mecca had been severed. Perhaps the giant's appearance had cut off that link, suppressing the warrior's power.
Regardless, it had been an overwhelming sight.
—Thump, thump.
My heart raced at the sheer grandeur of it. I didn't particularly resent the warrior. He was one of the people protecting the world, and it was only natural for him to punish a wicked sorcerer. It had been my mistake to carelessly take out the grimoire. Still... now that I had become the grimoire's owner, I had to be careful. Originally, I had planned to consult the warrior and convert to Islam, but with the grimoire's danger proven, I couldn't risk it. Even if I possessed a black stone fragment, if he discovered I was the grimoire's owner, he might accuse me of obtaining it through some sinister plot and fly into a rage.
For now, I would keep my distance and stay cautious.
"Madam. Then I'll be on my way." "Yes. I pray that blessings follow the path of my benefactor."
With that, I left the mansion. I could have told the lady about Cheongak Mary Hospital and Kim Seong-han's condition. But I had a feeling that would cause massive trouble, so I gave up on the idea. The lady was, by my estimation, either Arabian royalty or someone of extremely high status. Owning a black stone fragment said it all. She was highly likely to have connections to the Itaewon temple, and if Kim Seong-han's location were identified, she would probably seek help from the warrior through the temple and head there herself.
I had no doubt that having Islamic holy warriors storm Cheongak Mary Hospital would be a terrible idea... A horde of translucent terrorists rampaging through the hospital? That would be catastrophic. So I abandoned the thought.
* * *
Unfortunately, being beheaded by the warrior had once again cost me my sense of direction. The route of Muhammad Kim Geun-hong, the Islamic holy warrior armed with an AK-47 and Allah's magic staff, had become difficult to pursue. So what should I do now?
"..."
The realization that I had lost my direction brought a wave of melancholy. The constant pain in my soul gnawed at my mind. Perhaps being beheaded by the warrior had been some kind of divine punishment. A lash meant to punish a foolish regressor.
No. Thinking like this would lead nowhere. I needed to do something... anything to erase these thoughts.
"Struggle."
That was what it amounted to. Yet I feared this struggle might lead to the worst possible outcome. I was terrified. So terrified I wanted to sit down and scream right now.
So... should I just do nothing? Live quietly, like a mouse, without causing any butterfly effects?
"..."
That didn't feel like the right route. I possessed a bizarre status window and a grotesque regression ability. And this vast something had multiple endings. If I stayed still, everything would simply repeat. Caught between indecision, my body became drenched in cold sweat.
I needed something to focus on. Investigating the grimoire seemed important. But I couldn't take it out carelessly. Within a certain range, doing so would summon me to Mecca. I would have to study and research it only outside the warrior's domain. After all, I was being hunted by vampires. I was in Seoul now, but I would soon need to flee far away. Yes, I was a fugitive. I could escape the warrior's domain anytime.
"In the end, it's the vampires."
My path was decided. While fleeing from the vampires, I would hunt them in turn and study the grimoire on the side.
"Right. That was it."
Moreover, there was one very important matter. The Vampire Angel, Gehanak. Would it appear this time as well? I needed to find out. Therefore, there was only one faction that could help me.
"The nun."
Blaret, the special Vatican nun. I would make contact with her.
* * *
I went straight to buy a cross. As I recalled, the Christian shop had two employees. One was a middle-aged man, and the other was the nun. If only the middle-aged man was there when I arrived, I would have to reset. With that thought, I headed over. Fortunately, a blonde woman stood at the counter. Good. This meant I could make contact immediately.
Before entering, I reviewed my setting one last time. Right now, I was not the Kim Geun-hong who had been through countless trials. I was a novice who had only just begun being tormented by vampires and was on the verge of losing his mind. That was the role.
After finishing my review, I stepped into the shop.
"Welcome."
The nun greeted me. This was the most critical point. I walked with a stiff posture, glancing around anxiously as if plagued by unease. My response to her greeting was an awkward nod.
"..."
I could feel the nun growing wary. I did look like a criminal, after all. Once inside the store, I scanned the interior while frantically tossing crosses into a basket. As if suffering from paranoia, I acted as though failing to buy them would bring about some terrible disaster.
When I went to pay, the nun who had been staring at me spoke.
"You're buying this many crosses?" "Excuse me?" "Did a vampire appear somewhere?"
It was the dialogue from my memory. Back then, I had brushed it off, but this time I reacted to the word "vampire" with a startled flinch, hyperventilating as I glanced nervously at the nun.
"This is going to sound completely insane, but... um. If vampires really existed in this world, would these crosses actually work?"
Pretending to be crazy was easy for me. My vivid performance instantly made the nun's expression turn serious.
"Why? Did you actually encounter a vampire?" "..." "Tell me. You have something you can't talk about, don't you? As a religious person, I'll listen."
Bingo.
"Um, is it really okay for me to say this? It's going to sound completely insane..." "I'm used to people in distress saying strange things. Did you encounter a vampire?" "..."
I glanced around before slowly nodding.
"Yes... I, I met something like a vampire." "I knew it. Alright. Let's talk."
The nun nodded and walked toward the door. Then she pulled down the shutter, signaling that the shop was closed. The nun had been dispatched to Korea specifically to deal with vampires. Of course she wouldn't just let a witness like me walk away. Though she probably wouldn't harm a witness either. If a nun killed someone, she wouldn't be a nun anymore—she'd be a witch.
Even in this situation, I didn't forget to stay in character. I spoke with suspicion.
"Wait a second. Who are you? You just believe me when I talk about vampires?" "Of course I believe you." "Excuse me?" "Because I'm the one who hunts them." "You hunt them?" "Sit down. Let's talk."
I sat as instructed.
"Wait here. I'll bring something to drink." "Okay..."
After a short wait, the nun returned with tea.
"Now, shall we hear your story? Tell me what happened." "Understood. I'll start from the beginning."
I recited the scenario I had prepared. The basic outline was the same. I had encountered a vampire on the subway, thought I was possessed by a ghost when hypnotized, then realized it was a vampire after seeing its fangs.
"Hypnosis... How did you survive while under hypnosis?" "Well, when I thought I was going to die like that, tears welled up and my stomach churned." "Excuse me?" "So then..."
I made a gesture as if spraying something from my hand.
"The vampire screamed and turned into black smoke before disappearing. I didn't understand it at the time, but later I realized I had eaten a lot of garlic with my meal just before. I figured the vampire's weakness to garlic must have worked." "Hmm... That's quite a shocking story. But it's possible. It is true that they're weak to garlic. Now then. I'll show you some photos. Can you find the vampire among them?" "Photos?"
The nun brought over her bag. Inside were photographs. An old man, a man, a child, a woman... and Secrem.
"This one! It's this bastard! This son of a bitch!" "Hmm. You're certain. So it was this one after all."
The nun nodded, touching her lips.
"Alright. Since it's confirmed you came into contact with a vampire, I'll reveal my identity."
The moment she opened her palm—
—Ziiing!
A cross materialized along with light!
"Wh-what?!" "Nice to meet you. I'm Blaret, a special-grade nun affiliated with the Vatican. I was dispatched to Korea to exterminate vampires." "Wait, what was that cross just now?! Are you some kind of magician?!"
A convincingly shocked performance.
"Phew, not a magician—just a sacred ability. Ah, would you like to see something interesting?" "Something interesting...?" "Click."
The moment the nun said "click," holy radiance burst from her eyes!
"This woman just shot beams from her eyes!"
Eye beams. First time seeing those.
"Not eye beams—radiance. Anyway, it's a kind of superpower. Have you heard of urban fantasy? Since you've seen a vampire, you know this world has such things in reality." "That can't be...! So Han Se-geon was a real person?!" "That went a bit too far."
She didn't play along. Who was I supposed to discuss Wolya Hwandam with now?
"Ah... Anyway. So what happens to me now?" "That's what we need to decide from here on."
At my words, the nun grinned. Good. The conversation had finally begun to flow. Time to pioneer the nun route.