Chapter 46

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Translator: True Detective

Chapter: 45

Chapter Title: God is Near

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Baek-in Assassins Aso-hee and Jo Sang-hyeon.

I followed the two of them into the temple grounds.

The woman, Aso-hee, stood in front of me, while the man, Jo Sang-hyeon, guarded my rear.

They pressed in on me from front and back, positioned to strike my vital points and kill me at any moment.

I wasn't afraid. No, there was nothing to fear at all.

Just the incessant barking of dogs was annoying.

The temple grounds were filled with Tosa hunting dogs. They barked furiously at the sight of me, but the moment our eyes met, they tucked their tails and slunk back into their kennels.

"There are a lot of dogs."

"We have many intruders."

"For security?"

"Yes. We raise these watchdogs to prevent outsiders from wandering in unknowingly."

A lie.

Those dogs were for disposing of bodies.

The stench of human blood clung thickly to their muzzles. It was obvious what they were fed regularly.

The thought that feeding people to dogs actually happened here made my stomach turn.

Those poor dogs had just eaten whatever meat their owners tossed them, oblivious to everything.

"I see. For security, got it."

I continued following the assassins deeper into the temple grounds.

It would be wrong to kill all those dogs just because they ate human flesh.

The pups had only eaten what their masters gave them; they hadn't committed crimes of their own volition.

Holding beasts incapable of reason accountable was misguided from the start.

What about Aso-hee and Jo Sang-hyeon? Had they sinned by their own will?

Or were they merely acting mindlessly on orders?

"Here we are. Just go down these stairs."

Following them to a warehouse behind the temple revealed a door leading underground and stairs descending into endless darkness.

The Mu-won Heart Palace lay at the end of these stairs.

"No elevator?"

"No. The elevator's been malfunctioning lately."

Once again, Aso-hee answered my question.

Whenever I asked something or spoke up, this woman always responded. Was the man unable to speak? Or was he deliberately hiding his voice?

"I prefer elevators over stairs."

"Sorry, but you can't use the elevator."

Elveman must have handled the Black Night Society goons properly.

They weren't even trying to approach the elevator; I could sense their fear.

"Understood. Let's head down."

Once again, I obediently followed their lead.

I didn't question them and quietly trailed behind Aso-hee down the stairs.

When we'd descended silently far enough from the entrance, I posed a question to the two.

"So, how long have you two been working here?"

"Sorry, but we can't share personal information with guests."

"Then how long have you been killing people?"

"...."

This time, even Aso-hee fell silent.

An awkward silence followed as we continued down the stairs.

"Didn't you feel anything watching people die?"

Aso-hee's status had changed.

Was my question getting under her skin?

If so, that means you still have a human heart.

If you're feeling guilt, you should stop here.

"The Mu-won Heart Palace is a bit further down. Sorry, but could you keep walking?"

"Of course. Let's go deeper. The further in, the better for me."

A red iron door appeared before us.

This must be where the real descent begins.

Aso-hee pulled out a key and unlocked the door. Jo Sang-hyeon, standing behind me, placed his hand on his waist, ready in case I tried anything. I could sense even the slightest movement despite his efforts to hide it.

'It stretches on endlessly.'

More stairs continued.

How deep did this go?

We'd already passed what felt like ten floors underground easily.

Were they really digging this deep underground to hide from the eyes of God?

"Does Aso-hee have any family?"

"..."

I sensed Aso-hee's status from behind my head.

At the question about family, she paused her steps, seemingly flustered.

Was she surprised I knew her name, or sensitive to the topic of family?

"Ahem."

A fake cough came from Jo Sang-hyeon behind me. The man, who hadn't even breathed audibly until now, finally showed a proper reaction.

Regaining her composure at his cough, Aso-hee ignored my question and continued downward.

"I'm curious how the two of you ended up joining an organization like this. And whether you'd really risk your lives for a group like that."

The two completely ignored my words, their killing intent rising silently.

They were probably gauging when to strike.

These stairs never ended anyway.

An infinite staircase— it only stops when someone falls.

"So, what's the relationship between Jo Sang-hyeon and Aso-hee? Master and disciple? You look about that age apart. Or maybe lovers? Age-gap couples are common these days."

"..."

Aso-hee halted her steps.

There must be something between them. Master and disciple for real? Age-gap lovers? Or maybe father and adopted daughter—different surnames, so not blood-related.

Didn't matter. I just wanted to see one of them lose composure first.

"Who will break first? Jo Sang-hyeon, are you confident you won't care if Aso-hee dies? And vice versa—could Aso-hee keep living normally if Jo Sang-hyeon died?"

I felt Jo Sang-hyeon drawing something from behind me.

Finally drawing his blade? Ready to kill me at last?

"Drop your weapons and surrender now, and I'll let both of you live. You'll be crippled for life, but survivors can still find happiness. Quit the assassin life. This might be your last chance."

These two were murderers who'd slain over a hundred. By my standards, they were villains who deserved death.

But they weren't simple pleasure killers driven by bloodlust.

Assassins killed on orders. Aso-hee and Jo Sang-hyeon might have unavoidable pasts forcing them into the Black Night Society.

Sowol told me from within the ring: they were lost souls too. Maybe circumstances beyond their control led them here.

Family held hostage, or something similar.

That's why I offered a chance. Lost souls deserve one shot at the right path.

That's what I thought when I proposed they abandon killing. That they could live.

"You know nothing. Don't spout nonsense, guest."

Aso-hee spun quickly, slashing at my throat. I tilted my head slightly to dodge, and Jo Sang-hyeon, seizing the opening, thrust a long needle toward my collarbone.

Near-lethal damage.

If my body were normal, Jo Sang-hyeon's needle would have burst my heart.

"Stings a bit."

"...!?"

I saw shocked eyes through the mask.

Instinctively sensing death, Jo Sang-hyeon dropped the needle and backed away swiftly.

The needle he'd thrust was lodged slantwise in my chest, glancing off the clavicle.

I slowly pulled out the dropped needle.

No blood flowed, no pain.

Clang.

Seeing ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the needle hit the floor, Jo Sang-hyeon widened the distance further. Aso-hee stabbed at my back, seizing the chance.

"Guest... are you even human?"

"I am, but not the average person you've dealt with before."

Aso-hee dropped her blade in panic and fled down the stairs, widening the gap.

An infinite staircase. Up or down, an endless slope of death.

Red blood trickled from the walls, and the fallen needle and blade melted into the stairs, absorbed.

This was their domain—a slaughterhouse designed to systematically hunt and butcher intruders sandwiched between above and below.

Weapons dropped by foes were absorbed into the stairs and returned to the assassins' hands. If I picked them up, they dissolved into water.

A peculiar, intriguing place.

"Who should I send first? Jo Sang-hyeon? Or Aso-hee? Up or down—only one direction for me."

Jo Sang-hyeon hurled iron needles at me—as if to say target him, not her.

He truly cherished Aso-hee. If so, he should've let her take the chance I offered.

Whoosh!

I twisted my body, dodging needles aimed at my face, chest, and groin.

Those embedded in the wall were absorbed and returned to Jo Sang-hyeon, who threw more at me.

Taking hits once was enough.

To instill the impression of an unbeatable foe, one demonstration sufficed—no need to tank everything.

'Weapons are nearly infinite here. Peculiar. A fun space.'

Leveraging his higher position, Jo Sang-hyeon relentlessly showered blades downward.

I dodged some, blocked others, and steadily closed in on him.

Aso-hee had already fled below, so Jo Sang-hyeon first.

"Hup...!"

Then, Aso-hee's presence reappeared behind me.

She'd clearly fled far below, yet she was suddenly right behind—like teleportation. Quite the trick.

Another property of these stairs? Forced teleport if too far apart? Using the stairs for irregular ambushes...

Intriguing, but no matter how she hid her presence, it was futile against my perception.

She was aiming for a killing blow. So was I. No dragging this out—end it in one strike.

"Gah...!"

I back-kicked Aso-hee as she swung an axe at my head. She spewed blood—or spit?—and tumbled down the stairs.

I felt her ribs shatter. She might be dead already.

Feels like cheating. My lives are infinite; theirs, singular, tasked with hunting me.

Plus, with White-Faced Groom trait sharing life with Sowol. No matter how they stabbed or slashed, they couldn't kill me.

"Uwaaa!"

Confirming Aso-hee rolling limply below, Jo Sang-hyeon roared, charging with daggers in both hands.

Can't speak, just yells. Damaged vocal cords maybe.

"Uwa! Uwaaa! Aaa!"

"Why so furious? I clearly gave you the chance."

"Uhguk.!?"

I grabbed and snapped Jo Sang-hyeon's arms, then hoisted him by the collar and hurled him upward onto the stairs.

"Kuhk..."

Jo Sang-hyeon writhed in agony, his back slammed against a stair edge.

"Oudima! Oudimaaa!"

Tongue cut? His speech was slurred.

Desperately screaming, he flung whatever projectiles he grabbed wildly. But nothing threatening.

A grazing blade nicked my cheek—damage a mere 1.

"Yo, youuu... curse yooou..."

Spitting rage and hate in his garbled speech, he cursed me.

Ludicrous—an assassin who'd butchered over a hundred, now weeping in fury over a comrade's death, thrashing to survive.

You were human too.

"Did you give the people you've killed a chance to survive? No. You killed on orders, then chopped them up for dog food. How dare you shed tears before me?"

"Aaaah!"

Jo Sang-hyeon had lost all reason.

Used to killing, not loss.

He cherished Aso-hee that much?

Whether romantic or paternal, seeing her broken shattered him.

"Kuhk! Kuheuk.."

I seized the throat ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠of the wailing Jo Sang-hyeon as he swung his blade to the end, and flung him down toward where Aso-hee had fallen.

Thud crash!

Jo Sang-hyeon landed sprawled beside Aso-hee.

Unable ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to close his eyes, he reached toward Aso-hee as her breathing grew faint.

With slurred words, he called the name of the woman—lover or daughter?—closed her eyes, and held her hand so she wouldn't fear.

"Husband... go.."

"Yes."

I passed them and continued downward.

The spell on the stairs lifted, revealing the black iron door to the Mu-won Heart Palace.

With both assassins dead, the infinite stairs ended.

Creeeak.

Opening the black iron door revealed pitch-black space devoid of lamps or light sources.

******

The Fixer's senses detected facilities larger than expected inside.

And far more presences than anticipated.

Some clustered like captives; others lurked behind pillars and walls, eyeing him.

Not all human—far more anomalies than living people.

The Fixer turned on his prepared flashlight, scanning the approaching presences. A beam pierced the darkness, illuminating the interior in detail.

With the flashlight on, blood-written script on the walls caught the Fixer's eye.

It seemed excerpts from the Black Night Society's doctrines.

The doctrines imposed one outcome on all.

Voluntary sacrifice and offering.

Thus salvation would come—insane ravings demanding they become the cult leader's sustenance.

"Um, mister... over there..."

As the Fixer examined the wall writings, a group of children approached from the darkness.

Grimy rags, faces smeared with blood or dirt.

"Um, do you... have any food...? I'm so hungry."

A girl about seven years old hesitantly pleaded her hunger.

Other children behind her whimpered, stomachs empty.

Dragged here by parents.

Sacrificial offspring of devotees.

They crowded around, blocking the Fixer's path.

"Mister... I'm hungry."

"Help us... I wanna go home..."

"Get us... out of here..."

Some cried, others screamed to escape.

Pitiful—they begged for life in this lightless underground hell.

The Fixer looked at their faces and checked the floating description.

Of course, these children weren't alive.

All anomalies—spirits starved to death by someone's hand.

No matter how they screamed or begged.

They received no salvation.

Thus...

Mental power drained in real-time, but the Fixer didn't push the children away.

He embraced each one without fail.

No different from the temple's bound Tosa dogs.

They hadn't come willingly.

Abandoned by parents, tormented resentful spirits.

Though human blood stained their hands, who could blame these children?

They'd merely obeyed hunger. What sin was theirs?

The Fixer burned with rage, and the culprit binding these child spirits emerged from the dark.

"You... unaffected by their cries. Immense mental power? Or insane? Which?"

A woman in black mourning garb, hair tied back: Ma Jeong-hye.

Mode pack beauty buff made her strikingly attractive, and she held a shaman's baby rattle.

Controlling the children with that bell, no doubt.

To seize the bell and free the innocent spirits, the Fixer approached Ma Jeong-hye. But before a few steps, a new figure blocked him.

"You're the one with the Nameless Ledger. Kept me waiting—perfect timing. No escape. Play with me here."

A woman wearing an old man's mask.

As she appeared, the black iron door behind the Fixer vanished.

No way out. She'd sealed the entrance, grinning as she pressured him.

This Thousand-Kill Assassin outclassed the Hundred-Kill duo the Fixer had faced.

Flashy attire, and as a woman, likely mode pack enhanced too.

"Took down two Hundred-Kill Assassins to get here—you must be skilled."

"And?"

"Thrilling. I get to break you myself."

Unlike Aso-hee and Jo Sang-hyeon, Thousand-Kill Assassin Hong In-na was a maniac who killed and tortured for pleasure.

The Fixer saw it instantly—no mercy needed for this villain.

"Kill for fun?"

"For fun? Need another reason? The more you kill, the sharper your blade. After ten, killing intent clings. Over a hundred, like those lovebirds—petty tricks. Know what happens after a thousand?"

Duplicates resembling Hong In-na lined up beside her.

"Over a thousand kills, my actions become sorcery. Killing becomes ritual. Humans ascend by harming humans. Endless self-improvement is life's true thrill. Thus, killing is the ultimate fun."

A villain who killed for personal growth, stacking power on victims' lives.

A demon reveling in joy, amusement, pleasure from it.

"Just for that paltry power..."

Fallen ones were all like this.

Refusing normal paths, crossing lines—too many.

These worthless sinners flaunted before him in arrogance; his hand twitched.

Aware or not, the Thousand-Kill Assassin circled him laughing, blabbing her goals, packaging herself as profound.

"Black Mystery will make me a Ten-Thousand-Kill Assassin. Know how many sacrifices pour in monthly? Ignoramuses like you wouldn't. Soon, I'll be a Killing God. Then Black Mystery takes me to a Ghost Path Heavenly Seat!"

Hong In-na shimmered like a mirage and vanished.

Ting.

As she disappeared, Ma Jeong-hye shook her rattle. At the sound, the crying children bared teeth and tore into the Fixer.

Bind his feet with child spirits, strike meanwhile—Hong In-na's plan.

"Hurts, right? But temporary. I'll turn you into an anomaly for eternity—don't grieve. Become part of me, and Black Mystery might take you to a Ghost Path Heavenly Seat too."

Unlike Ma Jeong-hye's shout, the Fixer felt no pain.

Damage entered his body, but the White-Faced Bride shared wounds, restoring his life force.

"Mu-won Heart Palace must endure eternally! Only then can I ascend higher. Become my nourishment. Spit out the Nameless Ledger and die! No upward escape. God ignores pleas here!"

Hong In-na's voice echoed dozens-fold.

Her duplicates chanted the same, charging en masse; hundreds of blades split toward him.

All expected it.

The Fixer spilling blood, dying.

Black Mystery claiming Nameless Ledger and Small Earth Spirit Ledger, ascending to Ghost Path Heavenly Seat.

"Huh...?"

".....What."

Hong In-na's duplicates staggered back.

The children gnawing the Fixer stopped crying, releasing him.

The White-Faced Bride had leaped from the ring, hands clasped in prayer, gazing up at the Fixer.

"Husband, it's done... Sorry I'm late..."

"No. You did well, Sowol."

A place God overlooks.

Pleas for salvation echo trapped, unable to escape.

Thus, Black Night Society villains called it Mu-won Heart Palace—Deep Palace Without Wishes.

But one appeared to heed the dying's resentments.

Someone who understood their tears, fulfilled their wishes, delving into this profound darkness.

"Your wishes have reached."

Even God can't watch everywhere.

Thus, the Fixer summoned God here.

Among household guardians, the Household God reigns supreme.

The White-Faced Bride took her seat, drawing wandering spirits home.

They found their place at last.

That instant, Ma Jeong-hye's rattle shattered; a thousand-kill resentments poured from Hong In-na's mouth.

Seeing the villains vomit blood, the Fixer blocked the reformed black iron door.

No one leaves now without his permission.

Except the innocent spirits.