Forced to Sell Myself to the Female Lead After Killing the Male Lead

The exact location of the Hall of Ten Thousand Demons had always been something the Asumos Church desperately wished to uncover.

To completely destroy the Abyss Demons and free the world from their threat, they had to eliminate the very source of the Abyss Demons' birth—

the Hall of Ten Thousand Demons.

For hundreds of years,

the Church had launched countless expeditions, all for the sake of finding that ancient palace concealed within a mysterious barrier.

However,

whether through aerial reconnaissance or by dispatching adventuring parties deep into the Great Winter Forest, every attempt had ended in failure without exception.

More often than not, the adventurers sent into the forest met tragic deaths beneath the claws of the Abyss Demons—

just like the recently deceased Eighth Brave, Pix-Lata.

Exploring the Great Winter Forest was undoubtedly a mission with almost no chance of survival.

Even so, the people within the Church had never lost their enthusiasm for exploring it.

Why?

Because the rewards were enormous!

Whoever discovered the exact location of the Hall of Ten Thousand Demons would obtain endless wealth and glory!

Their status within the Church—and even across the entire continent—would soar overnight!

The Pope himself would grant immeasurable cultivation resources, helping them break through to the Eighth Tier!

Even those who failed to locate the Hall but made significant contributions during the exploration would still receive tremendous rewards.

Where great rewards existed, brave men would surely follow.

That was precisely why the Church remained so obsessed with exploring the Great Winter Forest.

Especially Seventh-Tier Braves like Kabanei.

What?

What if they encountered a Demon King-Class existence during the expedition?

There were only three Demon King-Class Abyss Demons in the entire Great Winter Forest!

And the forest was so vast!

Who said they'd definitely run into one?

That had always been Kabanei's way of thinking.

As someone constantly looked down upon by everyone else in the Church, the rough and uncultured Kabanei desperately longed for a chance to prove himself.

And discovering the exact location of the Hall of Ten Thousand Demons would undoubtedly be the greatest opportunity imaginable.

Therefore, the moment he overheard the conversation at the neighboring table, his ears immediately perked up.

—"I'm serious! I'm not lying to you! I really reached the Hall of Ten Thousand Demons before!"—

?!!

The Hall of Ten Thousand Demons?!

He reached the Hall of Ten Thousand Demons?!

Kabanei narrowed his eyes slightly as suspicion appeared across his face.

Over the years, there had been no shortage of people claiming to know the location of the Hall of Ten Thousand Demons in order to scam others.

Whenever Kabanei heard such claims, he always treated them with extreme caution.

And almost every single one had turned out exactly as expected—

complete nonsense.

However...

This time...

It seemed a little different.

Listening to the man's confident tone and the certainty in his words,

an unexpected thought emerged in Kabanei's mind.

Could he actually be telling the truth?

Did he really visit the Hall of Ten Thousand Demons?

If that were true...

Wouldn't this be the opportunity of a lifetime?!

Thinking of this,

Kabanei tossed aside his wine bottle and abruptly stood up.

Under the astonished gazes of his fellow Asumos Church members, the Seventh Brave rushed straight into the neighboring private room.

—

"Hey?! W-Who are you?! Wait... you're from the Asumos Church?!"

The black-haired middle-aged man, who had been enthusiastically recounting his legendary adventure to his drinking companions, immediately frowned in displeasure after seeing Kabanei burst inside.

However,

the moment he sensed the terrifying Saint-Class aura emanating from Kabanei,

his confidence instantly vanished.

He dared not utter another word and could only watch helplessly as Kabanei drove every one of his drinking companions out of the room.

Once all the bystanders had been cleared out,

Kabanei sat down heavily across from the middle-aged man before asking in an extremely serious tone,

"How do you know where the Hall of Ten Thousand Demons is?! Have you actually been there?!"

Hearing the question,

the middle-aged man fell silent.

Instead of answering immediately, he looked at Kabanei with an odd expression.

It practically said,

Who the hell are you?

Why should I tell you anything?

Kabanei merely sneered.

Then he reached into his spatial ring, took out five thousand Origin Stone Coins, and threw them directly onto the table before the man.

"Answer my questions honestly. If your answers satisfy me, all of this is yours."

?!!

"..."

Looking at the dazzling purple Origin Stone Coins,

the middle-aged man's resolve immediately wavered.

After hesitating for a moment, he slowly nodded.

"Then... what would you like to ask?"

Seeing the man's cooperation,

Kabanei smiled faintly.

"First, what's your name?"

"Jack... former leader of the Black Fox Mercenary Group..."

"Jack? That's certainly a common enough name. So then, Jack... you really know where the Hall of Ten Thousand Demons is?"

Jack nodded firmly.

"Yes."

"How do you know? You really went there?"

"Yes... I did."

"It was during the period when the Abyss Demons attacked Garos Fortress. A few gambling buddies and I had accumulated huge gambling debts, so we were forced to enter the Great Winter Forest to search for treasure. We wanted to find rare resources or relics left behind by ancient people. We kept searching... and after five days, we somehow passed through a barrier..."

"And then..."

"We saw that palace..."

...

...

After their lengthy conversation,

Jack recounted everything he had seen and experienced to Kabanei.

Once he had finished,

the somewhat greedy middle-aged man's gaze locked firmly onto the pile of Origin Stone Coins lying on the floor.

"S-So... now that I've told you everything..."

"My money...?"

However,

Kabanei did not answer immediately.

Instead, he thoughtfully stared at the man before him.

Indeed,

Jack's descriptions of the eastern region of the forest matched the Church's records almost perfectly.

Combined with his Early Sixth-Tier cultivation,

he had almost certainly entered the Great Winter Forest before.

Still...

He wandered around for five whole days without encountering any Abyss Demons?

And somehow stumbled upon the Hall of Ten Thousand Demons by sheer chance?

It all sounded a little too unrealistic.

Although Kabanei desperately wanted to learn the Hall's exact location,

he wasn't reckless enough to believe everything immediately.

The doubts in his heart suppressed his excitement.

"But everything you've told me is only your side of the story."

"What about the companions who explored with you?"

"I'd like to meet them."

"T-They..."

"They were attacked by Abyss Demons on our way back."

"They all died."

"Hm?"

"All of them?"

"Yes."

"So you're the only survivor..."

A thick layer of suspicion gradually appeared in Kabanei's eyes.

"Your story sounds convincing enough, but your testimony alone isn't enough for me."

"Do you have any proof that you truly reached the Hall of Ten Thousand Demons?"

"If you can't convince me..."

"You can forget about taking this money."

"T-That..."

"I... I do..."

After hesitating for a while,

perhaps encouraged by the overwhelming temptation of the money,

Jack nodded.

Then he carefully removed a small fragment of stone from his pack and handed it to Kabanei.

?!!

!!

This...

This is...?!

Good heavens!!

The instant Kabanei accepted the fragment,

his expression changed dramatically.

The ancient runes engraved upon the stone matched the descriptions recorded in ancient texts exactly.

It bore unmistakable traces of countless years of age.

Even more importantly—

it radiated an incredibly dense aura of the Shadow of Silence Power.

Kabanei felt as though five bolts of lightning had struck him simultaneously.

His entire body froze.

"T-This..."

"Could this actually be a fragment of the Hall of Ten Thousand Demons?!"

"Y-Yes..."

"I secretly picked it up from the ground back then."

Jack answered nervously.

"S-So..."

"Is... is this enough proof now?"

"Enough..."

"More than enough!!"

Staring fixedly at the fragment in his hand,

Kabanei spoke excitedly.

It seemed...

A fortune had truly fallen straight from the heavens this time!!

As long as he brought a positioning device and recorded the Hall's exact coordinates,

he would receive endless honor!

From then on,

no one would ever dare look down on him again!

The Seventh Brave excitedly slapped Jack on the shoulder.

"You said you still remember the route, right?"

"And it's a path with relatively few Abyss Demons?"

"Y-Yes, my lord..."

"Are you..."

"Take me there!"

"W-What?!"

"Y-You're serious?!"

"Absolutely."

"As long as you lead me there..."

"All of this is yours!"

As he spoke,

Kabanei pulled several hundred thousand Origin Stone Coins from his spatial ring and dumped them onto the nearby table.

Tempted by such an unimaginable fortune,

Jack finally nodded.

"Alright..."

"I-I'll take you there..."

...

...

After settling on the exact departure time,

Kabanei excitedly left the private room to inform the members of his squad.

The mere thought of the glorious future awaiting him after achieving fame filled his face with an unprecedented smile.

Once the private room's door closed again,

only Jack remained inside.

At that very moment,

a strange blue-and-gold light suddenly spread across Jack's body.

As the light gradually faded,

Jack—

who had clearly not been drunk—

mysteriously closed his eyes and collapsed onto the floor.

However,

only moments later,

the black-haired middle-aged man slowly opened his eyes again and struggled back to his feet.

Yet now,

the greed and excitement that had filled his eyes moments earlier had completely vanished.

Only deep confusion remained.

Looking around the private room,

the middle-aged man scratched his head with a puzzled expression.

??!

"Strange..."

"Why am I here?"

"D-Did I... sleepwalk again?"