"An angel...?"
‘Looks like she hit her head.’
I concluded that as I watched Ji-yeon Lee, who was suddenly searching for an angel while looking at me.
It made sense. Ji-yeon Lee was covered in injuries. Her hair was matted with dried blood, suggesting she’d been struck on the head.
That would explain her dazed state and the nonsense she was spouting.
"Angel... am I... dead?"
‘Let’s treat her first.’
"Ah... I don’t want to die..."
‘You’re not dead...’
Leaving her untreated wasn’t an option, so I carried her out of the lake.
She was wrapped in the wings of the heavens, gently lifted and transported with care to avoid worsening her injuries.
I set Ji-yeon down on a grassy patch drenched in purification magic.
"Ah, ah...?"
It was then.
The haziness in Ji-yeon’s eyes began to clear.
"What... what...?"
She stared at me in shock, her body trembling.
Her eyes quivered, darting around as if unsure where to look.
Then her face turned bright red.
-Wriggle, wriggle
She even started squirming like a caterpillar.
Watching her, I frowned slightly, and with a gentle touch of the heavenly wings, I restrained her flailing.
"Um... no, wait..."
‘Hold on a second─’
"C-Could you... clothes...?"
‘─Stay... clothes?’
A realization hit me, and I froze.
Ji-yeon was covering her eyes with her hands.
...Where did I just come from?
I had come out of the lake.
And in what state had I entered the lake...
I opened my mouth in a slight gape, taking a quick scan with my Observation Power.
Not that I needed to.
The breeze brushing against my bare skin was a dead giveaway.
‘Ah.’
I’m not wearing anything right now.
The only thing draped over me was the heavenly wings. No Confession Necklace, no clothes.
Scratching my head awkwardly, I went over to where my clothes were laid on a nearby rock.
.
.
.
It didn’t even take a minute to get dressed.
I quickly shook off the moisture from my body and hair and threw on my clothes.
In that brief time, Ji-yeon seemed to have regained her senses, fanning her flushed face with her hands.
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‘...’
I had a feeling my face was just as red.
Meeting like this on a first encounter... what a disaster.
And to make matters worse, she’d seen the hideous burn scars. What if she found it repulsive...
‘What if her favorability just plummeted... I still need her help with Seoryul...’
Just my luck.
Of all places to run into her, why here?
[Hello.]
"Oh! Yes, yes...! Hello! You’re... Lee Hayul, right?"
[Yes.] [Senior Lee Ji-yeon.]
"Th-thank you for catching me. I almost fell unguarded."
I approached Ji-yeon, trying to smooth out my embarrassed expression.
Ji-yeon, who had been looking away awkwardly, glanced up and returned my greeting with a start.
Judging by her reaction, my first impression must’ve been a mess.
I sighed inwardly.
“...Ah! This isn’t the time for that...!”
Suddenly, Ji-yeon’s eyes widened as she tried to sit up. A slight furrow appeared between her brows.
Her wounds had opened up a bit more.
[You shouldn’t move so abruptly.] [Your wounds have reopened.] [You need a little more time to heal.]
"No, there’s no time for that!"
Despite my caution, Ji-yeon anxiously scanned her surroundings.
It looked like she was searching for an exit to leave the dungeon.
A feeling of dread crept over me.
With the power of Observation, I could accurately gauge her injuries.
Ji-yeon was a mess of cuts and bruises.
Her wounds ranged from blunt trauma and fractures to a large gash, as if she’d been slashed by a massive blade.
It wasn’t fatal. Superhumans, unlike ordinary people, had tough bodies.
And Ji-yeon Lee, being an Emergent of Taesan, was no ordinary superhuman.
With Taesan, the earth she manipulates can take various forms.
When she raises it to form a barrier, it becomes an impenetrable wall. When it wraps around her body, it’s an invincible armor.
In her hand, it becomes a blunt weapon, and when thickened, it serves as a shield.
But that wasn’t all.
Soil, rocks, weeds, rooted plants... the earth is brimming with life energy.
An Emergent of Taesan can control the earth and also draw in this life energy.
Life energy, the essence of vitality.
By absorbing it, she could drastically accelerate her recovery.
With extreme training, one could even achieve hyper-regeneration.
Her defenses and recovery were on that level, thanks to Taesan.
And Ji-yeon was one of the few in her family’s history with talent of this caliber.
Yet despite that, she bore these extensive injuries.
Even now, she’s likely unconsciously drawing life energy from the earth to heal, but the process is unusually slow.
And above all...
‘Poison?’
Not just external injuries—her body was infiltrated by a toxic energy.
As soon as I observed the poison, a chill ran down my spine.
This was dangerous. No ordinary poison.
Looking closer, I could tell that the delayed healing was due to her life energy neutralizing the poison.
‘...Poison?’
A foreboding intuition surged within me.
Unease gripped me.
In the back of my mind, a thought surfaced—something that shouldn’t be happening, something unimaginable.
"Two-Headed Venom Dragon."
That dreadful thought took shape in Ji-yeon’s voice, as she uttered the name of the creature at the center of it.
"Outside... a Two-Headed Venom Dragon has been resurrected as a specter and is wreaking havoc."
[Oh, damn it.]
"Pardon?"
[That was... a slip.]
Despite her frantic scanning of the surroundings, Ji-yeon blinked in confusion.
It seemed she was doubting her own ears.
"Just now..."
[More importantly, let’s get out quickly.]
"Oh... yes, we should."
Ji-yeon tilted her head, puzzled but managed to stand up.
If what she said was true, this wasn’t a minor situation.
Now was no time for a bath.
We had to get outside and assess the situation immediately.
"I was definitely falling from the sky..."
Then she looked up at the sky.
She was probably searching for an exit, but unfortunately, there was none.
The Lake of Mana’s entrance and exit appear randomly, with an interval of about three or four days.
I’d just learned her story: she’d been chased by the Venom Dragon and had leapt into what looked like a canyon’s entrance to the dungeon.
Brave or reckless, it was a mystery how she ended up here at the Lake of Mana.
‘The entrance must have opened just then.’
With my powers, I could read dungeons, a type of subspace.
The entrance to the dungeon had opened just a moment ago.
In that brief window, Ji-yeon had fallen through it.
Then, the entrance closed immediately.
Which raised a question.
According to Ji-yeon, the Venom Dragon was chasing her, so why didn’t it follow her into the dungeon?
Did it assume she’d died when she jumped into the ravine?
Or maybe it had followed her, but the entrance closed just in time, blocking it out...
That thought turned my face pale.
If I’d been a moment too late, the Two-Headed Venom Dragon could have come crashing down from the sky after her.
If that had happened... I didn’t want to imagine.
[I know the way out.] [Follow me.]
Ji-yeon’s face lit up at my words.
I could indeed open an exit, so it wasn’t a lie.
I turned and began walking. Ji-yeon followed close behind.
Our destination was a cave behind the waterfall.
‘We should grab the Proof of Protection before leaving.’
We walked around the lake to get closer to the waterfall.
The waterfall’s flow was calm enough that no droplets splashed up.
However, to pass through, we’d inevitably get wet.
Using wind magic...
-Whoosh...!
[Oh...] [Thank you.]
...Before I could cast it, a water spirit shifted the trajectory of the waterfall.
A large hole opened in the water, revealing the cave beyond.
The water spirit lingered near my fingers, its adorable presence bringing a small smile to my face as I gave it a gentle pat.
The spirit conveyed satisfaction before vanishing with a pop.
I leapt into the cave.
"What is that...?"
Ji-yeon tilted her head at the object lying in the center.
Inside was a stone altar.
Covered in geometric patterns, the altar held a transparent, glass-like cube.
Inside, a warm yellow light seemed trapped, shining brightly.
This was one of the main reasons for my excursion—an unsealed Proof of Protection.
I looked at it with a strange expression.
‘...Will it unlock?’
It was an ‘unsealed Proof of Protection.’
I’d obtained it, but using it was another story.
The Proof of Protection recognized its owner.
The artifact judged whether the user was worthy. If not... it would become a mere collectible or an untouchable treasure.
From what I remembered, it had a specific requirement—alignment.
It only accepted a user of good alignment, with a strict selection criteria.
In my original run, I first acquired the Proof of Protection on my ninth iteration as “The Hungry Ghost.”
Back then, I’d abandoned goodness, cultivating a path of malevolence.
Naturally, the Proof of Protection, which judged alignment, was useless. So, I sold it off on the black market.
‘Will I... qualify?’
I wasn’t confident.
The description only said it judged alignment; it didn’t say what that meant, nor how much goodness it required.
Above all, I wasn’t sure if I truly fit the criteria.
To be honest, I wasn’t exactly a saint.
I wasn’t the kind of person who’d help others without hesitation, without considering my own loss.
‘...Let’s just take it for now.’
Regardless, possession was possession.
With a complicated expression, I strode over and picked up the cube.
‘If I can’t use it... I can resell it at the auction house, or perhaps give it to someone who can─’
-Buzz!
The moment I picked it up.
The cube trembled.
‘What is this.’
Suddenly, my mind was filled with a stream of memories from my past, like a panorama.
It felt like something was peering into my past.
My childhood, the fire, the orphanage, bullying, fire, discharge, society, convenience store, car accident, leg...
Ugh...
This world, curses, Shioram, growth, people I hold dear.
Huh...?
Siphnaha, Aerus, civilians, rejection, determination, action, death, relief...
...What...?
-Click
It was the sound of a lock opening.
Or rather, it felt that way.
At that moment, the cube melted in my hand.
It disintegrated into countless particles of light.
The yellow particles swarmed around my empty left shoulder, attaching themselves.
The light clinging to my shoulder gradually elongated downward.
It looked like countless fireflies had gathered to form a left arm.
Soon, the particles dissipated.
Instead, I felt something there.
Where there had been emptiness, there was now something attached.
A prosthetic arm, white as snow and roughly textured...
‘...Could it be... that it’s unlocked?’
Just like that?
In awe, I tapped the prosthetic now attached to where my left arm had been.