Ch.184184. Cleanup (3)

“So… Park Shinwoo. Shall we have a little chat now?”

I remained silent for a moment at the words of the small spirit staring at me.

It wasn’t that I didn’t want to answer her question. Right now, I just needed some time to organize my thoughts.

The new experiences and memories that had accumulated over the past year. My year was far from being carelessly wasted water. With so many densely packed events in my past, it was inevitable that I’d struggle with how and where to begin unwinding it all.

‘Let’s just summarize the important parts first.’

The minor details, I could flesh out as needed when necessary.

From waking up after dying once, to general information about this world. Roughly what hardships I’ve been through until now.

I sat down on the ground in front of her where she had been tapping and began to speak.

It seemed ridiculous to be doing this when there was a table and chairs available. But Tania was furrowing her brow, trying to look solemn despite her child-like face. Conscious of her mood, I quietly set aside my complaints about having to look up at her.

After I had explained the trajectory of time I had traversed to some extent.

Tania, who had been maintaining her solemn expression, was now looking at me with a hollow laugh.

“So… you want me to believe all that?”

“No, I’m telling you it’s all true!”

“You woke up to find yourself in the original world that existed before it became a dungeon. And coincidentally, it’s a world where gender roles are reversed… And you were a slave—”

Well. Everything she said was correct.

As I quietly nodded in agreement with Tania’s words, she finally wore an expression of disbelief and stopped mid-sentence, pressing her lips tightly together.

Then she bowed her head deeply and sighed.

“Haah…”

Shaking her head in disbelief, Tania met my eyes again.

“Hey. Park Shinwoo.”

“Huh?”

“If our innocent Changsik heard what you just said, I’m sure he would think…”

“…?”

“That my contractor’s mind has gone a bit strange while I wasn’t around.”

“…”

It seems the conversation between Tania and me is going to be longer than expected.

* * *

Tania and I sat on chairs instead of the cold ground and continued our conversation.

Without much time to rest comfortably, the dialogue stretched longer and deeper than expected. Meanwhile, the cotton puff, the small spirit that had been flying around and playing alone in the room while we were talking earnestly, seemed to grow tired of playing by itself and clung to me.

—Myaaang.

I placed the cotton puff that had clung to me onto my palm and gently stroked it.

While doing so, I continued talking with Tania, and before long, the tired cotton puff fell into a deep sleep, making only gentle breathing sounds.

Finally, the general discussion about what had happened was over, and we could move on to more productive conversation.

“So that’s how you ended up in the Great Forest?”

I nodded at Tania’s words.

Having adequately understood the previous content, she now began to show interest in my current situation—the Great Forest.

Moreover, Tania knew that this world had collapsed due to demons and had undergone dungeon-ification. She was the spirit who had tried to conquer that dungeon with me, so she understood how heavy the danger this world carried was.

“That’s how it happened. The conversation I had with the Grand Elder… since you’re a spirit, you probably understood it all well enough. So you probably know roughly what’s going to happen next.”

“…Yeah.”

Since spirits can easily grasp the meaning of even unfamiliar languages by reading the intent of what the other person wants to convey, Tania, who would have had no trouble understanding Edelin’s long speech, wore a serious expression instead of her usual cheerfulness.

She knew that the current situation in the Great Forest and the oracle received by the Grand Elder were no ordinary matters.

“Shinwoo, the dungeon was an S-rank magical realm filled with demons.”

“It was.”

I recalled my memories of the dungeon.

Most of the brilliant civilization that humanity had built had either turned to ashes or remained as crumbling ruins. Countless demons and magical beasts trampled over the proofs of that prosperity and existence. Also, the once vibrant land that had supported the flourishing civilization was now contaminated with abundant Magia.

How much we struggled camping and sleeping outdoors in such a terrible place. Even now, just thinking about it makes me shake my head.

Of course, that wasn’t the only hardship. An even bigger problem was the unconscionable number of monster hordes. Where on earth did they keep coming from? The magical beasts that would pounce on you the moment you let your guard down seemed endless no matter how many you killed.

And the worst among them was.

“The dungeon’s clear condition was to kill five demons.”

The five demons specified in the dungeon conquest conditions.

Those demon bastards had a knack for driving people crazy.

“Shinwoo, you remember all five, right?”

“…Of course. How much did we struggle, losing sleep trying to catch those bastards.”

Five in number. And each with different abilities.

Fortunately, demons with those unique abilities never appeared more than one at a time… but even so, they possessed strength that was more than enough to make one curse.

“So about that… I keep thinking that the demon the High Elf mentioned seems like that annoying bastard. What do you think, Shinwoo?”

Tania clenched her fist tightly as she continued.

“That bastard would torment us with poison whenever he felt like it… and spread that truly creepy Magia.”

I listened quietly to her words and then gently nodded.

“It might be.”

The first demon the raid party encountered among the five.

The creature handled deadly poison and also spread such terrible Magia that it momentarily made even the S-rank Hunter of the raid party tremble with primal fear of death. Such malicious and chilling Magia could indeed be called death energy, as Edelin said, without exaggeration.

Certainly, that poison would be enough to gradually wither the World Tree from its roots, and if that terrible death energy were to cover the divine tree, it would lose its vibrant life force even faster.

Also, the strength that seemed to belong to the demon alone was incomparably strange. Someone of that level might even be able to capture that monstrous High Elf alone.

As I remained silent for a while, lost in thought, Tania cautiously let her voice flow.

“…Can’t we run away?”

“Run away?”

Tania closed her eyes for a moment.

“…I don’t want to see my contractor die again.”

Her head bowed deeply.

The spirit who had been by my side since she was a lowest-grade, tiny flame. As her personality formed and she developed a clearer sense of self and subjectivity, leading to who she is now. Having always been by my side.

She who only watched my final moments seems to still be affected by the shock of that time. I could see her small shoulders trembling beside her deeply bowed head.

Thinking that I had shown her something she shouldn’t have seen, I roughly stroked her head and said:

“Still, we have to try as much as we can.”

“Why…?”

“You know. If we do nothing, I’ll just end up dying once more.”

Nothing changes by running away.

This cursed world is destined to properly collapse once, and the Status Window is telling me to raise Sione to defeat the demons to avoid this. If we want to live, we must struggle desperately.

Tania, who had been having her head stroked by me for a moment, quickly shook her head.

“Ugh… so annoying…!”

Stretch!

After stretching with all her might.

She floated up into the air.

“Then I’ll return to the spirit realm now.”

“To the spirit realm? Won’t you stay a bit longer?”

“Changsik must be going crazy by now, right? We were together, but suddenly only I got summoned. He’s probably crying alone, wondering why he wasn’t summoned too.”

“…”

After saying that, Tania suddenly flew toward me.

Hug.

Tania embraced me.

—…Myeong!

The cotton puff that had been sleeping on my palm was startled awake by the impact.

Regardless, Tania smiled playfully and said:

“Then you have to summon me tomorrow too, okay?”

“You said Changsik would go crazy if only you were summoned.”

“Well, whatever. At least if I meet with Shinwoo, I can bring back news.”

After saying that, Tania gradually transformed into a small flame and then disappeared.

She returned to the spirit realm. And the cotton puff, now awake again, gave a big yawn.

“Want to sleep a bit more?”

—Myaaang…

I put the cotton puff back to sleep and continued my unfinished contemplation.

There was still one more thing bothering me.

‘…The Status Window.’

The Status Window that appeared more urgently than ever before, along with the word “danger.”

The content, uncharacteristically composed of combinations and arrangements of words rather than sentences, was enough to catch my attention.

The Status Window I’ve seen so far has always conveyed perfect information in proper sentences regardless of the situation. Even when Sione or I were on the verge of death, when the Arachne attacked us, the Status Window informed us with complete sentences.

‘This is the first time.’

In all the long time I’ve been using the Status Window, this is the first time it has expressed something so urgently.

However, this was an area where I couldn’t easily find an answer no matter how long I thought about it.

“Well, I guess I can ignore it.”

After shaking my head to clear my thoughts, I moved toward the soft bed in the lodging.

—Myaaang…

I gently placed the cotton puff, which was looking at me with sleepy eyes, next to the pillow.

I closed my eyes to take a short rest as well. Having used up a lot of stamina and Mana summoning Tania, intense drowsiness began to overtake me as soon as I entrusted my body to the soft bed.

I harbored a final thought as my consciousness fell into sleep.

That today would be the last day I could enjoy a leisurely nap like this.

From now on, Sione and I would be tracking and hunting down the half-human, half-demon. And doing so alongside the haughty forest keepers of the Great Forest.

I exhaled just before falling into a light sleep.

“Sigh…”

I can only hope and pray.

That there won’t be any foolish pointy-eared ones picking petty fights with us.