Chapter 26: A connection from a previous life

As far as I know, aside from the Hero Guild, no other top-ranked guilds participated that day.

I don’t think they would easily give up on the Tower of Destruction.

“Well, thanks to that…”

Crack!

I crushed the skull of one of the respawned hunters.

“Ugh!”

“Well, that relieved some stress.”

If anyone saw me, they might think I’m a psycho.

But I’m not in the wrong.

To be clear, I haven’t actually killed anyone.

I’ve been careful not to kill, just enough to keep them alive.

Why do I keep smashing their skulls?

Because I can see the hostility in the eyes of those who respawn.

I’ll keep doing it until the hostility disappears.

It’s like a draw, a gacha, pulling new cards.

In this case, I’m discarding the ones who keep raising their heads at me and drawing those who know how to lower them.

I’ll keep smashing their skulls until then.

After a while, most of the losers turn into winners.

An hour passed.

Now, not a single one dares to even look at me.

I lifted the hair of a woman who had been glaring at me but was now crumpled on the ground.

“Pathetic, aren’t they? Just look at it. The fact that the top guilds didn’t send their hunters here says everything.”

“What do you mean by that…?”

Sigh.

They still don’t get it.

“People who’ve lived as hunters should know better than me, a returnee. The top guilds all knew this approach wouldn’t work. Just look at how even Yoo Ji-ho from the Hero Guild backed out recently. Doesn’t that tell you something?”

“Then…”

“You all keep saying the rules have changed, but the ones who haven’t adapted are you. When the Hero Guild stepped back, you should have expected this.”

How pitiful.

Consider your smashed skulls a favor for raising your intelligence.

“That can’t be true.”

“Look around. It’s true.”

This is ridiculous.

In the end, I’ve ended up educating you.

“Well, anyway, your brainless actions have been quite inspiring for me.”

Clap, clap, clap.

I didn’t forget to applaud them.

“To be honest, it was even more entertaining than the Hero.”

Cheers to all of you~.

“T-Then…”

Yeah, to meet your expectations, I…

“I’ll just give up on climbing the tower.”

If I give up, that’s the end of it.

“What do you mean?”

“Exactly what I said. I’m not desperate for money right now, and since you’re all trying so hard to stop me, I might as well give up. Forcing my way through wouldn’t be polite, would it?”

When I think about it, there’s no reason to rush.

Sure, I have to break through eventually, but the Demon King has already died once.

It’ll take him a while to regain his strength.

Besides, for him to regain his power, he’ll need to take out a few hunters using the Tower of Destruction, and the hunters seem to be a bit more skilled than expected.

For now, I can wait.

Even if he returns, the Hero world is no longer my concern, right?

The top-ranked hunters in this world aren’t weak either, so I can afford to take my time.

The Demon King wouldn’t have expected this, would he?

He probably thought I’d use the key left with Bulraka to climb the tower.

But guess what?

I’m an irregular.

For now, I’ll just enjoy the baffled looks on their faces.

“So you’re giving up on the tower conquest?”

No, not exactly.

“No? I’ll get to it someday.”

“Someday?”

Maybe all the skull-smashing has messed with their heads, but they don’t seem to be thinking straight.

If you think about it, it’s simple.

Back then, idiots were waiting behind me.

Think about it carefully.

Even if I have the key, opening the door and entering doesn’t mean I can claim everything for myself.

Even if those nobodies drop off, once I get to the 4th floor, there’s no way I can block those who follow me.

It would be too much to claim everything by myself.

I’m not arrogant.

Even though I’m a devotee of the Goddess, my original position wasn’t as a dealer; I was a healer.

I can’t cast large-scale magic that covers every area on every floor.

And once I open the door, it’s unlikely I’ll be able to lock it behind me.

But since this involves the Demon King, I’d like to handle it alone if possible.

“Anyway, in the future, try to be more careful about who you mess with.”

I lifted the respawn field and the barrier, turning my back on them.

But then, those annoying faces appeared again.

My so-called former little sister and ex-girlfriend.

“What? You’re just going to leave like this?”

This time, my former little sister and ex-girlfriend stood in front of me, blocking my way.

What is this?

Do they want their skulls cracked?

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“Even if you ask why, I don’t feel the need to explain.”

“Hey, why don’t we at least talk?”

This isn’t some casual hunt.

Ugh, how annoying.

“Do you think just because we have a past, I won’t swing my mace?”

“We know it’s pointless to offer excuses or explanations. But at least give us a chance to beg for forgiveness and offer compensation!”

My ex-little sister tried to play the sympathy card!

Beg for forgiveness?

Offer compensation?

I’m not lacking money.

I can buy whatever food, clothes, or necessities I need online.

Huh?

I don’t really need anything.

And now that I’m facing them directly, I’m certain of one thing.

I’m not ‘Park Si-woo.’

I’m the Saintess, Karina.

Just because I retain some memories from my past life doesn’t mean Karina becomes Park Si-woo.

Otherwise, there’s no way I’d feel so calm right now.

It’s truly surprising.

It’s almost unbelievable, but I feel nothing.

Of course, if they annoy me, I’ll smash their skulls, but at least for now, I have no intention of dealing with them.

“Compensation? What compensation? Park Si-woo is dead, and I’m just Karina. You have no reason to compensate me. If someone you didn’t even know showed up one day and said, ‘I wronged you in your past life, let me make it up to you,’ how would you feel?”

“But still…”

You’d be dumbfounded, right?

She rolls her eyes as if searching for a counterargument, but even she knows it’s nonsense.

I’m exactly the same right now.

Sure, it’s unpleasant. It’s not like I have no memories from back then.

But I simply don’t want to be involved anymore.

“It seems like you’re doing this just to ease your own conscience, but unfortunately, I don’t care. Once again, Park Si-woo is a dead man.”

“And that’s enough for Karina?”

“Why should I care so much about something from a past life?”

This kind of thing really pisses me off.

“Then is there no chance we can reconcile?”

She sure talks a lot.

“Sorry, but you were a failure from our very first meeting. You didn’t make a good impression.”

Humans are inherently hypocritical.

For example, someone might watch a video of pigs being slaughtered and think, “That’s so cruel.”

While still enjoying a delicious meal of pork belly.

Just yesterday…

-Wow, Goddess, those chickens are so pitiful. How could they be killed so cruelly?

-Isn’t that fried chicken in your hands? And you’re devouring it.

Yeah, something like that happened.

Is this something I can call a memory?

This case is similar.

Even if I am now a completely different being, it doesn’t make sense to befriend those who tormented my past self.

“But still, I wanted to meet you, even like this.”

If they are so eager to work for me, there is a way.

They can spread the teachings of the goddess on Earth.

They can share the words of the all-knowing and all-powerful Goddess here, so that the foolish ones may stop getting their heads smashed as much.

If that so-called ex-sister truly feels sorry, that would be the best thing for her to do.

First, getting her to join the Church of the Goddess is priority.

“Well, there’s no reason why we couldn’t meet.”

“Really?”

“There’s a way. If you follow this, it will ease the guilt you’re carrying.”

“Tell me how!”

Alright, good.

If you want it that much, fine.

I won’t hold you accountable for the sins of your past life.

Instead, you just have to become an exemplary follower of the Church of Kanora, the Goddess.

“You can join our Church of the Goddess.”

“What’s the name of this goddess?”

Lee Si-yeon butted in.

Fine.

If you want to hear it, I’ll tell you.

The name of the all-knowing and all-powerful Goddess!

With arms wide open!

“The Goddess Kanora. She’s the most revered goddess on the continent of Yukran.
She bestows salvation, which is death, upon the ignorant and pitiful, and rules over all deaths in the world…”

She is the true goddess.

“A goddess who kills people? What kind of church is this? Karina, snap out of it!
By the looks of it, that nun’s outfit seems to be… related to some sort of cult…”

What?

[Respawn Field].

“Wha—”

Crack!

I whacked my so-called ex-sister’s head.

“See? You just keep asking for it.”

She’ll revive anyway, so it doesn’t matter.

Still, spreading the teachings of the Goddess seems difficult.

Why do people treat me like some sort of cult fanatic?

“Huh?”

When I looked toward the Ice Queen, she had her mouth agape.

What’s with that look?

Is she asking for me to hit her with the mace next?

Ah.

No.

What I had hit wasn’t Park Yoo-jung’s head but ice.

“No matter what, she was your ex-sister! Even if she revives, how could you hit her like that?”

Oh, so this is what she’s mad about.

I looked back and saw Park Yoo-jung collapsed, her strength drained.

Well, this should be enough to get the message across.

Unless they become true followers of the Church of the Goddess, they have no connection with me.

So, I told the Ice Queen again….

“It has nothing to do with me. Just like if you found out that a pig or chicken was your child in a past life, would that change how you treat them?”

“What?”

“But you wouldn’t be able to fast, right? That’s what I’m saying. Anyway, if you’re not going to help spread the Church’s teachings, this is where our connection ends.”

There’s nothing more to say.

That’s it.

So, I turned my back to leave.

“Aunt! What about Aunt?”

My so-called ex-sister called out again.

“Aunt? Oh.”

“Aunt loved you more than she loved me. And now, you’re just going to brush it all off as ‘past life’? I don’t know about this Church or whatever, but are you really going to ignore the kindness of your past?”

“I’ll take care of that myself.”

“But are you really going to stop seeing Aunt?”

That’s none of your business.

If we keep talking about this, she’ll just keep nitpicking, so I decided to drop it.

If I were really intent on it, I could take them both down, even with the Ice Queen involved.

But there’s no need for that.

Unlike Park Yoo-jung, Ice Queen Lee Si-yeon seems to have more to say, but she’s holding it back.

Well, that’s that, then.

I turned my back on the two of them and headed outside the tower.

A conversation?

That’s it.

In my past life, Park Yoo-jung hated her aunt because she was so fond of Park Si-woo.

It’s ridiculous that she’s saying this now.

-So, you’re really not going to see Aunt?

“I will. That’s that, and this is this. After all, she’s the only one who treated me well.”

-You know you sound logical, but it’s also absurd, right?

Of course, I know.

Which is why I should meet her at least once.