Chapter 77: Two sinners. Heart-pounding returnee orientation!

A café in Seoul’s Hunter Street.

After completing her mission, Lee Si-yeon met with Park Yu-jeong.

The two had been meeting frequently lately, which made sense since they shared the same concerns.

“So, what did Kim Hyung-jin do?”

Today, they also talked about Kim Hyung-jin.

“Well, when you think about it, that bastard made some valid points, so I couldn’t kill him. Park Si-woo even told me he should be grateful for filtering out someone like me.”

Now that she thought about it, that was absolutely true.

No matter how many times she reconsidered, she was trash.

Trash that gave herself to another piece of trash.

A rag.

The kind of garbage that couldn’t be washed clean.

It didn’t make sense for Si-woo to accept her after being with someone like that.

That’s why she was fine with being treated like a slave, as long as she could stay by his side.

“Well, you brought it on yourself, so it can’t be helped.”

“Yeah, I guess.”

As annoying as her words were, they weren’t wrong.

“So, what happened to that guy?”

“I tried to kill him, but I couldn’t. Karina already messed him up so bad that death would’ve been a mercy.”

Not only was he impotent, but he also lost his abilities.

To be precise, he could no longer use them.

“Well, a guy who only knew how to use his junk, losing it is pretty much the same as being dead. And without his abilities, too…”

“So now he’s being chased by some rich CEOs and their wives.”

After losing his abilities, all the influential people Kim Hyung-jin had toyed with were now determined to kill him.

As a result, Kim Hyung-jin was little more than a walking corpse.

Running away was the best he could do.

At their reunion, rumors about Kim Hyung-jin had already spread.

He was broke now, and honestly, it would be more entertaining to leave him alive.

“Hehe, well, that’s not too bad.”

Today, however, Yu-jeong seemed unusually cheerful.

Could something have happened?

“What’s with you, Yu-jeong? Why do you look so happy?”

It had been a long time since Yu-jeong looked this bright.

If something good happened to her, it must be related to Si-woo.

“I finally… well, I got a little closer to Karina.”

“Is that even possible?”

She got close to Karina?

Could that really be true?

“I decided to join the place Karina mentioned.”

“That cult?”

No way, she joined that cult?

I need to stop her.

Fixing her relationship with Karina is one thing, but joining a cult is something else entirely.

That just seems… wrong.

“It’s not a cult. It’s a legitimate religion.”

“What are you talking about?”

The fact that she’s calling it a legitimate religion really bothered me.

What kind of religion is this?

“Karina is… a real angel. She has wings and a halo. She must’ve come to save us, and I’m certain my brother was reincarnated because of her.”

An angel?

Could it be that Yu-jeong’s been brainwashed by Karina?

Well, even if she was brainwashed, she wouldn’t complain.

In fact, they’d probably be thankful for it.

So, is Karina really an angel?

The problem is that, even if she is, her being an angel doesn’t mean they’ll be forgiven.

“No, we need to be forgiven.”

“Forgiveness doesn’t matter.”

Yu-jeong firmly shook her head.

At that, I couldn’t bring up the subject of forgiveness anymore.

Asking for forgiveness from someone who’s no longer human—someone like Karina, who’s ascended as an angel—would be foolish.

“What do you mean? How does forgiveness not matter anymore?”

Could she have given up on being forgiven by Si-woo?

“Unni, I don’t care if Karina is my brother or not. It’s enough for me to just be near him in any form. Don’t you think so? Karina is only using her past life as a way to live on Earth. So, I think the best way for us to atone is to treat her as if she were my brother and fulfill her wishes.”

At Yu-jeong’s words, Si-yeon closed her eyes for a moment.

“Hmmm.”

“You agree, right?”

Si-yeon nodded.

Yes, she wasn’t wrong.

Karina had once been Si-woo, but nothing more, nothing less.

So, it was only right to approach Karina as Karina, not as Si-woo.

“Right. And, like I said, she’s an angel now. My brother was reborn as the angel Karina. Gender doesn’t matter at all in this case.”

Why should gender be important when it comes to atoning?

Whether it’s Park Si-woo or Karina, does it really matter?

The important thing was that Karina was once Park Si-woo.

In fact, without the complication of blood relations, they might even be able to develop a closer bond.

Since she didn’t seem particularly interested in men anyway, who knows what could happen?

“Is that really how it is?”

“That’s what I’m saying. We just need to approach her in the present, not the past. That’s why we should help spread Karina’s religion, Kanora, as she wishes.”

Si-yeon was gradually being convinced by Yu-jeong’s words.

If what she was saying was true, even if there was a small chance…

Si-yeon brought her Americano to her lips.

“Did she say she’d accept you?”

“Yes. She said that by joining the Kanora religion, I’d become part of the family. So, Unni, you just need to ‘atone’ by approaching Karina, not as your brother.”

Was that the only way?

Still, wasn’t it too soon to give up on Park Si-woo?

She felt incredibly guilty and regretful, but if there was no one left to apologize to, then…

“But still.”

“That’s what I mean, just on the surface. Karina hasn’t said no to it, so we should do as she wishes.”

Karina had asked them not to approach her based solely on their past connection.

As long as they were careful about that, they could get closer.

Even if it was just as a devotee and saint, it would be better than before.

‘This seems dangerous.’

Si-yeon thought.

Clearly, Karina’s religion wasn’t normal.

The existence of the goddess she spoke of was suspicious too.

“Okay, I understand. I’ll think about it and meet her.”

“Do that. Thanks to that, I became her first disciple.”

Her first disciple?

If she hesitated, she wouldn’t even get to be the second.

There was no other choice.

She would have to do as Karina wanted.

After all, she had already decided to live for Karina.

***

Today was the day of the returnee orientation.

For now, they had decided not to tackle the Tower of Destruction again.

The elf debt had already been repaid, and they could afford to relax for a while.

They had made a lot of money.

The problem was, this angel still hadn’t come to her senses.

“No, Archangel. What do you mean ‘get along with that guy’? What on earth are you saying?”

The fallen angel was looking down on humans.

Yeah, yeah, it’s because she’s an angel, so humans must seem insignificant, right?

“I meant exactly what I said. You’re smart, so you must’ve gotten the gist of it, right?”

It didn’t take much brainpower to figure it out.

Just from the atmosphere, it was clear she was only doing this because dragging Yu-jeong around was becoming a hassle.

Couldn’t she see that?

“Even so, still.”

“Still what?”

“N-Nothing.”

What’s with the attitude?

I had to go to the returnee orientation.

If she kept acting like this, I couldn’t keep her by my side.

“Even though you’re a fallen angel, you must have a brain, right?”

“P-Please, Archangel, just use informal speech. It scares me every time you speak formally.”

If she was scared, she should know how to act.

Right?

I brushed my hand lightly over Tamnanbi’s shoulder, as if to say, ‘Do better next time.’

Then I whispered coldly in her ear.

“You understand that if I abandon you, it’s over for you, right? I can throw you out anytime.”

“S-Sorry.”

“Make sure you behave. That human you’ve been calling a pushover already scouted a parish for you. As an angel, you got that, right? Building a church to revive Kanora and increasing the number of believers is entirely up to you.”

Using Park Yu-jeong as a cash cow, we could build the Church and expand our influence.

It would be a good way to tear apart this dirty, twisted hunter society.

Oh, Kanora religion is amazing!

A world-dominating Kanora that I didn’t even have to grow myself!

-Wow, seriously, this is quite the disciple, huh?

Even the goddess would be left speechless at this grand strategy.

“Ah. I understand.”

“Yes.”

“Alright then, handle things well. Make sure to respond when Yu-jeong contacts you. I’m heading to the Bureau now. Elf, come along.”

As I was about to head to the orientation, the elf was still absorbed in playing a game on her Nintendo.

She plays when there’s no slave-like task to do.

But why doesn’t she remember she’s supposed to attend the orientation too?

Sometimes, she seems a little slow.

“If you don’t follow me right now, I’ll ban Nintendo!”

“Ah, fine. I’m coming. Ugh, I totally forgot.”

There are some things you just can’t forget.

How can you forget something like that?

“What are you going to do if you don’t show up at the time the Bureau told you to?”

“Okay, okay, I’m going.”

But as we headed to the orientation, a thought crossed my mind.

Wouldn’t there be more interesting non-human beings at the orientation?

Like dragonkin or vampires, for example.

The elf might know a thing or two.

“By the way, are there a lot of other interesting people, aside from the ones I’ve met so far?”

“Returnees?”

“Yes.”

I looked at the elf with eager eyes.

As a slave, she had the duty to answer her master’s questions.

“Well, there are fallen angels. Hmm, come to think of it, one of them might be your polar opposite. She’s a white angel.”

A white angel?

I’m black, and she’s white?

I can’t tolerate that.

“It’ll be fun to turn her black. But why is she a fallen angel?”

“Oh, she doesn’t do angelic work; she’s just a lazy shut-in.”

“Ah, then fair enough.”

Something pure white always ends up black.

Should I bring some ink with me?

I could pretend to spill it.

How dare she walk around in white when I’m dressed in black?

“Then, there’s the miserable slime. It can blend in, but its durability is awful. There’s also a variety of humans.”

“Are there vampires too?”

“Of course.”

Oh, interesting.

I’m glad I came.

“I want to see that too. But why are so many returnees non-human?”

I had asked this before, but this elf seemed like she’d know better.

Let’s see what she says.

“Well, I’m not entirely sure. There are regular humans too. But as you know, the time in the reincarnation worlds and Earth doesn’t match, right? You and a few others were lucky to return while still young, but in most cases…”

“So if someone lives out their life over there, they could die, right?”

“That’s what the scholars researching the returnees’ worlds and time flow concluded.”

Weren’t vampires supposed to be immortal?

-Are you really in a position to envy that?

That’s a different matter, goddess.