Chapter 9: Beat the demon to death (2)

A very satisfying sound came from the bald man’s head.

His skull shattered, and bone fragments, brain matter, and eyeballs flew out.

Squelch!

The old maid tried to pull something out, but her face caved in, and she died instantly.

“Well, we’ve just started, but if both of you die, what am I supposed to do? Respawn.”

Just as the name implies, the Respawn Field.

It’s a place where you come back to life after dying, just like in a game.

In this land, which I’ve modified from what the goddess bestowed upon me, these two will experience the pain of having their bones and flesh torn apart.

The dead bald man and the old maid came back to life.

“What… What is this? What did you do?”

Splat!

I crushed his head again.

Bone, blood, flesh, and brain matter splattered everywhere.

Wow, humans are all the same when their heads burst, aren’t they?

Anyway, that’s that.

“What did I do, you ask? Haven’t you seen the spreading of the goddess’ holiness before? I’m cleansing the evil spirits from your heads.”

Oh, yes!

With the goddess’ holy power, I’m smashing the evil spirits!

After having her head smashed several times, the old maid crumpled to the ground, her face twisted in terror.

“Hiik! M-Monster!”

“You, the model citizen of modern society who diligently practices breaking promises because that’s what they’re for—don’t you think you’re more of a monster? Now, I’ll smash your skulls until those evil spirits are gone.”

Rattle.

Dragging my bloodstained mace, I approached the old maid.

“Is killing a person the same as this? You…”

Squelch!

Too much talking.

Do all old women ramble on like this?

I can’t just leave it be—I need to hammer some sense into her.

“Respawn.”

“A-Aah…”

After I revived both of them, neither the bald man nor the woman could even stand.

They seemed to have forgotten how to muster the strength to stand up.

But what did they say to me earlier?

Was it, Is killing a person the same as this?

Or something like that?

When did I ever kill someone?

I’m curious to know.

“So, are you saying I kill people? When? Here, you’re not dying. This is all sanctioned by the goddess, you know. With the goddess’s blessing, you’re able to keep reviving, so you’re not actually dying.”

They don’t leave behind corpses.

When they die, they just come back to life as if nothing happened.

So, it’s not death.

You can keep living, thanks to the grace of the goddess.

“You’re a crazed cultist!”

Look at this middle-aged woman, looking like someone who will never get married, calling me a cultist.

How dare she?

Unlike other religions, the goddess actually grants me powers.

Sure, I had to overcome all sorts of trials to receive them.

“You call me a cultist after witnessing this miracle? I’d rather live as a devout follower of the goddess than have a head full of evil spirits.”

Alright, let’s swing it again, shall we?

Just as I was about to swing the mace once more, the bald man suddenly grabbed onto my leg.

“P-Please stop. Please. We were wrong!”

The bald man started sobbing, with tears and snot running down his face.

Alright, it seems like the evil spirit in his head has finally been cleared.

“Well, have you finally come to your senses? Great. Then let’s have a constructive conversation. But before that…”

“Huh?”

“Why are you rubbing your filthy face on me?”

Splat!

I smashed his head once more.

And so, the goddess’s punishment came to an end.

Finally, the bald man and the old maid, now completely free of evil spirits, regained their senses and knelt before me.

I elegantly crossed my legs, took a sip of tea, and began the negotiations with a relatively calm demeanor.

“So, how much do you want?”

The bald man spoke up.

The old maid still seemed unwilling to speak, but that’s none of my concern.

So, they’re finally ready to negotiate.

I stretched out my hands.

“Ten billion won.”

“What? What did you say? Ten billion?”

-You raised it by nine billion? What are you going to do now?

I have a plan, goddess.

I know ten billion is a steep number.

These idiots told me right when we met that the money was impossible.

Were they just trying to shut me up?

Of course not.

Looking at the state of this guild and the fact that they’ve been risking their lives on missions recently, it’s obvious at a glance.

The Seolhwa Guild is currently low on money.

That’s why they came at me so boldly.

I’m not a demon, though.

So, I’ll settle for the original amount of one billion won.

-Isn’t that just as bad?

Well, that’s that, and this is this.

Upon hearing my demand, the bald man suddenly jumped up from his seat.

Oh, is he going to hit me?

Do I need to knock him down again for him to come to his senses?

“Don’t be ridiculous! If we give you all that, we’ll have nothing left!”

“How is that my problem?”

“We don’t even have that kind of money in the first place. The number of guild members has decreased, and things are already tough!”

Yeah, it certainly looked that way.

Ever since I became this person, I’ve been overflowing with popularity, drawing many eyes towards me.

The lecherous stares from men and the envious, inferior glares from women were all too palpable.

After experiencing it a few times, you can get a sense of just how many people are around.

The number of members in the Seolhwa Guild was so low that I could hardly feel their presence.

But I’m here to collect my reward.

“Why don’t you sell all the loot and items you’ve picked up?”

“Do you think we run a business by digging up land? What do you expect us to do after selling everything? We’d be scorned by other guilds!”

Competition between guilds?

Oh, back in the Hero World, adventurer guilds fought quite a bit too.

They competed fiercely over who would complete the cooperative quests given by the royal family more successfully and who had more merits.

“If it wasn’t for me, it wouldn’t have ended with mere scorn. You would’ve all died. Oh dear, do you still have some evil spirits left in your head?”

Let’s think about this logically.

What would’ve happened if I hadn’t helped them back then?

I might not have made it through the checkpoint immediately, but I would’ve eventually entered Seoul.

But for these people, it’s different.

They would’ve died, no question about it.

“Please, don’t do this. I’m serious! Really! You should show us some mercy on that 100 billion! Didn’t you just need to swing your mace once? Did your goddess order you to extort from the weak like this?”

“Hmm.”

With that logic, sure, I did take care of everything myself.

But the goddess doesn’t seem particularly concerned with this world.

Since this isn’t the Hero World, the goddess doesn’t have much to do with it.

-Well, they are pitiful. Why not take a little less?

See, this is why my situation is favorable.

“The goddess says they’re pitiful and that I should take less.”

“What kind of goddess decides whether to extort or not?”

“Well, fine. The goddess’s faith isn’t so evil as to extort beggars.”

“Then…”

Alright, maybe it’s time to cut it down a bit.

Anyway, my initial target was 10 billion.

There’s no point in demanding 100 billion from such a small guild, and I know that 100 billion is an absurdly high amount.

So, I should settle for 10 billion and get something extra as well.

I lowered one finger.

“Let’s make it 50 billion.”

“Are you insane? Our guild doesn’t even have 50 billion! I’m not lying, it’s the truth!”

“Is the evil spirit returning?”

“I’m serious! We don’t have it! Even if you kill us, the guild itself doesn’t have that much money!”

The old maid started pleading with a tearful face as well.

As expected, seeing both the bald man and the old woman crying is disgusting.

It’s annoying.

Should I smash their skulls again?

Alright then.

I lowered another finger.

“Oh, really? Fine. 40 billion.”

“No, seriously, what kind of world did you come from where you can just throw around such absurd amounts of money?”

“If we raided one ruin, 10 billion would’ve been a joke.”

Ah, those were the days.

Back when we raided ruins in collaborative competitions between parties, the hero and the other girls handled the enemies while I cleared the ruins and smashed the boss’s head by myself.

That alone made me billions in the Hero World’s currency.

With that kind of money, I could’ve easily left the hero party and lived comfortably.

But the hero took all the money.

Not that he used it for anything bad, so I couldn’t even be mad about it.

“You must’ve lived in an amazing world. But what happened to all that money? Wasn’t that enough?”

“The noble hero donated it all to help the needy. In fact, I ended up in debt.”

Yep, the noble hero donated all the money to places like orphanages and regions devastated by the Demon King’s army.

As part of the ‘Hero Party,’ it was the right thing to do, so I couldn’t do anything about it.

And, as a saint, could I really complain to the hero about it?

In the end, I had to swallow my tears.

“You sure had an extraordinary hero. But seriously, we don’t even have 30 billion. That’s the truth!”

So, they don’t even have 30 billion.

I lowered another finger.

“20 billion.”

“Go ask around the other guilds. Most of them don’t even have 20 billion! We only took on the checkpoint mission to make some money.”

Oh, such a tragic tale?

“Oh really?”

“You saw it yourself. Why else would we have taken on that place, which is way out of our league? We were desperate too. If you don’t believe me, go ask the other guilds how much money they have in their vaults! We don’t even have enough for the members’ basic wages!”

Hmm, so that’s how it is.

Well, haven’t I reduced it enough by now?

“The most we can offer is 10 billion! Anything more and we’d have to disband the guild!”

Bingo.

That was my original target.

I bit my lip to hold back the laughter that almost escaped.

Alright, 10 billion.

10 billion.

Judging by the mood, I might be able to ask for something else besides money.

So, let’s go with 10 billion.

But I want something else too.

If money isn’t enough, I should get something else of equal value, right?

“Wouldn’t you agree?”

As I licked the blood off my mace, the bald man swallowed nervously and glanced at the old maid beside him.

“Manager Baek Mi-young. We have no choice. We’ll have to give her the entrance ticket to the Tower of Destruction.”

“Guildmaster, are you serious? That…”

What, what is that?

“Do you think we can handle the Tower of Destruction with our current strength? We’ll just get crushed by the big corporations.”

“Yeah, but…”

Hmm?

What are they talking about?

The Tower of Destruction?