episode_0037

I’d already looted all the demon’s gear.

But.

Ending it here would feel unsatisfying.

‘Every part of a demon is high-grade magical material, after all.’

Not just premium parts like horns or hearts—even miscellaneous bits like blood, bones, flesh, and hide could fetch a decent price.

Selling them to the Adventurer’s Guild was an option,

but dealing directly with a mage was also a solid choice.

‘They’re perfect for crafting items, too.’

Hand them to an alchemist, and you’d get elixirs.

Give them to a blacksmith, and they’d forge a demonic blade.

Entrust them to a mage, and they’d create magical artifacts.

They might not be endgame-tier,

but they could still make powerful gear usable well into the mid-to-late stages.

That was the standard play for the average Prophecy RPG player.

So then?

What about Prophecy RPG veteran Lee Jun-seong?

‘A different choice!’

‘Craft a special item using the Holy Grail of Sacrifice!’

I immediately pulled out the Holy Grail of Sacrifice.

Originally, this ancient artifact was meant to summon powerful miracles by offering a cherished person as a sacrifice,

but this time, I’d offered up semen instead.

In terms of quantity, it was an enormous sacrifice—equivalent to 100 to 200 million units—

but by weight, it was a measly 1 to 2 grams.

The energy charged into it was pitiful.

Forget grand miracles—

it could barely manage minor ones.

But.

This was enough.

Legendary items, the kind only gods or transcendent beings could create, were out of reach,

but ordinary items within human capability? That was doable.

‘I can even make dark magic items—the kind only a dark mage could craft!’

Dark magic items.

Their crafting difficulty was relatively low,

but getting a hostile dark mage to make one for you was practically impossible.

Under normal circumstances, they were ultra-rare drops.

But.

With the Holy Grail of Sacrifice, I could make them myself.

…With that thought, I sucked up every last demon corpse.

‘Absorb the rest, too!’

I even drained the frozen monster corpses dry.

And then.

Fused them all into a single item.

Whooosh!

A radiant light burst forth as the item took shape.

[Blood Stone]

A small, crimson-glowing gem—a dark magic artifact.

It granted infinite vitality, hyper-regeneration, and overwhelming physical prowess,

but the catch?

No off switch.

At 100% HP, recovery should stop—

but with this thing, HP would keep climbing to 200%, 300%, even 500%.

The result?

A human body couldn’t handle that much life force and would explode.

That’s why dark mages usually equipped it to zombies or corpse golems.

Five minutes of unstoppable power,

followed by a corpse explosion.

‘An absolutely broken combo.’

Tactics?

Who needed those?

With overwhelming vitality, regeneration, and defense, you could just bulldoze straight into enemies.

Then—boom.

That alone was enough to wipe out most humans.

‘Hell, it could even take out a hero’s party.’

Yep.

I’d been on the receiving end of that strategy more than once.

A corpse golem equipped with a Blood Stone would latch onto you, and a single suicide blast would wipe the entire party.

The first time it happened, I slammed my keyboard so hard I broke it.

Seriously!

I went in thinking, “Pfft, some scrub dark mage,” only to get a full party wipe?!

A sudden suicide nuke leading to a game over?! That’s some bullsh—!

…Yeah, I lost it back then.

Of course.

That wouldn’t happen now.

The main ingredient for a Blood Stone was a demon.

Most dark mages couldn’t even take one down,

so getting the materials yourself was a tall order.

Unless you stumbled across a demon corpse killed by a hero,

or somehow bought one off a hero, this was an ultra-rare item.

That’s right.

I was the reason.

A dark mage had gotten their hands on a demon corpse I killed, crafted a Blood Stone,

and used it to suicide-bomb me.

…When I realized that, I lost it again.

Are you kidding me?!

I died because I sold a demon corpse?!

They turned my loot into a suicide golem to kill me with?!

‘After that, I swore.’

Never sell demon corpses.

I would use them up myself.

…Yeah, this item brought back memories.

“So that’s what happened…”

“Master…”

“That must’ve been tough…”

I’d ended up sharing some old stories while explaining the Blood Stone,

and suddenly, they were looking at me like some pitiful soul.

To me, it was just a game anecdote,

but to them, it was a tragic tale of witnessing a comrade’s death.

So.

Let’s stop there.

Sure, it gave me trouble back then,

but now, it’s an essential item.

Gotta keep it handy.

…Just as I said that, Ria voiced her doubts.

“An essential item?”

“What are you planning to use something that dangerous for?”

“To save the Saintess.”

“Save the Saintess?”

“Yeah.”

“To anyone else, it’s a cursed artifact—but to her, it’s a wish-granting item.”

“The Saintess has her own struggles too?”

“She does.”

The Saintess.

By all rights, she should’ve wielded immense power, blessed by the Goddess of Light, Serena.

But Serena had spent the last 20 years raising Ria.

As a result, the Saintess never received her full power,

ending up as a half-baked holy figure with mediocre divine energy.

Yet her desire to save people burned brighter than anyone’s.

So she sacrificed herself.

If her divine energy wasn’t enough to heal,

she’d pour her own life force into the effort.

…That was how she saved countless lives,

and lost everything.

“Lost everything?”

“Did she die?”

“No.”

“She lost her height.”

“Height?”

“Yeah.”

“Like… a key?”

“No.”

“She’s stuck at 140 cm.”

“…?”

Yep.

The Saintess had burned so much life force that she became a legal loli due to stunted growth.

Chronologically 25,

but physically elementary-school-aged.

“Uh…”

“That’s what you meant by ‘lost everything’?”

“She did lose it.”

Our Saintess was still a woman.

The kind who’d swoon over a handsome man like any other girl.

But.

Her first love ended in crushing disappointment.

[I’m sorry.]

[I know you’re older than me, Saintess… but even so, dating someone who looks like a child is…]

Yup.

She got dumped for looking like a kid.

The guy who rejected her was into busty older women,

and within days, he was dating a voluptuous beauty—even having a kid with her.

The Saintess sobbed her heart out.

If only I hadn’t used up my life force!

I could’ve grown up all curvy like her!

…She cried, but.

She’d saved lives.

Even if she could turn back time, she’d have still spent her life force to save those before her.

…That was just who she was.

In the end, the Saintess was the Saintess.

A woman so kind-hearted, she’d sacrifice everything for others.

But.

That didn’t make the pain any less real.

‘It couldn’t be helped.’

When the Goddess of Light, Serena, vanished for 20 years,

it was the Goddess of Love, Eros, who’d supported the Saintess all that time.

A Saintess who worshipped the Goddess of Light,

yet wielded miracles through the Goddess of Love’s power.

Naturally, she came to revere Eros too,

and love became central to her.

That’s why.

The heartbreak of her first love hit her hard.

But.

She didn’t give up.

If the hero chose her,

and they defeated the Demon King together, she could make a wish.

She could wish to grow into a voluptuous, busty beauty!

…The moment I said that, Elris blurted out:

“You can wish for that?!”

“Of course.”

“Uh…”

“Then…”

Blushing slightly, she continued:

“Kain, what kind of girl is your type?”

“Hm?”

“Planning to change your looks with a wish?”

“Just considering it.”

“Since the man of my dreams already fixed everything I’d have wished for.”

“If that’s the case, I think you’re perfect as you are.”

“Huh… wha?…”

“You’re plenty charming already.”

“R-really?…”

“Yeah.”

Sure, I liked busty beauties,

but I also appreciated the unique appeal of petite girls.

If I was building a harem, variety was key.

An all-busty lineup would get stale,

just like an all-flat one.

You can’t just eat meat forever—

you need a balanced diet of meat, fruit, veggies, and fish.

…Saying that outright would make me sound like trash, though,

so I softened it.

You’re prettiest just the way you are.

“Hehe…”

“Master!”

“What about me? How do I look?”

“You’re also perfect as you are.”

“Hehe…”

Not a lie.

Before I fell for my favorite character, I’d liked all the female party members.

Ria had her own charm,

and Elris had hers.

Especially Elris—cold at first,

but gradually opening up, then becoming passionate once in love. That contrast was captivating.

‘This playthrough, though—where’d that icy act go?’

She’d fallen head over heels from the start,

skipping the cold phase entirely.

‘Now that I think about it, Ria’s acting weird too.’

The crybaby Ria was supposed to be pretty passive.

But.

This Ria was different.

She still seemed like a crybaby,

but she was oddly proactive at times.

‘Did their personalities change?’

It happened sometimes in the game.

Living with others could shift someone’s nature,

or a major event could flip it overnight.

The brave Ria might turn cowardly,

or the crybaby Ria might become bold.

‘Hmm…’

‘Probably not, right?’

She’d still cried and clung to me today.

Definitely a crybaby.

That much was solid intel—I’d bet my right hand and right nut on it as a Prophecy RPG veteran.

So.

I’ll gloss over this for now.

Time to finish looting the treasury.