episode_0703

Didn’t you say that you wouldn’t know how to sleep with a sickle in your hand?

I was doing something stupid.

Even though I had already arrived at my destination, I kept walking through it without realizing it.

This place, covered in darkness like the deepest abyss without a single ray of light, was my soul.

Is the soul originally this black?

Most likely not.

“… Is it just me?”

Who am I?

Isn’t he the worst human being in history, who simultaneously harbors two of the seven deadly sins: gluttony and anger?

It is not at all strange if the soul turns completely black.

Finally, I stopped walking and took a quick look around the area I had not paid any attention to.

“By the way, it’s so empty.”

There was nothing special to say about it.

In a world that is completely dark, the only thing you can see is the star rising high above your head.

I felt a little empty.

“I thought there was something really great.”

It was when I was quietly complaining in disappointment.

“That’s what the soul is like.”

A familiar voice flowed down my back and into my ear.

* * *

Gula, the goddess of greed.

The expression on Kim Do-jin’s face as he looked at her, who had come all the way here from the world of the unconscious, was one of bewilderment.

“… Could it interfere with my soul?”

She shook her head with a smiling face.

“It’s not interference, it’s just a brief step. And even that can’t be done without your permission.”

“I never gave permission?”

Gula approached him with gentle steps, reached out her hand, and gently caressed his neck and cheek.

“Huhhuh… , permission isn’t always given with just words.”

Her pitch-black obsidian eyes, filled with Kim Do-jin’s face, are filled with deep lust.

“When I first set foot here, I was so happy. Do you know why?”

“I guess that means I trust you that much.”

Enough to allow it to enter your soul without having to express it in words or actions.

She nodded with a smile, putting her remaining hand around his neck.

“Yes. I know you well. You are a coward who takes a long time to trust others. How could I not be happy that such a child trusts me so much?”

At first, it was a relationship where there was greater resistance.

His identity is unclear, and his power is always after his body, even copying Han Joo-hee’s face.

From one to ten, the relationship between her and himself was filled with only elements that were more likely to build distrust than trust.

But as time went on, I learned.

That she truly cares for you and that she acts based on how helpful or not helpful she is to you.

“I’m a coward, just like you said.”

He’s been through a lot.

There were times when my allies betrayed me and I got stabbed in the back of the head, times when a trusted colleague defected and blocked my path, and times when there was even a guy who threw all his colleagues into the monster’s jaws and ran away, saying he would survive on his own.

Should we say that this is the social limit of those who have a job that requires them to risk their lives to earn money?

That’s why I don’t trust people very much.

They always pretend to be kind and trustworthy, but deep down, they are constantly judging and measuring people.

“But a person who acts as if he lives only for me… No, he’s not the kind of person who can’t even believe in God.”

Her arms wrapped around the mall add even more weight.

“You know how to say some pretty romantic things.”

“There’s a reason he was married.”

Did you know that it would be easy to seduce and marry the most popular and pretty girl in South Korea?

Although the ending was a failure, I don’t regret the marriage itself.

There has never been a time when I was as happy as I was back then.

Before the mood turned gloomy, Kim Do-jin threw her a new topic.

“By the way, what did you mean by what you said a little while ago?”

“A little while ago, you were talking about the soul.”

“Yeah, that’s it.”

“That’s not really worth chewing over.”

She broke away from his arms and continued speaking, spinning around in place.

“The soul is precious in itself, and does not contain anything special inside.”

That’s right.

An element that a human body must possess in order to survive.

That alone is enough to prove the value of the soul.

But it didn’t end there.

“The soul is a diary.”

“Diary?”

“Yes. A diary that is filled with the life of a person.”

All newborn human souls have the same shape and color.

However, as we live, our souls change into their own shapes and colors without any overlap.

The material needed for change is life.

“Depending on what kind of life you live, its shape and color change.”

There is no human being in the world who lives a perfectly identical life.

Even if we experience the same thing, the feelings we get from it are different for each person.

The soul constantly changes its form through such experiences and impressions.

That is why the soul is a diary.

A very large and sacred diary that encompasses the entire life of a human being.

Hearing this, Kim Do-jin smiled bitterly and looked around.

“Then am I this dark because I’ve lived a bad life up until now?”

It was bitter.

Needless to say, I don’t think I did anything particularly bad during my time as Son Si-woo, let alone with this body.

Then Gula shook his head firmly, telling him not to be mistaken.

“That’s narrow-minded. Just because something is black doesn’t mean it’s necessarily bad.”

She came closer again and lightly tapped the tip of his chin with her index finger.

“Black is the symbol of heroes.”

Her words were full of strong conviction.

“The life of a hero is hard. Fighting against all kinds of strong enemies, being betrayed by your comrades, and saving countless people, only to be driven out because you couldn’t save more.”

Physically and mentally, the hero is constantly tested.

Can you win this too?

Then what about this one?

You think you can handle this too?

Then what about this?

As if testing the durability of the finished product by increasing the strength step by step until it breaks.

Even heroes are always forced to make choices in times of crisis.

Is it going to disappear like this?

Or will it bloom again?

“Of course, we cannot rule out the joy, fulfillment, and delight that come afterward.”

but.

“That’s why it’s black.”

Colorful spheres of magical power rise from the tips of her fingers.

Red, green, blue.

“When all of these are mixed together, there is only one color that comes out.”

black.

It’s impossible to live a normal life.

Because we have to experience all the extremes that a human can experience in life.

Only then will my soul be worthy of being dyed black.

“Shouldn’t such a being be called a hero?”

“… … .”

“And look.”

She said, pointing with her index finger to a single star high above her head.

“That star is proof that you are a hero.”

Kim Do-jin’s eyes widened slightly.

“… Do you know what that star is?”

“I know.”

“Tell me.”

She answered.

“That is a star.”

A star that is engraved in the soul only after accumulating an incalculable amount of experience and enlightenment.

It is called the Star of God because it is something that cannot be achieved in a short human life.

“There have been countless heroes who have been active throughout the ages.”

But among them, only a handful, no, less than a handful, had stars engraved on them.

She continued speaking, trying hard to suppress her boiling emotions.

“You are such a being.”

My apostle, my joy, my love.

Kim Do-jin, who was staring into her eyes that were radiating such intense emotions that it was burdensome, scratched his cheek with an embarrassed expression and replied.

“… I don’t think I’ve lived that great of a life.”

I can proudly say that I lived hard.

But my actions were not as outstanding as those of the heroes who appeared over the ages.

Strictly speaking, it was woefully inadequate.

Why on earth was this star engraved on me?

She whispers to him, who looks puzzled.

“If you’re curious, touch that star.”

“How can I get that thing up there… , ah.”

Realizing it too late.

This is inside my soul.

The fact that my body right now is just a virtual body created to explore that place.

When I think about reaching for the stars, a body naturally comes to mind.

Kim Do-jin approached the star that was rising and scattering faint light.

Pfft!

I was thinking wrong.

The light the stars shed was not faint.

It was so far away that the light felt relatively faint.

But even so, I wasn’t blinded by the light.

I carefully extend my hand towards the source of the star that is emitting intense light.

It was just then.

Dismissed!

“Ugh… … !”

Something that emanated from the source of the star struck Kim Do-jin’s entire body.

It was a very intense sensation.

It’s as if the soul, having shed its thick flesh, is exposed to the great flow of the world and becomes one with it.

The intense pleasure turns into poison, transforming into pain and stabbing the entire body.

“Ugh… !”

Kim Do-jin clenches his teeth until his gums bleed, concentrating on the sensations passing through his body.

I felt a sense of uneasiness.

I feel like I’ve already experienced this excruciating pleasure, as if all my peripheral nerves are burning out.

But I was curious.

‘There’s no way I could have forgotten this kind of pleasure?’

Digging into memories.

Back to the past.

Further back in time.

The past events I experienced with this body pass by vividly as if they happened yesterday.

And finally we reached the end.

The moment I woke up in this body.

No, a little bit earlier than that.

‘I remembered.’

The journey of the soul that left Son Si-woo’s body and settled into Kim Do-jin’s body.

The feelings I felt during that short but seemingly eternal journey.

‘That was then.’

It was at that very moment that the soul, free from its shell, was exposed to the world.

His ‘eyes’, no, his ‘sense’ were transformed at that time.

However, I was not fully aware of it and it was only being expressed through my most intuitive eyes.

Outside of consciousness, where even the soul is submerged.

Tiring!

A new message appeared before his eyes as he bowed his head.

[The trait ‘Eye of the Infiltrator’ has returned to its original form.]

[A new star box is added to the status window.]

[The trait ‘Eye of Perfusion’ evolves.]

[You have acquired the divine skill ‘Flow of Stars’.]