I could see all the fuzz on Hyungkesuni’s face standing up, so I pulled my hand away. sfx: whoosh*

It’s like a wild animal that just eats whatever you give it. You gotta be sensitive like a true beast. sfx: snarl*

As I stepped back, I fixated on the giant staff that was way too big for little Hyungkesuni. It exuded a sticky aura. sfx: sticky noise*

It’s similar to the weapon used by a warrior of Future Hope Church, but there’s a subtle difference in texture. The Future Hope standard weapon is a bit dull, while this one is slimy. sfx: squish*

But neither feels appealing to me. sfx: meh*

You’d think someone in a fantasy world would know about magic power, but the first ones I licked, Cheki and Patricia, were raised as warriors of faith from the start, lacking knowledge. sfx: doh!*

The person in front of me seems to know various things, though. sfx: ding!*

I need to hold on a little longer. sfx: patience!*

Take it slow. Gaining warmth requires patience. sfx: breathe*

I went back to my spot. The beast is in a safe place. sfx: peaceful sigh*

If warmth isn’t given, I’ll throw a fit! A democratic citizen’s courtesy usually ends up at the guillotine, but since there’s no one here who’s the master of themselves, it’s tough. sfx: thud!*

“Got any more questions?” sfx: curious beep*

Hyungkesuni hesitated for a moment and then pressed the cloth that fell back over his head to cover it completely. sfx: flop*

“Ah, haha. No, no. I’ve figured out your identity; that’s enough. This witch will take her leave now.” sfx: shoo!*

Saying that, Hyungkesuni left, keeping an eye on me. sfx: watchful eyes*

I can’t tell if that’s a girl or just looks like one; she’s one of the four inside the circle. One of the higher-ups. sfx: high five!*

Are there four of them, like the Four Heavenly Kings? sfx: royal fanfare*

Let’s call them high-ranking officials since there could be someone who didn’t make it. sfx: crickets*

I want to turn them into someone like Joanna someday. sfx: dream big!*

Then, when I turned my head, Joanna was looking at me with a frightened expression. sfx: gasp!*

Oh? sfx: huh?*

Hmm, was there anything that looked so scary? I passed on what Hyungkesuni wanted to know and even thanked them for bringing me to this world. sfx: thank you!*

They lifted me up like pulling from an endless sea. sfx: whoosh!*

So there’s no bad person here, and I conveyed that I was thankful; maybe I should’ve said it more directly? sfx: light bulb!*

I thought it would be bad to say something so blunt since it exposed too much of my bottom side. Again, I can’t read thoughts. sfx: brain freeze!*

Joanna was just watching the conversation between me and Hyungkesuni, so I only know the point she got scared. sfx: eyeballs!*

I thought her heart was racing from excitement, but given the sympathetic nerves, it’s not much different. sfx: heartbeat!*

And that’s when Hyungkesuni mumbled about what we did. From that point, Joanna’s condition went south. sfx: uh-oh!*

If that’s when she started genuinely fearing me, did I empathize with that fear? sfx: question mark!*

I don’t know. sfx: shrug*

So what can I do? If I don’t know, I might as well ask. sfx: questioning tone!*

“Joanna, am I scary?” sfx: spooky sound!*

At my question, Joanna’s heart raced. No, I’m not going to eat you! sfx: no way!*

Joanna slowly nodded and then suddenly tensed up her abdomen. sfx: gulp!*

“It’s scary.” sfx: shiver*

“Why is that?” sfx: curious again!*

When she tensed up, it wasn’t the kind of event that’d usually scare someone. When I absorbed the warmth from the pitiful victim, Joanna wasn’t scared then. sfx: chill!*

But if she felt fear during the current event, I need to ask for the reason. sfx: interrogation!*

Joanna hesitated a lot. sfx: tick tock!*

Well, it could be intimidating to think if the person serving you is scary. If I ask something like, “Where are you going?” she might wonder if I’m trying to dunk her. But I’ve never exerted an authoritative stance. sfx: power trip!*

She could just be burdened because I’m above her. sfx: pressure!*

I can endure. sfx: tough it out!*

My curiosity comes first. sfx: priority!*

I rolled my darkened eyes around and finally gave up, standing still until she looked at me. sfx: tension!*

“I barely found out who Lady Rebecca is, so…” sfx: revealing!*

“Is that so? I’m just like water collecting below… watching stars being born under an endless night sky, quietly gathering like the calm sea.” sfx: poetic vibes!*

Oh? Now that I think about it, since I’ve been pulled up like this, if I go back down, there’s a possibility my variant could be born. sfx: whoosh!*

The one I took warmth from yesterday twisted and mutated. And when the neck was cut, that blue blood came out. sfx: plop!*

I think I saw that when it splashed onto my body. sfx: splash!*

If I go down, I might get stripped. In the wild, empty spaces will inevitably get taken over. sfx: occupy!*

Then, I guess I should do my best in this world. sfx: determined!*

Wild animals are scary, you know. sfx: growl!*

Especially since both carnivores and herbivores can attack their opponents. sfx: attack!*

People who dislike them really despise them. At least feeling threatened is enough to eradicate them in advance. sfx: scary!*

I should’ve treated it more like a pet than a wild animal. If it were a cat, I could just be like, “I’m cute!” and find a specific creature enthusiast, but Rebecca Rolfe isn’t that young a girl. sfx: oops!*

At this rate, it seems I could grow three heads. I’m small, but I’m already this big. sfx: grow!*

Unless, it’s dead and won’t grow anymore. sfx: flatline!*

Middling threats are worth nothing but squashing. Either too dangerous to ban or completely harmless. sfx: splat!*

Dangerous is impossible. What am I supposed to do with this body? At most, I can bring a dozen companions, but that just pushes me back down again. sfx: doubled back!*

If I’m unlucky, I might disappear even from the bottom. sfx: vanish!*

That wouldn’t be terrible, but still, to gain warmth, I want to make a bit more use of this group. I’ve already made plans for the harvesting period! sfx: plans!*

It’d be better if it were slightly less harmful. sfx: better safe than sorry!*

“I’m here in your body, diligently doing what you asked. Why should you fear me?” sfx: inquiry!*

At my question, Joanna didn’t answer. She just seemed to be holding back a word to the tip of her tongue and swallowed hard. sfx: gulp!*

From my perspective, it’s a vague statement. sfx: confusion!*

“You’ve got a nasty temper, huh? Something like that?” sfx: wink!*

You can say whatever, but if I push any further, Joanna might collapse from stress. Let’s end it here for today. sfx: conclusion!*

Now that Hyungkesuni has grasped me and left, it’s time to go talk to Hieronymus, right? Next time we meet, I’ll poke a bit. From there, if he makes a choice, I’ll make mine too. sfx: decisions!*

If possible, I hope he’ll come back before dinner. sfx: hopeful!*

That’s what I was thinking as I sat down on the bed quietly. sfx: calm!*

*

Hieronymus is currently in a difficult situation. sfx: stress!*

A trainer of the warriors of faith. The man at the highest position, Witga, has come to visit. sfx: visitor alert!*

He’s slightly shorter than Hieronymus, but since Hieronymus is quite large, it doesn’t make him small at all. sfx: big guy!*

This muscular man is devoid of light in his eyes like most who dedicate themselves to this religion. He’s filled with despair and hatred, requiring some sort of venting to survive. sfx: explode!*

And he’s also one of the four who were below the stepped pyramid. sfx: council members!*

“Hieronymus. One of the ones under me yesterday asked for a blessing for himself.” sfx: drama!*

“Decline it, Witga. That will turn a person into a monster. We need to change those lower down first.” sfx: change management!*

Hieronymus is considering several possibilities. The worst-case scenario among them would be if he could completely manipulate those like Joanna. sfx: manipulation!*

So, they need to examine those who can be sacrificed little by little first. sfx: sacrifice!*

“I think the same. But that guy was saying that that blessed girl, Joanna, became a complete monster. An old man who knew nothing suddenly became young and tried to catch up with him, who had trained for decades, in just a few hours.” sfx: oh no!*

Witga crossed his arms, looking seriously at Hieronymus. sfx: serious stare!*

“Hey, Hieronymus. Our leader. If it can be used, that’s immense power for us. We won’t need to hide in this desolate valley, conducting monstrous rituals to summon the dead.” sfx: desperate measures!*

“That’s what he said. Three per day. And there’s a chance of exploding.” sfx: danger sign!*

At that, Witga chuckled. sfx: laugh!*

“Hey, Hieronymus. Where’s the human in Future Hope Church who would be frightened of that? That’s a blessing from the god they believe in.” sfx: faith!*

A man deep in despair turns into a bomb capable of causing a massive explosion. It’s a law of this world. sfx: boom!*

After such phenomena are completely revealed, amusingly, people who exploited others to death have fewer in number. sfx: ironic!*

Instead, they temporarily give them hope while working them to death, and once they age, they are immediately thrown out. sfx: life cycle!*

To a distant place where explosions wouldn’t matter. sfx: far away!*

Ironically, overall misfortune decreases. Still, special cities like capitals are thoroughly protected, and as the size shrinks, the efficiency of the system declines. sfx: shrinking world!*

Thus, inevitably, there will be someone who becomes unhappy. sfx: sadness!*

One of those results is the Future Hope Church. sfx: dark fate!*

They exploit and exhaust humans who are drowning in misfortune, rendered incapable of proper thinking. They’re just repeating the same actions every nation does. sfx: same old story!*

All to take revenge on the ones who made them so. So, whatever happens, just being able to take revenge would be great. After all, they don’t think about their lives. sfx: no second thoughts!*

That’s how it distorts here. sfx: twist!*

“We need a blessing. If you’re really worried, first send three kids. Two with the best skills and one with the least. That should make it easy to understand?” sfx: plan!*

At Witga’s words, Hieronymus thought for a moment. Anyway, there’s no way to leave this as it is. If that’s the case, let’s experiment with whatever that thing is that introduced itself as Rebecca Rolfe. sfx: experiment!*

Hieronymus goes a step further from there. sfx: progress!*

If those transformed beings are useful, let’s just give them the title of Apostle of the false god Cruxshibal and make sure they can be manipulated. sfx: manipulation at work!*

“Alright, Witga. Prepare the blessing. You get the children who will receive the blessing ready. If we’re lucky, we could advance our plans by a few years.” sfx: go go go!*

“A plan to escape this wretched underground life. I like it. Though I’m curious about what the overall picture looks like. You could probably create a nation, right? Isn’t that right? The king of the former church country.” sfx: kingdom building!*

At Witga’s words, Hieronymus didn’t even blink. sfx: stoic!*

“There’s no king in the church country.” sfx: fact check!*

“I know that. But a leader and a king are basically the same, right? If you build a nation, give me a spot. That way, when you do something, I can voice my opinion too.” sfx: stakeholders!*

Chuckle, laughing yet calculating the currents of power with cold eyes, Witga spoke. Witga also has a group he needs to take revenge on. And just unleashing a few monsters won’t finish it. sfx: monster release!*

As Future Hope Church grows, the likelihood of revenge increases. So, knowing Hieronymus’s identity, he hoped to teach warriors within this cult. sfx: educational reform!*

After all, that’s why Hieronymus initially brought him in. sfx: strategic move!*

“If you build a nation, let’s promise one of the highest positions.” sfx: deal!*

“Great. I know that it’s a blank check, but you’ll definitely keep it. You’ll need me for your revenge. Now, I’ll take my leave, Hieronymus.” sfx: departure!*

With that, Witga stood up from his seat. Just behind him, Hieronymus asked one question. sfx: question!*

“Do you want to go back as a general?” sfx: curious inquire!*

Witga shook his hand in denial and stopped at the threshold. sfx: halt!*

“Ask for a higher position. If a general of a ruined nation becomes a general again, it’s pathetic.” sfx: shame!*

And after completely leaving, he quietly closed the door without making a sound. Hieronymus pondered whether to point out Hyungkesuni’s reckless actions and looked at it, which was just sitting blankly on the bed beyond the magic. sfx: magic gaze!*

A submissive and childlike girl. sfx: innocent!*

Considering that the original personality hidden under that shell is rather fierce, it’s actually chilling. sfx: shudder!*

Hieronymus continues to monitor while starting to outline plans for what to do in the church. sfx: strategize!*

---