Chapter 194
But the unknown beings tightened their grip around his entire body, baring their sharp teeth.
“Kraaah… H-hiiik! Y-you… you guys are…!”
And then, in that instant, he realized it.
The faces of the creatures tearing him apart were not unfamiliar.
They were the orphanage children.
More precisely, the children who had been abused to death or sold away from the orphanage.
Crunch!
“KRAAAAH!”
Dozens of children crawled over him, biting and tearing into his body. As Director Jerry felt his flesh being ripped to shreds, he lost consciousness once again.
“Aaaah!”
Director Jerry jolted upright, screaming at the top of his lungs—then froze.
“This place is…!”
A familiar scene.
The place where he had regained consciousness was none other than the orphanage hallway. He stared around blankly.
“…A dream?”
Was what he had just experienced really a dream?
Then why did his entire body still ache so horribly?
As the memory of the children gnawing at him from head to toe resurfaced, his whole body began to tremble.
He slowly looked down at his hands.
Was it really just a dream?
Then why did his entire body still hurt so much…!
“……”
Director Jerry stared at his hands for a long time, unable to think. Then, gradually, his body began to shake violently.
Am I… still dreaming?
‘Y-yes. This is a dream.’
He cautiously touched his hands.
“Ugh… AAAAAH!”
Agonizing pain surged through him.
Both of his hands were rotting.
Pus dripped down as the skin had completely peeled away.
With a sinking feeling, he rolled up his pants.
“Ugh… ughhh.”
His lower body was the same—oozing, the flesh entirely decomposed.
The exact places where the children had bitten him in the dream were rotting away.
“H-how…?!”
He collapsed onto the floor, unable to hide his despair. As if unable to believe it, he touched his hands again.
The same unbearable pain followed.
“AAAAAAH!”
Soon, his cries of agony echoed endlessly through the halls.
[Remember this. You have to die to reach hell. Even if you think living is already hell and take your own life, another hell will still be waiting for you.]
The woman’s words echoed clearly in his ears.
Crunch.
[The pain of your body rotting away… it can’t be treated. Even when you sleep, it won’t be rest. In your dreams, you’ll always be placed in a situation where you’re being eaten alive.]
Crunch.
[In other words, living itself becomes hell.]
After receiving the report from the woman who had returned after finishing everything, Seres nodded.
It was a satisfactory result.
A fitting ending—repaying him exactly according to the karma he had sown.
The God of Curses, Eliet.
That was her true identity.
She was a god who bestowed curses upon people, and on very rare occasions… granted good fortune.
‘A Tamer Relic.’
The red fan—another relic that Grace possessed.
After the Fire Spirit King Jubelios, this was another entity bound to her.
‘I really didn’t want this.’
It wasn’t that she sought it out.
She had simply seen a fan lying on the road and hadn’t even intended to pick it up.
‘It attached itself on its own.’
Yet when she returned home, it was sitting squarely among her belongings.
She didn’t even need the Sacred Spring.
The moment she touched the fan, the Tamer Relic activated.
‘I couldn’t even report it.’
A relic with curse-related abilities, of all things.
If she reported it, every curse-related incident afterward would point back to her.
She didn’t want that headache, even if keeping it was illegal.
‘It wasn’t like I needed to use it anyway.’
The biggest reason she never took that thing out of subspace was—
“But what have you been eating this whole time?”
[Ah, this?]
Crunch.
[What if I go 탕탕 후루후루~ 탕탕탕 후루루루~ straight into Seres’s heart~?]
“……”
[…]
“…I seriously can’t understand your mental world.”
“What are you doing?”
Seres clicked her tongue as she watched Eliet perform a bizarre dance while holding a stick with a strange fruit on it.
[Fruit candy. Want some? It’s already outdated in that world, but it’s still my favorite.]
Crunch.
[Wanna sell these with me? I’ll bring over all the know-how from the other world. It’ll be a hit here too.]
“No.”
[Wow, such a firm rejection. You’re totally a T. Capital T!]
…Nonsense again.
‘No wonder I’m exhausted.’
She never spoke in ways that made sense.
Eliet was a god.
Not a creator god or anything grand, but a god nonetheless.
‘Even if she’s currently bound to a fan in this world.’
Despite her complaints, she seemed to wield decent power in other worlds—always bringing back strange items.
According to her, since her true body was bound here, she had limitations elsewhere.
“Are you going to keep that appearance?”
Seres looked at her ridiculous outfit with disdain.
“What would people say if they saw you?”
At least wear something respectable if you’re going to be introduced.
Flash!
[Meow~ Then how about this?]
The moment Seres finished speaking, Eliet transformed.
Her body shrank rapidly, and a small cat now sat in her place.
A white-furred cat with red stripes.
[Why meow? You can eat the remaining tanghulu, meow.]
“I’m not eating it. And what’s with that way of talking?”
[Humans like this way of speaking, meow. Cats have to talk like this to be loved, meow. Don’t you know that, meow?]
“I guess I’m not human.”
[Why meow?]
“Because instead of love, I want to smack you.”
[…Fine, I won’t use it. I’ll stop. But I’m telling you, you’re definitely a T.]
What is she even saying?
Seres turned away and looked at Kkamang and Airien, who were secretly stealing the fruit candy Eliet left behind.
[Buu!]
Kkamang crushed only the sugary coating and tossed the fruit at Airien.
[Pii!]
Smack!
[Pu!]
After getting hit by Airien, Kkamang threw a tantrum.
Watching them, Seres let out a short sigh.
‘The number of animals keeps increasing.’
…Should I build a separate enclosure?
“His body is rotting?”
“Yes. Several healers have visited, but it’s useless. They can’t identify the cause.”
“Hmm.”
Crown Prince Aserayan read through the documents as he listened to his aide’s report.
They had discovered an orphanage connected to an illegal auction house.
When they tried to arrest the director, Seres made a request.
She asked them not to arrest him yet, saying she had something to confirm—only requesting that the children be moved somewhere safe.
It wasn’t a difficult request, so he agreed immediately.
Owing her a favor wasn’t a bad thing.
Even after that, he continued monitoring the orphanage.
He was curious about what Seres was planning.
And now, a strange report had arrived.
The orphanage director had gone completely insane.
“Apparently, he keeps babbling nonstop.”
“Babbling?”
“He claims children are eating him alive, that a cat cursed him.”
“A cat, huh.”
“It seems his mind broke after his body deteriorated.”
“She told us to leave him alone—and he destroyed himself anyway.”
Crown Prince Aserayan smirked.
“So our Tamer master even has the ability to rot people’s bodies.”
