TFWSDW 05

Chapter 5

Game Category [Post][Guide]
[How to handle Guardian ‘Derrick Sacrum’]

◆ Welcome to the chaos—he’s difficult due to his berserk mode, but super fun if you’re here for the drama.
◆ This guardian suffers from “loss of self-esteem”, which makes activating his skills ridiculously hard.
◆ To fix this, you have to slowly purify his corruption using purification abilities. But purification powers only show up much later, right?
So what you really need is…

Dr. Oh Eun-young.

* * *

“It wasn’t a mistake.”

At Nemesia’s tiny declaration, both Siara and Derrick looked at her in surprise.

“I didn’t do it by mistake.”

Her fierce little glare was surprisingly fiery.

‘…She’s ridiculously small.’

Too small.

So small she reminded him of a fragile speck of dust that might pop if he held her in his hand.

“But, Candidate, this prayer room isn’t only used by Lord Derrick. So—”

“No, I heard the people talking who brought me here. I heard them say he’s here.”

“Lord Usher…?”

The moment she said that, Derrick understood the situation.

Usher Tatum.

Anyone in the Church would know how unpredictable that man was.

“So, you met Usher.”

A man who roamed the Church, skilled in trickery and loved stirring up trouble just for fun.

If it was that scheming man…

Then whispering poisonous ideas to a tiny child like, “That guy Derrick in the prayer room is useful,” wouldn’t have been hard.

The truth, though?

Derrick was the most useless one here—a discarded tool.

He lowered his gaze.

The Pope was the very reason for the Church’s existence.

Protecting them was the duty of the entire Church.

‘That means I can’t refuse the Pope candidate’s choice.’

It was an absolute rule.

Derrick slowly bent his knees and lowered his body to match the child’s eye level.

…Even then, he still had to look down.

Now that he had been chosen, the Pope candidate would probably be the first to be eliminated.

Derrick felt a flicker of pity for the child.

“Sorry you ended up with me. I’m just trash.”

He had once been a hero.

A nightmare to his enemies, a wise and powerful servant of the gods.

But during battle with the evil god’s apostles, his mind was corrupted, and now he suffered from madness.

He could still use divine power, so he remained in the Church.

But at any moment, he could lose control and kill someone. He was like a rusty, broken weapon.

“You’re not trash.”

Until her clear voice reached him.

Derrick looked up.

“I didn’t choose trash.”

Her fierce gaze was now firm and serious.

But she was so tiny…

It was like watching a baby kitten who thought it was a tiger.

“This is something God led me to do.”

Those words carried unexpected weight.

“And I chose you because I wanted to.”

How old was she, really?

Her words were far too impressive for how young she looked.

Instead of responding, Derrick let out a low, heavy breath.

“…Derrick Sacrum, by the call of the Pope candidate, I accept the role of Guardian.”

Why this newly chosen child picked someone like him… Why she was so sure he wasn’t trash…

He didn’t know.

It must’ve been the stubborn will of an ignorant child.

…And yet.

“Bow down.”

The little one reached out a soft, fluffy hand.

Derrick hesitated, then lowered himself further just as she wanted.

The baby, on tiptoes, placed her hand on his shoulder.

“You’re pretty. So pretty.”

“…?”

Siara, who was watching, was at a loss for words, her lips moving to speak but failing.

“……!!”

That’s when Derrick felt something strange.

‘A presence? No… this is… divine power.’

He felt his head clearing.

Not just his mind—his entire being felt surrounded by pure, sacred energy.
Not at the level of his prime, but still, unmistakably divine.

It wasn’t his imagination.

His mouth fell open.

‘What… is this?’

But just as suddenly, the feeling vanished when the child removed her hand.

And that’s when he realized it.

…This child had just “purified” him.

A legendary ability said to exist only in stories.

Meanwhile, as Derrick stood stunned by this mysterious experience…

Nemesia was shocked for an entirely different reason.

‘Wait, what?! That actually worked?!’

[Now shout “You’re pretty” at your new ‘Dad,’ Derrick!]
[Perfect chance to lower his “corruption level”!]

What kind of messed-up love system is this?! 😭

* * *

In this world, where the evil god’s power keeps growing stronger…

The main character Kahn’s greatest weapon was the Purification ability.

A unique power—
the only one that could cleanse the corruption caused by the evil god.

It worked not only on corrupted holy knights—
but also on polluted land, air, plants, and animals.

It was truly a power worthy of the title Savior.

…The problem?

You didn’t get this skill until very late in the game.
So annoyingly late.

‘All the useful knight characters would be dead by the time you got it.’

Only now did I finally understand why that sign kept shouting “Love! Love!”

‘It was telling me to get on the express train home!’

I was already planning to try every trick I had to lower Derrick’s corruption level, now that he’s my guardian.

‘But I got a cheat code instead!’

My choice was the right one.

And Derrick’s expression proved it.

The sign even showed me his “purification level” just now.

[Let’s cheer up your sad “Dad” with a compliment!]
[Tell your new ‘Dad’ Derrick that he’s “pretty!”]

Just a few minutes ago,
when that popped up, I was completely dumbfounded.

‘Telling a nearly 190 cm tall man he’s “pretty”?!’

Honestly, if I said that, I half expected him to reply with:

“Wanna see how pretty your blood is?”

I was sure even he wouldn’t want to hear that.

Seriously, right? You get that, don’t you, signboard?

[A sad “Dad” might become more corrupted!]

…So basically, “Not my problem,” but passive-aggressive.

This was just weird.

Why was I the only one seeing these ridiculous signboards?

‘What if I’m actually a hidden character…?’

Something worth considering.

But that’s for later.

Right now, I had to treat this like it was the real world—and act accordingly.

I shouted confidently:

“Bow down.”

When is my pronunciation going to improve, seriously?

Anyway, the huge man bowed his head in front of me.

‘…If I rode on his shoulders, I’d probably see the tops of everyone’s heads.’

[New goal added!]
[Shoulder ride!]

…Are you kidding me?

The signboard eagerly added a new “Dad event” before I could even react.

Time kept ticking, even while all this nonsense played out.

As Derrick knelt solemnly, I raised my head to spare him from looking embarrassed—and a thought crossed my mind.

‘He didn’t even ask why. He just obeyed.’

His face looked like he’d accepted everything—resignation, detachment, even despair.

“Min-jung, Grandma… after your dad passed, I’m just waiting for my time to come too.”

‘…Why did that memory suddenly pop into my head?’

I shook off the memory I didn’t want to recall and reached out my hand.

[Now tell your new “Dad” Derrick that he’s “pretty!”]

Fine, got it.

‘Got nothing to lose anyway.’

I stood on tiptoes and reached out my hand.