In the Name of God - vanish into fiction

“I’m hoping that won’t happen.”

I knew that if I encountered those kinds of things, I could receive quests to increase my lifespan, but I didn’t wish for such an event to occur again.

The Holy Land, which I had created by directly shaving away my own lifespan for the sake of my apostle, had been smashed in an instant. As if that weren’t enough, even the fragments had turned into violent monsters trying to devour me, and the land of Daejeon, now devoid of its authority, was slated to be designated as a Disaster Zone.

There was no way I could feel particularly pleasant about it.

Feeling my eyes grow as hot as my head, I used my bandage-wrapped hand to lift the slightly shifted cooling pack and place it back over my eyes. I felt Nam Ho-jin’s gaze follow my hand until it reached my eyes covered by the cold pack.

“Have you by any chance found out why the problem occurred in the Holy Land?”

“Wasn’t that why I was dispatched as part of the investigation team with Horizon, to look into that?”

“That’s true, but as you know, chaos erupted as soon as we faced the Holy Land. I was wondering if the other Holy Lands might have finished their investigations safely if it was only this one that collapsed.”

Is it at least a relief that the other Holy Lands are still safe?

Though, since abnormal phenomena have occurred in those Holy Lands as well, I couldn’t be entirely at ease.

“To give you the conclusion first, we haven’t found out anything yet,” Nam Ho-jin answered stiffly after a moment of silence.

“While abnormal signs are being detected in some Holy Lands, it wasn’t a case of cracks forming in the boundary like here, nor was the mana flow abnormal.”

He immediately followed up with a “However.”

“Now that we know the Holy Land can collapse, we can’t help but prepare for the worst. Starting tomorrow, we plan to increase the evacuation facilities in Holy Lands where abnormal signs have appeared and put in advance requests for cooperation from the clans in those regions. Official documents requesting support for emergency situations will also go out to large-scale clans like Horizon and Black Tail.”

Nam Ho-jin, who explained without a hitch, showed a slightly apologetic look.

“If an event like today happens again, we might inevitably have to call for you, Mr. Seong Do-yoon. Because you are the only person who found the weakness of the monsters made from Holy Land fragments. I’m asking for your cooperation in advance.”

“Yes, anytime.”

All I have is this weak-as-hell body, but I had no intention of turning a blind eye to cleaning up the mess of the Holy Land I made by shaving my lifespan and shedding blood.

Nam Ho-jin, who let out a small laugh as if my answer pleased him, spoke again in an apologetic voice.

“And… I would like to apologize.”

“What apology?”

“About the arrogant things I said during the interview.”

The “arrogant things” Nam Ho-jin was referring to were likely regarding the mana manipulation method.

“I’ve seen people like you often. People who overexert themselves to learn mana manipulation because they’re desperate to be promoted.”

“Most of them ended up in the hospital before long. Some even became crippled.”

While I was recalling the words Nam Ho-jin said to me then, he let out a bitter air. After taking off the cooling pack from my eyes and blinking a few times, I saw the silhouette of Nam Ho-jin bowing his head toward me.

“I have no face to show, shamelessly requesting cooperation after pouring out such curses.”

“No, it’s fine. I understand why you said those things back then.”

I didn’t particularly take his words to heart or think poorly of Nam Ho-jin.

At the time, he would have seen me as an overconfident lower-rank Awakener who was only ahead of himself in spirit.

When I looked at him with an unfazed face, I heard Nam Ho-jin laugh softly again. I felt that the person had become much softer and kinder than when we first met.

Judging that the important talk was over, Nam Ho-jin stood up from his seat.

“Then, please rest comfortably. I’ll drop by again once the situation is roughly settled.”

“Yes, take care.”

I didn’t hold him back either, as I wanted to lay my stiff body on the bed for a moment. Even though Lee Sunho had reduced the pain, I felt various parts of my tension-released body screaming one after another as if they had been waiting for this moment.

“Ah, by the way, Mr. Lee Sunho. If it’s alright, could you follow me for a moment? I believe there are eye-patch-type cooling packs available, and I think that would be more comfortable for Mr. Seong Do-yoon’s eyes.”

“Yes, I’ll do that.”

Lee Sunho, who pulled up the blanket and covered me as I lay on the bed, readily followed Nam Ho-jin. I watched the door close and then covered both my eyes with the now slightly lukewarm cooling pack.

My vision was completely blocked and even the tension vanished entirely, so I soon fell asleep.

Nam Ho-jin, who had requested an eye-patch-type cooling pack from the medical team with Lee Sunho in tow, suddenly turned back toward him.

“Mr. Lee Sunho, there’s one thing I’d like to ask.”

“What is it?”

Lee Sunho had a pleasant smile hanging on his lips, but no emotion could be glimpsed in his eyes. Just a moment ago, when he was with Seong Do-yoon, he hadn’t taken his eyes off him for a second with a gaze more tender than anyone else’s, but now he was utterly indifferent, as if a completely different person had been put in his place.

“I was told Mr. Seong Do-yoon’s wrist was in a state just short of fracturing. They said the wrist was so swollen that the pain must have been considerable.”

Nam Ho-jin’s voice grew colder.

“However, the Mr. Seong Do-yoon I faced directly didn’t show any sign of pain. He might have been pretending to be fine on purpose, but it was quite strange that even the pain reflexes that momentarily pop out when moving were hardly visible.”

Nam Ho-jin’s eyes sharpened as he looked at Lee Sunho—

“He either used a considerably strong painkiller, or…”

A heavy aura filled with wariness spread out.

“It seems like something that would only be possible with an ability on the level of the Grade 4 Pain Control Awakener who went missing recently. What do you think?”