The Saint Wants to Rest - vanish into fiction

If he had received treatment from a healer, he might have recovered quickly. However, doing so required an immense amount of money. Since Kim Cheol-su did not have that money, he was unable to receive treatment and ended up with a limp. He walked down the gymnasium hallway, gritting his teeth.

Five applicants, including Kim Cheol-su, entered the massive arena. Although they were individuals who had made it through a fierce competition, their faces were pale from extreme tension.

Among them, the person who caught Kim Cheol-su’s eye was the young man standing right next to him, Park Dong-ho.

Looking only at his physique, he had broad shoulders and a sturdy, muscular body that would make anyone believe he was an awakened one. However, he was dressed in old training gear with stretched out knees, and more than anything, his eyes were impressively filled with a venomous glare that shone as fiercely as a wild beast pushed to the edge of a cliff.

‘He looks like the type who would cause big trouble if you mess with him.’

It was just as Kim Cheol-su was about to turn his head away while mentally staying on guard.

“……!”

In the middle of the arena, a table sat lonely in the center of the empty court. A collective sound of bated breath escaped the applicants’ mouths as they identified the three people seated there.

South Korea’s undisputed number one guild leader, Choi Jae-heon of Stigma. Seated there as a sponsor of the Order, the heavy and serious pressure he exuded while crossing his arms was enough to stifle one’s breath.

Beside him stood Vermouth, standing tall and radiating a chilly murderous intent with an unrealistic appearance that looked as if he had just popped out of a comic book.

And in the very middle of those two monster-like powerhouses.

The Saint, Choi Ian, sat quietly in pure white clothing, looking at them.

“Applicants. Please relax.”

Ian’s soft words echoed through the wide gymnasium. However, due to the strange aura he emitted, the applicants were frozen like mutes who had eaten honey, unable to even breathe properly.

Ian lightly tapped the five resumes placed on the table with his fingers.

“As I mentioned, the document pass rate was very low. You have all come to this place by passing through that difficult eye of a needle. My sincere congratulations.”

At those words, a slight flush of color returned to the applicants’ faces. However, Choi Ian’s next words ruthlessly shattered that premature sense of relief.

“However, from here on out, it is not an eye of a needle, but a cliff.”

The gentle smile that had been hanging on Choi Ian’s lips vanished in an instant. Instead, a chilly and overwhelming gaze, built up while crossing countless thresholds of death, pierced through the applicants.

“Everyone wrote their motives for applying very flashily. Wanting to save the world, wanting to help the weak, wanting to destroy evil with the Goddess’s light.”

Choi Ian picked up a resume and waved it in the air.

“But I do not believe in such pie in the sky talk. The inside of a Gate is hell. It is a place where poison melts your lungs and monsters tear off your limbs. To save others there, you must be prepared to be torn apart by monsters yourselves. Can you do it?”

At Choi Ian’s sharp question, three of the applicants flinched and avoided his gaze. Only two people did not look away. They were Kim Cheol-su, who was leaning on a crutch, and Park Dong-ho, who was dressed in old training gear.

Choi Ian’s gaze rested on Park Dong-ho.

“Mr. Park Dong-ho. Even if we assume your criminal record was unfairly gained while helping others, isn’t the debt caused by the settlement money the real reason you came here?”

Park Dong-ho’s jaw muscles twitched at the heavy, direct hit.

“That is correct. I applied because I need money.”

Park Dong-ho answered through gritted teeth. The other applicants beside him stared with shocked faces, but he instead stared back at Choi Ian with confidence.

“I was so resentful about being unfairly branded as a criminal and having my life ruined that I worked my body every day until I vomited blood. It was because I believed that if I could just awaken, I could overturn everything. But a core did not form. Just as I was wondering if I should hang myself because of my trashy talent, I saw you.”

A thick venom dwelled in Park Dong-ho’s bloodshot eyes.

“You said that one can summon miracles if they set their mind to it. If you give me that power, and if you just give me a fair amount of money to pay off my debts… I will crawl into whatever hell you tell me to go to, Saint.”

It was an answer that was extremely secular and calculating, yet it was steeped in a desperate urgency for survival.

“How dare you attempt to weigh the Goddess’s mercy against secular greed!”

Vermouth spat out a chilly anger. However, Ian raised a hand to restrain Vermouth.

“Calm down, Vermouth. I like that kind of venom.”

After whispering softly, Ian turned his head back toward Park Dong-ho.