CH 25

As soon as I opened my eyes, the first thing I saw was a white ceiling, a small Apollo, and a dog. A dog? Without even questioning, Apollo, in the form of a little doll, hugged me, and the dog next to me was fussing and whining.

“Apollo?”

“Darn it! You’ve done a great job at recognizing me!”

My new body was strangely light, but it felt awkward. It felt like it wasn’t my body. As I struggled to pull Apollo away from the scruff of my neck with my fingers, the dog rubbed its snout beneath my feet.

It was a dog with black fur adorned with golden accessories, which looked luxurious. Its ears were pricked up. I’m not a big fan of animals, so I folded my legs and groaned, trying to get away from it somehow.

Apollo was annoyed with him.

“Go and stay in a corner!”

Then, it really lowered his tail, went to a corner, and stayed there. It was ridiculous, so I took turns looking at both of them. And when I looked at Apollo again, he slapped my cheek with a cotton bat.

“Are you out of your mind?”

“Where are we?”

“What do you mean by where? We’re in your soul, darn it. Don’t you even recognize it?”

We’re inside my soul? Is this my <Soul’s Sanctuary>?

I couldn’t help but look around with an incomprehensible face. The size of the old mattress and furniture here right now were in a room a hundred times larger than before.

It’s just like in an interior decorating game when you’ve expanded the wall drastically, leaving only furniture. As I was embarrassed and panicking from the sight, Apollo sighed.

“It means your contractor has grown that much.”

“Contractor… Fuck, that’s right. Baek Tae-beom!”

I jumped up, and Apollo, who was hanging around my neck, screamed. Son of a bitch, move slowly! I unaffectedly ignored those words and grabbed Apollo.

“Tae-beom, what happened to Tae-beom?”

“Why are you asking me that?”

“You were trying to hook me up with him a while ago!”

“A little while ago?”

Apollo said absurdly.

“You’ve been asleep for almost two years.”

“…What?”

I asked in a rather foolish voice, and a little later, groped my stomach. The feeling of the knife stabbing my back suddenly came to mind with a clear image. It was a feeling I never wanted to remember again. Apollo snorted as I frowned and felt my stomach.

“A body that dies only from this much… Don’t you need to train?”

“Ordinary people die when they get stabbed with a knife though?”

“Are you an ordinary person?”

There was nothing wrong with what he said, so I closed my mouth. But even so, there was something else I was concerned about….

“Who is that dog?”

I pointed to the dog, who was mulling in the corner. As soon as I spoke, the dog flickered its tail and glazed around. He was ready to tackle and hug me whenever I called.

At my words, Apollo giggled at him.

“That’s Anubis.”

“…Wow.”

He was completely different from what I knew, so I laughed out loud.

“That’s him?”

“He’s doing that because he felt sorry. I explained it to him after you died. About what you are and what you’re doing to the world.”

“You explained that very early.”

Anubis, who was listening to us, crept up to me and laid face down in front of me. His attitude felt so silly, and when I tapped the top of his nose, he whined with an exaggerated attitude.

Apollo spoke in a tired voice.

“If you can speak, don’t pretend you can’t.”

“…….”

Anubis, who had been rolling on the floor showing his stomach, slowly got up and sat down, and said in a profound voice.

“Sorry. I will. Apologize. To you.”

Isn’t this a real concept?

“…So you apologize. Oh, did you think I will forgive you just like this?”

The big dog then shook its head and placed its front paws on the back of my hands.

Then, something like black veins sprouted from the back of my hand. The wriggling thing quickly climbed up on my forearm and reached the nape of my neck, and in an instant, quickly came up and dug into my eyes. My vision turned black for a moment.

[You have acquired a new skill.]

[Skill: Eye of the Dead]

[By borrowing the power of the dead, you can properly see through the state of others. The strength of its ability depends on the constellation’s ability.]

[The constellation, ‘One Who Seeks To Avoid The Fall’ is synchronized with the body.]

[The personal channel of <Constellation Communication Net> has been connected with ‘One Who Guides The Dead’. You can chat with <Constellation Communication Net> anywhere.]

This makes things different. I grabbed his front paws and shook them up and down. Ignoring Anubis’ embarrassed expression, I smiled just like a trained service worker.

“Ah, I look forward to your cooperation?”

“I’m, embarrassed. A little….”

“This is the real kicker. Didn’t you say that you would check the status of your contractor?”

“Oh, right, right. By the way, has anyone seen my phone?”

Apollo took out my cell phone from my pocket, complaining that he had to find these things himself because he was now a nanny. Come to think of it, my clothes were still covered in blood.

“Let’s see. …What is this?”

As I was about to check my phone, I blinked my eyes at the window that just popped up.

[<Soul’s Sanctuary> has been upgraded. Since a certain number has been achieved, it is possible to connect to a new device. Synchronize?

( Yes / No )]

Do you want to update your phone? It was like that. I instinctively pressed yes without feeling uncomfortable because it appeared so naturally.

Then, my phone’s screen flashed, and a message notification window popped up.

[Upgrade is complete. New synchronization is complete. The skill update for ‘One Who Wants To Avoid The Fall’ is over.]

[↓New Update Items↓]

[※Random box for limited paid small constellations※ Scroll down right now↓↓↓]

[Finally! Daily Attendance Service is available for low-grade constellations! You get 100 coins every time you join once a day?!]

[At this price, this ideal performance equipment for your very own contractor… Read more]

[Easy, recognizable grading service has arrived! ▷ Check it out in your status window now ◁]

I stared dumbfounded at the continuous pop-up service windows. And calmly organized them one by one.

“What’s that?”

“I don’t even know… It said it was a skill update.”

“What are you, really?”

I know, I know. I answered Apollo’s words dryly and opened my status window.

“Status Window.”

[Constellation : One Who Seeks To Avoid The Fall]

Coins possessed : 400

Contractor : Dynamic Baek Tae-beom

Class : F Class

Skill List – Open]

I thought it was a really ugly status window. I wasn’t even E-class, but F-class. F-class hunters don’t even give them a glance. As I looked at my phone and smiled, Apollo looked at me strangely.

By the way, his title is ‘Dynamic’. What kind of dungeon did you clear to get something like that?

[※Contractor streaming service is available on mobile phone at any time because it is connected to a new device.※]

Yes, this update is good. According to Apollo, I’ve been left behind for around two years, but it was true that I felt like it was just yesterday that the message came to my mind, as well as when I was stabbed with a knife and mocked for being dead.

I turned on the Contractor Streaming Service with a light heart. Baek Tae-beom’s younger brother must be doing well, so nothing must have happened.

Yeah, maybe I was the one who prevented the Fall, didn’t I? I’ll have to check Baek Tae-beom’s condition and reconfirm his fate with the conch.

But what reflected on the phone screen was bright red blood.

At first, I thought maybe I was holding the screen wrong. But only after I saw the red liquid trickling down from Tae-beom’s cheek, I felt something was wrong. His hair had grown pitch black within the two years, and his golden eyes were more ferocious than a single beast.

Baek Tae-beom with an apathetic face was punching people in what I believed to be a department store. They were dressed in red, and I knew it was a guild’s uniform and I thought I could guess the guild’s name.

Why is this guy beating up the Red Apple Guild?

The Red Apple Guild was a guild at the opposite point of Kang Si-hoo and was definitely one of the vicious groups that Kang Si-hoo disbanded.

But why is Baek Tae-beom beating these guys as if he were just splitting an apple?

Baek Tae-beom in the novel was definitely a bad guy. The reason why the Red Apple Guild, made up of chaos, lasted for a long time was that Baek Tae-beom worked behind the scenes for them. So, this scene was rather refreshing.

Really, did Baek Tae-beom change his mind?

Fortunately, it seems that I was not a very important person to Baek Tae-beom. Still, I thought that we had become closer because we had been doing this and that together for about a few months, but somehow, I was a little upset and saddened. It felt as if I picked up an abandoned baby bird, fed it, and raised it, but as soon as it was able to fly, it left without even looking back.

“But what do I do….”

While muttering like that, I looked at the screen closely with a sense of déjà vu.

Baek Tae-beom slowly turned his gaze. To a space where no one will be, to the space I was looking from. Blood-soaked black hair and bright golden eyes were so clear. It looked like they were in a terrible state, but they were so beautiful with the intention to overpower someone.

So beautiful.

[Your contractor makes eye contact with you.]

And when I realized something was wrong, I screamed and threw my cell phone away.

“Who is that!”

“What do you mean who is that, it’s your contractor!”

“I didn’t raise such a thing! I have never raised a tiger like that!”

[Your contractor calls the constellation, ‘One Who Seeks To Avoid The Fall’.]

I screamed once more.