* * *

Lee Jaehee gripped my hand tightly.

The sheer force made my body tremble instinctively.

It felt unpleasant.

If the sensation of touching Baek Gunho was fear, then touching Lee Jaehee brought forth disgust.

Though Lee Jaehee didn’t know me, I knew him all too well.

I had watched him crumble, piece by piece, from up close.

I was the one who witnessed firsthand just how low he could sink.

Lee Jaehee was the heir of the Black Sea Guild, the scum who had destroyed countless lives—my own included.

Even though he was smiling harmlessly in front of me now, his cruelty was undeniable.

If there were ever qualifications for a villain, Lee Jaehee would fit the bill perfectly.

Perhaps he wasn’t committing as many crimes as before, owing to his current circumstances, but that didn’t change who he was.

And yet here I was, holding his hand to save Uncle… It was my decision, but it felt utterly foolish.

“This way, please. I’ll take you to where Im Nayoung is.”

Lee Jaehee led me to a black car.

I had no choice but to get in, and he slid in beside me.

A driver was already seated at the wheel.

I wondered if he’d blindfold me to keep me from knowing our destination, but Lee Jaehee did nothing.

He merely sat there, openly staring at me.

“What are you looking at?”

“Our divine lord truly is beautiful,” he said with an unsettling smile.

His words sent chills down my spine.

I knew Lee Jaehee well, yet this was something I’d never heard in any of my previous regressions—dozens of them, at that.

“Stop saying weird things.”

“It’s the truth. Don’t mind it too much; I’m just happy.”

“What the hell is there to be happy about?”

“Of course I’m happy. We’d serve you no matter what you looked like, but isn’t it better if the god we serve is beautiful and radiant?”

“…”

I was at a loss for words. Narrowing my eyes, I studied him carefully.

In the past, Lee Jaehee’s gaze toward me had been nothing short of worshipful.

I had brought him to his knees with overwhelming power, and he had sworn absolute obedience to me.

But now, he no longer worshiped me.

He saw me as an equal.

Not a god, but a fellow human.

That meant he could judge me, feel curious about me, even provoke me.

How utterly ridiculous. The nerve of this scumbag.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“…Because you’re pissing me off.”

As soon as the words left my mouth, I realized they were true.

Damn it.

The past ‘Seo Heewon’ would’ve shredded him with a sharper tongue.

Why was my vocabulary so pathetic now?

I couldn’t even curse him properly.

No, forget words.

Why was I just sitting here quietly?

I should’ve punched him a few times to put him in his place.

Maybe even caused a scene when we arrived to rattle Im Nayoung.

“Turn your head. I’m sick of looking at your ugly face.”

“That’s the first time anyone’s said that to me.”

Lee Jaehee responded with smug confidence, turning his head as I’d ordered. I

shifted my gaze out the car window.

There were more pressing matters to think about than engaging in petty arguments with him.

After some time, the car came to a stop.

Without any GPS to track our location, I couldn’t tell where we’d arrived, but it didn’t seem like we’d left Seoul.

Stepping out, I saw the sprawling garden of a mansion—practically a palace.

The audacity of a wanted man living in a place like this made my blood boil.

“This way,” Lee Jaehee said.

I followed him into the house, winding through its labyrinthine halls.

Eventually, we reached a door. Lee Jaehee knocked lightly.

“I’m coming in, Nayoung.”

His tone was overly familiar.

When he opened the door, I stepped inside to face Im Nayoung for the first time in person.

“…What brings you here?”

Her calm, unbothered demeanor snapped my already frayed patience.

“I don’t have time to waste words with you,” I said coldly.

“You’ll have to be more specific about what you want to know for me to answer,” she replied, feigning innocence.

For a moment, my mind spun.

I knew exactly what I wanted to ask, but her deliberate stalling made me overthink.

What angle was she playing at?

“You’d better not mess around with me,” I warned.

“Of course not. Why would I? I’m simply waiting for your questions, Heewon.”

“Tell me where Uncle is.”

At that, Im Nayoung smiled.

“He was fighting monsters in a dungeon.”

“…A dungeon?”

I had assumed it was the work of some criminal.

Given Uncle’s history of capturing villains, it wasn’t far-fetched for someone to hold a grudge… But a dungeon?

That didn’t make sense.

There hadn’t been any reports of new dungeons appearing since he’d disappeared.

“It looked like the ruins of a collapsed city. It seemed like a large dungeon. The fight wasn’t constant; there was some distance at times, only for it to close again.”

“…”

“The monster chasing him was a massive, dark crimson dog. It’s much larger than a person, with fur that burns like flames.”

I was about to dismiss her words as nonsense when her description froze me in place.

A massive black dog with flaming fur.

‘Naru.’

The fifth monster I’d thrown into a dungeon.

That creature had a skill to traverse space, with a condition: the destination had to be a random dungeon within several hundred kilometers.

It could also drag anyone in contact with it to the same destination.

Not easy to control, but perfect for eliminating someone discreetly.

Naru was an S-class monster, formidable enough to handle most threats.

I’d used it frequently in the past.

“The monster is relentless, but Uncle is managing to escape for now. I don’t know how much longer he’ll last, though. In the last vision I saw, he’d injured his leg…”

“When did you see this vision?”

“Yesterday.”

Yesterday?

Then why only tell me now?

If that situation had already passed, and he couldn’t run anymore…

I glared at Im Nayoung.

“I couldn’t reach you because you were with Baek Gunho. My apologies, Heewon,” Lee Jaehee interjected from behind me.

I clenched my fists, fighting the urge to kill them both on the spot.

“Which dungeon is it?”

“Do you want to go there?”

Every second was critical, yet Im Nayoung remained infuriatingly calm.

Ultimately, I was the desperate one who had to play my hand.

“What do you want from me?”

Im Nayoung exchanged a glance with Lee Jaehee.

She grinned and spoke up.

“Would you kill Baek Gunho for us? …Or is that too much to ask?”

“Cut the crap.”

Lee Jaehee shrugged as if he’d expected my refusal.

“Well, then… Let’s ask for something else.”

“What is it?”

“Actually, there’s been a gathering here for a while now. People who worship you as a god, Heewon.”

“……”

“It’s not a large group. About twenty people? Show yourself to them, Heewon. I’ll introduce you as our god… If you affirm everything we say, I’ll tell you which dungeon it is.”

Lee Jaehee coaxed me with a smug air, as though he was doing me a favor.

For a moment, “Seo Heewon’s” methods flashed through my mind.

Torture them until they talk…

But Lee Jaehee wasn’t someone who would spill under torture.

And honestly, I doubted I could extract the information from him in such a short time, even if I tried.

Everything had been meticulously prepared before I was summoned, leaving me cornered.

I felt like I was walking straight into a trap I already knew was at the end of the road.

“Fine. But if you’re lying, I’ll kill every single one of you.”

What else could I do?

There was nothing more important to me than that man.

If he died, I… I would become far closer to “Seo Heewon” than I am now.

“Of course. Then, let’s go.”

Lee Jaehee nodded as if it were only natural, opened the door, and led the way.

Near the door stood a familiar face.

It was Kim Kyungmin, the leader of the Baekmyeon Sect.

“So, the people gathered here are…”

“They’re all followers of the Baekmyeon Sect.”

“……”

So, this place really was a cult’s den.

I despised cults. And now, I was about to be introduced as a god of one.

“It’s good to see you again.”

Kim Kyungmin bowed deeply.

His composure was unsettling—hard to believe this was the same man who’d almost died at my hands.

“It’s an honor to meet you like this. Shall we proceed?”

A deal’s a deal.

I followed Kim Kyungmin to a room at the end of the hallway.

Inside was a relatively large room, and as Lee Jaehee said, about twenty people knelt on the floor.

I scanned them briefly.

Among them were a few faces well-known enough for even me to recognize.

But the one that caught my attention the most…

Han Areum.

She was an accomplice of Baek Gunho, who had infiltrated the Baekmyeon Sect.

At that moment, Kim Kyungmin placed a hand on my shoulder.

“This is our god, Seo Heewon.”

“……”

It was absurd. I couldn’t even bring myself to laugh.

I could feel their fervent gazes fixated on me.

Whatever Kim Kyungmin had said to sway them, they looked at me with the devotion one might show to a deity.

Listening to Kim Kyungmin’s words in the background, my thoughts grew heavier.

Since I’d joined hands with the Baekmyeon Sect, this would undoubtedly reach Baek Gunho.

What would he think now?

That I’d finally fallen into the Baekmyeon Sect and Black Sea Guild’s clutches?

Or would he try to understand that I must have had no other choice?

I didn’t know. Baek Gunho’s reactions were always hard to predict.

So far, he’d been an ally, but only because I hadn’t been tied to the Baekmyeon Sect or the Black Sea Guild.

…I didn’t know.

For now, all I could hope for was that this deranged gathering would end quickly.

Who knew what might happen at this very moment?

Fortunately, Kim Kyungmin didn’t drag things out.

He promised a follow-up meeting and escorted me out of the room.

“Heewon, this way.”

“Where is it? Just tell me already.”

“Don’t worry too much. I’ll send you there right now.”

Kim Kyungmin placed something in my hand. It was a fist-sized magic stone.

[Teleportation Magic Stone (S): A single-use stone that transports you to your desired location.]

It was the first time I’d ever seen such a rare item.

The fact that it allowed travel to any location, even just once, was remarkable.

Suddenly, I remembered Im Nayoung asking me, ‘Do you want to go there?’

That’s right, she never said she’d tell me.

Precognition users only see or feel the moment they foresee; they don’t have access to every detail of what they observe.

Thinking as much, I crushed the stone.

A floating sensation enveloped me as I felt myself being lifted into the air.

It was followed by a sharp descent.

I barely managed to keep my balance as I landed.

Before me stood a gate.

Without hesitation, I stepped inside.

* * *