The Outer God Needs Warmth

As I entered the room with a drink, I found the perfect spot to sit.

Thud!

You know, as winter approaches, the best spot always seems to be against the kitchen wall.

Puff!

Now that I think about it, it’s odd that there’s no smoke…

Huff, huff!

Well, I guess it makes sense since there’s no fuel in the first place.

“What brings you here?”

As I asked, Gumi Mil smirked.

“Isn’t that a bit too direct?”

“There’s a culture among humanity, you see.”

Of course, I know that, but there’s no reason to impress a place where I’ve almost lost interest.

“That’s a strange thing to say.”

“Choseol’s body is human, but what’s inside isn’t human at all.”

I decided to spill all the known facts.

The fact that she’s not human is, surprisingly, a crucial point.

Might as well leave some key points to remember.

Since she’s been so consistently hollowed out from such a young age, it’s hard to say it’s really what she wanted.

“Do you know Eunjae’s name?”

At my words, Gumi Mil nodded readily.

“Anyone who doesn’t know the name of a god isn’t a Murim person.”

“Choseol is Eunjae’s granddaughter.”

Soo-oh looked at me with a very surprised expression from behind. Ah, I guess she thinks I’m someone important in the Cheonma Church.

“Granddaughter? But… I thought Eunjae’s bloodline had ended?”

She looks genuinely clueless. She only knows it was some unfortunate event that caused them to vanish.

That’s because Guseongyong hadn’t explained about Eunjae to Gumi Mil.

“When Guseongyong came, there were a total of 11 people. Choseol’s parents, siblings, uncles, and cousins.”

At the mention of her father’s name, Gumi Mil’s eyes widened.

I guess she hadn’t heard it through other channels.

Since the opportunity has come, I decided it was time to make Choseol speak before it’s too late.

“He killed all of Choseol’s family and took her to use as an experiment subject to uncover Eunjae’s secrets.”

And that’s pretty much what happened. With the help of Woljedang and Jigwandang, she was being made into a Dan-yak.

“After that, the position of Cheonma transferred from Guseongyong to the current Cheonma, and Cheonma decided to use Choseol for Jeonyang.”

And sensing that this story was rather nauseating, Gumi Mil’s expression twisted.

“From the information Eunjae left behind, the Cheonma found out that he made a pact with something. To bring that something here, they prepared Choseol, the girl most closely related to it, and enclosed that something within her.”

Ta-da!

I pointed at myself.

“It’s me.”

You get what I mean, right?

At my words, Gumi Mil’s pupils shook.

“Why are you telling me this?”

Exactly. In a way, this is totally out of the blue, isn’t it?

Gumi Mil still doesn’t know.

Right now, outside the Cheonma Church, they’re trying to invade from the Murim Alliance.

They’ll do anything to eliminate both me and my harvesting period.

Even if the Cheonma Church wins, there will be casualties.

In war, not everyone destined to die is known.

So I said it while I could.

Now, let’s ask the second question.

“What business do you have here?”

Gumi Mil blinked several times as if trying to understand my words.

“You don’t like me coming to find you.”

“I have no feelings about it. It’s just that I’d like you to be like Oh Myeong-seong? But you should know about Choseol, right? Since I’m using Choseol’s body, I owe her that much.”

I might end up acting like Rebecca after I disappear, so I guess I’m just boosting my favorability in advance.

Rebecca seems to have explored my memories; I wonder if this one will too?

Will she be swept away by the cold memories without realizing it?

Or maybe, before exiting and waking up again, the body could disappear completely.

If the ones coming now, they seem like they would burn everything leaving not a single corpse.

Still, preparation is a must.

“What on earth are you?”

“I don’t need a name. I only borrow the name of that body when I come into reality like this.”

I’m called by various names, but there’s none I like.

And when asked about my identity, I deliberately answered with a name. There’s no identity I can really reveal.

In fact, I’m still searching for my identity myself.

“Ah, I see. So you’re not going to answer.”

Gumi Mil sighed lightly.

“I came because I heard that you grant blessings to people.”

And after a brief pause, she stated the reason she came here.

In other words, it means someone asked her to look for me.

“So, it’s a village person?”

“Right. They couldn’t come find you, so they asked someone like me for help.”

Huh?

“I’ve never blocked anyone from coming here.”

“Since last year, this place has become an unapproachable area. You didn’t know?”

Gasp!

The reason people aren’t coming here has been revealed.

Why on earth?

Since when?

I’ve checked through Cheonma’s memories or retraced the scenes I’ve seen so far, and I never put a restriction like that.

I wondered if it was the work of Inshimwon monitoring me, but they merely agreed with the Cheonma’s request to keep people away.

Oh.

Was it the Cheongung master?

Ah, I see. The Cheongung master’s law enforcer, Jungjae-woo, was indeed one of the important enforcers, but that means he was one of many.

He’s not at the level to hear everything the Cheongung master does.

Well, if something that could suddenly create a Cheonma appeared, it’s not strange to restrict it.

Since the headquarters of the Cheonma Church itself is managed by the Cheongung master, a restricted area. If the Cheongung master decided to restrict it because there’s someone close to the Cheonma, then the other masters would have understood.

I thought I was being harassed by Woljedang, but I guess it wasn’t just there.

“Let’s go right now. There’s someone who’s hurt, right?”

I stood up from my seat.

Gumi Mil looked at me strangely, but there’s no way I’m missing the opportunity to create my harvesting period, right?

“While working, a pile of stuff fell and completely crushed his leg. Can you heal that?”

She asked me that.

“Didn’t you see how the Cheonma got healed?”

“Uh-huh. Actually, I still don’t know how the man turned into a woman or if he really is who he claims to be.”

Is that so?

If I cross-reference Guseongyong and Oh Myeong-seong’s memories…

Oh. I see. Eun-chun used the Cheonma Martial Art to briefly stop them, but was killed by Oh Myeong-seong’s Heupsung Grand Law.

And they began looking out for the next attacker.

Meanwhile, Guseongyong went down below.

And after a while. Suddenly, people moved their feet and dashed toward the collapsed building. I probably felt a Qi I couldn’t sense.

Then I saw a massive purple beam erase Guseongyong.

That means I saw it after the Cheonma was revived.

“It is him. You’ll know when you go see for yourself.”

Gumi Mil’s deliberation was short, and her decision was swift.

“Let’s go.”

So Gumi Mil and I went outside. As I was about to leave, I turned back.

“Soo-oh.”

“Uh, yeah?”

“Don’t worry about being discreet; just do whatever you want.”

She still looks like she doesn’t understand what I’ve said until now. It’s not surprising since she probably hasn’t thought about a monster like me.

Half her expression is filled with fear.

So I let her decide whether to follow or not and walked on with Gumi Mil.

“Quite tenacious, huh?”

As soon as we stepped out the door, Gumi Mil spoke up.

“Is that so?”

“I’m an outsider, but that kid has heard you aren’t really Choseol, right? Couldn’t you have been a bit nicer?”

Nicer, huh…

“Gumi Mil, should I be nicer?”

I genuinely asked with a mix of confusion.

At my words, Gumi Mil stared at me intently before looking away.

“I’ll pass. Right now, it feels like I’m standing before a hellish door I shouldn’t open.”

Well, no matter how monstrous I may seem, isn’t that a bit too harsh? I guess it’s because I spilled the beans about Choseol earlier.

But this story needs to be told eventually.

I didn’t think about it in the first world, but I learned it from Rebecca. If possible, it would be better for Choseol to do what she’s supposed to do.

It seems like I’m getting mixed emotions.

A moment of silence filled the air.

Then suddenly, Gumi Mil called out to me.

“Choseol, Soo-oh is coming.”

So she finally decided to follow after all.

I nodded in acknowledgment and moved forward again. Anyway, Soo-oh is faster than me. By quite a bit.

And before long, Soo-oh joined us. I thought she was just following, but suddenly she grabbed my arm and stopped me.

“Can I ask you one thing? Was Choseol Choseol up until now?”

It feels weird that she’s using honorifics, but thinking it might be awkward, I nodded.

“Yes, this body’s owner originally has no ego. She was raised not to think, so she’s alive but in a dead state.”

As I explained in detail, Soo-oh frowned but then nodded.

“Yeah, that’s fine.”

Back to informal speech.

I can’t tell what she’s thinking, but she urged me to keep moving, so I continued my steps.

After arriving in the village, we headed straight for the location Gumi Mil was guiding us to.

Of course, it wasn’t long after we entered before Inshimwon joined us. Gumi Mil frowned at the sight of Inshimwon, but he only spoke one sentence.

“I have no intention of interfering with Choseol’s actions.”

Upon seeing Inshimwon, Gumi Mil understood and led us along.

Then, toward the western outskirts.

We arrived at a place where the houses were gradually falling apart, and groans echoed throughout. A strong medicinal smell permeated the air, with people lying everywhere.

Most had rashes or wounds, but one person was different.

A man without legs, drenched in sweat, lay there, while a similarly aged woman watched over him with a distressed expression.

And upon seeing me first, she showed a startled expression, then quickly stood up from her spot, only to stumble and fall.

“C-Celestial Maiden? And Healing Lord!”

I approached the man to help him up.

“What are you doing! If you sit him up like that, he’ll start bleeding!”

A person, presumed to be a doctor, rushed over. His leg had been amputated and hadn’t healed properly, so it was bound to burst with that treatment.

I spoke to the man.

“I’ll lend you myself. But once you tie up all your loose ends later, you’ll give me everything you have. How does that sound?”

I know that this dying man, who’s barely breathing, is bound to hear my words and would certainly respond.

He agreed, and I infused myself into him.

The man swelled and soon hardened like pottery, then gradually shattered as he emerged.

His hair turned purple and his skin became pale, but it’s still the same man.

He was the one who showed kindness to me long ago.

Though kindness returned as malice…

Well, what can I say.

He just had bad luck.

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