Chapter 6

The next day, my thoughts became a little clearer.

No, rather than saying they were organized, it would be more accurate to say that I had simply postponed my worries to my future self.

Even if this world was just a game, it was still the world I was living in right now—the world where I cried, laughed, worried, and had to continue living.

For now, I decided to keep it a secret that I knew this world was a game and that I had once lived on Earth.

If an NPC in the game suddenly broke the fourth wall? That would just turn this into a horror game.

What if Haru got scared and stopped playing? Haru and Sian might be the only players in this game world.

If this were an MMO online game, other players would have already appeared somewhere.

Right now, I was just an NPC living in this world, but that didn’t mean I had no lingering attachments to my previous life.

Haru and Sian were the only connection I had left to the place I once lived.

Even if that connection wasn’t strong enough to bring me back, I still needed it—no matter how faint.

It was the only proof that my previous world truly existed.

The only proof that my past life wasn’t just a dream.

So if I were careless and ended up losing Haru and Sian, I would surely regret it for the rest of my life.

“Are you feeling better now?”

Haru asked me with concern.

After realizing this world was inside a game, I began to see Haru’s actions in a different light.

To Haru, I was just an NPC, yet she treated me like a real person.

Maybe in the future, where Haru was from, that was considered normal?

Was total immersion the standard way to enjoy a game?

If it were me, I would have kicked out any useless NPCs from my party without hesitation.

But judging by Sian’s reaction, he didn’t seem to care much about me, so maybe Haru’s response wasn’t exactly the norm.

I wasn’t sure.

I remembered watching a movie a long time ago—one about someone falling in love with an AI.

At the time, I thought, How could anyone develop feelings for something that’s just programmed to respond?

Back then, virtual reality games were still a distant dream, and AI was nothing more than a parrot repeating pre-set phrases.

I wondered how advanced the technology in Haru’s world had become.

Curiosity bubbled up inside me, but I swallowed it down.

I had to remind myself—I was just an NPC in this game, and curiosity killed the cat.

I had to be careful with every action I took.

“Yes, I’m fine. I’m sorry for worrying you.”

“That’s a relief. So, we received a request—do you think you can take it?”

“What kind of mission is it?”

“It’s a simple one. Priest Cruyff is holding a festival at the temple today, but most of the temple knights have left to cooperate with the military on an investigation. They’re short on manpower, so they asked us to help maintain security.”

“A festival?”

“Yeah, it’s for a birthday celebration.”

A birthday… Was it the day a god was born into this world?

“Well… Sian has been nagging me to pay back the money I borrowed… Ha ha… But if it’s too much, we can cancel.”

Now that I thought about it, Haru had spent all her money to buy me. If I refused now?

Even if she acted like it was fine, she might secretly be thinking, What kind of useless guy is this?

People’s words and true feelings didn’t always align.

If she started resenting me, she might eventually kick me out.

Looking back, Jenny was easy to deal with.

Most of the other captured demons were the same.

Their personalities were rough, but at least they weren’t two-faced.

“Yes, I can do it.”

“Really? That’s great.”

After finishing my preparations, I opened the door.

The warm sunlight illuminated the world.

I stepped outside.

It was my first time walking through the streets of the labyrinth city.

I had always been confined behind bars, and before that, I had lived outside the city, so these streets were unfamiliar to me.

I looked around. Everything was new.

If my circumstances were different, maybe I could have enjoyed this as if I were on a sightseeing trip.

People glanced at me.

Their gazes weren’t exactly hostile, but they weren’t friendly either.

A subtle sense of disapproval. Individually, the looks weren’t that bad, but when dozens of them piled up, it became irritating.

“Demons are people who were exposed to magic and turned into demons, right? So what kind of life did you have before you changed?”

Out of nowhere, Haru asked me cautiously.

“You must have had a family before, right? If you want to see them, I can go with you.”

What should I say?

When I woke up in this world, I was already in this body.

Even if the original owner of this body had a family, I wouldn’t recognize them.

I didn’t even know if they were still alive.

“Ah… Sorry. Was that an inappropriate question?”

I was still searching for the right words to respond, but Haru must have assumed she had hurt me and quickly apologized.

“I don’t really know since I have no memories from before I became a demon. When I came to my senses, I was already in this body.”

It wasn’t a lie. I had no memories of this body’s past before becoming a demon.

Instead, I had memories of living as a man in another world.

“Oh… is that so? But perhaps you had a family…”

Having a family didn’t necessarily mean longing for or loving them.

There were countless forms of family in this world.

Of course, for some, being able to live with their blood relatives was happiness.

That was the case for most people.

But for others, family was a curse they could never escape.

Blood ties were something that couldn’t be easily severed, even if one desperately wanted to.

“Even if I went back like this, I’d be lucky if they didn’t throw stones at me. To them, demons are just foolish humans who fell for the temptations of the devil.”

Just looking at how people treated me now, the outcome was obvious.

And there was that guy who used to live in the room across from mine.

After becoming a demon, he somehow managed to find his family, but they pelted him with stones and handed him over to the temple knights, saying,

‘A sinner who has fallen to the devil is no longer our family.’

Even if the family of this body were still alive, there was no reason to seek them out and stir up trouble.

It would be much better for both sides to believe the other was dead.

I spoke with a slight lump in my throat.

Had my emotions seeped into my words? I had tried my best to suppress them, yet Haru had gone silent.

Her face had that look—like a retriever caught in the rain, looking utterly dejected.

– “Why did she say it like that? Just because she’s pretty, she can say anything?”

– “But she was being nosy.”

– “Of course, if you poke at someone’s pain, they’ll react like that… Haru crossed the line.”

– “Still, she was just worried. She meant well.”

I glanced at the chat window floating beside Haru.

It seemed my emotions had come through too clearly.

I had made a mistake. If I didn’t resolve this quickly, I’d be the one at a disadvantage.

After all, Haru held the power here—I was just an NPC.

“I… I’m sorry. I overreacted… You don’t have to worry about my family. I don’t even know who they are, and even if I were to find them, I wouldn’t hear anything good from them. It’s better not to know than to be rejected and hurt.”

– “How sad… She’s closed herself off completely to avoid getting hurt.”

– “She’s like an abandoned puppy…”

With this, the conversation about family should be over.

Suddenly, something landed softly on my head.

I looked up to see Haru gazing at me with sympathetic eyes, gently patting my head.

The unfamiliar sensation made me jerk my head away.

Her hand was left hanging in the air, unsure of where to go.

Haru awkwardly scratched her own head, looking a little embarrassed.

That’s what you get for touching someone without permission.

– “She’s just like a proud cat.”

I stole a glance at Haru’s chat window and found ridiculous comments popping up.

A cat? What part of me was cat-like?

“Priest Dominico.”

The voice calling his name made the man turn around.

Though he was a priest, his appearance was more akin to that of a warrior.

His gaze fell upon a girl—someone young enough to be his daughter.

Her golden hair, like a field of ripened wheat, danced in the wind.

“Ailia. You’re here.”

Ailia’s blue eyes were overflowing with admiration and respect for Priest Dominico.

“Last night, we received intelligence about a gathering of witches worshiping the demon of gluttony, Beelzebub. The knights and the military have already set out. Among the attendees, we confirmed the presence of Morgana, the one who murdered the Saint of Starfall ten years ago.”

“Is the source reliable?”

“We interrogated four captured witches three days ago. All of them gave the same answer.
Additionally, there have been numerous cases of kidnappings by witches recently. We believe they are abducting people as sacrifices for the gathering.
Considering all the evidence, the intelligence seems credible.”

Upon hearing Ailia’s report, Priest Dominico’s expression grew even darker.

“The intervals between demon summonings are getting shorter. The witches are growing stronger.
And yet, instead of preparing for war, even in this small temple of Alpheron, all they do is fight over authority.”

Leaning against the temple balcony, Dominico observed the priests preparing for the upcoming festival.

They laughed loudly, intoxicated by the scent of roasted meat and wine.

“‘Gluttony is the sin of worshiping God with one’s stomach. One must forsake desire and serve God with their heart.’
That was His decree.
And yet, this temple has become nothing more than a pigsty ruled by gluttony.”

Dominico shook his head in disappointment and left.

Ailia couldn’t hide her conflicted feelings.

The festival was meant to celebrate the birth of their god.

She had wished for it to be a solemn and sacred occasion, not something that made the priest she respected sigh in lament.

But as a mere candidate for sainthood, her opinions held no weight.

It was not about how devout one was—it was about how much donation money they could bring in.

It was not about how much they dedicated themselves to God—it was about how lavish the food and drink were during the festival.

On the surface, the temple appeared grand, but inside, it was rotting away.

How hard had Priest Dominico worked to cleanse this temple?

But not all problems could be solved by effort alone.

If she became the Saint of Alpheron, could she change this?

No, she must change it.

It was for the temple.

For the survival of the labyrinth city.

And for her devotion to God.

Time was running out.

The labyrinth city was heading towards ruin.

Ailia clenched her fists tightly.