For a moment.
“Was it really just mental contamination…?”
Giselle felt relieved.
“Eh? Ah, no!”
Seeing her junior, who she had assumed would be dead, waving their hand in a foolish, typical manner at her words.
For a brief moment, she even thought that miracles might exist in this world.
“I’m glad you’re alive.”
The fact that they were still alive after falling from such a height clearly indicated some anomalous event, something that couldn’t be ignored, but…
Giselle didn’t want to think about such things.
“I’m really glad you’re alive…”
The only thing that mattered was the fact that the junior who had filled the past six months of her life was still alive.
And that junior kept leaning their body against hers.
“Eh? Suddenly, why am I so sleepy…?”
Giselle tilted her head.
Her junior was usually the type to complain about being tired and sleepy, as if a ghost were following them, but it was strange to be sleepy in this situation.
It didn’t seem like a big deal, but Giselle didn’t want to see her junior, who had miraculously come back to life, foolishly leave again.
She started to worry if her junior might have some unseen injuries.
“Are you alright? Try blinking your eye.”
“No, it’s not that…”
Giselle tried to hold her junior and talk to them for a while.
Then, her junior, who had been staring at one point, suddenly called out a name with a look of recognition.
A name that shouldn’t be spoken now.
“IF-017…!”
“Chill.”
“…What?”
For a moment, countless thoughts crossed through Giselle’s mind.
‘IF-017, you say?’
She didn’t want to turn her head.
She didn’t want to confirm the despair that would be there.
But if she continued to stare at her foolish junior like this, something unforgivable would surely happen.
Giselle focused her eyes on IF-017.
And she realized that its appearance was completely different from what she had imagined.
Ascension.
The physical transformation was one thing, but the most noticeable feature was undoubtedly the creation of the organ called the ‘pearl.’
Its radiance was so overwhelming that it was almost absurd.
Even the strongest of the rampaging IF-017-1s she had seen before seemed like mere fireflies in comparison to that brilliance.
Then…
What should she call that thing, ‘which was clear even within that brilliance?’
‘A monster?’
‘A demon?’
‘A god?’
‘Could it be expressed by those words?’
No.
It was incomprehensible.
As its name suggested, it was the unknown.
An unknown phenomenon.
IF-017.
As it looked at Giselle, her hands and feet began to tremble.
Her vision narrowed, and her breath quickened.
Giselle was terrified of that existence.
Of course, she was terrified of IF-017 itself, but what scared her most was the fact that her junior, whom she was holding, was too foolish to think of escaping and was just staring blankly.
“… Don’t just stare like that, quickly run away. I’ll buy some time.”
“What?”
“Don’t ask, just go. Right now. It’s only natural that the life of a Beta class is prioritized over a Gamma class.”
There was no time to explain further.
Giselle positioned herself to shield her junior with her body.
Even when she pushed from behind, her junior’s steps didn’t falter at all.
“Why… why aren’t you running? Are you trying to die or something?”
Then.
Desperately shouting, Giselle stopped when she saw the look in her junior’s eyes.
It was the same.
“Senior Giselle, you should run. I don’t think I can.”
Just like that time, a memory she never wanted to remember.
Her junior was drawn to the unknown phenomenon, and Giselle could do nothing.
This was exactly why she had left the 017-1 annex base.
Yet that same event was repeating.
Giselle collapsed to the ground.
“It’ll be absorbed… no, it’ll be assimilated… again, right in front of me…”
Unable to bear the sight, Giselle lowered her head.
“Senior.”Â
“Go.”Â
“Everyone will be waiting.”
But unlike last time.
Still, she felt she had to witness the end, so Giselle struggled to raise her head.
And then.
There was another miracle.
“…Didn’t die?”
Kang Hana let out a hot breath.
Her heart was so warm it felt almost burning.
The warmth emanating from her heart was so intense that it felt like the entire surrounding area was being heated like an oven.
To Kang Hana, the warmth of the past six months couldn’t compare to this one moment.
It was uncomfortable to carry such warmth.
But.
‘Now that it had been released, wouldn’t IF-017 also be more comfortable?’
She thought, as she observed IF-017’s expression.
Hmm.
There wasn’t much of a change.
Kang Hana was somewhat startled.
‘Wait… Wasn’t it the discomfort from this?’
Perhaps noticing her gaze.
IF-017 raised its head and locked eyes with Kang Hana.
Kang Hana smiled unconsciously.
This time, the color of IF-017’s horns was brilliantly changing.
Her eyes had already shone like jewels, but now, the horns themselves were sparkling beautifully.
It almost reminded her of a lollipop, and she couldn’t help but smile.
In that moment, something followed.
“Eh…?”
Visions that weren’t hers passed through Kang Hana’s mind.
‘What were they?’
A very massive existence.
But, mixed with weakness, a fallen existence.
An entity that held a thousand suns.
That’s why it had to sleep in a lake.
Exhausted, worn out, now wanting to rest.
Unity.
Veil.
Branches.
Source.
Eons.
A thousand years of karma.
It was so massive.
So massive that Kang Hana could hardly comprehend the flow of these wills.
What those wills meant.
What they were trying to say, Kang Hana had no idea.
Not even a little.
But one thing was clear: the entity sending those wills was none other than IF-017, still shimmering with its brilliant horns.
Absolute positivity.
Kang Hana nodded earnestly.
IF-017 silently observed her.
Then, IF-017 placed its hands over its chest.
Flare-
The light grew stronger.
Heat poured out of its body, and only then did the true flames from its heart start to show.
IF-017 displayed the concentrated fire burning in its chest as if showing it off.
Kang Hana realized.
Ah, what I’ve carried is nothing more than the tip of the iceberg.
Even if a person drinks a lot, it doesn’t make the lake’s water decrease.
The condensed flames were as immense as the lake itself.
The sheer size of it overwhelmed Kang Hana, and her mouth became dry from the intensity.
“Kyah.”
Then, IF-017 comforted Kang Hana.
Though it seemed to understand, there was a hint of disappointment in its voice.
The flames that IF-017 showed to Kang Hana flowed down around her eyes.
It almost looked like it was crying.
Kang Hana’s heart ached.
“I can’t let you go like this…!”
The moment IF-017 turned away, Kang Hana hugged it tightly.
The intense sense of satisfaction from the small, adorable form resting in her arms.
And immediately after, an even stronger heat flowed into her.
When she saw it with her eyes, she had already expected it to be intense, but when she actually touched it, the flames were far more than Kang Hana had imagined.
It didn’t hurt, but because of that…
Because it didn’t burn away, the heat could endlessly grow stronger.
It felt as though her body was melting like a jellyfish, but thinking of it as IF-017’s warmth, Kang Hana endured that one more second.
IF-017 didn’t seem to be at ease yet.
Feeling that way, Kang Hana pressed her body a little closer.
Perhaps due to her muddled mind, the thought she had earlier suddenly resurfaced in her head.
The name “IF-017” felt like it lacked affection.
What should she call it?
It would be nice to hear a name from IF-017.
But that was probably a far-off dream.
While IF-017 seemed to understand words, it couldn’t speak.
‘It would remain nothing more than a delusion.’
As she thought that, a voice came from the small head buried against her chest.
“Lug.”
Kang Hana couldn’t help but be startled.
‘What was that?’
‘A name? ‘
‘Could it possibly be IF-017’s name?’
‘Wasn’t it only capable of making cute sounds like “kyah” or “kyahhh”?’
‘Who gave it that name?’
‘But how did it know she was thinking this? How did it answer?’
There were many things she wanted to ask, but Kang Hana couldn’t hold on any longer.
In the end, she squeezed her dry throat and forced the words out.
“Ah, I see. It’s a pretty name.”
Kang Hana left her last words…
No, she left a “good night” greeting.
“Sleep well… Lug.”
It was still unbearably hot, like being boiled in a pot, but…
Since she was holding the most adorable and lovable thing in the world, Kang Hana felt certain she could sleep peacefully.
The lovely thing… seemed somewhat flustered.
But Kang Hana, wrapped in an intense heat and warmth like she had never felt before, had long since fallen into a deep sleep.
I was fuming inside Kang Hana’s embrace.
It was a name I had specially told her, so she would know.
‘Lug?’
“Lug, not “Lug,” but “Lug!”
This ungrateful…!
I opened my mouth, ready to scold her.
…
But.
“Kyahhh…”
It wasn’t enough to make me angry for about six breaths.
I couldn’t even bring myself to speak harsh words anymore.
***
Thud, thud.
The sound of a heart pounding, distinct from the little snake’s rhythmic beat.
It would have been different in a quieter place, but in this noisy environment, this was probably better.
Even though I was annoyed by the fact that my tail was being scratched like this while she was asleep…
It should have been irritating, ‘but why didn’t it feel so bad?’
I had intended to swat her away with a “kyahhh” sound, but what came out was a soft rumbling.
“Gurong…”
The relationship between a god and a priest wasn’t supposed to be like this, as far as I knew.
It was despicable.
So despicable.
‘How could I be angry after unknowingly falling asleep while hugging all this rage?’
I buried my face into Kang Hana’s embrace.
Thud, thud.
If you listened closely, the pulsation drowned out all the surrounding noise.
As I was in a state that unintentionally let out more of my true form rather than my godly persona, the thought of what the surrounding noise would be like terrified me.
So, I tightly wrapped my tail around Kang Hana’s body and closed my eyes.
Yeah.
Sleep well.
My insufficient priest.
My mind drifted far away.