Chapter 14
[(Messenger) Indra answers affirmatively.]
Not only did two extras survive, but one of them even made a guardian star contract.
‘View guardian star contract information.’
At my words, once again, an opaque status window appeared before my eyes.
[(Messenger) < Standard Avatar Contract >]
[Govinda (hereinafter referred to as ‘Party A’) and Lee Sehun (hereinafter referred to as ‘Party B’) hereby enter into the following Guardian Star-Avatar contract.
.
.
.
08. Matching rate with Guardian Star:
Pure heart: 89%
Premature despair: 78%
Survival instinct: 67%
Deep longing: 98%
Desire for growth: 75%
Matching rate: 50.3%
09. List of available powers that passed the causality review: ‘Lie Detection’, ‘Evil Detection’, ‘Boundary Barrier’]
‘Hm? What’s ‘Evil Detection’?’
Moreover, Govinda? It’s a god’s name and power I’ve never seen in the original work.
“Su, suddenly the light… But then suddenly the god’s voice…!”
The child explained, frantically waving his hands.
Baek Yi-heon, who had approached without me noticing, also nodded.
“I, too, heard a voice telling me to inherit the power of ‘Yaksha’, and then made a contract to save humanity.”
“How can such a thing happen?! Well, if monsters can appear, why not gods?”
Pretending to know nothing, I asked the child with wide, innocent eyes.
“So? What wish did you make to the god?”
When I asked at the child’s eye level, the excited child’s movements stopped abruptly.
The child hesitated, looking between me and Baek Yi-heon, then said.
“I wanted to know… if Noona and Hyung are bad people or not.”
For a moment, the expression disappeared from the child’s face as he looked at me and Baek Yi-heon.
As a yellow aura seemed to flicker in those unfocused eyes-
“…I understand.”
The child, back to normal, blinked innocently.
“Neither Noona nor Hyung is bad.”
The child smiled brightly.
Ah. Now I understand what kind of ability ‘Evil Detection’ is.
This child has gained the power to distinguish whether someone has evil intentions or not.
‘What an interesting ability.’
Not only interesting, but it will be a very useful ability for a young child to survive in these chaotic times.
‘Govinda, huh. Seems to be quite a merciful god to its avatar.’
“So you wished to the god to know if people are bad or not?”
At my question, the child became gloomy again and said.
“Yes… If only I had known that the man in the suit was a bad person… Mom…”
Each of them gained the power they desperately wanted.
The protagonist, with a desire to protect humanity and punish evil, contracted with Yaksha to gain the strongest power on earth.
The child, who lost his mother miserably to evil right before his eyes, gained the power of Govinda to recognize others’ evil intentions.
‘…But why is Indra suddenly sticking to me like a leech?’
[(Messenger) Indra, who had been watching seriously, staggers at the sudden personality attack.]
For a psychopath who wants humanity’s destruction to be chosen by the strongest god. Isn’t that ‘causality’ or whatever a bit wrong?
“What about Noona?”
As I was grumbling inwardly, the child suddenly asked.
Baek Yi-heon also staring at me, seemingly curious.
Since two out of three made contracts with gods, they’re asking if I made a contract too.
“Ah. I…”
I scratched the back of my head awkwardly, contemplating, and finally said.
“I didn’t receive any message.”
Then, pretending to be dejected, I slumped my shoulders and added gloomily.
“Haha. I guess I wasn’t chosen by anyone.”
[(Messenger) Indra grabs his nape in disbelief at your brazen lie.]
“That can happen.”
“It, it’s okay, Noona!”
As I pretended to be discouraged, both of them, not knowing what to do, offered me words of comfort.
[(Messenger) Indra is dumbfounded, asking if these guys are really comforting his avatar, the supreme god.]
[He mutters that he should call Yaksha and Govinda to properly educate their avatars.]
“But… what should we do now?”
The child grabbed my hand tightly, looking around with anxious eyes. Though the question was directed at me, a troubled look flashed across Baek Yi-heon’s face.
I keenly observed this change in Baek Yi-heon’s expression.
According to the original story, he should head straight to Gangnam after awakening his power.
That’s because he heard on the radio that “mysterious towers have sprung up and the damage in the Gangnam area is the most severe.”
But now he’s just staring at me with his lips tightly sealed.
‘Being the textbook protagonist, he probably can’t leave a woman and child alone.’
“Hmm…”
If I answer the child’s question right away, the male lead might become suspicious.
Pretending to think for a moment, I hesitated before speaking.
“…I know of one place.”
“Where, Noona?”
“Where do you mean?”
“We survived by hiding in this air raid shelter, right? Surely there must be other survivors somewhere.”
I recited slowly, folding my fingers one by one, watching the two who were listening with serious faces.
“A place where monsters can’t easily enter, surrounded by sturdy walls, with enough food to hold out.”
“A prison.”
Baek Yi-heon replied with a sparkle in his eyes. I nodded and added,
“There’s a newly built prison near Seoul, the most strongly built in our country.”
“You mean… Hwacheon Prison?”
I nodded once more without answering.
It’s a new prison that only houses criminals sentenced to life imprisonment or worse for serious crimes.
And that person.
My father was there too.
‘Of course, he’s probably dead now…’
When the extreme national crisis hit, the government executed all the inmates at Hwacheon Prison. It turned out to be a wise decision, as people began to gather in the now-empty prison to form a small village, the last human survivor camp called “Gaonnuri” in the novel.
‘And that’s where the first monster repellent device is invented.’
Leave the child at the survivor camp, get the sweet item, and then bolt to the shelter.
Then I can play and eat alone for 10 years. The life of a room-bound loner that I’ve always wanted!
It was a perfect plan. …Of course, only if we can get to that camp safely.
“But what if it’s full of bad people there?”
Sehun asked, clutching my clothes with a scared expression.
“Then… won’t this mister take care of them all?”
I said, pointing shamelessly at Baek Yi-heon with a grin.
This was the reason I had been trying hard to gain the protagonist’s favor in the dark shelter all this time.
In the current situation where monsters are swarming, I need the protagonist to get there safely.
I turned to Baek Yi-heon, speaking as if I were doing him a favor.
“Once we’re inside the prison, we’ll surely be safe. Just take us there, and then you can go on your way, Yi-heon.”
“…You said to go on my way?”
For some reason, Baek Yi-heon’s expression looked a bit displeased.
“Yes, yes. I won’t hold you back after that.”
“…”
Baek Yi-heon’s eyes glinted a bit dangerously.
Was he thinking of shaking off these burdensome companions and saving humanity?
“So, you agree?”
“……”
I decided to take his silence as agreement.
Even if it was an overly positive interpretation, I had no choice.
After all, in such a terrible situation, isn’t the most important thing to not lose positivity?
“Great! Now that we’ve decided on our destination, shall we set off? …But before that.”
I exclaimed brightly on purpose, then stepped towards where the monsters had died to pick up the magic stones before departing.
“I need to pick up those things on the ground… Ouch!”
The wound on my thigh that I had forgotten about suddenly sent a sharp pain up my spine.
Grab.
Just as my ankle was about to twist, weakened without my realizing it, a strong hand seized my wrist.
I turned my head back to look at Baek Yi-heon who had caught me.
His brow was furrowed, even though he had remained calm while fighting a 30-meter monster.
✦
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