[Chapter 167]
[Harbinger of Destruction (6)]
An apostle of the Mana God?
Eun-ha couldn't help but react to Iriya's sudden words.
If there truly was a god in this world─
─Why is the world in this state?
Why did I have to lose everything?
He lost his family.
It wasn't just family he lost.
He ended up losing even the people who reached out to him when his emotions were dried up.
If there truly was a god, why did god plunge him into despair?
"There is no god in this world. Everything has to be done by my own hands, do you think it can be solved by praying to a non-existent god?"
""""...."""
"Mana God my ass. It's not that god's will is contained in mana, but that I, we, put our will into mana."
That's why Eun-ha didn't believe in gods.
In his previous life, his unhappiness was just bad luck, and also because his own strength was lacking.
Not something like god's arrangement.
If he believed that, he would end up denying his very existence in this life.
If god arranged everything, it would mean the outcome he faces in this life would be the same.
"So don't say nonsense like she's an apostle of the Mana God."
"U-Eun-ha..."
""""...."""
Moreover, he had been badly treated by Mana Religion believers in his previous life.
After the death of
Mana Religion fanatics, who claimed her death was martyrdom and expanded their influence, caused a terrorist attack in Yeongdeungpo along with
They abandoned taboos to revive lost family members, went mad, and ultimately caused a zombie outbreak in the area as a result of resurrecting the dead.
As a result, Im Ga-eul's support plummeted.
Even after that, fanatics continued to do things that went against the Fairy's intentions.
"Fools who don't try to overcome by their own strength, just believing it will be solved by relying on god."
""""...!!""""
"You weak bastards. Don't come asking for treatment just because you got a little scratch. And don't take it for granted."
"W-What did you say!?"
"What did you just say!?"
Iriya with her mouth gaping open.
Eun-ha turned away from her and spat out such words to the people gathered around.
His emotions had become intense.
Nevertheless, he sneered at them and boldly met their gazes.
"If there is a god, I really don't understand why. Instead of saving people like you, wouldn't they save the Players dying while fighting monsters first..."
"This bastard really...!"
"Hey! Watch your mouth! What do you know!"
People raised their voices.
They pointed fingers.
Eun-ha just laughed.
What do I know?
At least more than you.
Their words were just laughable.
He did feel sorry for their circumstances.
But there were also many people in the world who were like them, yet sacrificed their lives to overcome their circumstances or for others.
Instead of sitting down in despair, they tried to escape from despair.
In reality, they─
"─S-Saint! Are you just going to stand by!? We should chase away this atheist bastard who won't receive salvation even after death...!"
"─If you have complaints, come out yourself." """"...."""
"Don't just hide in the crowd and speak, come out."
""""...!!""""
They didn't move.
They just crowded around Iriya, pleading for her to say something.
Eun-ha snorted.
In his previous life too, they drove the
He knew their nature well.
They had their will to fight castrated.
No, they castrated themselves.
Right then─
"─The Mana God is always by our side."
Pushed by the people,
Iriya, who belatedly came to her senses, spoke in a very serious tone.
Her green eyes turned to Eun-ha.
Conviction dwelled in her eyes.
"What dwells in your mana may be your will, but the mana you and others shed that dissolves into the world becomes the totality of will."
"..."
"That totality of will is the Mana God. So we are part of the Mana God, and that means you are no different."
"If my will is part of god, then does that mean I can become a god too?"
"Of course. We, who are part of the Mana God, all possess the status of god. Therefore, if we practice correctly, we can become gods."
"Then monsters must also be part of the god you speak of. No, they must be closer to god than us. Their hearts are made of mana stones, and they're beings made of mana."
"Monsters are also part of the Mana God. However, monsters are beings formed from the collection of wrong wills that we unconsciously shed in daily life. They are beings that don't follow god's will, so we need to purify the wrong wills existing in the world by subjugating them."
"So you just pray every day?"
"That is the Mana God's wish."
A verbal battle with no inch given.
People watched holding their breath.
Iriya answered Eun-ha's questions with a smile full of kindness.
Eun-ha snorted.
"You're talking nonsense. The ones actually subjugating monsters are Players who don't believe in the Mana Religion, so what's the point of your existence just praying?"
"That's..."
"If I were the Mana God, I would surely say this to you. Get up and take up weapons to reclaim this world from monsters. Don't fear death because the Mana God is here. When you die and return to nature, you will receive salvation in my embrace. So fight, you weaklings."
"..."
He knew the Mana Religion's doctrine well.
In his previous life, he couldn't help but learn about them even if he hated it.
Eun-ha mocked the people, imitating Iriya's tone.
This time, Iriya couldn't say anything.
At this, Eun-ha turned away from her.
"I came with pointless expectations. It seems you can't heal her after all. Let's go, Yu-jung."
"...Okay."
People hesitate.
They make way.
A sense of defeat as if engraved on their bodies.
Eun-ha withdrew his attention from them and moved his steps, taking Lee Yu-jung with him.
Then he stopped his footsteps.
"─I'll say one more thing."
Eun-ha turned back to Iriya.
Iriya was sitting quietly.
No, Iriya was glaring at Eun-ha.
"If I were the Mana God, I would also say this. Take care of your own body first. How can you take care of others when you can't even take care of yourself properly? As if god would be pleased with you overworking your body."
"..."
This was advice.
Advice he could give to Iriya, who had helped him in his previous life.
Eun-ha moved his steps without waiting for her answer.
☆
"─I'm sorry."
"For what?"
"For getting angry in front of people earlier."
"No, it's okay. And you should say that to those people, not me."
After leaving Myeongdong Cathedral,
Eun-ha was walking silently holding Lee Yu-jung's hand when he suddenly apologized.
He had lost his temper.
The Mana Religion, which he hated to the point of loathing in his previous life.
But when Iriya suddenly called Lee Yu-jung an apostle of the Mana God, his emotions intensified.
"Honestly..., I was scared earlier."
"..."
"I wondered if you were the Eun-ha I knew.... It was the first time I saw you get angry like that, so I was a bit surprised." "I'm sorry for surprising you."
"No. I'm happy to learn about a side of you I didn't know... and although I don't know why, I'm a bit glad thinking you got angry for me."
But Lee Yu-jung shook her head.
She covered her mouth with her hand and chuckled.
Eun-ha could only feel relieved seeing her laugh.
He had been scared, having shown her a side of himself he didn't want to show.
It was fortunate that wasn't the case.
"But I hope you won't do that again next time." "..." "I know you're a good person. But people meeting you for the first time today... they'll think differently from me after seeing you like that."
"I don't care what other people think."
"I don't want you to hear bad things from others. If you hear such things, I think my heart would hurt too much." "..."
"So don't do that next time. That person probably didn't say anything to me with bad intentions. Okay?"
"...I'll try."
Lee Yu-jung gently admonished him.
Eun-ha couldn't disobey.
Eun-ha, who was indebted to her in his previous life, didn't want to disappoint Lee Yu-jung.
Eun-ha hugged her tightly.
"─I don't want to disappoint you. So I'll try." "I won't be disappointed in you."
"I don't want to look like a scary person to you either..."
"You're not scary at all."
"You said you were scared earlier." "I'm not scared now. Rather, you're cute."
"I'm cute?"
"Yes, like a dejected puppy."
Lee Yu-jung in Eun-ha's embrace.
She seemed a bit startled.
Then she carefully hugged him back, just as he had done.
Soon, Lee Yu-jung raised herself on her tiptoes and moved her hand from his back to his head.
She stroked his head.
"Good boy, good. Our Eun-ha is good, right?"
"...Don't treat me like a dog."
Her touch is warm.
Eun-ha closed his eyes to focus on Lee Yu-jung's touch.
Scent, warmth, touch.
Everything about her calmed him.
─But Yu-jung, your chest is...
Then Eun-ha felt a sensation brushing against his face repeatedly.
She would be embarrassed if he told her.
So he decided not to say anything.
Instead, he had to try hard to maintain his composure.
☆
Do you need strength?
At some point, she began to hear voices.
Born in the slums and fortunately taken in by the Mana Religion, she often listened to the voices.
'Who are you? Where are you?'
We exist in the sky, in the sea, in the fields.
We are the totality of will that all things in the world shed.
A formless voice that couldn't be determined as male or female.
The voice was sometimes one, sometimes two, and sometimes divided into three or more.
For the young her at that time, conversing with them was a very fascinating experience.
Then one day, she was caught by the leader muttering to the air alone.
'─Riya, the voice you heard is the voice of the Mana God.'
'The Mana God?'
'Yes. Now I see that the reason you came here was the Mana God's arrangement.'
Oh, Mana God.
At that time, the leader prostrated himself before her and taught her that the identity of the voice was the Mana God's voice.
She believed without doubt.
After that, she was revered as a person who conveyed the Mana God's voice, and now she has come to be called the
She now took it for granted that she was a saint.
'Mana God my ass. It's not that god's will is contained in mana, but that I, we, put our will into mana.'
But the man she met today spat out such words to her.
He seemed to be a man with a lot of anger in his heart.
What kind of life must he have lived to curse the Mana God like that?
She felt sorry for him.
Then as she listened to what the man was saying, she also felt anger welling up.
She was human too.
How could she not get angry?
'You're talking nonsense. The ones actually subjugating monsters are Players who don't believe in the Mana Religion, so what's the point of your existence just praying?'
But she couldn't refute.
The Mana Religion's doctrine was made up of what the leader and deputy leader said during sermons.
Sometimes, words she heard when receiving the Mana God were newly added to the doctrine.
Of course, there was content that could rationally explain the man's questions.
However, she herself knew very well that it wasn't really an answer.
Above all, at that time, the man wasn't seeking answers from her, but just venting his anger.
No matter what she said, the man would surely have sneered and argued.
Even so─
"─It's annoying, so annoying..."
Iriya, who entered her room, muttered recalling what happened today.
She hit her innocent pillow repeatedly.
I know, I know very well.
She knew very well that there were many gaps in the Mana Religion's doctrine.
"Then what are the voices I hear..."
But the voice she heard was clearly the Mana God's voice.
It couldn't be explained any other way.
Iriya hugged her pillow tightly and pouted her lips.
"Come to think of it, why did that person speak informally to me? He looked younger than me, but do I have to hear such things at 26 years old?"
Ah, I can't be a saint.
Iriya, 26 years old this year.
She recalled the man again and became indignant.
"─Riya. I heard that someone said terrible things to you in front of the cathedral today. Are you okay?"
"Ah, Leader. I'm fine. I've heard such things many times before."
Then there was a knock.
The leader knocked and entered.
Iriya, who suddenly got up from the bed, greeted the old man who exuded a benevolent atmosphere.
The leader sat on her bed.
He placed his hand on hers.
"No matter what anyone says, you are an apostle of the Mana God, Riya. Don't waver." "Yes... I know well." "People who find it hard to live in the world all curse the world like that. People with many complaints about the world are evidence that their hearts are very hurt."
"Yes..."
"That's why such people need salvation. What we need to do is prove to such people that god exists, and make them acknowledge that they are children of the Mana God." "Yes, I'll try hard."
The leader's teachings.
She nodded habitually.
In fact, things like today had happened many times.
And she preached about the Mana God and made them join the Mana Religion.
Those who gained a place to lean on became fervent followers of the Mana God and engaged in religious activities.
"So, child, guide those ignorant ones to the right path."
"Yes, leave it to me."
She has the power of the Mana God that can heal any wound.
So she was confident.
Even so, she─
─But Leader, I don't think I can do anything about that person.
She felt she wouldn't be able to persuade the man she saw today.
The man was an atheist.
No, he seemed like someone who would say he would kill that god himself if there was one.
On the other hand─
'─Take care of your own body first. How can you take care of others when you can't even take care of yourself properly? As if god would be pleased with you overworking your body.'
The last words the man left,
Strangely stuck in her heart and wouldn't leave.
☆
Monday of the first week of April, 15th year of Seonryeok.
Fairy Im Ga-eul left Seoul for a regional tour.
The Twelve Seats accompanying her tour are
Along with Players from the Mana Management Organization and influential Players from A-grade and S-grade clans.
"I hope nothing happens..."
Fairy Im Ga-eul.
Contrary to her wish,
Disaster approaches people who have forgotten what danger is while living trapped in a cocoon called Cocoon.
1 day until the monster army strikes.