The Heavenly Demon returned.
I turned my gaze to the child who was still staring at her arm with a dazed expression.
The arm that had been so swollen it could barely bend had shrunk to less than half its size. No, rather than shrinking, it had returned to its original state.
This was the only way to erase the trace left by the previous cult leader’s daughter. I used the harvester as a distraction since the Heavenly Demon would likely be able to quickly detect whether there were worms or not.
The previous cult leader’s daughter said it was natural for people to have worms in their bodies. As she said this, she immediately pulled out medicine to remove worms from the body.
The fact that she carried such medicine meant that it was considered normal for people within the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult to have worms in their bodies.
Generally speaking, this would be condemned.
However, implanting something in the body to monitor and punish defectors is extremely efficient.
When it becomes such an obvious part of the culture like in the current Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, resistance decreases. Instead, it can force those who haven’t done it to comply.
Sometimes, normalization is more deadly than poison.
Like how in the faded man’s world, the country assigns serial numbers to all adults and records unique object characteristics to control people.
People become so accustomed to having their freedom violated that they forget they’ve lost their freedom at all.
Logically speaking, it’s ridiculous to allow your freedom to be taken away by government institutions that can’t be trusted, isn’t it?
The Heavenly Demon Divine Cult is the same.
They casually accept putting worms in their bodies and dying from those worms if they try to escape. And if someone dies because their body rejects the worms, it’s considered unavoidable.
This child too was scheduled to be killed for not being suitable for the current system.
This child was born in a village controlled by the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.
It’s apparently tradition for people born in this area to receive education from the cult before leaving.
Of course, while they call it tradition, it’s really just exploitation of labor.
When they come here, they receive basic literacy education and immediately begin working as servants. They work for about 15 years, and special individuals remain here while others return to their villages.
The main tasks involve physically demanding work.
Doing laundry, cleaning every corner, serving higher-ranking members.
And about two years after arriving, they put worms in their bodies.
But because it’s considered normal, no one thinks it’s strange.
Rather, they teach that having worms inserted is what makes you a proper member of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult. And this transforms into the logic that it’s right to freely use those who haven’t been there for two years. Because they suffered for that reason throughout those two years.
It’s human nature to inflict the same unreasonable treatment they experienced on others.
“I can’t be the only one to suffer.”
This is the same everywhere.
But this child was unfortunate.
After working for two years and rising in rank, her body rejected the worms. The worms caused their body to swell up, and her entire body became itchy and painful.
But she still had to work. Otherwise, she would die.
Because one or two of the children who come to the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult are executed as examples.
They even make the children carry out the executions themselves. They throw stones at those deemed useless to the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.
They make each person come forward individually to throw stones so they can’t hide in the group. And if someone throws weakly, they’re dragged away too.
It’s an efficient way to drive people mad.
But it could also be seen as a process of adapting to survive in the environment of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.
The child who adapted worked desperately. But anyone could see how horribly her appearance had been ruined.
Though still young, she knew what would happen to her.
And she knew there was no way to avoid death no matter what she did.
When she had resigned herself to her inevitable death, she was suddenly dragged away by a terrifying monster.
That’s what this child has been through until now.
If the worms in the body of such a Heavenly Demon Divine Cult person suddenly disappeared, who would they suspect first?
Even if I’ve grown attached to this child, this easily?
One shouldn’t be arrogant in front of clever people. It might even be too late already.
So, praying we haven’t been discovered, I sat down in front of the child.
Now that I know the child can speak, I should do what needs to be done.
“My body’s name is Choseol. Please tell me your name.”
It’s a greeting.
Of course, I already know the child’s name, but there’s meaning in exchanging names, isn’t there?
“I’m Soo-oh.”
The faded man’s memories sparkle brightly. As if smiling, he pull up the name of some work.
Making fun of someone’s name.
I approached the child and grabbed her worn-out clothes. Then I changed them into new clothes. After changing the clothes, I can faintly feel some cracks, but they’re not large enough to be visible.
Now use this power well. Though there are quite a few conditions, and I can’t freely rewrite the world like a reality manipulator.
But still, it’s better than nothing, isn’t it?
Then I stood up. Behind me, the child hurriedly put on her clothes.
“Will you follow?”
“Yes!”
Good answer.
I waited at the entrance. And when Soo-oh finished dressing and ran over, we walked together.
Using my current house as a reference, the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult building is to the south. And the ruins I went to yesterday are to the northwest.
To the east, there’s a long cliff with countless pillar-like rocky mountains rising in front of it.
No, to describe the terrain more accurately: there are forests to the north and west, and pillar-like rocky mountains rise above the water surface to the east and south.
So you can’t see far distances well. That’s probably why the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult building is in such a location.
I’m thinking of going down below the rocky mountains.
I’m curious about having moved by boat after being summoned from my arrival point.
However, we can’t go straight down. The cliff’s slope is too steep. If we go north from here for quite a while, we’ll reach a place where the slope becomes gentler and meets the water.
The only issue is that we have to go through the forest.
But what could go wrong?
I walked with Soo-oh.
Maybe because her body has changed, her walking speed is faster. She can even hop around well. It’s quite funny how Soo-oh’s eye level matches mine just by jumping.
Choseol is around 12 years old, but her height is similar to an adult woman’s.
I’m not sure if this is fully grown or if there’s more growing to do, but it’s strange for an 8-year-old child to jump up to an adult woman’s eye level.
That’s how much stronger the body becomes when you become a harvester.
If this were like the martial arts novels in the faded man’s memories, this would likely be a very low level. A world where transcendent beings beyond reach run rampant.
But analyzing the memories of the five harvesters, it doesn’t seem to be that kind of world. The terminology probably just happens to be similar to martial arts novels.
At worst, it could mean they exist in a world beyond their comprehension.
That would be good for me in its own way.
Could they handle me?
Could they sustain the world even if I pour myself into it?
Or are they strong enough to kill me, beyond what I can handle?
Either way would be fine.
If there’s substance, I’ll definitely meet them.
Thinking such thoughts, I entered the forest with Soo-oh, who was jumping around with a bright smile. The vegetation isn’t particularly unique.
It’s strange how similar it is, actually.
There isn’t much difference from the plants I saw in the first world, or the plants the faded man knew in his world.
The leaves are green, and the stems are brown. Of course, there are some differences, but it’s uncannily similar.
The faded man’s memories faintly surface.
They say there’s a high probability of having green coloration when the primary star’s temperature is similar, but I hate incomprehensible talk, so I ignore it.
Knowing the words and being able to understand them are completely different things.
But I’d like to see a world spread with plants that are purple due to dim light, or conversely, a world full of plants that are almost yellow due to too much brightness.
All 92 worlds are similar.
Though there are places in the harvesters’ territories that have no plants at all.
By the way, there were 117 when I came here. But 25 people gave me their warmth and disappeared forever from their worlds, so that’s that.
Anyway, Soo-oh and I reached the waterside without any major dangers.
No, I hadn’t thought about it until we got here, but our house…
It’s at a much higher altitude than I thought. This means we basically came down a mountain, so when do we climb back up?
Let’s just think of it as becoming healthier.
I looked at the house once, then crouched down by the water as planned to examine it.
It’s transparent.
Looking carefully, you can clearly see below the water. Plants grow thickly below, and I can even see fish moving underneath.
Looking at the warmth, there’s quite a large creature nearby.
Hoping it would come closer, I dipped my finger in the water and tasted it.
It’s not salty.
A freshwater lake?
I thought it might be like Halong Bay, where the sea eroded into the land forming an inlet.
It would be too remote if it were inland.
While I was gathering geographical information like this, Soo-oh approached from behind.
She was curious and tried to taste the water with her hand like I did, but I stopped myself from stopping her.
It’s good to try what you can.
Watching Soo-oh quietly, she looked at me with an expression asking why I would taste such a thing.
“If you drink carelessly, worms will get inside.”
When I told her the truth, she jumped back with a disgusted expression. But looking at her trembling, isn’t she extremely scared?
Ah, right.
Worms had burst out of her body along with lots of blood.
Looking back at the memory, the worms were called Samsi. But at the time, they gave a small pill. I guess it means they’re small when they go in.
Worried she might break down from trembling too much, I grabbed the child.
After staring for a while, she finally stopped trembling. But she’s staggering.
It would be difficult to go down below the cliff and under the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult building with a child who can’t walk properly. This is baggage.
But what can I do?
I put the child on my back. But she’s sticking unusually close.
While the weather itself is cool, it’s quite hot during the day and chilly at night, so it should be quite hot right now at midday?
Well, she’s a child, so it’s possible.
I went back up.
I didn’t notice when coming down, but it’s quite physically demanding.
It’s not a steep hill, but rather a gradually descending path that looks almost flat. Is that why?
I can train my body.
Ah, speaking of training, I wonder if I can use martial arts?
I should try it when we get up there.
I remember all the methods Eunjae used. And conveniently, I have a harvester next to me to experiment with.
I’m lucky.