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Cha Seo-rin’s talisman flew towards Jeong Gyeoul.

Everyone was in a state of panic at that moment.

Suddenly, clouds gathered in the sky, and thunder was heard.

“Huh? The weather here shouldn’t change…”

Though others didn’t know, Park Seol-hwa and Lee Ha-yoon, at the request of PD Choi, had fixed the weather of this uninhabited island.

It was impossible for the outside weather to show through.

Unless lightning struck the island or a disaster with the force of a typhoon hit, the island’s weather should remain unchanged.

Something strange was happening.

As the bewildered Park Seol-hwa and Lee Ha-yoon were gathering their magic power again.

“…You can leave it be, this is the work of the Divine Spirits.”

“…Huh?”

The word “Divine Spirits” suddenly came out of the Taoist Girl’s mouth.

It wasn’t a commonly used word, but even the youngest here, Lee Ha-yoon, knew its meaning.

The spirits of heaven and earth.

A term collectively referring to all the deities presiding over the harmony of heaven and earth.

Even in this situation, the nickname “Taoist Girl” that Jeong Gyeoul had given her seemed fitting.

“Seven of the Ten Kings of the Underworld are showing interest in Hero Jeong Gyeoul.”

“…?”

It was absurd enough that Divine Spirits had appeared out of nowhere.

But to say they were showing interest in her made it even more absurd.

“Why on earth? What did I do? Ah, first, get rid of this talisman.”

She didn’t believe in shamanism or superstitions.

Jeong Gyeoul’s usual stance was that there was no such thing as ghosts.

Yet, she couldn’t tear the talisman with her own hands.

‘…No need to do something that would invite denial.’

Cha Seo-rin quickly ran over and retrieved the talismans flying around Jeong Gyeoul.

“First… let’s go to Jirisan Mountain with me later. I can’t read the intentions of the Divine Spirits here. Unless it’s a lion or one of the Ten Kings, even with my master’s help, it’s barely possible to read them.”

“So… are you saying I should receive a divine possession now?”

She had suddenly fallen into a strange world.

Even possessed an orphan from the shantytown.

In a moment of life-threatening danger, she was chosen by Jeong Ha-yul, an S-Class Hero who appeared like a knight on a white horse.

After barely accepting it, she had lived diligently.

In fact, that orphan was an experimental subject who had escaped from the Satan Church, a mad scientist and the headquarters of fanaticism.

There had been many incidents due to their rampage.

After barely cleaning up that mess, problems arose in another dimension called the Demon Realm.

She had even experienced a war not long ago.

Jeong Gyeoul’s life was already spectacular.

‘Now, even the gods are messing with me.’

She had lived with the saying that the gods were unfair.

But she didn’t expect it to actually happen.

As Jeong Gyeoul’s expression twisted strangely, Cha Seo-rin shook her head.

“It’s not to that extent… I don’t know why they are showing their intentions directly… but it’s not a divine possession. It doesn’t come like this.”

“Wow… I thought I was going to fight a god, but that’s a relief.”

“…Huh?”

She had fought against the lords of the Demon Realm, so what’s a god?

She thought it would be better to kill that god than to live her life as a shaman after receiving a divine possession.

“Anyway, you don’t know why that King of the Underworld ghost picked me, right?”

“The Kings of the Underworld are not mere ghosts but judges who rule the underworld…”

“Bad laws are still laws, hypocrisy is still virtue, and ghosts are still gods.”

“…Huh?”

“Pfft.”

The judges with Jeong Gyeoul were already used to such situations and were skillfully holding back their laughter.

But the Awakened Ones around Cha Seo-rin couldn’t hold back their laughter.

Even Jang Gil-yong was laughing.

“Ahem. Interesting.”

“…Why are you finding this amusing? It’s annoying.”

Jeong Gyeoul frowned as she looked at Jang Gil-yong.

Cha Seo-rin frowned as she looked at the Awakened Ones.

“…I’m not at the level of worshiping gods or being fanatical, and I even gossip about them sometimes, but the Divine Spirits are watching right now? You might get punished.”

“It’s fine, it’s clear today that I’m destined to be unfairly treated by the gods.”

“…?”

She couldn’t follow Jeong Gyeoul’s conversation since earlier.

“Anyway… when we leave this uninhabited island, please come to Jirisan Mountain with me. This is my first time in such a situation, so I’m curious about what’s going on.”

“…I’m curious too.”

After getting a definite answer from Jeong Gyeoul, Cha Seo-rin prepared to launch another talisman.

The talisman the Kings of the Underworld had been playing with was already burned, and this was a new one.

Like before, she spread her magic power towards the eight directions and floated a talisman.

Of course, she was watching through the monitor, but real-time intuition felt different.

Jeong Gyeoul, who was watching with interest, frowned.

Tock tock—

“Tsk… who is it this time?”

“…It’s the Four Seasonal Kings who govern spring, summer, autumn, and winter.”

After that, the same thing happened three more times.

Each time a talisman was launched, a different Divine Spirit touched Jeong Gyeoul with it.

Finally, exhausted, Cha Seo-rin gave up on detecting with talismans.

She felt that if she continued, Jeong Gyeoul might hit her.

“…Shall we try the method Hwang Bo-seung mentioned?”

“….”

All the team members were speechless.

After burning all the detection talismans, Cha Seo-rin followed Hwang Bo-seung north.

It had taken a whole hour.

***

While the red team wasted time, the blue team encountered the hero who was supposed to be moving along the designated route.

“…Are you Awakened Ones? What’s going on here?”

“Who are you? Why are you patrolling this uninhabited island?”

“There was a villain attack. The heroes are scattered across the island fighting the villains. I’m patrolling along the route to prevent a second attack…”

“Then what about the injured hero over there?”

“…He’s pretending to be injured to monitor that area.”

The patrolling hero in front of them was talking to the injured hero.

But he wasn’t treating or rescuing him.

To anyone watching, it was a suspicious situation, and the patrolling hero excused it as part of their operation.

Shin Hyeon-joo sensed something strange in the man’s words.

“‘The heroes’ are scattered across the island, and ‘I’ am preventing a second attack…?”

It felt as if he had drawn a line between himself and the heroes.

It seemed like an unconscious expression of not belonging to the group of heroes.

Shin Hyeon-joo intuitively felt that the hero in front of her wasn’t a real hero.

At the same time, she admired the production team and the hero in front of her.

‘To weave such meticulousness into a seemingly casual line is impressive… and why is this hero so good at acting?’

Thanks to that, she felt even more immersed in the scenario.

“Which association do you belong to, hero?”

“Huh? Of course, the Hero Association.”

“Then where’s your license?”

“…Who carries that around these days? It’s at home.”

Thanks to that statement, her intuition turned into certainty.

Employees working at the Hero Association basically carry an ID card.

Without an ID card, you can only enter up to the lobby, so no matter how annoying, an ID card is essential.

Some wear it as a necklace, others keep it in their wallet.

Everyone carries an ID card.

It wasn’t limited to employees.

Heroes affiliated with the association couldn’t escape this security measure either.

Heroes register their licenses and use them as ID cards.

Only Jeong Gyeoul and Jeong Ha-yul ignored the association’s security procedures.

Anyway, a hero affiliated with the association, not a guild, not carrying a license was beyond common sense.

It was like a detective investigating a case without a police badge.

Shin Hyeon-joo signaled behind her back to prepare for combat.

“…Huh?”

“Suddenly, what…”

Some clueless Awakened Ones made sounds in confusion.

Because of that, the hero noticed something was happening.

“Hey, Awakened Ones. Why are you acting like this all of a sudden? Are you going to attack?”

Some Awakened Ones took a stance to attack, but others were still bewildered, looking back and forth between Shin Hyeon-joo and the hero.

Shin Hyeon-joo, frowning, spoke without taking her eyes off the hero.

“That person is not a hero. Prepare for combat quickly.”

“…Are you sure?”

She was almost dumbfounded by the team member’s question but nodded anyway.

If he’s a real hero, he’s a troll.

If he’s not a real hero, he’s suspicious.

In any case, they had to catch him first.

The opponent was an active hero.

Every clueless, stupid team member was a valuable asset, so she barely held back.

The Awakened Ones who followed Shin Hyeon-joo all drew their weapons.

Seeing this, the hero raised one corner of his mouth.

“I don’t know why you’re acting like this… but I won’t just take it lying down.”

“…Please go easy on us.”

Shin Hyeon-joo nodded slightly and drew a dagger from her thigh, throwing it.

Clang—

The sound of the dagger breaking signaled the start of the battle.

 

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