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“Then… Park Shin-woo. Shall we have a little chat now?”

The little spirit looking up at me made me pause for a moment.

It wasn’t that I didn’t want to answer her question. I simply needed some time to sort my thoughts.

Over the past year, I had accumulated new experiences and memories. My year was far from a simple spill of water; it was dense with so many events that I couldn’t help but wonder how and where to even start unpacking it all.

‘Alright, let’s condense the important parts first.’

I figured I could elaborate on the trivial details later as needed.

From waking up after dying, to rough information about this world, and what a slog I had been through until now.

I sat down on the ground where she had been poking with her fingers.

It did feel a bit silly to be sitting on the floor instead of at a table and chairs. But there was Tania, furrowing her brows in a comically serious manner as she tried to appear dignified. Seeing her expression made me choose to quietly set aside my complaints.

After sharing a decent enough summary of my experiences, Tania, who had been wearing a solemn look, eventually broke into a smirk while gazing at me.

“So… you want me to believe all that?”

“No, I swear it’s all true!”

“I woke up in the original world before turning into a dungeon, and coincidentally, it’s a world where the genders are swapped… oh, and you’re a slave—”

Well, she had a point on every count.

As I quietly nodded in agreement to Tania’s remarks, she finally rolled her eyes in disbelief, momentarily stopping her words with a tight-lipped expression.

Then, she hung her head and sighed.

“Ha…”

She shook her head as though she couldn’t fathom it all and looked back at me.

“Hey, Park Shin-woo.”

“Yeah?”

“If our innocent Changsik heard everything you just said, he would probably think… ”

“…?”

“That my contractor’s head might have gotten a bit screwy in my absence.”

“……”

It seems our conversation could stretch on for a while longer.

*

Now seated on a chair instead of the cold ground, Tania and I continued chatting again.

The conversation flowed much longer and deeper than I initially expected. Meanwhile, Cotton Puff, who had been buzzing around and playing alone in the room, seemed to have grown bored and clung to me.

─Myaaan.

I placed the small spirit that had curled up on my palm gently and started to stroke it softly.

As I continued chatting with Tania, Cotton Puff slowly drifted into a deep sleep, only letting out soft breaths.

Finally, we wrapped up the general anecdotes of our time, allowing us to segue into something more productive.

“So that’s how you ended up in this Great Forest, huh?”

I nodded along to Tania’s words.

Having understood the earlier context, she now showed interest in my current situation in the Great Forest.

Knowing this world was crumbling under demon influence—after all, she was the spirit who had ventured into that dungeon with me—Tania was painfully aware of the weight of the dangers looming over us.

“Exactly. You probably got the gist of what I discussed with the Grand Elder since you’re a spirit yourself. So you have a good idea of what’s next as well.”

“…Yeah.”

Spirits, no matter how foreign the language, could easily grasp the intentions behind the words, which is why Tania was evidently serious, breaking from her usual cheerfulness.

She could tell that the current state of the Great Forest and the prophecy the Grand Elder received was no small matter.

“Shin-woo, the dungeon was filled with S-rank demons.”

“Right.”

I recalled the dungeon experience.

Most of the glorious civilization that humanity had achieved had been reduced to ashes or crumbled ruins, and that abundance was trampled over by countless demons and monsters. What might have once been a thriving land was now overrun with corrupted mana.

Just thinking about the hardships I faced camping and living through that hell made my head drop in disappointment.

Of course, that wasn’t the only hardship. The real issue was the mindless swarm of monsters—where did they all come from? The moment I relaxed even slightly, those monsters pounced like they’d been waiting all along. Even if I killed them endlessly, they kept coming.

And among them, the most troublesome were—

“The dungeon’s clearing condition was to kill five demons.”

Those five demons were specifically listed as part of the dungeon’s requirements.

Those demon bastards had a knack for driving people insane.

“Shin-woo, you remember all five, right?”

“…Of course. I’ve lost sleep hunting them down for far too long.”

Five of them, each possessing unique abilities.

Fortunately, the demons with specific powers never appeared in groups of two or more at once; but still, they were plenty strong enough to make my blood boil.

“So about that… no matter how I think about it, I can’t shake the feeling that the High Elf was talking about that pesky demon. What do you think, Shin-woo?”

Tania balled her fist tightly as she continued.

“That guy would throw poison around just to mess with us… and spread that terrifying magic too.”

I quietly listened to her words, nodding softly.

“Yeah, could be.”

He was the very first demon our party encountered.

That nasty character manipulated vile poison and unleashed demonic energy that could send even the best S-rank hunters into shivers of primal fear. If it had that much malevolence, then Edelin wouldn’t be wrong to call it a deathly aura.

Truly, if that poison seeped into the World Tree, it could drain it from the roots up, and if that ghastly energy cloaked the sacred tree, the vibrant lifeforce would wither away even faster.

Not only was that demon’s personal strength bizarrely potent, but it was also possible that he could even take down the High Elf by himself.

As I remained lost in thought for a moment, Tania cautiously spoke up.

“…Can’t we just run away?”

“Run?”

Tania shut her eyes for a moment.

“…I don’t want to see my contractor die again.”

Her head drooped significantly.

From the moment she was just a small elemental flame by my side, until she formed a clearer identity with her own thoughts and will—she had always been there for me. Witnessing my last moments seemed to have left her with a lasting impact; her lowered head and trembling shoulders made that evident.

Feeling a bit bad for her, I gently patted her head.

“But we have to at least try, right?”

“Why…?”

“Because we know that doing nothing will lead to death again.”

Running away won’t change a thing.

This damned world is destined to collapse one way or another, and the Status Window is urging us to take action and tackle those demons. If we want to survive, we have to fight back.

Tania shook her head vigorously, pulling away from my hand.

“Ugh…so annoying!”

She stretched energetically.

Then she floated up into the air.

“Well, I’m heading back to the Spirit Realm.”

“To the Spirit Realm? You don’t want to stay a bit longer?”

“Changsik is probably throwing a fit right about now. I suddenly vanished while we were together, so he must be crying, wondering why he was left behind.”

“……”

With that, Tania darted toward me in one swift movement.

She hugged me tightly.

─……Myaaan!

The impact caused Cotton Puff, who was dozing off on my palm, to wake up with a start.

Ignoring that, Tania playfully smiled and said, “So do I need to summon you again tomorrow?”

“If I just summon you, Changsik will go crazy.”

“Eh, who cares? I can at least relay some news if I meet Shin-woo!”

With those words, Tania slowly transformed into a tiny flame and vanished into thin air.

She returned to the Spirit Realm, and Cotton Puff let out a big yawn beside me.

“Want to sleep a bit more?”

─Myaaan…

I gently placed Cotton Puff back to sleep and continued with my unresolved worries.

There was still something weighing on my mind.

‘…The Status Window.’

With a sense of danger, the Status Window appeared more urgently than ever.

The content was not structured in complete sentences as I was used to; instead, it consisted only of word combinations, enough to catch my attention.

Until now, every Status Window I had seen delivered perfect information in proper sentences, even when I was on the verge of death at the hands of the Arachne.

‘This has never happened before.’

Even having used the Status Window for a significant time, I had never encountered such hasty expressions before.

However, overthinking wouldn’t lead to easy answers in this matter.

“Well, I guess I can ignore it for now.”

I shook my head, trying to dispel my thoughts and headed for the comfortable bed in my lodging.

─Myaaan…

I gently placed Cotton Puff, still gazing sleepily at me, next to the pillow.

I, too, closed my eyes, hoping to rest a bit. After summoning Tania, I had drained a lot of both stamina and mana. The moment I sank into the plush bed, a heavy wave of drowsiness washed over me.

Just before drifting into a deep sleep, I held on to one last thought.

This blissful nap would probably be the last for today.

From here on, Shione and I would take on the Half-Demon, hunting it down alongside the lofty guardians of the Great Forest.

As I slipped into a shallow sleep, I let out a breath.

“Phew…”

I sincerely hope there won’t be any silly fights coming my way.

 

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