You Will Be Blessed If You Do Good Deeds¿-Chapter 211

Thanks to that, her carvings were popular, and Jeong So-hwa firmly believed she would continue sculpting for the rest of her life.

That feels like it was a long time ago.

Come to think of it, it was.

‘How long has it been since I last held a carving knife?’

It was about 20 years ago.

A life-changing event happened when Jeong So-hwa had just become an adult and was beginning to spread her wings.

In fact, it wasn’t just Jeong So-hwa. Anyone who had lived in Suzhou would have experienced it.

The moment they first saw the monsters from another world was a nightmare for everyone on Earth.

Countless people died because of the sudden appearance of monsters from another world.

Though the central government sent the military to eventually defeat the monsters and secure a living space, life could never return to how it was before.

What was fortunate for Jeong So-hwa, however, was that she didn’t lose her family and that she awakened as a "Hunter."

She willingly put down her carving tools and learned how to wield a sword.

At that time, it felt like there was still hope.

There were many others in Suzhou who had awakened as Hunters, too. It was a large area, so there were many.

With the government’s support and people banding together, Jeong So-hwa thought that while life was hard now, maybe, just maybe, they could restore peace someday.

But...

Usually, these kinds of stories end in tragedy.

Yes.

The tragedy began when the central government essentially abandoned Suzhou.

China, being so vast, had a high level of regional autonomy, even during an era with the internet and developed transportation.

With monsters appearing everywhere and limited resources, after years of struggling, the government prioritized the most important cities for its military and resources, and other regions, like Suzhou, were left to fend for themselves.

Suzhou wasn’t considered a priority, especially with the nearby mega-city of Shanghai.

Eventually, the majority of the soldiers and Hunters who were stationed in Suzhou were redirected to Shanghai, leaving Suzhou defenseless.

‘This is absurd.’

Yet, many people didn’t follow the government’s instructions.

Historically, Suzhou and Nanjing didn’t have a good relationship with Shanghai, and so, even though the government told them to move to Shanghai, no one obeyed.

While they didn’t have the courage to openly defy the government, the distance between Suzhou and the central government naturally grew.

Suzhou began gathering the remaining Hunters and started defending the city on its own.

Surprisingly, things went well at first.

They knew each other well and worked together effectively when hunting monsters.

Even though the Dungeon Break wasn’t prevented, they managed to clear the growing monster nests one by one. People with talent were trained and joined the dungeon clearing efforts.

At that time, Jeong So-hwa saw hope.

Of course, it was just a flicker of hope before the wave of despair hit.

‘It felt like a crazy Dungeon Break started suddenly, like it was all planned.’

New dungeons began popping up everywhere, and even though Suzhou was putting its Hunters to work defending, they couldn’t cover such a vast area.

More and more dungeons broke out uncontrollably, and the death toll rose.

People were losing their homes to monsters, and their safe spaces were shrinking.

At that point, Jeong So-hwa set aside her pride and tried to evacuate the people, including her family, to another city... but...

Did they die?

Everything ended in failure.

The best Hunters were assigned to protect the evacuation, but more than half of them were slaughtered by the monsters along the way.

If you are reading this translation anywhere other than Novelight.net or SilkRoadTL, it has been stolen.

More than half of the bodies were never even recovered.

But Jeong So-hwa didn’t have time to mourn. The monsters, having overrun the people, were getting closer to the base.

She thought it was truly over.

But it wasn’t.

A miracle appeared.

The miracle took a human form and asked the desperate ones:

Do you want to survive?

Of course, she did.

She had lost precious people, but there was still something left she wanted to protect.

No, even if she had nothing left to protect... she just didn’t want to die. She was afraid of death. She wanted to live just a little longer.

Wasn’t that natural?

To survive, she would do anything.

And so, everyone said the same thing.

"If we can survive, we will do anything."

The miracle nodded in agreement.

I understand.

And so, Suzhou became a city no one could enter at will.

The people of Suzhou said they were under the protection of the saint.

Jeong So-hwa also believed this. She had thought her life was over, but the second life she lived with a sword instead of a carving knife was something she would gladly dedicate to their savior.

You’re really good at being deceived. So, this miracle you speak of, is it Hyunam-sensei?

[Yes... hmm?]

And then, Jeong So-hwa opened her eyes.

The first thing she felt was the cold concrete floor. Shocked, she tried to rise, but the heavy pain in her body prevented her from doing so.

[What... Cough!]

"You shouldn’t get up. You’ll die if you try."

The voice she had mistaken for a customer.

There was a cold, sharp pain on her neck.

Only then did Jeong So-hwa regain her senses and realize her surroundings.

...A customer? That was nonsense.

[You evil spirit...!]

Lying on the cold ground, she saw the evil spirit pressing the tip of a sharp sword against her neck.

The evil spirit, expressionless, looked down at Jeong So-hwa and said:

“I’m not saying I’m going to kill you, but if you move, my sword will strike.”

The evil spirit’s words were translated into mechanical speech through a translation device, reaching Jeong So-hwa’s ears.

The strange sensation felt unpleasant, and she clenched her teeth.

[What... did you do to me?]

"What? I just listened to some old stories. It’s essential for getting to know each other. Social courtesy, you could say."

Social courtesy?

This was absurd.

‘You just beat me senseless, and now you’re talking about courtesy!’

Yes.

The reason Jeong So-hwa had collapsed on the cold ground, unconscious, was because of this evil spirit in front of her.

And frankly, she still couldn’t believe it.

‘I never heard anything about using a sword!’

She had underestimated the evil spirit.

After all, it looked like a young girl who hadn’t even grown out of her childish appearance, and she claimed to be a mage.

Jeong So-hwa had confidence in her own abilities. Her companions did as well. They had survived fighting monsters with swords for over ten years.

The Chinese government hadn’t distributed the World Hunter Association’s ability testing equipment, so the exact numbers were unknown, but most of them were at least B-rank or higher.

They even brought over ten companions, and their opponent was just one person.

A mage, no less, one who couldn’t even use magic!

Naturally, they thought they would be able to overpower her...

[Ugh...]

[Please, spare me...]

Jeong So-hwa watched as her companions, lying around the alley, were in a pitiful state.

They were all battered and broken.

To be honest, thinking back on the recent battle... no, the one-sided beating, just recalling it made her weary.

‘It felt like I was facing a different level of monster.’

The opponent wielded a sword, but didn’t feel human.

It was truly an evil spirit.

...In fact, Jeong So-hwa still couldn’t remember how she had lost her sword and was beaten senseless.

She only remembered rushing toward the opponent, but before she could even understand what was happening, she was pummeled relentlessly.

It was clear from the beginning that the opponent was on an entirely different level.

And...

‘It’s like... she was created to wield a sword, just like Hyunam-sensei.’

"So, what’s the deal with Hyunam-sensei? Tell me more."

[Shut up.]

Jeong So-hwa sharply retorted to the evil spirit’s question.

The evil spirit sneered at her.

"You’ve been running your mouth for so long, and now you shut up?"

[Shut up!]

The evil spirit must have done something while Jeong So-hwa was unconscious, but now that she was awake, she had no intention of speaking anymore.

[Just pull out my tongue. It won’t make a difference.]

No matter what happened, Jeong So-hwa would never reveal any information about Hyunam-sensei.

It was a firm resolve.

"Really? Well, I’ll just pull it out then."

[What...!]

"Open your mouth."

Jeong So-hwa didn’t even have the chance to respond.

The evil spirit’s hand swiftly grabbed her mouth with incredible strength and forced it open.

[Ugh... Cough...!]

Then, the tongue was grabbed.

The evil spirit inserted its hand into Jeong So-hwa’s mouth, and before she knew it, it had taken hold of her tongue entirely.

This was insane.

Jeong So-hwa’s jaw trembled. The evil spirit’s hand shoved into her mouth, tearing her lips and causing blood to flow, but that wasn’t important now.

‘It’s real.’

When Jeong So-hwa saw the evil spirit’s eyes up close, she instinctively understood.

It really was going to pull out her tongue...

"I can get all the information I need by just stirring your consciousness, not even bothering with your words."

The evil spirit’s eyes glowed, radiating malice.

Could a child who stepped on an ant have eyes like that?

"Then again, it’s easier for me if you nearly die in shock. And... you agreed to it."

Agree? Nonsense!

Of course, she was ready to do anything for Hyunam-sensei, her benefactor, but to have her tongue pulled out...!

"However, I’m generous, so I’ll only ask one question."

Jeong So-hwa’s eyes darted in fear.

The evil spirit asked.

"Do you know that the city’s protective formation is made of mercury?"

...She failed to control her expression.

Though Jeong So-hwa couldn’t respond with her tongue being held, from the evil spirit’s expression, she knew it already had the answer.

Cold sweat trickled down her back.

‘How did it know...?!’

The protective formation that kept the city safe... was, as the evil spirit said, made of mercury, which was toxic to humans.

But it was a necessary choice to defend the city at the time.

To make the formation, gold or mercury was required... After the government cut off its support, there was no gold available to build a wall around the city.

Thus, they had no choice but to use cheaper materials like cinnabar to complete the formation.

However, this had been kept a secret.

The fear was that anyone who opposed it could sabotage or disrupt the formation.

Only Jeong So-hwa and the Hunters, no, the administrators knew this secret.

‘Later, I’ll find a way to fix it before it’s too late.’

Even if people knew about it, there wasn’t much they could do other than agree with it.

In situations like this, the administrators’ judgment was the right one.

At the time, Jeong So-hwa thought that way, and still did.

They had made the best decision they could.

"Now, for the next question."

The evil spirit spoke in a casual voice, dropping a bombshell.

"Did you use outsiders for experiments to make them into zombies?"

[Ugh... Cough...!]

Jeong So-hwa hastily denied it. No, she tried to deny it.

No! She didn’t know about it!

But no matter how much she tried to speak, she couldn’t, with her tongue held hostage.

But it was useless.

"You’re not good at lying either."

The evil spirit seemed to have eyes that pierced through the truth.

Jeong So-hwa started to feel dizzy as the cold sweat poured down her body.

How did this outsider know so quickly about the city’s deepest secrets?

Had it figured out that they were making zombies for defense?

‘It was an unavoidable choice!’

It wasn’t something to be proud of.

But Jeong So-hwa believed it was the only choice they had.

Even after completing the protective formation, it still wasn’t enough to fully protect the city.

Sometimes, powerful monsters or Hunters with knowledge of formations had managed to bypass it.

So to defend the city, they needed another defensive measure. Jeong So-hwa and the other administrators had sought Hyunam-sensei’s wisdom.

We will do anything to protect the city.

And once again, Hyunam-sensei provided an answer.

Zombies.

An ancient Taoist technique became reality.

When placed within the formation, they had no intelligence to escape on their own, didn’t need constant feeding, and were hostile to outsiders.

When fed the blood of the administrators and recognized, certain individuals were spared from attack.

The problem was, the materials used to create these zombies had to be fresh corpses... but there was a solution to that as well.

The outsiders who had entered the city.

Jeong So-hwa had paid attention to them.

Most of the outsiders who had entered the abandoned city were in grim situations. Even if they were let in, they mostly caused harm rather than helping.

So, they were people who were going to die anyway.

Outsiders.

They could use them.

‘We tried to be hospitable, though.’

They welcomed these soon-to-die outsiders, offering them food and shelter.

It was, after all, a generous gesture in such a time.

And they didn’t just randomly capture people for experiments.

They carefully selected the worst offenders or the most troublesome ones to experiment on...

"Yeah, once you start compromising, it’s hard to stop."

The evil spirit spoke, as if it could see right through Jeong So-hwa.

Why?

The evil spirit’s eyes, staring into Jeong So-hwa’s soul, seemed to look deeper than just her body.

‘No, is it really an evil spirit?’

It didn’t seem ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ like a typical evil spirit at all...

"Those who reserve their anger for the strong and their pity for the weak only pity themselves. They always end up compromising with injustice."

It looked like a god of wrath, didn’t it?

Looking at Jeong So-hwa, who was frozen like ice, an unknown entity spoke.

"It seems like it’s clear which one of us is the villain now."

[......]

"You all should take note."

It wasn’t directed at Jeong So-hwa, but at the other groaning figures scattered in the alley.

"This is the price you should’ve paid a long time ago."

And with a sickening crunch, flesh was ripped away.

-----!!

Jeong So-hwa screamed like a beast, a sound that couldn’t even form words.

She couldn’t believe it.

The searing pain made her vision go red. She thought burning alive would be preferable to this agony. In the midst of it all, she vaguely saw pieces of pink flesh scattered on the floor.

"Really, this is so unpleasant."

As Jeong So-hwa writhed in agony, the girl muttered quietly to herself.

She didn’t seem to care about Jeong So-hwa’s pain.

In truth, Jeong Da-on had no interest in their suffering.

Just as they had been indifferent to the suffering of others.

"The more I look at this city... the more it reminds me of my unpleasant past."

A leader revered as the absolute good, and the followers who blindly worshipped him.

And the people who didn’t realize they were walking on top of another corpse.

Jeong Da-on’s eyes turned to the empty space.

The arrow in the system hovered in the air, pointing towards an old grudge.

"Isn’t it? Orbis."

Could it be a coincidence that this city feels just like the excuses you give me?

I made the best choice.

Jeong Da-on squinted her eyes as she remembered the voice of a brother who once said that.

This truly was the most unpleasant city.