My Demons

The narrow room was enveloped in a chilling atmosphere, illuminated dimly by a halogen bulb.

My tailbone ached, and the uncomfortable chair only added to my discomfort.

“When was the last time you saw your niece?”

“What did you talk about with Han Ji-won before breaking up?”

“Did you notice anything unusual about her?”

I don’t know.

I said I don’t know, you jerks. I can’t remember anything.

Please, everyone, stop staring at me.

I want to go home. I want to hide under my blanket.

A brief ringtone.

The text on the screen – “Go back to school?” Ha, what a ridiculous suggestion.

Eek.

Ah, that sound again. A sound I don’t want to hear.

The sound of blood drying.

Could you please oil the hinges?

Huh?

“Hey, Kim Seung-Soo.”

“Sister?”

“Kim Seung-Soo.”

“……Sister.”

“This, this-“

SLAP.

Uh.

My sister is still young. Her slap still stings.

“Honey, stop it.”

“Let me go! I knew this would happen someday! I’m going to kill him!”

“He didn’t do anything wrong, please.”

“It’s not the first time, every time he gets involved with her, this happens! How can it not be his fault!”

“Stop it! Let’s go out first. Brother-in-law, I’ll contact you later.”

No, brother. It’s my fault.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”

The world turns upside down.

The mattress and my blanket slid off along with the computer desk with pictures.

My familiar room.

Or is it familiar?

There’s no way the room I moved into right after being discharged from the military is familiar.

I dragged a notepad file and placed it in the center of the empty desktop.

Alt+tab.

Gorgeous blonde hair and dazzling blue eyes, with an angelic face.

A girl who has not yet blossomed, blurred by water.

Ji-won, I’m sorry.

My trembling hand fumbled over the crane support. Beyond the blurred vision, the knot was completed.

“I’m sorry. I’m really sorry.”

Muttering like a fool.

I kicked the chair.

***

“Huh.” As if struck by lightning, I jumped up and quickly looked around.

It was a narrow room.

The ceiling allowed the chirping of birds to be heard. A bed with damp straw sticking out, well-arranged luggage in the corner, a faint scent of gunpowder, and a window through which pale morning sunlight streamed in.

And there was a girl, Ellen, tossing and turning in her sleep on the bed opposite mine.

Seeing her peaceful face, I involuntarily let out a sigh of relief.

“Phew.”

But why does my head hurt so much? It feels like I had a dream, but I can’t remember it at all.

Given the heaviness in my heart… Maybe it was a nightmare triggered by what happened the day before yesterday.

The people I’ve killed, and those who died because of me, could it be that the guilt for them is catching up to me with a delay?

A sudden thought struck me – Could it be that I can’t remember the dream because of the character sheet?

Ever since I arrived in this world, every time I fell asleep, the character sheet would appear in front of me. It was different from a regular dream as I remained conscious, and my memory of it was clear.

I suspect that other dreams get erased from my memory because of the character sheet.

Speaking of the character sheet, it reminds me of something.

Thanks to the battle that took place two days ago, I’ve reached level 12.

It’s really strange. By my rough calculations, the experience points I gained after coming out of the sewer were barely around 2,000.

If I take into account the experience from Poison, it would be around 700, or 420 after dividing it with Ellen. Even if I add the experience from the other gangsters, it wouldn’t come close to 3,000.

Considering that it takes 3,600 experience points to reach level 12, I should have been nearly 1,000 experience points short, but my level suddenly increased.

There was another odd occurrence.

An extra point was added to my passive skill, ‘Flowing Blood,’ for free.

Furthermore, by investing the skill points gained through leveling up, the proficiency score of ‘Flowing Blood’ had already reached 5 points.

A thousand indeterminable sources of experience and the skill automatically enhancing itself – these were things that could never happen in a game.

Why did such things happen?

After contemplating the problem on my own, my temporary conclusion was ‘growth through training.’

First, the experience points.

The reason I estimated that my current experience points wouldn’t reach 3,000 is that I only calculated the experience gained through killing.

In other words, I didn’t count the experience from fighting against Grania or beating up thugs.

But looking at my level up, perhaps I gained a thousand experience points through those actions.

And the ‘Flowing Blood’ skill.

‘Flowing Blood,’ being a passive skill, was my most used technique.

Especially during the fight against Poison, I actively controlled the blood in my body to drive away the poison gas.

Considering that ‘Flowing Blood’ promotes life recovery and enables control over one’s own blood, it might have gained proficiency during the fight with Poison.

Of course, these are only assumptions, and I couldn’t accurately determine why such strange things happened.

“Moreover, it’s not just me who experienced strange events.”

I muttered, glancing at Ellen.

If only she didn’t open her mouth, she would be an angel.

If she behaved a bit quieter most of the time, it would be really nice. Well, her wild character helps sometimes, so I guess I have to tolerate it. But it would be really nice if she spoke kindly.

Why am I even thinking about this? I’m not her dad…

Anyway, Ellen awakened her magic during the blood battle two days ago. I was curious about what triggered the magic awakening, but the question was immediately answered that night.

Her level had risen to 13.

I don’t know the exact mechanism, but the skill points and stat points I invested when leveling up were partially reflected.

The problem, however, was that only a ‘part’ was reflected.

I had invested 35 stat points and 11 skill points.

But this time, when Ellen leveled up, the applied points were only 16 stat points and 6 skill points.

The remaining points were returned as spare points.

I immediately invested them again, but there was no change as when we first met.

The reason for this phenomenon, as per my speculation, is that it’s unrealistic for stats or skills to grow explosively overnight.

To give an extreme example, what would have happened if I had put all 35 points into strength when I first met Ellen?

Her strength stat would have exceeded 20 points, and she would have gained superhuman strength in an instant.

But could a girl barely 150 cm tall, in her teens, unleash such terrifying strength overnight?

Therefore, my conclusion was that level-up points are distributed over time to allow for realistic changes.

Ellen now had evenly distributed stats. Strength 3, Agility 1, Health 3, and Mana 1 had all increased, so there was no noticeable change at first glance.

This was probably due to her gradually growing over time.

Regardless of the reason, it didn’t seem particularly worrying. If she levels up a few more times in the future, all points will be applied.

Now, Ellen has become a proper wizard who handles a total of four spells: ‘Flaming Arrow,’ ‘Burning Weapon,’ ‘Wind Fist,’ and ‘Ice Fragment.’

Thanks to her innate talent, a magic score of 22 points, and the training and knowledge accumulated in the La-Palais Palace, she quickly became familiar with the spells.

Well, she has finally shed her stigma of being just a wand holder. Of course, I’m happy, but I’m also a bit sad. It was really fun teasing her.

As I smiled while thinking about how Ellen used to whine…

“Hmm.”

A small voice followed by long eyelashes slowly crossing each other.

Her sapphire-like eyes were tinged with a light gray color in the morning sun.

“Did you sleep well?”

“Uh-oh—”

Ellen, who had been blinking dazedly, suddenly became startled and quickly covered her face with her hands. She fully woke up from her drowsiness and let out a squeal.

“What, what are you doing!”

“You’ll hurt your throat if you shout first thing in the morning.”

Upon hearing my words, she cleared her throat a few times.

“Cough, cough.”

“You’re so nice.”

“Why are you staring at someone’s face first thing in the morning? It’s surprising!”

At Ellen’s complaint, I yawned and answered honestly.

“I was feeling a bit down due to a nightmare – but upon seeing your face, my mood got a bit better. So, I was lost in thought for a while.”

“Wh-what are you saying? Are you still half-asleep?”

The kid muttered, and only a whispering voice remained as she pulled the blanket over her face.

“Going to sleep again? It’s about time we got up.”

“Do I look like a child? Leave me be, I can get up on my own.”

What is she saying? All I hear are muffled sounds due to the blanket.

I left Ellen alone and hung my breastplate and shell on my shoulder. Then, I strapped the girdle around my waist, put on my shoulder pads, and added greaves above my leather boots, tightening the laces. That was when the kid finally stirred and got up from her spot.

Ellen, who was combing her messy hair, glanced over at me.

“…Did you have a nightmare?”

“Yes.”

“What was the nightmare about?”

I shrugged my shoulders and shook my head.

“I don’t know. I can’t remember.”

“How do you know it was a nightmare if you don’t even remember it?”

“Hmm. You know, it’s one of those things.”

As I tightened the straps on the other greave, I continued speaking.

“I can’t remember the details, but the emotion remains from the dream.”

“What is that?”

“I’m not sure. Maybe I had a bad dream because I slept in a different place. Have you never experienced this?”

The kid squirmed inside the blanket, then changed from her nightgown to a shirt.

Then, she brushed her hair out of her clothing and pondered before responding.

“I’m not sure about dreams where only the emotion remains. I hardly ever dream because I meditate.”

“What does that mean? If you meditate, you don’t dream?”

“Meditation is the act of self-observation. Dreams occur when the unconscious infiltrates the conscious. If you meditate, the gap between the unconscious and the conscious shrinks, so it’s natural that you have fewer dreams.”

…There she goes again, talking about meditation and observation. What is she saying?

“Isn’t that because you’re so tired from meditating that you fall into a deep sleep?”

“…Let’s just stop talking.”

The kid shook her head resignedly and held up her folded trousers.

Huh. I suppose I’m getting used to that dismissive gaze. It doesn’t feel too bad.

“Let’s get going. I’m going to change my clothes.”

“Hold on a second. I’m still fastening my belt.”

At my response, Ellen started to complain pointlessly.

“This is frustrating. What is this, every time? How long are you going to stick around?”

… I’m getting used to her contemptuous eyes, but I can’t seem to get used to her nasty mouth.

“Why are you suddenly talking nonsense? When have I ever stuck around?”

“I’m not talking nonsense- I’m saying I feel uncomfortable sharing a room with you!”

Ha, anyone who heard this would think I was the one who barged into her room.

“The second floor was burned down, and we’re short on rooms, and we’ve had accidents when we were separated, so we decided to stay together.”

“But there’s no need to go this far.”

“Do you think I enjoy this? I do it because I worry about you.”

Instead of answering, Ellen just pouted, so I sighed and added.

“Heh. If you really hate it that much, why not consider sleeping in Grania’s room?”

“…How could I possibly sleep with those mercenaries? They might hold a grudge against me.”

“Why would they have a grudge against you? Well, then maybe Daria’s room…”

Before I could even finish, Ellen protested loudly.

“Don’t even mention that woman! Why do you always bring her up?”

“Alright, alright, I got it. So what should I do? If being together makes you uncomfortable, maybe I should ask Luke to share a room,” I suggested.

“No! His room smells like a rotten corpse!”

“Hey, mind your language.”

Sigh.

When Ellen keeps her mouth shut, she seems like an angel. But once she opens it, boy, is she spicy.

“Why are you so rude to Luke?”

“You’re the one who brought in a person without consulting anyone. Bringing in a strange old man,” she retorted.

“Stop! If you insult Luke again, calling him a corpse or an old man, I’ll really get angry.”

“What?”

Suddenly, Ellen’s face contorted dramatically.

“Are you taking the old man’s side now?”

“It’s not about taking sides. It’s about maintaining basic courtesy. And I told you not to call him an old man.”

“How can you talk about courtesy to a person who follows such an oppressive doctrine?”

Him? Has she lost her mind?

I paused, trying not to get angry. Could it be that the Luminous sect is not well-received in this world?

“What’s wrong with the Luminous sect?”

“You ask because you don’t know? Those who follow the Spiritual Gold Door are all eschatologists, soaked in nobility consciousness, blabbering without any responsibility. They also happen to play with corpses, casting ominous spells.”

“……Luke, he’s not a necromancer?”

Ellen snickered at my rebuttal.

“Thinking it’s okay as long as you don’t handle the undead, that’s just the church’s foolish notion. How can you not be a necromancer when you are filled with dark energy?”

Hmm, I didn’t realize she would dislike it this much……

I’m not sure how to respond.

“Ugh. Anyway, we’ve agreed to accompany each other for a while, so be careful with your words. You’ll understand once you talk to him; he’s an extremely good person.”

“How long have you known him to know he’s good?”

“Just by having a conversation, you can tell.”

“Ah-ha.”

Ellen raised an eyebrow and nodded.

“So, he is the newly recruited spellcaster, right?”

“What?”

“Huh, I’m so lucky I awakened my magic. I almost got treated like a porter!”

Wait, why did the conversation suddenly shift that way? And you should speak more clearly.

“It’s not being treated like a porter, you would have actually been a porter.”

“…You heard that?”

“You said it loud enough to be heard, didn’t you?”

“You-!”

Her anger surged to the top of her head. She clenched her lower lip and suddenly stood up, coming up to me and kicking my shin hard.

“OUCH.”

She fell to the floor, clutching her foot.

I realize it now… She’s kind of dumb when she’s angry.

“You, you! How could you do this to me!”

“What. You started it.”

Hmm. Seeing her teary face brings peace to my heart.

“My shin’s worth the money. After all, I spent four silver coins; I should get at least this much.”

“You, you stupid-“

“Go down first and wash up. Come down quickly.”

“I won’t!”

I left the room with just a bright smile as a response.

“Hey!”

A sharp yell came from behind me.

A cheerful hum naturally flows out.