The Foreigner on the Periphery

Ha Eunseong was completely out of things to do.

He might have been the most idle dragon in the world.

Normal dragons were constantly busy outside of hibernation, never finding a moment for boredom or leisure. It was also incredibly rare for them to have their movements restricted. Ha Eunseong’s current situation was the exact opposite.

Ever since a hole was torn in the sky, Ha Eunseong had been cooped up in the order's quarters. He had found a device similar to a TV, but he couldn't understand the language, and the broadcasts were so bizarre that he simply shut it off. After that, Ha Eunseong had done nothing but breathe. With his body idle, his mind naturally went into overdrive, churning with endless stray thoughts.

‘I wonder if everyone is doing well?’

After becoming a ghost, his obsession with material things had vanished. Even so, back in his days as a free ghost without any debt, the only reason he had worked for a pittance with the help of volunteers was for his younger siblings.

After death, the only things you missed were people. The dead grieved their severed ties with the loved ones they left behind, constantly regretting that they hadn't treated them better in life. No one mourned their former wealth, status, or unfulfilled desires. Every ghost agreed on that.

And right now, Ha Eunseong was worried about the siblings he had left behind on Earth.

‘The agent not being on Earth shouldn't really affect the kids, right?’

After his family, he thought of the people he had connected with since his death.

‘Is Cathy doing okay? She must be pretty shocked that the agent suddenly disappeared. ...Of course, seeing what's become of him now would be an even bigger shock. Is it actually better that she can't see him? Ah, I don't know.’

Familiar faces continued to surface in his mind.

‘Are old man Lakefield and Dong-cheol doing alright too?’

After getting tangled in debt, he had solved his room and board issues at his creditor's building. Whenever Minjun's friends threw a feast using the Frying Pan, he always took a seat at the table. A natural fondness had built up between them during that time.

‘I wonder if Jeongpal actually became an assemblyman.’

According to ghosts whose hobby was eavesdropping, voter sentiment in the orc neighborhood had long since leaned toward Jeongpal. He had most likely won the election.

How thrilled must his family be? A massive celebration would have erupted on the orc streets. Considering their customs, it would last for more than a week. Everyone would be busy eating, drinking, and singing.

His overflowing thoughts eventually turned inward.

‘Will I be able to return to Earth?’

He stared blankly out the window. The silhouettes of buildings glowed faintly through the thick, smog-choked atmosphere. Looking back, he hadn't seen the sun once since arriving here. The closest thing to it—an intense, blinding light—was...

“...”

Ha Eunseong recalled the pillar of light he had witnessed at the Cathedral of Resurrection.

‘That was truly spectacular.’

By all appearances, his creditor had officially become the god of this place.

Which meant the chances of him staying here indefinitely had skyrocketed.

‘No, let's not give up just yet.’

There was no need to be so pessimistic.

Wouldn't he be able to travel back and forth to Earth with Minjun's permission sooner or later? Not with this body, of course. He had become a wanted fugitive.

But what if he just sent his soul to Earth instead?

‘Those soul fragments from that day—they said they gathered from various dimensions.’

He had clearly witnessed that dimensional leaping was possible in a spiritual state. It differed from the principles Yumtus had explained, but Ha Eunseong accepted it. Lately, far too much had happened that completely defied his understanding anyway.

‘First, you cross over to the Elahu... whatever dimension in a spiritual state, and then you move on to another dimension. It seems to work something like that.’

Yet, Yumtus's explanation snagged in his mind again.

The priest had stated it clearly: to send a soul to Elahu-Praga, one had to be a devout believer.

That was a massive problem. Ha Eunseong didn't think he could ever serve a god sincerely. His life and death had been far too miserable and harsh for him to believe in a divine entity.

Furthermore, Ha Eunseong thought the very concept of believing in a god just to get something in return was bizarre.

If he had to summarize the core of their doctrine, it went like this: pay with faith, place an order for salvation, and then hit the "transaction complete" button on the day the apocalypse gets delivered.

He simply couldn't see Ye Minjun as the kind of grand figure who would destroy the world. For someone dealing with a doomed world, his creditor seemed fiercely obsessed with something. At least, that was how it felt to him.

Those thoughts were cut short by a knock on the door.

“Mr. Ha Eunseong? Please come with me.”

The person at the door was Yumtus, the very man who had contributed to his dilemma. Ha Eunseong noticed that his vestments had changed.

‘Ah, right. He said he got promoted.’

Recognized for his contributions in serving the avatar, he had filled Felix's vacant seat and become a Grand Patriarch. Felix, whose sins had been forgiven, was currently in self-reflection, claiming that absolution did not mean exemption from punishment.

“Where to?”

“I will explain as we walk.”

A short while later.

Inside an airship belching black smoke, Ha Eunseong doubted his ears.

“...Became a person?”

“Yes, he transferred into a body very similar to a human's.”

Yumtus believed that the Frying Pan Minjun carried was a disguise for the Holy Sword. He hadn't questioned why he had chosen a frying pan of all things. In any case, he was claiming that the soul housed within that Holy Sword had moved into a human body.

Ha Eunseong was surprised by the news, but he didn't leap up in shock. He had already experienced far too many bizarre things to flip out over something like this. In a world where people turned into pillars of salt, there was no law saying a frying pan couldn't become a person.

“But why am I going there?”

“We have decided to hold a celebratory ritual to honor the Pope's return.”

Ha Eunseong blinked. He understood the Frying Pan turning into a person, but what was this about a Pope...

As the explanation continued, his doubt morphed into a sigh.

“...The Frying Pan became the Pope?!”

What an incredible leap in status.

How on earth? Why?

Thinking about it would only give him a headache. Ha Eunseong gave up on digging any further into the details. What he really wanted to know was why he had to attend their religious event in the first place.

Unlike his acquaintances on Earth, he didn't have a deep relationship with the Frying Pan. Cooking was mainly handled by Cathy, Jeongpal, or Lakefield. Whenever he occasionally grabbed its handle, it would tease him, shouting things like, "Ooh! The million-Talent man!" and so forth, so he often avoided touching it on purpose.

“Of course you must attend. Are you not the divine beast that symbolizes the god's authority?”

He swore that was the most shocking sentence he had heard all day.

“A divine... beast?”

Yumtus smiled benevolently.

“Yes. A beast commanded by a god.”

Ha Eunseong didn't bother arguing why a dragon was classified as a beast. He already felt insulted enough by the word itself.

Not a debtor, not a slave, but a beast!

He wanted to protest, arguing that even Minjun wouldn't think of him like that, but the airship had already arrived at the cathedral, making him miss his chance.

“Man, why are there so many people...”

Because he had been focused on the conversation, he hadn't noticed from above, but the area surrounding the cathedral was a literal sea of humanity. The crowds were packed tightly together, keeping a slight distance from the people who had turned into salt during the Feast of Resurrection. Hymns and prayers drifted intermittently from everywhere. The three-eyed ones gazed up at the cathedral's spire with intoxicated faces.

Yumtus guided the beast raised by a god to the VIP seating area. Overwhelmed by the atmosphere, Ha Eunseong had no choice but to follow obediently. Other Grand Patriarchs and high-ranking officials of the order were seated there. Ha Eunseong was puzzled because he didn't see Dell. Was she inside the cathedral?

A moment later.

“Oh, he's coming out!”

“Deputy Pope! His Holiness, the Deputy Pope!”

The area beneath the podium where the VIPs sat looked like it was going to burst with people. They all looked toward the same spot, sending cheers to the order's leader. Ha Eunseong also raised his head.

His gaze landed on the upper level of the cathedral. The Deputy Pope stood on the spire's balcony. Dressed in his vestments, he began to address the priests and believers below.

With a voice intoxicated by fervor, he proclaimed that the ceremony about to begin was a ritual to return the throne to its rightful master. He declared that the Prophet recorded in the scriptures, the first and final Pope, had returned to their side.

The crowd did not listen in silence. They frantically chanted prayers or screamed out to their god. Several people could already be seen fainting here and there, blood pouring from their foreheads.

Words like ‘finally,’ ‘blessed,’ ‘long-awaited,’ ‘sacred,’ ‘promised,’ and ‘resurrection’ rippled through the throngs, while the Deputy Pope continued his speech. His voice, laden with Divine Power, pierced the noise and rang clearly in everyone's ears.

At last, the speech concluded, and the Deputy Pope dropped to his knees. A new figure emerged from the darkness beyond the door connecting to the balcony.

Ha Eunseong felt his blood run cold and his knees tremble.

At the same time, the dragon went deaf. Ha Eunseong could not hear the crowd's mad, fanatical cheers. The resurrected Pope, who had finally revealed his face, looked down from the balcony. The believers welcomed him with blazing fervor. Harboring completely different emotions, Ha Eunseong stared at the Pope.

With his black hair hanging down in long, heavy cascades, he gazed at the crowd below and smiled brightly. He could have waved his hand, but he merely stood there watching them. The believers wept with emotion, as if his presence alone was an absolute honor, tearing at their own bodies in sheer joy. Faces smeared with blood, they screamed the Pope's name. They sang hymns, their foreheads and cheeks stained red.

In stark contrast to the atmosphere, Ha Eunseong felt a chill pierce right through his soul. It was freezing, like a sharp ice pick flying in with absolute certainty and driving straight through his neck.

“This is... impossible.”

The dragon wasn't even sure if he was the one who had spoken those words. Since it was the only sound he could hear, it was probably true. The dragon's keen eyesight perfectly captured the distant Pope's features.

Ha Eunseong knew that face.

The moment he laid eyes on it, the mental block obscuring his memories shattered like glass. He remembered what he had forgotten for so long. It was no coincidence. Ha Eunseong began to hyperventilate in sheer terror and dread.

Auditory hallucinations rang in his ears. It felt as if a whisper was brushing against his very soul.

“You'd be far more useful dead than alive, wouldn't you?”

His scales bristled, and his blood rushed backward in his veins.

The past flashed by like a bolt of lightning. Himself, fleeing frantically. A shadow, following leisurely behind. A blade cutting through the wind. The shock of his body and soul being impaled simultaneously. The voice descending upon his fallen flesh.

Ha Eunseong had died with a Dagger buried in his neck.

And he had definitely seen his murderer's face back then.

The dragon forced out a voice, as if scraping his vocal cords.

“That's him!”

His hair hadn't been long like it was now, and he was wearing ordinary Earth clothing. His expression and his eyes were different from today. Back then, it was a face that looked completely exhausted, worn down and sick of everything.

But the physical features themselves had not changed.

It was definitely... that man!

Thump—! Thump—! Thump—!

The sound of his own heartbeat pounded against his ears. Within the panicked dragon's vision, the man dressed in beautiful vestments slowly approached the Deputy Pope. He held a Dagger in his hand. His gait perfectly mirrored Ha Eunseong's memories. Past and present intersected, clouding his mind. His ghostly instincts screamed. Run! You have to run! That cry was directed both at the kneeling man on the balcony and at himself.

The dragon gasped for air, scanning his surroundings. He was dizzy. His heart felt like it was going to explode.

Run? But where?

“Waaaaah!”

Amidst the heavens-shaking roars, the Deputy Pope let his hands dangle defenselessly. He bowed his head, offering up the nape of his neck.

Right then, the Pope raised the Dagger he was gripping.

The murderer from his memories raised the Dagger he was gripping.

The moment he forcefully plunged the Dagger down. The exact instant the defenseless flesh of the one receiving Baptism perfectly overlapped with the memory of his own murder.

“...!”

The dragon lost consciousness and collapsed.

   *

The moment the Baptism was completed, the Deputy Pope felt his soul separate from his body. Down below, he could see himself collapsed with a blade driven into his neck.

‘Ah, finally! I, too, can finally go!’

In his spiritual state, he wept with overwhelming emotion. That Deputy Pope... no, now merely a single believer named Alext, met the eyes of the Pope who had bestowed the Baptism. Pitch-black eyes shone through the long, cascading hair. The Pope flashed him a bright smile. It was the smile of a child.

‘Thank you! Thank you!’

Endlessly shouting that through spiritual waves, Alext looked upward.

Strictly speaking, the extraction of Divine Blood for the congregation was currently suspended. However, the order had made an exception for the Deputy Pope. Every other priest thus far had already tasted the glory of casting their soul into Elahu-Praga. They had received the opportunity to overlap themselves with a portion of the space where the god slumbered. They had felt the holiness of drenching themselves in Divine Blood.

Out of everyone, only the Deputy Pope had never experienced it.

‘I'm going too! To that place...!’

A black hole tore open above his head. Alext threw his soul inside without a moment's hesitation.

Immediately after, the scene that unfolded before Alext was...

‘Oooooh!’

He felt an intense surge of awe. Everything his gaze touched was Divine Blood. Beautiful light rippled and spread in all directions. A raging torrent that sent shivers through his soul.

Now, he finally understood the other priests. This was the reason they burst into hot tears and sobbed so intensely following their out-of-body experiences. He, too, felt that same overwhelming emotion surging up right now.

‘To think... to think it could be this blessed and beautiful!’

He wouldn't be able to harvest any Divine Blood today. But just bringing his soul into this place was moving enough.

Alext stared, as if searing the sight into his memory forever. This was the upstream—an area the Mint Bureau deemed too dangerous to enter. If one followed this river of Divine Blood downstream, they would find the Committee's mining site. The upstream was vastly closer to the source than the mining site.

‘The source.’

He repeated the word once more in his mind. The source.

‘Up above there...’

He looked in the opposite direction of the mining site. Far higher than the upstream area he had just reached.

‘When the gods awake from their slumber, that door will open as well.’

The priests' souls could not approach anywhere higher than the upstream. Whenever they tried to ascend further, an invisible wall pushed them back.

As if warning them that the time had not yet come.

Just as he was gazing at that spot with renewed awe.

“E—Excuse me. I'm sorry to bother you when you're busy...”

‘...Gasp?!’

Alext was startled out of his wits.

What had knocked on his mind was a spiritual wave. A mental wave resonating in the soul state, transcending the boundaries of language.

Alext spun his spiritual body around, reversing his field of vision. He looked at the spot he hadn't spared a glance for until now—the place where the black hole had opened and closed again.

And he was horrified all over again.

‘W-Who on earth are you! How did you get in here?!’

A soul with a blade lodged in its neck, wearing a bizarre mascot suit that poorly imitated some unidentifiable beast, muttered with an utterly appalled expression.

“Look... honestly, I was about to ask you the same thing.”

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