I opened my eyes to an unfamiliar ceiling. I guess I must have died and ended up in the afterlife.

"Are you awake?"

"Ah, I’m not dead yet."

"What are you saying all of a sudden? Did you hurt your head?"

Uncle Lee Jin-Sung was sitting on the chair next to the bed. Thanks to my uncle talking to me, I was able to regain my lost sense of reality. Fortunately, I wasn’t dead yet, and it looked like I was currently in the hospital. There was the strong smell of disinfectant, and nurses were bustling about everywhere.

"How long have I been out?"

Uncle Lee Jin-Sung lowered his head and frowned as if he were in pain.

"…Three years."

"Huh?"

[Bullshit. It's only been two days.]

Thanks to Legba telling me the truth, I could let out a sigh of relief. Lee Jin-Sung looked at me while holding in his laughter. Judging by how he was making fun of me even in this situation, it was clear that he lacked empathy.

"Honestly, I got you this time, right? How is it? Has my acting improved?"

"Oh yeah, you've improved a lot."

"Hahahaha."

Uncle Jin-Sung laughed his head off. But soon, the laughter disappeared and he began talking with a straight face.

"Well, it's only been two days since you lost consciousness, and school is currently closed."

"School is closed? Until when?"

"Not sure. I don't remember, but maybe a week."

A week.

The fact that F.A., which was infamous for being stingy in closing down the school, had issued a week-long closure meant that this incident was big. To be fair, even I had suffered severe enough injuries to lose consciousness for two days, so it made sense.

However, considering I had been seriously injured, my body felt better than expected. Occasionally I felt a headache, but other than that, I didn’t feel any pain at all. It didn't even hurt when I moved my arms and legs around.

"Is there anywhere that still hurts?"

"No. I think it's all better. How did I recover so quickly?"

“That’s because there were many people that treated you. Not to mention, your recovery speed is quite quick to begin with.”

Uncle Jin-Sung explained what had happened over the past two days.

Currently, I was hospitalized at the dBP Hospital. Since Uncle requested help from Bae Jung-Hwan, several famous priests specializing in healing had visited the ward. I could recover quickly thanks to the priests who used advanced healing and recovery blessings.

Originally, such treatment would have cost an astronomical amount of money, but thanks to Bae Jung-Hwan, all the expenses had been waived. He also said that Koo Jun-Hyuk visited the hospital for a while when I was hospitalized.

“Since you’ve recovered already, they say it’s fine even if you leave the hospital now. Considering that we dumped that much money into treatment, it wouldn’t have made much sense if you still hadn’t recovered. This is why money is great. You can always rely on money.”

Uncle Jin-Sung's bad habit of rambling on seemed to have gotten worse. He continued to praise the greatness of money for a while. I quietly listened to his babbling without responding. After all, what he said wasn’t completely incorrect.

"By the way, Bae Jung-Hwan said he wants to see you today."

"All of a sudden? Why?"

"Remember the contents of the contract that we made last time? The artifact sponsorship."

It was back when we cured Bae Jung-Hwan's wife's illness. The contract stated that Bae Jung-Hwan would sponsor artifacts to the Voodoo Cult Leader in exchange for successfully curing his wife. He seemed to have asked for a meeting to talk about it.

I had planned to rest today, but I figured I’d just meet him today since my body had already recovered. After all, there wasn’t much to do since school was closed anyway.

"Then let’s meet with him. What time is the meeting?"

"It just so happens that Bae Jung-Hwan is at the dBP Hospital right now. Apparently, his son got hurt or something. Anyway, I think it’s fine to meet him right now,” Uncle Jin-Sung said while looking at the text message he received from Bae Jung-Hwan.

* * *

I wanted to strike while the iron was hot, so I immediately went through the discharge process in the hospital, and then I went to the place where I promised to meet Bae Jung-Hwan.

After Uncle Jin-Sung drove for about ten minutes, we arrived at a rather extravagant and luxurious restaurant.

"Oh, you're here."

When we arrived, Bae Jung-Hwan bowed politely and welcomed us. There was no one in the restaurant except us. It was because he had rented the entire restaurant for this meeting.

I felt like his spending was excessively wasteful. But since he was the owner of a conglomerate, it was probably fine. There was no need to worry about billionaires and celebrities.

"Did you rent the entire restaurant?"

"Yes. I told them to turn off all CCTVs in case you might feel uncomfortable. Technically, our company more or less runs this restaurant, so it wasn’t an issue. Please, take a seat for now.”

As if they had been waiting for us, the appetizers came out as soon as we sat. It was a seafood dish that could be eaten in one bite. The waiter described this and that about the sauce and the seafood. Honestly, I had no idea what they were talking about, but I nodded and pretended to understand.

"I had them prepare the best course. Please, help yourself."

At Bae Jung-Hwan's words, we started eating. The food was so delicious that it simply could not be described with words.

"How is your wife doing?" my uncle asked while eating.

"Oh, I was just about to talk about that. As you know, my wife had been bedridden for a long time—I think it was about four or five years. She says the world has changed so much and is always nagging me to go outside with her. I’m so exhausted I feel like I’m going to die.”

"Hahaha. I'm glad she feels better. I feel relieved."

Bae Jung-Hwan narrated a string of stories about his wife. He kept saying he felt lazy and tired but kept smiling the entire time. It looked like he had gained some weight since we first saw him.

"I heard your son got hurt. How is he?"

Soon the story went from wife to son. The food transitioned from soup and fish and it was now time for the main dish.

"He is almost all better now. They said that the ear was a little torn, but there are no issues with his hearing."

"That's a relief. You must have been very worried."

"Initially, I was a little surprised, but his innate recovery is very good, so he’s completely fine now."

At the time of the incident, Bae Sung-Hyun's ears were torn, but there were no other injuries. Compared to the other kids, his injuries were rather minor. In any case, there was no need to worry since they said the treatment was successful.

Eventually, the main dish came out. The employee explained something about Iberico and grapefruit sauce. Long story short, the food was expensive and tasty.

"I think it’s time we start to get to business."

With the appearance of the main dish, the conversation moved onto the main subject.

At Uncle’s words, Bae Jung-Hwan picked up his phone and called someone. At the same time as the phone call, men in black suits walked into the restaurant. They had suitcases and documents in their hands. The guys wearing suits handed the documents over to us. We quickly skimmed through the documents after receiving them.

“These documents summarize the artifacts that are produced and distributed by our company. If you specify the type and quantity, we will prepare the goods according to your demands.”

“Aha.”

Uncle’s eyes twinkled as he read the documents. The meal was completely on the back burner.

It was understandable. The artifacts listed on the documents cost tens of millions of won at minimum, and some of the expensive artifacts cost hundreds of millions. Among them, the artifacts that caught my attention the most were the Baal’s Maw and the Petrified Arkwood.

"Is there an item that you’ve taken a liking to?"

"Phew, well, cough. There are too many items that we’ve taken a liking to. It’s hard to choose.”

Uncle Jin-Sung took a deep breath and tried to hold back his smile. In front of his eyes, hundreds of millions of won were flashing by. As a result, a smile naturally seemed to form on his face without him realizing it.

"Ha ha, you can take your time choosing. There's also the Thorn Crown of Judgement.”

“Thorn Crown, Thorn Crown… Ah, here it is."

“It’s a masterpiece that was created in dBP using newly developed, state-of-the-art technology. It’s a little embarrassing to say it myself.”

"Oh, is the newly developed technology what I think it is?"

"Yes. What you suspect is probably right. Ah, right, the information was supposed to be confidential, but all the investors already seemed to know about it.”

"Of course they know. This was also the reason why dBP's stock price soared."

While I was eating, my uncle and Bae Jung-Hwan talked about this and that. Both of them looked very happy. They were obsessed with money, and since like minds attracted each other, they were hitting it off like best friends.

"Right, I think we talked about this too much amongst ourselves. Does the Cult Leader have anything that they want? I’m afraid the Cult Leader’s opinion is the most important."

Bae Jung-Hwan, who was excitedly talking about money, suddenly talked to me. A stifling silence arose as I put down my knife and fork to examine the documents briefly. After a quick scan, I found only two artifacts that I needed.

"This, and this. I like these two the best."

I pointed my finger at the artifacts I wanted to receive. Bae Jung-Hwan's face hardened when he saw my choice.

"…Ha ha ha. As expected of the Cult Leader. You know what's good."

"I just picked what I needed the most."

"I'm telling you, it's terrifying."

Bae Jung-Hwan grinned slightly. I had chosen the artifacts that I thought would be the most useful for me in the future. It turned out that those artifacts happened to be the most expensive ones on the list.

"So, can you give these to me?"

"Of course, I can give them to you. It doesn’t matter what it is. According to the promise, as long as it’s on the list, I will give it to you.”

Bae Jung-Hwan continued with a bitter smile. "However, because of the price and rarity of the holy water that was chosen by the Cult Leader, there is currently no stock left. I’m truly sorry to say this, but it looks like it will take two weeks for it to be restocked. Is that fine?”

“Yes, that’s fine.”

“Then, I shall visit you in two weeks with my staff."

Thus, the deal was made. Bae Jung-Hwan had a wide smile as he requested a handshake. I accepted the handshake. It was by a narrow margin, but the back of my hand was slightly above his. It was a trivial difference resulting from unconscious behavior, but it implicitly indicated the superior in the relationship.

* * *

“Well done. Are you going home right away?”

“No, I want to take a short walk before we go home.”

Uncle Jin-Sung frowned as if he was dumbfounded. “You shouldn’t be walking around. You just got out of the hospital.”

“It’s part of the rehabilitation process.”

“You’re a smooth talker. Do you want me to pick you up later?”

“I’ll call you.”

Uncle nodded and closed the car window. His car’s engine let out a vibrant sound before leaving.

I watched the car move further and further away. Only once the car was completely out of sight did I start to walk.

This place was near the city hall. Wherever I looked was filled with tall skyscrapers. The sound of people, cars, buses, and subways filled the city center. It was noisier and more crowded than usual because it was currently rush hour.

I walked around the area and thought about my father. This was the place where my father had been burned alive. In the Seoul city center, my father endured the ridicule and insults that the citizens were throwing at him while he slowly turned to ashes.

"Sun-Woo. No matter what happens in the future, don’t even think about revenge. ”

A week before he was arrested and executed by the Holy See, my father had told me so.

Perhaps he had already foreseen his death at the time. I was still a child at the time, and I remember laughing at my father’s words without even realizing that these words would eventually become his will. As I recollected each of my father’s final moments one by one, my heart started to feel heavy. He left me all alone to fend for myself and only left me that kind of will. When I thought about that, I felt resentment bubble up inside of me.

[You still learned a lot though, thanks to him.] Legba's voice broke me out of my deep thoughts.

"That's true. I'm living like this because of my father."

[As a dad, he was a failure. But as a teacher, he was pretty decent.]

My father taught me various things. He taught me about the art of conversation, how to use Voodoo magic, how to utilize Loa's powers, etc. Thanks to him, I was able to live as a human being.

I would have starved to death a long time ago if it weren't for him.

I wandered around and lost track of time while reminiscing about the distant past. The area was filled with elegantly designed gothic-style architecture that had been reinterpreted in a modern way. This sort of design seemed to be trending these days. My father had been executed through immolation in such a fancy and beautiful location. That was the irrevocable truth.

“...Hgh, urgh, hggh…!”

At that moment, I heard a strange sound from somewhere. It sort of sounded like crying, but it also sounded like someone groaning in pain. I held my breath and tried my best not to make any noise, but it wasn’t as easy as I thought.

The sound came from a corner of the city center. It was from a narrow alley.

[Just pass by.]

I was going to check out the situation briefly, but Legba stopped me with a serious tone.

"Why?"

[It's difficult to explain right now. Just pass by.]

Legba told me not to go into the alleyway, which made me want to go in even more. It was because I had a defiant attitude. I ignored Legba’s warnings and entered the alleyway to identify the origin of the noise.

In the alleyway, a girl was crouching down and smoking. Her left hand was wrapped in bandages soaked in blood. She had a high nose, and her eyes were very sharp. Before I knew it, I couldn’t help but think she was pretty. She looked more beautiful and mysterious within the cramped alleyway filled with smoke.

“Kim Jin-Seo?” It was a familiar face. It was the Holy Name of Patience, Kim Jin-Seo.

When I subconsciously called out her name, she became startled and looked at me in surprise.

Smoke swirled out from the cigarette in her right hand.