After waking up inside the spring pool, Chi-Woo checked the message he’d been getting every day.

[Purification process of the body in the works… 99%]

“Ah.” He gasped as soon as he saw the number. It wasn’t even 98%, but 99%. He almost felt like the pool was toying with him now, but nevertheless, he got out of the pool a little disappointed. He repeated the same routine today as he did yesterday. He prayed, ate, drank, and exercised. Judging by his biological clock, he believed that morning and lunchtime had passed. And while undertaking his dinnertime exercise, Chi-Woo found a path that he hadn’t seen before until now, which was surprising since he had run at least a hundred times in this place by now.

‘Should I go this way?’ Without hesitation, Chi-Woo made the turn. It was steep, but the path itself was gentle and smooth, and he felt like he was running on a flat surface. Furthermore, since it was a straight path, it was a good place to do a sprint. While thinking that he should take this path from time to time, he came upon a crossroad. 

‘Where should I go?’ Chi-Woo wondered. Then he came to a sudden halt, feeling a fearsome presence lighting up his senses. His shuddering body was screaming at him to get out of here at once. Chi-Woo whirled around and looked where he had come from. By running up this steep slope, he had reached the upper floor without even realizing it, lulled into a false sense of security because of how easy the path was to run on.

“Ah…”

He froze and heaved heavily, feeling a tingling in the back of his knees like they were going limp. Memories of what had happened before assaulted him—he’d been chased by a mysterious monster until...