Chapter 01
White breath puffed out with every exhale.
-*Whooosh.*
“Ugh… It’s cold.”
The cold wind, cutting against my skin like a blade, made me huddle into myself.
The alleyway had turned pure white from the snow that had fallen overnight.
-*Crunch.*
I walked, leaving footprints on top of it.
Just as I was leaving my solitary tracks on the snow, my phone rang.
-*Buzz. Buzz.*
[Shadow Guild]
They were the ones I desperately waited for every week.
“Hello.”
“This is Choi Hyun-ji from the Shadow Guild. Am I speaking with Na Min-woo?”
Today, as always, an emotionless, mechanical voice came through the smartphone.
“Yes, that’s me.”
-*Click-clack. Clack.*
The sound of typing came through the earpiece.
“I’m reporting this week’s investigation status. There were no additional traces found regarding the parents you requested.”
-*Clack. Click-clack.*
The incessant typing sound was annoying.
“Nothing again this time?”
‘The answer will be the same anyway.’
We are doing our utmost to find them.
“We are doing our utmost to find them.”
See? Not a single word off.
‘Even if I press further, it’ll just be the same thing.’
“Alright, I understand.”
“Then, we will contact you next week.”
-*Click. Click.*
“How can it be the exact same for four months straight……”
The Shadow Guild, supposedly the best at finding lost people.
I trusted their reputation and ads and hired them to find my parents.
‘Aside from the fact they went abroad the day they abandoned me 17 years ago, I’ve got nothing……’
Now I don’t even know if they’re dead or alive.
Are they really a proper information guild?
“Are they even really looking……”
The disappointment of another fruitless week washed over me, along with the bitter taste of the monthly fee.
But the fatigue from my convenience store night shift pressed down on me even harder.
“*Yawn.* Let’s just go home and sleep.”
Entrusting my body to my half-asleep, auto-piloting legs, I walked.
-*Crunch. Crunch.*
The only sound was my footsteps on the white snow.
Then, a strange noise cut through the haze pulling me toward dreamland.
“This Sovereign……”
There was only the snow-white alleyway around me.
No one else but me.
“Ah… I must be really tired today. I’m even hearing things.”
-*Crunch.*
“Hurry and serve the Sovereign……”
“Huh? Is someone really there?”
I turned my head toward the faint sound and saw a pile of trash covered in snow under a telephone pole.
“Over there?”
-*Rustle. Thud.*
A small cat was curled up among the trash.
In my fading memory—
the orange cheese-colored cat named Nabi that I used to raise with my parents who abandoned me.
“*Purrr.*”
It looked so much like that cat napping in the sun that the images overlapped.
Without thinking, my hand reached out and touched the cat.
-*Tap.*
Instead of warmth, an icy coldness transferred through my hand.
‘Don’t tell me it’s dead……?’
Just as anxiety began to rise, I heard the cat’s faint breathing.
-*Hiss. Hiss.*
“It’s still alive!”
-*Ziiip.*
I hurriedly unzipped my jacket and cradled the cat against my chest.
“Let’s hurry home.”
-*Tap-tap. Thump.*
-*Crunch. Crunch.*
“*Huff. Huff.*”
My breath was ragged, reaching up to my chin.
But I couldn’t stop.
‘I need to get home fast.’
I arrived at my shabby semi-basement apartment.
-*Squeak.*
As I opened the door, a chill similar to the outside and a musty smell greeted me.
I laid the cat on the blanket spread out in the middle of the room and said,
“Wait here just a moment.”
I hurriedly prepared a warm pack.
As I placed it next to the cat, I saw numerous wounds and bloodstains.
“Were you hurt too?”
Should I take it to the vet?
But I only had a few tens of thousands of won left in my bank account.
“I have no money, and I don’t have any recovery skills either……”
As I pondered for a moment, an item came to mind.
‘Ah! I have that!’
The first potion I ever made after awakening as an Alchemist.
It was rejected by the Association for being only half effective.
But I’d kept it out of regret.
“Could this help?”
-*Rattle.*
I took out the potion from the drawer in the corner of the room and opened the cap.
-*Pop.*
“Please, let it work. Please.”
-*Drizzle.*
With a desperate heart, I sprinkled the potion on the wounds.
-*Ssshhh.*
The potion was absorbed, and slowly, the wounds began to heal.
“Oh! It worked!”
-*Hiss. Hiss.*
The breathing sounded stronger than before, with more vigor.
“*Whew…* Thank goodness. Now it just needs to regain its strength.”
As the tension faded, fatigue flooded in like a wave.
“*Yawn!* I should sleep too.”
With my eyelids growing heavy, I lay down next to the cat and drifted off to sleep.
***
“You there……”
A strange voice faintly reached me as I slept soundly.
‘What was that sound?’
Forcing my heavy eyelids open with difficulty.
“*Mmnn…*”
Before my open eyes was a pink jelly.
-*Squish.*
A soft, squishy cat paw pressed against my forehead.
‘Ah! It was the cat. I must have misheard.’
Along with a pleasant, unique elasticity, a soft, fluffy warmth spread through my forehead.
‘Ah… so this is why everyone goes crazy for cat paws.’
“Feeling a bit better now?”
I closed my eyes again and waited for the cat’s cute meow.
But what came was something beyond my expectations.
“How dare you speak informally to this Sovereign?”
It was human speech.
-*Scamper.*
“What?! Who’s there!”
-*Whirl. Whirl.*
I quickly sat up and scanned the room, but there was no one else.
No, there was one more.
A small, orange fluffball, barely the size of two fists.
“Was that you talking?”
“You. Your words are short. Do you truly wish to be taught a lesson by this Sovereign?”
-*Thump!*
“Ouch! My tailbone!”
I stumbled backward, tripping over the blanket and falling.
The cat looked at me and shook its head from side to side.
“Tsk, tsk. Pathetic.”
A tingling pain shot from my tailbone to the top of my head.
‘If it hurts, this can’t be a dream, right?’
“How can a cat speak human language?”
-*Swipe!*
“Ow!”
A long scratch mark from the cat’s claw appeared on my arm.
“If you speak informally to this Sovereign one more time, I will rip out your tongue!”
Despite its cute, cotton-ball appearance, the cat spoke in a sharp, dignified tone.
‘Could it be a monster? Or a pet? It’s definitely no ordinary cat!’
“W-what exactly are you?”
In response to my question, the cat neatly folded its small front paws, sat up straight, and said,
“This Sovereign is Cheon Hui, the 8th Lord of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.”
‘Cute. But wait… Divine Cult? Cult Leader?’
A religion with a cat for a leader?
That couldn’t exist.
“Hmph. I have revealed my identity, yet you still do not show proper respect?”
“Ah! My name is Na Min-woo. Um, are you under a curse?”
“Oh-ho. Your eyes are somewhat useful. That cowardly Blood Demon placed a curse, trapping my soul within this lowly beast’s body.”
“Trapped your soul?”
“Indeed. And it happened to be a dying body, so I was on the verge of disappearing entirely, but you saved this Sovereign. Know that it is an honor.”
Saving him, and he tells me to consider it an honor.
That such words come out of a cute, cotton-ball-like cat’s mouth.
This has to be a curse.
‘Of course, I’ve never heard of a curse that possesses a person’s soul into a cat.’
There are curses that make you mute, or turn you to stone.
Couldn’t there be one for turning someone into a cat?
Look at him.
Those stubby little front paws hiding squishy, springy pink jellies.
Those huge eyes taking up half his face, and those twitching ears.
That flicking tongue and twitching nose.
And finally, the orange fur covering his entire body.
He doesn’t pale in comparison to any cuteness in the world.
‘Snap out of it. This isn’t the time.’
His dignified posture and the weighty tone befitting it.
Even the way he looks down on others.
Isn’t it all fitting for a leader called a Cult Master?
‘If he’s a figure like a Cult Master, he must have a lot of money, right?’
If so, if I help him in this cursed situation,
he’d surely give me a huge reward.
‘Then I wouldn’t have to struggle with the investigation fees anymore. Or rather……’
I could ask him to help me find my parents.
“Where do you live? I’ll take you there.”
“Guide me to the Hundred Thousand Great Mountains.”
The Hundred Thousand Great Mountains?
Did such a place exist in Korea?
“I’ve never heard of it.”
“What?!”
Cheon Hui closed his eyes, twitched his small nose, and sniffed the air.
-*Sniff. Sniff.*
“I thought my senses were twisted because of this cursed body, but this is truly another world……”
“Another world… meaning you came from a different world?”
“That’s right. That Blood Demon bastard. Not only did he trap my soul in a beast’s body, but he also sent me to another world?”
Wait a minute.
If Cheon Hui is from another world,
doesn’t that mean getting a reward is going to be difficult?
“Before this Sovereign returns to the Central Plains, I must first deal with this wretched body.”
I did know one way to restore his original body.
It was a shame I couldn’t get a reward, but
‘It’s not really information that costs me anything, either.’
“For curse… removal, there is one method I know of.”
Cheon Hui’s eyes widened and sparkled at my words.
“What is it? That method.”
“A potion called Pandora’s Breath. Rumor has it that it can remove all curses and even resurrect the dead.”
“Good. Then go and obtain it immediately.”
I shook my head at his confident demand.
“I can’t get it. It’s too expensive.”
“What? Are you saying that mere money is too precious to serve this Sovereign?!”
Mere money.
Yes, I don’t have that ‘mere money.’
That’s why I’m living so miserably like this.
“It’s over 10 billion won. I don’t have that kind of money.”
“If you don’t have it, just go and get it. Go and obtain it.”
Hearing Cheon Hui speak so nonchalantly about getting the money suddenly made my blood boil.
“No! I can’t! Where am I supposed to get that much money?! My monthly salary is barely 2.1 million won!”
It’s a life where I can’t even get a loan, let alone save money.
How can I possibly get that kind of money?
“Are you daring to raise your voice at this Sovereign?!”
“Yes! Am I not allowed to get angry?!”
At my outburst, Cheon Hui narrowed his eyes and glared at me.
“Do you truly wish to die?”
At his words, the room, already cold, seemed to drop in temperature, and my body began to tremble.
Then came an immense pressure.
‘Ugh… What is this? Is this guy’s skill?’
The pressure grew stronger, and I couldn’t breathe.
Is this how I die?
I forced my bowing head up.
And met Cheon Hui’s eyes.
“You dare to look this Sovereign straight in the eye? Bold.”
-*Whoosh.*
The pressure that had been pressing down on me vanished in an instant.
“Be grateful for this Sovereign’s whim.”
“*Huff. Huff.*”
“I’ll say it once more. Go and obtain that elixir.”
“I… can’t.”
“Go and take it by force.”
“*Huff…* It’s at the HS Group right now, how am I supposed to steal it? You’re basically telling me to go die.”
“Do you think this Sovereign cannot kill you?”
“Do as you please. Kill me or spare me. Whether I die a stupid death over there or a clean one here, it’s all the same to me.”
At my answer, Cheon Hui silently stared at me.
The air grew heavier again, then scattered in an instant.
“……Hah. Tsk. A man so defiant in the face of death is clearly insane.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment. So, you’re sparing me?”
“I shall spare you. But you seem to know a great deal about that elixir. Even who possesses it.”
“Since I’m an alchemist, just like the person who made it, it’s natural to be interested.”
“What?! Are you saying you can also create that elixir?”
My panting breath returned to normal.
-*Thud.*
“No. With my worthless talent of Mana Insensitivity, I can’t make it. You really need an innate gift to create something like that.”
“Worthless talent? Who said your talent is worthless?”
“The world does. The characteristic the System gave me, Mana Insensitivity, is considered a talent more worthless than trash.”
“Pathetic. You possess the rare talent of the Blocked Meridians, yet you fail to recognize your own gift because of others’ words.”
“Blocked Meridians? What’s that?”
“It’s a talent where all the energy meridians in your body are blocked, but if you can break through them, it becomes a talent that even the Heaven-given Celestial Body would envy.”
A talent that even the Heaven-given talent would envy?
Me?
“Can you perhaps… unblock those meridians?”
“Hah… This is absurd. Do you really think this Sovereign is incapable of that?”
Cheon Hui said he could change my talent.
Things couldn’t get any worse than they already are.
If so, whether he’s telling the truth or not, I’ll bet everything on it.
I approached him, still sitting unwaveringly.
Grabbing his two small, adorable front paws, I pleaded.
“Please! Unblock my meridians!”
How could I have known?
That this cat I picked up, blinded by faded memories, would change my worthless talent.
