You Will Be Blessed If You Do Good Deeds¿-Chapter 167

Leo, who had carried me, ran non-stop for two full days and nights.

He should have been tired, but instead, Leo seemed to be in a state of excitement.

After all, having spent so much time in a stuffy city, it must have been thrilling to run freely across the vast land, where nothing could get in the way, no matter how fast he ran.

As I marveled at the scenery while riding on Leo, I suddenly realized something.

‘This world really has been destroyed.’

According to my original memories, I should have passed by several cities or towns, but all that remained in their place was nothing but barren wastelands.

The only trace of humanity was the rubble of some collapsed buildings.

Among those ruined buildings, animals and monsters had settled in, but upon sensing Leo’s presence, they would quickly scatter.

...Even I, who no longer felt much sentiment for the world of my past life, couldn’t help but briefly feel a pang of nostalgia for the sight.

System Warning

Current user, 'Jeong Da-on,' has exceeded the system’s interference range.

Connection to the system is limited, and only minimal functions can be provided.

As I moved farther from the point of entry, a system warning appeared. In a way, it was a relief.

It reminded me not to forget who I was.

After running without rest, Leo eventually came to a stop. Recognizing the familiar terrain, I dismounted.

“Grrr!”

Leo, who had been running tirelessly for almost two days, nudged me with his head, clearly seeking praise.

I patted him as much as he wanted and glanced around.

A vast plain, with the horizon stretching far in the distance.

The land was dotted with weeds and wildflowers, scattered without any apparent order.

"I never thought I’d end up back here..."

This was the place I had chosen as my hiding spot when I was forced to flee.

Originally, this place had been a terribly desolate wasteland.

That was because a Black Dragon’s lair was nearby, an S-class monster.

The Black Dragon, a creature that emitted poisonous miasma that harmed any living being, had made it so that not a single blade of grass or monster would dare approach its lair.

As a result, humans had never dared to venture close, which made it the perfect spot for me to hide back then.

"...It looks like that monster is long gone."

Since the moment I became the 'Destroyer of Worlds,' the system had classified me as a monster rather than a human, so I could communicate with other sentient beings among the monsters.

Unlike me, actual demons like Lilith or dragons were among those sentient beings.

When I wandered the continent without a destination, the Black Dragon had kindly offered me a place to stay.

Of course, its kindness wasn't born from friendship by human standards. It didn’t interfere when I died fighting the Hero.

In any case, if the Black Dragon were still around, these plants wouldn't have grown. It was clear that it had already left.

Still, I thought it likely that a sentry had been left behind... I could check after handling my business here.

I placed my hand on the ground and channeled my mana into it.

Whoooosh!

As I poured my mana into the earth, light scattered wildly.

The illusionary magic and barrier that had hidden my shelter shimmered as it became visible.

I focused my soul and imbued my magic with a command.

[Reveal yourself.]

Boom!

With a rumble, the barrier flashed and revealed my hidden shelter.

"Fortunately, it’s still intact."

Despite being called a shelter, it appeared as nothing more than a shabby hut from the outside.

It was a structure I had built myself, so that was to be expected.

And in front of the hut I built...

Grrrr!

Basking under the warm sunlight, a giant beast lying down lazily raised its head.

It was a beautiful white lion, its luxurious mane glowing white.

And that lion was the last of the three creatures I had created.

I approached quietly so as not to startle the sleeping lion.

“Hello.”

Grrr!

But before I could even finish, the giant lion, who had been napping, sprang up in shock at the sound of my voice.

As expected, it acted just like a cat—much like Leo.

“Hmm!”

Seeing this, Leo couldn't help but let out a mocking snort.

Grrr, grrr!

The lion was momentarily startled, but as it stared at me with confusion, it quickly realized who I was.

It had been created using a part of my soul, so this recognition came naturally.

Sniff, sniff!

The lion’s breath became heavier as it grew excited, and in the next moment, it ran towards me, standing on its hind legs and hugging me with its front paws.

Well, it tried to hug me, at least.

“Yikes!”

Fool!

Thud!

With a loud smack, Leo swatted the lion away with his thick paws.

The lion, surprised by the sudden blow, stumbled back, frozen in place.

Leo stood proudly, puffing out his chest after easily overpowering the lion.

“Meow!”

Master is weak!

"Yeah, I’m not strong enough to handle you right now."

If I had let it hug me, my bones might have been crushed.

Leo, like Robo, was terrible at controlling his strength.

“Ugh...”

The problem was that the lion didn’t understand Leo’s words.

The lion looked at me with teary eyes, but since it still didn’t seem like I would hug it, it slumped to the ground.

Then, it began shrinking rapidly.

The white lion, now a tiny cub, started crying tears the size of chicken droppings.

“Beep... beep beep...!”

It was oddly similar to a chick’s chirping when it was a cub.

I clicked my tongue and approached the cub.

"...Oh, you haven’t grown at all."

This white lion, part of my ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) retinue, was actually a very recent creation, much later than Robo.

If Leo was fully grown and Robo was a teenager, this lion was essentially still a cub.

As a result, Leo could strike it down without hesitation, and Robo could teach it, but I couldn’t be as harsh on this one.

If I even tried to train it, it would just whine and cry like that—how could I teach it anything?

I sighed and picked up the crying cub.

The little lion immediately nestled into my arms as if it had been waiting for me to do so.

“Leo and Robo seemed to be getting along fine. Why did you stay here instead of going elsewhere?”

The cub seemed to understand my scolding tone, as it kept making whiny sounds from my arms.

It was still incapable of expressing its intentions properly, so I couldn’t figure out what it had been doing all this time.

When I called for my retinue from Count Burk’s territory, only Robo had responded, so I wondered if something had happened.

If you are reading this translation anywhere other than Novelight.net or SilkRoadTL, it has been stolen.

It turned out that it hadn’t grown at all since I last saw it.

‘...I should have come back sooner.’

I thought they were doing well on their own, so I hadn’t worried about them, but now I felt a little regretful.

“Well, I should give you a name too.”

While comforting the cub, I turned to look at Leo, who was yawning widely.

"Now that I think about it, Leo, I should have given your name to this one. Do you want to change your name now?"

“Meow?”

What are you talking about?

Leo looked at me with wide eyes.

At first, he’d gotten upset when I started naming things, but now, seeing that I was giving the name to another, he seemed upset.

It was a funny sight.

I continued soothing the cub, but after not seeing them for so long, the little lion was still as loud as ever.

I decided to place it on Leo’s back, and he grudgingly carried the cub.

“Meow!”

Too much trouble!

Reluctantly, Leo took on the burden, but I quickly moved forward.

It wasn’t like I was happy about it, but time was short.

“You two stay here.”

I left my two retinues outside and entered the hut.

When I opened the door, a cloud of dust greeted me.

I looked around inside the hut.

“Did I leave it like this?”

The inside of the hut, though modest in appearance, was quite different from what it seemed from the outside.

In my past life, I loved distorting connections between spaces.

This hut was no exception.

Although it looked shabby, I had connected multiple spaces to it, making the inside the size of a large mansion.

Which spaces did I connect? Well, it was some of the castles I had during my time as a princess.

Of course, everything was taken away when I was driven out, but some hidden chambers I had kept within the castles were never discovered.

So, I connected these chambers to this hut.

Those rooms were also kept well-hidden with defensive magic so others couldn’t easily enter.

Now that I think about it, I think I lived more luxuriously while living in seclusion as 'Jeong Da-on' than I did as a princess.

"Hmm, some spaces have become unusable because the castle itself collapsed. That one... was it a storage room?"

Though some of the external spaces had been affected by the world’s destruction, most of the important places were still preserved safely.

“Thank goodness the laboratory is intact.”

This was the place I had to come to.

It was a small room, the size of a massive storage space.

Papers were scattered everywhere, and the completed potions were hastily arranged on the shelves.

“Back then, I couldn’t organize anything since I couldn’t use the inventory.”

Since I had been classified as a monster by the system, I had lost the right to use the inventory.

Now, thinking back, I suppose that the system didn’t allow me to use it because I was no longer human, and the process of storing items in the soul must have been part of the system’s role.

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At the time, I didn’t understand why I couldn’t use the inventory, and since I didn’t need it, I just left it.

"Ah, here it is."

As I rummaged through the laboratory, I quickly found the potion I had been searching for.

It was a transparent small glass bottle containing a shimmering liquid.

Golden Varnish.

It was a masterpiece among the potions I had created.

"I never imagined I’d end up using it like this."

I picked up the bottle and inspected the potion inside.

The Golden Varnish had been created during my research on immortality.

Of course, the immortality research had ended in failure.

But not all of the process had been a failure.

The Golden Varnish had been one of the results of that research.

At that time, I considered transferring my soul to another body as a method for immortality.

However, it wasn’t just about switching bodies. The new body had to have magical talent as well.

So, I researched ways to artificially instill magical talent into a body with little to no magic ability.

It was similar to what I did with Seolmae, but instead of just expanding the mana circuits, I needed to reinforce the vessel that would contain the soul.

That’s how the potion came to be... and it turned out surprisingly well.

The Golden Varnish reinforced the body, enabling it to withstand the strength of the soul.

Even though the body itself wasn’t stronger, the mana circuits were significantly reinforced.

It was similar to the concept of "transforming the body" in martial arts.

It was a potion that helped a mage take on the most suitable form for magic.

"Hmm, good. Let me prepare myself..."

I checked my body before taking the potion.

Here are my current stats:

Jeong Da-on (Region Out of Bounds)

Potential Ability Rating: S-Class

Health: LV. 45

Strength: LV. 55

Mana: LV. 85

Overall Level: LV. 54

Though I didn’t like reducing magic to numbers and classifications, if I had to, with these stats, I could probably use up to 5th-circle magic.

A mage who could use 5th-circle magic would be rated A-Class.

So, as a hunter, I had already reached a high level.

In fact, Jeong Da-on's body wasn’t bad at all.

It had far better potential than my previous body.

It was a vessel that could be considered excellent.

But...

‘I pushed it too hard.’

Even though there were reasons, I had immediately used incantation magic right after awakening.

Because of that, my mana circuits had been pushed to the brink.

Fortunately, my public reputation improved, and my body quickly strengthened through quests, but if that hadn't happened, I would have had to address it right after returning from New York.

‘At least this should fix it.’

I looked at the potion for a moment before drinking it without hesitation.

And then...

“...Aaaah!”

A searing pain took over.

I screamed without hesitation since there was no one around to hear it.

I gritted my teeth.

‘I’m holding on...!’

This was a process that was almost like completely tearing apart my body—there was no way it could change overnight without any cost.

That’s why I had asked for a week’s time when I mentioned Jeong Ja-young’s friend.

Sweat poured down my face.

Crack, crack.

My bones twisted with strange sounds before snapping back into place.

The mana circuits that had been overworked began to recover and expand.

I’d have to endure this pain for at least two more days.

‘...I’m glad I had a week.’

Afterward, my consciousness half-faded.

The following time was one of agony and endurance.

Pain surged through my body like being scraped with needles. My skin itched uncontrollably, and sweat-drenched hair fell out in clumps.

The pain made each second feel slower.

Even though I had added a pain-relief potion, it still hurt unbearably.

Two nights passed in agony, and eventually, the heat in my body subsided.

When I finally woke up, the pain had faded.

A major change occurred in your status window.

It is recommended to check your status window.

The first thing I saw was the system message.

At the same time, a heavy warmth pressed down on my body.

Looking down, I saw Leo, with his large head resting on my chest, sleeping peacefully.

And I made eye contact with the little cub that had been pressing its feet against my arm.

It seemed like it hadn’t had any sleep, as it stared at me and then headbutted my face.

“...I told you to stay outside.”

Grrr!

I pushed Leo’s heavy head off me and picked up the cub.

Had it stayed by my side while I suffered?

Leo was passed out, and the cub was still wet with tears from crying nonstop.

“The crybaby is enough with Jeong Da-jeong alone. What a pain.”

If both of them kept whining, even I, who am lenient with my kin, would not be able to handle it.

“Ugh...”

Sensing my frustration, the cub’s ears and tail drooped.

It seemed to be as cautious as Jeong Da-jeong was in front of me.

Looking at it, I couldn’t help but feel a bit sentimental.

Maybe the pain I’d endured was still lingering.

I whispered softly as I held the cub.

“The fact that you haven’t grown... it’s my fault.”

My retinue were ultimately creatures born from parts of my soul.

They were pieces of me that I couldn’t suppress, created to hold onto emotions I couldn’t control.

While Leo and Robo had grown beyond mere fragments of my soul, this white lion remained in a constant state of infancy.

At first, I wondered why, but now I understood.

Perhaps its failure to mature was due to the fragment of my soul it was created from.

“...I shouldn’t have separated you. I should have swallowed you and destroyed you from within.”

When I created my last retinue... did I remove my anger and loneliness? Did I leave that part of me behind?

Perhaps I thought I wanted to forgive Orbis, the woman who betrayed me after using me so thoroughly.

But to hate my family, the people I once loved more than life itself... would have been like eroding myself more than my enemies.

So, I wanted to forgive and forget, to replace everything with that resolution.

...Though, I didn’t even understand why I had briefly entertained that thought, so I separated my feelings from Orbis.

However, looking at the cub now, I began to wonder.

What’s the real difference between the feelings I threw away—anger, loneliness—and this?

A monster has appeared.

The name of the monster cannot be recognized.

Only the minimum functions for user convenience are provided.

“...Even the foolish collective intelligence can do something useful.”

The alarm snapped me out of my reverie.

I stood up from my position.

It seemed like a sparring partner had appeared to test my new body.