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At the Edge of Paradise (3)

“My siblings… My siblings…”

As Specter chased after Torres to the hall, Marco stood up as if possessed. He couldn’t take more than a few steps before he vomited again.

“Bleeghh! Ugh…”

Marco was a responsible older brother, but he was still only 19. He was too young to watch dozens of fiends explode like balloons.

“Anna… Shu… Leo… Finn…” He hit his own trembling legs. He had to get to them.

Marco barely managed to stand up, but he slowly started to make his way to the benches, where his siblings were. The sea of blood made the ground slippery, and the stench of iron pricked his nose.

“Wake up! Anna! Leo!”

He tried to shake them awake, but they remained unconscious. Even though they had become fiends, they were only level 1. They couldn’t handle Specter’s venomous bloodthirst.

“What do I do… What do I do?”

The door opened and Specter walked in.

“S-Specter-nim! Over here!” Marco waved frantically, and he made his way over. “They’re not waking up. Did they hit their heads too hard?”

“…Perhaps.”

“I think we should take them to the hospital as soon as possible. Because the demon blood—shouldn’t we take it out? They’ll go back to normal then…” He blubbered. Seo Jun-ho looked down at him.

He knew why Marco was acting like this.

…Poor kid. 

Marco already knew that it was too late. Seo Jun-ho understood, and he felt sorry.

“Huh?” Specter started to stroke his head. He’d always been his favorite player. Marco should’ve felt happy, but tears formed instead; once they started, they wouldn’t stop. He choked.

“Please… Please save my siblings,” he begged. But he wasn’t stupid. He knew that no fiend had ever turned back to normal. “They’ve already been thrown away once. They didn’t have much clothes or even food. Ever since they were old enough to think, they started stealing food and ran away just so that they wouldn’t die.”

How could they be fiends? They were children who cried because they didn’t understand why they didn’t have parents. He couldn’t just let them die when they’d never experienced happiness. Marco felt like his chest was ripping apart from the unfairness of it all.

“……”

Seo Jun-ho felt bad as he watched Marco sob. He hated fiends, but these children weren’t like the fiends he had always encountered.

They did nothing wrong.

True, some of them had killed before, but that was because they’d been under Torres’s control. They wouldn’t even remember their victims.

And it’s all my fault that this happened. 

He truly wanted to help Marco. But he couldn’t.

They were fiends.

“I understand how you feel.” Marco raised his head. There was hope in his red, swollen eyes.

“But I still can’t,” he said, resolute. It would be cruel to give him hope.

“Why not? Why can’t you? You heard what he said. They didn’t want to become fiends in the first place!”

“Marco. Do you know why society treats fiends so badly?”

Marco couldn’t answer. He just thought that they were like any other criminals and terrorists based on what he saw on the news, and most people thought the same.

“When a person drinks demon blood, one of two things happen. They either die because they can’t adjust to it, or they become a fiend.” Seo Jun-ho pointed. The children were starting to stir.

“Huh…?”

“Ow, my head. Where is this place?”

“What’s that smell? Blood?”

The first thing they saw as they awoke was a hall covered in blood. They started to vomit like Marco had.

“Urp…!”

“Bleegh!”

Marco watched them. “Look, they’re just like me. They’re humans.”

“Yes, humans and fiends aren’t so different. But…”

The children’s eyes turned red at the sight of blood. They started to walk toward the two, as if attracted by a magnet.

“…Oppa?”

(TN: Korean word for older brother, used by girls to boys.)

“Hyung…”

Among them were Marco’s siblings. Marco started to run toward them, but Seo Jun-ho grabbed him.

“You can’t.”

“What are you saying? They’re my siblings! Let me go!”

“……”

Seo Jun-ho silently held onto him. A moment later, Anna approached them. She shook her head, confused.

“Oppa… I think something’s wrong with me.”

“What’s wrong? Are you hurt? Did you get injured?”

“Oppa… I really like you, but…” She raised her hands. They were shaking violently. “Why… Why do I want to kill you?”

“……!” Marco couldn’t say anything in shock. He looked up at Seo Jun-ho, trembling.

“…Do you get it now? That’s what a fiend is.” Violent and savage. Once they drank the blood, they all became the same way. They would be able to use the power of the demon clans, but they would have the constant, uncontrollable urge to kill.

I’m sorry, Anna’s eyes seemed to say as she met Seo Jun-ho’s eyes.

She was still a young child. She was at an age when she needed the warmth and support of a parent.

It was unfair that she had to die before she could learn to read.

“…You understand now, don’t you? Why society rejects and hates fiends so much.”

“……”

Marco squeezed his eyes shut. He didn’t respond. He did understand.

…Because they kill the people they’re precious to.

Fiends weren’t humans. They were monsters that always wanted to kill—even those that they loved.

“Don’t come any closer,” Seo Jun-ho warned, an edge to his voice. But the children couldn’t control themselves and continued forward.

He let out a long sigh and grabbed Anna’s wrist to break it.

A series of messages appeared before his eyes.

[You sense Arch-level Demonic energy from the target.] [You can absorb Demonic energy with the ‘Watchguard of Darkness’ skill.] [Your Magic stat will increase upon absorption.]

“……!” Seo Jun-ho’s eyes flashed. He read over the message several times.

Arch Demonic energy? And I can absorb it? This is…

It was the same message that had appeared when he treated Choi Sun-hee’s Nine Yin Severance Syndrome.

His head started to spin. Impossible. I’ve killed hundreds of fiends, but this has never happened before.

Had Watchguard of Darkness developed a new ability after 25 years? He shook his head.

If there’s a reason why this is happening, it’s because of them, not me. Maybe…?

Seo Jun-ho’s eyes widened.

That’s it. That’s the only difference between them.

Most of the fiends that Seo Jun-ho encountered had been players who were tempted by a stronger power. That was it—they were players.

“…Specter-nim.”

Marco bit his lip and raised his head. He looked like he had made a decision. “Please… Please let me be the one to end it.”

He was talking about his siblings. Someone had to take care of them, and Marco thought that he should be the one.

“…Are you sure? This will follow you for the rest of your life. You won’t ever forget it.”

“I’ll carry the burden and push through. That’s what you told me.”

Specter had told him that a player kept going even if the people they loved died in front of them.

Both Seo Jun-ho and the Frost Queen patted him on the head.

“I’m proud of you.”

“You should be proud.”

As he looked down at Marco’s confused face, Seo Jun-ho felt sure that he would become a great player.

There aren’t many players who cry for others.

“Too bad. I don’t think you need to carry all that just yet.”

Seo Jun-ho poured his magic into Anna, pushing it into her circuits.

Consume it.

Seo Jun-ho expelled the small amount of Demonic energy stuck in her circuits with a single push. Watchguard of Darkness lapped up the crumbs. It only took three seconds for his magic to travel all throughout Anna’s small body.

[Your Magic stat has increased by 0.05.]

The amount of magic he gained was also small. But beneath his mask, Seo Jun-ho was grinning wide. Anna’s eyes faded back to normal.

“Huh?! Anna, your eyes!”

“You can touch her now. She’s your sister again.”

“How… Anna! Are you okay?!” Anna fell to the ground, and he rushed to help her.

“Oppa…? M-my brain feels foggy. My memory’s vague… and I’m tired.”

“You idiot. Thank God… Thank God…”

“…Ew, why are you crying on me? Give me some space.”

Seo Jun-ho watched them fondly. The Frost Queen saw him and cackled.

“My goodness, is my Contractor weak to children?”

“…Shut up. I’m not.”

“You are a man with many weaknesses.”

“I said I’m not. I don’t have any weaknesses.”

“Fufu. So you say.” The Frost Queen stuck out her tongue and took her seat on his shoulder.

They were both smiling.