“Nooooooo!!”
Verna screamed!
The effect was incredible!
“Be, Verna!”
Who would have thought something like this would happen just by wearing the tiara Bell made?
But we should’ve expected it to some extent.
After all, Emily’s sword, Geomdori, also became corrupted because Bell made it.
‘It’s my fault.’
What should I do now?
Verna was still trembling and looked completely lost.
Mammon, Frey, and I tried to approach her with words of comfort.
Then Verna widened her eyes and shouted.
“Isn’t it just way too pretty?! How could I be this beautiful?!”
“??”
“I was already stunning, but now that I’m wearing this tiara, I’ve committed the ultimate sin. Everything around me will look like squids compared to me!”
Verna wiped her eyes like she was truly heartbroken.
There wasn’t even a hint of a joke in her demeanor, and we stared at her, dumbfounded.
“Sigh, how can a goddess like me commit so many sins?”
“……”
“No amount of apologies could be enough.”
“Uh, Verna, are you… okay with being corrupted?”
Wait. Is this happening because she’s corrupted?
But honestly, Verna’s always kind of been like this.
“Corrupted?!”
“When you put on the tiara, I got a message saying Verna has been corrupted.”
“I…………… am corrupted?”
So she didn’t even realize it herself.
Bracing myself for an outburst, I nodded carefully.
“Hmph! Is that really such a big deal?!”
Verna suddenly started exerting power.
Unlike before, dark light began to scatter around her.
“H-huh?”
Only now did Verna look flustered, as if realizing something was truly off.
“What is happening to me?!”
“First, maybe try taking the tiara off?”
Verna hesitated, clearly fond of the tiara.
In the end, Mammon dashed over and snatched it away.
“No!”
“I’ll give it back later, just hand it over for now.”
When Mammon spoke firmly, Verna pouted and fiddled with her hair.
“.. …………”
“Hmm?”
“So? Do you still feel corrupted?”
“Once you’re corrupted, it’s not something that can be reversed easily.”
“……”
“My body has been defiled!”
“People might misunderstand if they hear that, you know.”
Ah, looks like Verna is corrupted after all.
First, I decided to ask what the effects of corruption were.
“My power turned black!”
“And?”
“And? That’s it?”
“……Huh.”
I stared blankly at Verna for a moment.
She pretended to cry as if truly heartbroken.
“To think I can no longer sprinkle beautiful white sparkles… sob.”
“Be, Verna, is that the only change?”
“Sob, yes.”
Ha ha ha.
I chuckled awkwardly and watched Verna sniffle.
Thankfully, the other kids nearby comforted her in my place.
“Oh no! That’s so sad. We won’t get to see the angel’s white light anymore! Does that mean you’re a demon now?”
“The craving for beauty differs from being to being. I can imagine the shock must be overwhelming. Stay strong, Verna.”
Watching the two genuinely console her made me wonder if I was the strange one.
“Verna, do you happen to know how to turn back?”
No, maybe I am the weird one.
I was grateful the kids were here.
“If I keep spreading love and kindness, I’ll recover! But don’t worry! Spreading kindness is my specialty. I am a goddess, after all!”
“Well, that’s a relief. If you ever need help, let us know. We’ll help you.”
“Hmph! Thank you, Demon Lord.”
That was a thank-you… right?
Anyway, Verna wasn’t an easy one to deal with.
She decided that since things turned out this way, she’d keep wearing the tiara.
Mammon gave me a look, like “Shouldn’t we stop her?” but I just let it go.
As long as her magic only turns black and nothing worse happens, it should be fine.
And just like that, the Verna corruption incident wrapped up quickly, and we resumed making Najeonchilgi crafts.
“So this is how you do it.”
Since the kids were doing it, I joined in beside them.
Before I knew it, Ara had joined too and was getting lessons from Mammon.
Nice. Just cut the flat parts and use those.
“What do we do with the rest?”
“Throw it away.”
“Gasp! That’s such a waste!”
“It’s okay, my lord. I’ll grind it all up and use it.”
The shells were quite large, and we only cut out the flat parts.
We gathered those pieces and used Mammon’s all-purpose poison to glue them into a square panel shape.
Whoooosh.
Using the heat from the brazier, we dried it quickly, and the panel-shaped Najeonchilgi was complete.
“Wow, it’s already so pretty.”
“The color is lovely.”
Mammon and Frey looked quite pleased. Ara smiled brightly at her creation.
“So what do we do now!”
“Now you cut it into the shape you want. What shape do you want?”
“Hmm, a big slime! Something cool and grand!”
“Really? That should be pretty easy.”
While Ara worked on tracing a slime shape with Mammon’s help, Frey was diligently carving patterns into her Najeonchilgi.
“If I just cut it like this……………”
She muttered to herself in focus, looking quite adorable.
In the meantime, Bell had finished making Ara’s crown and quietly came over to watch.
“Nyaa~ng.”
He rolled around with a lazy expression.
After patting his soft belly a bit, I focused again.
What I wanted was a crane, one of the traditional Najeonchilgi inlay patterns.
There weren’t many choices, and when I saw the video, the crane appealed to me the most.
“Hmm, this is hard.”
Even drawing it wasn’t easy.
Now I had to cut it according to the drawing, which also looked pretty difficult.
“I’ve finished drawing it!”
“Well done. Now just cut it along those lines.”
Then Ara swiftly made a slice!
“I’ve cut it all!”
“Nice! Just wait a bit. I’ll finish mine too.”
“Okay! What are you making, Mammon?”
She spoke casually, but to me, it looked impressive.
I thought cutting would be the hardest part, but she finished it in a flash.
While I was briefly admiring her, Frey also finished her work.
Then Ara made another slice!
As one by one we completed our tasks, my uneven crane was also finished.
“Tada!”
“Ooh, I’ll cut it for you!”
With Ara’s help, the square panel of Najeonchilgi was quickly transformed into a crane.
A crane that sparkled and gleamed.
“For something I made, this looks pretty good.”
“It’s awesome!”
Of course, it was thanks to Ara’s clean cutting.
In my opinion, the cutting part was one of the most difficult tasks.
But now… where should I attach this?
“There’s nowhere to stick it.”
“Stick it here!”
Ara held up the crown she just made.
“Can I really?”
“Yup!”
And so, my crane and Ara’s giant slime were attached to the crown.
The giant slime placed in the center of the crown and the crane-shaped Najeonchilgi attached to the side.
The glittering Najeonchilgi looked pretty decent.
“It’s so pretty!”
Ara seemed very pleased with the crown and immediately put it on her head.
Then she suddenly struck a muscle-flexing pose again.
“I’m full of power! Hmm!”
“Wait, did you just make another item?”
When I checked just to be sure—yup, the crown was an item too.
And a good one at that, with the effect of increasing strength.
As expected from a member of the Seven Deadly Sins.
Anything Bell makes turns into an item.
If only he weren’t so lazy, I’d ask him to mass-produce them… heh.
“Alright, now that we’ve made Najeonchilgi, shall we head to the Elf Village?”
“Let’s go!”
There were only a few days left until we reached the Elf Village.
Let’s keep running with energy today too.
***
Kyler Lucas was testing out his newly upgraded abilities.
His adaptability already felt universal before, but after being upgraded with the ability Homunculus, it became even more bizarre.
Previously, he was highly competent across various fields but somehow always fell a bit short—like someone who could always come in second or third but never first.
“What the hell…”
Now, it felt like he could do anything and be first—or even beyond first.
Kyler, shocked by the enormous gap compared to when he was at Level 9, felt more worried about the ripple effects than joy at his power-up.
Especially because, right now, he was living the happiest days of his life.
His precious daughter whom he couldn’t love enough, beautiful scenery, and delicious meals every day made his current life so meaningful.
“Ugh…”
If Kyu-seong’s overwhelming power became known to the world, chaos would surely erupt again.
The Level 9 Awakeners definitely wouldn’t sit still.
Kyler knew the ambitious drive of Level 9s very well.
They were those who had cleared all quests and reached a place where they could no longer climb higher.
If becoming Kyu-seong’s subordinate meant breaking through that limit, many would kneel without hesitation.
“Daddy! Daddy! Look at this!”
“Hm?”
Just then, Emily showed him something.
Her sword, Geomdori, suddenly floated into the air and began swinging itself.
“Now that I’m Level 9, I can do this too!”
“W-wow…”
What’s more, his daughter Emily had become the youngest Level 9 ever.
She was only twelve years old.
‘As long as we don’t go outside, maybe it’ll be fine…’
But Emily was, as mentioned, only twelve.
While Kyu-seong’s dungeon was a great place, as a parent, he wanted to give her a wide range of experiences.
Especially since until last year, Emily had spent her whole life in a hospital.
Now that she was finally free, it felt wrong to tell her to stay inside.
Kyler’s worries deepened.
***
Meanwhile, at the U.S. Intelligence Agency.
Nathan, who had barely managed to handle the incident of Kyler’s disappearance and the vanishing of the Lust Dungeon, was now facing a serious crisis.
“Hmm…”
Among the recent events, the Level 8 break in Saudi Arabia was a critical blow.
Politically under heavy fire, Nathan was subtly being pushed to retire.
If he could simply retire and live a peaceful life, he would have gladly done so.
But he was the Director of U.S. Intelligence.
Everyone knew it wouldn’t be so simple.
Even if he did retire, he needed some kind of safety net—but time was running out.
The attacks coming from all sides were putting not only his political career but also his standing within the agency on the brink.
For a moment, he thought about contacting Kyler, but eventually sighed and gave up.
Kyler, who had spent his whole life on the run, had finally found happiness.
Dragging him back into this muddy battlefield didn’t feel right.
Besides, even though Kyler was a Level 9 Awakener, he couldn’t solve everything.
Unless it was a power even greater than that…
Beep.
He pressed the call bell.
Then the door opened, and Agent Sarah walked in.
“You called?”
“I’m going to Korea.”
“Korea?”
“Just in case… might as well say goodbye one last time.”
“……Understood.”
Sarah, knowing well what was going on, didn’t ask unnecessary questions.
After all, if Nathan got taken out, she was clearly next in line.
And so, with heavy hearts, the two of them booked their flight to Korea.
Cliche Novel 