The Outer God Needs Warmth

Gumi Mil, quietly staring at me.

Soo-oh, hugging me from behind and sending a stern look towards Gumi Mil.

In the meantime, I sat down and brought up the topic she would want to know the most.

“Ms. Gumi Mil, if you wish for him to return to his original form, give it up. That can’t happen.”

At my words, Gumi Mil frowned.

“Why not? If I give you to him, can’t I just take him back?”

Well, maybe that could work?

I’ve never actually taken him back, so I can’t really say how it would go.

But I definitely have no intention of taking him back.

How do you think I made him into a harvesting period?

But if I explained it straightforwardly, I’d probably end up with a knife in my back.

So, I’ll explain only the facts and shift the blame.

“This is a contract, Ms. Gumi Mil. In what situation did he contract with me? Have you ever imagined what might have happened if he hadn’t made that contract?”

At my words, Gumi Mil fell into thought.

Then she slowly realized some fact, and her expression hardened.

That’s right.

Oh Myeong-seong contracted on that day.

They were dying at the hands of Yoo Jo-young, the leader of the Five Swordmasters in the Akseong Canyon.

Especially, Gumi Mil was in great danger, and Oh Myeong-seong got badly hurt trying to save her.

In a situation where defeat was obvious, Oh Myeong-seong contracted with me to survive.

He was clinging to life, whispering to the power within him, and it was enough for me to make contact.

So, I healed all his wounds in an instant and killed that Yoo Jo-young guy. But from then on, Oh Myeong-seong became a murderer of the leader.

He tried to change the situation and went to the place filled with monks but ended up being branded as a madman at the entrance and went on a long escape.

So, what if Oh Myeong-seong didn’t make the contract?

The chances are high that both of them would have died in the Akseong Canyon. If lucky, Gumi Mil might have survived, but I think she knows it wouldn’t have been easy.

“The choice was made by you two.”

Soo-oh also contracted to live, and so did Cheonma.

It’s all the result of the contract. The light of despair at the bottom of the surface is all the same.

When you have nothing you can do by your own power and have stopped moving your body, with truly nothing left but death.

But I contract with those who still don’t want to die.

Surprisingly, those who simply accept death and resign themselves are not desperate enough to come to my place.

When a person has the will but can no longer find a way up regardless of what they do, they fall to the very bottom of despair.

“So it’s true that you can never go back to the way things were?”

“Yes. It’s uncertain whether it was even possible in the first place.”

I don’t even know much about myself. I don’t even know why I become stronger when I push myself down. I’m vaguely guessing, but nothing has been clearly revealed.

“Do you want to go back? Want to erase everything that happened before contracting?”

I pushed this point because I thought pressing too hard might raise their hostility too much, emphasizing the moment when they chose.

Gumi Mil fell silent.

She knows too.

Hehe.

“Those who know, already know, but Gumi Mil, you can’t push someone who has already pushed you in once.”

It means that making a contract again after getting severely hurt is impossible.

At that point, quietly die and give up your warmth.

It’s better not to say such things.

Gumi Mil pointed to Soo-oh beside me.

“So that kid also contracted with you?”

“She was on the brink of death.”

At that time, Cheonma was an enemy, and I didn’t know what would happen if she realized I met you. If it got out that I had removed the bug from her body, the chances of being killed were high.

So, to erase that trace, she hurriedly made the contract. And probably because of that experience, Cheonma became a harvesting period.

At least she saw the healing happen first-hand.

I never thought she would turn into a woman, though.

“That moment, I suppose you contracted with Cheonma.”

Ah.

That moment, Cheonma must have seen me resurrect and kill Guseongyong.

“Yes. Cheonma summoned me to this world.”

“To this world?”

Gumi Mil asked with a puzzled expression, while Soo-oh looked up at me with a curious expression.

Cheonma hadn’t shared that much of the story.

Ah, right.

There’s a way to make them not question my powers too much here.

“It appears that the contract with Eunjai still remains. I was originally a cold sea, gently pooling down below.”

Gumi Mil likely knows Eunjai’s name. However, she’s never been to Eunjai’s dwelling where Guseongyong and Cheonma went.

At least, that’s what Guseongyong and Cheonma think.

The powers of the past, although unverified, create an illusion that everything seems fine. That’s why the customs of the past do not easily disappear.

People trust blindly because they have been doing it for so long.

Since they don’t know what the reality is, they only trust what they see from the past.

“The god……!”

They are truly surprised. And I can see from their expression that they understand. In reality, nothing has been revealed.

“The god had the same hair color as you. Could it be that because you contracted with him, he too became a god?”

Ah, I definitely have to clarify this.

I shook my head.

“No. The reason he rose to the position of a god is purely because he did well. Even if I give myself up, most people die trying to wield power against greater forces.”

So, even if I send memories, they can’t build the basis to call me.

There are wise individuals who act wisely, but those people soon become satisfied with their situation and continue living.

However, since I turned into a harvesting period instead of exploding, I’ve seen hundreds of people, but nearly no one has died satisfied claiming they lived a happy life.

Very few die of old age.

For various reasons, many are murdered during their lives.

So, I know I was right. If I give power without asking for much in return, people will automatically head toward destruction without needing to be told.

Of course, in the faded memories and in the rare writings left by the world’s intellectuals, there are similar remarks.

Absolute power corrupts absolutely.

Yes. It means that great power eventually turns into immense evil.

Of course, not everyone ends up that way.

The most extreme counterexample I know of is Tisah.

He turned that around and died an old man in due time.

Exceptions clearly exist. But those are like defective products.

Even that defective product has given a lot of warmth because sometimes there are enemies that can’t be stopped unless you die.

Humans live more emotionally than rationally, and no matter how good and right a person may be, if they kill someone within their fence, many will feel hate.

Even if it’s clear that the dead deserved to die.

From a mechanical perspective, it’s not rational and not logical.

“I only give of myself. Everything gained afterward is their own.”

So that’s a warning against calling me bad.

“Choseol. Then, what do you gain?”

Gumi Mil pointed out a good point.

That’s right. Having a contract means exchanging important things with one another.

There’s profit involved.

“In the end, I contract to take everything they’ve built, after they die.”

In reality, the only thing I take is warmth. But I wrote the contract that way.

This led people to the idea of the god of death.

I utilized that.

And it worked well, as everyone became harvesting periods.

Wow, I was really happy back then.

I thought the world was flowing just the way I wanted.

But who knew the glass couldn’t endure and shattered?

“How terrible! You’re saying you’ll take everything they’ve accomplished by then? It means that their life after contracting is all yours, right?”

That’s true.

Because after that, I’m always watching.

“Then am I wrong for that?”

I wasn’t wrong. I desire warmth, and they need the power to change reality. It’s a fair trade.

Though, to put it plainly, it is a fraudulent contract.

At least, that’s how it is in countries where human rights are enshrined in the constitution.

But not here.

“Or do you intend to say that wanting to overcome immediate danger even at the cost of mortgaging the future is wrong?”

The one who benefited from that?

I set a subtle criticism. Then, she would understand. This question criticizes the duplicity of someone who gains everything but points fingers at others.

A common person would probably act shamelessly here.

They would likely say they didn’t want it while blaming me. I am me, and you are you.

But unfortunately, good people find that hard to do. As a result, when checking the final settlement, they may gain a far greater benefit than those who act selfishly.

But that’s not something easily visible, is it?

Foolish people find it impossible even to calculate that.

“What will you do in the end?”

And wise people ask again. To know the unknown.

“When someone dies, I take their warmth. That’s all.”

Since we’re connected anyway, there’s no need to seek it out, really.

I know that contracts pass to the children, but I have no intention of bringing that up separately.

I stated the facts, but I never said I would tell all the facts, right?

I know I’m not smart enough to remember everything and set the stage.

If I try to force it, something will definitely go wrong somewhere.

Rules exert powerful effects when kept.

Gumi Mil’s staring at me intently.

“In the end, what I’ve figured out is that this contract cannot be reversed.”

Then Soo-oh gently tugged at my clothes. I met her gaze, and she hesitantly asked.

“So, does Choseol want to go back to where Choseol was?”

“No.”

Ah, the answer came out surprisingly quickly.

“There’s nothing there. I prefer being here.”

I patted Soo-oh’s back and said so. I wonder if I said it a bit too soon. However, if I wait until she’s more rebellious, it might leave a big crack in her heart.

If I say it too late, the shock might be too severe, so I said it when we were still somewhat close.

Maybe we’ve gotten a bit closer.

Enough for her to confidently call me family.

Ugh.

That’s my mistake.

I turned my gaze back to Gumi Mil. It’s impolite to veer off to another subject while talking to someone.

Gumi Mil looked at me and Soo-oh and smiled mysteriously.

“Okay, I think I understand you both.”

Gumi Mil stood up, saying it was rude to stay too long. As I escorted her out, something suddenly came to mind, and I spontaneously threw out a line.

“Ms. Gumi Mil.”

“Why?”

“I want to eliminate the bugs inside the people of Cheonma Church.”

Humans who aren’t free find it hard to cause great incidents. If that happens, warmth decreases.

“I feel the same. But let’s talk about that a bit slower. The night is approaching, isn’t it?”

A hint of kindness flowed through her tone.

I know she would dislike bugs inside a human body and carried medicine that could remove them. Even after a year, I remember her saying she hated bugs.

In the faded memories, I adjusted what could be called fondness.

After saying goodbye to the departing Gumi Mil, I approached Soo-oh.

“Let’s have dinner now.”

“Yeah.”

As Soo-oh nodded obediently, we headed to the kitchen.

And just like that, another day passed by.

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