The Outer God Needs Warmth

As day broke, a nameless child woke up. Rumble!

It’s quite funny to see them getting up on the blanket in the corner of the kitchen, looking all bewildered. Giggle!

The good thing about this new body is that I see people not for their looks but for their warmth. Ahh!

It’s not about appearances; warmth is what really matters. If a pretty looking heater I bought doesn’t actually warm up, throwing it away would be such a waste, right? Sigh!

Wait, is this even stranger? Hmm?

The words from the Faded Man’s memories emphasize that I’m not human. Dun dun dun!

There’s nothing I’d call a personality, but occasionally, my dark past jumps up in my mind like it’s throwing off the blanket at midnight. Waah!

I’m not sure if this is early schizophrenia or if I’ve always been like this, but it likely isn’t that important. Shrug!

The real problem is food. Oof!

Based on the amount, if I save it, it’ll last for three days. Tick tock!

Considering feeding the kid, it’ll probably be gone by tomorrow. Considering the Cheonma’s dampness, it feels like food won’t come back for days after it runs out. Gloom!

If I were alone, I might just wait endlessly, but it seems I sent this little one to go die instead. Oops!

They’re probably watching how I’ll act. Eek!

So, I won’t do anything to this kid. Nope!

Above all, taking care of borrowed things is common sense, right? No reckless modifications allowed! Stop!

“Get up and wash yourself.” Swoosh!

I pointed to the jar in the kitchen corner. Originally, it was a jar full of ominously floating bugs, but reality twisted, and it’s filled with clean water now. Gurgle!

If the item doesn’t match the era, it creates fissures; if it’s a natural object, it can come here without any cracks! Crack!

Of course, I was curious if natural items are infinite, so I fetched water, but a crack did form, so I quickly stopped. Whoops!

The world is weak, so there’s no helping it. I’m carefully changing what I can without breaking the glass jar. Clink!

The fact that the kid woke up on a blanket instead of a bare stone floor is part of an experiment. This blanket was originally a decaying one from inside the room. Yikes!

It’s not that a blanket that never existed changes; it’s that distorting a broken item makes the sound of glass breaking less noticeable. Tinkle!

Creating something that didn’t exist and changing something that did seem to apply different pressures to the glass wall. Hmm!

The downside is that living beings shouldn’t be distorted. Nope!

Compared to ordinary items, the pressure on the glass wall from distorting living things is too high, and they end up tearing and disappearing like weird textures in a 3D game. Boing!

What if using this on a human turns into an attack technique? Hmm…

Or it might shatter the glass wall quicker… Pop!

While I was pondering this, the kid fetched a tiny amount of water from a nearby bowl just to wash their face. Splash!

With a karst formation and a pillar of rocks rising straight up, I doubt they’d be lacking water here… Whew!

Today, I have a lot of free time. In fact, this is the first time since entering someone else’s body that I’ve had this kind of free time! Yay!

During Rebecca Rolfe’s time, I was practically trapped, so in a way, it’s like I’m exploring a new world with my own legs for the first time. Sure, I did travel within a limited space claiming I was ‘exercising’, but the fact still remained that I was trapped. Eek!

This time, since I’m free, I should go seek out whatever piques my curiosity. Adventure!

I filled out the schedule ahead while adding a bit more water to yesterday’s food for cooking. Bubbling!

Oops. Eek!

I burnt it a bit. Fizzle!

I can eat the heavily burnt parts though. Cooking is hard, huh? Sigh!

“Alright, come eat.” Ding!

While I was cooking, the kid kept staring at me with keen interest, then they looked up at me with a subtle expression as I scooped their food into a bowl. Hmm?

“What’s wrong?” Hmm!

Tilting my head, they immediately looked down and started eating. Not sure what that was about. Hmm?

Is that a look questioning if I’d made this food? Ouch!

I can’t help it; the previous owner of my cooking skills had tons of memories, but the ingredients are fundamentally different, so I have no clue what I’m doing. Wah!

So, I just guessed, and it turned out too thick or burnt. Cooking is tough. Yikes!

Not the Faded memories, but recent memories slowly rise and sink. Float!

Joanna Smith. Nod!

The one who used to cook for me pops into my mind then fades away. That makes sense, though. But that person isn’t here anymore. Gone!

They must already be dead, right? Sad!

That kid will eventually die someday, too. Eek!

Considering that, I fed the kid and cleaned the kitchen thoroughly. The kid was fidgeting, so I asked why. Hmm!

While they flailed their limbs, I didn’t understand what they were saying. Ugh!

With their face already swollen from muscle degradation and puffiness, it was hard to read their expression. Hmm!

So I ignored them and continued straightening up. Whoosh!

In the meantime, the kid quietly sat by the fire as it was still chilly this morning. Brr!

Fire? Flicker!

It’s not going out. That thing. Hmm?

What kind of fire did I bring in? Entropy and energy conservation come to mind, but honestly, I’m quite an odd monster myself. Weird!

Questioning it feels strange. Hmm?

Seeing the kid unfazed by the fire suggests it’s not too bizarre, so I guess that’s a good thing. Cool!

I tidied up the place before stepping outside. Creak!

Outside, a huge building looms in the distance. They’ve built it upon pillar-like rock formations. Of course, the houses are only on the rocks, and paths weave through the gaps. Wow!

As I scanned the building, I noticed several doors leading outside, and one line connected back towards me. Woop!

One side leads to a cliff, while the other winds down through tangled rocks and trees before eventually reaching the house I’m in. Whee!

Looks like they’ve thrown me quite far off. Yikes!

According to the memories from the four harvesters, normal places where people live are rather far from here. Checking Jeonyang’s memories, it seems this area was once inhabited. Hmm!

In other words, it’s an area where no one lives now. Eek!

But saying someone once lived here means there are buildings around. Hmm!

So, I decided to take a walk to check the surroundings. After a while, if I head down to the water’s edge, today should go well. Zoom!

Crunch crunch!

Walking along a path overgrown with grass, I notice I need to give this body some exercise. Huff!

Rebecca Rolfe used her heart strangely. I wonder if I could use martial arts with this body too? Hmm!

I should give it a try tonight. Eager!

Tap tap tap!

Barely taking a few steps, I hear someone running. Thud thud thud!

Turning around, I see the kid waddling towards me with all their might. Hold on; wouldn’t it be better for you to just stay in the room? Gasp!

No, wait; this is a kind act, so why am I thinking about them as a ‘not human’? Hmm!

Surely, I’d be grateful for a bit of sympathy for me shivering in the cold; I mutter internally while locking eyes with the kid and asking, “What’s up?”

The kid firmly grips my clothes without saying a word. Not that they have nothing to say, but they can’t say anything at all. Hmm!

So I walked along the path with this little one. Tip tap!

The shorter stride slows us down. We might not get far. I’ll have to give up on heading to the water’s edge. Looking at how they walk, it’s clear their joints are awkwardly rotating, so they must be quite exhausted. Phew!

Given their swollen legs, moving around can’t be easy as it is. What are they doing? Shrug!

With this still-unnamed kid, I wandered around the area. Zoom!

There were traces of buildings or paths, yet there are no intact buildings left, possibly due to fights by those with powerful martial arts. Whoa!

There are gaping holes that look like a kid could easily get pulled into, or traces that look like a scenic painting was slashed with a knife. Slash!

If such incidents happened in a village where people live, it wouldn’t be strange to abandon the town and move elsewhere. Pop!

While wandering through the overgrown ruins, some bones presumed to be human are poking out, but sadly, there’s no warmth left. Sigh!

Even corpses can sometimes emit light, and in those cases, warmth can linger, but… Gone!

These bones are far too old. Yikes!

Suddenly, the kid grips my clothes tightly, likely following my gaze and spotting a skull. Gulp!

“Who are you?” Hmm?

Then suddenly, someone speaks with a raspy voice like an old lady. What?!

Looking over, there’s a woman standing there, draped in semi-transparent cloth and wearing a wide-brimmed hat. Wow!

She’s hiding her identity. Huh?

But I recognize the clothing. I saw her face just this morning. Gasp!

Gapjae spoke with her face-to-face earlier. From the clean voice she had then, this current voice seems fake. Hmm!

But, if she hopes no one knows that the former high priestess’ daughter has returned, it wouldn’t be strange to switch voices. Hmm!

I raised my arm to point towards the house. Whoosh!

“I moved into that house over there since yesterday.” Point!

At my words, the woman looked in the direction my hand was pointing. Hmm!

“That place isn’t fit for living, is it?” Hmm?

Fit for living? Eek!

This person must know about the state of that house. It means she’s at least seen the place once. Hmm!

I don’t know who she is, but she doesn’t seem to get along with the Cheonma. She seems to have brought the kid in front of me to show that Cheonma is bad. Hmm!

“After sending that Cheonma, they sent me this child to be a maid.” Hmm!

Hmm. Gulp!

I can’t read her expression, so I don’t know how she feels about it. But the woman walks towards me. Huh?

More precisely, she approaches the kid. Gulp!

“It seems like that one is still like a bug. First, eat this and sit down, turning your back to me.” Munch!

She pulls out a small pill from her pocket. The kid looks up at me as if in distress. Hm. From the vibe, it seems she wants to do something about the bug in the kid. Uh-oh!

That must be some kind of dewormer, huh? Hmm!

I took a step back. Whoa!

Though the kid looks like they’re about to cry, I gestured for the woman to help him as she showed the pill. You got this!

“Make sure to swallow it and don’t spit it out.” Swallow!

The woman seemed to understand my intent and, after reassuring the kid, handed over the small pill. The kid accepted it and gulped it down. Gulp!

Right after, the woman stripped the kid of their outer garment and placed a hand on their back. Is she sending Qi? Hmm!

I don’t know if she’s using a very small amount for the kid or if it’s something I can’t perceive. Hmm!

Even watching closely, it just looks like she’s resting her hand on the child’s back. But suddenly, the kid’s expression twisted, and their veins bulged. Yikes!

I thought they might die, but their red face suddenly returned to normal, and they hunched over. Whoa!

“Cough! Cough!” Cough!

With a significant amount of blood, a grotesque-looking bug shot out of the kid’s mouth. But lacking legs means it’s not the same as the one in my head. Eww!

The woman forcedly held down the kid, still trembling in pain while keeping her hand on their back for a while longer. Shh!

After the child finally slumped down, she released a deep sigh. Phew!

“You’ve made it through the worst. The swelling of your face and body should retreat in a month, so take it slow for recovery.” Aww!

She seems to think of me as the guardian, huh? But I shook my head. Nope!

“I can’t do it.” Hmm?

“Why not?” Huh?

Her voice rose slightly. Is she angry? Does that mean she’s a good person? But after all, she is the former high priestess’ daughter? Yikes!

Likely she holds a strong dislike for Cheonma. Hmm!

So I thought I’d see how this person reacts to Treat. Hmm!

“This child was sent by the Cheonma. I have no power.” Shrug!

If the Cheonma plans to do something with this child, it implies I won’t be able to reach them at all. Phew!

“What do you think of this child?” Hmm?

Ah, that’s a predictable question. It’s probably asking if I can take care of the kid properly, right? To avoid misunderstanding, I answered like this. Hmm!

“Warmth.” Aww!

“Okay. Then, even for a bit, hold onto them for me.” Good!

She’d completely misinterpreted my words. Haha!

The woman gently patted the child’s head, then quickly hurried off. Zip!

In other words, it means something will happen soon, right? Eek!

Hehe. Giggle!

I headed back home with the kid on my back, thinking about how Cheonma Church might tremble ahead. Phew!

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