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If I were to choose the most unfair incident I was dragged into personally, it would be the Mountain God incident.

Now, if I just happened to get caught up in some event during a vacation or workshop, I could easily brush it off as simply bad luck. However, back then, the whole situation was a significant shock to me.

“Huh, huh…”

I looked at the others while still covering the trembling Song Ah Rin, who was shaking like a aspen leaf.

“Prayer?”

“Yeah. Prayer.”

“W-what? Out of nowhere…?”

Park Ye Eun muttered in surprise, while Jang Chae Yeon and Yu Da On knelt down without a second thought, taking a praying posture and closing their eyes.

“Um, sisters!”

“Trust us.”

“Kim Jae Heon wouldn’t ask us to pray without reason.”

The two answered in unison, then focused on their prayers with closed eyes.

“Is this really okay, oppa?”

“I don’t know.”

“But—”

“Just let’s do it.”

At this point, I couldn’t run away anyway.

This was a gamble.

I could only hope that the man had passed on proper information to me or that I understood what he was trying to convey.

“…Ugh, I don’t know.”

Park Ye Eun sighed deeply, putting her hands together and closing her eyes.

“…”

I also fully covered Song Ah Rin and joined my hands in prayer.

That was it; I wasn’t thinking about anyone else while praying.

To be precise, I might have been able to pray for someone, but I had a strong feeling I shouldn’t.

I was just like an ordinary person now.

If I had some mental barriers, it wouldn’t be a problem, but—

<I'm here to grant your wishes.>

<I'll kill those you hate.>

<I'll make your desires come true.>

<I'll pull you out of this infuriating situation.>

Such words kept ringing in my ears.

They might have been incessantly echoing.

I was merely blocking them out.

“…”

I opened one eye and glanced at the other two.

Park Ye Eun, furrowing her brow while shaking her head, and Jang Chae Yeon, who wasn’t shaking her head but wasn’t furrowing her brow either.

And,

“…”

Yu Da On, with a serene expression, praying with her eyes closed.

-Pat… pat…

Footsteps echoed.

They were getting closer.

I began praying once more with my eyes shut.

Please just pass by. I’m praying with my eyes closed like this, so please pass by.

“…”

The footsteps stopped next to me, and I could hear something bending down.

I lowered my body further over Song Ah Rin and resumed my praying posture.

I felt hot breath near my ear.

<Let’s change your difficult life here.>

<Let’s stop struggling. Someone else will do it for you.>

<It doesn’t have to be you suffering. Just assign it to someone else.>

And the voice grew louder.

I ignored the thoughts swirling in my mind while keeping my eyes closed.

I didn’t think my current life was all that hard, nor had I ever thought I wanted a substitute.

I would just do my best in the role given to me.

Wasn’t this okay as it was?

Thinking that way, I desperately ignored the voice in my head.

The hot breath continued to whisper in my ear,

-Pat… pat…

The footsteps began to move away.

I sighed in relief and slowly opened my eyes.

Ahead walked a priest.

Thank goodness.

But it wasn’t a complete solution to the problem.

In the end, I had to find a way to get out of here somehow.

Let’s think about this carefully.

Suddenly, my eyes and the others’ losing their function.

It went well initially but then—

…Right.

I closed my eyes and reflected on the situation.

If my eyes were going to stop functioning, they should have stopped the moment I entered this place, right?

In other words, some action must have triggered it.

Thinking it through, there were only two possibilities.

First: The priest came, and that thing began to resonate.

Second: Since I was looking at that thing, it blocked me.

“…”

What had I read?

I recalled the translucent window I’d seen earlier.

[Name: Cross]

[Age: 3̸̡̭͖̪͇̻̝͔̬̯̋̐ͅ]

[Special Skill: Has the talent to serve God.]

Broken letters. And,

The talent to serve God.

I remembered what Song Ah Rin had said earlier.

‘Trial.’

It matched the story of trials.

So, did they see me as having the talent to serve God?

I put my hand in my pocket to pull out the manual, anxiety suddenly flooding me.

Please tell me the manual isn’t completely messed up now too.

I slowly pulled out the manual, and—

-Swish…

The manual opened very quietly.

Could it be that it’s deliberately opening quietly because it senses danger?

[Manual for Office Staff]

[Containment Object – Cross – Record by Isolation Team Kim Wan Woo]

I was taken aback by the unexpected name but continued to turn the pages.

[1. This object looks like an ordinary cross.]

[2. However, if the object recognizes a ‘prophet,’ everything around it will immediately cease to function.]

[3. The solution adopted to escape the situation was to sacrifice the necessary person.]

[4. To neutralize the cross, all except for one person near the cross must be sacrificed.]

[5. Alternatively, the chosen prophet must overcome the trial.]

[6. The prophet at the time was Kim Jae Heon from the Isolation Team, and he perished without overcoming the trial.]

“…”

I was a candidate for the prophet.

In the end, that message I saw earlier meant I was the prophet.

And had the reincarnator sacrificed everyone but themselves.

“…”

I didn’t have a clue as to why I was chosen as a prophet, but that wasn’t what mattered.

I looked at the people praying around me.

They were supposed to be sacrifices?

I didn’t even know if we could do that.

To begin with, saying that other people had to be sacrificed meant every member of the HR team except me had to be sacrificed.

I had no intention of doing that.

In the end, there was only one method I could pursue.

-Swish!

The manual rapidly fanned out.

[Manual for Office Staff]

[LK – Knowing when to retreat and when to fall]

1. Though every life is equal, think about those who would be sad if you sacrificed yourself.

2. Even if you’re the only one who can do something, there may be times when it’s wise to reconsider.

3. Sacrificing yourself doesn’t always lead to a happy ending. Think about those who will be left behind.

Anyone would think I was going to die.

I carefully closed the manual.

I know what you’re thinking, but that doesn’t mean I can sacrifice others.

“A-Rin.”

“…Huh…”

I gently placed my arm around the shoulder of the still trembling Song Ah Rin.

“I believe in you, A-Rin.”

“…”

Her movements came to a halt.

She straightened up.

Jang Chae Yeon and Yu Da On looked at me, while Park Ye Eun, who was still unaware of the situation, was still fervently praying with her eyes closed.

“…What are you doing?”

“Kim Jae Heon?”

I slowly stepped forward, preventing the two who were trying to stand up with my eyes.

I walked slowly until I stood in front of the priest.

The priest’s indifferent gaze met mine,

“I will accept the trial.”

“Kim Jae Heon?”

“What are you doing right now…?”

The priest nodded at my words, and Jang Chae Yeon and Yu Da On’s faces were filled with more questions.

A smile broke on the priest’s face.

“Listen well.”

I glanced at the two looking at me.

“Your ability will likely return soon.”

Initially, I was going to explain what actions to take if I died, but the intense gazes of the two staring at me made it hard to say such things.

I began pondering the trial.

What sort of trial should I give?

Honestly, I had a rough idea.

“If I collapse or… disappear, just remain still.”

After all, I would have to just stay put. I couldn’t fight.

I thought my colleagues wouldn’t be the type to lose self-control in such a situation.

“Kim Jae Heon, what’s wrong with you?”

Yu Da On’s voice trembled.

“You sound like someone going to their death.”

“…”

Jang Chae Yeon remained silent as well.

Honestly, I might genuinely die.

Nodding slowly, I noticed their expressions harden.

Looking disoriented, Yu Da On opened her mouth.

“I-I’ll take the trial. I can endure pain, and I’m not afraid of dying. I’m really okay with just dying; I want to do this!”

“…Honestly, I can do it too. If I fail the trial, I can die as well.”

Jang Chae Yeon nodded as well, looking at me.

A gaze different from her usual, filled with urgency in her eyes; long words.

But.

“It’s okay.”

My words froze the two in place.

This was something I could only do.

But how could I make them understand this in such a short time?

“I’ll do it.”

“We…”

“I oppose.”

Yu Da On, trembling without looking at me, and Jang Chae Yeon, speaking in a serious tone.

The priest reached out his hand.

Impatiently, the womanly face looked at me.

“…Go.”

“Wait, Kim Jae Heon—”

Before Yu Da On could finish her words, the priest pressed his index finger on my forehead, and my consciousness sank into darkness.

*

“…Huh?”

And then, I found myself standing in my hometown.

“…You fool.”

With familiar faces of childhood friends staring at me with tearful eyes.