The Money-Mad Holy Knight Chapter 137

Chapter 137: Evolution (3)

"Sister, I told you not to do anything reckless, didn't I? I'll be back soon."

A man burst into the apartnt filled with the stench of alcohol. With his large fra and sharp features, the man scanned the entire interior of the house.

"You know that's alcohol addiction, right?"

A luxury apartnt in the heart of Manhattan, decorated with expensive branded furniture and high-class interior design. Despite being surrounded by nurous luxury items, the apartnt felt only chaotic.

The man's deep black eyes swept across the ssy space before settling on the figure on the sofa.

"Hehe, you acted like you weren't coming, but here you are?"

The spacious living room was empty, and the delicate woman lying on the sofa looked impossibly small.

"How much did you drink?"

The man, Park Ji-hun, furrowed his brow deeply. He loosened his necktie and walked toward the sofa without hesitation. Then the delicate woman sat up from the sofa.

"Ugh."

Wearing only a thin long cardigan, she swayed, but her eyes were sharp and fixed on Park Ji-hun.

"You're doing it again—taking off all your clothes and drinking."

Park Ji-hun's gaze lingered on the woman's body. Her skin beneath the thin cardigan was as white as jade. And her curves were bewitching. It was srizing in its beauty, but Park Ji-hun was indifferent. He simply picked up the blanket that had fallen to the floor and tossed it to her.

"It's hot."

The woman pushed the blanket away and approached Park Ji-hun.

"I like that cold gaze of yours too."

For an Oriental man, his skin was remarkably pale. Contrasting with that was his bright red lips. Between his unbuttoned shirt, his chiseled chest muscles were prominent.

"Don't whine anymore."

Just as Park Ji-hun was about to wave her off as she approached—

"Ugh, Ji-hun. My older brother says I'm a woman ant to be played with."

The woman suddenly burst into tears. Park Ji-hun's thick eyebrows twisted. In the end, he couldn't avoid the approaching woman's body. She was so light as she leaned against his shoulder crying, and her sobs were terribly pitiful.

"What defect does sister have?"

His low, heavy voice filled the empty room.

"He said... I'm a defective woman who can't even get married before hitting forty."

The woman who had been whimpering for a while now began to pour out her self-pity. As she rested against those broad shoulders and vented, her mind and body stabilized. Before long, her crying stopped.

"Forty is the perfect age."

Park Ji-hun smiled mischievously and brushed back the woman's hair. The woman closed her eyes gently at his touch.

'Even though he's ten years younger than , he acts like an older brother and yet...'

There was sothing that coexisted—the playful nature unique to younger n. The woman's heart raced.

"Sister, you said you'd quit drinking."

"I don't know! What do you expect to do when they won't leave alone at ho?"

Watching such a woman, Park Ji-hun raised his eyebrows. He carefully laid the woman on the sofa and then explored her apartnt. As if it were his own ho, he pulled out several bottles of strong whiskey from the kitchen cabinet. And he said:

"Sister, let's have just one more drink together for the last ti."

***

Sister Gilma had a happy dream after a long ti. In her room, she recalled a hazy past.

'I rember rushing at him after exchanging drinks one by one—.'

But the part where the film cuts off, she can't rember at all. Based on how her lower back ached and her legs were unsteady the next day, sothing must have happened...

'That bastard. He won't even tell what happened.'

Sister Gilma scanned her room. The massive mansion she lived in on Earth was gone, and all that remained was a narrow single room. If she had been alone, this room would have been filled with alcohol, but for the sake of Park Ji-hun, just in case, she hadn't touched a single drop of alcohol since possession.

'The drink I had with Ji-hun was truly my last drink.'

The next morning when she woke up, all the alcohol in the house had disappeared. Her credit cards were cut with scissors, and all the banking apps were deleted from her phone. And Park Ji-hun was sitting at the table with breakfast prepared.

"Sister, quit drinking and just play gas comfortably with . Don't worry about complicated family matters."

"Alcohol addiction isn't okay, but ga addiction is?"

"It doesn't harm your body, does it? If you play gas like work, that's fine, isn't it?"

Park Ji-hun and Sister Gilma had once been great. They approached gas the sa way. Like renowned businessn, they lived a life with routine.

'We'd work out at the gym in the morning and eat healthy at a hotel breakfast, then get skin care and run raids afterward.'

"Ah, those were good tis."

Sister Gilma recalled those nostalgic mories.

'If I just have Ji-hun, this place seems like a better place to live.'

Thinking such thoughts, she stretched. Suddenly, a crystal orb caught her eye on the bedside table.

[Jang Du-sik (Park Ji-hun) Collection.zip]

It was a video of Park Ji-hun that Calian, the 2nd-in-command of the Allied Nations and one of the many identities of the Commander, had directly given her.

"Guys, where are you going when the boss is leaving!"

"Wow, the boss is so smart! How do you co up with such ideas?"

"Boss, my mistake. I accidentally killed this dark mage..."

As she recalled Park Ji-hun's appearance on Earth, doubt crept in again about the existence of Jang Du-sik.

'Even though Hyeji and Suho said it was certain...'

Despite nurous pieces of evidence, she couldn't be certain. No, she couldn't even believe it.

'That guy who said it was disgusting to serve a half-brother without ability as chairman, who abandoned even his own mother and threw away that great family.'

Such a manly Park Ji-hun. Following so religious fanatic around and calling them "boss"?

'It absolutely doesn't make sense.'

She had compromised sowhat in the anti, but after the dream, her thoughts completely changed. No matter what, it couldn't be Jang Du-sik. Sister Gilma wanted to see for herself.

'Perfect timing since that bastard Jang Du-sik is heading to the conflict zone.'

She left her snow-white room and walked toward the central hall. A round space connected to nurous rooms appeared. Sister Gilma raised her head toward the completely open ceiling. She could see a vast vertical tunnel in the distance. Looking up at the sky, she shouted:

"Commander! Support with just one young child's possessed body suitable for the conflict zone. It's really important."

***

Erik had established a concrete plan. Originally, he had intended to visit the demon realm on the Garcian Kingdom side, but hadn't a good opportunity presented itself?

'Those Almanism guys are on the run.'

They weren't dark mages, but they were enemies nonetheless. If he was going to strike, he'd do it right. Even though they used the sa divine power as a religious organization, he had no intention of taking care of these corrupted ones. Especially since they were heading to the Allied Nations, which was entangled with necromancers. Cutting off the enemy's funding source was basic.

"I'm going to 'suck' all of that."

Erik shared this plan with his party. To do so, he began important groundwork.

"Du-sik, I'll give you instructions through the guild chat. Don't say anything else and just relay exactly what I say."

Nad: Jang Du-sik, the puppet. Since it was already known that there was a possessor on this side, he intended to use this to create confusion.

'There won't be just one or two possessors hidden in the possessed body.'

It was a situation where friend and foe identification was difficult. So of his guild mbers, including his ally Sister Gilma, were attached to a necromancer possessor.

'That guy is likely to be an enemy.'

Based on his actions, that was the case. From the incident with the three princes to the Jabor Raffin (Kim Jung-hyuk) incident, wasn't it? Therefore, Erik himself also needed to hide his identity.

"At the sa ti, I'm going to exploit the misunderstanding that occurred between Du-sik and you."

Coincidentally, the enemies didn't know that Jang Du-sik was Park Ji-hun, right? It was a very effective thod. However, Jang Du-sik couldn't understand this.

"Hey, can that really work?"

"It will work if you just say what I tell you to say."

The current Astia Religious Order was a group that Erik could trust 100%, making it the perfect place to test Jang Du-sik. Moreover, the test subject itself was an existence without burden of failure.

"Luke, long ti no see."

Erik approached the assassin Luke, who was brought by the pope. After that, they exchanged brief conversation. After hearing Erik's explanation, the assassin Luke was greatly flustered.

"So, so you're saying... this short-haired person is also a possessor like ?"

"That's right."

"A-and you're like so kind of god of possessors?"

Erik emitted brilliant radiance. He placed it on Jang Du-sik's head. Then the short-haired Jang Du-sik shone brightly.

"Y-you don't suffer from divine power?"

Watching that innocent reaction, Erik tilted his head. The assassin Luke was different from his reputation.

'His passive as a blood warrior is supposedly turned off, but... he even looks a bit lacking.'

He was like a naive rural youth. Unlike when he erged from the abyss, Luke had beco very like a gentle lamb.

'The Pope said Luke had regained stability of his soul.'

Luke is a possessor who was trapped in a labyrinth imdiately after possession. He supposedly overca the labyrinth's penalty with his unique passive as a blood warrior.

'If you add the ti passage ratio in the labyrinth to an older possessor than Yuren...'

It ant he was literally a madman who lived over a hundred years in the labyrinth.

"His only dream was to et his wife and child. Erik, don't push him too hard."

That's what the Pope said. Also, while Luke's soul had regained stability, that state wasn't complete, and his mind was supposedly a bit broken.

'Just like that level 1 possessor.'

Erik recalled the level 1 possessor he had left in the temple. He was only slightly better than that naless guy whose na had been erased. Truly, Luke was in such a poor state that he didn't even know his own na.

"Well, I was Park Ji-hun on Earth."

"Luke, I can't rember the na from Earth. But... my wife and child are waiting for —."

While Jang Du-sik was talking with Luke like that, Luke suddenly rembered sothing.

"W-wait, I think I saw my own portrait photo in the temple......"

The fact that his original self had died. It seed that mory had returned.

"Hey, Luke. Let's do just one job together."

"But I just realized that the original is dead, how can you say that?"

"Well, I've known that fact for a long ti, so I don't feel much about it anymore?"

Luke stared at Jang Du-sik with wide eyes.

"H-how can you trust enough to work together?"

Short-haired thug appearance. It was the kind of look you often saw when buying used cars, and the mory of being scamd at that ti ca back.

"W-where were you originally from—."

"Can't you tell by looking at ?"

"...Ah, that."

As Jang Du-sik spoke so casually, Luke was taken aback instead.

"So what was that guy doing that makes you suspect ?"

"W-well, the original —."

Then Luke seed to rember sothing and began muttering about his own life. Jang Du-sik tried to interrupt, but hearing the instructions in his head, he shut his mouth.

"The company I was working at during Corona went out of business, and at that ti I leveraged everything to buy a house, but due to poor construction, the apartnt's outer wall collapsed."

The economic recession caused loan interest to skyrocket, and to make matters worse, the construction company's bankruptcy ant he couldn't even receive compensation for the apartnt.

"Day labor wasn't an option either. The kid was growing, and my wife was suffering from COVID vaccine side effects—."

Then Luke began going around to high-paying clinical trials.

"I made big money by risking my life. But after paying off the loan and my wife's dicine and kids' education, I had zero plus..."

Erik watched the two's conversation with greatly interested eyes.

'Did he suddenly recover his mory?'

He wanted to see how a possessor with a broken soul regained their sanity. However, Luke's next words were shocking.

"At that ti, so ga company was doing a huge clinical trial."

It was [Continental Online]. Erik, who had been listening all along, stepped forward.

"So what happened?"

"Ah, that... So white room said to play a ga, so I turned it on. Character creation? I did that and pressed level 1 warrior, and then I collapsed."

When Luke opened his eyes again, he was inside the ga. Having heard up to this point, Erik quietly stepped back. Then Jang Du-sik stepped forward.

"Did that guy also get born as a baby?"

"Yes! I heard other possessors possess adult bodies—."

"The first class opener is born as a baby, that's... cough. That's how it was."

By this point, a sense of having gotten close enough had co.

'A unique sense of camaraderie between possessors has been born.'

Erik gave another instruction. Then Jang Du-sik asked Luke another question.

"So, you want to do one job with ?"

"......"

Luke hesitated for a mont and then looked at Erik.

"Y-you seem to be in a position to lead everything, Erik... my head is complicated."

At those words, Erik stepped closer to Luke.

"What's there to be confused about?"

"The original is dead, I don't know how to live... I don't know what I should do or what I'll gain."

It was a sufficiently confusing situation. His driving force, 'returning to family,' had disappeared, hadn't it? However, Erik had an alternative.

"I'll give you a reason to live. In my temple, you can watch your children grow up, right?"

***

After finishing with Luke, Erik checked Thomas's heart.

"I have sealed it most strictly."

The Pope's confirmation was very reassuring. Indeed, Thomas's heart was surrounded by nurous sacred relics.

Boom! Boom!

'It's beating well.'

Either he deliberately wasn't regenerating, or it was likely that Riferoze had severed even his soul. Interrogating Thomas would be impossible. However, he could use it effectively later.

"Your Holiness, I must depart imdiately."

After confirming Thomas, Erik inford the Pope that he would be leaving the papal palace.

"You're leaving imdiately?"

"My teacher said I need to concentrate on establishing my own will."

"Is that all?"

"In fact, I'm feeling it desperately."

The Pope looked reluctant, but seeing Erik's determined expression, he reluctantly sent him off.

"Luke, that man was not a figure from scripture."

Toward the departing Erik, the Pope uttered one last remark, and Erik turned back and bowed.

"Please, as he is a pitiful one."

With the Pope's blessing as the final word, Erik left the papal palace. Then what greeted him was the wasteland of a stateless territory and long canyons. Three n walked through that place.

"Boss, why didn't you just make him a believer? He looked pitiful."

Janson had experienced losing his family in this world. Therefore, he felt sympathy.

"Janson, that guy's ntal state isn't stable. If you're soft-hearted, it won't work."

"But—."

However, Erik was cold.

"If that guy goes berserk, an invincible blood warrior appears that divine power doesn't work on. There'd be no answer."

"That serious?"

"Blood warriors are hard to do party play, but solo they're absurdly overpowered. It'd be even worse in reality."

Erik explained the absurdity.

"If you just stick a sword in anything, it drains blood. But if you think you're about to die, you use the invincibility skill and escape. Plus, why do you think he got the alias 'Slayer'?"

"Isn't it just because he kills by stabbing the abdon?"

"There's a unique trait called 'Slayer.' When you get kills with it, you get official credit. If you do civilian massacres while amplifying attack power, a real disaster is born."

Having heard this far, Janson suddenly felt strange thoughts.

"Surely, not too?"

"That's right. Janson, if you seriously commit terrorism with two layers of defense skills wrapped around you, even a decent knight order would be helpless."

"Brother, no matter what, is that small-tir really that much?"

"You guys don't realize because you're with and your teacher, but both of them would easily be knight commander level, no. Much stronger than that." "But it didn't work against the Imperial Magic Tower Master—."

"Du-sik, why are you comparing to the Empire's strongest mage?"

As Jang Du-sik scratched his head, a familiar place appeared before his eyes.

"Th-that—."

"Boss, surely......"

Erik headed toward Peran, the only city in the conflict zone, the world's garbage dump.

"Isn't this the place we were most familiar with?"

Looking down at the wretched city, Erik smiled with a bitter expression. At that sight, Janson asked:

"And the place we most wanted to forget, isn't it?"

"It'll be different now."

Unlike the grave two, Jang Du-sik's eyes widened. He was actually delighted.

"Th-this feels like returning in glory, so why do you both look so gloomy?"

At his unchanged appearance, Erik and Janson's faces also relaxed.

"Brother, what have you been staring at since before?"

Erik had felt a watching gaze on him from earlier. He searched for its source.

'The orphan of the garbage dump... watching from that far distance?'

He had just identified that presence. It was clearly an unusual situation. Therefore, Erik looked at Jang Du-sik.

"Du-sik, go ahead and do as I instruct."