The purchased items were automatically placed in the cart at the top of the Item Shop.
It seemed that pressing the ‘Retrieve’ button would make them appear in reality.
‘Let’s check the most urgent skill first.’
I pressed the Retrieve button and pulled out the “Skill Capsule: Sacred Power” item.
A small light sparkled before my eyes, and a tiny capsule appeared.
Before Cha Sahyeon could notice, I swiftly grabbed the capsule into my hand.
[Skill Capsule: Sacred Power]
A special capsule containing Sacred Power.
Swallowing this capsule grants the Sacred Power skill.
(Expires in 3 days, 23 hours, and 59 minutes)
So even after paying that much cash, I had to consume it within a time limit?
Letting out a hollow laugh at the absurdity, I tossed the capsule into my mouth.
It was so smooth and small that I barely even felt it going down my throat — and immediately, a new status window popped up before my eyes.
Ding!
《You have consumed the Skill Capsule!》
《The effects of the Skill Capsule have been successfully applied. You can now use the Sacred Power (C-rank) skill.》
[Sacred Power]
A special skill that allows the simultaneous use of the Power of Blessing and the Power of Purification.
The Power of Blessing heals wounds, while the Power of Purification inflicts damage on demonic monsters and cleanses contaminated areas.
Age: 26 years old (28 years old)
Main Skills: Bond of the Guardian (S-rank), Sacred Power (C-rank)
Hidden Skill: Silverlight’s Blessing (S-rank) [Inactive]
Attack Power: F-rank
Attack Speed: F-rank
Movement Speed: F-rank
Agility: F-rank
Traits▼
└Cat Drenched in Rain (E-rank)
└Just Lie There (F-rank)
└Your Flank Is Wide Open? (F-rank)
‘Huh. This is way more useful than I expected.’
It was still disappointing that it wasn’t an offensive skill, but at this level, it was definitely useful.
Especially since demonic species were notoriously troublesome among monsters.
Knowing it would be particularly effective against them meant it would surely come in handy later.
‘The skill description is enough. Time to check if it actually works.’
Fortunately, or maybe not, my body was a wreck at the moment — there were plenty of injuries to test it on.
I placed my opposite hand over a wrist wound that I didn’t even realize I had and activated the skill.
Paaat, a faint white light trickled from my palm, spreading a warm sensation over the wound.
And at that moment—
Ding!
《The Sacred Power skill cannot be activated.》
Huh?
《The Power of Blessing does not apply to the user.》
"......What?"
Wait, what the fuck?
There was no mention of that in the skill description!
In a panic, I pulled up the skill window again ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) — and sure enough, a line that hadn’t been there before was now written at the bottom.
*The Power of Blessing can only be used on others.
"......."
Motherfucker.
Muttering curses under my breath, I clenched my fists and trembled.
Even as I tried to calm down, the feeling of being backstabbed made my anger surge uncontrollably.
“Haa......”
I closed my eyes, feeling the heat rise all the way up to the crown of my head.
Cha Sahyeon, who was sitting on my lap playing her game, looked up in confusion after hearing my sigh, but I couldn’t even spare her a glance right now.
Honestly, wasn’t this basically a scam?
Shouldn’t such a critical condition have been written in giant letters on the purchase page?
‘My fifty million won.......’
That hard-earned cash — and I wasted it buying this garbage.
The system had completely fucked me over.
After the anger subsided, an overwhelming emptiness washed over me.
I felt so fucking stupid that I lost all motivation.
Of course, it was still C-rank, so maybe things would change once I leveled it up...
But that would mean I'd have to invest even more into this skill.
As if it wasn't bad enough that I had already wasted fifty million cash on a skill that only healed others, now I’d have to sink even more into it?
I had bought other cash items too, but right now, I had zero desire to check them.
I was terrified I'd find another trash item and make my mood even worse.
‘......I’ll check them later.’
Maybe after this gaping hole in my heart started to heal a little.
Ah, my poor, precious fifty million won.
Swallowing blood tears, I swore to myself.
Never again would I blindly rush to buy a skill just because it looked tempting.
One week after Cha Sahyeon had wrecked the office, an unexpected guest showed up.
Sitting across from the guest on the sofa under the warm noon sunlight, I awkwardly cleared my throat.
Thank god I had cleaned up the office beforehand.
“I didn’t expect you to come all the way here in person.”
At my words, Kwon Taehyuk glanced once at me, then at Cha Sahyeon pressed up close beside me, and spoke.
“You refused the official invitation, and even ignored the calls from the secretary team... I had no choice but to visit you directly.”
“Hm......”
As he said, five days ago, an invitation from the Yesung Guild had arrived.
Receiving an invitation bearing the Yesung Guild logo was insanely burdensome.
Even though Kwon Taehyuk was classified as a 'protagonist' by the system and I needed to get closer to him, this wasn’t exactly the method I preferred.
The reason Kwon Taehyuk kept showing interest in me was entirely because of the support I had given him during the dungeon run.
Of course he’d be curious — about a support skill that didn’t seem remotely B-rank, and about my past as a lab experiment subject.
If I naively accepted the formal invitation and walked into the Yesung Guild, I might end up getting forced into signing a sketchy contract. Or worse, dragged to the Bureau for a compulsory re-evaluation.
‘I don’t think that straight-laced guy would pull dirty tricks...’
Still, for someone like me, who had a lot to hide, it didn’t hurt to be cautious.
Finishing my thoughts, I smiled like I didn’t know anything and asked,
“So, what brings you here?”
“I’d like to make you an offer.”
“I’ll say this up front — I have no intention of disbanding my guild.”
As I drew a clear line, Kwon Taehyuk’s lips curled slightly.
Was that a smirk?
“Do as you like with your guild. The offer I want to make is a cooperation proposal.”
He pulled up something on a tablet PC he had placed beside him and handed it to me.
On the screen were details about a specific location.
“Rift Hazard Zone... Probability 88%?”
Reading the bold title first, I checked the location.
Just as I expected, the map was pointing to Uidong, Gangbuk-gu.
“In exactly seven days, a rift will open there. As you know, unlike dungeons where you can control entry, rifts can open anywhere, making them even harder to manage. If even a single monster slips through, civilians could get hurt.”
“Right.”
“To ensure there are no problems dealing with the rift, I’d like to request Cha Seohu Hunter’s assistance.”
Listening quietly to Kwon Taehyuk’s calm explanation, I slowly scrolled through the data.
It was a place I knew well. It was famous for being a drama filming location, but more importantly — because of an incident that had occurred there.
‘Besides the rift they were monitoring, another unexpected one opened nearby.’
Rifts randomly appearing all over the world — the ability to detect them had only existed for a few years.
It was an unstable technology with many flaws.
The worst example of its failure was the "Gangbuk Rift Incident."
‘The timing matches perfectly.’
Seven days from now, a rift would appear in Uidong, Gangbuk, just like in my previous life.
After carefully recalling the events of the past, I tapped the tablet screen with my finger, thinking hard.
‘What should I do?’
Strictly speaking, this had nothing to do with me.
Back then, I had zero involvement in the incident.
In fact, weaker guilds like Circle Guild, the one I belonged to, never even received information like this — we had no chance at all.
I had only found out after the disaster had already happened.
With the news reporting every day, the dates, the death toll, and the scale of the damage were all burned into my memory.
“.......”
The more I weighed the pros and cons of accepting the offer, the colder and clearer my mind became.
If someone like Kwon Taehyuk had regressed, he would have accepted without hesitation.
Even if there were no rewards, he would rush in just to save people.
But me?
I had no such noble intentions, nor the circumstances to indulge in them.
I turned my gaze to Cha Sahyeon clinging tightly to my side.
The kid would definitely get anxious if we were separated, meaning I’d have to take her along — and I doubted I could protect her properly in the middle of that chaos.
No — was there even any need to take that risk?
It was clear I'd only end up losing.
‘If I offered advice or pointed something out, it would only raise suspicion.’
With someone as sharp as Kwon Taehyuk, that risk was very real.
I was already under suspicion — drawing more attention would do me no favors.
Yeah.
I should refuse.
I was about to make that decision when—
[If only our guild had been a little stronger... maybe we could’ve gotten information like that.]
The voice that echoed through my mind was thick with regret.
I clamped my mouth shut tightly, remembering a fragment of the past.
‘Ah.......’
Of all times, why did that memory have to resurface now?
My heart wavered violently.

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