Sankalut, the god of pain and blessing, was a typical evil god who had been subjugated when an entrance opened on Earth.

But fundamentally, subjugating divinity meant sealing it away.

No matter how foolish a god might be, divinity was still divinity.

Even divinities of equal standing found it difficult to harm one another, so how much more so for mortals?

As a result, Sankalut was locked inside a research lab on Earth.

"■..."

He had no malice.

The evil divinity born at human hands understood why the people of Earth had imprisoned him, but he had never once thought his way was wrong.

Because that was how he had been made.

With the pure desire to return to the past, Sankalut gradually dyed the research lab in his colors.

"Ah, Lord Sankalut..."

"Please bestow your blessing upon us."

"We seek your salvation!"

The humans, already pushed to the brink mentally, easily accepted his salvation.

"■..."

Pitifully enough.

Sankalut wanted to return to his home.

There was a sense of security that could only be found in a familiar place.

And he raised his children for a new beginning.

The research lab was gradually dyed in Sankalut's colors.

The process was extremely quiet, and also secret.

" "

Sankalut knew that the owner of the owner of the owner of this research lab was tacitly allowing everything despite knowing it all.

No matter how long he waited, no restraint came.

Sankalut understood that as permission.

In the end, he succeeded in taking one research lab into his embrace.

Sankalut steadily accepted the food his children fed him and searched his surroundings.

But a seedling of a cult leader who could return him to his rightful place did not easily appear.

"■"

And while he still could not reach beyond the research lab, he found a human called "Ju-hyeon."

That child's vessel was exceedingly broad and cozy.

He wanted to be held in those hands.

Sankalut knew what he had to do for a human to accept him easily.

"Yes, I see."

"■..."

"That person... yes, I understand."

"■..."

"I will do that."

To narrow the vision of a human with a broad vessel, he had to show them the limits of their species.

When the kindest humans were disappointed in other humans, they gently accepted faith.

That was what Sankalut had learned.

He tried to do the same to "Ju-hyeon."

"...?"

But he failed.

It was too sudden.

Something far too enormous snatched "Ju-hyeon" away.

Sankalut grieved as a good sprout grew distant, but there was nothing he could do.

A divinity lowered its head before a divinity greater and more radiant than itself.

Having lost that precious vessel, Sankalut broadened his view a little more.

Since finding a decent jewel in a pit of dust was this difficult, he decided to mine jewels from a gold mine from the start.

"■..."

It was extremely difficult to avoid the gazes of other divinities and aim for the sprouts in their sight, but in the most chaotic place, Sankalut saw very good sprouts.

They were vessels named "Cha Yisol" and "Iru-da."

"■."

One of them was already in another divinity's embrace, so Sankalut decided to take the one called "Cha Yisol."

If he excluded that one now, there was no seedling of a cult leader on this landmass who could safely contain Sankalut.

His vessel was enormous and he was young, so his potential was limitless.

Sankalut reached out before he was taken away again.

Among the research lab's servants, he picked out one whose child was in the embrace of the Sun.

His preparations were complete.

"■..."

"Ah, this is..."

"■..."

"Thank you, Lord Sankalut! With this, my child will receive the greatest grace...!"

"■..."

"I will raise your child in the embrace of the Sun, so please trust me!"

When making the kindest human disappointed in humanity, the most effective method was to make someone they cherished suffer at the hands of those same humans.

Because they were numb to their own pain.

He looked around.

The child had many friends and family.

But trapped in the embrace of the Sun, the one he could see most closely was, after all, the servant of another divinity named "Iru-da."

Sankalut aimed for that.

" "

The groundwork for that had already been laid.

A precious sprout was bound to be rejected by rotten sprouts.

Sankalut whispered to the child of his servant, and the young sprout who heard his whisper began to regard the anger and jealousy he had long held as pain.

In the end, that succeeded in driving "Cha Yisol" and "Iru-da" into a corner, but...

"■"

No, really.

"■¿"

To think the sky-blue one who hated humans would help human children.

"...■..."

Sankalut grew dejected.

His luck was bad, far too bad.

He felt an enormous fate.

Then again, there were many divinities staying on this narrow land, and few desirable vessels, so it could not be helped that competition to embrace such vessels was fierce.

But it did not seem to have had no effect at all.

" "

If I withdraw like this, I have no idea when I will be able to return home.

" "

Little "Iru-da" now harbored a desire for revenge, and the child of his servant was still suffering amid jealousy.

It would not take that long to break the tender heart of the vessel.

Most of all, "Cha Yisol's" distrust had already begun.

Sankalut opened his mouth and whispered.

Iru-da was badly hurt.

"..."

Cha Yisol stared quietly at his unconscious friend.

"Ruda..."

"..."

"Iru-da."

He was a little angry.

"How can you be hurt all by yourself without me?"

They said partners assigned by the order were a community of fate, so last time, even if he was sad, he had been able to bear it.

But not this time.

Cha Yisol leaned against the bed where Iru-da lay and wiggled his fingers.

He poked at Iru-da's hands, which were covered in calluses, then lightly held one.

"..."

They were full of wounds.

"This makes me sad."

They said Iru-da, after finding out the details of what had happened during the previous individual practical training, had fought the ringleader.

And inside yet another practical training dungeon, no less.

Angered, they had fought together, but only Iru-da had lost consciousness.

Because the ringleader had played dirty and worked together with other friends.

Because he had borrowed the power of a terrifying tool with help from his parents.

Cha Yisol thought that was truly hateful.

'He smiled so well at me, but he only bullies Ruda.'

Cha Yisol knew what there was to know.

He looked easy, and Ruda did not, so they attacked the difficult one first.

They must have thought that he had refused to cooperate because of Ruda.

'How stupid.'

He had simply not taken that child's hand because he disliked him.

"..."

He hated everyone a little.

It would have been better if Iru-da had been just a little more cold-hearted.

Would it not have been better if the ringleader had not acted greedy from the start?

How nice would it have been if the adults had paid more attention to the prospective priests?

'Then we wouldn't have had to get hurt like this.'

No, if I had been a better partner, maybe we could have avoided this situation.

"... What do I do..."

He was beginning to hate this huge white house.

'I miss my brother. My sister too...'

He thought of the family who had loved him most.

This house, where so many unfair things happened, had still been fun thanks to Iru-da, who gifted him so much affection, but now even that was becoming too much to bear.

He felt stifled and miserable.

'I want to go back to my original home.'

In winter, the cold wind came in, and during monsoon season, the rain leaked through, and even if they could not always eat three meals a day, he missed the meals where he sat around with his family and ate noisily.

He wanted to see his friends from the village too.

"... Why is everyone..."

Cha Yisol buried his face in the bed and mumbled.

"...so desperate to hate each other?"

He was scared.

'It's scary here, noona.'

Everyone acted so unfairly.

The villagers said that even if they were born from different mothers, they were the same family.

If they had extra crops or food, they shared it with one another, and even if a child who was bad at games joined in at the empty lot, they laughed simply because they were happy.

It was a village where the sky was clearly visible.

But not here.

The buildings were so big that he could not see the sky, and there were clearly friends and neighbors, yet they did not look at one another, and they were even bad at playing together, so they often excluded others, saying they had no "qualifications."

'Why do they have to go that far?'

The villagers were busy sticking together, but this place was busy slandering and biting at one another.

They acted as if they would die if they did not.

Maybe that was actually true.

That was why Iru-da had been hurt like this.

"... Ruda..."

He felt depressed.

"I want to go home."

He missed home.

"Home was better. This place is too scary and..."

"That's right."

"..."

"It's scary, isn't it?"

Cha Yisol lifted his face from the bed and looked at Iru-da, whose eyes should have been closed.

Why?

"I understand."

It was strange.

Something in the shape of his friend comforted him.

It took his hand in its own.

"I want to go home too."

"... Home?"

"Yes, being trapped in a remote place is a frightening thing."

"That's right."

"Shall I let you out?"

"..."

When Cha Yisol closed his mouth, "Iru-da" smiled.

"You're more... suspicious than I expected."

"Who are you?"

"I want to be your friend."

"Friend?"

"We can help each other."

"Maybe we can, but..."

Cha Yisol, who had grown up being taught by his older brother and sister that "there are many swindlers in the world, so if a suspiciously smooth-talking stranger approaches you, rely on a trustworthy adult," took a scribbled piece of paper from his chest.

"I think I need to consult my guardian first."

"... Huh?"

"You talk too well, so you're suspicious."

The paper Cha Yisol took out was one he had drawn Black Cloak on before.

"Jio hyung, save me—!!"

And so Cha Yisol and Iru-da were sucked into the picture.

"That's so mean!!"

The fragment of Sankalut that had borrowed Iru-da's body teared up.

"I was the one who spoke to you, so why are you asking another oppa for help?!"

"Like I said earlier, you talk too well, so you're suspicious!"

"I hadn't even gotten out half of half of half of what I needed to say, because you called over another divinity!!"

"Then I did well, because I asked for help before I got bewitched by half of half of your half!!"

"I was trying to help you, so why did you call another adult...!!"

In the house that had become noisy in an instant, the mermaid Iser gave a bitter smile.

"Teacher, may I throw them all out?"

"Of course not."

Giovanni approached the two children with his characteristic cheerful smile.

"Student Cha Yisol, what brings you to call me?"

"He keeps trying to tempt me!"

"My goodness."

As Jio drew closer, Sankalut flinched.

"... L-Last time... last time, you were that...!"

"You are the jewel that tried to tempt Mr. Ju-hyeon before."

"Why do you keep snatching away every vessel I choose?!"

"I did not snatch them away."

Giovanni declared confidently.

"If one is an excellent divinity, people gather simply because one stays still."

"Th-That can't be...!"

"Bees gather around flowers with plenty of honey, too."

"To summarize, this is because I am better than you."

"I worked hard too!"

"Oh my, working hard is the bare minimum."

"No matter how hard a flower tries to bloom, is it not ultimately at the discretion of the bee that flies over whether it is chosen?"

"Ugh...!!"

As the two divinities conversed, Ju-hyeon, who was sitting on the sofa savoring his tea, thought.

'He's comparing himself to a flower.'

It was tremendous confidence.

'So this is a conversation between divinities.'

Ju-hyeon, who had come to speak with the mermaid before the all-out war, felt a strange sense of futility.

It would be fair to call it a kind of resignation.

Ju-hyeon looked at Iser with his characteristic sincere smile.

"Would you like another cup?"

"Yes, this is my first time drinking this tea."

"They said it is a flower obtained with the help of a dungeon Mr. Jio cleared."

"I think its cool fragrance is very pleasant."

At that heartwarming conversation, Jio called Cha Yisol.

"Student Cha Yisol, would you go to those people?"

"What about you, hyung?"

"I need to have a conversation with this uninvited guest."

"Is it dangerous?"

"It has been a long time since I conversed with a divinity, so I am excited."

"Wow, who else have you talked to before?"

"If you go drink tea together over there, I will tell you later."

"I'm sorry for interrupting when you had guests!"

"How admirable."

After sending Cha Yisol to trustworthy Ju-hyeon's side, Jio looked at Sankalut.

"Let us have our conversation now."

"A-Are you going to scold me?"

"We are equal divinities, so scolding is not the appropriate word."

"Liar..."

"You may think as you please."

And so Jio disappeared upstairs with Iru-da.

"Huh."

"Student Iru-da isn't waking up."

"She was already asleep to begin with."

"Is that so?"

Soon, he returned carrying Iru-da, who was back to her original state.

Cha Yisol asked with pure curiosity.

"Exorcism?"

"It was closer to dispelling a spirit through conversation."

"Aha, I see."

At that, Ju-hyeon thought.

'In this place, even an evil god like Sankalut is treated like a wandering ghost.'

It was so unreal that he laughed.