Suicide Before Defeating the Final Boss

Suicide Before Defeating the Final Boss – 5

EP.5 Saintess

As night approached, Jeong-hyeon paused his training.

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Lee Jeong-hyeon [Level: 1]

[Stats]

Strength: 13 Agility: 10 Stamina: 9 Magic: 6 Divine Power: ???

[Traits]

(Unrealistic Genius)
(Unrealistic Luck)

[Skills]

None

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He gained 6 Strength, 4 Agility, and 5 Stamina.

Even for someone called a genius, achieving such rapid progression in just a few hours was impossible. He knew how insane this progress rate was.

‘It’s not enough.’

Yet, it still wasn’t enough for him. To an outsider, it might seem like the arrogance of someone who already had plenty, but…

‘They could find me at any moment.’

He thought, feeling the urgency.

‘The moment they find me, I’ll have to go through that hellish experience all over again.’

Therefore, he had to progress as quickly as possible, even if it meant sacrificing everything. It was the only way he could survive.

As he reached out to harm himself again, a young yet fierce voice came from behind.

“… I’ll never help you again!”

Her small body trembled with rage as she stamped her foot, her eyes flashing with fury.

Feeling somewhat awkward, he offered an apology with a forced smile.

“Did you miss a class today because of me? Sorry.”

At his words, she responded as if she was about to explode.

“No, it’s the weekend…! And that’s not the problem. Your body… Every time I heal you, it feels like my heart is sinking!”

Hearing this, Jeong-hyeon looked down at his body. He had indeed used a lot of divine power, and his body was covered in blood, his uniform tattered.

“… Is that so?”

He had been dragged around in such a state so often that he couldn’t even tell what was wrong anymore. Seeing his puzzled expression, she flared up like an angry chicken.

“No! ‘Is that so?’ Anyone who sees you like this would be horrified and run away!”

“I don’t think it’s that bad.”

At his words, she paused for a moment. Then, with a completely different expression, she spoke gently.

“Do you really think so, sir?”

Though puzzled by her sudden change in attitude, he nodded without much thought. She gave him a kindly smile and spoke to him again.

“So, you’re saying that being badly wounded, covered in blood, and having your skin torn to shreds is not that bad, is it?”

Before he attempted suicide, he had been dragged around in a worse state for days without sleep. So, he thought this wasn’t so bad.

Unaware of the seriousness of the situation, he nodded.

“I understand your point.”

She gave a bright smile, picked up a palm-sized stone from the ground, and said,

“Thinking about it, I was short-sighted. For a creature that only experiences pain, death might be a blessing.”

Then, with a cold expression, she continued.

“So, it’s better if I kill you. Yes, that must be the goddess’s will.”

She rushed at him, swinging the stone as if she genuinely intended to kill him.

“Just die! Die already!”

No matter how you looked at it, telling someone to die wasn’t something a priestess should say, right? He slowly stepped back and spoke,

“Calm down.”

“Do you think this is a situation to calm down? Do you know how absurd it is to self-harm in front of a priestess and then ask for healing?”

Now that he thought about it, she had a point. It was like getting a phone repaired, smashing it on the ground right after, and then asking for it to be fixed again.

‘But there’s no other way.’

– A living divine power bomb.

The memory of that day, when he had to get permission even to breathe, made him feel as if they would come and put a collar around his neck at any moment. No matter what she said, he couldn’t stop this training.

“Sorry.”

The moment he stopped progressing and stayed in place, it wouldn’t be different from waiting for death. So, after a brief apology, he avoided her and swung his hand at a nearby tree to continue his training.

Boom!

This time, he might have used too much divine power. His arm, which was barely holding its shape, was now completely broken and dangling. While looking at it curiously, the priestess, who had been watching from behind, spoke to him with a face close to fainting.

“Again?! Oh my god! This time, your bone is completely shattered…!”

“……”

“At least give me an excuse!”

“Sorry.”

“Good job…!”

At her words, he looked at her silently. She pretended to be nonchalant and spoke.

“What? What is it!”

“I didn’t say anything.”

“I’m just frustrated, so don’t mind me!”

After saying that, the priestess, who had been healing him, bit her lip and after a moment of contemplation, spoke with a complicated expression.

“By the way, doesn’t it hurt? If your bone is completely shattered… normally.”

She seemed to swallow her words, finding it hard to continue. Noticing her discomfort, he decided to pretend not to hear, looking down at his wounded arm.

‘It doesn’t hurt as much as I thought.’

Maybe it was because the collar had given him such terrible pain that it had built up his pain tolerance.

This level of pain was bearable. Thinking that he could use this to his advantage, he was suddenly jolted by her hitting him hard on the back.

“Anyway, at least rest until tomorrow. Divine power can perfectly heal external wounds, but not internal ones.”

“……”

Whether he wanted to or not, he had no choice, so he deliberately avoided answering. She glared at him and continued.

“… By the way, your body responds remarkably well to healing. Normally, it would take hours of divine power to heal a broken bone, but you heal almost instantly… It’s almost eerie how well you take to divine power.”

Is that so? Indeed, it was unrealistic to recover so quickly from a broken bone.

“You are quite a curious person.”

With nothing to say, he remained silent. Suddenly, a wave of dizziness hit him, and he collapsed to the ground. Seeing this, she panicked and called out to him.

“Are you alright?”

Looking at her, he remembered something he had forgotten to mention.

“I’m hungry.”

At this, she shouted in frustration.

“Oh, come on…!”

Then, grabbing him by the arm, she started to drag him.

“You know what? You are very high maintenance.”

“…….”

“At least make an excuse!”

“Sorry.”

“Good job…!”

With that, she dragged him off somewhere.

***

As Jeong-hyeon ventured into the row of shops, he recalled what Archbishop Lea had told him.

– Even trash like you wants to eat proper food, huh? But too bad, the only food allowed for you is leftovers.

The memory was old, but its bitterness lingered. He recalled his disgust with a hollow laugh.

‘That damn bitch.’

Someday, he would get his revenge. As he clenched his teeth, the priestess stopped and spoke to him.

“Here it is. This place is really good!”

He looked silently at the place she pointed to. It seemed ordinary, but it had a somewhat unique sign with a chicken on it. As he stared at the restaurant, she grabbed his wrist and pulled him inside.

“Come on in.”

Once inside, she ordered the food.

“Honestly, you’re so stubborn that I feel a bit reluctant to treat you, but since you helped me, I’ll buy you a meal. So, eat as much as you want.”

She sat down with a bright smile. Following her, he sat beside her, and soon a waiter brought the food to their table.

‘It’s been a while.’

Looking at the soup, bread, and a few pieces of meat, he closed his eyes for a moment.

– It’s absurd for you to eat proper food. Trash like you eating proper food is just wrong.

He had thought he would never be able to eat proper food again. This stirred a strange feeling within him. As he stared blankly at the food, another memory from his last meal surfaced.

– This much should be fitting for your last meal.

Food trampled underfoot and covered in filthy water. That image vividly came to mind, filling him with rage. Overwhelmed with emotion, he stared at the food without eating, and she asked curiously.

“Do you not like it?”

“No, it’s not that.”

“Then eat up. You need nutritious food right now. Eat before it gets cold.”

Her words were the complete opposite of what Archbishop Lea had said. Hearing this, he slowly put some food into his mouth. The first taste of the warm soup was…

‘It tastes like blood.’

It wasn’t the taste of soup, but the taste of blood.

As he opened his mouth in surprise, the priestess beside him cried out in alarm.

“Oh no, why are you spitting up blood while eating…! Healing!”

As she healed him, the taste of blood soon disappeared, replaced by the savory flavor of the soup.

‘… It’s delicious.’

Just as he was thinking that food could taste this good, the priestess watching him slowly began to speak.

“I just realized that we haven’t introduced ourselves yet.”

With a bright, pure smile, she introduced herself, her clear blue eyes shining.

“I’m Lucia. from the Serea Order.”

Hearing the name Lucia, he couldn’t help but pause. It was because the name Lucia was the real name of the saintess whom Archbishop Lea despised so much.