Meruths, who had been ejected from a subspace by an unknown force, looked around with a startled expression.

Then, upon spotting Seo-jun, she took in a large gulp of air.

“……!”

“Been a while.”

Gulp.

“No need to be so tense.”

Seo-jun wasn't making any threatening gestures. But how could one not be tense?

Meruths was, in truth, a lower celestial deity. The same went for Kadalan.

Even so, the reason those two could participate in the Earth Project was because they had the most optimal conditions to descend to Earth.

Many celestial deities had attempted to descend to Earth, but all attempts ended in failure.

The process itself consumed a vast amount of celestial energy, and recovering from it was difficult.

However, some deities were different. Meruths was one of those few.

Thanks to that, she was able to participate in the project, but as a deity, she had little martial might to speak of.

On the other hand, Seo-jun was a Demon God. Until now, he was the only one in the demon realm who had ever been called that.

That alone made him a being of immense threat to the celestial deities. How could anyone not be tense?

Meruths asked cautiously.

“……What are you planning to do with me?”

“Nothing.”

“……Then, are you going to let me go?”

“You’re greedy.”

“…….”

“I called you here because I had something to ask.”

Meruths swallowed dryly again. The fear of what question might come overwhelmed her.

What if she asked something she couldn’t answer?

What if she got erased for not knowing?

But the question that came was unexpectedly plain.

“Did you say hello to Chae Sang-hyun?”

“……That’s your question?”

“The mood felt a little too heavy. So? Did you say hello?”

“……Well, he did ask if I knew a way out.”

“Let’s get to the point. Why are Awakened ones experiencing side effects?”

“Side effects?”

“They say about one in a hundred experiences side effects. Becoming violent, for example.”

“I don’t know that either.”

“Hmmm.”

“I swear! I really don’t know anything about the side effects—”

“Meruths.”

“…….”

“This is my first time hearing your name. Why do you think that is?”

“……Probably because I’m a lower deity.”

“Right. You are a lower deity. I don’t know why you got involved in this situation, but you probably weren’t the one to push it forward. So I don’t hold any grudge, and letting you go won’t cause me any trouble.”

“…….”

“So you’d better answer what I ask. When I say it won’t cause me trouble, that means your existence isn’t a big obstacle to me either.”

In other words, he was saying he’d erase her if necessary.

Erasure didn’t mean death.

But to the celestial deities, erasure was the unknown. And the unknown always brought fear.

That went for Meruths as well.

“……There’s something I suspect.”

“What is it?”

“Earth’s Ether is different from the continent’s Ether.”

“The nature seemed the same to me.”

“You can think of Earth’s Ether as a kind of homunculus too.”

“Ether?”

“I told you before, didn’t I? That in order to create artificial celestial energy on Earth, we had to create the right environment.”

“You said that experiment failed.”

“Before that… do you remember homunculi?”

“I remember.”

“Ether is similar. The concept is the same, but it’s different from the one on the continent.”

“You mean Ether was replicated too?”

“That’s right. But the continent’s Ether is different. For example…”

“Divine power.”

“Exactly. Divine power contains celestial energy. But Earth’s Ether, while similar to the continent’s, felt like a different kind of energy. That’s why it didn’t convert into celestial energy, and why that experiment failed.”

“Go on.”

“In short, Earth’s Ether is incomplete.”

“You’re saying that incompleteness is related to the side effects?”

“It’s not certain. Like I said, it’s just a guess.”

He wasn’t sure. But Seo-jun felt that Meruths’s guess might be right.

As stated, Ether was of a neutral nature. So it had no effect on humans.

But if, as Meruths said, there was some incompleteness or mutation, that changed things.

Most people would have accepted the mutated Ether without issue, but a small minority likely couldn’t accept it fully.

With Seo-jun’s expression brightening, Meruths cautiously asked,

“Am I… going to be released?”

“Of course. But before that, one last thing.”

“……?”

“Did I say I was going to release you right now?”

“……!”

“I’ll let you go. Just not right now.”

Kuuoooooo—!

As the subspace opened again, Meruths was helplessly sucked back in.

Today too, Seo-jun was left alone at the store doing the closing cleanup. Yeon-jun always looked apologetic, but truthfully, Seo-jun preferred doing it alone.

Clean was a very basic magic.

On the continent, it was something even academy students used for practice.

Of course, casting it over a wide area required a certain level, but Seo-jun had the ability to clean the entire store in an instant.

Even so, he insisted on doing it manually, because somehow it made him feel like the day was really over.

While cleaning up, he could reflect on the events of the day.

Most of all…

Sizzle—!

After finishing all the cleaning, Seo-jun grilled some gochujang pork belly on a hot pan. Then he took out a bottle of soju from the fridge.

When he stayed behind to clean, he could enjoy this little luxury.

They say drinking is better with company, but sometimes you just want to drink alone.

Splash!

He poured soju into the glass until it swayed.

And gulp!

“Ahh.”

Next was the gochujang pork belly. This stuff never gets old no matter how much he eats. And it pairs really well with soju.

He was about two bottles in when—

Ding!

Someone walked into the store, looking awkward.

“I came in because the lights were on… you were drinking alone. Sorry for interrupting.”

“It’s fine. You came for a drink, didn’t you?”

“……”

He looked too apologetic to answer. Seo-jun smiled brightly in response.

“Come on in.”

“But……”

“I can’t finish all of this alone anyway.”

Seo-jun shook the freshly opened bottle of soju, and Sung-hyun made a sheepish expression. He had realized it was a good-natured lie.

“Just like last time, I ended up coming by after closing again. Sorry.”

As Sung-hyun kept apologizing, Seo-jun offered him a seat. Then he brought out another glass.

The last time he had come, Shin Sung-hyun had a face full of worry. So much so, it looked like he was nearing death.

But for some reason, today his expression was bright. Unlike last time, he looked full of life. Just like the always-cheerful Shin Sung-hyun of before.

How could someone change this much in just a few days… It made him curious, but he didn’t pry into his heart.

“By the way, isn’t this the time you’re usually working at the convenience store?”

Seo-jun asked while pouring soju into Sung-hyun’s glass.

“Ah… right.”

“Did you have something going on today?”

“No. As of yesterday, I switched to weekend shifts.”

“Weekend shifts?”

“Yes. I’m planning to rest on weekdays and only work weekends.”

Shin Sung-hyun had been working at that convenience store ever since he returned.

No one knew exactly when he started, but it had definitely been more than a year.

And now he had reduced his working hours. That meant something had changed in his life or something was going on.

Seo-jun didn’t bother to ask and poured a drink into his own glass.

“Ah! Let me pour for you.”

Seo-jun didn’t decline. As soon as the glass was full, he downed it in one go.

“Tastes good.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. For some reason, it tastes sweet.”

“It tastes bitter to me……”

“You haven’t tasted it yet though.”

“That’s true.”

Sung-hyun lifted his glass. Like Seo-jun, he downed it in one go. Just as Seo-jun had said, surprisingly, it tasted sweet.

“It is sweet.”

“Told you.”

“That’s strange. Last time it was so bitter……”

Mumbling to himself, Sung-hyun suddenly remembered something the site foreman once told him.

– Alcohol is only sweet for the happy ones. For people like us, it’s bound to be bitter.

Then… am I happy right now?

Sung-hyun let out a quiet chuckle. He must be happy. Especially since the corners of his mouth kept trying to rise. But strangely, tears began to fall.

“Boss.”

“Yes.”

“You said the drink tasted sweet, right?”

“I did.”

“You must be happy then.”

“What do you mean……?”

“Someone told me once. That alcohol tastes really sweet for happy people. For people whose lives are bitter, alcohol can only be bitter. You're happy, right?”

It wasn’t something he had ever really thought about, but it was a question he could answer right away.

“I’m happy.”

“……I’ve rarely ever been happy. That’s why I’m asking—because I don’t know. When you’re happy, do you cry?”

“……”

“I’m definitely happy. So happy I could go crazy. I feel like I could die right now and have no regrets… But strangely, I keep crying. Is that normal?”

This time, he couldn’t answer immediately.

Everyone has a different threshold for happiness. Just because I feel happy at a 10 doesn’t mean others will too.

It’s the same with how it shows. Some people cry from being overwhelmed by happiness, while others just laugh uncontrollably.

But……

Glance.

Sung-hyun definitely seemed like the former.

“Yes. That’s how it is.”

Sung-hyun wiped his tears and smiled softly. Then he downed several shots of soju in succession.

One shot, two shots, three shots……

It was amazing. Truly amazing.

The alcohol was sweet. Even though he hadn’t eaten any snacks… the alcohol was unbelievably sweet. But it seemed like Sung-hyun wasn’t that good with alcohol.

Before he knew it, his eyes were a little unfocused.

“……Boss.”

“Yes.”

“Do you know the contact info of the boss who was here when I came last time?”

“Why do you ask?”

“He bought my dream.”

“He bought your dream?”

Sung-hyun rubbed his face and gave an off-topic answer.

“Boss, what was your dream?”

Returning alive.

That was the dream.

But it didn’t feel quite right to answer with “returning alive.”

“Well, if you’re asking about childhood dreams… I had quite a few.”

“That’s okay. I’d like to hear them.”

“There were a lot. I wanted to be a police officer, a firefighter…”

Ah, is that why I feel especially attached to Park Joon-sik and Ko Kyung-soo?

Seo-jun, who briefly thought about it, continued.

“I vaguely wanted to try acting too.”

“With your looks, you could be an actor right now.”

“It was just a childhood dream. How about you, Sung-hyun?”

“I didn’t have any.”

“……”

“If I had a dream, it was for my mom not to be sick, and for my little sister Yoon-hee to get into a good university. I always thought it would be hard to achieve. Especially for someone like me who didn’t study and doesn’t have any skills.”

Shin Sung-hyun was just someone Seo-jun ran into a couple times by chance.

But even in those few encounters, he always smiled brightly, so he had thought Sung-hyun was doing okay. But he wasn’t.

“That boss from last time bought that dream. For thirty million won.”

Suddenly, a conversation with Hwang Tae-su came to mind.

– Is that a problem?

– For someone like me, it is a problem.

Seo-jun let out a quiet laugh.

Isn’t that a good kind of problem?

If he had known this would happen, he wouldn’t have returned just fifty thousand won as a consultation fee.

“I’ve never been comforted by someone before, let alone received such big help. That’s why I wanted to repay the favor someday. I asked for the contact, but he kept saying there was no such thing.”

“……”

“You know him, don’t you? If you do, please tell me. I’m begging you.”

Even with his eyes glazed, this was the one time Sung-hyun bowed his head clearly and sincerely.

“I don’t think I can give you the contact info.”

“Ah……”

“But I can give you a hint.”