Chapter 196
Cleansing
In the stillness of a dark, moonless night,
while the entire world was asleep,
Son Jo Woo sat cross-legged on the floor of his room.
He had drawn a large circular symbol on the ground, filled with strange, intertwined runic letters unlike anything familiar, as though they belonged to another world—and they truly did.
He sat at the center of the circle and placed his hands directly in front of his abdomen.
Here...
The magical power core.
The moment the thought crossed his mind, he began murmuring strange, incomprehensible words.
With every syllable he spoke, the symbol started glowing with a faint crimson light tinged with heavenly blue, weak yet unsettlingly beautiful.
Son Jo Woo's body suddenly trembled.
A sharp pain swept through him, as though a million tiny needles were piercing his body all at once.
'What a disgusting technique... damn it.'
His body bent involuntarily, and he began coughing up thick green blood.
Within seconds, the room was filled with an unbearable, revolting stench.
"The first stage... Soul Purification."
The moment he spoke those words, pure white light erupted from the symbol.
The symbol slowly rose from the floor and stopped before Son Jo Woo's face.
Then—
Without the slightest hesitation—
It pierced directly into his head.
At that moment, he felt as though the entire world had fallen on top of him.
Not metaphorically...
Literally.
An overwhelming pressure crushed both his soul and body together.
He lost his balance and slammed violently onto the floor.
Blood began flowing from every opening in his body:
His nose,
His mouth,
His ears,
Even the pores of his skin.
His body shook violently as he curled up on the floor in unbearable agony.
---
"Doctor Jin! We have an emergency! Quickly!"
The nurse shouted into the communication device in her hand to call Doctor Jin while standing in Son Jo Woo's room after coming to check on him.
Only a few seconds later, Doctor Jin rushed in, concern clearly visible on his face.
But before he could even lift his gaze—
The foul smell struck his nose.
Even the smell of a rotting corpse...
Was not this bad.
He raised his eyes and froze in place.
Son Jo Woo was lying on the floor.
Sticky green blood covered his body,
And everything around him was contaminated by a strange, foul liquid.
His body was trembling violently,
And his eyes had rolled back from the intensity of the pain.
Doctor Jin did not waste a single second.
He rushed toward him and checked his pulse.
At first...
There was no pulse.
A heavy silence filled the room.
Then—
A few seconds later—
The pulse slowly returned, faint enough that Doctor Jin could barely feel it at the tip of his finger.
Light.
Gentle.
Then it accelerated.
Then—
It became terrifyingly loud.
The sound of Son Jo Woo's heartbeat became so powerful that everyone in the room could hear it clearly without needing to move closer.
The sound...
Was like a war drum being beaten violently inside his chest.
Everyone shuddered.
Even in a world filled with dungeons, monsters, and supernatural phenomena...
No one had ever witnessed something like this before.
The sound echoed through the enclosed room.
Powerful.
Terrifying.
Unnaturally so.
Son Jo Woo's body trembled violently as he struggled to remain conscious.
That technique was slowly stealing his awareness away and nearly consuming his soul entirely.
"No... not now..."
Everyone heard Son Jo Woo speaking through pain and raging fury.
"I haven't taken my revenge...
I haven't killed them...
I will kill everyone who destroyed me first!"
As those words erupted from him with overwhelming vengeance,
he raised his intact right hand
and slammed it into the floor.
The ground trembled beneath his hand, and blood flowed from it from the force of the strike.
He raised it once more and struck the floor again.
"Stop, you damned bastard!"
Son Jo Woo shouted at himself in fury.
And at that very moment, he stood up...
As though nothing had happened.
He stood there while blood trickled lightly from his hand, breathing a sigh of relief after overcoming the brush with death he had just endured.
Son Jo Woo smiled calmly.
"It truly feels good... to be completely healthy and well."
He looked around and found everyone staring at him in complete shock.
"What is going on here?"
Before he could continue—
That foul odor coming from the room... and from his own body struck his nose.
"Ah... damn it."
He quickly covered his nose in disgust.
---
After some time had passed,
Son Jo Woo was taking a shower in the hospital bathroom.
'All the impurities have finally been expelled from my soul...
My soul and this body have begun to fully merge.'
He sighed quietly as he scrubbed himself, trying to remove the lingering odor.
'Only the purification of the body remains...
Then the bones...
Then the final fusion.'
He paused for a few seconds.
'But... will I really survive this disgusting technique?'
He remembered the pain he had endured just moments ago.
Then he forcibly pushed the thought from his mind.
'It doesn't matter.
If I do it and succeed... then congratulations to me.
And if I don't...
Then damn it, I'm dead either way.
I'll do it...
No matter the cost.'
His blue eyes burned quietly with unwavering determination.
---
Son Jo Woo paid for his treatment expenses and everything associated with them.
He possessed plenty of money inside the storage.
After all, with every mission he completed, he received not only points and rewards,
but also money automatically converted into the currency of whatever world he was currently in.
He wanted to leave the hospital immediately,
but Doctor Jin insisted that he stay one more day for observation,
and eventually he agreed.
---
The next day,
Son Jo Woo officially checked out of the hospital.
This was his first true step in this world.
Since his arrival, he had seen nothing but a dungeon... then darkness... then a white room.
Now—
He stood outside.
A peaceful, beautiful world.
It reminded him of his own world...
Before war and destruction.
'And now...
Does this boy even have a home?'
He thought for a moment, then made a decision.
He headed toward a nearby café.
Sitting quietly with a cup of black coffee and a laptop, he entered his name and identification number and began searching.
After some time—
'So...
I have no one.
No family.
No relatives.
His parents died during a hunting mission.
His relatives abandoned him.
No friends.
Nothing.
Except for a small... run-down house.'
He saved the location of the house and left.
Some time later, he arrived.
A very small, old house at the edge of the city.
No nearby homes.
Only a vast empty area surrounding it.
Son Jo Woo sighed, opened the door, and entered.
The house consisted of three rooms, one bathroom, and basic facilities.
Old...
Worn down...
Filled with trash and empty noodle packages.
The first thing he did—
Was gather the garbage bags.
He immediately began cleaning without hesitation.
After a full hour,
Five large garbage bags had been removed from the house.
'Damn you, kid...
Take care of your house properly.'
Son Jo Woo took a short break...
Then returned to cleaning once again.
---
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