I Became a Foreign Worker Loved by Transcendents

The cooking area of the excavation site was a place where meals were prepared for the workers and soldiers.

Naturally, fearing any harm to the food, the entry of outsiders was prohibited. However, today was an exception, as the person in charge had granted entry to the wandering minstrel.

She had been roaming this excavation site for the past month, boosting the morale of the members, and the cooks had also gained strength from it.

“Thank you for accommodating my unreasonable request.”

“No problem at all. I hope it becomes a nice gift for someone special to you.”

When lunchtime arrived, Merilyn, having thanked the person who helped her, left the place.

Inside the envelope she carried was a full load of bread she had made herself that morning.

Its taste and texture had been certified as good by those who specialized in cooking.

Now, all that was left was to deliver this bread to the person she had feelings for.

Of course, it would be a lie to say she wasn’t nervous.

For demons who lived purely by their desires, food was only to fill the stomach unless it was a key aspect of their desires.

Although she tried to understand the culture of ‘gourmet’ for the sake of blending in, she had never truly enjoyed it, only fitting in without awkwardness.

‘Is this really okay?’

She had made a snack for the first time.

She had heard that humans sometimes exchange snacks like chocolate or candy to express their feelings for each other.

So, she thought it wouldn’t be bad to do such things occasionally if she wanted to express her feelings towards him.

‘Even now, should I make something more proper…?’

As the decisive moment approached, she began to feel hesitation in her steps towards him due to the anxiety she felt.

Should she mark the beginning with such a crude item? Wouldn’t it be better to take a bit more time to offer something better?

‘…No, this is fine for now.’

But such conflicts would eventually be brief.

Merilyn soon cast away her worries and, being faithful to her surging emotions, resumed her previously halted steps.

If she delayed for the sake of perfection, she would only reduce her opportunities to be with him.

As long as he didn’t push her away, she could use the opportunity to gradually close the distance, even if only a little.

‘Yes, it’s okay to be clumsy at first.’

What was more important than the beginning was being together in the end.

The demon, deciding to cast aside her haste with such a belief, held the envelope full of bread, feeling the beating of her heart.

‘If I make progress little by little, I’ll surely be by his side in the end.’

Quietly but distinctly.

Feeling this conviction, she, who had confronted her own emotions, buried her blushing face in the envelope and quickened her steps.

She was hoping earnestly that this gift would help strengthen her relationship with him.

…Yes.

Certainly, she had come here with such a mindset.

Crack!

However, when Merilyn arrived at the place he had chosen for his training, she was met with a ferocious struggle she hadn’t expected to see.

It seemed as though an incident had already occurred, as the walls and floor of the area where he stood were completely cracked and overturned.

Crack! Crack!!

Despite such thrashing, he seemed unable to suppress his emotions and kept repeatedly stabbing his spear into the corpse on the floor.

The ominous power emanating from the corpse indicated that it was an undead that had risen, refusing death.

“I’m sorry.”

And then, a faint voice came through.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry…”

His body, repeating the same words as if in a trance, had long been drenched in rotten blood.

Yet he continued to lift the spear embedded in the corpse, regardless of his own condition.

“Hyo-sung. Why…?”

She didn’t understand the situation.

But it was clear that something serious had happened.

“Because I’m weak!!”

As she instinctively stepped closer, he let out a shout.

Finally, he threw the spear aside and collapsed onto his knees in front of the mangled corpse.

“If I had been stronger… you wouldn’t have had to go to such lengths. I’m sorry, I’m sorry…”

Rustle.

The envelope fell to the ground, its contents spilling out and dirtying the earth.

The food she had hoped he would genuinely enjoy, overcoming her initial anxiety, lay ruined on the ground.

Even though she had worried it might get cold and had held it close to her chest, Merilyn couldn’t bring herself to pick it up.

She just stood there, looking at him, feeling the turmoil rising within her.

‘Why…?’

Ironically, she didn’t know what had happened here.

She had only followed him because she wanted to be with him a little more

Even if they were a bit apart, she was content to share a meal, not getting too involved in his affairs.

‘What is this…?’

But faced with the reality at the end of it all, Merilyn felt a strange emotion stirring in her heart that she had never experienced before.

‘Why am I feeling this emotion?’

Wasn’t it strange?

Taking advantage of someone else’s suffering is a prime opportunity to close the distance between them, especially for a selfish demon.

A demon, naturally selfish, would think of ways to beguile him, regardless of his circumstances.

But why, at this moment, was she afraid to approach him?

‘I don’t know what to do.’

Since coming to this world, she has steadily built an understanding of humans. She knew that in a situation like this, the right thing to do was to offer comfort. She understood that intellectually.

But her heart didn’t agree.

Having never truly done something for someone else before, if she were to offer comfort now, it would surely be an act of hypocrisy.

If insincerity tainted her genuine feelings for him, it might no longer be called love.

‘Hyo-sung is suffering, and I don’t know what to do.’

Torn by this conflict, she could only stand there and watch him for a moment, unable to leave him completely.

“…Hyo-sung.”

Soon, someone approached from behind, passing by her to get closer to him.

Airi Haven. Her rival, and the woman who became his first.

“Hyo-sung, please look this way.”

Yes, she must have anticipated that he would be in this state.

So she could encourage him on her behalf.

Since she lived a life unable to comfort others, Airi would be the one to empathize with his pain and give him the strength to stand again.

“…Airi.”

“Please calm your mind. From now on, I will lead the training in his stead.”

However, what she actually uttered was nothing but a cold urging of duty.

Realizing the lack of expected compassion in her tone, Merilyn began to glare at her with hardened eyes.

“We will start the training soon, so please stand up.”

She had sensed something since entering this station area.

Unlike her, who actively sought time with him whenever she had the chance, Airi often disappeared under the pretext of having other things to do.

Of course, Merilyn hadn’t paid much attention, thinking it was fine as long as Airi wasn’t interfering with him. But if such behavior extended to her beloved, it was a different matter.

“Ah, yes. It’s not over yet, is it? Airi… must have spoken with him. Yes.”

He did not reject her words.

Despite having defiled his master’s corpse, he was preparing to accept what awaited him next.

“What should I do?”

But his face remained dark, and his body, as if drained of energy, trembled with his raised hands.

His steps, too, were unsteady, and if this continued, he might break beyond repair.

“That is…”

“Wait a minute.”

Merilyn, unable to watch any longer, finally opened her stiff lips and intervened between the two.

Her stepping foot crushed the bread, but she paid it no mind.

Because there were more important things at hand.

“What are you two talking about?”

“…Merilyn.”

“Airi, Hyo-sung is suffering right now.”

It was a statement she never thought would come from her own mouth.

The suffering of others? Surely not something a selfish demon would care about.

“But training? There are things that need to be done before that.”

Yet, even if these were foreign emotions, Merilyn did not suppress them.

From the beginning, love itself was a foreign emotion to demons.

Perhaps these foreign emotions had blossomed into what humans call ‘empathy’ within her.

Even if it was a wrong emotion for a demon, as long as it was part of proving her love, she would accept it proudly.

“Hyo-sung is suffering…”

She simply didn’t know how to approach such a situation, feeling this way for the first time.

But she had believed that a human, who was closer to him than she, would surely understand his pain and offer sincere comfort.

“…So?”

Instead, her expectations were met with an icy, dagger-like response.

“So, you say…”

“This was all predestined from the start.”

Yes, she had already foreseen this future.

Jang Cleo, knowing he would die today, calmly headed to the training ground and chose to use even his corpse as a tool to fulfill the ‘final condition’ to become a hero, despite his frail body.

“And in the future, even greater hardships must be endured. What Hyo-sung seeks to achieve cannot be grasped without enduring such things.”

Yet she steeled her resolve with respect for him.

To inherit that will, Airi intended to set her companion straight, who was about to collapse at this spot.

“Hyo-sung must become a hero. For himself, and even more so, for everyone who has supported him.”

If killing her emotions was necessary for that, then so be it.

Even if it would hurt her companion, without overcoming such wounds, they wouldn’t be able to endure the future that lay ahead.

“Don’t… say such nonsense.”

Despite understanding it in her head, Merilyn couldn’t bring herself to show respect to the person in front of her.

“Merilyn.”

“Is being a hero that important? Is something like a world that one person might save more important than the immediate pain of the person you love?”

Had she not refrained from becoming his first to avoid possibly breaking him?

Yet now, her rival, whom she believed would care for him, was instead causing him more pain.

“Even if it’s that important, you can still offer some comfort. You know that better than I do.”

The betrayal of such expectations, mingling with empathy for him, drove the stake deeper into her heart.

Even though her eyes reddened from the distress, she couldn’t suppress her emotions and directed her resentment towards Airi.

“I don’t know about others, but you…”

“You, of all people, shouldn’t be like this! Am I wrong?!”

For the first time, she cried out in frustration.

Faced with this, Airi’s face fell apart, and she turned away, beginning to tremble her clenched fists.

It was clear that she, too, found this course of action distasteful.

“Merilyn.”

Understanding that there must be a reason behind this, he did not resent her. Instead, he tried to approach the one showing him concern.

“It’s okay. I’m fine.”

“Hyo-sung. But…”

“It was just a bit confusing. If the Boss has already made his decision, then I should respect that choice, too.”

His voice was hoarse from crying out, and his cheeks were flushed.

Yet, as if not to worry her, he forced a smile.

‘Hyo-sung, no.’

A false smile to hide his true feelings.

Merilyn had experienced such smiles countless times.

‘Pain becomes familiar, but it never becomes okay. Enduring it only leads to more damage.’

She might have felt empathy because she understood such pain, but even so, Merilyn couldn’t utter another word towards him.

Even if it hurt, she loved him.

She loved him too much to stand in the way of the path he wanted to take.

“…Airi. Please tell me what I should do.”

Airi, taking her gaze off Merilyn, who was just staring blankly, released her bitten lips and spoke, looking at the spear that had fallen on the ground.

“Please, pick up the spear.”

The weapon that started this conflict, the tool that had been the focus of all his training, and the key to his future.

Airi, facing him, holding the spear silently, began to gather power in the crystal sphere she held in her hand.

“From now on, through the power I possess, I will project the memories of the soul contained in this spear onto Hyo-sung.”

“Projection, you say?”

“Tacchia Pheloi… You will experience the life of the woman who was once called a hero, and her power will be completely transferred to you, Hyo-sung.”

Yes, all the training up to this point was merely ‘preparation’ for this.

By forming a basis similar to hers, the aim was to increase the chance of success in projecting the memories.

“…So, Hyo-sung, brace yourself from now on.”

What was to come next was uncertain, even to Airi, who had the gift of foresight.

Still, Airi, believing it must be done, reiterated the warning to him with a heavy voice.

“Experiencing someone else’s life can, in a worst-case scenario, lead to the extinction of one’s own personality.”

The possibility that the individual named Woo Hyo-sung might be forever erased from this world.

Emphasizing the risk, which was practically tantamount to death, that was about to envelop him.

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