There was only one reason why so many refugees settled in the outskirts of the Myongjin Shelter. It was because it was the safest place they could find.

Of course, the desire to survive may not be human's number one desire, but it was at least in the top three.

That's why I had no choice but to pay attention to the desperate appeal of that person, or more precisely, that woman, who begged me to at least give them the freedom to die of their own free will rather than begging to be let into the Myongjin Shelter.

Three days ago.

"Freedom to die on your terms?"

I stopped heading to the Myongjin Shelter, turned, and asked the woman who was kneeling before me. I've seen many people who want to survive by all means, but I haven't seen anyone who wants to die on their own.

The woman opened her mouth, still kneeling on the ground.

"Yes! The world has become a dreadful place. Our family members are dead, our loved ones are dead, and we have lost all hope. Monsters cannot be dealt justice by the law, and nobody can do so anyway. In other words, even if there is a more terrible hell than this one, the best way to get out of this hell right now is only death."

"…"

Having heard that, I didn't tell her she should survive, that she should endure the darkness until the light came back. I didn't tell her this world was better than hell no matter how terrible it was. Perhaps those who knew my true feelings would point their fingers at me, blaming me for being selfish, but I loved this world.

As my original ID Lumen suggested, Asirante, as well as my original name Juyoung Hong became known to almost everybody. I can't say for sure that I am the center of the world, but it is true that I am very close.

But I didn't have to go to the trouble of telling her all this.

So I asked her indifferently, "Then why don't you just die?"

It was true that this world turned into a place where people couldn't live even if they wanted to, but it was never a place where they could not die if they wanted to.

Dying was much easier than in the past.

There was nobody who would stop them, and there were no minimum institutional rules to stop them like before.

As if she was waiting for my question, she answered, "We cannot die."

"Why?"

I asked back immediately.

While asking that, it occurred to me that this woman was pretty smart because in the end, I gave into my curiosity and asked her just as she intended.

But now that I was very curious about her motivations, I waited for her reply without hiding my feelings.

Then, she tried to point to something in front of her instead of answering my question.

Then a screen like a message window appeared.

[Currently, you have been subordinated.]

"Subordinated…'

Of course, I knew what it meant. Although it was not exactly the same, there was a person who suggested that I join the 'Lucia' Guild while I was just starting to make a name as Asirante. Since the person who made such a proposal to me was extraordinary, I planned to join it if there was no particular problem because I needed to find out his identity first to be able to take some appropriate action later. But in the end, I didn't join it.

Why? Because there was a message that rang which said that once I joined the guild, I could not withdraw from it voluntarily.

In other words, the moment I joined it, it was like getting a leash around my neck.

Since I already had such a bad experience, I thought I knew roughly what she meant by 'subordinated.'

But I had some more questions, so I asked her again, "Good. I know what you mean by 'subordinated.' Did the guy who subordinated you order you not to die? That's why you can't die?"

"No."

"If you say no, you don't really mean that you can't die, right?"

If it's true that she couldn't die, it meant she was immortal. If that's the case, the one who subordinated this cheat of a woman was even more fraudulent.

But she gave me an unexpected reply.

"That's not true, either."

"Uh? Are you going to play twenty questions with me?"

"I have already died once."

"What? Died once?"

"Yeah."

This woman died once?

At that moment, the word undead came to my mind. But she didn't look like an undead at all.

She didn't even look like a monster, either.

But then something flashed through my mind, so I asked her immediately.

"Then is it something like resurrection?"

"Well, I can't say that's right either, but it could be called a resurrection, although we needed 1,000 sacrifices."

1000 sacrifices? Of course, that was a lot.

And although sacrifice did not always mean death, it was clear from her expression that it really cost 1,000 lives.

To be honest, I thought that resurrecting one person from the dead was so wonderful and useful that it was worth the cost of 1,000 lives. But I didn't express my feelings.

I just silently looked at the woman in front of me.

As if she noticed my growing curiosity, she continued, "Unfortunately, the sacrifices were not high-level users playing 'Revival Legend'. Ordinary people were more than enough as sacrifices. So my master killed 1000 people carelessly to resurrect me and return me to his side. And he said if I ever thought of dying again, he would kill not just 1,000 people, but 10,000 or 100,000 people because of me."

"…"

Startled by her shocking confession, I didn't say anything for a while.

Then I asked her quietly, "Who is your master?"

"His name is Yuljong Kim."

At the Myongjin Shelter.

"Bring her here, please."

"You mean Jihye Suh?"

"Yeah."

"Have you made up your mind?"

When Director Sok asked, I nodded slightly and opened my mouth.

"Sort of."

After confirming my response, he left silently to go bring her. A little later, he returned with her, who had told me that she at least wanted the freedom to die on her own terms.

"…"

When she arrived, she just stared at me without saying anything.

Of course, I understood her feelings because I neglected her for five days after inviting her into the shelter. However, I had no choice but to do so because I had been busy with the dinner meetings with the leaders of the Mirae, Daesung, and Kusan conglomerates. Since the dinner meeting was arranged because of me, I could not abstain from it. To be honest, I also was not sure how to deal with this woman called Jihye Suh after inviting her into the shelter, which also made me unsure how to deal with her.

But now that I had decided what to do with her, I opened my mouth.

"I'm really curious about this, but can you tell me about the world after you actually died? As you know, there is a saying that you would rather go to hell than live in this hell. Is there really hell anyway?"

"…"