PSW 02

Chapter 02

The monster lunged without a moment’s hesitation at the closest person—a bald man.

Hands curved like an eagle’s talons and long nails locked onto the man’s shiny head and shoulders, pinning him in place. It was like a beast refusing to let go of its prey.

“Save me!”

The creature bared its black fangs.

The corners of its mouth curled upward.

Though it couldn’t speak, its eyes mocked him as if saying, Try killing me if you can.

Suji raised the gun on instinct.

In this chaos, she was the only one with a weapon.

She didn’t have any noble desire to save everyone—but she couldn’t leave these terrified people to die.

The gun, soaked in moonlight, felt heavy in her hands.

Suji aimed for the monster’s forehead.

Without time to hesitate, she pulled the trigger. A white light shot from the muzzle like a bullet.

At that very moment, the creature’s fangs touched the back of the man’s neck.

The instant the fangs grazed his skin, the light pierced straight through the monster’s forehead.

The creature collapsed, still wearing the smile of a predator just before its feast.

From the hole in its forehead, ash poured out instead of blood. The ash spread to its hands and feet, then scattered into the air and vanished.

Only the foul-smelling, tattered rags it wore were left behind, like a trace of its existence.

“Saintess!”

“The Saintess has returned!”

The people screamed—not in terror, but in awe—as they dropped to their knees.

Suji collapsed onto the floor.

She had only pulled the trigger, yet all the strength drained from her body.

More than anything, she still couldn’t process what she had just done.

But the people here didn’t give her time to think.

Lowering her head with a shallow breath, she saw her reflection in the polished marble.

Under the bright light of the two moons, she didn’t need a mirror.

Long, silver, softly curled hair. Blue eyes.

It wasn’t Min Suji’s face.

No burn scars. No brown eyes.

It felt like all the blood drained from her body.

Am I really dead?

Am I actually alive?

Her head spun. Her body trembled.

She shoved the gun away and touched her face.

The gun, which had glowed white in her hand, became an ordinary revolver the moment it left her grasp.

“It’s the Saintess!”

“The Saintess has appeared!”

“She’s finally come to save us!”

“We’ve been waiting for you, Saintess!”

“Thank you, Goddess Fiora!”

While Suji clutched her silver hair like a madwoman, trembling, people crawled toward her on their knees, as if they might kiss her feet.

And then it hit her.

Saintess. Two moons. Silver hair. Blue eyes. Monsters. The goddess Fiora.

Every single one of them appeared in The Saintess’s Dilemma—the novel she had been reading until the moment she died.

Especially silver hair and blue eyes.

Traits said to belong only to a Saintess chosen by the goddess Fiora.

Does that mean… I possessed the heroine?

That’s impossible.

The heroine only had healing powers and the ability to sense monsters. She wasn’t supposed to kill them.

So what the hell is going on?

A hollow laugh escaped her.

“Aaaargh!”

The man who had been attacked suddenly sprang up.

The skin where the monster’s fangs had touched his neck was turning black.

People screamed and scrambled away from him.

“No—no!”

The man clawed at his neck like he wanted to rip his own skin off.

Staggering uncontrollably, he stumbled out from the temple’s shadows.

Under the moonlight, blood was running down his neck.

“It’s a curse!”

“He was bitten by a monster!”

Terrified, people fled behind Suji.

The man noticed her and staggered toward her.

The crowd parted instinctively, leaving her completely exposed.

“Saintess! Please save me!”

He rushed forward, tripped over his own feet, and fell.

Suji stepped back without thinking. As he crawled closer, his body darkened, as if being burned into ash.

The tears welling in his right eye turned black.

“S-save—”

His jaw locked, cutting his words short. Blackened skin spread over him like mold.

“Skreeeegh!”

An inhuman scream echoed through the temple.

Tears streamed down his cheeks—he was still conscious.

Yet no one approached him. Everyone trembled, stepping farther away.

Suji fumbled for the gun. When her finger finally reached the trigger, the muzzle glowed white again.

She had never killed a living being before.

What she’d done earlier was pure instinct—killing something that wasn’t human to save a person.

But this man…

Is he human?

Is he really?

She finished aiming, but the gun trembled.

If I kill him… does that make me a murderer?

“Shaaaazerrgh!”

It was an unintelligible cry.

But to her ears, it sounded clearly like Please save me.

What dragged me into all of this?

The moment she squeezed her eyes shut—

Bang!

The screaming stopped.

Her breath caught.

When she opened her eyes slightly, the man was dead—eyes open, half monster, half human.

He dropped to his knees and collapsed forward.

Blood pooled on the floor.

Unlike the monster, his body didn’t vanish completely.

Suji’s finger hadn’t moved.

Then… whose gunshot was that?

“Looks like he was still human—barely.”

Footsteps echoed nearby.

A man emerged from the shadows without hesitation.

Flame-red hair. Golden eyes like molten crowns.

He stood a head taller than everyone else, wearing a black uniform that seemed immune to color. Gold epaulets shaped like eyes gleamed on his broad shoulders.

In his right hand was a revolver—identical to Suji’s.

“Your Highness!”

The old woman hurried toward him, leaning heavily on her cane.

The red-haired man holstered his gun and spoke.

“So, old hag. You said you found something interesting?”

His shining golden eyes turned to Suji.

The moment their gazes met, Suji felt as though she were back in the shooting range fire.

Heat surged up from her feet.

The gun slipped from her hand and hit the floor with a heavy thud that echoed through the temple.

The air was cold—yet her whole body burned.

Wherever his eyes swept, it felt like new burns would form.

His gaze reached her face.

Just as her breath began to fail, the old woman stepped between them.

Only then could she breathe again.

“Your Highness. What brings you here?”

“I heard a Saintess had been found.”

“The information wasn’t confirmed yet. We needed verification.”

“Don’t insult my informants.”

The red-haired man—Rix—smiled.

The smooth curve of his lips and faint dimples made him look playful, almost charming.

But the old woman knew better.

That smile wasn’t real.

As if to prove it, Rix stepped straight into the pool of blood without hesitation.

Black shoes, as dark as his uniform, left sticky footprints with every step.

No one dared make a sound.

Meanwhile, Suji desperately searched her memory for a character named Rix.

But in The Saintess’s Dilemma, there was no such name.

Still, something bothered her.

Red hair. Golden eyes.

The Crown Prince in the novel had the exact same appearance.

But the old woman had called him “Prince,” not “Crown Prince.”

Was it simply a royal blood trait? One of the many rivals trying to seize the throne?

No matter how hard she thought, she couldn’t place him.

The old woman was too small to stop him as he approached.

Rix spoke to Suji, his voice full of curiosity.

“So you’re the loud Saintess?”

Loud?

Her brow furrowed.

He stepped past the old woman and focused fully on Suji.

Then the prince knelt on one knee to meet her gaze.

“Where did you come from?”

She didn’t answer.

One wrong word, and she could be labeled a witch instead of a Saintess.

Besides—that man’s attitude was just as irritating as the Emperor’s in the novel. Must be royal DNA.

Seeing her silence, the old woman answered instead.

“She is clearly the Saintess of Goddess Fiora. She erased the monster.”

“Erased, not healed. That’s unusual. And using a tool? First I’ve seen.”

“But the essence is the same, is it not?”

Healing.

That was the basic condition for a Saintess in The Saintess’s Dilemma.

Suji looked down at her hands.

She hadn’t healed anything.

She had annihilated it.

Which meant one thing was certain—

She wasn’t the heroine.

“Hm.”

Rix straightened slightly, though his large frame still cast her in shadow.

He tilted his head, rubbing his chin.

Then, as if everyone else were irrelevant, he picked up the gun lying on the floor and held it out to her.

“Take it.”

That bastard.

She cursed silently.

Rix shook the gun lightly, like teasing a dog with a treat.

“Can’t hear me?”

Just as Suji was about to speak, the old woman cleared her throat.

When Suji looked up, she saw the woman give a reluctant nod.

Suppressing herself, Suji carefully accepted the gun.

This time, it didn’t react at all.

“What?”

His words matched exactly what she was thinking.

She looked up at the two moons—but no light poured down.

Suji, the old woman, and everyone who had witnessed the monster’s death were speechless.

Rix slowly stood, his shadow completely swallowing her.

Tilting his head, he asked the old woman,

“Isn’t she a fraud?”

Anger flared—but she held it in.

The old woman shook her head.

“We all witnessed her erase the monster.”

“Hmm.”

The thoughtful hum left his lips as his expression brightened.

For a moment, it felt as though light gathered around him.

“What’s your name?”

Min Suji—

She nearly answered with her real name.

But suddenly, it felt like her throat was being strangled.

Whenever she met his eyes, it happened—as if by magic.

Once again, the old woman answered for her.

“She calls herself Ren.