“Your father.”

{What......?}

It did make me feel a little like I’d just said something I shouldn’t have.

But still.

I didn’t think I was wrong.

'If that so-called god hadn’t disappeared, that world wouldn’t have ended up like that.'

The best outcome would’ve been for it not to disappear in the first place.

But for it, there was a second-best option, too.

'It should’ve prepared far more for the day it might be gone.'

That sanctuary space in the temple was a sterile room.

If there’d been more places like that, the situation would’ve been very different.

Even if not that.

If it had taught methods of fighting germs not only to priests but to ordinary living beings as well.

If it had taken measures like that, then a god’s downfall wouldn’t have immediately led to the downfall of civilization.

Even Earth, where Morjan’s god disappeared long ago, and Morjan’s world after Morjan vanished—

life still survived somehow and built civilizations.

“And.”

The reason that world suffered such a steep collapse was, purely the fault of that thing called Serajin.

And.

“I’ll be a little different.”

I would.

I would learn from its failure.

[Hero-grade cook’s heartfelt, altruistic healthy set meal]

As I said that, I shoved the dish into the dying thing’s mouth.

***

This thing was a healer with tremendous skill.

If I could recruit it into the Legion, it would be an existence that would help a great deal going forward.

The problem was, it had drawbacks that made recruitment difficult.

To the point where that recruitment had almost fallen apart......

But now I knew «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» the cause of that drawback.

In that case.

'If it’s a drawback, you just fix it.'

The problem that formed in its head was the result of it having “evolved” itself in that direction.

That was why, even with its superb healing arts, it couldn’t restore itself to how it used to be.

What happened to it wasn’t an illness, but the result of evolution.

You can’t treat the product of evolution—something “improved”—like a disease.

But.

'That’s its problem.'

From what I’d heard from the doctor, and what I knew from experience, in this world, far more things change based on “recognition” than you’d think.

The concept of species...... and even the limits of the power you hold were the same.

In that doctor’s case, what happened was something it did while recognizing it as evolution itself.

So it couldn’t treat it, but—

'The way I see it, it’s a disease.'

Evolution doesn’t always happen in the “right” direction.

Maybe in the past it was the best option, but in the present there are plenty of things people consider problems.

If so, you could see it as a disease.

[Skill]

[Healthy Meal]

And there was a way to deal with it.

[By imbuing special mana into cooking, the preparation of healthy meals becomes possible.]

The power I gained as I left Gyeonggi.

Restoring the eater’s health......

In some ways, it was a skill that went beyond a cook’s domain.

Since it was a skill I gained by resolving what happened in Gyeonggi, I’d expected it to be a pretty powerful ability.

But.

For quite a long time, I hadn’t been able to use this power properly.

The reason was simple.

[When used, the cook’s stamina is consumed!]

This dish demanded a different price than other dishes did.

'My condition has been the worst this whole time.'

With how my body was before, even if I wanted to use this skill, I couldn’t.

Even when I tried, the skill itself wouldn’t activate in the first place.

It was probably the same logic as not being able to activate a skill when you lack mana.

If I’d been able to use this skill earlier, someone like Jang Youngwoong wouldn’t have died so pointlessly.

It had been frustrating to think about......

But.

'Not anymore.'

[Hero-grade cook’s heartfelt, altruistic healthy set meal]

[This is a dish made for health, not taste or pleasure!]

[Special mana intervenes as intended by the cook, producing a special effect.]

[1. Increased immunity]

[2. Treatment of brain health]

[The power of your held achievement - ‘Healer Chef’ is reflected in the dish!]

[Healing effects caused by cooking are promoted even more actively.]

“Grrk.......”

From the moment it ate the dish, change began in its body.

CRUMBLE......

The countless germs that had formed in this space because of me.

Its body was rotting from those germs.

It was somehow holding that decay back with its own healing power, but decay was progressing far faster, so it didn’t mean much.

SSSS......

Yeah.

Up until just now.

'Immunity.'

To begin with.

A problem like immunity isn’t something you fix in one visit to a hospital.

A doctor can block it off for a moment, sure.

But for a fundamental solution, you need proper dietary management......

Meaning.

'It’s cooking’s domain.'

It matters more to consistently eat meals that are good for the body.

[The target’s immune capability increases greatly!]

[However, to maintain this immunity, periodic consumption of healthy meals is required.]

SSSSSSHHH!

Its body, which had been gradually rotting away because decay was stronger than recovery.

The balance of power flipped.

And life began to return to that body that had been crumbling like a dried-up dead tree.

And.

That wasn’t all.

[The abnormality that formed in the target’s brain is treated!] 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

The mana contained in the dish circled through its whole body for a long while, and only then surged toward its head.

If things went the way I intended, it should restore the domain of emotion it had lost...... but—

[Warning!]

[The target’s condition is not an injury.]

[Forcibly reversing an already completed evolution is impossible.]

Looks like.

That wasn’t going to be easy either.

“Impossible, huh.”

At that, I looked at this little runt in front of me, writhing in pain.

What it had done on Earth was probably in the category of truly horrific.

Especially when you consider that it was the reason Jang Youngwoong had no choice but to meet such a lonely death in the end.

That was a sin that couldn’t be repaid even with death.

But.

'Put another way...... even if it dies like this, it still won’t have paid for its crimes.'

It had to live.

Realize those emotions again—emotions it couldn’t feel.

...and atone while feeling that pain down to the bone.

“I get that it’s impossible.”

If so.

“So what?”

You can’t stop just because some word like impossible shows up.

[The user challenges the impossible!]

[Divine power: 21]

If I should call it lucky.

Through what happened in Seoul, I’d come to understand, at least a little, how to handle this power staying inside my body—

[Divine power].

WHOOOOOOOSH!!!

From my outstretched hand, an ashen-white radiance burst out, and that light began to stroke over its entire body.

***

The ashen-white light that burst from my body.

It overturned the doctor’s body, and began resisting what the System had declared impossible.

But......

CRACK!

Even if it was a power that could turn the impossible into possible, it wasn’t perfect.

Every time my divine power touched its brain, it bounced back as if it had met powerful resistance.

The reason was easy enough to guess.

'...Reversing evolution must be that hard.'

And.

Watching that light, I thought.

'How did it end up making an evolution like this?'

No.

That wasn’t something I needed to think about.

The divine being it served.

This was Serajin’s doing.

According to what Morjan said, all divine beings are destined to love their creations.

Whether they want it or not, it happens—like a curse.

Serajin, too, probably loved its children sincerely.

But.

'It loved them too much.'

So.

It promised that its children wouldn’t have to do anything.

That simply by believing in it, they would be promised eternal life and the power to heal.

And that was.

'Irresponsible.'

Because it promised life and healing, those people......

'didn’t evolve.'

Evolution, to begin with, isn’t something achieved in a single generation like the doctor tried to do.

It’s survival of the fittest over countless generations.

Changing in order to survive fierce struggles, and the ones who succeed passing that change to the next generation—

a grand history and the result of time.

But.

In that world, no one had to die.

Even the ones who were far too weak survived as they were, passed their line on as-is, and never needed to adapt.

So evolution couldn’t happen.

That was why, the moment the being that granted that love disappeared, the world collapsed with absurd speed.

Even this doctor, the one that barely survived, had no choice but to force an unwanted evolution into being in order to live.

And.

If so.

'That’s what I have to learn from.'

That tear forced me to look into its past.

Because it wanted me not to regret.

So.

'I have to learn from Serajin’s failure.'

I’m also the head of a group.

If I’m going to learn something, it should come from Serajin—the ruler of an entire species—rather than from a doctor who was merely part of a group.

And in the end, the problem was the same as what I already knew.

'A problem where one person bore all responsibility.'

And.

I remembered advice I’d heard not long ago.

And words I’d recently heard from my subordinates.

'If it were me.......'

If it were me, what would I do?

And.

The answer was already there.

Even knowing situations would come where their lives would be threatened, the unit members wanted to take on roles of their own, too.

I feared their deaths, but.

They were prepared to face death.

If so—

'I can’t carry it alone.'

...I can’t be the one dragging everyone forward.

We have to move forward together.

[Direction forms within ‘divine power’.]

[The shape of ‘divine power’ begins to form faintly!]

And.

The first case for creating that direction would be that doctor, right there.

[Divine power with direction surges explosively!]

CRACK......!

Until then, divine power had been nothing but a formless light source.

Now it gained a bit of physical force and shape, and direction.

CRACK-CRACK......!

With that power—now even faintly physical—surging more violently than before, it began to press down the word

[Impossible]

with overwhelming force.

KWAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!

And then, at last.

Something began to be felt, slowly.

[The evolution achieved by the target is forcibly denied.]

[The user’s law is enforced upon the target.]

[The target’s evolution is defined not as evolution, but as disease.]

Inside its head, the emotion it could no longer feel......

[The target’s brain disease is healed!]

“Aaah...... aaahhh......!”

Something that had been taking shape began to settle in.

***

'It hurts.'

There was a time when I lived a life far removed from pain.

But at some point, that life became drenched in pain.

To avoid that pain, I made my own domain in this small space, but.

Because of the foreign contamination that came here, I was dying.

'It hurts.'

Why did I have to go through pain like this?

Rage tried to settle in at that thought, but...... unfortunately, rage didn’t settle easily in that heart.

Just.

If it was going to be like this, then I wanted to be killed a little faster—that was all I could think.

But.

'...Mm!'

When a dish was forced into my mouth, that emotion changed.

'...This is.......'

A warmth I was feeling for the first time in a very long time......

A healing power that cradled wounds.

'It’s different from me.'

The surgery I learned was closer to tearing flesh open, stitching it, and forcibly remodeling wounds.

That process couldn’t help but be painful, so my treatment was done under anesthesia.

But this power was different.

Not something forcibly remodeled, but a power that melted into the body.

Compared to surgery that forces the body into a “normal” state, the speed might be slow, but.

It guided, slowly and surely, in the right direction......

That kind of healing power.

As the pain gradually eased, and a strange sense of fulfillment began to wrap around my body, I opened my eyes that had been closing and looked ahead.

What was there was......

'Ah...... so you were alive.......'

Something like the god I once worshiped so dearly.

A tremendous power that looked like it could make anything possible.

'...No.'

But it didn’t take long to realize it wasn’t the being I served.

“I’m not going to wrap you in warmth like that gentleman you called your father.”

That omnipotent power rising from that body.

At first it had only looked faintly whitish, but.

As if it were resonating with something inside itself,

...as if it had gained some great realization, its shape was changing.

'It’s different from that great one.'

That shape was clearly something different from the being I served.

'Still.......'

But.

'This isn’t bad, either.......'

In that warmth, only then could I finally make out who the man wrapped in brilliant radiance truly was.

'Ah...... I see.'

And.

Seeing that sight, I realized one fact.

It was one of the doubts I’d held while stacking knowledge toward evolution.

'The reason the System...... exists.'

About that unknown power rooted in this land.

'It’s.......'

A great realization.