I Became a Foreign Worker Loved by Transcendents

Chapter 149: Pain Is The Foundation For Growth

A ringing sound was heard.

It felt like thousands of cicadas were eating away at my brain, filling my head with a white void.

The sensation of my feet touching the ground disappeared, and everything I felt started to float away…

It felt as if I was thrown into the middle of space, where nothing I did would have any meaning.

“Why?”

Why is it?

I worked so hard and now possess the power befitting the title of a hero.

Why do I feel powerless in front of the Crown Prince looking down at me now?

“Why are you keeping me alive?”

I always believed I could accept anything with equanimity, but now I had no idea how to respond to this moment.

“Keeping you alive? That’s a strange question.”

He answered quietly to my difficultly asked question, as if he wanted to know.

“I’m just curious. Why has a servant, who should absolutely obey me, decided to rebel after meeting you…?”

Wasn’t it because he suspected the reason and arranged a private meeting with me?

He thought my existence was a hindrance to him.

No matter how much I might resist, if he assumed he wouldn’t be able to handle me, he wouldn’t hesitate to execute me.

“But now you seem to struggle even to answer my question.”

The Crown Prince, using his position, questioned me again, as if pressing my silence.

As if he had seen through my heart and pinpointed the source of my current confusion.

“Is it simply because you didn’t expect it to turn out this way?”

It would be natural not to expect this.

A chance meeting leading to rebellion against the empire, and him realizing that the cause lay with me…

And if all of that were true, my existence, which creates traitors, would be seen as more dangerous than a rebel against the empire.

“…No, the feelings you’re experiencing now must be more than that.”

But that was just a small part of the confusion I felt now.

The weight I felt at this moment came not just from the gaze looking down on me but from beyond that.

“Are you afraid of what I might do next after showing you my extraordinary power?”

-Click!

He snapped his fingers, and countless clones multiplied.

The crowd, devouring the corpses scattered on the ground, filled the surroundings, and all their gazes focused solely on me.

Too many gazes for it to be just an individual.

The man I knew was merely one of the clones created by such a person.

The truth of the man who hoped for a revolution but couldn’t participate was no different from the countless clones in front of me.

“Are you afraid that the common sense you believed in will collapse and that it will keep repeating?”

The opponent was such a being.

A being who could easily produce others with such power and influence.

A being who had paid sacrifices and prices incomparable to those like me from another world to awaken that power.

And perhaps, a being who might have something unimaginable behind them.

“Are you afraid of what might await you if you resist the current situation, something you can’t handle?”

Yes, this was not the end.

Even if I escaped this Crown Prince’s side, there would surely be more.

My past experiences taught me that.

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Whenever I left a well, a bigger world awaited, and when I left the fence surrounding that world, a place called “Labyrinth” awaited me.

“…I-I.”

Feeling the starting point of such powerlessness at this moment, I felt it blend with my past experiences, losing the will to resist.

I sensed that no matter how hard I ran, even the achievements I grasped would feel insignificant, and this would repeat endlessly.

“If you can’t grasp the situation, I’d like you to answer just one thing clearly.”

The Crown Prince, as if seeing through my psyche, asked a question, quietly lifting the sword in his hand and pointing it at me.

He pointed the blood-stained sword, which had just cut down a clone identical to himself, at a weak person who couldn’t even muster the will to resist, and asked a question.

“Are you my enemy?”

“…Enemy?”

“Regardless of your relationship with my clone, what thoughts you had, or what you wanted to achieve with his sacrifice, I won’t ask. What I want to know from you here is how you will deal with me, regardless of ideals, beliefs, justice, or good and evil.”

Just make one thing clear.

As he urged for an answer, his narrowed gaze fixed on me, and the question came out of his mouth again.

“Are you an enemy of the empire or an ally?”

Apart from the servant who betrayed him, he wanted a clear distinction between friend and foe.

Was it because if I hadn’t encouraged the betrayal, there might be room for extenuation?

Or was it because my influence had grown so large that he found it a waste to let me go and wanted to give me a chance?

“I-I…”

I didn’t know.

I couldn’t know anything.

What the person in front of me was thinking, what he knew, what awaited if I escaped this terribly frustrating situation.

What the clone of this person hoped for, that he drove me into this situation…

‘You told me this. You are neither on the side of the empire nor on my side.’

Yes, that guy.

Even though he was just a clone, he clearly had his own self and will.

The final words of the guy who understood the person in front of me better than I did must have been made considering this moment as well.

‘That’s enough. If you’ve come this far without becoming a hero… Just by steadfastly following that path, you can fulfill my wish.’

And he said.

There was no need to think complicatedly.

He just gave the opportunity, and I just needed to take it and continue as I had.

“I don’t know.”

If that still applied at this moment.

The answer I needed to give now was decided.

“…Hero Woo Hyo-sung.”

“I don’t know anything.”

“I asked you for a clear answer. Tell me if you are my enemy or ally.”

“I just ran wanting to live.”

This was the best answer I could think of.

I, who struggled to take care of myself and those around me, couldn’t possibly oppose the empire, the only paradise and a great force.

Nor was it possible to prove true loyalty to the person in front of me.

Declaring myself an ally under this pressure would be like losing myself.

“I’ve run wanting to live like a human, even in such a world. To live… I focused only on protecting myself and what I hold dear.”

So, I wanted to honestly say what I felt without any embellishment.

Regardless of the reality he showed, the survival of the world, the situation of the empire, justice, or good and evil.

“I just want to live like a human.”

I wanted to make it clear that all those things were too distant a story for a mere human like me.

“That alone is everything I pursue.”

Even though I’d risen to the point of having a private meeting with someone who had reached the highest level a human could achieve, I wanted to make it clear that I was still not satisfied with my accomplishments.

“So, Your Highness, please calm your anger. I have… no reason to oppose you.”

The moment I spoke such powerlessness, I realized.

No matter how much I became a hero, no matter how desperately I tried.

I was still just a weak human who could only tremble in front of an incomprehensible, strong person.

“Please don’t test me any further…”

So please don’t force me to bear more than I can handle.

Just let me focus on the goal in front of me. Don’t mention things I can’t understand, sapping my will to move forward…

Don’t take away my hope, as if even such struggles are meaningless.

“…Living like a human, is that all you wish for?”

The moment I honestly revealed such fear, Orion Seis withdrew the sword from me.

Then, with a snap of his fingers, all the clones around disappeared, and emptiness returned to the audience chamber.

“Yes, the attitude you showed now is probably the most ideal a human can have. Just focusing on what is right in front of you, ignoring everything else you can’t understand…”

The corpses on the floor and the bloodstains on the sword disappeared like a lie.

Then, even letting go of the sword, he began to take steps towards me, who had bowed my head.

“…Because such a weak human being instinctively longs to belong to someone in this chaotic era.”

-Thud, thud.

Footsteps louder than the sound of a heartbeat.

At the end of it, Crown Prince Seis brought his lips to my ear and began whispering, patting my shoulder.

“I hope you maintain this attitude from now on.”

An insignificant gesture and light weight.

“If you steadfastly walk that path, you will be able to pave the way to save more people in the era of emptiness to come…”

And then I heard something I had heard before.

Words whose meaning I couldn’t understand at the moment, spoken in the same voice as his.

“Mr. Hyo-sung!”

How much time had passed since then?

When I came to my senses, I realized I was standing in front of a familiar house and front door.

That’s right, I was ordered to return home after the private meeting ended.

He said there would be a grand appointment ceremony and reward later, and to wait until then.

“…Mr. Hyo-sung.”

At the end, what I faced was a woman in pajamas, hurriedly standing at the front door, looking at me with concern.

Her unkempt, disheveled hair indicated that she had come out here in a hurry, without even having time to prepare.

“Are you alright?”

The deep concern she expressed after rushing out was palpable.

It was more a reaction from vaguely understanding what I had gone through than from not returning home for over ten days without a word.

Yes, she was a fortune teller. Not only could she predict the future, but she could also know what the person in front of her had gone through.

“Let’s go inside and rest. Don’t think about anything right now…”

-Grab.

The moment I saw someone worrying about me, I couldn’t suppress the impulse in my heart and hugged her.

Because it came to mind.

If I collapsed here, I wouldn’t be able to protect even the person next to me.

“…Mr. Hyo-sung.”

“I will become stronger.”

It wasn’t enough.

With what I’d achieved so far, I couldn’t protect the person in my arms.

“I will become stronger. More than now.”

It wasn’t just Airi.

Merilyn, Tashian, Vivian, and everyone else who supported me…

Even if I didn’t know what awaited me afterward, if I was to prepare for whatever awaited.

“I will become stronger so that I can protect everyone.”

To achieve the ‘freedom’ I desired in such a harsh world, I couldn’t be satisfied with the present.

As my resolve strengthened, so did the grip in my hands, and I felt my embrace around her tighten as well.

As if she, too, had resolved to achieve what I was pursuing now…

Late at night after the meeting in the audience chamber.

Seis, after finishing his duties of state affairs, left the Imperial Palace and headed to an annex connected to it.

Even though it was an annex, it was surrounded by countless troops.

This indicated that the person staying in the annex had considerable authority, yet they couldn’t control the Crown Prince’s path.

“Everyone, clear the way.”

Quietly speaking, the soldiers opened the way one by one. Soon, passing through the garden and reaching the entrance, Seis gestured to his guards to step back.

They followed the command without a word because only the Imperial Family and their attendants were allowed to enter.

“Ah, Your Highness.”

“…How is His Majesty’s condition?”

“Well, his condition is not good.”

The maid’s hollow eyes, expressing concern, turned to the elderly man lying in the bedroom.

He seemed to be sleeping, yet his eyes were open, unfocused… literally just breathing and nothing more.

“It pains me to see him getting worse day by day.”

Ignoring the maid’s sobs at the sight, Seis quietly placed his hand on his father’s neck.

Through the emaciated skin, he felt the slow pulse.

And the two small holes present there.

“…Was it necessary to suck his blood?”

“What are you talking about…?”

“Even without doing this, you should know well that Father wouldn’t resist anymore.”

Crown Prince Seis, feeling displeased, turned to the maid.

The maid, meeting his gaze, shrank back as if troubled, then burst into laughter.

“What can I do even if he wouldn’t resist? This is my role.”

Starting with the fangs revealed in her smile, the maid slowly lifted the illusion that covered her body.

Her revealed white skin and long white hair, coupled with the exposed chest meant for her role as a night maid, heightened her seductive allure even more.

“Deceiving a servant who has already lost the will to resist and succumbed is of course meaningless, but having to take in old, smelly blood far from pure… For someone with noble blood like me, it’s unbearably painful.”

“…You seem to enjoy it quite a bit for something so painful, Seherazade.”

Even facing such a seductive woman, Crown Prince Seis spoke indifferently.

Feeling humiliated by his indifference, she suppressed the shivers of fear and gave a quiet smile.

“Of course, it’s a pleasure. Pain is the foundation of growth.”

Yes, standing here was one of the leaders of the vampires who reigned supreme in the empire.

Despite such noble status, she genuinely enjoyed the hobby of acting as a subordinate.

“Voluntarily taking on tasks everyone avoids and sacrificing oneself… For someone of noble status like me, it’s only natural to accept it gladly, isn’t it?”

True Ancestor Seherazade.

Claiming to be an ascetic, she was an eccentric vampire with the aesthetic that asceticism was the most necessary for the noble.