-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 93
Chapter Title: The Saintess and Her Faithful
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Business continued to thrive steadily after that.
Carbonated drinks, which didn't yet exist in the Selection Process.
Healing that could mend any wound or mental affliction in a single burst.
That unbeatable product and service churned out crowds of customers and regulars alike.
"A heal's a heal. How amazing can it really be?"
Some among them were even healers like the Saintess...
"J-Jackpot! My joint pain's completely gone!"
"Mine too... this chronic illness I've suffered from since Earth...!"
After one dose of healing, they became her fervent devotees. They turned into salespeople, zealously promoting her to everyone and dragging them over.
Among those mass-produced followers were some familiar faces.
"Oppa, look over there."
"Hm?"
The trio who'd gotten roughed up by Isera the day before stood there, eyes sparkling as they bowed deeply in gratitude to the Saintess.
"Th-Thank you! The pain's all gone now!"
"You're my savior, sis!"
"Seriously, thank you so much!"
They even started hawking her services right in the middle of the street, or grabbing random prostitutes and hauling them over without a second thought.
"No, I'm telling you, I'm not hurt anywhere."
"You sure you don't have even one ailment? Just take it like it's a scam."
And just like that, new converts were born on the spot. Thanks to them, the lull in customers vanished, and lines formed out the door once more.
"That trio's working hard."
"Yeah. Looks like they've turned over a new leaf."
They kept showing up with strings of people in tow. Must be pretty well-connected in their line of work. No wonder they took on those kinds of jobs.
But even the nonstop frenzy started dying down as dusk approached.
The streets thinned out as people prepared for night, one by one. That's when a minor issue cropped up.
"Those assholes are at it again."
"Ugh."
The human scum who'd been lounging in their lodgings all day while the sun was up began slinking out onto the streets as night fell. In their wake, brutal gangs and fingerless slaves multiplied visibly everywhere.
And that's where the trouble started.
"P-Please, help us!"
Mid-business, a group of fingerless slaves came dashing up and skidded to a halt in front of the Saintess, begging desperately for aid.
The Saintess glanced my way.
They were obviously broke at a glance. She wasn't naive. After hanging around Shin Seo-yeon, Han So-hee, and me, she'd learned plenty. She could predict what would happen if she helped out for free right here.
'If I heal them without charge, the paying customers might complain.'
Humans are selfish. Especially in the Selection Process. "Why do they get it for free when we paid ten points?" They'd kick up a fuss.
The popularity we'd built calling her "Saintess" could plummet in an instant, turning into outright hostility. That would kill the business.
'But refusing to help would damage her image too.'
Not that she was wringing her hands over it purely out of innocence, of course.
'Hmm. What to do.'
There had to be some clever way around it... As I pondered, Han So-hee stepped forward boldly. Right in front of everyone, she stood beside the slaves and addressed the Saintess.
"I'll cover their treatment fees."
"!!"
I couldn't help but chuckle.
'Smart move.'
That changed everything. Money was paid, after all. Sure, some might suspect it was staged, but showmanship was fine by me.
In the end, people only cared if they had to pay or not.
"So, I'd appreciate it if you'd heal them."
"Yes! Of course!"
The Saintess beamed and activated her ability. Instantly, the slaves' fingers regenerated fully, the despair fading from their hollow eyes. A faint spark of hope bloomed across them, filling with vibrant life.
"Th-Thank you!"
"We'll repay this kindness someday!"
The healed slaves bowed deeply in thanks before ducking straight into the nearby lodging to lay low.
Seeing that, other slaves came rushing over in droves, pleading too. What could we do?
"What the fuck do these bitches think they're doing?!"
"Daring to fuck with our business?"
Angry gangs stormed over to pick a fight.
There were a lot of them. Easily over three hundred. Some were genuinely pissed about losing slaves, but most were just eyeing our women.
"How're you gonna compensate us? Huh? What about our losses?!"
Even the vulture-like crew that'd been circling since morning tried picking a fight with lies about lost slaves.
But they had no idea it was a fatal mistake.
Sasasak—
A huge number of those who'd been healed by the Saintess stepped forward, blocking the gangs—and then surrounding them.
"Wh-What?"
The gangs numbered nearly three hundred, but her protectors were closing in on two thousand.
Numbers win out, always. Especially against those who'd ruled the streets by sheer force before.
"F-Fuck..."
They scanned their surroundings in terror.
"Y-You crazy bastards? Wanna throw down?!"
"Back off unless you wanna get stabbed in the street!"
Bluster only works sometimes.
Not against people whose hearts overflowed with joy from the Saintess's healing. No room for fear to creep in.
No reason to back down from trembling, terrified voices.
"No hard feelings. But if you try to harm her, you'll have to go through me first."
"Me too. And it's your fault for not keeping your slaves in line. Blaming others?"
"Don't you hate these guys lately? Messing up the Rest Area water too! Let's just end 'em here!"
"Hell yeah!"
Above all, her healing mended the mind too.
People who'd been slowly losing their humanity through the Selection Process regained it. Rage boiled up against inhuman practices like slavery.
All those factors ignited crowd mentality. They drew weapons and closed in.
"Y-You fucks! Back off!"
"Get lost! Unless you wanna die!"
Cornered rats lash out. The gangs brandished weapons threateningly. Tensions eased into a standoff for a moment.
Ku-ku-ku-ku-ku-ku-kwang!
Then a familiar fireball crashed right into their midst. Screams erupted amid explosions and flames. The searing heat spurred the standoff crowd into action.
"Aaaah!"
"S-Save me...!"
"Die!"
"Guhk."
The fight was over in seconds. A one-sided slaughter.
And the funniest part? The trio was at the forefront, fighting hardest.
"Y-You bitch. Why betray us... Guhk..."
"Shut up. Try touching a single hair on her head, and you'll make enemies of us all."
The sword of the prostitute they'd hired the day before pierced her client's throat. Turning them into such zealous believers in an instant... The Saintess was something else.
Or maybe it was Death who was impressive?
Implanting pain worse than death, while granting repentance, desperate wishes—all of it.
"Hiiik!"
"R-Run!"
The other [human hunters] outside, witnessing the massacre, fled in panic.
Too busy hightailing it to care if slaves bolted to us for healing and hid.
'...This isn't going according to plan.'
My plan was to skim some profits and go with the flow. Things had blown up big and loud.
'But futures don't always follow plans anyway.'
This was a game board tangled with countless variables. Me, no god, trying to control it? Arrogant as hell.
'Even the goddess couldn't get her way, so she summoned me. Just roll with it.'
I scratched my head, then decided to let it be as I watched the Saintess smile brightly while healing more fingerless slaves.
Strictly speaking, the big picture hadn't shifted yet.
There were plenty of other Rest Areas, and similar stuff was probably happening everywhere.
'One purified Rest Area won't rock the boat.'
This place saw about half Seoul's population pass through, from what I knew.
Or maybe less. No exact numbers; I hadn't studied the early Selection Process flows in detail.
The point was, tons of Rest Areas meant a little flap here wouldn't summon a storm.
And bluntly? Surviving humanely here was impossible with Trials this bullshit-tier.
'The big flow won't change. So I'll stick to the plan and do my part.'
"Great work, everyone!"
"You too!"
Alright, human hunter purge done.
While Isera farmed, I prepped to reopen shop.
I sat, watched crowds disperse and reform, dealt with customers amid a world dyed red by sunset, selling to the stragglers.
That's when business was winding down.
"So-hee, long time no see."
"Whoa. This bitch is still kicking, huh, sis."
Hm? Hearing Han So-hee's name, I turned. Two doll-like pretty girls stood before her.
Foreigners, judging by eyes gleaming sapphire-blue with purple hints in the sunset. Deep golden blonde hair, tinged orange in the light.
"...You're still alive too."
"Not idiots. If you're alive, of course we are."
"Sis, I think she really is an idiot."
"Yeah, me too, Lily."
The English I'd learned unwillingly over ten years drilled into my ears. Shin Seo-yeon scowled deeply.
"What the hell are these uppity bitches yapping about? You know them?"
"Yeah. Not close, though. And they speak Korean too... Watch out."
She nodded like she got it.
"So who are they?"
"This is Eliana White. That's Lilia White."
"White? No way, that top-10 US conglomerate...?"
"Yep."
As expected, business-savvy Shin Seo-yeon nailed it and widened her eyes. But I eyed them for different reasons.
'Lilia?'
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Read 316 more chapters ahead on NovelDex!
https://noveldex.io/series/ive-been-preying-on-s-tier-women-since-i-was-a-newbie
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━