Eyes Everywhere

Jiwan felt truly unsettled.

Starting with the crow, then the wild animals in the complex, and even the resident’s pet….

When animals stared at him as if monitoring him three times in a row, it was impossible not to feel strange.

Tense at the thought that crows or other birds might be clinging densely to his balcony when he entered, Jiwan stepped inside.

Seeing the clean, empty balcony, he let out a sigh of relief.

‘It really must have all been coincidence.’

That was a relief.

If animals had been peering into his home as well, even Jiwan wouldn’t be confident he wouldn’t faint.

After showering, Jiwan ate dinner with the side dishes the housekeeper had prepared.

Because his job required physical strength, he generally avoided junk food or delivery meals.

After eating and having a glass of wine while watching the evening news, he wondered if he should go to bed since it was late.

Then suddenly, a strange thought crossed his mind.

‘What if I look outside and the animals are gathered, staring up at my home?’

Finding his own thought ridiculous, he let out a small chuckle and rose from the sofa.

Standing inside the dark balcony, he looked outside, but as imagined, there were no animals gathered below.

As he turned to go back in, someone caught his eye.

“…Shin Jiho?”

The person wearing a hoodie and cap pulled low, staring up at his home, was Jiho.

As a Hunter, his eyesight was sharp, and since he wasn’t drunk enough to blur his vision, he recognized him instantly.

‘Why is Shin Jiho… here?’

Flustered, Jiwan moved before he could think.

He rushed out of the house and practically leaped down the stairs, arriving at where Jiho had been standing.

“…Where did he go?”

But Jiho was nowhere to be seen.

Looking around in a daze, Jiwan spotted him hiding behind a car in the distance.

“Shin Jiho!”

Startled by the shout, Jiho began to run.

Jiwan instinctively moved to chase him, then stopped.

‘If I catch him… then what?’

He didn’t know why Jiho had appeared in front of his house.

Perhaps he held a grudge over being fired.

Though Jiho wasn’t the type to cause harm, even if he did, it wouldn’t matter.

Jiho was D-rank, and S-rank Do Jiwan could easily subdue him.

“…I don’t know what’s going on.”

He wasn’t sure what it was, but assumed Jiho would stop eventually.

However, Jiho was persistent.

He kept appearing wherever Jiwan went.

I began observing Do Jiwan.

Of course, that didn’t mean I followed him around 24 hours a day.

Unless I had an angel’s body, it would be impossible in Shin Jiho’s human body.

‘My friends in nature helped me.’

Divine power was practically drawn from the root of the world itself.

If I asked through such divine power, there was no way nature, as part of the world, would refuse.

Plants and animals alike all helped me monitor Do Jiwan.

What he was doing, where he was going, who he was meeting….

Lying inside, I received reports on everything.

“They say that human is eating right now.”

Hmm, it is about time for a meal.

They didn’t stop there, reporting even what side dishes he was eating and how many times he chewed.

“Thank you for helping me.”

When I expressed my gratitude, the wind giggled and scattered away.

He’s eating now… he probably won’t go out mid-meal, so maybe I should have lunch too?

Thinking that, I pulled a triangle kimbap from my pocket.

Since I didn’t live in this apartment, there was no way I could cook a proper meal, so I had no choice but to eat something simple.

I unwrapped the convenience store’s Jeonju bibimbap triangle kimbap and nibbled on it.

Then I felt a gaze.

Following the sensation, I looked up—and someone was staring down at me from above.

Needless to say, it was Do Jiwan.

I looked up at him and kept chewing the kimbap.

When I stuffed the last bite into my mouth, Jiwan turned away.

Sensing that he wasn’t simply going back inside to ignore me, I quickly stood and hid a short distance away.

As expected, Jiwan, who had been up there, came down to the first floor and looked around.

He was definitely searching for me.

Eventually, he spotted me and began walking in my direction.

The moment I saw that, I ran without looking back.

Behind me, Jiwan shouted.

“Shin Jiho!”

Ignoring him, I kept running, and he shouted again.

“Are you insane?”

I swear I’m not insane.

I’m just diligently carrying out my mission.

After widening the distance a little more and glancing back, I saw Jiwan standing still.

He didn’t seem like he intended to follow, so I hid behind a car again and watched him.

With a hollow laugh, he turned around and went back into the apartment.

After confirming that he didn’t come out again for quite some time, I returned to the spot where I had been sitting and looking up at his house.

‘Is this… the third day now?’

Tomorrow, Do Jiwan would enter a new dungeon raid.

Inside a dungeon was a different world, so I couldn’t rely on my friends in nature there.

Thankfully, Hyung Jeongho was there, so I could at least hear about what happened inside.

‘He said there are no new recruits in the assist team or among the guild members. Then there’s no need to worry about inside the dungeon.’

I knew everyone in the assist team and the guild.

Since I hadn’t sensed demonic energy from them, unless someone new joined, the Demon King’s followers wouldn’t approach Do Jiwan inside the dungeon.

So what I needed to focus on was when he was outside.

‘When I descended from the Heavenly Realm, my goal was to make Do Jiwan repent.’

Contrary to expectations, Do Jiwan wasn’t a bad person.

A bit selfish and cold, perhaps, but not evil.

So I began to think that the reason he turned evil must have been the Demon King’s followers.

‘Eliminate all the Demon King’s followers who approach him and prevent him from becoming the Demon King.’

But our relationship had already broken apart, and it didn’t seem like Do Jiwan would accept me again.

So I had no choice but to change my objective.

I would follow him, monitor those who approached him, and assassinate anyone suspicious.

‘He enters the dungeon tomorrow, so I just have to endure today.’

Stay strong.

Clenching my fist, I looked up at his home once more.

Even after that, Do Jiwan sent people to chase me away.

When security guards came after me, I thought my heart would leap out of my mouth.

At least he didn’t call the police.

Though I was ignorant about worldly matters, I knew that once the police got involved, things wouldn’t end simply.

Only after Do Jiwan entered the dungeon did I finally breathe a little easier.

‘Not that I can rest.’

When I wasn’t monitoring him, I had to solve my own hardship.

My hardship, in other words, was money.

Unlike the Heavenly Realm, where divine power alone was enough to survive, the human world required money to live.

There was even an expression that just breathing costs money.

‘When I was an angel, I didn’t need to eat, but humans are different….’

On top of that, unlike ordinary people, I even had debt.

Though the creditor had changed to Do Jiwan, my situation hadn’t.

To live, repay my debt, and monitor Do Jiwan, I needed an enormous amount of money.

‘…Things were good when I worked as Do Jiwan’s assist.’

I could monitor him and get paid by the company.

Except for rest days, I was always by his side.

It had been the perfect job for me….

But I’d already been fired, and there was no undoing it.

‘What kind of job is simple yet pays a lot?’

If I took a proper full-time job, I’d be tied to working hours and wouldn’t be able to focus on Do Jiwan, so I needed part-time work.

But legal part-time jobs only paid pocket change….

So I called someone who would know about high-paying “part-time” work.

“What the hell. Are you crazy? Why’d you call me? Did you get back into the company?”

“No. That’s not it… I need a job.”

Of course, it was the loan shark.

Not exactly a good connection, but among the people Shin Jiho and I knew, he was the best option.

He knew a lot about money.

After hearing me out, the loan shark’s expression stiffened.

Just as I was about to feel apologetic for demanding a job from him, he leaned in and whispered.

“So you’ve finally decided to enter the mines?”

“No!”

“Then what?”

To the sulky-faced loan shark staring at me as I jumped in protest, I told him what I wanted.

A job with flexible hours and high pay.

At that, his face crumpled.

“You lunatic.”

And just like that, he called me insane.