I Became a Foreign Worker Loved by Transcendents

Tacchia Pheloi.

My feelings for her could be summed up as gratitude and concern.

Even at our first meeting, she did everything with a seasoned attitude, and above all, she generously gave items that were too much for a novice adventurer.

Conversely, there must be some reason she gave away such valuable items for free.

“Now, try to say this. Ta.”

That was also why I was concerned about the name this child introduced herself with.

The soul of the Ego Weapon, created by her hand, using the same name as hers, might be related to that.

“Ttaa~”

“Not Tta, but Ta. Now, again.”

“Taaa~”

“Then, Chi, and Ah.”

“Chii~ Ah~”

“Good, now what do you say if you put it together?”

“Ttajiya~”

“…Right. Well done.”

Perhaps because she was young and her tongue was short, her speech was a bit awkward.

But she could express her own will and, more importantly, understand what I said, even if her speech wasn’t clear.

Thanks to that, communication during direct encounters like this was not difficult.

“Um, so can I call you Pheloi from now on?”

“Phenyoi?”

“Yeah, since your name is the same as your mother’s, I thought it might be better to differentiate by surname.”

Thinking we should at least settle on a form of address for the future, I suggested this, and the girl looking at me began to shake her head.

“Nyaaa, mama name different.”

“…You’re saying your name is different from your mom’s?”

“Different.”

Different? What does that mean?

Was the mother she was talking about not Tacchia?

“What is your mother’s name?”

“Tacchia Pheloi.”

“And your name?”

“Tacchia Hinui.”

“…Aren’t they the same?”

“Nyaaaa! Differeeeent!!!”

The little squirrel rat squirmed in my arms.

The girl, with an angry face, looked at me and said firmly,

“Mama is Tacchia Pheloi! I am Tacchia Hinui. Different!”

“Uh, uh-huh. Right. They’re different.”

I stroked the girl’s head as she emphasized her point, and recalling what she had said, I came to a conclusion.

I roughly understand now.

In short, the two names seem somewhat similar, but it must be the pronunciation that made them sound alike.

Well, if they were mother and daughter, they would both use the surname Pheloi, so the latter part would be the same.

“So, can I call you Pheloi from now on?”

“Yeshhha~ Hehe~”

Thus, the little squirrel rat in my arms became Pheloi.

Perhaps I should call the weapon Pheloi too when I use it.

Ego Weapon Pheloi… It doesn’t sound bad at all.

“That being said, I wonder what I should do now.”

After holding Pheloi in my arms, I decided to explore the ruined city where I stood.

While I was aware that this place was a dream, everything here felt too vivid to be just a dream.

In reality, this child, who was nothing more than a weapon, could communicate here.

It would be unreasonable to think that the events occurring here were meaningless.

“Hey Pheloi. Is there something special around here?”

So, wondering if there was a reason I came here, I asked, and Pheloi started pointing to a particular spot.

“Over there~”

“…Is there something over there?”

“Yes! Over~ there~”

Yes, the way her tiny hand pointed was quite adorable. Feeling this, I stroked Pheloi’s head and immediately looked in the direction her finger pointed.

A huge castle was visible above the foggy, barren ruins of the city.

Smaller than the Imperial Palace, but still quite large by modern standards.

It was like a castle where a royal family might reside.

In this barren land, that place stood out, and Pheloi raised her hands and shouted energetically.

“Let’s go~”

“Yes, yes, off we go~”

Well, until I wake up from this dream, I might as well go and see what’s there.

Thinking this, we crossed the city, passed the drawbridge of the castle, and finally arrived at the entrance of the long-neglected castle.

Fortunately, entering it was not difficult. The door was half open, so I had no problem passing through while holding Pheloi.

“Is this where we need to go?”

“Yes! Fast~!”

Pheloi tugged at the hem of my clothes, urging me on.

Despite the eerie sensation typical of an old castle, I thought it didn’t matter much since it was all a dream and stepped inside.

After all, whatever awaited, it wouldn’t be a problem for the real me.

“Mr. Hyo-sung.”

That carefree thought was disrupted when, upon entering, I encountered a familiar face.

Airi Haven.

A person who was considered almost a lover to me.

“Airi, why…?”

Why was she here, staggering and bleeding?

Thud.

Before I could grasp the situation, Airi collapsed.

As I was about to rush over, I suddenly stopped, realizing I had kicked something on the ground.

There lay a woman in a black hood, collapsed and bleeding even before Airi…

“Me-Merilyn…”

Merilyn Sutherland.

Her eyes, usually smiling, were now lifelessly wide open.

She wasn’t asleep. I had seen countless people in this state since coming to this world.

These were the eyes of a corpse.

The people who were special to me appeared before me as corpses at this moment.

“Why, how could this…?”

As I realized this and reflexively tried to understand the situation.

Familiar faces appeared before my eyes.

Garam, who had adventured with me; Tacchia, who had given me weapons; and hundreds, thousands of others who had connections with me in this world, all lay dead, welcoming me into the castle…

“This is a dream, right?”

Convinced that such reality couldn’t exist, I took a deep breath and stood up from my crouched position.

Yes, from the moment I encountered Pheloi, I knew this was a dream.

“Yes, it’s a dream. This can’t be real…”

“Yes, it’s just a dream.”

Just as I was about to dismiss it as a nightmare, a familiar voice whispered in my ear.

-But who can guarantee that this won’t become reality? As you know, this world is gradually moving towards destruction.

At that moment, startled, my head twisted towards the direction of the sound.

On the field of corpses, there stood an undead with a withered physique, draped in a black shroud.

-Even if it were just a dream, it would still be based on some foundation… Since you’ve foreseen such a situation, isn’t it you who witnessed this tragedy in your dream?

“Gorgon Zola.”

I knew him.

Three months ago, I encountered him and, by good fortune, have managed to keep my life until now.

And since then, my decision to face my formidable foe, known as fallen heroes, stemmed from my resolve not to suffer the same humiliation as before…

-It’s been a long time, Woo Hyo. Do you like the gift I’ve prepared?

“…It’s not Woo Hyo, it’s Woo Hyo-sung.”

-Hahaha! Wouldn’t I, who aims to be an excellent professor, know that? I simply call you Woo Hyo affectionately, seeing you in a good light.

No, if you drop the surname, it’s Hyo-sung. Why do you keep dropping the part of the name and messing around?

At that moment of rising anger, I felt a tingling sensation near my neck.

I belatedly realized what the situation had turned into.

“…A gift? What exactly do you want from me?”

That day, when I met this guy, a strange power was infused into me as he twisted my neck.

The Red Knight of War intervened midway, and somehow I avoided becoming a completely drained corpse, but that didn’t mean the power he infused in me was gone.

Whispers or impulses felt from time to time…

Until now, I passed them off as hallucinations due to fatigue, but now that they’ve become clearer, I couldn’t just dismiss them lightly.

-Khehehe, what could I possibly want from you? I just wish that you had a stronger attachment.

“Attachment…?”

-After all, all humans are destined to return to dust. Yet, if there is an existence beyond that, it’s not authority or strength, but ‘attachment’ that would prove the value of that second life.

Whoosh.

Gorgon Zola, who had turned to dust and disappeared, now revealed his presence behind me.

His whisper, as he grasped my shoulder with his emaciated hand, held no malice towards me.

-Do you not also have hunger? No matter how hard you try, no matter what you grasp, don’t you always feel it’s insufficient?

On the contrary, his whisper held a sense of kinship and seemed to draw empathy towards me.

-Hunger is not just about eating and drinking. Whether it’s wealth, power, or strength, all humans inevitably live their lives in hunger.

Just as he said, I was always hungry.

I needed power.

Heroes and disasters like this guy, and even more, the power to block all dangers targeting me in this cruel world.

No, beyond that, I had always dreamt of ‘overwhelming power’ to protect the people around me, those who have become corpses scattered around here.

-Let that desire be unleashed.

But this was dangerous.

No matter how much I needed power, it was something that must be achieved through my will.

If it was instigated by others, the outcome would be far from what I desired.

-Don’t look back, and keep striving. If you accept that desire, my power will endlessly drive you, so you won’t falter.

“It’s my business, so shut up and get lost!”

The black shroud dispersed with the shout.

But stubbornly, he didn’t disappear right away; instead, he solidified his form again and let out a mischievous laugh.

-Kehehe, indeed. You are a special human, so this much won’t completely control you.

That damn undead turned his full attention away from me as he spoke.

But that wasn’t his declaration of disappearing from this dream.

Rather than giving up, he seemed to be considering a detour, slowly shifting his gaze away from me.

-But it seems your companion is a bit different.

“What…?”

My head slowly turned towards where he was looking.

There, I saw Pheloi standing in front of Tacchia’s corpse.

The girl was solemnly looking down at the body of her creator, who she rightfully called ‘mother.’

“…Pheloi.”

“Daddy, do you want to become stronger?”

That girl, soon after, began to turn towards me with her hands and mouth smeared with blood from handling the corpse.

Her previously clumsy words changed to become clear, as if they had never been clumsy.

Her eyes, which once shone purely, were now tinged with a dull color.

“I also want to become stronger. So that….”

“So that I can kill the mother who abandoned me with my own hands…”

At that moment, my heart sank at the chilling smile on her lips.

That sensation unconsciously made me step towards the child.

“No, Pheloi.”

It was dangerous.

That child was different from me, having only recently awakened.

Without any resistance to mental attacks, she could be eroded by that damned undead’s whispering if this continues.

“So, it can’t go on like this.”

“Come here, quickly!!”

“I need to become stronger. To make the mother who abandoned me regret…”

Muttering these incomprehensible words, Pheloi gradually walked into the tragedy.

I quickly reached out to Pheloi, but before that, the corpses lying on the ground gripped my body first.

-Sooner or later, all creatures will eventually become one with us.

Airi, Merilyn, Ga-ram…

At that moment, the corpses of everyone else I had connections with struggled to bind me and bury me under them.

-So don’t resist hunger. The endless hunger will make you strong until the moment you join us.

“Shut up!! It’s none of your concern, so get lost!!!!!”

How could I accept the fear of an illusion that hadn’t even happened yet?

If I couldn’t even protect the one by my side now, what use was the power I’d grasp in the future?

“Pheloi! Come back!!!”

Floundering from such determination, I shook off all the corpses binding me and finally grabbed Pheloi’s shoulder with all my strength as she was slipping away.

And then…

Squish.

I felt a soft sensation in my hand at that moment.

But it was entirely different from the body of the girl I had held before.

Soft, yes, but far more voluptuous than the simple cheeks of a child, and something that provoked a more primal desire than the urge to protect.

“Wow, look at you, reaching for breasts as soon as you wake up.”

“Uh, uh…”

Realizing the situation had changed with the sensation and the murmuring, I recognized the person standing by my bed, where I was lying, and opened my eyes wide.

Tacchia Pheloi.

The very person who had created the girl I had been with before.

“You must be very hungry; shall I bare a breast here for you?”

“Ah, no, that… I-I’m sorry!”

I hurriedly removed my hand from her chest, but she just looked at me silently without saying anything.

The lack of displeasure suggested that her indifferent attitude from our first encounter was still present.

But wait. Why am I lying in bed?

And why is Tacchia here?