Pretending to Be Human Is Exhausting Again Today - Chapter 155

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Pretending to Be Human: Episode 155

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I wish our long-awaited reunion could have ended perfectly, but the truth was my body had reached its limit.
It was the consequence of wielding magical power far beyond my threshold.
“Rina, wait… don’t be alarmed, just listen.”
“…?”
I wanted to wipe away the tears streaming down Asmo-rina’s ruined face with a handkerchief, but there was something more pressing I needed to do.
“I’m going to collapse soon. So, when people arrive shortly, listen carefully to what they say.”
“…Collapse?”
I needed to prepare for the backlash of magical power.
I spoke while desperately suppressing my roiling insides.
“Actually, I can’t use magic carelessly right now. So… cough!”
But I couldn’t stop the blood surging up my throat. I covered my mouth with my hand and pulled away from Asmo-rina.
She reached out in alarm to grab me, but I pushed her away, assuring her it was fine.
“No, just give me a moment… cough, cough!”
Blood finally burst forth, streaming down my hand.
Asmo-rina tried desperately to embrace me, but my body had already lost its strength and began to crumble slowly.
‘This might be more dangerous than I thought….’
Through my dimming vision, I saw Asmo-rina’s face calling out to me in desperation, and far beyond, Ruslara and Ivan rushing toward me.
Hoping they would treat my daughter kindly, I slowly closed my eyes.

* * *
It was roughly a century after I took my position at the front lines that I began to harbor doubts about this endless, exhausting war.
By that time, I had achieved victory after victory through any means necessary, earning the epithet of an undefeated general.
Troubled by how the war’s situation remained unchanged despite my countless triumphs, I mobilized every connection and scrap of intelligence at my disposal to investigate the war’s origins.
Yet no matter how thoroughly I searched, I could uncover no concrete cause.
With the war spanning thousands of years, finding any clear catalyst or evidence was virtually impossible. Even the Demon Lord’s Castle library, said to house the world’s greatest collection of books, had lost portions of its records to the ravages of constant conflict.
All that remained were rumors circulating among the Demon Clan.
[This war began from the arrogant righteousness of the Divine Race, seeking to drive out the Demon Clan.]
As one who had clashed with the Divine Race more than most, I found this narrative difficult to accept.
Plagued by doubt, I sought out a neutral Deity and posed this question to them.
“Lake God. Do you harbor hatred for the Demon Clan?”
The Lake God, a man with mysterious turquoise eyes, tilted his head as if taken aback and spoke.
“You suddenly stormed into my sanctuary, and I thought the Demon Clan’s blade had finally come for my throat… yet here you are asking questions like a green recruit.”
“Answer the question I asked. Is the hatred your Divine Race bears toward the Demon Clan grounded in reality?”
The Lake God rested his chin on his hand with an alluring expression and laughed.
“How should I answer to satisfy you? Shall I relay the opinions of other Deities who say revulsion boils up the moment they lay eyes on a Demon? Or perhaps explain the academic reason why demonic and divine power cannot coexist?”
“I’m not in the mood for games. I know better than anyone that your hatred for us is real—I’ve crossed blades with it. What I want to know is whether that hatred has a cause and a beginning.”
“Ah, so the Captain has grown weary of war and decided to seek your directionless rage in the past. A most rational choice. And bringing such a question to me, the God of Wisdom, is equally wise.”
His tone, as if addressing a child, irritated me greatly, but since there was no other Deity worth conversing with, I swallowed my frustration.
“However, I’m afraid I cannot provide the answer to that question. I myself have not uncovered all the truths of the Demon Realm and this war.”
“Have you investigated this before?”
“Of course. Did you think you were the only one who sought to end this war?”
The Lake God, who had lived through more time than most of the Divine Race, seemed to have witnessed cases like mine several times over. I tilted my head and asked.
“I’ve never encountered such a Demon… are there many among the Deities?”
“Both Demons and Deities have always harbored those with doubts. They simply possess such meager power that they escape your notice.”
“…?”
“If you cannot understand, then it would be good to confront that first.”
The Lake God let out a brief laugh, then raised his fingers and conjured water droplets in the empty air. They gradually formed lines, sketching out a small map.
“Go to this place. The first answer you seek should lie there.”
“Wait… tell me every truth you’ve uncovered. I’ll make my own judgment.”
“No, that won’t do. In this matter alone, you must discover the answers yourself, piece by piece.”
I could not fathom why he insisted on such an inefficient approach.
To my furrowed brow, the Lake God spoke with firm resolve.
“Trust my words, Captain. This method is the best way to unravel the doubts you carry.”
I had no choice but to engage with my sole source of information.
In the end, I resolved to follow his guidance.
As I departed the Temple, the Lake God bid me farewell with laughter in his voice.
“Safe travels, Captain. I hope this becomes a meaningful trial for you.”
‘A trial?’
I tilted my head at the Lake God’s tone, which sounded as though he were bestowing revelation upon a mortal.
I couldn’t understand what trial there was in simply going where a map pointed.
But that doubt didn’t last long.
The moment I arrived at the location the Lake God had revealed, I realized it was one of the most notorious Demon Realm Danger Zones in the entire Demon Realm.
‘That damned Old Man…!’
A Demon Realm Danger Zone unknown even to the Demon Clan, never conquered, spread out before my eyes.
A fierce blizzard that devoured demonic power, treacherous terrain where it was difficult to even plant one’s feet, and snow mountain wolves that relentlessly gnawed at any warm-blooded creature.
Even a Legion Commander couldn’t guarantee survival in such a brutal environment.
It was fortunate I came alone. If I had brought my other Subordinates, I might have retreated for the sake of their lives.
“I won’t lose…!”
I clenched my teeth and pushed through the blizzard. I didn’t want to give up in the face of such adversity.
After approximately ten days of marching without proper rest as a result.
I was able to reach a paradise within the blizzard.
‘This is… a Flower Field?’
The endless snow-covered mountain that had stretched before me moments ago vanished without a trace, and in its place, colorful flowers filled the entire Meadow.
Outside, the blizzard still raged fiercely, yet this small Hill maintained a tranquil and gentle environment, as if separated from the world.
‘Is this the eye of a typhoon? Even so, the temperature changing like this….’
The biting cold had vanished entirely. The warmth was so intense that sweat began to form just from standing there briefly, leaving me momentarily speechless.
In fact, I was beginning to suspect that I had died in the blizzard and arrived at what the Divine Race called Heaven.
“Oh my! C-Captain?”
“…?”
A woman’s figure appeared from beyond the Hill.
Unlike me, dressed in tattered armor, she wore simple, comfortable clothing like an ordinary rural resident, without any weapons.
The moment I saw her, I instinctively sensed she was a Demon.
‘The fact that she recognizes me… means she’s a Soldier?’
Demon Soldiers possess a unique demonic power pattern that allows them to distinguish one another. She must have recognized my identity through that.
Meanwhile, I couldn’t sense any pattern from her.
She was undoubtedly a Demon, but her demonic power was too faint for me to determine whether she was a Soldier.
I approached her. She stumbled backward in surprise, but I grabbed her arm to prevent her escape.
“Who are you?”
“I, I am….”
Wondering if I had frightened her unnecessarily, I released my hand and raised both arms to show I meant no harm.
“Back away! Mirinai!”
A sharp male voice rang out from behind.
“…!”
And an arrow flew toward me.
But an arrow without demonic power infused in it posed no threat. I deflected it lightly and turned my head toward whoever had fired it.
I wondered if another Demon was living in this place, but what I actually saw was….
“…A Divine being?”
A Divine being—the natural enemy of the Demon Clan.
Yet the one before me possessed divine power far too weak to be called a god.
The man rushed toward me in panic, pulling the Woman close to shield her before shouting at me.
“Stay away from my wife, Intruder!”
“Wife? Did you say wife?”
A Divine being referring to a Demon as his wife—such an absurdity.
Like a wolf protecting a lamb, the incomprehensible sight before me left me unable to conceal my astonishment.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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