"How did you know?" I narrowed my eyes.

"Since we reincarnated people can tell from the unique mana flow," the monster revealed.

"You're not here to kill me?" I tried to hide my fear.

"Why would I do that?" the monster seemed offended.

"Umm the other umm animals with your um resemblance tried to kill me," I couldn't find the right words.

"Oh.." the monster appeared to finally realize why I ran away from him.

"Then why are you here?" I bravely asked.

"To save you," he repeated the same confusing words.

"From what?" I couldn't help but yell.

"Those people who own those mansions," he pointed.

"Why?" I crossed my arms.

"You wanted the reason why I look like this. They're the reason," he couldn't hide his contempt for them.

"You used to be a normal human being?" I gasped.

He sadly nodded his head. How could I tell him that I live in one of those mansions? It was almost a death sentence even though we were both people who reincarnated from another world. And who knew if we both came from the same world?

"Are you from South Korea?" I tried to buy some time as I planned my escape.

"You're from South Korea too?" He reached out to grab my hands in excitement.

I quickly backed away from him as I ducked to avoid his arms. I nodded my head to respond before he appeared a bit disappointed in me avoiding him so openly. I was never going to suffer from those bottles of medicine again.

"I can't touch you without getting sick," I explained.

The monster stepped away, realizing he wasn't a human being anymore. Everything he touched turned dead as the flowers he sat on crumbled into ashes. Living a life where you were always alone except for mutated animals to accompany you was a life full of despair.

"What did you ask from God before you were sent here?" I wondered.

"Nothing. I never met God," He sat down at a comfortable distance away from me.

"I died from overstudying for the SATs. Then I was reincarnated as an orphan in the orphanage with barely enough mana to protect myself," he awkwardly fiddled with his hands.

My heart instantly melted as I felt sympathetic. I really could have been him. We both died before we could take the SATs. I couldn't even hold his hand to comfort him.

"I died by saving a boy from falling into a den of stairs. It turned out God accidentally dropped a potato chip into the human realm which made the boy trip," I decided to share my experience.

"Is that even possible?" he seemed genuinely curious.

I nodded my head, "It was so close to the SAT date too."

"I guess we both never managed to take the SATs, even though we both studied our entire lives for it," he sadly smiled.

"Can you let me go back to the place I was in?" I hoped we became close enough for me to safely ask the question without any repercussions.

"Why do you want to go back?" He couldn't hide his face that showed he was confused.

"I have to, they're holding my family hostage," I lied.

Who knew when this reincarnated person would change his mind? I needed to survive to get back to my current family. I knew my current family loved me as much as the one in my former life. It was evident in how much money they packed in my debit card from all the holidays I couldn't spend with them.

"You have a family here," he appeared a bit jealous.

"Please live a free life. At least one of us has to live this life without any regrets," My eyes welled up with tears.

I hoped my acting was managing to fool him as Luke saw always through it. I wiped a tear from my eye while gazing at him like I was cheering him on. Maybe I would be able to become an award-winning actor in my former world with all the practice I had. His gaze softened as he nodded his head.

"Just answer this one question," he stopped me from walking away with his burning stare.

"Are you that sleeping girl in that room filled with the smell of disinfectants?"

I had to stiffen my face that was about to expose the horror from how he knew. It wasn't only me who saw him from the other side of the barrier. I did think it was strange how the corrupted mana balls were directly heading towards my room rather than anywhere else.

I decided to honestly tell him the truth, "I am."

"How did you manage to safely turn back to normal?" He was strangely filled with hope.

"What do you mean?" I became confused.

"I was first like you. I was bitten by one of those mutated animals and soon found myself like this. But I smelled that you also had the same poison inside your veins when you were inside that mansion. And now, it's completely removed," His eyes lit up.

"I don't know," I admitted.

It was better than giving him false hope. Sadly, there was no way Luke would ever use those expensive bottles on strangers and especially to a monster. The monster unconsciously dropped the anti-mana barrier as his eyes drifted into despair. Unfortunately, this was the time to use teleportation back to Luke's mansion.

Before he realized I was fading away from him, I opened my eyes to find myself back into Luke's mansion. I stopped walking towards the teleportation gate as I covered my mouth when I heard Luke's voice breaking down.

"I couldn't protect her and now she's probably dead," Luke hugged himself, teetering on the ground.