In light of what had happened in the past, combined with the two incidents he had experienced in Dark Corner, Zuniga had come to harbor an aversion toward anything connected to Fashion Demonic Beasts.
At first, however, that aversion had not been so severe that he rejected challenge missions altogether.
After all, Zuniga was no fool.
He knew perfectly well that challenge missions and Fashion Magic could make him stronger. And only a stronger self would have a better chance of saving the Mountain Folk.
Later, the reason he had come to loathe even challenge missions was actually tied to something else.
"Before I entered Dark Corner, I actually did not encounter Fashion Demonic Beasts very often," Zuniga said softly. "Like other magicians, I had to arrange all kinds of scenes in hopes of drawing the attention of Fashion Demonic Beasts..."
"But even after putting together countless stages, I still could not obtain many decent pages."
"Until later, when I went to... Dark Corner."
"After I came out of Dark Corner, Fashion Demonic Beasts began paying attention to me with alarming frequency. For a time, I even spent every day unconscious in sleep... If I had not been able to use energy points to maintain my body's nutrition, I probably would have starved to death inside challenge missions..."
It was precisely because he had frequently suffered attacks from Fashion Demonic Beasts after leaving Dark Corner. During that difficult period, out of every twenty-four hours, he spent nearly twenty asleep.
Forget eating—even washing up was basically impossible.
It was also during that time that he completely abandoned a king's pride and became a filthy beggar... and he had no other choice.
That experience further deepened Zuniga's aversion toward Fashion Demonic Beasts.
It had become so severe that he even hated challenge