Chapter 19
Even if I were to contract with him…it would be a problem if those that murdered Dawon were to find out about the resurrection. If I were a traitor, I wouldn’t be kind enough to leave the Necromancer that revived my target alone.
All that’s left is to spread the truth behind these memories…
But will the process be smooth-sailing? I felt sympathy for Seo Dawon, but no one would seriously believe me if I claimed, “The Red Lotus guild members were ambushed and killed!” I was a fly compared to his enemies; both their status and strength were on a different level.
Could there be someone more unfortunate than Seo Dawon….Even if he tried to be a shining beacon for other Users and accomplished such great things, everything was distorted due to the violent manipulations of his opponents.
I knew these unfortunate dealings were hard to untangle. Even if the matter catches someone’s attention…I have to fight alone to provide evidence of the massacre…
After much contemplation, I closed the status window and tightly shut my eyes.
‘I’m so sorry, Seo Dawon-nim…I’ll come back later when I’m strong. Then, I’ll find a way to alleviate some of your resentment….’ Of course, I couldn’t vocalize such cowardly thoughts, so I quietly made a promise within my heart. I began to search for an exit from this cave.
“–that. You’re so….”
Just then, I heard loud, echoing voices from above.
Those voices probably belong to other Users? Perhaps from a party trying to clear the <Tower of Command>? Maybe I could ask for their help to safely escape the dungeon…
“I’m really working my ass off 1 coming here just because you’ve been having disturbing dreams–you insane fool.”
“…..”
“It’s not like you’re a fortune teller or a prophet.”
When I saw the faces of the two people leading a large party, I hid myself under the stairs automatically.
Bae Jaemin, sporting one black eye patch, appeared with a gaunt, thin body, and his signature black gloves. The woman with a dark bob hair cut, wearing shiny robes and carrying a colorful staff, was most definitely Lim Jisoo. Her husky voice carried well from above.
Though this was the first time I had personally beheld Lim Jisoo’s face, her maniacal smile while strangling Seo Dawon was still vivid in my brain. As soon as I saw her, my head was overwhelmed by another’s foggy memories, and I hid myself instinctively…After I came back to my senses, I didn’t dare leave my hiding place.
So, I unintentionally eavesdropped on their conversation.
“After it’s over, everything would be dissolved in hydrochloric acid. Have you ever seen me court the devil and leave a mess for this sort of business?” Lim Jisoo meaningfully said to Bae Jaemin, as they arrived at the vast, open space. Hearing Lim Jisoo talk about “hydrochloric acid,” I thought it would be prudent to continue to hide underneath the stairs.
Suddenly, Bae Jaemin quieted Lim Jisoo and sat down in the middle of the floor and began sweeping the ground with his ungloved hand. “…Until just a moment ago, someone was standing here.”
His words made my heart flutter madly.
No way…did he notice my footprints? Fortunately, the two didn’t look my way and shone their light on a space a small distance from where I hid.
Lim Jisoo, who changed her mood at Bae Jaemin’s words, began looking in earnest as she held her lantern. I could only hold my breath, suffocating myself in fear.
Looking at his partner’s alert back, Bae Jaemin nervously said, “I told you, someone definitely got here first! Things were weird from the entrance of the hard mode route. There’s supposed to be a ‘Guide’ buff on this route…Someone must have come here before us. That person stole the ‘Guide’.’’
Lim Jisoo’s face distorted, “You’re saying someone knows the correct path? Whoever it is, they’re quite stealthy.”
“I don’t think they’ve entered the boss’s room yet….Hmm, it seems like a little rat found their way through…”
After speaking, Bae Jaemin suddenly began walking in my direction.
No way, did he see me? The light came from his back, so I couldn’t properly discern his expression. However, my body froze at the thought of being discovered.
Bae Jaemin suddenly shone his lantern over me. The movement was so unexpected, I almost made a reflexive noise, however, my whole body stiffened and couldn’t move. Bae Jaemin stared in my direction for a long time without speaking.
Was my body paralyzed?
Something was strange.
Bae Jaemin continued to shine his light on me quietly. But he did nothing further, to the point where I wondered if he was aiming to blind me.
In addition, I suddenly couldn’t hear any sound; I felt a sense of wrongness, as if time had stopped. Eventually, I opened my mouth and half shouted, half prayed, “Save me!” However, Bae Jaemin and Lim Jisoo were both quiet.
–You want to get away from here safely?
At the end of an unnatural silence, someone asked me a question.
The voice was low pitched and captivating.
And, the owner of the voice had pinpointed my current most desperate desire…
I didn’t hear this voice through my ears, but, instead, the voice directly spoke inside my head, as if I was experiencing an auditory hallucination.
I hesitated to respond…After a prolonged silence, I couldn’t hear the voice anymore, and, simultaneously, I could no longer feel the blinding, burning light in my eyes.
Eventually I couldn’t handle the discomfiting quiet and opened my eyes. For now, I wanted to see who had talked to me.
But, when I opened my eyes, I couldn’t see Bae Jaemin nor Lim Jisoo who had just been standing in front of me. The texture of the wall that had been pressing into my back vanished as well. It felt as if I was cut away from the previous room and taken, alone, to some inter-dimensional space?
“……W-what? Where am I?”
The area or location was completely unfamiliar. I seemed to be standing alone in a dark space enveloped by material that glistened like glass.
It felt a bit like being flung into space?
A subtle light was seeping out from underneath my feet; looking down, I saw a magic box inscribed with elaborate patterns. I was standing on top of the box’s network of cogs moving in unison.
–My soul is trapped in this place.
It seems that this voice transported me to this most peculiar place, separated from the flow of time and space.
It was the same voice that had earlier asked if I wanted to escape. I looked into the direction of the voice, trying to find the owner, but was unsuccessful.
""
Eventually, I shouted into the void, “W-who are you!”
–Who do you think I am?
The voice seemed amused, as if his identity should be obvious.
Of course, I had a hunch in my head. But…I swallowed my pooling spit and opened my mouth, cautiously hoping that the voice would deny my words.
“Seo Dawon-ssi…..?” 2
–That’s right.
Damn, of course!
Of course, the only one who can engineer this sort of situation is Seo Dawon’s vengeful ghost. His blunt affirmation made me crumple into myself. Though to me his spirit was invisible, Dawon spoke as if he could see me.
–Was my answer so disappointing that you would cry in despair?
“That’s….No, it’s not that I don’t like it, but….”
I hurriedly fixed my expression, but Seo Dawon had not spoken much since. I had no idea what to say to a vindictive specter–no idea how to convince him to let me leave safely–so, I decided to wait until he spoke again.
Of course, Dawon will want to create a contract with me….But I had no desire to walk that inevitable thorny road afterwards…No matter how much the other may wheedle me, I wanted to say “I’m only level 42, so partnering with me will only result in your loss!”
However, even after a long wait, the voice did not speak again. In the end, I couldn’t stand the silence, so I asked, “Where is this?” I first needed to get a proper stock of this situation.
–…….
“U-um, Hello?”
–Didn’t I say that it’s where my soul is trapped?
He answered frustratingly late, as if he had been thinking about other matters for a while. Furthermore, his answer didn’t seem sincere.
What am I supposed to glean from an answer like that? Just today I learned that Users who die filled to the brim with regrets can become vengeful specters. But, I calmed my emotional heart and asked him politely, again. I had no power here, and I needed Seo Dawon’s help.
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