50. A Noble Soul (10)
Aiter World Online.
A hit game that had been launched simultaneously across the world for over ten years, boasting tens of thousands of players.
It was not famous from the very beginning.
It had simply spread by word of mouth as a romance fantasy game with excellent action, and that was how such a massive number of gamers had gathered around it.
Baek Yuseol was one of the rare few who had been playing since the very earliest days after the game opened.
Because of that, he had heard countless stories from countless users, and among them, there had been no small number of episodes related to the Twelve Divine Moons.
The item [Jikbakguri Glasses] contained most of the information recorded in the Aiter World community.
And yet, even so, there had been information it could not contain—
things related to “Hidden Pieces” that circulated only as open rumor among users.
Everyone has a possessive streak.
When they discover a special Hidden Piece in a game, some people want to share it, while others want to monopolize it and keep it for themselves alone.
Baek Yuseol was one of those people who…
picked up such minor stories that circulated only as rumor, one by one, and stored them in memory.
The game’s main story?
Even among old veterans, there were plenty—really, plenty—who did not know it.
It had gotten to the point where, if you stopped some passing seven-year veteran and asked, “What do you think of the character Flame?” you might get back the reply, “Who’s that?”
But in-game information was different.
Old veterans collected information like that piece by piece, stored it in their heads, and never forgot it.
Baek Yuseol was that type.
While raising the highest-difficulty character, he had been forced to figure out even the most minute strategies for bosses other people breezed past easily, then pour in dozens of times more time than anyone else just to clear them.
‘Silver Age November.’
The most famous of the Twelve Divine Moons, and the most mysterious.
There were many players who wanted to dig into it, yet almost no information on it drifted around.
Still, thanks to luck, Baek Yuseol had sometimes heard rare scraps of information like that through someone he knew.
‘…Who was that again?’
He thought they had often crossed paths and played together ever since the game’s earliest days.
He did not know the person’s real name or face, but he did remember their ID had been “Dalso.”
A common sort of ID—the kind that, when he once asked what it meant, had earned him the answer, “It doesn’t mean anything.”
One day, that person said:
‘Hey, Baek Yuseol. I found something out about the Twelve Divine Moons this time.’
Back then, it was a period when the Twelve Divine Moons were unpopular because they barely affected the main story and hardly any rewards connected to them had been revealed.
So Baek Yuseol had probably answered, ‘Don’t know, don’t care.’
But the other person had stubbornly refused to give up, and kept rambling on about the existence known as the Twelve Divine Moons.
‘The Twelve Divine Moons are actually derived from the Progenitor Mage. Did you know that?’
Anyone who knew, knew.
It was such common information that it appeared even if you just read the main story.
Unfortunately, Baek Yuseol had not known, and had not cared.
He had been busy just trying to find a PvP match right then, and had been about to answer carelessly—
but then that person brought up something fairly interesting.
‘Apparently if you find one of the Twelve Divine Moons, your character’s stats can permanently increase, or you can even gain a new skill.’
If a gamer said that did not catch their interest, they would be lying.
Especially because “Character Baek Yuseol” was basically a one-trick blink build, and it was extremely hard to acquire useful techniques.
‘Want to hear more?’
At that point, Baek Yuseol canceled his matchmaking queue and listened carefully.
That friend knew a surprising number of things—enough to make one wonder where he had heard such information—and it helped Baek Yuseol a great deal.
Because he was able to raise the first character on the server ever to receive a “Blessing of the Twelve Divine Moons.”
The first of the Twelve Divine Moons that Baek Yuseol contracted with back then was “Adamant July (金剛七月).”
The greatest blessing, one that perfectly offset the worst penalty imaginable—that because he could not wrap mana around his skin, his durability could never permanently grow beyond zero.
From then on, he developed a great interest in the Twelve Divine Moons.
He gathered, shared, and strategized information about them through covert routes, and it got to the point where he had even deleted and rebuilt his character just to contract with them.
In that process, his game friend Dalso’s help had been enormous.
That friend quietly shared information about the Twelve Divine Moons with Baek Yuseol—who knew where he even got it from—and by piecing together those minor hints, Baek Yuseol was able to contract with several more of the Twelve Divine Moons.
But there was one of the Twelve Divine Moons that even Baek Yuseol repeatedly failed to contract with.
Silver Age November.
Unlike the others, he did not stay in one place, but came and went like a phantom, wandering freely and living as he pleased, so persuading him and securing a contract was no easy matter.
Was this what the hardships of a salesman felt like?
‘No, it’s probably closer to a dating sim. Which suits this game’s identity better.’
…And so, Baek Yuseol invested several months into conquering Silver Age November.
‘How did that turn out again?’
Flash.
He opened his eyes.
Iphanel’s violet-dyed face entered his vision.
She still looked peaceful, but her expression somehow seemed uncomfortable.
[The status ailment ‘Focus’ is released.]
[The body’s recovery speed returns to normal.]
[The mana circulation rate returns to normal.]
System messages drifting before his eyes.
‘Focus?’
It was a status ailment he had never seen before.
Had his recovery rate and circulation rate been increased? He had not noticed at all.
To begin with, he had not even been injured, nor had he had any room to notice his circulation rate while wandering through the mental world.
“…This isn’t easy.”
He had spent the entire day trying somehow to awaken the power of Silver Age November,
but the more he focused and wandered through the mental world, the more only the power of Crimson Spring March kept growing stronger.
Of course, that was not a bad thing.
The fact that he was growing this quickly only meant that, until now, Baek Yuseol had not been using even one percent of Crimson Spring March’s power, and had only now begun to grow explosively.
But he could not grasp even the slightest clue how he was supposed to bring forth the Blessing of Silver Age November, and that left him feeling stifled.
After all, even in the game, no one had ever unlocked the true power of Silver Age November….
Twitch.
“Huh?”
While staring blankly in thought, Iphanel’s fingertips trembled.
Was it just his imagination?
It had passed by in such a fleeting instant that he had not been able to see it properly.
“Iphanel? Did you wake up?”
There was no answer.
To begin with, she was still asleep, without the slightest movement.
‘What is this?’
A sense of incongruity prickled at him.
Something very, very slight… that sort of incongruity that snagged faintly at one’s mood.
Because it was the kind of thing he never would have noticed before, Baek Yuseol sharpened his senses to a fine point, slowly rose to his feet, and circled around Iphanel.
Something had changed.
He could tell that a change had occurred, but he had absolutely no idea what that change was.
“This is….”
Slowly, he leaned his head closer toward Iphanel.
As though something were almost visible, almost not.
Almost palpable, almost not.
He reached out his hand.
Because the pale violet translucent barrier surrounding Iphanel bothered his eyes far more than usual.
And just as Baek Yuseol’s fingertips were about to touch the violet barrier—
Shiver!!
A skin-crawling sensation ran through him, and every nerve in his body went taut.
But he did not react carelessly.
A rash move could instead drive the situation to the very worst outcome.
Instead, he withdrew the hand he had extended and spoke into empty air.
“How long are you planning to keep peeping from over there?”
An incredibly sharp sense—
one he never would have felt before.
But now, after honing his physical senses and the Blessing of Crimson Spring March enough, he could vaguely perceive it.
“…Oh my. Well now?”
Astonishingly, Baek Yuseol’s senses had been correct; from the empty air, where nothing seemed to exist, a voice was heard.
As Baek Yuseol slowly turned his head behind him, a woman revealed herself there.
‘…A dark mage.’
The traces of a “Dark Contract Holder,” clearly displayed by the Jikbakguri Glasses.
In truth, even without the glasses, recognizing that she was a dark mage would have been very easy.
The violet horns rising from her forehead, the violet skin, and the even deeper violet tattoos across it.
Those were proof that she was no ordinary dark mage.
Tok—!
Wearing a leather jacket tight against her body, she walked forward with the elegance of a model on a runway and said:
“Hehe… this is our first meeting, isn’t it? I’ve heard a lot about you. Though I never expected we’d meet in a place like this.”
It was their first meeting.
But it was not difficult in the slightest to identify who she was.
[???]
- Dark Contract Holder
- Physical Clone
- Curse of a Divine Spirit
The “Curse of a Divine Spirit,” clearly displayed by the Jikbakguri Glasses.
That was something that appeared only after killing a divine spirit and receiving the heavens’ curse…
which made her, at present, a clearly prime suspect in Iphanel’s murder.
‘If even her name doesn’t appear….’
It was probably because even in the original game, her name had never been revealed until the end.
Information unknown to players did not get recorded there.
Still, was there any need to know her name?
Recognizing who she was had already been more than enough to drive Baek Yuseol’s tension sky-high.
‘A clone, huh.’
There had to be a reason why she had sent a clone instead of coming in person.
Most likely, that reason was…
‘Looks like she can’t enter this place.’
Baek Yuseol narrowed his eyes.
A Physical Clone.
The name sounded simple enough, but it was such a perfect cloning technique that very few mages in the world could use it at all.
To begin with, clone arts themselves were rare, and even when used, most were incapable of moving with any will of their own—
but she had gone so far as to pour in her own soul and control it directly.
For an ordinary mage…
failing to notice that would be the normal outcome.
Even Baek Yuseol had only been able to sense a vague incongruity with the help of Crimson Spring March; it was the Jikbakguri Glasses that told him she was a clone and let him realize it.
‘So I’m still a long way from matching the glasses’ senses.’
Then again, it had not even been a full day since his abilities awakened.
Trying to catch up to the glasses already would be too greedy.
‘I can’t let her look down on me.’
There was far too much he did not know about her.
So little of her was recorded even in the Jikbakguri Glasses that he had to enter the mental battle at full force.
That was why Baek Yuseol deliberately acted as though nothing were wrong and said abruptly:
“So, a coward who doesn’t even have the nerve to come here in person. What do you want?”
“…Oh my. You’re quick on the uptake for such a little brat.”
“Do I look like a little brat to you?”
“Hmm….”
On the surface, he looked like nothing more than a teenage boy.
To a dark mage who had likely lived over a hundred years, he was less than a little brat—more like not even a sprout.
But if appearances were deceptive, that was another matter.
‘Hm, what is this?’
The woman, Soya, narrowed her eyes.
Even if this was only a clone, her senses should still be more than ninety percent identical to the real body’s.
And yet Baek Yuseol gave off no special aura whatsoever.
No—
that made him all the more suspicious.
Slowly, Soya circled the garden once, placing Baek Yuseol at the center as she walked with her model-like gait.
From the boy, she could detect none of the mana aura commonly felt from ordinary mages.
She, who mainly handled magical arts involving clones and all sorts of mana techniques, was so sensitive that she relied on mana-sense even more than on eyesight.
And Baek Yuseol…
felt like a mirage that did not exist, even while standing plainly in front of her.
“You’re quite interesting.”
“It’d be troublesome if you fell for me.”
“Ohoho, why? Do you already belong to someone?”
“You could say that. She’s a very strong woman—strong enough that you couldn’t handle her.”
No such woman existed anywhere in this world, of course, but Baek Yuseol said whatever came to mind, dragging things out.
“So then, what did you mean earlier? I’m here in person, aren’t I? I could kill you right now.”
At that, Baek Yuseol smirked and spread both arms.
“Then come and do it. If you can.”
Soya opened her fingers.
Mana slowly rose from her violet nails, but it failed to shine clearly.
‘With this much mana… would it be enough?’
Her senses might be close to the original body’s, but as a clone, there was an obvious limit to the mana she could use.
‘A brat whose nature I can’t read.’
Besides, had she not heard the stories about Baek Yuseol already?
He had taken down several high-level dark mages, and recently even his fame for personally killing a descendant of the Last Witch had spread widely.
‘And a monster like that… is really just a high school student?’
Did all humans have holes bored in their heads or something?
How could they lock someone like that into the mere status of a high school student?
‘Of all times….’
Without letting Baek Yuseol notice, she bit her lip slightly.
Coming here to check on Iphanel’s condition had been fine, but of all opponents, she had run into a bad one.
An ordinary 6-Class mage she could kill effortlessly even with a clone body,
but Baek Yuseol was uncertain.
Now that she had confirmed the Elf King Kkotseorin was visiting the Third World Tree, she absolutely had to avoid any large-scale battle if possible.
“…What do you want?”
In the end, fully withdrawing her mana, she stepped back several paces and asked irritably.
Only then was Baek Yuseol able to smile.
‘It worked.’
The fact that he could recognize a clone.
The fact that because of his Mana Leak Physique, normal senses could not read his level.
And the reputation he had built up until now.
Using those, he had successfully deceived her to a certain extent.
Of course, reckless action was forbidden.
If he provoked her too much, she might suddenly turn feral and put a blade to his throat.
Dark mages were prone to flying into a frenzy, after all.
“What I want, huh…. Nothing really. But there is something I’m curious about.”
When she urged him on with a slight tilt of her head, Baek Yuseol’s expression hardened and he said:
“In the past, you killed the divine spirit Iphanel and absorbed her heart. Correct?”
She did not answer.
She merely stayed silent with a stiffened face, but Baek Yuseol continued:
“But in the process of absorbing a divine spirit’s heart… something went wrong for you. To put it in cheap terms, you got indigestion. That was the price for trying to digest an overwhelming power far beyond your level all at once.”
“…You’d do well to watch your tongue.”
He had been trying, in his own way, to be as careful as possible.
It was only that the thought of her attacking Iphanel had made his tone turn a little sharp.
“So you came back. To properly absorb that power. But… it looks like you still haven’t found a way, have you?”
She bared her white fangs slightly, radiating hostility, but then quickly calmed herself and brought her reason back under control.
For a dark mage, that was remarkable anger management.
It was almost praiseworthy.
‘Disgusting.’
The sight of a dark mage controlling her emotions was utterly unpleasant to Baek Yuseol, but he endured it.
“So what if I did?”
“It’s simple.”
When Baek Yuseol extended a finger into empty space, subspace tore open.
At the sight, Soya flinched and almost stepped back, but held herself in place through superhuman self-restraint.
‘Subspace?’
How was a mere high school student using a spatial spell that only a grand mage-level spatial mage should be able to wield?
Before she could even voice that doubt, Baek Yuseol pulled something out and tossed it to her.
“This is….”
“It belongs to a certain dark mage. Find him and kill him. If you do, I’ll help you completely absorb that heart. Consider it a kind of commission fee.”
“What…?”
Could that really be possible?
How, exactly?
It was hard to believe, but the person before her was no ordinary high school boy.
There was something strange and special about him…
and perhaps, truly, he might know how to perfectly absorb this “divine spirit’s heart.”
Soya lowered her eyes and looked at the thing Baek Yuseol had thrown down.
What had fallen to the ground was an old shoe.
But it was an utterly ordinary shoe, giving off neither dark mana nor anything else.
‘You wouldn’t feel anything from it, would you?’
Of course not.
Because it was just trash.
“…Who do I have to kill?”
In the end, tempted by his offer, Soya opened her mouth, and Baek Yuseol smiled as he answered:
“Cheollibeon. Kill that man.”
