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Chapter 133
That eye-catching scene was, however, brief.
[‘Normal Mode’ boss monster Lich Lord (Normal) has been killed by ‘Ahn Juseong’ and 63 others!]
[‘Hard Mode’ boss monster Lich Lord (Hard) has been killed by ‘Bae Jaemin’ and 33 others (all from a single party)!]
While we were still meandering in the trap room, a notification regarding the parties that entered and defeated the boss monster appeared. Red hair suddenly began to blow his top.
“Ahn Joosung? Ahn Joosung, that bastard, was supposed to inform me before he defeated the boss!”
It seems he’s been scammed? Of course, it was worth seeing Kim Sangyoon’s face turn as red as his hair, but Bae Jaemin’s name in the notification–the news of him defeating the hard mode boss–was more important than the news regarding Ahn Joosung. There was no chance of it being someone with the same name as Bae Jaemin; after all, just a few hours ago, I had come face to face with his living self.
There’s no way to figure out why, right away, he’s wearing an eyepatch, but it was still rather annoying to see him alive even after losing one eyeball. When the body is permanently damaged, Users would normally retire from dungeoneering–unless they’re short of money, that is. You could not perform as well as before the injury.
‘But to be in charge of a raiding party at the [Tower of Command]…that means his skills must have significantly improved from before…’
I felt I had no chance of winning if I suddenly attacked, especially now that I’ve revived as a servant. I had access to a few small tricks now, but less than a tenth of my full power could be used in this state. Could I take on the current Bae Jaemin as I am now? I wasn’t sure.
And, even if I succeeded in killing Bae Jaemin, Choi Lee-kyung may be the one to pay for my actions. He and I are different; I’m already dead. If I were to hastily engage Bae Jaemin and Choi Lee-kyung were to be imprisoned or murdered, my last chance would disappear.
“I think it’s over…Why don’t we get out of here, for now?” said a bard in Kim Sangyoon’s crew.
“……Let’s leave.”
Meanwhile, the situation seemed to have settled. Kim Sangyoon was in a dirty mood, but he pressed the exit button as there was nothing else he could do.
It’s been such a long time since I’ve felt this sensation. “We’re finally getting out of this place.”
Choi Lee-kyung looked at me for a moment when he heard my mumbles but soon closed his eyes at the prickling bright light. I continued to stare at him until the light swallowed his face completely. Soon, the light disappeared and the space was occupied by new surroundings.
* * *
The hub, which I had not returned to in three years, seemed to not have changed. Of course, compared to the basement-like [Tower of Command], with its dark backgrounds and musty scent, the place felt like heaven.
“Seo Dawon,” Choi Lee-kyung said.
“Huh?”
“If you don’t mind, I want to go home and rest…Is there anything you need to do?”
“No, Let’s go.”
Choi Lee-kyung began to side-eye me from that point on.
Was it because we kept hearing Bae Jaemin’s voice all around? Whenever we heard mentions of the Priest, he kept on flinching and glancing at me; no matter how you see it, he must be worried that hearing Bae Jaemin’s name would plummet my mood…
“Bae Jaemin is going to have a press conference…Do you want to see it?” As if he were confirming my guesses, Choi Lee-kyung, despite sporting an exhaustion-laden face, kept walking on eggshells around me.
Well, I was indeed curious as to why he would be holding a press conference, but if I were to see Bae Jaemin now, my mood would turn dirty. I had no way to touch him at the moment, and observing him uselessly wasn’t to my taste.
“It’s fine.” I answered.
However, even after I said it was fine, Choi Leekyung continued to sigh quietly and gave me secret glances. He was most likely trying to guess at my feelings, but his poor observation skill was quite amusing.
I was forced to open my mouth, believing that he’d continue to be nervous all the way to his accommodation if I didn’t reassure him. “Why do you look more depressed than me–the literal dead corpse?”
“…I’m just tired. Enough about me; are you okay?”
There’s no way I could be okay. However, if I said that, Choi Lee-kyung would probably be in tears all day. So, I relaxed and pretended to be cheerful. “It’s been a while since I came to the Hub. It’s gotten a lot better since I went into the <Tower of Command>. The air is refreshing.”
Come to think of it, the weather was truly refreshingly cool and sunny. Perhaps because the sun was still high in the sky, walking along the shining white tile path next to a well-scaped park made the memories of being locked up in a dungeon feel like a dream. It felt like I was back to my daily life.
However, now I had to go to Choi Lee-kyung’s home–who knows where that was–and the luxury housing complex, where I had originally lived, was the opposite way. Thinking of my original home naturally led to memories of my family. My previous home was probably sold by my family?
Recalling my family’s faces one by one, I didn’t feel sorrowful nor wistful. This empty feeling… We never had a close relationship, but still, it’s not as if I lived separated from familial ties. Was this another side effect of becoming a servant?
I didn’t feel it was necessary to tell Choi Lee-kyung about these feelings though. Somehow, I knew that if I shared this information, Choi Lee-kyung would shed the tears that could no longer leak from my eyes. Afterwards, I spoke some reassuring words to Choi Lee-kyung, and the Necromancer, tired, eventually walked quietly, looking down at the ground.
After walking like that for quite a while, Choi Lee-kyung, who walked half a step ahead of me, stopped in his tracks.
“Here it is….”
The blue front gate left a strong impression on me.
‘He lives in a more charmingly cozy place than I had thought…’
To put things nicely, the home felt vintage. It was a bit funny that the front gate’s handle was shaped like a duck.
“Do you live alone?” I asked.
“Yeah.”
Choi Lee-kyung nodded, confirming my guess, and went inside first. After passing the gate, I could see a small front yard and porch. Further in, I saw a grand window connected directly to the living room.
Usually, the homeowner can choose their desired design when first choosing their home; Choi Lee-kyung seems to have wanted a warm home with a good amount of lighting. Most of the mansions I owned were large or medium-sized; more often than not, the interior decoration was modern. I had hated vintage-style the most, but…
‘…It’s not bad.’
Of course, having a living room exposed directly to the outside world was not good for safety–sometime in the future, I’ll have to take that into my own hands.
I looked around carefully, checking for other presences–you never know, before entering alongside the Necromancer. He welcomed me awkwardly with a flushed face.
I looked around the living room, feeling Choi Lee-kyung’s prickling gaze on my back. After seeing the eclectic sofa and TV set, I recalled Bae Jaemin’s press conference and took a seat. “Can I turn on the TV?”
“Huh? Yeah!”
While watching the traitor’s press conference, my eyes trained onto whatever was dangling on his wrist; I looked carefully.
Of course, judging from the location of the last [Vengeful Ghost Essence] I had cerebrally known that Bae Jaemin must have killed Jung Garam, but… I didn’t expect for him to proudly display [Beatrice’s Prayer], something the young Assassin had worn.
–It’s HaHae.
In addition, I was very familiar with the guild that Bae Jaemin had supposedly newly created. It was a long time ago, but I was recruited by this suspicious group that hid their guild master’s identity.
The name of the organization, at the time, was ‘HaHae.’ Given the situation, it wasn’t a coincidence that those two names overlapped. And, if this group went public with that name, unlike before…
‘It means that after killing us, they must have obtained the territory we occupied.’
After thinking that, I turned off the TV and told Choi Lee-kyung my thoughts. In addition, I briefly shared my plans for the near future.
Firstly, we needed to concentrate on Choi Lee-kyung’s stats. More than anything else, he was in imminent need of ‘level ups.’ Even if we were to try and find good equipment to fit his needs, equipment level restrictions existed; if I were to try and teach him useful skills, his stats were too low. It’d be too burdensome to meet the minimum needed to utilize the skills now. One cannot use one-of-a-kind skills that exist nowhere else in the world if they lack mana. 1
‘I had originally wanted to revive Olim-ie or Kyungsik-ie next, but…’
Those two were party members who matched well with me, but they would not be of much help in making Choi Lee-kyung stronger. I remembered Jung Garam, who succeeded in leveling up at an incredible speed, and decided to use his knowledge to grow Choi Lee-kyung so that the Necromancer will not die from just one hit.