Chapter 8
Translator: True Detective
Chapter 8: Association
It's funny to say this now, but I have memories of my past life.
Memories of a full-fledged member of society who was born as an ordinary human in a world called Earth, graduated from elementary, middle, high school, and university, and got a job.
However, compared to the memories of my current life, those memories are merely a fleeting moment.
If my past life didn't even span 30 years, my current life's memories are of a very long life spanning hundreds, perhaps thousands of years, so comparing my past life and current life, the memories of my current life are overwhelmingly more numerous.
That's why I lived forgetting about them.
Because I thought it was a place I could never return to anyway.
'I didn't know I would return like this, though.'
I had noticed it while conversing with Shin Su-ah, but this world Ratatoskr and I crossed over to was similar to the Earth in the memories of my past life.
However, if there's a difference from my blurry past life memories, it's that things like Gates and monsters roam around the Earth of this world.
Could it be something like a parallel world?
I can figure that out gradually.
Hanging onto Shin Su-ah's shoulder, I stood in front of the entrance and exit, which could be called the sole door of the Gate.
"Don't be too nervous. We just have to follow the plan. Just according to the plan."
"Phew... Understood. Then."
I eased the tension of Shin Su-ah, whose body was stiff, perhaps still nervous about me hanging on her shoulder, and we took steps out of the Gate.
It was weaker than when crossing worlds with Ratatoskr, but feeling as if I was moving somewhere, I closed and opened my eyes, and that place was no longer inside the Gate.
A place of reminiscence buried in very old memories.
A place densely packed with high-rise buildings like trees in a forest, where cars with four wheels roam around.
After thousands of years, I had once again set foot on Earth.
The situation around the Gate, as we all expected, was full of armed Awakened.
Regardless of Association or Guild, Awakened who appeared to possess power exceeding Shin Su-ah's were guarding the surroundings centered on the Gate, and then their gazes focused on us who came out of the Gate, particularly on me hanging on Shin Su-ah's shoulder.
At that moment, a man wearing a black suit approached us from among the Awakened.
"Ms. Shin Su-ah. Is that you?"
"Yes. That's me."
"Congratulations on returning alive from inside the mutated Gate. Could you perhaps tell us about that on your shoulder?"
"Ah, speaking of this esteemed one."
"Esteemed one?"
"Yes. Thanks to this esteemed one, Lord Nidhogg, I was able to survive and come out of the Gate safely."
"Nidhogg...?"
Toward the agent expressing doubt at the honorific she used and my name, I cleared my throat and opened my mouth.
Ahem. It's annoying to have to pretend to be solemn again.
Still, it can't be helped for the sake of the plan.
"Grr- I have no memory of permitting you to call my name. Call my name as you please once more, and I will bite you to pieces."
"T-the monster is speaking?!"
"Monster? Are you comparing this Nidhogg on the same level as such lowly bugs?"
As I intentionally spread the aura I had been restraining in all directions, the Awakened who had been looking this way as if observing a fascinating animal raised their hands to their respective weapons and took a guarded stance.
However, having felt a gap in power they couldn't dare compare themselves to, their eyes were full of fear.
Shin Su-ah stopped me just as we had discussed beforehand.
"Lord Nidhogg! These people are only doing this because they do not know Lord Nidhogg's greatness, so please forgive them!"
"Grrrr... Since the contractor is asking like this, it is only this once. Know that there is no next time."
"Yes, thank you."
As I gathered my aura again and turned my gaze away as if uninterested, Shin Su-ah, who mediated between us, conversed with the man in the suit.
"As you saw, Lord Nidhogg is an intellectual being unlike monsters. I'd appreciate it if you could be careful from now on..."
"Y-yes. I was disrespectful because this is the first time I've encountered such a case. Phew... Ms. Shin Su-ah. Could you please accompany us to the Association and explain what happened inside the Gate?"
"Of course I must explain. Where should we go?"
Shin Su-ah, who naturally took the initiative through my power, boarded the vehicle prepared by the Association and moved to the Awakened Association Seoul Branch.
I observed the scenery outside the window while moving to the Association.
It was different from the world I originally lived in, but strangely similar enough to stimulate nostalgia.
Not long after, we arrived at the underground parking lot of a building, got out of the car, and moved to the elevator.
"Please come this way."
The place we arrived at under the agent's guidance was a spacious conference hall.
And inside the conference hall, people who looked like high-ranking figures were filling the seats.
The people gathered in the conference hall looked at me with expressions mixed with interest and wariness, and among them, a man seated in the center spoke as a representative.
"Ms. Shin Su-ah. Nice to meet you. I am Gu Do-han, in charge of the Seoul Branch of the Awakened Association."
"Hello. I am Shin Su-ah."
"If I had it my way, I'd like to converse while sharing refreshments in a more comfortable setting, but... as you know, the current situation isn't an ordinary one, is it? Could you please explain to us what happened to you, Ms. Shin Su-ah?"
"Yes, so..."
After that, Shin Su-ah explained the situation just as we had coordinated beforehand.
Hunting with freelance Awakened.
The sudden Gate Mutation incident.
The pursuit by the ghoul.
It was the same up to here, but what followed was according to our adapted version.
"The one who saved me right before I was killed by the ghoul is Lord Nidhogg, right here."
"Oho..."
"Lord Nidhogg is said to have crossed over from another world. And he made a contract with me, the first intellectual being he met in this world, and decided to lend me his power."
"Hoh..."
The branch manager focused, letting out exaggerated exclamations at each of Shin Su-ah's stories, and the story concluded with her escaping the Gate with the power she gained through the contract.
Having heard all of her story, the branch manager made a request.
"I apologize as it seems like I did a background check, but seeing the strong magical energy and refined power that cannot be considered that of an Awakened who just awakened as an F-rank a year ago, I can sufficiently tell that you have grown stronger, Ms. Shin Su-ah. That must be the power contracted with the dragon. So I have a request... if it's not an inconvenience, could you show us a glimpse of that power?"
While speaking, he glanced at me to check if he was offending me, and made the request to Shin Su-ah, to which she nodded in agreement.
From what I heard while formulating our plan inside the Gate, she had acquired a few serendipitous encounters in the past year since her awakening.
Among them was an ability to conceal her power, and thanks to that, she was able to operate as an F-rank Awakened without being discovered until now.
Shin Su-ah, who no longer needed to hide her power, revealed her concealed power in front of everyone, and simultaneously, the standard Valkyrie armor I handed her during our deal appeared with a light and equipped itself onto her body.
The fully revealed power of Shin Su-ah might look like nothing to me, but that's only because I'm too strong; based on human standards, it was mighty enough that even some people present here should be nervous.
"That armor is..."
"It is armor I received upon contracting with Lord Nidhogg."
"It's an armor truly worthy of being called a treasure, and power that is pure itself."
"Yes, thanks to it, it was easy to handle the undead-type monsters inside the Gate."
"Even though I made a rude request asking an Awakened to show their power, thank you for showing it directly like this. I will compensate you once matters are settled."
Since the branch manager said that in front of everyone, she'll probably receive an item that's quite helpful to her, even if I don't know what it is.
After sufficiently showing her power, Shin Su-ah gathered the armor and power again, and the branch manager called the agent waiting outside the conference room.
"It seems we need to proceed with the meeting a little longer, so please guide Ms. Shin Su-ah to the VIP room so she can rest. Ms. Shin Su-ah. Could you rest comfortably and wait until the meeting concludes?"
"Yes. Understood."
Do they have a conversation they want to have excluding us?
I'm curious what conversation they will have about Shin Su-ah and me, but having already heard an indirect order to leave, we stepped out of the conference room with the agent.
On the way to the guest room under the agent's guidance.
I focused power into my eyes and spied inside the conference room through the wall.
"I never imagined a dragon would appear from inside the Gate. What does everyone think about the story Ms. Shin Su-ah just told?"
When the branch manager spoke first, the other people also stated their opinions one by one.
"An Awakened who was originally an F-rank has grown to the lower tier of A-rank through a contract with the dragon named Nidhogg. Perhaps this could be a serendipity for all of us."
"I disagree. No matter how friendly an entity that contracted with a human is, since it came out from inside a Gate, it's a monster. Who knows when and what kind of accident will happen?"
"Then are you saying we should be hostile to that entity? Who will take responsibility for the damage that will occur as a result?"
"I was merely saying we should approach with caution. Once a stance is set, it's difficult to change our attitude toward Nidhogg. Therefore, I am saying we should form a relationship after conducting sufficient investigation."
A heated debate continued among the people.
One side was aiming for the growth of South Korea's Awakened through me, while the other side clashed with them, arguing that we must be careful since it's a monster that came out of a Gate.
Since neither side was wrong, a hint of trouble could be seen on the branch manager's face.
Right when the meeting was overheating like that.
A woman who had been sitting in a corner seat just listening without a single remark slammed the desk and stood up from her seat.
Bang!
"To think you're all shaken by a mere monster."
"Guild Master Baek Yeon! It's not a mere monster!"
"That's right! It's a dragon that came out from inside an unmeasurable rank Gate! A dragon!"
"Couldn't you feel that just the aura exuding outwardly has already vastly surpassed us?!"
The majority inside the conference hall strongly reprimanded her, but she, called Baek Yeon, who glanced at them with an unbothered expression, left her seat and spoke as if to make everyone hear.
"Our Sungcheon Guild will not cooperate with monsters no matter what happens."
And the eyes of her leaving her seat were full of hatred toward monsters.
Could it be that my burning the world 10 years later was connected to her?
Things have started turning out interestingly.