#23 The Illusory Realm (幻界) (3)
#23 The Illusory Realm (幻界) (3)
But this—I can understand it. Can I actually speak it?
Change was still active.
'And I have Mana Regeneration too. Now that I think about it, this is basically a creativity economy... no, a proficiency-farming exploit, isn't it?'
Not just Change—Mana Regeneration had also improved, which meant I could effectively duplicate skill proficiency off either of them. Why hadn't I thought of this sooner? I'd even considered shoveling dirt with Evil Devouring.
'Ah, got sidetracked.'
"Grrr... Grrk."
I steadied my throat and opened my mouth.
"Is Wolf what you're calling me?"
"Waah~ Wolf's speaking our language! A fairy Wolf~! Fairy Wolf!"
The crown-wearing fairy bounced up and down.
"Fairies are our friends~ Then fairy Wolf is our friend too? Ehehe!"
'Talking is not going to be easy.'
Beyond innocent—this was pure chaos.
I decided to treat them like children and speak nicely.
"Do you know where this is? It feels different from the World I was in."
"Here? This is the Phantom Realm!"
The Phantom Realm... A world I'd never heard of. But from the name alone, I could roughly picture what kind of World it was.
'Something like the Spirit Realm?'
A world with high mana density and rules that defied common sense... that sounded close enough, right? For now, I needed to get out of this palace.
"You're leaving already?"
"Yeah. Take care."
I'd gotten what I came for, so now I'd leave. The "nice words, polite words" act only lasted until the pick screen and the first kill. After that, it was a furnace from hell. I was about to hurry away when the crown fairy grabbed my ears and tugged hard.
"No fair, no fair, no fair! You're leaving without playing with me? So unfair!"
You think pulling on a pair of ears is going to hold me? The crown fairy followed me all the way to the palace entrance before finally letting go, as if she'd realized she couldn't stop me.
'She is a bit pitiful, though.'
She probably can't leave because she's serving as the Queen's herald. It was sad, but none of my business. I glanced at the crown fairy rubbing her forefingers together with a dejected face and let out a deep sigh.
"...I'll come back next time."
Immediately, her expression brightened into a beaming smile, as if she'd never been sad at all. Satisfied that I'd said the right thing, I stepped over the threshold.
***
"Kyu-ryu-ruk. Kyu-ru-ruk~?"
I'd learned Fairy Language, so I'd been half-hoping—but no, I couldn't talk with the fairy dragon.
'Well, right. Different species and all. Communication was always going to be a stretch.'
I wasn't even sure if I could speak to it at all. It was frustrating not being able to talk to the one who'd saved me... the one who saved me dragon.
"Wolf. Wolf. Did you see the Queen and come back?"
"Yeah. Saw her and came right back."
"Wolf spoke!"
The reaction that followed was a copy-paste of the crown fairy's. After weathering a fresh wave of commotion, I headed toward a branch and found the flame butterfly already waiting for me, fluttering its wings.
'A butterfly wreathed in flame...'
I climbed onto its back again, and the flame butterfly glided through the emerald sea, descending until it dropped me off at the tallest building in the city center.
"Wolf~ Are you going back now?"
The fairy asked, hope in her voice.
"No. I want to look around this world a little more. You called it the Phantom Realm, right?"
"That's right! This is the Phantom Realm~ Wolf's a monster but you know a lot!"
I gave a wry smile.
"Is there anything worth seeing around here? Some kind of local landmark."
"Hmm~ I don't know!"
She planted her hands on her hips with pride. I hadn't expected anything. Besides, I'd already roughly decided what I wanted to do.
'I want to make contact with the creatures of the Phantom Realm.'
The Phantom Realm's residents—the flame butterfly, the fairies—all had high Mana relative to their other stats. Maybe I could become the same way.
'More precisely, a way to increase my Mana.'
It had to be tied to the Phantom Realm's pure, dense mana. How could I raise my Mana? And what exactly was the origin of this mana?
"Then could you introduce me to some of the other residents?"
"Okay~!"
The fairy dragon, now coiled on top of my head, let out a little kyuk-kyuk. The sulky attitude seemed to say, "What about me?" So I stroked it... with my tentacle.
'If I meet other phantom beasts, I'll probably learn something.'
While following the fairy, I saw a great many creatures.
'Come to think of it, how do you even enter the Phantom Realm?'
I stole a glance at the fairy dragon. It had the Blink skill, so maybe that was the reason—but the fairies, the dragon-bugs, and the rest of the life here didn't have Blink. What if it wasn't a skill?
'If I could learn it, I could use it in a fight.'
If I could freely move between the Phantom Realm and the original World, wouldn't that let me practically nullify any attack? I asked the fairy about it.
"Huh? Wolf's an idiot! A monster can't enter the Phantom Realm, you know?"
She said it teasingly, twirling in place.
"Wait, what? Then how did Wolf get in?"
She looked genuinely puzzled. I probably wasn't going to get a real answer from her. The fairy dragon had brought me here, but... it couldn't talk.
'I'll have to ask another phantom beast.'
"So where are we going now?"
"There's someone. A su~per nice friend!"
Eventually we arrived at an enormous forest... or so I thought.
'A forest?'
No, not a forest—a dungeon. It was Ihyeon Park, transformed into a dungeon.
'Why are we back here?'
When I asked, confused, the fairy beamed.
"He said he liked it here and just settled in!"
"He liked it?"
"Yeah! He said he liked that it got bigger!"
Bigger, huh. Since the dungeonization was still ongoing, I supposed that made sense. After trekking through the dungeon for quite a while, the phantom beast I finally met was a deer.
'...White Deer?'
Combined with the dreamy atmosphere of the Phantom Realm, standing in the forest like this, he looked like something out of a painting. ...Except he was floating upside-down in the air.
"White Deer is the smartest in the Phantom Realm!"
At the fairy's proud declaration, White Deer's gaze turned toward us.
"Bringing Wolf to a deer..."
He scolded the fairy, then placed a hoof on the ground.
"That said, I bear you no ill will. Do not take it to heart."
"You can talk?"
"Is the same not true for you?"
Well, if you put it that way, I couldn't exactly argue.
[White Deer]
[Length 4.26m] [Height 2.14m] [Weight 831kg]
[STR 266] [AGI 471] [VIT 351] [MP 511]
[Skill List]
[Shrink Ground (B)] [Mana Detection (C)] [Mana Regeneration (D)] [Appraisal (E)] [Tough Skin (E)]
'Interesting status window.'
His Strength was low, but his Agility and Mana were remarkably high. If we fought...
'I'd lose.'
I wouldn't say my odds were zero, but they were definitely low. Once I'd finished my mental calculations and looked back at White Deer, he was wearing a meaningful smile.
"So that is your way of survival."
"......?"
"Always on guard. Never letting down your vigilance."
White Deer slowly shook his head.
"I feel I understand what kind of life you have led. So, what brings you to seek me out with these chatterboxes in tow?"
'Friendlier than I expected.'
From the way he spoke, he'd clearly noticed that I'd appraised him, but he didn't call me out on it. I could see why the fairy had called him nice.
"There's something I want to ask. The reason you residents of the Phantom Realm have such high Mana."
"I see. Your own Mana is certainly paltry. Coveting stronger mana is only natural."
Was this neighborhood's weapon just straight-up facts? Why did everyone here beat me over the head with facts? While I was grumbling to myself, White Deer's eyes lit up.
"I cannot simply tell you for nothing."
'I figured as much.'
Strict, then. Would I be better off finding a more accommodating phantom beast? White Deer spoke again immediately.
"If you help me with one thing, I will tell you. What do you say?"
"...What is it?"
"Just as there are dungeons in the Reality Realm, dungeons also appear here in our Phantom Realm."
"There are dungeons here?"
At my confusion, the fairy bounced.
"Yeah! That's right! There are dungeons! Plenty!"
And on top of that, even the fairy dragon nodded its head.
'...So you do understand words.'
"It is a place that has been neglected for quite some time. At any rate, all you need to do is stabilize one dungeon. That should not be a difficult task, no?"
'Well, true.'
It was a deal with no downside. I'd have to see the dungeon's level first, but this was exactly the sort of thing I'd been hoping for.
"Where is the dungeon?"
"Not far. Ride on my back."
"Me too, me too!"
I climbed onto his back without hesitation. I wanted to see what White Deer's Shrink Ground skill was like.
'The scenery is whipping past.'
No wonder it was a B-rank skill. He seemed to cover ten kilometers in under three seconds.
'That's a little strange, though.'
This was a place I'd been before.
According to White Deer, the dungeon had been neglected for a long time—but I'd never seen a dungeon like this in the original World, the Reality Realm.
'Does the Phantom Realm not affect the Reality Realm? Even though the Reality Realm can affect the Phantom Realm?'
I felt like I was beginning to understand this World. It was like a mirror. Events in the mirror world could never influence reality, but the mirror would always reflect what happened in reality.
'...That's why the dungeons in the Phantom Realm didn't exist in the Reality Realm.'
It wasn't an equal World—it felt like a subordinate one.
"There, we have arrived."
We'd reached the Phantom Realm dungeon... no, it was a large building.
'Looks like a boundary.'
Once I stepped inside, the interior would surely change like any other dungeon. Carefully, I took a step into the building.
'My feet...'
A crushing pressure, as if something immense was bearing down on me. I could barely move unless I actively circulated my mana.
And they wanted me to clear a dungeon like this?
"Hm..."
White Deer was watching. The confused fairy, and the fairy dragon yawning on top of my head. ...They couldn't feel it?
'I have to go in either way.'
The moment I pushed through and fully entered, I realized I'd misjudged. My legs were already trembling. In this state, let alone hunting monsters...!
"As expected."
White Deer nodded, as if he'd predicted my condition from the start.
"Do not resist. Accept it. Can you defeat nature itself?"
I gritted my teeth at the lofty-sounding nonsense.
'What bullshit.'
The moment I released my mana, I'd be crushed flat as a rice cake. I tried to turn away, but White Deer blocked the entrance.
"Grrowl—"
"Was this not what you wanted?"
'What the hell did I want?'
The insane density of mana here made it hard just to stay lucid. I felt drunk on magic, on the verge of collapse.
"Did you not ask why the residents of the Phantom Realm possess such high magical power?"
"Yeah. And?"
"Using only internal mana is the act of a dull-witted monster."
"......."
"Humans are much the same in that regard. Shaping magic into spellcraft was ingenious, I admit. But we phantom beasts have no need for such things. Do you know why?"
"Move."
"Because the quality of the mana differs."
My trembling legs were already signaling their limit. Even with nearly 200 magical power, resistance was barely possible.
"Do you believe you can overcome the vast mana of the natural world?"
"......."
"Do not confine yourself. Do not draw boundaries within limits."
White Deer's droning words barely registered.
I was being crushed by mana. The ramblings of a deer weren't going to reach me.
White Deer repeated himself several times, waiting until I could understand.
"Do not resist. Simply accept."
Don't resist?
'Wait a minute.'
The fairy and the fairy dragon were tilting their heads at me as if to say, what's the problem?
'How?'
White Deer, fine. I could accept that. But the fairy and the fairy dragon had less magical power than I did—so how were they perfectly fine?
It didn't add up. And yet...
"Wolf is a dummy~!"
The fairy and the fairy dragon nipped at my ears, teasing me like someone mocking a fool who didn't know the obvious.
'Accept it?'
Which meant I was doing something wrong.
"Step beyond your own common sense."
White Deer looked down at me with calm composure.
'Beyond my common sense?'
But if I stopped resisting this enormous mana—what then? Mana at this suffocating concentration was itself an intense pressure. I couldn't withdraw my own mana... I'd be crushed instantly.
Except.
'...What if I didn't withdraw it?'
White Deer stood squarely at the entrance. Could I really force him aside under this pressure?
"Grrrnk—"
"I suppose you cannot help it. The life you have lived shaped you this way. But from now on, you must change."
"Change... you say?"
"Learn to trust another."
White Deer's gaze shifted upward, to the fairy dragon coiled atop my head.
'...Trust?'
My life had been an endless struggle.
Monsters and humans. I'd been unable to trust either.
But if this was the goodwill I'd offered circling back to me—maybe I could trust that much, at least?
"Kyururuk!"
The fairy dragon wrapped its wings around my skull.
"Do not set limits. Do not imprison yourself."
White Deer's words hammered at me like a dharma question without end.
Through it all, the fairy kept stroking me gently.
"Wolf~ does it hurt a lot?"
I steadied my breathing.
'...If it's hopeless either way.'
I began, slowly, to withdraw my mana.
'Don't resist.'
Every bone in my body felt like it was sinking under the weight.
Anxiety slithered in—maybe I needed to raise my mana again after all.
In that moment, White Deer's voice bored into my mind.
"Let it flow as nature intends, and accept it."
Flow as nature intends. Following the natural order.
The dense mana of the Phantom Realm could not be resisted. A single individual like me could never hope to match the realm's mana.
So.
'If I don't resist—and follow the natural order of the Phantom Realm's mana.'
At last, mana enveloped my entire body. But what came was not the crushing pressure I had expected.
[Magical Power increased by 2.]
'Ah.'
In that moment, I felt every question I'd been carrying dissolve.
"You've realized it, I see."
The reason the phantom beasts had such high magical power...
"That was what you wondered about, was it not?"
The mana of the Phantom Realm was not meant to harm anyone. It was merely a phenomenon—unattuned mana with no will behind it. Of course, if you didn't resist, you could accept it without being crushed. I had arbitrarily decided that such immense mana had to be fought.
'So that's what he meant by shattering limits and common sense.'
If White Deer had spent a long time accepting mana like this, his magical power made perfect sense now.
'.......'
I looked back. The fairy was spreading her arms in a gleeful cheer.
The fairy dragon wagged its tail back and forth, equally delighted.
'Goodwill...'
As I stared at the two of them, dazed, White Deer spoke again.
"Hm. Surely you're not thinking of bolting now that your curiosity is satisfied?"
I'd planned to clear the dungeon anyway.
...Though for some reason, my chest felt just a little tight.
***
"Investigate Gowon?"
The expression was one reserved for a madman. The Team Leader understood it completely.
'He would react that way.'
What kind of clan was Gowon? The first. The strongest. The greatest. Even without bringing Changseon and Gwanghwi into it, the place was packed with legendary hunters. A peerless clan that stood on an entirely different level from Dawn, the second-ranked organization.
"I'm only asking whether it's possible or not."
"It's possible. To the extent Gowon would tolerate."
Which was to say, he had no confidence. The Team Leader exhaled quietly.
"What's the limit?"
"Movement patterns, roughly. And even that's a dead end if they're serious about hiding."
'Worse than I thought.'
And this was coming from someone fairly renowned in the field for resourcefulness. The reluctant look on his face suggested that, if not for their history of dealings, he might have flatly refused from the start.
"Is there anyone who could do it?"
"No one. You know how it is. No one can. The fact that I can manage this much is precisely because it's me. There is no one who can slip free of Gowon's—no, Gwanghwi's—gaze."
"Truly no one?"
"Haa... If you absolutely insist, try looking for this person. Someone who never refuses a commission, whatever it is. But I can't recommend it."
The face in the photograph the information broker held out was one the Team Leader had never seen before.
"Who is it?"
"I don't know. But the completion rate is one hundred percent. Whether that holds true against Gowon is another question entirely."
"A hundred percent? And you have no information on them?"
Information brokers kept each other in check by nature. They had to gather intel on their counterparts. And yet this one was saying he didn't know? At the Team Leader's questioning look, the broker gave a bitter smile.
"That's why I can't recommend them. They're far too suspicious. The only thing I can tell you is that they call themselves 'Tail Hair.'"
"Tail Hair?"
A name he'd never heard before either. But with the desperation of a drowning man grasping at straws, the Team Leader tucked the photograph inside his coat.
"Where do I find them?"
"Daejeon. The exact address is written on the back of the photo."
"...Until next time."
"Take care."
Despite a fairly long business relationship, the broker made no move to stop him. It spoke volumes about how Gowon was regarded in this line of work.
'Still a long way off, then.'
***
"Grrruk!"
If the Phantom Realm's dungeon had one distinguishing feature, it was the type of monsters.
"Wow! Bats~ bats!"
[Bat Exposed to Mana]
[Length 24.4cm] [Height 2.7cm] [Weight 126g]
[STR 21] [AGI 31] [VIT 24] [MP 69]
The bats let out eerie cries, their eyes gleaming. The fairy, who had been bouncing with excitement moments before, instantly shrank back in terror and dove inside my skull to hide.
"Kyaaaak!"
That echoes in here. I heaved a sigh.
"They're not monsters?"
"What, having second thoughts?"
"No."
Monster or not, it made no difference. Dealing with every bat clinging to the ceiling took less than ten seconds.
[Bat Exposed to Mana consumed. Experience Points and Satiety increased.]
"...So they are monsters."
Had they been mere animals, I wouldn't have earned experience.
"I know not what criteria you use to classify them, but the moment a creature carries mana, how could it possibly be an ordinary animal?"
"How do you distinguish them, then?"
"If it fully contains mana, it is a spiritual creature. Beings like us—there lies the potential to become a phantom beast. But if it loses its reason and becomes intoxicated as those have, we call it a monster."
A distinction I could accept.
"By that logic, wouldn't I be a spiritual creature too?"
I possessed reason and handled mana. When I pointed that out, White Deer laughed as if amused.
"You, who arose from a monster, are a separate matter. If a raccoon becomes a spiritual creature, does it cease to be a wild animal?"
Well, I'd more or less given up on that line of thinking the moment I stepped onto the path of the Demon Wolf.
"But if you're going to tag along, you could just fight too."
"The dungeon is not a threatening one. No one has bothered with it—purely out of laziness."
...So he'd been saying he wasn't doing it because he couldn't be bothered.
"You came along at an opportune time."
"Aren't animals unable to enter the Phantom Realm?"
I pointed at a bat. White Deer tilted his head.
"Did I not say they were monsters?"
Right. He had. It was a dungeon.
"But I'm also a monster—a creature. How do you know I have reason?"
White Deer smiled enigmatically.
"You are endlessly curious. Like a child."
The sidelong glance he flicked toward the fairy made it sound like he was lumping us together.
"I can tell by looking at the eyes. Though you lack eyes yourself... you trusted the fairy and the fairy dragon instead, did you not?"
"You can tell by the eyes, huh."
"Kyururuk?"
When our eyes met, the fairy dragon tilted its head, and the fairy beamed back at me.
"...I think I get the general idea."
"Heh. You've grown somewhat softer in the meantime."
"Bullshit."
"I shall take it as such."
And so the three of them and the one of me headed deeper into the dungeon.