Chapter 121
Chapter 121
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 121
Chapter Title: Soul Transfer Route
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Dun frowned at the notification message floating before his eyes.
It was an alert that had popped up automatically the moment he held the mysterious magic circle Prim had given him.
‘Is it because of the Dun Package?’
As he examined it more closely, details about the magic circle Prim had provided came into view. He could even edit it.
“Prim, you said this was a magic circle adventurers could use to get here, right?”
“That’s right.”
“And this is that magic circle.”
“Correct.”
Dun peered intently at the notification window.
[Soul Transfer Route]
[dc143c-T → dc143c-G]
[Location Reset]
[Edit Transfer Direction]
‘This thing is insanely powerful…….’
No matter how he looked at it, this didn’t feel like the inside of a game anymore.
To begin with, being reborn into what was supposed to be a game world meant the game stopped being a game.
On reflection, at some point, his sense that this place was inside a game had started to fade.
He might have been gradually assimilating into his current identity as Dun.
The shift had happened so naturally. Frequent doubts, followed by a strong belief without evidence.
Then, occasional small pieces of proof had solidified that belief.
Treating this place as a single world, Dun scrolled through the notification window.
‘A method of coming and going via souls?’
Souls were mentioned repeatedly, so that seemed likely.
Judging by the arrow, it looked like one-way travel.
Since it was primarily how adventurers came to this world, dc143c-T probably referred to their world, and dc143c-G was this one.
It was still just a guess—nothing concrete.
To gather more information, Dun selected the [Location Reset] editing option.
[Please select the first location.]
[dc143c-T]
[dc143c-G]
[dc143c-O]
‘Ooh, a new detailed option just appeared.’
In addition to the adventurer world and this one, another world’s name had been added.
And that ‘dc143c-O’ felt incredibly familiar.
Dun opened his skill window and pulled up the info on [Body Transformation].
[Bachinoum (omitted) Body Transformation lv.2]
Description: A highly refined body manipulation ability usable only by Bachinoum. Cannot transform into objects other than oneself. Consumes no mana.
Dun tapped the part labeled ‘omitted’.
[Bachinoum (dc143c-O) Body Transformation lv.2]
A more detailed explanation appeared.
His mind suddenly felt crystal clear.
Let’s organize the information.
‘The world labeled ‘T’ is the one I originally lived in, ‘G’ is the world I’m in now, so ‘O’ must be that other world—the one I somehow ended up with.’
The description lent credence to his hypothesis that he was a Bachinoum from the Dabosok world.
‘If I play this right, maybe I can summon Dabosok creatures here like players do?’
That would let him summon and dismiss them stably during combat without any dying.
Remembering the Creature Summon skill from earlier, he recalled the required abilities it had listed.
‘Soul extraction, duplication, fusion…….’
He’d lucked into soul transfer, but he had no idea where to get the rest.
Lost in thought, Dun edited the magic circle’s locations and transfer direction.
[dc143c-G ↔ dc143c-O]
‘This should be it, right?’
After acquiring the transfer magic circle, Dun bellowed the skill’s name and activation method just like last time.
“Creature Summon!!!”
“Whoa, Dun. You alright?”
“Yeah, ignore me.”
His face impassive as he shouted and crossed his arms, Dun waited for the notification window he’d seen before.
It must have been a complex process—it took a while to process.
About three minutes passed.
[Cannot create skill.]
[No permission.]
[Abilities without permission:
Soul Extraction
Soul Duplication
Soul Fusion]
Soul Transfer was no longer listed among the abilities he lacked permission for.
This had to be the right approach.
Dun rolled up the paper with the magic circle drawn on it and stowed it in his inventory.
The challenge now was tracking down the remaining abilities.
‘Since I got the soul transfer method from Prim, the Bachinoum from that world, maybe I just need to find the Bachinoum from the other world and pry the abilities out of him?’
Thinking of a Bachinoum from yet another world immediately brought one perpetually suspicious figure to mind.
The guy who’d grinned innocently and brushed it off when Dun had straight-up asked if he was a Bachinoum.
‘Seol Do-yun.’
He’d have to dig into this one.
* * *
Seol Do-yun, his cap pulled low over his eyes, was in the middle of selling his used laptop.
“Mind if I test the monitor?”
“Go ahead. It’s been well-maintained, so no issues. Take your time checking it out.”
Flashing a practiced sales smile, Seol Do-yun responded kindly to the buyer.
While the buyer meticulously inspected his outdated laptop, Seol Do-yun glanced around.
He’d deliberately chosen a newly built cafe without CCTV for the in-person trade.
“There’s a job for you inside the computer. There’s one dangerous moment, but I’ve rigged it so you won’t die.”
“Got it.”
“Enter your personal info, open the file, and after an hour, the contents will delete automatically, with the advance payment deposited.”
Once he’d hit middle-school age, Seol Do-yun had started making contact with outsiders.
He could no longer be dismissed just for being a kid.
In particular, when he needed to exchange information in person, he often used secondhand trading as a cover to head out and hand off tasks.
“Take care.”
Seol Do-yun smiled and bid farewell to the buyer (his high-paying part-timer).
‘Preparations are almost complete.’
A sense of relief washed over him.
The ventures he’d set in motion were taking root, and he’d dug plenty of traps for Kim Woo-sung.
He’d arranged the board so that once Kim Woo-sung fell quietly, power would shift naturally without major chaos.
All that was left was for time to pass.
Seol Do-yun unlocked his phone to check the time.
Lunchtime was approaching.
No matter how busy he got, he had to eat properly.
Comparing his physical condition on days when he ate balanced, nutrient-packed meals versus days he didn’t, the difference was night and day—the good meals always left him far better off.
With so much on his plate, maintaining efficiency meant constantly fueling his body with quality sustenance.
Vitamin capsules still couldn’t fully replicate the nutrition from real food.
Lee Sa-byeok was a physical brawler who needed extra attention to his conditioning, but swapping meals for pills was turning him into a wilted dogweed plant.
With a bit of breathing room now, Seol Do-yun opened his phone and messaged Lee Sa-byeok for the first time in ages.
Seol Do-yun: Lately popular meal-replacement pills causing baldness from overuse (news article link)
Seol Do-yun: Bald = Bald Vomit Master lol
Ten minutes later, a reply came.
Lee Sa-byeok: no why u starting shit again
Seol Do-yun browsed the app for his lunch while typing back.
Seol Do-yun: Eaten yet?
Lee Sa-byeok: no
‘Her tone sure is…….’
Consistently rude.
Clicking his tongue, Seol Do-yun scrolled through the menu options.
Something filling with a good mix of diverse nutrients would be ideal.
Lee Sa-byeok: forgot but thx to u just took a pill
Lee Sa-byeok: meal reminder appreciated
He’d just selected the beef avocado risotto when another message pinged.
Since she’d already eaten, Seol Do-yun canceled one of his two pre-ordered meals.
When had he even placed two reservations? Sometimes he lost track of his own train of thought.
Seol Do-yun: Not even fazed by the baldness warning?
Lee Sa-byeok: they say bald = OP character
Seol Do-yun: what’s the logic
Tilting his head in confusion, Seol Do-yun suddenly remembered Lee Sa-byeok snatching and devouring Lee Ra-hee’s comic book.
It featured a badass bald protagonist.
Seol Do-yun: lmao snap out of it sa-byeok
Lee Sa-byeok: if i end up weak n wronged bald ill pluck every hair off ur head
Lee Sa-byeok: n transplant to mine
Seol Do-yun: lol;;
Lee Sa-byeok: ^^;;;
She was a lost cause.
When she’d been hyped about awakening, she’d grudgingly choked down good food, but lately she was getting lazy—just barely popping her pills.
He recalled her stubbornly insisting that since a brilliant scientist in a super cool lab had developed them, they had to work, no question.
He’d brought stacks of evidence to counter her illogical claims—ignoring her activity levels entirely—and explained it all, only for her to yell, ‘Whatever, I’m eating them!!’ plug her ears, and bolt.
What an idiot. It was laughable that he’d ever felt inferior to her.
Seol Do-yun headed to the association building’s cafeteria.
It was bustling.
The place was packed.
He picked up his reserved meal, sat down, and scooped a spoonful of rice.
“Mind if I join you?”
He was eating quietly when a familiar voice spoke up. Seol Do-yun looked up to see Lee Yu-hyeon from the 1st Division.
He wasn’t one for crowds during personal time, but Lee Sa-byeok’s old jab about him being a “total loner turning the world into outcasts” popped into his head, making him chuckle as he welcomed her.
Lee Yu-hyeon made a point of rotating through meals with the Abyss crew.
She was free to look after them, but he personally wasn’t fond of being on the receiving end.
Grasping her intentions took effort he’d rather skip.
“Of course.”
“Ooh, what’s the occasion? You turned me down last time.”
Instead of replying, he flashed his usual smile and resumed eating quietly.
“The foundational pieces of Do-yun’s detailed plan are coming together nicely.”
“Yeah. You’ve been working too hard.”
“What have I even done? Thank you for fighting so hard all this time. We gathered strength to deal with that guy, but it’s grown way bigger than I ever imagined.”
The sole beings capable of closing life-threatening gates: hunters.
He’d seeded various businesses from the hunter ecosystem early on, and now they were exploding in growth.
Awakening pathways, gate apartments, sundry hunter markets, and more.
But with Seol Do-yun keeping his existence under wraps, he’d become the unseen power broker of the hunter world.
“What’ll you do once the plan’s done?”
Lee Yu-hyeon asked as she sliced her cold noodles.
“Hmm.”
“No plans in mind?”
“Not yet.”
Truth be told, he had something in mind.
He wouldn’t claim the countless trials he’d overcome had left no scars—that’d be a lie.
Even after clawing out of one hopeless mess, he was constantly on edge, wondering if someone would drag him back into the abyss.
But it was fine.
‘Everything’s fine. From here on, I control it all.’
If something slipped his control, he’d reshape the situation until it didn’t.
Once the chairman stepped down, he planned to solidify his position and wipe out every faction or threat clawing their way up.
Seol Do-yun toyed briefly with the child-safety necklace on his wrist.
Either way, he was no longer in a weak position.
He intended to rewrite the board so he’d never be the one sacrificed again.
As Seol Do-yun wrapped up and ate in silence, Lee Yu-hyeon watched him quietly.
No plans? That had to be a lie.
“The meal line’s getting rowdy—looks like some cutters.”
Lee Yu-hyeon took a bite of her cold noodles, her gaze shifting to the line.
Seol Do-yun followed suit. A minor argument was brewing.
“I used to work at a kindergarten, you know. The kids cut in line all the time to eat first. Kinda nostalgic all of a sudden.”
“Is that so?”
Han Su-hwan did the same—past stories always came up at meals. Maybe the ambient chatter made silences awkward.
Even so, Seol Do-yun listened attentively.
“Usually, it’s the strong kids with loud voices who shove the others aside and claim the front.”
Seol Do-yun scooped some rice into his mouth and nodded.
“That goes on long enough, and an unspoken rule forms. The cutters always eat first; the patient ones always yield. It drags on, and suddenly there’s this ingrained culture of cutting.”
“…….”
“Then the kids who want to eat quickly start banding together to drag them down.”
After listening for a bit, Seol Do-yun set down his spoon and looked up.
“……A sudden life lesson mid-meal feels kinda stifling.”
Lee Yu-hyeon, who’d been speaking earnestly and cautiously, suddenly burst out laughing.
Had one of the walls he’d built around himself cracked? The ever-gentle Seol Do-yun occasionally fired off barbs like this.
“Sounds negative, but it’s not entirely wrong. How’d you know?”
“Out of nowhere, and it kinda clashes with my current situation. Gets under my skin. No more messages—I’ll act natural.”
With a faint smile, Seol Do-yun lifted his tray and left the cafeteria.
He brushed his teeth in the bathroom, then filled his black tumbler with hot water and a teabag before heading out.
Lee Yu-hyeon trailed behind, pretending not to.
With a gate exploration scheduled for the afternoon, Seol Do-yun changed into the association-issued uniform and sat on a park bench.
As soon as he sat, Lee Yu-hyeon—playing the part of a passerby—sat a short distance away, feigning coincidence.
“……What do you want?”
“Sa-byeok’s the same, Do-yun’s the same. I met you two first, but you both avoid me the most. Constant rejections hurt, even for me. Can’t we just talk?”
Lee Sa-byeok was especially bad.
She’d strike a sprinting pose and bolt at full speed whenever he approached.
“What about?”
“I want Do-yun to live happily and safely even after the plan’s complete. It’s about how to make that happen.”
Seol Do-yun let out a subtle scoff at the talk of happiness.
“Personal…….”
‘Don’t sacrifice me for your personal voids or self-actualization—go find kids who actually need help.’
He swallowed the words.
‘Fucked-up twisted bastard. I’m rough around the edges, but you’re worse. Not everyone thinks and acts like you.’
‘…….’
Lee Sa-byeok’s judgments and all.
With Lee Sa-byeok as the only person he could casually chat with since childhood, her sharp jabs occasionally resurfaced.
She wasn’t special—it was just the result of knowing her so long.
Having swallowed his retort, Seol Do-yun continued evenly, expression unchanged.
“Thanks for caring about my happiness amid all the busyness. I guess I’ve been avoiding chit-chat lately since I’m swamped.”
Seol Do-yun checked the time.
“A little time left before the gate exploration. We can talk until then.”
“Really? Awesome!”
Lee Yu-hyeon beamed genuinely at the prospect of non-work conversation.