Chapter 125
Chapter 125
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 125
Chapter Title: Shattered Illusion
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On the way to the hospital with the injured Lee Sa-byouk.
“Hey…….”
Lee Sa-byouk, who had been huddling her shoulders without moving a muscle, suddenly called out to Seol Do-yoon.
“What? Hang in there just a bit longer. We’re almost there.”
“I feel dizzy……. I’ve lost so much blood.”
“Hold on. The second we get there, I’ll get you a transfusion or whatever it takes.”
He thought they were making good time toward the hospital, but something felt off—they’d been stuck in place for a while now.
Three minutes after passing a certain tree, they ran into it again. The scenery seemed to shift, yet stayed exactly the same.
A sense of unease crept in, but there wasn’t room to question it. Getting Lee Sa-byouk to the hospital came first.
He’d always figured a day like this would come eventually.
But he hadn’t expected it to be today. What the hell had he been doing to let things spiral this far?
The deeper he thought about it, the blanker his mind went.
Fear had twisted his thoughts into a labyrinth.
“Seol Do-yoon.”
“……Yeah, what?”
“Do-yoon.”
“Yeah. I’m listening.”
“This might be the last thing I get to say…….”
“What do you mean, last? Cut the dramatic crap and keep cursing me out like before.”
Her blaming it all on him and venting felt more reassuring somehow.
Lee Sa-byouk let out a laugh at Seol Do-yoon’s firm words.
“You want me to live?”
“Yeah.”
Time kept dragging on. Lee Sa-byouk’s body was growing colder by the minute. Must be from all the blood loss.
Of course, all the recovery items were back at base right when he needed them.
“Got it. I’ll do my best to stay conscious, then. But in return…….”
“…….”
[Can you make me one promise?]
Seeing her shiver, Seol Do-yoon pulled her closer, thinking she might be cold.
“What promise?”
Seol Do-yoon asked in a low voice.
[If I survive this…….]
Lee Sa-byouk’s eyelids began to droop.
Then she leaned her head against him and murmured softly but clearly.
[You’ll stay with me forever.]
He’d been ready to stuff a sock in her mouth if it was a dying wish, but nope—straight to proposal territory.
“Don’t waste your strength on nonsense. Focus on keeping it together.”
Scowling, Seol Do-yoon started looking for another hospital. For some reason, the one right in front of them was impossible to reach.
“Look at me.>
Cautiously reaching out, Lee Sa-byouk draped her arms around Seol Do-yoon’s neck and gave a sad smile.
[Promise me. Swear it on your soul.]
Seol Do-yoon’s eyes trembled faintly as he stared at her.
[That you’ll stay with me until the end.]
Seol Do-yoon bowed his head, hiding his twisted expression.
His lips twitched as he hesitated over a response, then he looked up and met her gaze.
Seol Do-yoon wore a particularly sleazy grin.
“Nope.”
With that short reply and a smirk, he dropped Lee Sa-byouk to the ground and drew his sword from his inventory.
Then he plunged it straight through her heart. The blade, which had gleamed coldly, was now soaked in dark red blood.
Pierced through the heart, Lee Sa-byouk spewed up a gush of blood.
[Do-yoon, why…….]
Seol Do-yoon wiped the blood that had splattered on his face with the back of his hand.
It didn’t come off cleanly, leaving red streaks on his pale skin.
Staring blankly down at the betrayed look on “Lee Sa-byouk’s” face, Seol Do-yoon laughed.
His teeth gleamed unnaturally white in that hollow laugh.
“If you read my memories, you should’ve figured it out ages ago.”
He couldn’t catch the Black Ghost Knight in this shoddy illusion, so he’d forcibly planted a fear in his mind and let it play out.
Playing along with the cringey melodrama had been exhausting.
“Even if you use Lee Sa-byouk to trip me up, there’s nothing you can do to me.”
Locking eyes with the illusion wearing her face, Seol Do-yoon curled his lip.
“Watch closely.”
*Schluck.*
Casually, Seol Do-yoon drove the sword in deeper.
“You think Lee Sa-byouk is my weakness?”
Then he leaned down and whispered into the disguised Black Ghost Knight’s ear.
“I don’t have any weaknesses.”
After the whisper, Seol Do-yoon yanked the sword upward.
The earlier attack had landed solid damage. This was his only shot.
Seol Do-yoon swung down at the Black Ghost Knight’s neck.
In that instant, the illusion shattered, revealing the darkness-filled space and the black flower tree from before.
The Black Ghost Knight clutched his nearly severed black helmet and retreated far from Seol Do-yoon.
[You ruthless bastard……. That memory was so vivid……!]
Finally exposed, the Black Ghost Knight glared at the boy smirking right in front of him.
His mouth smiled, but his eyes were dead—a creepy vibe overall.
To trap someone in a memory illusion and seal the strongest soul contract, he had to read their memories.
For precision, he needed all of them, but the boy had too much useless junk, so he’d picked the most prominent one.
That alone was enough to lock him in the illusion.
The sharpest memories were the most important and vivid events for humans.
Show them those, and the odds of breaking free or sensing something off were near zero.
At the end, it even tapped into “fear.”
The weakest point—escape was basically impossible.
Yet this guy counterattacked right from within the illusion.
Insane, no matter how you sliced it.
All those vivid memories centered on that girl, and he’d killed “her” without batting an eye.
Not even the typical emotionless killer memory setup.
While the Black Ghost Knight faltered, the boy charged with a massive weapon bigger than himself.
“Time for you to die.”
[If this is how it goes, even a lesser soul contract will do…….]
The Black Ghost Knight pulled out several soul contract items.
Not the top-tier one from the illusion, but still valid in the adventurer world.
Holding the contract scroll, he scribbled the name he’d read from the memories before Seol Do-yoon closed in.
{Soul binding failed.}
{Name does not exist.}
{Soul binding failed.}
{Name does not exist.}
[How……!]
Notifications flooded the parchment from “That One.”
The Black Ghost Knight panicked at “name does not exist.”
Everyone had a soul-etched name—except this guy had none.
No name defined his existence at all.
“?”
While the Black Ghost Knight hesitated, Seol Do-yoon poured mana into the iron-spiked club.
*Boom!!!*
He smashed the Black Ghost Knight’s arm hard, eliciting a sharp crack.
The black armor dented in the club’s shape.
[……Kuh.]
‘Ah, as expected of a Montgijel monster—barely any health shaved off.’
In the illusion, the damage had dropped fast, making him seem easy, but outside? Tanky as hell.
“Can’t even write a name right? Looks like the contract failed.”
Switching weapons from his inventory, Seol Do-yoon readied another attack.
It was odd.
Looked like the same contract scroll Dun had offered before, but the soul bind hadn’t taken—wrong name?
Or because Dun had bound him first?
{Soul binding failed.}
{Name does not exist.}
{Soul binding failed.}
{Name does not exist.}
The Black Ghost Knight kept trying.
This soul was next on his list after Dun’s—he had to claim it. Same result.
Just “no name” alerts.
No choice but to try something else.
Sucks that soul contracts didn’t work, but he could at least pull him to their side.
The Black Ghost Knight extended his scrap-metal hand and intoned the skill name.
[Root Bind.]
Black tree roots erupted from the ground without warning. Too sudden to fully dodge.
Seol Do-yoon blinked at the roots coiling around him.
The Black Ghost Knight approached the “Ryucrean Tree,” snapped off a branch, and popped it in his mouth.
As he digested it, his mana surged several times stronger.
Before, mana had been draining from him; now it pooled inside, cycling through his body.
[Soul Petrification.]
With the charged mana, he targeted Seol Do-yoon again.
[Soul Extraction.]
Followed by a divine-tier skill—the highest from “That One.”
It guzzled mana and stamina, so not for spam.
He’d been saving up to convert Dun to their monster side for “That One,” but this Seol Do-yoon adventurer seemed like prime material too.
Could use him to boost monster numbers in the adventurer world.
Activating “Soul Extraction” pulled a glowing stone from Seol Do-yoon’s solar plexus.
It floated to the Black Ghost Knight’s hand.
Clenching it, he invoked:
[Beastification.]
The stone darkened to pitch black.
But mana ran dry midway, so only partial.
[Didn’t expect full beast stone clone, but not even proper beastification……. Shame……. Still, for now…….]
Partway done, the Black Ghost Knight gripped the blackened soul stone and approached Seol Do-yoon.
Seol Do-yoon writhed, pretending to struggle against the roots.
[There…… You’ll be one of us now.]
As he reached to reimplant the stone, “bound” Seol Do-yoon swung the club at his head.
*Boom!*
He’d only faked it, secretly slicing the roots midway with a dagger.
The helmet flew off, exposing a gap between armor and helm—Seol Do-yoon crammed in several explosive items.
*Kaboom!*
Amid the blasts, he leaped back, nocked an arrow.
Now was the time.
*Kaboom! Kaboom! Kaboom!*
Relentless mana arrows.
Through the smoke, the mangled black armor emerged. The Black Ghost Knight reached out.
Seol Do-yoon tipped arrows with explosives, aiming for the armor gaps.
*Kaboom!*
Another internal blast hurled him far away.
Seizing the weakened moment, Seol Do-yoon dual-nocked arrows and drew.
Two hits rang out, followed by alerts.
[Boss monster Black Ghost Knight defeated!]
[Level up.]
[Level up.]
[Level up.]
Seol Do-yoon approached the drops from the slain knight.
[Legendary+] Soul Stone Skillbook
[Legendary+] Soul Stone
[Legendary] Pain of the Flower Tree
[Unique] Soul Contract Scroll
[Unique+] Soul Contract Scroll
[Epic] Soul Contract Scroll
…
‘Wanna get out of here fast.’
Exhausted, Seol Do-yoon scooped items quickly, spotting the stone the knight had extracted from him.
‘What’s this?’
Touching the soul stone, it blazed brightly and auto-absorbed into his solar plexus.
“!!!!”
He felt massive mana draining from his body.
Chills ran down his spine; his legs buckled.
[! Warning: Excessive]
[<Warning> Beastification in progress.]
“What the hell is this?”
Beastification?
Whoa, new race unlock?
Wiping his weary face, Seol Do-yoon grabbed Pain of the Flower Tree to stem the plummeting mana.
Remembered the knight eating it pre-skill.
Seemed to keep draining mana inside the body.
He diced a branch with his dagger, shoved it in his mouth.
Item or not, rotten wood turned his stomach. Gulped water from inventory to force it down.
[Mana drain successfully halted!]
[Acquired title: [New Life of the Dead Tree].]
[Acquired title: [Power Thief].]
[Hidden class change to [Soul Archer] available.]
Reading the details, he chose class change, then logged out.
* * *
Riiiing……
Riiiing……
The call tone dragged on.
《The customer is unavailable……》
Seol Do-yoon redialed Lee Sa-byouk, curled by the capsule, fidgeting with his fingers as he listened.
The longer the tone, the more his hand shook holding the phone.
《The customer is unavailable……》
With trembling fingers, he pressed her contact again.
Finally, it connected after the tone.
《What? Why? What’s up, you psycho? How many times did you call? Spill it—what’s the emergency? I’m finally in a game session, so make it quick.》
“…….”
*Click.*
Hearing her voice through the phone, Seol Do-yoon hung up.
Slumped over, face buried in his arms, he stayed perfectly still.