Chapter 441
Chapter 441
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 442
Chapter Title: Reborn in the Boundary World
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"......Where is this?"
I blankly looked around after waking from a deep sleep.
A vast wasteland reminiscent of a desert.
The area was littered with what looked like monster bones, and the sky was dyed red with sunset, slowly cloaking everything in darkness.
It wasn't ordinary, but somehow it felt familiar.
Like a place I'd visited before.
At the same time, fragments of past memories flashed through my mind.
The subjugation of Cruas, the rift. And my death......
"Hoo."
A sigh of relief escaped me.
It seemed my life-or-death gamble had paid off.
The mere fact that I could breathe and think proved I'd revived after death.
Even as I pulled it off, I'd constantly doubted if it was possible. What a relief.
Feeling relieved, I checked the trait that had revived me.
►Blessing of the Demonic Tree
It activates automatically the moment it detects mana and deems the situation a life-threatening crisis.
—Damage taken is reduced by 90% for 5 minutes.
—You share some abilities with the Immortal Demonic Tree for 5 minutes. (Partially altered to fit the user's traits.)
*Cooldown: 362 days, 23 hours, 57 minutes
"362 days......"
I'd used one Origin Coin for this, so about a year until I could acquire the next one.
It might feel like a long time, but [Immortality] was an SSS-rank cheat ability.
A one-year cooldown wasn't excessive at all.
"I'll have to be careful for the next year."
If I died now, it was really over. Better to avoid dangerous fights as much as possible.
As I moved to dismiss the window in front of me, I spotted something odd.
[The contract with 'Immortal Demonic Tree Gretel' has been partially severed.]
[Cannot use 'Blessing of the Demonic Tree.']
"The contract's been severed?"
Why would the contract break?
After a moment of confusion, I tried summoning Gretel.
But the summoning ritual didn't activate.
It was proof that our connection had indeed been cut, just as the message said.
"Why did this happen?"
Could it be a side effect of Gretel's [Rapid Growth]?
......No. The side effect of Rapid Growth was reverting to sprout form for three days.
Severing the contract wasn't one of them.
Then why......
"Don't tell me it's because I died once?"
A summon is freed from its contract upon the contractor's death.
Even though I'd come back to life, having experienced death once might have severed the contract with Gretel.
"......But it says 'partially,' so it's not completely broken."
The thought of not seeing Gretel for a while left me feeling a bit down.
Whiiiish.
Then a chilling wind blew from somewhere.
A cold chill brushed my skin, raising goosebumps along my spine.
"Ugh. No wonder something felt off."
I was currently naked, without a stitch of clothing.
It seemed my items had vanished along with my body.
Maybe they'd scattered nearby? I looked around.
"Found them."
Fortunately, my items had fallen to the ground around me.
I reached out, and the Formless wrapped around me like clothing.
Once equipped, I blankly surveyed my surroundings.
"......Guess I'll walk around for now."
As I traversed the wasteland, I checked the backlog of messages via the Outsider's Boon.
[You have subjugated a Cataclysm-rank beast.]
[Achieved 'Subjugation of the King of All Beasts.']
[Obtained 70,000 points as reward.]
[A major change in the future has been detected.]
[Karma increases by 7.]
[Victory in battle against the target!]
[Acquired 'Rift Manipulation (SS)' via Victor's Herald effect.]
[The people of the world owe you a debt of gratitude.]
[Obtained 30,000 points as reward.]
[Achieved 'Hero of Reversal.']
[Obtained 30,000 points as reward.]
[Achieved 'Resurrection.']
[Obtained 30,000 points as reward.]
[Achieved 'Reborn in the Boundary World.']
[Obtained 10,000 points as reward.]
[An unknown power has partially dwelled in your body, which has experienced death.]
As expected, subjugating the Cataclysm-rank beast—a massive feat—brought a flood of rewards.
170,000 points just from this......
And on top of that, I'd gained the trait [Rift Manipulation] from Victor's Herald.
"......Rift Manipulation is an authority, not just a skill."
Had I somehow obtained dragonkin authority?
My heart pounded as I checked the trait.
[Rift Manipulation (SS)]
Description: Alter the mana environment to manipulate 'rifts.'
►Rift Manipulation
Consume mana to manipulate natural rifts at will. Mana cost increases exponentially with rift size.
*Cooldown: 7 days
"Whoa."
It really was dragonkin authority: Rift Manipulation.
Altered slightly to fit a human trait, but being able to wield an 'authority' was a huge advantage.
"Jackpot."
I wanted to test it right away, but with a weeklong cooldown, I held back.
You never knew when something might happen.
I cleared the window and reviewed my achievements again.
Resurrection. And......
"Reborn in the Boundary World?"
......What was this?
The Boundary World referred to the realm between this life and the afterlife, where the neither-living-nor-dead resided.
I'd visited the simulated 'Boundary World' before with Lee Seo-jun while chasing traces of 'Jin Cheon-woo.'
"Don't tell me this is......"
I squinted and looked around again.
A wasteland like a desert.
......No wonder it felt familiar.
Confused, I used the Outsider's Boon to access [Mysterious Chatbot Pico].
[Me: Where am I?]
[Pico: Hi Sunwoo! This is the Boundary World~ 😊]
"......The Boundary World for real?"
My head throbbed as I read the message.
I'd suspected, but it really was.
[Me: Why am I in the Boundary World?]
[Pico: The 'void' where your body was has vanished. Normally, your soul would have vanished with it, but the Demonic Tree's Blessing protected your soul!]
[Pico: Your body revived in a neither-dead-nor-alive state, leading to this situation.]
I got the gist.
Still, the Boundary World......
I'd planned to visit once anyway to get the 'Seed of Origin' for the Holy Grail, but this was way too soon.
Dealing with a Great Spirit wasn't easy with my current abilities.
"Haa."
I sighed, feeling dazed.
The situation was worse than expected.
Once dropped into the Boundary World, returning to the surface world would take immense time and effort.
Honestly, I had no idea how to get back.
"......Wonder how the others are doing."
Faces of the key characters left on the surface suddenly came to mind.
Their final screams toward me......
Maybe there were news articles about me online? I activated [Smart Sync] from the Outsider's Boon.
[Cannot activate in a separate dimensional space.]
"Tsk."
Unfortunately, I couldn't check on the outside world.
Oh, right. There was one other way.
[Me: What happened to the surface world?]
I worried I'd phrased it too vaguely.
Then a reply came.
[Pico: Everyone misses you and is grieving...... 😢]
[Pico: [Photo]]
A photo soon appeared.
A posthumous portrait made with my face. In front of it stood Lee Seo-jun and Choi Seo-yoon, faces sunken in sorrow.
Deep shadows covered their features.
No, not just shadows—it was 'despair.'
Especially Choi Seo-yoon's eyes, hollow like those of the dead, filled me with pity.
"Yeah, figures......"
No one would think I was alive.
I hadn't been sure myself.
I stared blankly at my posthumous portrait.
"Feels kinda weird."
Suddenly, I recalled Lee Seo-jun's funeral from the news right before my regression.
His portrait. The grieving people......
Our situations had completely flipped.
[Me: What happened to Gretel?]
Gretel, who had used [Rapid Growth] and thrown herself into the fray.
I asked out of worry that something bad had happened.
[Pico: Gretel turned into a sprout and was taken in by someone.]
Taken in?
[Me: By who?]
[Pico: Want to know? 1,000 points~]
I accepted, and 1,000 points vanished instantly.
[Pico: Jang Soo-ki took her in, and now Han Se-yeon of Hansung Group is looking after her!]
"Hoo."
I breathed a sigh of relief.
I could trust Han Se-yeon with it.
"......Wait, no."
On second thought, this was like handing fish to a cat.
Han Se-yeon had wanted to use Gretel to make elixirs since way back.
"......She's not doing vivisections or anything, right?"
Her greed was top-tier worldwide, so it wasn't impossible......
But she was my only 'family' of sorts(?). She wouldn't.
I checked the final message from the Outsider's Boon.
[An unknown power has partially dwelled in your body, which has experienced death.]
It had bugged me since earlier.
It didn't specify what power, but I could infer from the full message.
"The power of immortality, probably."
I recalled the paths to immortality I'd learned chasing Jin Cheon-woo.
First: Being born in the Boundary.
Second: Experiencing death once.
Third: Reviving from death.
Experiencing all three was the most orthodox method.
That's why Jin Cheon-woo targeted Lee Seo-jun, who had gone through them all.
"......So I've met the minimum conditions for immortality."
My thoughts deepened.
I'd fulfilled the basics, but no [Immortality] trait had appeared yet.
Not that I particularly wanted to become an immortal being.
"Ugh, whatever."
Dropped in the Boundary World, my priority was setting a goal: slay the Great Spirit or escape to the surface.
First, I needed to figure out which region of the Boundary this was. Fortunately, having visited the simulated version before, I wasn't too anxious.
......That moment.
Boom!
The ground rumbled.
Startled by the sudden event, I whirled around.
"......What?"
The sound grew closer.
Soon, frantic footsteps approached, and a young woman with black hair ran toward me, face pale with terror.
I squinted at her.
"A resident of the Boundary?"
"......A person? R-run away!"
I stared blankly at her, then spotted the massive monster chasing her.
It resembled a giant monster in appearance, but it exuded an oddly mystical aura.
I immediately gathered mana and formed an orb.
Her eyes widened at the sight. She shook her head frantically and shouted.
"Don't waste time—run!"
Ignoring her, I launched the orb at the monster.
KABOOM!
The giant monster's body was unscathed. Caught off guard, I felt bewildered.
Why didn't the magic work?
"What the. That thing."
"What are you doing?! It's a spirit—magic doesn't work on it! Only physical attacks with silver do!"
A spirit?
That's when I understood why my attack failed.
The Great Spirit of the Snowy Mountains guarding the Seed of Origin was immune to magic too.
Good thing I had [Spirit Materialization Ritual]. But it took a long time to cast.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The giant monster—no, giant spirit—charged toward us relentlessly.
The woman grabbed my arm in terror.
Then her final words echoed in my mind.
Physical attacks with silver work?
My gaze drifted to her waist.
There was a long silver sword. And a brilliant idea struck me.
"Let me borrow that."
"......Pardon?"
"Quick!"
Flustered, she handed me the silver sword. I gripped it and swung at the air.
"You're a manifestation-type wizard, aren't you? How......?"
She was right—I'd trained in manifestation magic my whole life.
I'd barely held a sword before.
But I had a way.
I closed my eyes and activated my ability.
[Activating evolved latent trait, 'Masquerade.']
[Impersonate a desired real person to use up to 40% of their abilities.]
My body moved on its own, as if entranced.
I gripped the sword and assumed a stance. Beside me, a bewildered voice sounded.
"......Aren't you a manifestation wizard?"
Soon, my body dashed forward just like Lee Seo-jun's.