The Spirit World and Sirene
Whoooosh—
“Ugh.”
A cold wind clawed across my entire body. With my eyes closed, I groaned and thought to myself.
Did I leave the window open last night?
Even so, it shouldn’t be this cold.
Chaos says you need to wake up.
…No. I hadn’t fallen asleep last night.
My last memory before losing consciousness was—
Right. The spirit world!
Flash.
I forced my heavy eyelids open and sat up in a panic.
Chaos sighs in relief, saying you’ve finally come to your senses.
“How long was I out?”
Chaos says not very long.
‘At least I can still talk to Chaos.’
I slapped my cheeks to shake off the fatigue clinging to my face, then blinked and looked around.
“Whoa…”
Swish—
Everything was green.
In a forest thick with foliage, vibrant blue-green leaves caught my eye. As I stared blankly ahead, a breeze carrying the scent of fresh greenery brushed through my hair.
The soil beneath my feet wasn’t brown but a mysterious teal that seemed to radiate life. When I tilted my head up, even the sky was a blend of deep blue and pale green, casting an otherworldly light over everything.
Immersing myself in the sight that made my very heart feel refreshed, I felt the exhaustion from wandering this otherworld begin to heal on its own.
‘Forget the spirits—this view alone makes coming here worthwhile.’
Whooo.
“Urgh.”
As I let out a breath of admiration and relaxed, a sharp, icy wind blew from somewhere, reminding me of my situation.
‘Right. I’ve had my moment of healing. Time to find a spirit. I’m not planning to live here forever. I need to move.’
Wait, why am I naked again?
Every time I end up somewhere unexpected, I seem to lose my clothes. Before I blacked out, I saw something about becoming a spiritual body pop up in a system window. Was it because of that?
“The place is literally called the spirit world. There probably aren’t any other living creatures here, right? Let’s not worry about it.”
Chaos chuckles sinisterly, saying everything looks just fine.
Damn it. I’ll see you in my dreams later. I’m going to squish those soft cheeks of yours.
“To get out of here, I have no choice but to form a contract with a spirit, just like the trait tooltip said, right?”
Chaos says that since you’ve glimpsed something ordinary humans can’t see, you’ve been drawn into the mystery, and for now, there seems to be no other way but to form a contract.
I stood up straight.
Yeah. I had no sense of direction anyway. I’d just have to keep walking forward.
Thud. Thud.
I had been walking for about thirty minutes when—
“Kyuu?”
Huh?
A translucent squirrel with an entirely pale green body appeared.
It was the first living creature I’d seen since arriving in the spirit world.
One look was enough to tell it was definitely a spirit.
‘What should I do? I can run away if things go wrong, so I’ll approach slowly without alarming it.’
Meeting the squirrel spirit’s gaze, I carefully drew closer.
Step by step, I narrowed the distance—
Due to the trait Chaos Dragon Heart, the aura of the Chaos Dragon mixed in your blood affects the spirit.
The lesser wind spirit Philo is startled.
“Kyuuu!”
Tap-tap-tap!
“Ah.”
I froze with my hand outstretched.
Wait, why the aura mixed in my blood?
Hold on. Did I just screw everything up?
‘If I can’t form a contract, I can’t return to the real world. Are the lesser spirits I’m targeting going to run away because of another trait?’
“No. Maybe that one was just weird? It could’ve been unusually sensitive to other energies.”
Chaos breaks into a cold sweat.
…
The result was the same.
“Kyaaak!”
The lesser wind spirit Kanak resists.
Even the raccoon-like spirit that spread its arms wide in a threatening pose—
“Tsk, tchack…”
The lesser wind spirit Piel is terrified.
The tiny bird-like spirit, whether chick or sparrow, trembled violently—
“Chirp.”
The lesser wind spirit Timi’s body stiffens.
Even the mouse spirit froze solid and played dead. I passed it by without touching it, afraid it might actually die if I did.
“Pwyoo—!”
The intermediate wind spirit Haku senses a threat.
Even the first intermediate spirit I encountered, shaped like an eagle, spread its wings at the sight of me, then immediately turned and vanished into a distant speck.
Damn it. Even intermediate spirits won’t deal with me?
“No, seriously, what am I supposed to do? There’s no answer here.”
Chaos clutches its head.
“Damn it. Fine. There’s got to be at least one spirit in the entire spirit world willing to contract with me.”
Since I was in a spiritual body, I wasn’t hungry or tired. I had no choice but to keep walking.
Just as I was about to take another step forward—
“—No. There is no spirit that would welcome a contract with you.”
What?
From behind me came a beautiful voice I never expected to hear here.
I turned around immediately.
“Ugh. How embarrassing.”
Before me stood a being as beautiful as her voice—human? Spirit?
She extended her arm and pointed her index finger at my lower body.
Whoooosh.
“Hmm. It’s better now that it’s covered. Does it hurt?”
“N-no. Excuse me, but are you a spirit as well?”
She nodded.
“Of course I’m a spirit. You’re the only non-spirit in this spirit world. I wonder how a human could enter the spirit world, and in a spiritual body at that.”
That made sense. By the way, did I have to keep calling her “spirit”?
“I didn’t come here of my own will. …Would it be all right if I asked what I should call you? Spirits have names of their own, don’t they?”
She pressed her index finger to her lower lip before speaking.
“Hmm, very well. There’s no need to hide it. Call me Sirene.”
“Understood. Then, Sirene. What did you mean when you said no spirit would welcome a contract with me? Is there truly not a single lesser spirit willing to contract with me?”
“Regrettably, yes. Not just lesser spirits—higher ones are the same.”
When I asked why, Sirene answered calmly.
“Even ordinary dragonkin are objects of fear to spirits. On top of that, you’re a human carrying the aura of a dragon with two opposing forces intertwined within you.”
She shook her head.
I could already guess what she would say next.
“To put it simply, from now on, you will never be able to discuss anything beneficial regarding spirits.”
“So… my spirit affinity is basically zero?”
“No. It’s below that.”
Her flat, merciless confirmation left my head ringing.
“No, I never even intended to come to the spirit world. To leave, I need to form a contract with a spirit. Does that mean I’m trapped here forever?”
There was no guarantee I’d survive if I stayed. If my physical body outside withered and died, my spiritual body might disappear with it. How could I be sure of anything?
“You don’t need to worry about that. I’ll take care of it.”
‘This isn’t the kind of problem that can be solved so easily.’
She continued as if offering compensation.
“In exchange, once it’s resolved, leave immediately. And unless it’s related to me, never enter the spirit world again. Of course, if you get caught up in something else, that’s a different story.”
“That’s obvious. I don’t even know how to enter of my own accord in the first place.”
And even if I did, why would I want to come when every spirit I saw ran away from me?
‘Hah. Lumia has lived a life far worse than this her whole life. I wouldn’t have been able to endure it. I need to tell her how amazing she is when I get out.’
I asked Sirene.
“So what’s this method? I assume it can be done right now?”
“Yes. However…”
Her expression, usually expressionless, grew hesitant.
“Hoo. I have no choice. I can’t keep letting the spirits suffer while I worry about it. Consider it an honor and stay right where you are.”
What was she planning to do?
Step.
Sirene approached until her breath nearly touched me.
“At this rate, I won’t be able to reach. Kneel down.”
I followed her instructions and dropped to one knee.
‘This feels like some kind of knighting ceremony. Is she going to give me a token that lets me escape? Or cast a blessing?’
“This is the first time I’ve done something like this, and it will never happen again. Erase it from your mind the moment it’s over.”
Why was she hesitating so much?
She brushed my bangs aside, revealing my forehead.
Smack.
???
Kiss of the Gentle Breeze [P]
────
The kiss of Sirene, the highest-ranking wind spirit, has left a permanent, invisible mark upon the user.
The user is temporarily treated as a spirit rather than a spiritual body within the spirit world.
─Cannot be removed by any means.
─Allows entry into the spirit world.
─Grants minor wind resistance.
─Slightly increases favorability with spirits.
────
Chaos demands to know what you just did, thrashing about wildly.
Chaos jumps up and down in place, shouting.
I touched the center of my forehead, where the sensation still lingered vividly.
She kissed the forehead of a man she’d only just met today, all to send me away for the sake of the weaker spirits?
“N-no, I’m sorry. I didn’t expect it to be like this.”
She rubbed her lips with the back of her hand.
“It’s fine. A forehead is nothing to apologize over. And remember what I said earlier. I won’t bother explaining what will happen if you break your word.”
“Understood. I’ll keep it in mind.”
“Now, close your eyes and strongly imagine the large passage that leads back to the place you were before falling into the spirit world. You’ll return to your original location. Open your eyes when you feel something different.”
I thanked her and squeezed my eyes shut.
“May fortune fill your future path.”
“Than—.”
Flash!
I instinctively knew it. I was back.
When I opened my eyes, I saw a dimly lit room.
‘This sensation against my knees. I landed on the bed.’
I had returned in a spiritual body, yet a wave of mental fatigue washed over me, draining the strength from my limbs.
How could so much happen in just a few days?
“Ugh, I really thought I was going to die.”
Chaos sighs, saying it had no choice if it wanted to survive.
In the end, I failed to form a spirit contract. What was all this for?
Anyway, I should just forget the failure cleanly.
Now, until it was time to enter the labyrinth, I just had to train by going back and forth between the inn and the knights’ order, right?
Lying on the bed, I thought it over.
‘No. I also need to keep stopping by the guild to check if any bounties have come in, and get my armor repaired.’
That wasn’t all. There was still so much I didn’t know.
Not just the basic knowledge every adventurer learned during mandatory training.
I needed more information and knowledge about both inside and outside the labyrinth.
So, in the remaining time, I should also drop by the library whenever I could.
‘Besides, Ivelin’s priority is her little sister, so even if I go every day, she won’t be able to focus on me.’
Training techniques with Rotten at the inn, stopping by the guild, then heading to the library for exploration and reading, and visiting the knights’ order every few days.
Yeah, it was going to be tight.
Still, I had to do it. If I wanted to survive any unreasonable situation alongside everyone else.
I let out a deep sigh and closed my eyes.
‘Somehow, I feel like time is going to fly starting tomorrow.’
The moment my vision went dark, an intense wave of sleepiness crashed over me.