Stranded Summons in the Spirit Realm
Ding.
"Oh. A title dropped! I was wondering why no first-clear title popped when we entered... turns out you gotta take down a monster first."
As Cheonma said, the options were pretty solid.
All Stats +1 was generous compared to other first-clear titles, but the 20% EXP boost especially hit the spot.
-Not bad, right? Spirit Realm mobs give more EXP than human realm ones anyway, so this'll be a big help.
"Yeah. I can smell the power-leveling from here. Oh, but does the Spirit Realm normally block spatial skills?"
Carpe recalled the earlier situation.
He'd been so flustered when the recall-to-Room alert popped up...
-As if. I'd have warned you ages ago if that were the case. Warps don't work, sure, but recall should be fine.
"Huh? Then why didn't mine go through?"
-Beats me... Maybe it's the Room? Your summons are all bound to the Room, unlike other players'. Some kinda dimensional clash with the Spirit Realm...?
"That's a pretty plausible headcanon..."
Carpe and Cheonma pondered it, but soon shook their heads. No point dwelling—it wouldn't solve anything. Better to focus on navigating the current mess.
"Can't be helped. If it doesn't work, it doesn't. Not a huge penalty anyway."
Worst case, if a summon went down, it'd just be a 12-hour cooldown.
"But if warps are out, how do we get back?"
-Easiest way? Die. Game over respawns you in the nearest human realm major city. Since we came from the north, it'd be Saint Ru Hal.
"Eek. Anything besides dying?"
-There's a spot here like the entry point that sends you back to the human realm. Don't sweat it, though. Not that tough.
"Phew, good."
Not dying even once in an RPG was unrealistic anyway, but Carpe hadn't wiped yet and wanted to keep that streak going.
"Alright, loot first."
Carpe headed to where the scout had self-destructed.
Surprisingly, it was spotless—no items. He rubbed his eyes and checked again. Still nothing.
"...Aha! Mukhyang must've snagged it already. Heh. Mukhyang's the best."
"Kyuu?"
"...Yeah, I know it's not. Just denying reality for a sec."
He just didn't want to believe a mob that suicidal dropped nothing.
-Spirit Realm's stingy on loot overall. Makes up for it with fat EXP.
"Ugh. Fine. Time to plan ahead."
Top priority: Evolve Mukhyang.
And gather ingredients for Buk Yeomjon's requested dish.
-While we're here, let's aim for that too. Tears of the Water Spirit King.
"Oh yeah, that."
Carpe glanced at the necklace around his neck.
Legendary necklace Dragon's Eye.
The "evolvable" one from beating that fanatic priest.
One material for that evolution: Tears of the Water Spirit King Ariadne.
-Not like you can just waltz up and grab 'em, but worth keeping in mind.
"Where's the Water Spirit King?"
-There's a place called the Water Kingdom in the Spirit Realm. Unless someone's summoned it elsewhere, that's home base.
But the Water Spirit King was a level 300+ super NPC.
Impossible for Carpe's current forces to fight and loot tears from.
-Spirit Kings won't just aggro humans on sight, so maybe talk it out.
"Got it. First up, evolve Mukhyang..."
And then—
Beep beep—
"Ah."
The surroundings tinted red with a short warning chime. Daily login time nearly up.
"Time flies."
10 hours.
Before RaSe, he'd never thought it short. Lately, though? Days felt too brief.
"Man, this is such a regressive system. Limiting playtime in the modern era? Like we're gonna starve ourselves gaming to death or something? Who even dies from gaming these days...?"
-...
"...Okay, one guy did. Ahem."
Carpe coughed awkwardly.
"Anyway, hope unlocking higher levels lifts the login cap."
-Stop turning a solid game into a knockoff and wrap it up.
"Ugh. Right. Gotta find a monster-free spot."
Moments later.
Carpe confirmed no mobs nearby and prepped to log out.
"See ya. Catch you all tomorrow."
-Yeah. Hit the gym after logout. Health management's key for long runs.
"Thanks, Mom."
-I'll edit some vids and compile Spirit Realm farming spots.
"Optimal freebies route, please. Later."
Carpe logged out with those words.
Daily routine done. Cheonma and the summons would soon head to the Room to wrap up...
-...What the hell? This?
But something went wrong.
Even after Carpe logged out, Cheonma and the summons stayed put.
Not recalled to the Room!
-Insane. What kinda bullshit is this? Wait, could it be?
A thought flashed in Cheonma's mind.
When Carpe tried recalling them to dodge the scout's suicide bomb.
The Spirit Realm operates under different laws from the human realm.
Summons cannot be recalled unless their HP reaches 0.
-Crazy. That was foreshadowing?
He'd thought it just blocked emergency recalls in crises. Nope.
Who'd guess summons wouldn't recall post-logout!
-Gonna lose it. Now what?
"General? Why aren't we heading back? I gotta tend the World Tree."
Hmm. Indeed. I wish to have Elis inspect my body as well. I took that flame spirit's suicide blast barehanded earlier—it's been bothering me. A blemish on this perfect form would be disastrous...
"Kyuu kyuu!"
"General, Mukhyang says he wants to go back and eat acorns."
Hohoho! Make haste—I have a backlog of Kkalkkal Nursery Humor Vol. 3 awaiting!
As waiting dragged on with no Room warp, the summons piped up one by one.
-Hold up. Everyone, quiet. Let me think.
Cheonma stayed calm amid the panic, sorting the situation.
-No way, but...
Were they stuck like this the whole time?
For the 14 hours the player was offline, no recall—summons fending solo?
-Nah, can't be. Even a crap game wouldn't make summons play without their owner... Gah.
Then he recalled a chat with Carpe.
About a month back.
Carpe had grinded mobs for 3 hours straight, then brought it up.
'Nice. Leveled up! Worth the grind.'
-Grats. Keep it rolling.
'Agh, stiff. Game's a blast, but 3 hours straight on one mob type? Tiring. Kinda boring.'
-That's every game, no? Never played others, but RPGs are grindfests. You said grinding is RPG essence.
'True. But modern ones have conveniences. For busy folks, y'know?'
-Conveniences? Like what?
'Auto-hunt, mainly. Common in mobile games. Form a party, hit auto-hunt, and they fight solo.'
-What? They hunt for you? Automatically?
'Yup.'
-Player just watches? Or what?
'Watches... or runs it in background while doing other stuff.'
Cheonma, who'd never touched games beyond RaSe in 40 years (including regression), found it alien and absurd.
-Doesn't compute. Where's the fun in spectating?
'Rewards roll in without effort. Free gains? Pure bliss.'
-World's gone wrong.
Singularity?
Freebie lust birthing wild systems.
Cheonma sighed deeply.
'Don't look at me like that. Standard in modern games.'
-Not in RaSe. No freebies means no bitching—hunt more mobs.
'Sigh. RaSe's far from god-tier.'
-That crap'd trash it instantly!
That day, Cheonma learned of "auto-hunt"—a concept he'd rather unlearn.
-Bad vibe.
And now.
Why recall that chat?
-Nah, overthinking. Room's just glitching in Spirit Realm. Summons hunting sans player? Ridiculous.
Any sec, an alert'd warp them home. Cheonma prayed.
And maybe it worked.
Ding.
Soon, an alert appeared before Cheonma!
Player's 'Room Function' clashed with Spirit Realm, disabling some features.
All Room-bound summons cannot return to Room while in Spirit Realm.
You are the Room's lead manager.
Lead the other summons to survival as Room rep. You're the pack leader sans player!
📍 Quest: While in Spirit Realm, ensure no summon reaches 0 HP (forced recall on death).
🎁 Success: Patron Spirit Rank Up (Irregular exclusive)
🎁 Failure: No penalty
-Gonna lose it. For real.
Quests for the Patron Spirit now?
Cheonma could only claw at his shattering worldview.
The 10-Star Player's Lucky Draw