Chapter 249
Chapter 249
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 249
>Chapter Title: Midnight Reunion
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Ur's voice arrived in the dead of night.
"But how do I respond?"
He knew plenty of ways to reply to voices in his head, but he was at a loss on how to answer a being in an entirely different space.
- Hey, Kang Seol. Close your eyes.
Fortunately, Ur provided the method first.
Kang Seol quietly did as instructed.
Normally, closing his eyes should have plunged him into darkness, but gradually, a misty shape emerged.
It was Ur's face.
It felt like watching a being from another dimension in a movie theater—the distance between him and Ur was palpable.
"Long time no see. You're starting to feel like a stranger."
"Ur, it's been a while."
The two faced each other and let out soft chuckles.
Kang Seol's eyes first went to the background behind Ur.
"So, what's the exact situation?"
"I've been clinging on nonstop without rest because of the Void construction. You really dumped this absurd task on me. The Void construction is at least partially complete now—that's why I have a moment to talk to you. What about out there? How's it going?"
"Karuna came, so it's bearable."
"That's a relief. Who would've thought that outrageous action would actually help."
Karuna's visit despite Ur's dissuasion was impressive, but Ur's judgment at the time hadn't been wrong.
"Hey, Kang Seol."
"Yeah."
"How much did you know about the Void?"
"That summons or created beings can grow on their own while staying in the Void."
"You had no idea it'd take this long to construct, huh."
"...Yeah."
In the Immortal's case, the created beings lacked intelligence, so maybe the Void construction had gone quickly?
The speed of their Void constructions showed a stark difference.
"So, how much longer will it take?"
"It's already complete. We'll go through an adaptation period for a while... and once ready, we'll just exit one by one."
"One by one? Is exiting that difficult?"
"It's like building a house after shoving everything inside. Creating new doors is an issue, but more than that, compared to the current Void's level, these guys' power levels are too high. It needs time. Once the space expands, I can make bigger doors too."
"...Got it."
Static...
Ur's screen glitched for a moment.
"Damn, the connection's already cutting out. Hey, Kang..."
At that moment, someone shoved aside Ur's face as he adjusted his glasses.
"Ah! Hiding here doing what? Huh? Master? Is it the master?"
Seeing the still energetic Karen, Kang Seol smiled.
"Karen."
"Master! Wait! I'll definitely come! You bastard Ur, connecting without us?"
"I excluded you because your presence might prevent me from saying what needs to be said. Looks like that was the right call."
As Ur and Karen grabbed each other's collars and bickered, Jamad's face appeared on the screen.
"Jamad."
"...You seem to be doing fine."
Ur shouted.
"You... stop! If you have something to say, say it now. I'm done."
"Huh? Wh-what?"
"You said you had something to say too? Then say it now."
Feeling Kang Seol's gaze from beyond the screen, Karen bumped her index fingers together and rolled her eyes.
"Uh... um... y-you first, troll!"
"Me?"
"Yeah!"
Jamad grinned and said to Kang Seol.
"Don't die until I cross over, Kang Seol."
Kang Seol nodded with a smile.
Static...
The screen began to glitch.
"Karen."
"Uh... hey... let's definitely meet again."
At Karen's words, Jamad and Ur gave their reactions.
"Sentimental."
"Shut up, you fang monster..."
Snap.
The connection cut off suddenly.
Kang Seol's smiling face soon turned expressionless.
For some reason, he didn't want to open his eyes.
Like someone denying they've woken up, trying to cling to a pleasant dream.
The midnight reunion.
Kang Seol savored the joy of their brief visit without wasting it.
* * *
Clank.
A large box placed on the table.
It was the remnant of an evil spirit, blackened and covered in grotesque talismans.
【Hiya... that was nice.】
Bitan, who had finished her bath and entered the room.
With a towel draped over her head, she used her tail to open the door herself and flopped onto the corner of Kang Seol's bed.
- That's not a spirit fox. I saw it.
- At least a 40-year-old uncle.
Kang Seol glanced at Bitan for a moment before opening the box.
Creak...
[The remnant of an evil spirit has been confirmed.]
[Level up.]
[Level up.]
[Ability points acquired.]
[Ability points acquired.]
[Albuja's special ability activates.]
[Additional ability points acquired.]
[Additional ability points acquired.]
[Cunning Blood Snake activates.]
[Additional ability points acquired.]
[Additional ability points acquired.]
[I Am activates' special ability.]
[Additional ability points acquired.]
[Additional ability points acquired.]
[Additional ability points acquired.]
[Additional ability points acquired.]
[Early Evening Offering acquired.]
[Icicle Barrier acquired.]
[Damp Acrobatics acquired.]
[Twilight acquired.]
[32 platinum coins (kan) acquired.]
[8 extra-large red potions acquired.]
...
Kang Seol quickly scrolled through his status window.
He sorted out the unnecessary items among them.
'Icicle Barrier and Damp Acrobatics—no one to use them, so hold off. The rest...'
Early Evening Offering and Twilight.
Kang Seol checked the stats of the black robe adorned with gold thread.
[Early Evening Offering]
Rank: Abomination
Appropriate Level: 41–48
Defense: 120
Durability: 145/145
Weight: 0.2kg
A robe like a painted night sky. It grants the wearer ever-increasing knowledge day by day, but steals away even more life force.
Base Stats: Wisdom +35, Vitality +30, Mental Strength +29
Special: Every 30 days worn, one of Wisdom, Intelligence, or Mental Strength increases by 3. In exchange, cursed with a loss of 2 Vitality from the life force curse.
- It's a Jo Sam Mo Sa robe.
- Vitality as core option? Total trash lololol
- Abomination rank so base stats are OP, hard not to use ㅠㅠ
- Abomination?
- Abominoooool?
Kang Seol immediately equipped the Early Evening Offering.
[Currently equipped with 4 Abominations.]
[All stats additionally increase by 10.]
[Magic consumption of all abilities reduced by additional 10%.]
[Shadow Space increased by additional 1000.]
[All stats additionally increase by 20.]
Just swapping one top item caused his stats to skyrocket exponentially.
- Labyrinth seal is confirmed trash legacy now
- Ring that doesn't even eat tem kan gives +30 all stats for real? lololol
- The overload effect is even more insane.
- Didn't tackle it day one and now what you gonna do lololol
Next was the necklace named Twilight.
Kang Seol had high expectations personally.
'Good items tend to have short names.'
Universe, Breath, Ember, Atonement, or Fire Monkey.
All powerhouse items named after short nouns.
From the name Twilight and the aura it emanated, Kang Seol guessed it wasn't ordinary.
And.
[Unparalleled: Twilight acquired.]
[An item that did not exist in the world has been obtained.]
His hand gripping the necklace tightened.
- It dropped!
- Legendary alert! Legendary alert! About to go nuts!
- All in on domehwangcha!
Unparalleled: Twilight
Rank: Unparalleled
Appropriate Level: 42–50
Resistance: 140
Durability: 150/150
Weight: 0.1kg
Necklace imbued with the power of the legendarily ruthless ghost, Adumsini. As Adumsini's soul vanished, the evil energy sealed within the necklace was purified.
Base Stats: All Stats +25
Special: Fear (Unique) active, Pitch Black (Unique) active, Night's Domain (Unique) active, Recover vitality instead of taking damage from external ghostly energy, High resistance to status: Bleeding when damaged by blades.
- It's out! Long time no see!
- But it's Adumsini item, why no ghost attached?
- Yeah? Who purified it on their own! Snowman takes whatever's given! Purest fanboy!
- If it had ears it'd come with Doo-yeok-sini too ㄲㅂ lololol
- Viewers turning into Snowman clones and now even conscience fading lolol
'Ghostly energy option's good. Bleeding resistance... kinda meh.'
He already had a title for ghostly energy resistance, but Twilight recovered vitality instead, so different use case.
Bleeding resistance wasn't strictly necessary for Kang Seol, who had Progenitor's Blood.
'Not weird for only perfect options to drop sometimes.'
Occasionally, these awkward tag-along options were unavoidable.
At least Kang Seol was experiencing this bitter taste late, so no need to feel too regretful.
[Fear (Unique)]
- If opponent's stats are 20% or lower than wearer's, acquire additional stats equal to 30% of the stat gap.
- For farming weaklings lolol
- Not enough! Widen the gap more!
[Pitch Black (Unique)]
- When wearer's attack deals 5%+ of opponent's HP in damage, low chance to inflict status: Blindness for 2 seconds.
- Heartless monk punch! Heartless monk punch!
- So this is what pitch black vision after one hit means?
[Night's Domain (Unique)]
- Range of all domain abilities increased by 30%.
- Fuck, drag out Adumsini!
- This fucker's an abuser;
- Me who relaxed at bleeding resist, fooled again!
Kang Seol showed a satisfied smile as he pondered what to do with the necklace.
'I already have Atonement...'
Duplicate Unparalleled slot.
Rare occurrence, and in worst case, he'd have to give up one Unparalleled.
But fortunately, Kang Seol had a way to dispose of it.
"Karuna."
"I'll use it well."
"......"
- Things Karuna won't yield to Karen: chicken legs, cold noodle eggs, theater armrests, and Unparalleleds.
- Sneakily slipping in his tastes lololol
- Karuna, you've grown! Yielding is for the weak!
[Equipped Moonlight Knight Karuna with Unparalleled: Twilight]
Next, the title.
[Special Title: Bringer of Darkness]
Related Achievement: Do Not Fear (Adventure: Dragon Contest)
Special: Dark attribute damage reduced by 20%.
'Clean.'
If he'd had this title fighting Adumsini, the outcome would've been much better.
In the end, struggling had granted him more abilities.
Thud...
Kang Seol closed the box after extracting what he needed. Bitan called to him.
【Hey!】
"Hm?"
【It came out of the box, that one!】
Kang Seol's head turned toward where Bitan pointed.
A small being made of smoke huddled in the room's corner, on guard.
Kang Seol tilted his head curiously, then widened his eyes.
'No way, from back then?'
He had seen traces left by Adumsini seeping into the evil spirit remnant.
He'd thought it was just an extra reward, but now it seemed that black smoke was its true nature.
'Then that means...'
Kang Seol shouted.
"Adumsini! Or is it the remnant soul?"
【What? That's it?】
"Catch it!"
Kang Seol thanked his stars he'd kept the door closed as he swiftly moved to grab the tiny thing.
Thud-!
Thud-!
But since it lacked a physical form, his hands just passed through.
'Damn...'
However.
【Caught it!】
"...Huh?"
It was caught easily by Bitan, surprisingly.
【I got it! This guy!】
Bitan stood triumphantly, holding it.
【Uh, stay still!】
Slap! Slap!
Bitan smacked the black smoke with her cute paws.
Right then, something neither Kang Seol nor Bitan foresaw happened.
Poof-!
【Now what to do with you... Huh...? Gah... Kek... Kek....】
Slurp-!
The smoke slipped right into Bitan's mouth.
She swallowed the unknown entity whole.
"Bitan, spit it out!"
【Wheek... Can't. It's gone!】
"...You okay?"
Bitan scratched her face and replied.
【Fine...? Tasty though... Huh?】
"What?"
Gurgle...
【Ah, maybe not fine... My stomach....】
Kang Seol hurriedly checked Bitan's status.