Chapter 11

Translator: True Detective

Chapter 11. Invisibility Cloak

After contemplating a lot seeing Brother GPTA's post.

I still think contacting him first isn't the way.

My judgment is that there will be more losses than gains.

Even if he talks like that, how do I know his eyes won't turn upside down seeing my ability?

Then I'll just be trembling like a herbivore meeting a beast.

"Sigh... I have to climb quickly if only because I feel wronged."

Speaking of climbing, the problem I need to solve right now is the means of entering the Tower.

No matter how I think about it, sneaking up the Tower at dawn like this carried a huge risk.

Imagine if I got caught coming out after clearing the 2nd Floor. I'd be dragged away immediately, identity exposed, and slave route confirmed.

"Isn't there any way to enter stably?"

While I was agonizing with my eyes closed, pressing my index finger against my brow.

Suddenly, I thought of a novel where a wizard wearing glasses roamed the school wearing an invisibility cloak.

I immediately entered the recipe.

—Ding~!

"Wow... Crazy..."

This ability has no moderation.

Or does it prove that an invisibility cloak is difficult to make?

I couldn't give up on the invisibility cloak, so after agonizing, I added a condition and entered it again.

"...It just needs to be undetected at night, right?"

—Ding~!

"Oh... This seems doable?"

Fortunately, the rewards obtained after clearing the 1st Floor were the core materials.

The remaining two were also materials obtainable relatively cheaply on the Exchange.

I purchased the remaining two materials on the Exchange and checked the detailed information.

"Okay. But if I make this, can I use it indoors too?"

Men's romance.

Invisible man, can't resist this.

As I had wicked (?) thoughts, I felt the Guide looking at me pathetically again.

Ahem! Can't I even make a joke!

"Let's cut to the chase and make it, Guide!"

I poured the pitch-black mud into the cauldron as told.

With plenty of experience so far, I don't make mistakes in basic things like matching ratios now.

I picked up the leather with tongs and put it into the mud bath.

The silver leather lost its light in an instant as if encroached by the black swamp.

I stirred it continuously with care for 40 minutes.

Based on experience so far, putting effort into each process seemed to increase the probability of a high grade appearing.

When I took out the leather and rinsed it in water, black leather that was sturdy yet reflected no light at all was born.

I picked up the Ghost Spider Web.

The problem was that this was almost invisible under the workshop lighting.

As I groped in the air several times trying to find the end of the thread, laughter was heard from somewhere, perhaps because I looked funny.

Guide?

If you keep doing that, I'll turn black (evil)?

At the Guide's words, I closed my eyes.

I decided to trust the heightened senses from the Dexterity stat.

I caught my breath and focused on my fingertips.

Then, strangely enough, a taut feeling of a very thin thread being pulled was transmitted to my fingertips.

I threaded the Ghost Spider Web into the needle eye with just sensation and opened my eyes.

I sewed along the places marked with dots.

Every time the needle passed through the leather, the spider web assimilated into the leather color and disappeared.

I put the moth scales in a fine sieve.

And sprinkled it gently like snow on the cloak.

Ash-colored powder settled on the black cloak.

I took out the red-hot iron from the furnace.

—Sizzle...

Every time the heated iron passed, the scales melted and formed a thin film on the leather surface.

Then, a strange thing happened.

Clearly, there was a cloak in front of my eyes, but if I turned my gaze just a little, the space where the cloak was looked blurrily crushed.

Its presence was fading like a heat haze.

Just then, a notification sound announcing completion rang.

—Ding~!

I lifted the finished cloak with trembling hands.

Even though I was holding it, I could barely feel the weight.

"Wow..."

This pops an Epic at once?!

I wrapped the cloak around my shoulders.

Looking in the mirror, my body looked blurry as if wrapped in faint black fog.

"With this, the Association employees wouldn't recognize me even with their eyes open?"

Wanting to test it immediately, I made extra potions and headed to the Tower.

I saw on the gallery that Association security was greatly strengthened.

"Phew... Nervous."

I swallowed dry saliva and moved my steps toward the Tower.

Normally, it was a time when they would be snoring asleep, but today the situation was different.

Far away, I saw the guard post guarding the Tower entrance.

Lights were brightly on, and two employees were standing drinking coffee in paper cups.

Definitely, as said in the gallery, there were no sleeping Association employees.

Rather, it worked out well.

It was an opportunity to test the performance of this cloak.

I killed my breath and walked towards them.

I approached hiding my body under the street trees where shadows were cast.

Perhaps due to the cloak's effect, it felt like even the sound of footsteps was eaten by the darkness and not heard.

The distance gradually narrowed, and I got close enough to hear the employees' conversation.

"Hey... But that Barcode or whatever... Why are we suffering because of him?"

"Tell me about it... Higher-ups are in an uproar, but the person himself isn't even showing his nose."

"Thanks to that, only we are dying..."

I walked across right in front of them as if to show off.

One employee's gaze headed towards me, and our eyes met.

But the employee called his colleague as if he hadn't seen anything.

"Hey..."

"Why?"

"Cigarette please."

"This was the last one."

Curling up the corners of my lips, I left them behind and headed to the Tower entrance.

The employees were still chatting behind my back.

Without noticing at all even though I passed right in front of their noses.

As I placed my hand on the black surface, a familiar vibration was felt.

The public regarded her closed eyes as a symbol of strength.

Whenever she passed by, people held their breath and looked at that haughty and cold profile with admiring gazes.

But.

That was a misunderstanding.

She gained another power in exchange for losing her sight.

It was a method of seeing the world differently.

A world seen only as white dots and lines on a black background.

Since all of this was felt clearly, there was no hindrance to daily life or combat.

But since there is no light in her world, to her, the world was a black and white world without color.

So she couldn't feel the warm sunlight, nor the warmth contained in people's expressions.

Her world was always cold, dark, and lonely.

"Haa...!"

Cha Seo-yun got up from the bed gasping for breath.

Cold sweat poured like rain, soaking her pajamas wet.

It was that dream again.

A dream where she is left alone in an abyss without a single point of light, and no one answers no matter how much she shouts.

"Haa... Haa..."

She fumbled the wall with trembling hands.

Only when the cold texture of the wallpaper was felt did she realize this was reality.

But relief did not come.

Because whether she opened or closed her eyes, the same darkness was crushing her.

She curled her body into the corner of the bed.

She hugged her knees and buried her face.

The swordsman, a Ranker under heaven who cuts down dozens of monsters without blinking an eye.

Right now, she was no different from a young child trembling in fear of the darkness.

"...Scared."

The moan that leaked out small hovered in the room emptily and disappeared.

She couldn't sleep anymore.

If she closed her eyes, it felt like she would be dragged to that abyss again.

She rose from her seat.

She put on her coat and grabbed her sword.

The street at dawn was quiet.

She walked without a destination.

'Until when do I have to live like this.'

She walked to the traffic light.

She just had to walk to break this terrible silence.

Do I have to go crazy in this terrible loneliness without seeing warm light until I die?

It was then.

—Zing.

Something heterogeneous was felt in her [Skill: Sixth Sense].

It was definitely an empty crosswalk.

Except for the sound of wind, there was not even a presence.

Normally, she would have dismissed it as a white fallen leaf blowing in the wind or a passing stray cat.

But it was rushing towards her.

Tearing through the black space, a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠white afterimage approached at a frightening speed.

'...Who?'

It was the first time she felt something this blurry.

'Assailant...?'

Instantly, a warning light turned on in her head.

If it's a guy attacking while erasing his presence like this at this dawn, the objective was obvious.

She swung her sword in the state of being sheathed without hesitation.

But.

—Whoosh!

What was transmitted to her fingertips wasn't a heavy impact.

Just the sensation of cutting through the air futilely.

"......?"

Cha Seo-yun paused and withdrew her sword.

She tilted her head.

'Did I feel wrong?'

That couldn't be.

Her senses were more accurate than eyes.

There was definitely something there.

But the moment she cut, the presence scattered and disappeared like a mirage.

'Did my senses become weird because I couldn't sleep.'

It was the moment she was about to turn her body, dismissing it as poor condition.

A strange scent brushing her nose.

It was a very sweet and fresh scent.

"...Orange?"

She stopped and turned her head towards the empty air where she swung her sword.

In the darkness where nothing was visible.

Only the vivid orange scent was hovering around her.