The Seeker

I had expected as much, but—just like with the trait training ground, none of the damage I'd taken in the Corridor of Dimensions actually carried over. The moment the Iron Blood Monarch's summoning ended, the greatsword jutting from my body had vanished along with him, and my flesh returned to what it was.

"…No more gambling like that from now on."

There had been no guarantee my body would come back at all. It might have worked out only because the Iron Blood Monarch was the last opponent in line. In truth, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠everything up to that point—the stamina I'd burned through, the small wounds I'd gathered along the way—had never been restored.

What even is this place?

The trait training ground was the same. I couldn't tell whether this space physically existed somewhere out there, or whether it was a place that reached into the soul and the mind. No outside time flowed here, and every fatal injury healed in an instant.

Though "healed" isn't the right word. "Erased" is closer.

The sensation of that greatsword splitting my heart was still this vivid, yet there was no scar—not even a trace.

"If I could turn a space like this into my own training ground, it would be perfect."

No dying. No passing time. And whatever you achieved here, you carried out with you intact. What more could anyone ask of a training ground?

"But that's neither here nor there…."

I raised my head and glared at the message hanging in the air.

The Job Change Quest was over. What class I would be granted, though, I wouldn't know until the result arrived.

A new energy I had never seen before had been added.

"Heaven-Defying Qi?"

Working from the name alone: an energy that defies the heavens. Unlike Death Qi, its meaning wasn't so easily parsed.

I asked the Corridor directly.

"What is Heaven-Defying Qi?"

Even the explanation was vague. A rebel's energy that mingled with nothing else. Inside my death-drowned soul, the lone 1% still standing against that power.

I can't say I understand what kind of power it is. But right now, betting on it was all I could do.

Every combat evaluation grade I'd earned so far was stacking up, lifting the class's rank one rung at a time.

The moment my class was displayed, a sinister black-red energy began to swirl around me.

So this was how it ended up, huh.

I answered through a twisted grimace.

"I refuse this class."

"…And if I refuse it anyway?"

A black storm pressed in around me, as if to choke the breath from my throat. Like a serpent savoring its prey. That thick, unhurried energy of death was peering into my soul, licking its lips over what it meant to claim.

I can feel it.

If I accepted this power, I could grow strong on a different order of existence entirely. I could topple Gwonwang in a single stroke. Seong Yong-ho wouldn't matter even if a dozen of him came at me at once. That absurd power was right there—close enough to touch if I only reached out my hand.

The strength I had yearned for more than anything was within reach. And yet.

"I'll say it one more time. I refuse this class."

I had no intention of wrapping my fingers around that power.

I've had my fill of death and destruction.

Walking through the midst ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠of that mountain of deaths. Digging nameless graves with my bare hands, one after another. Watching the people dearest to me go cold and still. Over and over, I had sworn it to myself: never again would I let such a tragedy repeat.

"And now you look at me and tell me to grow strong by feeding on those deaths?"

There was nonsense, and then there was this.

Fine—I'd said I'd get stronger by any means necessary. But that had never meant denying the very root of who I was.

"I am not a death god."

I was just one man who wanted to defy death more fiercely than anyone alive.

"I refuse my class."

The instant the words left me—

Blue light erupted from my hand.

This is—?

The blue key that had settled into my grip at some point. The Key of Liberation.

Light pouring from the key drove out every last wisp of the black energy.

The key drifted weightlessly upward—then plunged straight into my chest. And then, with a click—

"…!"

The key turned, releasing something locked deep inside me.

Kzzt—!

The river of the galaxy split apart, and a spear came streaking through to plant itself before me.

The first thing I did after returning from the Corridor was pull up my status window.

The class slot that had stood empty was finally filled.

"Well, I've changed jobs… but I still don't have a clue what this actually is."

Two class skills had come bundled with the class: Salvation and Resonance.

Salvation raised the souls of the dead as spirit entities; Resonance let me wield those entities' skills with my own hands.

It feels like a necromancer's bag of tricks, but the grain is different. Where their power ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠dragged the dead back by force, Salvation seemed to restrict what a soul had to be before it could become a spirit entity at all.

"A soul that would rise on its own and fight again…."

Salvation, in other words—in the truest sense of the word. It handed a second chance, a chance to stand and fight once more, to those who had fallen far too soon.

Well, I wouldn't know for certain until I used it myself. If this skill turned out to be nothing more than one more way of exploiting death, like every other power of its kind, I would seal it away for good. If not, I would put it to work as usefully as it could be used.

And one more harvest.

I looked down at the beautiful pure-white spear resting in my palm.

"Kuhehehe!"

Honestly, this alone was a staggering windfall. An S-rank weapon—and on top of that, a special effect like that.

The spear itself is upper-tier even among S-ranks. Two things mainly decided an item's grade: the quality of the item itself, and its special effects. Usually an S-rank was only stamped when both were excellent—though an item could also earn it when one side was flawed and the other so overwhelming that it carried the whole thing.

The Bronze Bell is exactly that case. It couldn't be wielded in combat, and even its uses were limited, but hadn't it been rated S-rank on the strength of a single broken effect—completely restores the body?

This spear goes one better still. Its standard was higher than any weapon I'd seen the high-rank hunters carry before my regression. Weight, balance, length—everything about it was, quite simply, flawless.

"And its special effect, 'Immaculate Perfection,' is flat-out broken on top of that."

It held the elemental advantage against every enemy in existence. Meaning it carried not only holy power but every option bound to a specific attribute—things like Blessing of Fire or Blessing of Nature—all at once.

"You're my number-one treasure from this moment on."

Somehow it had known exactly when I needed a new spear. That saved me the trouble of hunting down equipment.

"Now… time to get started on the homework I've been putting off."

This one thing, at least, I had resolved to settle before Ji Yeon-ha finished her research.

I drew the white fragment out of my subspace.

From here on out, I'll be tangled up with the Monarchs in earnest. Before I chased the Advent Church down to the Monarch standing behind it, I needed to pull what information I could about them out of this fragment first. I was all but certain something concerning the Monarch lay inside it.

I had satisfied the conditions long ago.

"Hmm—just in case, maybe I should leave word."

Before entering the fragment, I picked up my phone and sent off a message. I had a feeling time outside would keep flowing on the far side of that fragment, too—but if it didn't, a guild leader going missing for days on end would be catastrophic in any number of ways.

"That should about cover it."

I left the message with someone I trusted: that they needn't come looking for me while I was away, and an apology for the abruptness of it all. With that, I could disappear without worry.

"Entering."

The moment I nodded, the fragment began to swell. Within moments it had grown large enough for a person to walk through.

"Just like a gate."

Then let's get going. To where the Monarch's secret lay buried.

"Great work out there, everyone!"

Shin Min-woo came out of the gate beaming.

"Haaah… can we finally rest now? My mana is completely tapped!"

"I'm heading straight to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the training range. I want to put more arrows downrange."

"A m-monster…!"

Ah Seo-ah scooted well clear of Shin Yeon-hee, whose eyes were shining.

"Phew."

The last to emerge from the gate was a woman. Baek Seo-ha, Sect Master of the Cheongnyong Sword Sect, slid her sword back into its sheath.

That makes four A-rank gates cleared!

It was a record built under the Shinseong Guild's name. Every time they broke through another gate, something deep in her chest tolled like a great bell. Lately, she was living a life she found genuinely satisfying as a hunter.

Growth for my own sake. Because now, at last, she was beginning to understand what Lee Tae-hyun had meant by that.

"What are you going to do now, Noona?"

"Me? Hmm…."

At Shin Min-woo's question, Baek Seo-ha mulled it over for a moment.

Vrrrm—!

Her phone chimed at just that moment.

"!"

The instant she confirmed the sender's name, she had the phone unlocked.

A man who rarely made calls, let alone sent texts—why now, of all times?! Training? A consultation? Sect business? Or… could it be….

Dozens of scenarios replayed through her head all at once. And then she finally read the message.

"T-tae… hyun…?"

Baek Seo-ha's heart sank.