Chapter 104
Chapter 104
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 104
Chapter Title: Voices from the Inner World
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Even in the pitch-black darkness that suddenly engulfed his vision, the pain Jeon felt didn't change.
No, it grew even worse.
On top of the horrific burning agony that felt like his entire body was being set ablaze...
Crack, crunch, craaaack!
The excruciating pain of his bones shattering throughout his body was added to it.
The amazing thing was that his mind hadn't snapped yet and was holding on.
'What... the hell... is this...!'
But because of that, Jeon had to endure all that torment without losing consciousness amid the terrible suffering.
And after some time had passed.
The pain that seemed endless gradually subsided as the darkness in his vision lifted slowly.
"Huff... huff... huff..."
What came into view for Jeon as his sight returned was a pure white space.
He had clearly been in the outskirts of the village where fierce combat was raging.
Yet upon opening his eyes, he found himself in a place like this, meaning this was an entirely different world.
"Are you feeling better now?"
Someone suddenly poked their head into Jeon's view as he lay on the ground.
"Uh... who are you?"
Jeon pushed himself up from the floor and looked at him while eyeing his suspicious form, which emitted a purple glow all over.
His overall silhouette resembled that of an ordinary person, but his facial features were so blurry that no distinct impression came through, and his entire body was filled with purple light, making it clear to anyone that he wasn't a normal human.
However, that didn't make him seem outright strange or awkward.
Rather, he gave off a sense of familiarity, like something Jeon had seen before.
"I didn't expect to appear like this to you, but it's nice to meet you."
"Ah... yeah, nice to meet you too."
Seeing him casually extend his hand, Jeon grabbed it in response.
A faint smile seemed to grace his hazy face.
"So... what should I call you?"
"Huh? Me?"
The handshake had gone well, but proper introductions hadn't been made.
When Jeon asked his name, he paused in thought for a moment.
"I've never really thought about what to be called, so I don't know. The previous guy just called me 'Mystery' or something."
"The previous guy..."
"You know him too, right? That short dude."
At his words, Walter's face naturally came to mind in Jeon's head.
'And he even remembers Walter... So he really has a strong sense of will.'
Even back when he had seen the purple energy in his inner world—not in this human form—Jeon had vaguely sensed that these entities had some will or intent.
But he'd thought it was just likes and dislikes at most. He hadn't expected them to speak so clearly or even remember Walter.
"You seem pretty surprised."
"Honestly, it'd be a lie to say I'm not."
"Yeah, yeah, that's understandable."
The purple humanoid nodded, still smiling at Jeon's reaction.
"But we couldn't help it. We can't reveal ourselves until you reach a certain level."
He shrugged as if to say there was no choice.
But Jeon caught something odd in his words.
"'We'?"
"Oh, right, I haven't introduced us yet."
At Jeon's question about the plural, the purple humanoid clapped his hands once and looked up at the white space above.
A golden figure was slowly descending from there.
"Hello?"
"Uh... hello?"
Jeon returned the bright greeting as their eyes met.
The golden humanoid soon landed gracefully beside the purple one.
"Nice to meet you."
"Yeah, nice to meet you."
Unlike the purple humanoid, who had the silhouette of an adult male, the golden one had a female form, inevitably reminding him of Anne.
"Hehe, thinking of Anne, are you?"
As if she'd known it would happen, the golden humanoid gave Jeon a playful smile.
"Couldn't be helped. It's easier for us to manifest in forms we're familiar with from what we know."
That made sense.
Until they came to Jeon, all they knew were Walter and Anne.
So if they were taking human shapes, Walter and Anne's forms would be the most comfortable and familiar to embody.
'Fair enough.'
Jeon nodded in understanding at their explanation, while quickly scanning the surroundings just in case.
"By the way... are there any other beings besides you two?"
"Besides us? Oh, you mean the one that was originally inside you?"
The purple humanoid reacted first to Jeon's words.
Jeon quickly asked at his response.
"You know about it?"
"Well, sort of?"
But his follow-up reaction felt somehow off.
The golden humanoid nearby chimed in, voicing that sentiment.
"That one can't come out yet. It's different from us."
"Different?"
"Hmm... It's hard to explain right now. But you'll find out eventually."
Unlike these two, the entity that had been in Jeon from the start—the 'Korean Patch'—apparently couldn't reveal itself yet.
'Whether it doesn't want to or can't, I don't know...'
Either way, facing it now was impossible.
So Jeon set aside his curiosity about the Korean Patch for now and focused on the two before him.
"So... Purple and Gold? What should I call you?"
"Call us whatever's convenient."
"Doesn't matter to me."
When Jeon hesitated without settled names, they both said it didn't matter.
'Can't just go with Purple Kid or Goldie...'
Like when he'd first named Silver, Jeon wasn't great at this.
He decided to go with temporary names and refine them later.
"For now, Purple and Gold it is."
"Whatever works."
"Then... where is this place? And why'd you guys show up all of a sudden?"
With makeshift names settled, it was time for the main topic.
Purple nodded as if it were a good question.
"This is your inner world, a deeper layer than what you've seen before."
"Deeper layer?"
"Yeah, you could reach here thanks to that spirit medicine you consumed this time."
"That's why we could take more concrete forms too."
In other words, eating the Hyun-eun-sam had allowed him to access this inner depth.
"One spirit medicine made that possible?"
"Well... your state was so imbalanced to begin with?"
He hadn't known exactly what balancing mind and body meant, but he'd expected only physical growth in his relatively weaker body.
He hadn't anticipated mental growth as well.
"A healthy body hosts a healthy mind... something like that, right?"
"Exactly. Good things are good. We were actually surprised by the spirit medicine's energy too."
Still, as Purple and Gold said, it was undeniably a good thing.
Another massive growth from a single spirit medicine.
Jeon decided to skip nitpicking the how and move on.
"So you two brought me here?"
"Yeah. Well, technically I did."
Purple raised his hand at Jeon's question.
"Growth is great, but the pain you were feeling looked too intense. Since we're inside you, you wouldn't go into shock or pass out... but easing the pain a bit is better, right?"
"Ah, so the spirit medicine's energy isn't fully absorbed yet?"
"Nope. The moment you return to your normal state from here, you'll probably feel it all again."
In short, Purple had used his power to let Jeon forget the immense pain temporarily.
And since Jeon knew better than anyone how horrific that pain was, a surge of deep gratitude toward Purple welled up.
"And that's not all. I wanted to explain something to you."
"Explain?"
"Like... a user manual, sort of?"
User manual?
As Jeon expressed confusion, Purple approached and placed his hand on Jeon's head.
"By the time the changes in your body finish, it should all be done."
"Huh? What does that..."
"It'll include stuff about me too, so take a good look."
While Jeon struggled to grasp the situation, Gold waved at him with a smile.
And soon, Jeon's vision shifted dramatically once more.
"You're persistent."
Drip, drip.
Blood trickled from her mouth and nose to the ground.
But without time to wipe it, Mirna glared at Kan blocking her path.
"That's my line. Risking your life for one boy?"
Kan looked at Mirna with an expression of exasperation.
The gap in ability between Kan and Mirna was clear.
With Kan fully committed to blocking her, it was nearly impossible for Mirna to break through to Jeon, but she was exerting every ounce of strength to protect him, even at the cost of her life.
"Don't push yourself so hard. The end is already set anyway."
Saying that, Kan glanced toward where Jeon had collapsed.
The cabal that attacked him was already down, but black soldiers kept multiplying around him.
A foxkin girl, a foxkin knight, and a silver fox were guarding Jeon, but it was only a matter of time.
'In the end, I always win when it comes down to it.'
Kan had pride in his abilities.
Even if he was slightly disadvantaged in pure strength against other apostles, no one surpassed him in large-scale battles.
"You'll all get swept away by the waves of my army and vanish."
His endless regenerating horde of hundreds was a disaster as long as he existed.
He leisurely blocked Mirna's relentless attacks aimed at reaching him and kept glancing at Jeon's position.
The boy had shown uncanny skill, but this was the end.
Cutting off his breath would eliminate all variables.
The two guardians and the silver fox were reaching their limits against the growing onslaught.
Soon, they'd all be swallowed by the wave of black soldiers, boy included.
Twitch.
But just as the end seemed near...
Jeon's collapsed body on the ground twitched once.
In that moment, Kan felt an inexplicable unease.
Blood had pooled around the fallen Jeon.
Yet his body was moving?
"...No way?"
And as Kan voiced his anxiety...
"Phew, thought I was gonna die."
Jeon snapped to awareness and shot up from the ground.
Kan involuntarily grimaced at Jeon rising as if unscathed.
"Jeon! Are you okay!?"
"Have you regained your senses, my lord!?"
Lena and Risar, who had been guarding him, lit up with joy.
-Kyaaang!
Silver added its cry.
"You guys were protecting me."
Jeon instantly understood how he'd survived while unconscious.
"Thanks. Leave the rest to me."
They'd staked their lives to protect him.
Now it was his turn to repay them.
Jeon spat a word at the horde of black soldiers swarming him.
"Stop."
Halt.
The black soldiers around Jeon froze in place all at once.
"...What!?"
Their master, Kan, reacted in disbelief.
"What are you idiots doing? Swarm him now!"
But even as the panicked Kan issued direct orders, the black soldiers ignored him and remained rooted.
"Wh-what the...?"
As Kan faltered in this unprecedented situation...
Jeon, who had paused the soldiers, turned his gaze to Kan.
"Now, the real fight begins."
Different lights flowed from each of Jeon's eyes.
Purple shimmered in his right eye, gold in his left.