Chapter 9

-Anyone seen the Goblin Nest time attack?

-Yeah, but a five-minute clear? How does that make sense?

-Can't believe Kerga's record got broken... Did they exploit a bug?

-The ten great clans are going crazy trying to find them right now.

-Of course they are. They took first place solo, not even in a party.

The community was abuzz over the unexpected development. Even if it was only a beginner-area record, someone had beaten Kerga, reputed to be the strongest player in [Evil Tale].

It was truly unprecedented.

"What do you think?"

"What's there to think about? We need to find out who this person is. Right now."

"Whatever it takes..."

The leaders of the ten great clans gave their subordinates the same order.

"Bring them to me."

The beginner area was merely a stepping stone to pass through. But now, the eyes of [Evil Tale]'s top players were all converging on it.

* * *

Regardless of the commotion, Woojin was still inside the Goblin Nest.

'I'm sure it was this way.'

An ordinary player would have had no further business here after killing the Goblin Lord, but he was different.

THUNK. THUNK. THUNK.

He walked slowly along the boss room's wall, tapping it with his sword as if testing it.

'No hollow sound.'

That meant there was no space behind the wall.

*'The dark mage's quarters were definitely right beside this boss room...'

"Hmm."

Woojin, who had secretly hoped to find a hidden spot, let out a low, disappointed sigh.

'House Muren, he said.'

Before leaving town, Woojin had searched the community for information on House Muren.

▶ A count's family in the [Kingdom of Bolton], one of the five great kingdoms of the central continent.

'I know he was trying to escape the kingdom's pursuit... but this beginner area is far too distant from the central continent.'

Coming all this way merely to hide carried too much risk.

'There must be... another reason.'

That was what Woojin had thought when he discovered the dark mage's hidden spot in the other world.

He had hoped to find that reason in the concealed space beside the boss room. But he could find no evidence of it.

'The things inside the nest were too unusual for it to be a simple hideout.'

Research materials and all manner of tools. Rather than signs of someone living in hiding, they were traces of someone who had stayed for many years.

'That dark mage must have been so powerful even the kingdom couldn't touch him.'

It was entirely possible. According to Raoul, he had been powerful enough to command a bone dragon.

"There has to be something here..."

Still surveying the boss room, Woojin clicked his tongue in disappointment and sighed.

"... Huh?"

Just then, he spotted a gap that looked out of place.

"What's this?"

There was a hole recessed into the wall, large enough to hold a fist. It couldn't have been a mark left by the Goblin Lord in battle; the monster had died without getting a single attack off. Yet it looked too unnatural to have formed on its own.

Almost as if...

Someone had made it to hide something inside the wall.

"Could it be...?"

A theory flashed through Woojin's mind.

'What if he didn't come here because there was a hidden spot... but created the hidden spot after coming here?'

That opened up all sorts of possibilities.

'Then there wouldn't have to be an empty space here yet, but there would still be a reason he had to come.'

"And what if... this was that reason?"

SCRITCH.

He scraped the wall with his fingers. Unlike the surrounding surface, the inside of the hole crumbled easily, spilling powder. But the opening wasn't wide enough for him to put his hand inside.

CLANG!

Woojin thrust his sword into the gap with all his strength. But the wall was solid.

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

He swung his sword again and again, but failed to leave so much as a scratch on the wall.

"... This isn't going to work."

His sword hand was tingling, yet the wall remained unchanged.

'What should I do?'

He wanted to know. What lay behind this wall that had brought the dark mage all the way from the central continent?

'But a way to break the wall...'

He gulped. Just then, his gaze wavered.

... There was one.

He took the mana stone he had just obtained from inside his clothes.

▶ Please handle with care.

▶ The swollen magical power can cause a violent explosion under even slight physical force.

"If I use this..."

He might be able to break the wall. Yet this was clearly an incredible item, one that could fetch any price he named...

Woojin squeezed his eyes shut, wrestling with the decision.

"I can always earn more money, and there are plenty of magical monsters stronger than the Goblin Lord."

But he couldn't leave with this unanswered question nagging at him.

"To gain something, you have to put something on the line."

Murmuring Raoul's words, Woojin pushed the mana stone into the gap in the wall.

"Hup...!"

After investing all his remaining points in Vitality, he let out a low breath and thrust his sword at the mana stone with all his strength.

BOOOOOM!

A deafening explosion erupted, and the seemingly solid wall came crashing down.

"... Nearly fucking died."

Flung back by the blast, Woojin muttered as he brushed the dust covering his body away. It had been a crude method, but he had no choice. He wasn't an archer or a rogue; he couldn't trust himself to hit the mana stone lodged in the gap from a distance.

He gulped down a potion and looked ahead. The billowing cloud of dust slowly began to settle.

'Let's see...'

Would it be a winner or a dud?

[Adventurer Khan has discovered a hidden chest in the Goblin Nest.]

Woojin examined the small chest nestled in the rubble. An indecipherable pattern adorned its lid.

Strangely enough, he recognized it. More precisely, he had seen it before.

'It's the pattern engraved on the book I saw in the dark mage's quarters.'

He hadn't been able to read the writing then, so he hadn't known what kind of book it was...

CLICK.

Woojin opened the old chest's lid.

[You have discovered a relic inside the hidden chest.]

[Ancient Tome - Soul Imprinting]

"That's right."

Unlike the other world, this was a game. Seeing the book's title, which he could now read without difficulty, Woojin gave a satisfied cry of triumph.

Name: Soul Imprinting

Grade: Legendary

His delight was short-lived. The moment he saw the book's description, he was overwhelmed with shock.

"... L-Legendary-grade?"

Woojin stared blankly at the old book in his hands.

This wasn't just a win. It was the jackpot.

Description: Allows you to form a contract with the soul of an ancient divine beast.

▶ Requires the soul of an ancient divine beast with which to form a contract.

▶ You can inherit the contracted divine beast's Traits and use them permanently.

▶ An essence cannot be changed once imprinted.

▶ As the stature of the user's soul rises, the number of divine beasts they can contract with increases.

▶ Current number of essences available for imprinting (0/1)

'An ancient divine beast...? What's that?'

He had never heard of one before.

'Could the reason that dark mage could command a bone dragon... have been the power of an ancient divine beast?'

There was an absolute difference between hunting something and dominating it. When hunting, the weak could defeat the strong by exploiting the tiniest opening. But domination required constantly overpowering the other party.

'Undead or not, a dragon is still a dragon.'

Only a being of a higher order than a dragon could dominate one.

'That would mean transcending the bounds of humanity.'

Woojin swallowed hard.

A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity had come his way. He absolutely couldn't let it slip away.

But...

"I won't be able to use it just yet."

His tension soon eased, and Woojin tilted his head slightly as he read the ancient tome's description.

'I don't know what an ancient divine beast is, but it can't be anything ordinary... and I have no idea where to get one.'

▶ You possess a divine beast's soul that can be used for a contract.

▶ Souls possessed: 1

"... What?"

As the contents of the pop-up changed, Woojin himself stared at it in bewilderment.

▶ Would you like to learn Soul Imprinting?

"What are you talking about? Since when do I have a soul...?"

He wondered if it meant [Raoul's Essence], but Raoul had been human, not a divine beast.

What on earth was going on?

'I don't have anything else...'

It was strange.

"...!!"

It happened then.

"Ur... Urp?!"

Feeling something rise from his stomach, Woojin instinctively clamped a hand over his mouth.

"Bleeergh...!!"

But he couldn't hold back the rising vomit. In the end, he braced himself against the collapsed wall, sank to the ground, and began throwing up.

"Urgh...! Bleeergh...!!"

When he had emptied himself until his whole body felt drained, Woojin stared blankly at "it."

"Wh-What... is this?"

A pure-white sphere floated amid the vomit.

A memory flashed through his mind. This was unmistakably the cluster of light that had entered his body at the moment he returned from the other world to the game.

[Sarbandin's soul has been identified.]

'... Sarbandin?'

An unfamiliar name.

All he knew for certain was that this soul had crossed over from the other world with him.

▶ A contract with Sarbandin's soul is now proceeding.

▶ The divine beast's soul is being imprinted upon your soul.

"W-Wait!!"

Before Woojin could find answers to his questions, the cluster of light proceeded of its own accord, just as it had entered his body without permission that day.

▶ You have learned Soul Imprinting.

EEEEEE.

Just as in the other world, a piercing, high-pitched tone stabbed through his head. His vision rippled. His mind went blank, and everything before his eyes turned gray.

"Ghh!!!"

It hurt.

It felt as though someone had pulled out his brain and stabbed it with an awl dozens, hundreds of times. The pain spread from his head throughout his body, as if something were trying to seize it.

"... GRAAAAGH!!"

Woojin screamed.

Why?

He was supposed to be inside a game...

Yet the pain was unbearable.

GRIND!

Woojin clenched his teeth with all his strength, fighting to remain conscious.

'There's only one explanation.'

Both Raoul's swordsmanship and this soul belonged to the other world.

"Grrkh... Grrrkh..."

The pain grew steadily more intense. He instinctively knew that the damned soul imprinted in his mind was trying to take him over.

Was this the price of tampering with dangerous power, just as Raoul had when he ate the Dragon Heart?