The voice Seol heard from the darkness was definitely a woman’s.
“You know who I am?”
“Aren’t you Chao, a shadow summoner from Kongory?””
“It seems like you’ve investigated quite a bit about me. But even though I might have stayed in Kongory for a while, I’m not originally from there. Still, it’s nice to meet you. What’s your name?”
“Snowman.”
“I’ve never heard of you before, that’s a bit unfair. Even though you know my name, I haven’t even heard of yours.”
Step. Step.
Chao slowly stepped out of the darkness.
Fwoosh!
And instantly, she disappeared before reappearing right in front of Seol. It was at incredible speed.Chao let out a punch, aimed at Seol.
Grab!
Even so, Karen was able to stop it with her hand.
Karen laughed, “Your jokes are a bit much, lady.”
“Oho! You have a good shadow.”
Release.
Chao slowly pulled back her fist. Karen also let her go without any trouble.
‘She found out that Karen was a shadow.’
Even though fooling ordinary people was easy, fooling an experienced shadow summoner like Chao was too much.
Seol questioned why Chao acted that way.
“Why did you do that?”
“Just cause. I did it because I was curious,” said Chao while spinning around.
“Still, it’s such a strange world. Even though I, the homeowner, come in here through the windows, an uninvited guest like you is boldly walking through the front door.”
Chao mentioned how Karen broke down her door.
“Why don’t you just go through the door too?”
“Because I lost the keys.”
“What?”
“Based on your reactions, I shouldn’t make jokes. It’s because people are chasing after me. I already have a habit of not leaving behind any traces, so… it’s just something like that.”
Seol calmly told her why he was looking for her.
“People believed that you went missing.”
“Ah, are you from the Prophets of the Dark? No wonder… It makes sense why you’d know me then. Don’t tell me, are you from Kongory?”
“Not anymore, but yes.”
“Then it must have been the nerds there who sent you. They’re so kind, really… but, what should we do?”
Chao’s eyes flashed in the dark.
“I don’t plan on going back to Kongory anymore.”
“...Oh no.”
“Yeah, you came all the way here for nothing. Congratulations!”
Despite Chao’s mocking congratulations, Seol coldly responded.
“It’s fine. All I had to do was deliver a message anyway.”
“You… This wasn’t the only reason you came to find me was it?”
“It was just something I could do while I was on the way.”
“What do you want?”
Chao was now on guard at Seol.
It was an obvious response since Chao first saw Seol as a skilled but naive summoner and now, he revealed his hidden intent.
“Don’t be so on guard. I don’t have ill intent.”
“...What is it then?”
“I’m stuck on the Wall of Awakening. I need your help overcoming it.”
“Ah! It was just that?”
Wall of Awakening.
Once a player reaches level 10 and goes to the class training center in their city, they receive this option.
- [Required: Shadow Summoner, Wall of Awakening] I heard that there was a Shadow Summoner here.
Something like that.
Seol began his search for Chao the moment that text was no longer grayed out.
If a player’s growth is blocked by the Wall of Awakening, they are no longer able to grow their skills. And during that time, even if you go to the class training center to enhance a skill, the skill won’t get any stronger.
‘Because I’m blocked by the Wall of Awakening, my growth is blocked too.’
Through his last Adventure, Seol just reached level 11. Even if he wanted to enhance his skills at the class training center, he was unable to.
If Seol went to the class training center right now, the skill tree wouldn’t appear.
And so, these experienced experts were there to help the player grow.
And the ‘experienced experts’ in this case were the veterans of each class.
For example, someone like Chao who was right in front of Seol.
Also, although they help the player break down the Wall of Awakening, at the same time, they also make troublesome requests.
It was based on the idea of scratching each other’s backs.
And now, it seemed like Chao was thinking of something to request from Seol.
“Hm… What should I do… I don’t have that much time, though. Could you perhaps ask someone else?”
“I would just like you to know that I’ve spent multiple months searching for you.”
“Huh? You’ve been searching for me for that long?”
Seol then told Chao about everything that has happened to him since Seol first came to the manor, with the exception of a few details and embellishing a few other details.
Chao quietly listened before laughing, “What? You really went all there? Hahahaha… you really are something, huh?”
“Why did you steal the False Death-Inducing Device?”
“I took it, I didn’t steal it.”
“Regardless.”
“I have a use for it. In my research.”
“Your research?”
“Hm… Now that I think about it, that shadow… was it that corpse?”
Seol shrugged.
Since it was pointless to hide it, Seol simply shrugged to imply that she had the right idea.
“Oho… No wonder, I thought she was strong…”
“Chao, could you please give me an answer now?”
“Hold on, you have to give me time to think too, you know? Why are you in such a rush when it’s my precious time that’s being used?”
Click… Click…
Chao bit her fingernails and murmured to herself.
“Then maybe that might be possible too? No, there could be an issue with the timing if I try that and mess up… even so, maybe it might be worth an attempt…”
“Chao?”
“Alright, I’ve decided.”
“Will you help me?”
“Of course.”
- A deal, after much drama, has been reached.
- Let’s share a beer then! 😰
- She’s just going to help like this?
“But! You’ll have to help me first.”
“What do I need to help with?”
“By any chance, is there something that you have to do?”
“I have to go to the Shade Canyon in about a month.”
“Hm… is that so?”
“Why?”
“If it’s around there… alright, I can leave him to you then.”
Chao pulled out a scroll and a writing utensil. She then started to scribble something.
In a few seconds, she had created a drawing.
The drawing somewhat looked like a person’s face, it also had a colored vial and a few ominous sentences.
“Alright! Take this.”
“What amazing talent.”
“I have talents more shocking than this. Anyway, take this, my arm’s starting to hurt.”
[You have acquired Chao’s Scroll.]
“What’s this?”
“A written order. You said that you’d be going to the Shade Canyon in a month, right?”
“Yeah.”
“When do you think you’ll finish it then?”
“I have no clue.”
“Not even an idea?”
“It might take a month at the longest, half a month at least.”
“Alright, then the timing would be perfect. After you’re done with your business in the canyon, do as it says in the scroll.”
“And after that?”
“Come back to Nobira. Within three months at the latest.”
“Do I just need to come back to the manor?”
“Yeah. Once you come back, tie a white cloth on the pillar near the main door and come back here every midnight.”
“What are you going to do?”
“If there aren’t any issues, I’ll come back within three months. But if I don’t come back, you know that room over there, right?”
Seol recognized that she was talking about her research room.
“Burn that room down.”
“Are you telling me to become an arsonist?”
“Are you going to get caught?”
“I won’t.”
“Then it’s fine.”
“Why do you want me to burn it down, though?”
“If you don’t know why I want to burn that room down, then we just weren’t meant to be. Find another summoner to break down the Wall of Awakening.”
“What the hell is that… Wouldn’t I just be wasting my time?”
Seol could tell that Chao had a considerably reckless personality.
It was to the point that he was starting to think to himself, ‘Do I really need to work so hard for her?’
“Hm, that’s true. Then what about this?”
Glow…
Her energy expanded.
It was clean and sturdy, to the point that Seol was amazed.
Seol then looked at her with wide eyes.
‘She’s strong!’
Seol believed that she was just a somewhat strong summoner from the city, but now, after seeing her, his thoughts have changed.
She had a smirk on her face as she spoke once more.
“I used to be Gregory’s disciple.”
“Gregory!”
Gregory.
Among the countless shadow summoners, he stood alone as the most renowned and accomplished shadow summoner.
He was a demonic man who was commonly mentioned when discussing the strongest people in the world.
‘Chao was Gregory’s disciple?’
Seol blamed himself for not realizing the treasure before him.
“Normally, I would never mention that old man’s name, even if I was going to die, but with the situation being this urgent, I had no choice. Now, can you see the reason why you should only learn from me?”
Seol, with resolved eyes, responded in a clear tone.
“I’ll see you then.”
“You’re an honest guy, aren’t you? Alright!”
[Adventure ‘Sleeping Medicine’ is scheduled.]
* * *
“Why are you so happy?”
“Does it look like that?”
“Yeah. After meeting that short woman, you’ve been smiling from ear to ear.”
“What? There’s no way I’d be like that.”
As Seol tried to look for a mirror in his accommodation, Karen stopped him while laughing.
“It was just a joke~”
“...Still, I’m really not that happy.”
“Not that happy? I guess you’re still happy about that Gregory guy then, right?”
“I won’t deny it.”
“Who is he?”
“Someone renowned. Someone who’s walked much deeper into the path that I’m walking toward.”
“Hm… I want to see him too, then. But does her being his disciple involve you?”
“Probably? I have to pray that it does.”
“What? And here I was, thinking it was guaranteed.”
“There’s a trick to everything.”
“Hah?! And you’re not going to tell me?”
Jamad, who was sleeping in the Shadow Space, shouted out from within it.
“Let’s be a little quiet! How long are you going to be so loud?!”
“Sigh… That’s why people think you’re old. How are you a troll and sleeping this much? The trolls that I met were all hard-working. Really, look at how the world changed now–”
“Aaaaaargh! Please!”
It looked like Karen was enjoying bullying Jamad as she continued to annoy him until she fell asleep.
Even so, Seol couldn’t fall asleep.
It was because his head was filled with complex thoughts.
‘If she’s Gregory’s disciple… she likely has better skills than other shadow summoners.’
Have a good teacher.
It was a phrase said often in Pandea.
Because whether it was skills or talents, teachers often passed on strong skills or improved the skill’s efficiency at the minimum.
Even if two individuals learned the same skills, the person with the better teacher often used skills with a higher efficiency.
‘It might be a gamble but what if she passes on one of Gregory’s ‘exceptional skills’?’
‘Exceptional Skills’ otherwise known as ‘Secret Teachings’.
They were essentially ultimate skills, and if Seol had to compare them to equipment, he would compare them to Peerless quality items with how rare they were.
If Chao was the disciple of a famous summoner like Gregory, it was likely that she learned at least a couple of those exceptional skills from him.
And if those exceptional skills were able to be passed onto him…
‘No, there’s only a low chance of that. I shouldn’t expect anything. I should just be satisfied even if it’s just the efficiency increasing.’
You can never be let down if you never hold expectations.
Still, he couldn’t stop himself from thinking about it.
‘The difficulty of the Adventures related to Chao were all ridiculously high. She definitely wasn’t an ordinary person.’
Seol tossed and turned in bed.
Chao wasn’t the only thing that worried him.
‘The Shade Canyon… it’s been a long time since I heard that name.’
This was just the continued thought of his thoughts in the morning.
The moment his next Adventure was planned to take place in the Shade Canyon, he thought of someone.
‘Kiri, yeah. Was the last one to go there, Kiri?’
The last of Seol’s pieces to visit the Shade Canyon was Kiri.
Kiri, his character, was also a falconer.
And even though Seol had many characters, he didn’t forget any of them.
It was clear that Seol’s initial negative reaction to the Shade Canyon this morning was because of Kiri.
‘Ah, was it because of Kiri?’
It was because Kiri had died there.
There was no other reason than that.
‘It’s fine. Since I already agreed to go there, worrying about it now won’t do anything.’
Since there were many things other than this to worry about, Seol didn’t sleep. Seol’s mind was racing and the night was long.
And the next day.
When morning came, someone woke up Seol who just barely managed to fall asleep at the crack of dawn.
“Master! Wake up!”
“Urgh…”
“I think the building in front of our’s is a bakery. When I opened the windows, it smelled so much like bread! It’s a problem, a huge problem!”
The person who woke him up, by shaking him, was Karen.
With dead eyes, Seol asked her a question back.
“So?”
“If the smell is that strong, then it means that they’re hiding a critical secret!”
“Like what?”
“Like that… it’s tasty or…”
“...Karen, do you have a sense of taste?”
“Didn’t I tell you before? I’m pretty sure I still have my five senses. I can also feel full! Ah, this really is a miracle, huh?”
“It looks like you’re having a lot of fun now.”
“Yeah! It is fun! Hurry up and put on your clothes before I kick your butt! Look, someone's buying bread again! Argh! I called dibs on that one though! Should I kill them?”
“You should hold yourself back. You have such keen eyesight too.”
Seol smiled and started to put on clothes, unable to resist her pestering. As he was putting on his clothes, someone knocked on the door.
Knock, knock.
“Snowman.”
“Who is it?”
“I am a messenger from Kibo.”
Seol and Karen glanced at each other.
But for now, he had to respond.
“Yes, what is it?”
“Kibo is waiting downstairs for you. He wanted to tell you that he wants to talk.”
Seol then looked at Karen.
He shook his head.
“My bread…” Karen said to herself with teary eyes.
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