TILN 8

Chapter 8

After the incident with the dungeon, I began to have one fundamental question.

‘…….’

The question itself was simple.

Had my powers really disappeared completely?

‘Something about it doesn’t make sense.’

At the time, I hadn’t thought too deeply about it.

The fact that I had been able to temporarily summon Halloween Night inside the dungeon, and that a single one of them had been able to instantly defeat the Devourer, Revenants, and Skeleton Archers—all of it, I had simply chalked up to my own ability.

It wasn’t an unreasonable conclusion. As a necromancer, my skills had genuinely been extraordinary.

However, now that I thought about it, there was still something suspicious about the whole thing.

‘No matter how talented I was, could a novice necromancer really accomplish all that with just a handful of the life force I had gathered?’

It was a matter of resources, not skill.

If I thought about it rationally, it made more sense to assume that some other factor had been involved.

And from there, I came up with one hypothesis.

“What if my powers didn’t actually disappear?”

What if they had merely been placed in a state where I couldn’t perceive or use them?

‘…….’

Suppose, for example, there were a canvas completely covered in white paint, and that canvas represented my powers. Then imagine someone painted over the entire thing with black paint, making it impossible to see or even recognize what had been there.

I felt that something similar had happened to me.

Of course, it could all be nothing more than speculation. Still, I didn’t think the possibility was nonexistent.

‘In the first place, the idea that that much power could simply disappear without a trace is stranger.’

That was the part I had never been able to accept.

I didn’t know why, but could it really be that simple to completely erase such an enormous amount of power in an instant?

Absolutely not.

If that was the case, then perhaps some sort of trick or loophole had been applied.

Once my thoughts had progressed that far, reaching a conclusion was easy.

‘……It makes sense.’

Wrapped tightly in my blanket, I nodded.

I had come up with the idea almost by accident while feeling depressed over my failed promotion, but it was a hypothesis I could accept well enough.

Once I realized that, what I needed to do was simple.

Roll.

“So what? Nothing changes in the end.”

Even if that were true, it would be meaningless unless I could find a way to remove the layer of paint covering my original powers.

With a gloomy expression, I turned my computer back on.

Click.

Whirrrrr.

‘But…….’

There was one thing I had become certain of.

‘If I ever awaken.’

Then I would probably be able to recognize what was truly hidden beneath that layer of paint.

“Good work today!”

“You’re really amazing. I’ve never cleared a dungeon this smoothly before.”

“Hehe. It was nothing.”

Baek Eunha’s online disciple, Song Hayeon, had recently become quite famous.

Murmur, murmur.

“That’s her.”

“Wow, she cleared it in four hours again?”

“At this rate, she’ll probably be entering B-rank dungeons soon……”

Only three months after receiving her apprentice designation, she had already reached C-rank. There were even widespread rumors that, despite lacking sufficient records, the Association had already provisionally assessed her as B-rank.

On top of that, as a necromancy-type Awakened—something rare in Korea—she attracted even more attention.

[C-Rank Hunter Song Hayeon! Surpasses 50 Dungeon Clears!]

[Terrifying Growth Rate—Something Is Clearly Different.]

[An Analysis Comparing Song Hayeon to Current S-Rank Hunters During Their Low-Rank Days!]

Some impatient experts had already gone so far as to declare that she would eventually surpass A-rank and reach S-rank.

‘Even so, I think that’s an exaggeration…….’

Song Hayeon herself was honestly bewildered by all the attention.

It was difficult for her to believe that she really possessed the genius or talent that people talked about.

‘It’s all thanks to him.’

The teachings of Hell Lord12 had been truly astonishing.

Now that some time had passed since she had first asked him to teach her, she could vaguely understand just how high his level was.

‘He must have an absolutely absurd level of skill.’

The more she learned about necromancy, the more certain she became that he was an existence beyond her imagination.

To be honest, Song Hayeon was now convinced that she knew the identity of Hell Lord12.

“S-Rank Hunter. Helena.”

She was sometimes called Hel, after the goddess of the underworld in Norse mythology.

That woman was probably Hell Lord12.

‘Someone with this level of necromancy skills has to be her.’

That was why Song Hayeon couldn’t help but be genuinely flustered.

Ba-dum-dum-dum!

[Helena has donated 80,000,000 won!]

“Wow! Thank you so mu—huh?”

It happened during a broadcast she was doing the following day while taking a break.

Someone who appeared to be Helena herself suddenly showed up.

“Uh, huh? Wait, how much is this……? No, more importantly, are you really that person?”

At first, it was difficult to believe.

But while she was agonizing over it, the viewers finished checking and informed her that the person really was Helena herself.

And Helena spoke to the thoroughly bewildered Song Hayeon.

—I’m interested in you.

“What?”

—I’m planning to visit Korea next week. Would you be willing to meet me?

Just like that, a massive bombshell was about to explode.

“A party?”

“Yes. It’ll probably be a little different from what you’re imagining, but it wouldn’t be wrong to call it that, would it?”

Apparently, an event attended by influential figures from various countries was going to be held in Korea.

“You’re going too?”

“I didn’t really want to leave the house at a time like this, but they insisted that I absolutely had to come……”

“…….”

It seemed another trial was about to come my way.

It was the middle of summer, so I already had to take out the food waste frequently. The thought of what lay ahead was enough to make my future look bleak.

Perhaps she noticed my dark expression, because Seoha hurriedly thought about something before speaking.

“Ah, or…… do you want to come with me, Oppa?”

“……Me?”

Absolutely impossible.

If I went somewhere with that many people, I would surely be unable to withstand the pressure and my mind would break down.

“You can just rest at the hotel, so wouldn’t that be okay?”

“The hotel……”

When I thought about it that way, it didn’t sound so bad.

A leisurely life spent enjoying the air conditioning at a luxury hotel.

As long as I had a computer and smartphone, it sounded more comfortable than I could imagine.

“……Should I go?”

“Yes! I’ll take care of you, so let’s go together.”

Seoha answered with a brightened expression, as though she hadn’t expected me to accept.

And so, after quite a long time, I headed outside.

With Seha dragging me along by the hand.

Murmur, murmur.

“Why are we suddenly coming somewhere like this…….”

“Even if you’re not participating in the event, you can’t exactly dress like a jobless shut-in, can you?”

Thankfully, it wasn’t a department store.

I had sensed what was coming and resisted with all my strength.

But even an ordinary clothing store in a busy downtown area naturally had plenty of people.

With no choice, I buried my face against Seha’s shoulder as we walked.

Surely the fact that she seemed to be in such a good mood was just my imagination, right?

“We won’t stay unnecessarily long, so let’s just buy what we need and leave. That should be okay, right?”

“……I’m not wearing anything too revealing.”

Without even lifting my head, I picked out clothes, ignored the salesperson’s explanations with one ear, and mindlessly tried on whatever clothes Seha handed me.

And just like that, the shopping was over in less than forty minutes.

Feeling a little guilty because I wondered if I had been too unresponsive, I looked at Seha.

But apparently, this was enough to satisfy her.

“Ah, I see the car over there.”

Seha said she had something to take care of for a moment, so I went into the car and waited for her.

No matter how I looked at it, she was still excessively protective of me.

Feeling slightly dissatisfied, I turned on my smartphone.

Ding.

[JP: Look at this. Doesn’t it look delicious?]

Right then, a notification popped up on my messenger.

In truth, the only people whose contact information I had were Seha and a few people from the hospital.

But I did have an online friend.

When I clicked on the message, I saw an extremely luxurious-looking parfait.

It was the sort of thing friends commonly did—showing off the food they were eating.

Tap. Tap-tap.

As I typed out a half-hearted reply, my eyes happened to catch sight of an ice cream shop nearby.

‘…….’

I suppose I was craving something sweet.

After thinking about it for a moment, I opened the car door, pulled my cap down tightly, and headed toward the ice cream shop.

I was planning to buy one for myself and another for Seha, who had been working so hard.

‘That much is something I can manage without any trouble.’

It was something I had brought upon myself, but my little sister worried far too much.

I walked over confidently and placed my order without any trouble.

“P-pistachio and, um…… one strawberry, please.”

“Oh, yes! Your order is in.”

The fact that the employee taking my order seemed to suppress a laugh was also surely just my imagination.

With all my energy drained, I walked back toward the car.

Then, because my vision was obstructed by my cap, I lightly bumped into a passerby.

“Ugh.”

It wasn’t a hard impact, but as I tried to regain my balance, I accidentally dropped the ice cream I was holding in my right hand.

My pistachio!

At that exact moment, a pale, delicate hand shot out, catching the ice cream while simultaneously supporting me.

“Are you all right?”

When I remained silent at the sudden foreign language, the woman changed languages and spoke to me again.

“You looked rather unusual, so I couldn’t help wondering. Are you Korean?”

“……Yes.”

Our eyes met.

She was a woman with bluish-green hair and eyes of a similar color, possessing an appearance that was youthful yet sophisticated and beautiful.

The instant I looked at her, I instinctively realized something.

This woman was dangerous.

‘She’s different.’

As I had said before, I couldn’t sense dead energy or anything else anymore.

However, there were some things I could recognize at a glance simply by looking.

This was one of them.

From the woman standing before me, I could sense the lingering traces of lost souls.

And they were incredibly strong.