It was utter carnage.
Amid the half-destroyed site stood Blue with a gleeful expression and the ashen-faced Namgung Jincheon.
“What a mess.”
[Entering the Netherworld.]
Gradually, the boundary blurred, and yet a distinct line was drawn.
Once safety was assured, Shin Hyeok collapsed onto the floor.
“I’m exhausted.”
He soon lay flat on the ground.
As he lay there, Baek Arin came running up.
“Sir!”
Arin attended to the pale-faced Namgung Jincheon first.
The last dregs of her holy power surged forth.
[Runaway status.]
The system helpfully displayed Namgung Jincheon’s condition.
“This is bad.”
Baek Arin sighed, looking at Shin Hyeok.
“Mister. We’re in big trouble.”
“I think I know. His internal energy won’t settle down?”
He nodded.
“For now, haah….”
Shin Hyeok couldn’t string his thoughts together.
The frustration of failing to capture Paimon.
The guilt of not even being a speck of dust to that demon.
As a result, his mind went numb.
“Mister! Get a hold of yourself!”
At Arin’s booming cry, life returned to Shin Hyeok’s eyes.
“For now, just hang on with potions. I’ll figure out a solution.”
“Got it.”
Arin retrieved a mana potion from her inventory and carefully administered it to Namgung Jincheon.
“Kuhk!”
Before long, Namgung Jincheon convulsed, rejecting even the potion.
Shin Hyeok let out a sigh.
“This is serious. Don’t give him any more potions either.”
Shin Hyeok stood up to address Namgung Jincheon’s issue.
Blue strode up to him.
“Oh my.”
Exaggeration aside, Blue was as massive as a castle wall.
“Our Blue.”
The fur was so fluffy.
“You’re not squishy anymore.”
“Still squishy.”
Shin Hyeok flinched.
He flinched at the unfamiliar voice emanating from Blue.
Shin Hyeok looked up at Blue.
“You can talk?”
“I speak.”
“Aha.”
Blue lowered its head, offering it to Shin Hyeok.
Shin Hyeok ran his hand down his face.
“Blue. Thank you.”
“Don’t abandon me again.”
“…….”
Shin Hyeok was momentarily speechless at the loneliness radiating from Blue.
“Yeah. I won’t forget you again.”
As he stroked its forehead, he noticed something familiar on Blue.
‘What’s that?’
It was a core.
A fragment of the core that had originated from Shin Hyeok.
“It’s big?”
Yet it was enormous.
Even larger than the one in Shin Hyeok’s heart.
“Grrr.”
Blue didn’t pay any mind to what Shin Hyeok was saying.
Shin Hyeok kept his hand moving.
“Let’s clean up first.”
He rummaged through his inventory, taking out the Devouring Potato first.
“Go.”
He tossed it, and it immediately began devouring the corpses.
Startled, Blue quietly backed away.
“Blue, don’t come close.”
“Grr.”
After calming Blue, he went to retrieve Paimon’s core fragment from amidst the Black Orc’s remains.
[Paimon’s Core Fragment.]
He glared at it, swiping away the system message window.
‘Runes? What are these?’
[It is theorized to be the demon race’s unique magic system, composed of runes and an exclusive linguistic structure.]
[Relevant materials regarding the origin of magic, ancient magic, the fundamentals of magic theory, mana theory, etc., are required.]
“Haah.”
Shin Hyeok sighed at the demand from the system—no, the Akashic Pocket.
“Later. Let’s save the person first.”
Behind him, the potato, stretching for the first time in a while, was rampaging like mad.
“Akashic. Find me some herbs or elixirs that could help with a rampage.”
[Reviewing accumulated data.]
[Estimated time until search completion: 3 hours, 24 minutes, 15 seconds.]
“That takes a while.”
Leaving the furiously spinning Akashic Pocket, Shin Hyeok looked at the core fragment taken from the Black Orc.
‘The level is different.’
It was infuriating, but he had to admit it.
The level was on another dimension entirely.
“How annoying.”
The Paimon’s core fragment in his hand was almost beautiful.
“Haah, what a load of crap.”
Curses rose to his throat unbidden.
Shin Hyeok stuffed it into his pocket.
“Akashic. How long until the results come out?”
[Searching ……… Searching.]
It would still take quite some time.
Shin Hyeok looked at the collapsed Namgung Jincheon and let out a deep sigh.
“I’m going crazy.”
Jegal Seyun appeared out of nowhere and examined Namgung Jincheon, but he too had no viable solution.
“Sir Jegal Seyun. By any chance….”
Shin Hyeok asked on the off chance, but Jegal Seyun wore a troubled expression.
“There is no method. Even bringing a physician would be meaningless, for this concerns Brother Namgung’s martial arts and his personal issue.”
“His martial arts?”
Jegal Seyun shrugged.
“Brother Namgung was quite renowned.”
“Hmm?”
He wore a pitiable expression.
“A scion of the Namgung who could not learn the Namgung martial arts.”
“…….”
“Brother’s constitution is fundamentally incompatible with the Namgung martial arts. I had thought he had abandoned the path of the martial artist.”
Shin Hyeok realized the situation had forced his hand.
“He must have known it would end up like this someday. That may be why he followed you so willingly.”
“…….”
Upon hearing the wretched tale, Shin Hyeok felt not resignation, but determination.
“Even so, I can’t just let him die.”
“I know, but young hero, this is his constitution, which cannot be helped.”
“Then I’ll just make him a new constitution.”
Shin Hyeok looked at the core fragment extracted from the Orc.
‘Let’s remodel him.’
“There’s bound to be a way. Probably.”
Jegal Seyun looked puzzled as Shin Hyeok stared at Paimon’s core fragment.
“What are you planning to do?”
“For now, please look after Namgung Jincheon.”
Jegal Seyun asked, seeing him head outside.
“Where are you going?!”
“To pick up the broken golem. I still have a little time.”
[Searching…….]
Having stepped outside the Netherworld, Shin Hyeok trudged through rotting undead corpses.
“It’d be nice if I could change his body itself like that guy did.”
The problem was that it required extensive knowledge of martial arts and martial artists.
Of course, not from Shin Hyeok, but from the Akashic Pocket.
“It would, right?”
Holding onto a sliver of hope, he went to find the broken Opsiere.
After wandering for some time, he spotted a lone eyeball discarded in the distance.
“What are you doing here?”
He squatted, poking it with his finger, but there was no response.
“Sigh.”
He picked it up and stowed it safely in his inventory.
As Shin Hyeok turned to leave, he spotted a light on the ground.
“Hmm?”
He approached and nudged it with his foot, causing sand to trickle down.
*Hum.*
A red light blinked.
Shin Hyeok guessed what it was from its shape.
“A spaceship?”
From its exterior, it certainly looked like one.
“There’s all sorts of things here. I’ll have to take a look later.”
To calm his complicated emotions and clear his head, he deliberately walked further away.
“Our position is exposed. They’ll come again soon.”
Though the immediate crisis was over, he knew another would arrive before long.
“Come if you dare. I’ll wipe the floor with them again.”
With that thought, he steeled his resolve.
Slowly making his way back to Noddrasil, he brooded over Namgung Jincheon.
‘What if even the Akashic Pocket doesn’t know.’
Such an irreverent thought crossed his mind.
And that thought proved correct.
Upon returning to Fergana, the Akashic Pocket announced its findings.
[No search results found.]
[Insufficient data for inference; unable to provide an appropriate answer.]
“…….”
He had waited over three hours.
And this was the result of that wait.
“Excuse me? Mr. Akashic? I waited three hours for ‘no results’?”
[Insufficient data.]
[It cannot be helped.]
Even the system supporting the Akashic Pocket was helpless.
“Haah. Fine, I get it.”
The system message window vanished quickly.
‘What do I do now.’
Every path was blocked.
For now, Shin Hyeok headed to the castle to check on Namgung Jincheon.
A room inside the castle.
There lay Namgung Jincheon, his face deathly pale.
He couldn’t bring himself to enter, watching from a distance.
“…….”
Somehow, it felt like the man was lying there because of him.
‘Damn it.’
*Tap, tap.*
Someone tapped his shoulder.
“Huh?”
He turned to find Baek Arin.
She stood by Shin Hyeok’s side, gazing at Namgung Jincheon.
“I tried treating him with holy power, but it didn’t do much.”
“Why?”
“That mister’s internal energy is like lightning inside him. It’s moving on its own, burning through his brain, spinal cord, acupoints, and heart.”
“…….”
*Crackle.*
Even lying still, sparks flickered across his body.
“I don’t think he has long. I can’t cover this with my abilities. I think we’ll need to mass-produce different potions or something.”
“…….”
Shin Hyeok leaned his head against the wall, thinking about their surroundings.
“There aren’t any mana herbs here, right?”
“No.”
‘I didn’t see any mana herbs outside, either.’
[Shall I search for a substitute for mana herbs?]
The system intervened once more.
[Known substitutes for mana herbs are as follows:]
[Troll’s blood.]
[Holy water.]
‘Like I could get any of those here. Thanks for nothing.’
Holy water was out of the question.
Trolls were a rare sight.
‘It probably doesn’t know about herbs similar to mana herbs either, judging from that response.’
Shin Hyeok quietly exited the room.
She watched him leave.
“Mister.”
“What?”
“You know sometimes there are things you can’t do anything about, right?”
“…….”
Shin Hyeok didn’t respond.
Arin lowered her head and returned to the room.
“Sohye. Come out for a moment.”
Namgung Sohye clung to Arin, her eyes swollen from weeping.
*Sob, sniff.*
Sohye grabbed Arin’s sleeve, begging.
“P-Please save my grandfather.”
“…….”
Arin quietly channeled her holy power.
The holy power permeating his body temporarily healed his wounds.
But new wounds formed again due to the lightning energy.
“Grandfather! Waaah!”
As Sohye’s sobs finally burst forth, Arin silently embraced her.
“I’m sorry.”
It was all she could say.
* * *
“It’s suffocating.”
Outside, Shin Hyeok wandered without direction, feeling ill at ease wherever he went.
“Why can’t you search, you stupid Akashic Pocket.”
[The Akashic Pocket is not stupi—]
“Shut up. Your data is always insufficient.”
[That message has only been output exactly once.]
“All you do is talk back.”
[This skill exists for the purpose of talking back.]
It never backed down. Consequently, Shin Hyeok felt even more frustrated.
“Yeah, you’re so great.”
[Maximum satisfaction with the skill. Thank you.]
“…….”
If he said another word, he felt he’d burst from frustration.
“Off.”
[Akashic Pocket viewing mode terminated.]
He passed the mines and walked on and on, his face blank.
“I can’t take it anymore. I can’t.”
He wasn’t prepared to let someone go.
Even if that person was a stranger from another world.
“Please. Someone tell me the answer.”
He came to a halt.
He had unwittingly reached the border.
Gazing beyond the hazy divide, he raised his hand.
*Swoosh.*
“Hmm?”
His hand was pulled inside.
But it didn’t feel like it was leading to the Mortal Realm.
“What?”
He cautiously poked his head through and discovered an odd space.
The area was filled with a dark night sky.
Countless departed souls wandered there.
‘The Netherworld?’
Many of the dead stood in a line, facing somewhere.
Their attire was incredibly varied.
In the direction they faced, he could see a root.
‘It looks familiar.’
That striking blackish hue looked somehow very familiar.
*Ding.*
*Ding-ding.*
The Akashic Pocket sent an alert.
“Yeah, show me.”
[Identified as a Netherworld space.]
[The root confirmed to belong to Noddrasil.]
[Confirmed that the departed souls are being pulled into the root and purified.]
He withdrew his head.
“So this is part of the Netherworld too.”
He realized just how vast the space they currently occupied truly was.
“I’ll have to be careful. If I cross over wrong, I’ll get lost.”
Where had they all come from, anyway?
Shin Hyeok pondered as he walked back.
“I even saw kids like Sohye. What was that called? Martial uniforms?”
He suddenly halted.
“Wait, aren’t those people…? People from the Central Plains? No, martial artists?”
[Circumstantially, that appears to be the case.]
[Dialogue and data collection required for accurate confirmation.]
Shin Hyeok immediately turned back.
“Excuse me!”
He shoved his face through the border.
Upon looking again, he was right.
“Hey there!”
He shouted loudly, but they didn’t turn around.
“Can’t they hear me?”
He pulled back and asked the Akashic Pocket.
“Can you collect data on those people?”
[Impossible.]
[Only possible with bound souls or souls registered in the system; the target’s consent is also required.]
[Recommended methods:]
[Subjugate the departed souls with necromancy.]
[Resurrect and awaken them.]
“Let’s go with the first one.”
There’s one kid who’s especially good at this.
“If Lee Chan uses necromancy on them, you can collect data, right?”
[It is possible.]
“Great!”
He took off at once.
To the half-grown Dark Elf who always stood guard by the World Tree.
Upon arriving, Lee Chan greeted him.
“Good timing, Hyung! Don’t go near the border. Father is growing right now, so you could get swept into something weird.”
Shin Hyeok was taken aback by Lee Chan’s warning.
“You sure talk fast.”
“Hehe. Right?”
“Anyway, look at this.”
Lee Chan looked where Shin Hyeok was pointing.
His face immediately scrunched up.
“To think you’d pull something like this around Father!”
“Anyway, those wandering souls out there are inside this?”
“That’s right. Are you already caught up in it?”
“Yeah. Then do me a favor.”
He grabbed Lee Chan’s shoulder, glaring at him as if threatening.
“T-this doesn’t feel like a favor.”
“Exactly. It’s an order.”
*Gulp.*
“Lee Chan. Crack it open.”