Chapter 129

Chapter 129

"Nngh...."

I had watched the man nervously for quite a while. When I became doubtful as to whether or not he stopped breathing, the man suddenly opened his eyes. As soon as his eyes opened, his body began to twist in some invisible suffering.

"Cough, cough....urgh...!"

At first, I thought the man was poisoned, so I carefully examined the color of his lips and his fingertips. It must be so painful-I felt frustrated inside, wanting to say to him that he must drink a potion quickly.

However, as I kept watching, it felt as if the man were narrowly escaping from a long nightmare rather than convulsing from being poisoned. Even as he started to retch, he didn't vomit blood.

'It's like he's been exposed to a mental curse or is besieged by hallucinations...Since he's unable to alert himself, this must be the first time he's experienced such attacks.'

Just as I had that thought, I was able to guess what scene the man must be experiencing while unconscious.

'As I expected, is he seeing my death? No, It's more damaging than merely being an observer. Seeing as how he's squirming and bending his neck from the pain, there's a possibility he's experiencing a [transference] of the mind...'

"Is this why...they call it a 'vengeful ghost contract?'" The man spoke, possibly fed up with all that had happened. I could finally guess at his class.

'Necromancer?'

With that guess, a system message manifested before my eyes.

[The first quest in the 'A Summons After Death' scenario will proceed now.]

[Start life a deceased person by contracting with a Necromancer]

[Success Conditions: Signing a contract with a Necromancer; leaving the [Tower of Command] with your contracted Necromancer safely.]

[Failure Conditions: Failure to sign with the Necromancer; the Necromancer's death.]

[From this point onwards, you may show yourself in front of the Necromancer.]

[Additional Points can be earned if the contract is written in your favor.]

The scenario began.

Of course, at first I did not move one inch. First, I turned down the fate of becoming a demon king, now it was asking me to become another User's slave...I closed my eyes from the humiliation-so large a scale I have never felt such shame before-and opened them again, but the system message had not changed.

'Does this punk know about this?'

So, naturally, my anger latched onto the Necromancer, who still had such a silly look upon his face.

However, the man looked far too weak for me to vent my anger at him. When I saw him sniffling-how he stood ignorant to his own tears-the bloodlust that swelled up hopelessly scattered. Even I, the one directly involved in this incident, did not cry like that at my death.

The man, who sat rubbing his eyes with a blank expression, did not seem like a beneficiary of this system but rather a distressed man who was swept away by the tide of disaster and drifted ashore here. I glared at him while thinking about my next steps.

"...I'm so sorry, Seo Dawon-nim..." The man suddenly muttered quietly.

I wondered why he called my name like that-with eyes shut tightly and face stained with guilt. However, at that moment, I began to feel the presence of several people above our heads, and a familiar voice could be heard from that group. The man must have heard the same sound-he faltered and retreated, face white with fear.

"I'm really working my ass off coming here just because you've been having disturbing dreams-you insane fool."

"......"

"It's not as if you're some fortune teller or a prophet."

Surprisingly, it was Bae Jaemin and Lim Jisoo.

Of course, I had expected that I'd be reunited with them someday...but I hadn't expected that day to come so soon.

So, like the man, I stepped reflexively back into a shaded location and laughed bitterly. Because, I had forgotten for a brief moment that I was dead and those two couldn't see me. Perhaps, no matter what I were to do, they wouldn't notice me; likewise, no matter what attack I were to cast, it wouldn't reach them.

'[Reverse Gravity].'

Nevertheless, I extended my fingertips at them and cast a skill over their heads. That skill crushed the enemy's heads in thousands of battles and made them bow at my feet. However, this time, the skill simply swirled over their heads for a short while before quickly losing all power and scattering.

Even as I tried out the skill, I knew what would happen. No matter how much power I had, the dead me could not affect them at all. When I double-checked this fact with my own eyes, the hatred that had temporarily cooled with time flowed forth from the deepest depths of my heart; my fingertips were uncontrollably shaking.

'Right now, I'm... lower than a bug.'

Wouldn't a mosquito be a more annoying existence to them now?

I tried to calm down my agitated mind, closing and opening my eyes, which would have probably reddened with bloodlust if I were to have a physical form. Simultaneously, I turned to that frightened Necromancer. I really didn't want to admit it, but...

'I need you.'

I could perceive why the man called my name and apologized. After seeing all my memories, he must have felt compassion but had no desire to join this huge conflict.

I didn't want to reproach his superficial compassion. At a single glance, one could tell he was a newbie with little dungeon experience-on top of that he chose the Necromancer class for himself...His life must have been hard in its own way.

However, seeing as he was a Necromancer, he was stuck in a situation where he could not escape from Bae Jaemin on his own devices. I thought, perhaps romantically, his series of wrong choices may have been all for me.

It all matched too well for mere coincidence.

'What would he think?'

Laughing, I whispered into his ear.

-You want to get away from here safely?

I wanted to seem as relaxed as possible, framing my ruinous fate as his salvation.

* * *

I won an advantageous contract in return for saving the man, who hung onto me, saying he didn't want to die. In fact, I wasn't obligated to anything, and the contract only required me to protect his back. Seeing as how Choi Lee-kyung signed so hastily, I wondered whether it was his first time signing such a contract.

[You've succeeded in signing a fraudulent contract that no one with any conscience would create! A large number of bonus points will be added.]

I set aside the message-I couldn't tell if it was praising me or being sarcastic-and looked at the left ring finger. There, in the same location as Choi Lee-kyung, the symbol of the contract was engraved.

It was a memento of a slave contract, but, after signing, I didn't feel as bad as I had expected. I didn't know if that was because the contract was overtly in my favor or because Choi Lee-kyung was simply too stupid to trigger my wariness... In any case, I saved him from Bae Jaemin as the contract demanded; Choi Lee-kyung turned around and made eye contact with me as soon as Bae Jaemin disappeared.

But, the moment he saw me, he paused as if his soul left his body.

"I... Who are you?" he said.

Pressing down my frustration, I answered Choi Lee-kyung's pathetic question, "Who do you think I am?"

"What! Oh! This voice...W-What happened?"

Rather, I couldn't understand what Choi Lee-kyung was talking about. Did he always see me as a skeleton? I was far too lazy to explain anything, so instead I waved the hand where the contract was located and stepped closer.

It was funny-I showed the contract seal in order to shut him up, but Choi Lee-kyung grabbed at my hand, pressing and tickling it. I wondered what kind of trick he was setting, but I didn't want to admit that I was feeling a bit sensitive. I calmly let him grab my hand.

"Why are you groping... ha...Don't grope at me..."

"G-Grope?!!"

Of course, I was frustrated because he held onto me unceasingly 1; still, I tried to resist snapping. Fortunately, Choi Lee-kyung shook my hands off, greatly surprised, with that small amount of reproach. But, when we locked gazes again, an even more embarrassing flood of system messages appeared in front of my eyes.

[The equipped item, 'Thebes' Coronet,' alluring effect has been invoked.]

[Curse - Due to the alluring effect, opponents that suffer from large power gaps can't make preemptive strikes.]

['Choi Lee-kyung' feels an inexplicable attraction and curiosity towards you.]

Wearable items were popular due to their combat capabilities. The high charm value of the item prompted an alarm that Choi Lee-kyung had developed a small bit of interest in me. But, no way...I didn't know these items would work against Users as well.

'It activates regardless of the two's gender?'

[Thebes' Coronet] was a useful item for Mages-it would become very difficult for them if they drew aggro in dungeons.

Due to the high supplemental charm values, this item had the effect of slowing down upcoming low-class enemies. However, this usefulness was commonly invoked against enemies-the effect had never been invoked with allies, as it had just now.

I considered the cause for a short while, and I concluded that [Thebes' Coronet] was quiet because I usually travelled with companions with comparable levels. Charm skills were most efficient when the gap between me and the opponent was quite far. Of course, it wouldn't work for allies at similar levels...

'It's already looking dismal.'

I pulled up Choi Lee-kyung's status window and winced. Furthermore, what was with that strange phrase in the previous system notifications? Inexplicable attraction and curiosity? Perhaps my mind was in the gutter 2 or perhaps my guess was in the right ballpark; the nuance was a bit...

'No way, he's not going to ask to sleep with me, right?'

It's not that I've never received advances from men before, but I was a bit flustered because I've never held any interest in that team. If Choi Lee-kyung were a woman, I would have considered him...

So I drew a line between us while disguising it as a joke, "Even if I'm your servant, I'll be in a predicament if you ask for those kind of services from me..."

"W-What are you even saying!"

Still, I was a little relieved to see Choi Lee-kyung's embarrassment. Emotionally, wasting time or chasing flings was only worth doing while alive; I had no time now.

On top of that, Choi Lee-kyung's immediate denial, even if it were dishonest, was also a relief. Even if he were to really develop feelings later, he probably wouldn't bother me much.

[The second quest in the 'A Summons After Death' scenario will now proceed.']

[Obtain all the 'Vengeful Ghost Essences' of your old companions.]

[Success Condition: Acquire two or more vengeful ghost essences.]

[Failure Condition: Failure to gather even one vengeful ghost essence.]

[Extra points will be received for collecting all 'Vengeful Ghost Essences'.]

However, as soon as I saw the following system messages, all commotion caused by the charm effect was soon forgotten.

TL: Neither Lee-kyung nor the readers knew it at the time, but Dawon was feeling quite vulnerable-and still probably is feeling vulnerable. He's doing a fair bit of bluffing to seem knowledgeable to give himself security despite the fact that he's learning about this alongside Choi Lee-kyung and only really has the advantage of a system guiding him. It really calls to mind the "Loyalty: extremely low" that Choi Lee-kyung first saw in Dawon's profile. Interestingly enough Dawon wasn't necessarily attracted to men at first and had thought all this was because of his items...but you guys can see how that changes in the future 😛

Footnotes