Logging out is too Hard
Episode 9
-Have you seen Goblin's Nest Time Attack?
-But did the 5 minute mark make sense?
-Kerga's record is broken...... Is this a bug?
-The 10th clan is scrambling to find it now.
-Of course. It wasn't a party, it was a solo first place.
The community was in an uproar over the incident.
Even if it was only a beginner's record, the record of the [Evil Tail]'s absolute powerhouse, Kerga, had been broken.
A truly unprecedented event.
"What do you think?"
"Do you have time to think about it? We need to find out who he is right away."
"Whatever it takes......."
The leaders of the ten clans gave the same order to their men.
"Bring him in front of me."
A beginner's region, just a gateway to pass through.
But right now, the gazes of the top players in Evil Tail were focused on this place.
* * *
Regardless of the situation, Woojin was still inside the goblin nest.
'It must be this way.'
An ordinary player would have no reason to be here anymore since he had hunted down the Goblin Lord, but he was different.
Thump, thump, thump.
He walked slowly, tapping his sword against the wall of the boss room as if to confirm.
'No echo.'
That meant there was no space inside the wall.
'It must have been the side of the boss room next to this one where the warlock was staying.......'
"Hmm."
Woojin let out a low sigh of disappointment, having secretly hoped to find a hidden spot.
'You said Murrenga.'
Before leaving the village, Woojin had done some research on Murenga in the community.
▶ A family of counts from the Bolton Kingdom, one of the five major kingdoms of the Central Continent.
'I know they were trying to avoid the kingdom's pursuit, but...... the distance between the Central Continent and this novice region is too far.'
It was too risky to come all the way here just to hide.
'There must be...... other reasons.'
That was what Woojin had thought when he discovered the Warlock's Hidden Spot in the Otherworld.
He tried to find the reason in the hidden place next to the boss room.
But he couldn't find any evidence.
'The contents of the nest were too strange for a simple hideout.'
Research materials and tools.
It was the sign of a long stay rather than a hiding place.
'Perhaps this warlock was so powerful that even the kingdom was out of his reach.
It was a possibility.
If Raoul was right, he could command the Bone Dragon.
"There must be something to this......."
Woojin clicked his tongue in disappointment as he scanned the boss room and sighed.
".....hmmm?"
At that moment, a strange gap appeared in his eyes.
"What is this?"
There was a fist-sized dent in the wall.
It was too much like a battle scar to have been made by a Goblin Lord who had died after a single attack, and too alien to have been made by nature.
It was as if.......
someone had made to hide something inside the wall.
"Could it be......?"
At that moment, a hypothesis flashed through Woojin's mind.
'What if...... didn't come here because there was a hidden spot, but he came here and created it?'
That opens up all sorts of possibilities.
'There would be no reason for there to be an empty lot here, but there would be a purpose for him to be here.'
"Could that purpose be......?"
Rustle-.
I scratched the wall with my finger.
The inside of the hole crumbled easily, unlike the other side, and powder spilled out.
But the gap wasn't wide enough for me to stick my hand through.
Kaang-!
Woojin thrust his sword as hard as he could into the gap.
But the wall was solid.
Kaang-! Kaang-!! Kaang-!!!!
Woojin swung his sword several times, but the wall didn't budge.
"......This isn't going to work."
My hand tingled in the grip of my sword, but the wall remained the same.
'What am I going to do?'
I wondered.
What could be behind this wall that would bring a warlock across the central continent to this place?
'But is there a way to break the wall.......'
Gulp-.
At that moment, Woojin's eyes flickered.
There is .......
He took out the gemstone he had obtained earlier from within his arms.
▶ Please handle it carefully.
▶ The expanded magic power can cause an intense explosion even with a little physical force.
"If I use this......."
I may be able to break down walls.
It must be a very valuable item to call.......
Kwak-.
Woojin narrowed his eyes in thought.
"It's just a matter of collecting money, and there are many monsters of the magic system that are stronger than the Goblin Lord."
But he couldn't leave with a sour taste in his mouth.
"You have to risk something to get something."
Woojin echoed Raoul's words and pushed the gemstone into the gap in the wall.
"Hoop......!"
Investing all of his remaining points in health, he exhaled lowly and stabbed his sword into the gem with all his strength.
Kwaaaaaang---!!!
There was a loud explosion, and the seemingly solid wall crumbled.
"You almost got me ......."
Woojin, who was thrown back by the explosion, muttered as he brushed off the dust that covered his entire body.
It was a stupid way to go about it, but it was necessary.
Unless you were an archer or a rogue, there was no way you could hit a gemstone shoved into a crevice from a distance.
Gulp- gulp-.
He gulped down the potion and looked ahead.
The cloud of dust began to settle.
'I wonder if.......'
Hit or miss.
[Adventurer Khan has found a hidden chest in a goblin's nest].
Woojin examined the small box in the rubble.
The lid of the box had an unknown symbol on it.
But strangely, he recognised the symbol.
He had seen it before.
'It was engraved on the book I saw in the warlock's lair.
He couldn't read the script, so he couldn't tell what it was, but he knew it was a book.......
TALK-.
Woojin opened the lid of the old box.
[He found an artefact inside the hidden box].
[Ancient Book -Hallucination]
"I see."
Unlike the other world, this place was in a game.
Woojin looked at the title of the book, which read naturally, and let out a squeal of satisfaction.
Name: Illusion
Rank: Legendary
Joy took a moment to look at the book's description, and now he was appalled.
"......I, Legendary rank?"
Woojin stared at the tattered book in his hand with a dazed expression.
This wasn't just a win, it was a jackpot.
Description: You can make a contract with the spirits of ancient gods.
▶ Requires the soul of an ancient god beast to contract.
▶ You can inherit the characteristics of the contracted spirit and use them permanently.
▶ Once imprinted, the essence cannot be changed.
▶ Increases the number of Divine Beasts that can be contracted as the user's soul ranks increase.
▶ Number of Essences currently imprinted (0/1)
'Ancient Divine Water......? What is this?'
I had never heard of it before.
'Is it possible that the warlock was able to control the dragon I saw because of the power of the Ancient Divine Water......?'
There was an absolute difference between hunting something and controlling it.
Hunting allowed the weak to overcome the strong by the tiniest of margins, but domination required the opponent to be constantly overwhelmed.
'A dragon is a dragon, no matter how undead it may be.'
To dominate a dragon is only possible when the being is of a higher order than the dragon.
'I suppose that means rising above the realm of mortals.'
Gulp-.
Woojin swallowed dryly.
A chance at genius had come to him.
He must not miss it.
But.......
"It won't be easy right now."
After a moment of nervousness, Woojin shook his head slightly as he read the description in the tome.
'I don't know what the Ancient Divine Water is, but it can't be an ordinary item, and I don't know...... where to get it.'
▶ Possesses a Divine Water Soul to use in a contract.
▶ Souls Possessed: 1
"......what?"
The contents of the pop-up window changed, and Woojin, who was actually the party, looked at it with a puzzled expression.
▶ Mastering the art of illusion?
"What are you talking about, telling me where the soul is......."
I wondered if he was referring to [Raoul's Essence], but he was a human, not a divine beast.
"What the hell?
'I don't have it anymore.......'
It was strange.
"......!!"
It was then.
"Woo...... woof?!"
Woojin clamped his hand over his mouth as he felt something rising from his stomach.
"Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!"
But he couldn't hold back the vomit that was rising.
She grabbed onto a collapsed wall and began to gag.
When he had poured out all the strength in his body, Woojin stared at 'it' in a daze.
"What is this......?"
A pure white sphere floating amongst the vomit.
At that moment, a memory flashed through his mind like a lantern.
It was clearly a beam of light that had entered his body the moment he returned to the game from the otherworld.
[Identified Sarvandin's soul].
'......Sarvandin?
An unfamiliar name.
But he knew for certain that this soul had crossed over with him from the other world.
▶ The contract with Sarvandin's soul is complete.
▶ Your soul will be imprinted with the spirit of the gods.
"Now, wait!"
Before Woojin could find an answer to his question, the light swarm proceeded as if it had entered his body at will that day.
▶ I have learnt the art of illusion.
Ching-.
A sharp frequency pierced his head, just as it had in the other world.
His vision blurred.
His head was white and everything in front of him was grey.
"Thud!!!"
It hurt.
It felt like someone had taken his brain out and stabbed him dozens or hundreds of times with an awl.
The pain started in his head and spread to his entire body, as if someone was trying to take his body away from him.
"......kkaaaaagh!!!"
Woojin screamed.
Why?
This is clearly a game.......
The pain was unbearable.
Kaaaaahhh!
Woojin gritted his teeth as hard as he could to keep himself awake.
'There's only one reason.'
Both Raoul's swordsmanship and soul belonged to the otherworld.
Crunch...... Crunch.......
The pain grew braille intense.
He knew in his gut that the damned soul imprinted on his head was now trying to take him away.
Was this the price of dabbling in dangerous power, like Raoul had eaten the dragon's heart?
What should he do?
An unknown and disturbing force was consuming him.
Would it take him away?
"......Damn it!"
Woojin snapped, gritting his teeth in warning.
"Whoever wants......!"
There was only one way to avoid being taken away.
Fuuk-.
At that moment, he plunged the sword into his own throat.
In an instant, his vision turned grey.
[You are dead].