Chapter 12

Chapter. 12

The first thing I did after returning home was check the spoils.

I swept my eyes over the bag.

Inside it lay an ordinary-looking pair of silver gloves.

That was White Tiger’s Fang, the S-rank Artifact.

Association President Jin Cheon-jin had given it to me as compensation.

‘Now it really feels like I’ve been handed a quest in real life.’

After all, no gamer takes on a quest without a reward.

The objective was the subjugation of Ice Dragon Scathach, now only five days away.

The reward was an extraordinarily weighty Epic Quest prize: the unlocking of the Corridor of Constellations Achievement and a Possession Ticket.

Anyway,

There was no reason to refuse.

‘Still.’

The method was the problem.

Republic of Korea’s Tower was in Seoul.

But for some reason, the Boss Gate created by a Break opened in Pyongyang.

A place roughly 200 kilometers away in a straight line.

The time limit was ten minutes.

On top of that, there was the restriction that using Mana would rapidly cut that time down even further.

In a situation like this… was there any way to subjugate Scathach?

The answer was yes.

If I had only obtained the Ice Crystal and were limited to using Han Seol-ah's magic, it would have been hopeless.

But…

I was not a Hunter who had Awakened the Ice Crystal.

I was a Frost Sorcerer.

A mage capable of using every frost spell in Lost Honor.

I simply had to use a very special spell that only a Frost Sorcerer could wield.

That spell would be the crowning point of this subjugation operation.

‘Let’s test it.’

For the simulation, I changed my character—Nebula—into a Frost Sorcerer.

Then I moved through the Otherworld Gate and slaughtered Scathach over and over.

I gathered Scathach’s materials.

And at the same time, I got to run a live combat simulation.

It was killing two birds with one stone.

After massacring Scathach for quite a while like that—

“All right, the basic strategy is set…”

The rough outline was finished.

With this, clearing the Epic Quest was guaranteed.

But!

“I can’t be satisfied with merely clearing an Epic Quest.”

Epic Quests have Hidden Quests.

A treasure trove you absolutely cannot afford to miss!

As I analyzed the Epic Quest, I worked out what kind of Hidden Quest might be concealed inside it.

The answer came quickly.

“This is easy. I can already tell exactly what they were going for~”

After ten years of Lost Honor, finding Hidden content was child’s play.

***

Step one of the plan.

Rustle.

I pulled out the ticket I had carefully tucked deep inside my pocket.

The reward I had received for clearing my first Epic Quest.

It was the Possession Ticket.

“I’m using this.”

It was a precious item, not something I could obtain easily, so I wanted to save it as much as possible…

But this quest could not be cleared without using it.

‘It’s fine. If I clear this one, I’ll get another.’

And when I had such a perfect chance to get a refill like this, I needed to learn how to use the ticket.

I set the ticket on the desk and thought for a moment.

‘Who should I use it on?’

Countless names flashed through my head.

‘This one’s a criminal… and that one’s a criminal too.’

Since I only used the Darknet, the underworld internet, most of the names familiar to me were notorious for all the wrong reasons.

Once I weeded out those lowlifes—and also filtered out the weak ones below S-rank—there were not many candidates left.

The first Hunter who came to mind was the Martial God.

‘Rank: EX-rank.’

Everyone said the same thing.

The strongest man on Earth.

And the Martial God’s strength was the real deal.

But.

“Martial God, you’re out. Regrettably, you cannot come with me.”

A shame.

But he was excluded this time.

‘He would be useful right away.’

If I could borrow the Martial God’s power, it would be a great help in resolving the crisis right in front of me.

But I could not casually burn a Possession Ticket just to solve an immediate problem.

Wasn’t the Possession Ticket a key item for unlocking the Corridor’s classes?

I had to consider everything together—how much it could help fill the Corridor’s collection, and how useful the unlocked class would be to me.

By that standard, the Martial God was out.

In the long run, he would be of no help to me at all.

‘If my guess is right, I’ll be able to unlock every martial class as long as I can enter the Tower.’

So it was not only the Martial God.

I would not need any martial-type Hunter in my Corridor going forward.

‘If I passed on the Martial God, did I really think anyone below him would catch my eye?’

Then there was another EX-rank.

A Hunter about whom nothing was known except the epithet “Observer.”

That one was on hold for now.

There was simply too little information.

Next, the third candidate.

A Japanese S-rank flame mage.

His epithet was “Kakutsuchi,” Akabane Ren.

He used flame magic, the elemental weakness of Scathach.

He would probably also satisfy the conditions to unlock Flame Sorcerer.

And since he was said to be capable of using a clone technique as well, there was a good chance he could additionally unlock one of the Corridor’s “Branch 14—Esper/Outlier” jobs.

“He’s a perfect candidate in every way.”

I wrote “Kakutsuchi” on the Possession Ticket.

“Oh.”

The ink faded away naturally, and in front of me—

[Please enter the information precisely]

—that message appeared.

“So that’s how it works.”

[Japan, S-rank, alias Kakutsuchi, Akabane Ren]

‘…It’s not going to make me enter his age and address too, is it?’

[For now, it cannot go beyond national boundaries]

“Oh, so distance is too much for you too?”

There was that little qualifier, “for now,” but still… it could not possess someone from another country.

If that was the case, all my lower-priority candidates were automatically out.

“Then that leaves only Korea.”

…Republic of Korea’s Hunter pool was abysmal.

Dragging in some random B-rank would not help in a fight like this.

And the few A-ranks that existed were all tank-type Hunters.

The only S-rank was Han Seol-ah.

“This is the best option for now.”

[Korea, EX-rank]

“Whew. EX-rank. Magnificent.”

[Korea, EX-rank, alias Guardian, Han Seol-ah]

Once I finished writing everything and set the pen down—

[Proceed with Possession?]

[Yes] [No]

—a message appeared.

“So this is how it goes.”

I could have gone ahead and used it immediately.

But if it was giving me a choice like this?

[No]

Then I might as well prepare a more perfect stage first.

***

The next day.

Han Seol-ah's group waited for the appointed time without having slept a wink.

Han Seol-ah sat cross-legged in meditation with Eternal Winter resting on her knees.

Whenever she had a spare moment, she spread out her detection again, but she could not find even the slightest trace of the Apostle.

‘How is such perfect concealment even possible?’

—Because he is not human?

Except for fleeting lapses like that, Han Seol-ah kept her Mana circling as she recalled the sensation of casting magic under Frozen’s guidance.

[…]

What was strange was that Frozen, who normally could never resist chiming in whenever she moved her Mana, was unnaturally quiet.

‘…’

Still, judging by the fact that he was quietly siphoning off Han Seol-ah's Mana, it seemed he was calculating something at tremendous speed.

Min Ji-hee was busy handling the Association’s administrative work remotely.

Jin Cheon-jin was standing watch outside the building.

Since Mana detection was useless, the only option was to confirm the Apostle’s approach with their own eyes.

Whirr—

The door opened, and Jin Cheon-jin entered.

“He is coming. Prepare yourselves.”

“…”

All of them knelt in solemn postures.

A short while later—

Whirr—

The Apostle entered.

“…”

The Apostle halted for a moment at the sight of the three kneeling respectfully, then raised a hand to stop them when they tried to bow.

“There are three conditions.”

“Yes. Please speak.”

Min Ji-hee took charge of the response.

“First. Hand over Eternal Winter.”

Han Seol-ah's shoulders gave a visible twitch. They all knew how much she relied on and treasured that staff—no, the Frozen dwelling within it.

“…Understood.”

Min Ji-hee answered a beat late.

Her gaze rested on Han Seol-ah's trembling fingertips with quiet sympathy.

It was the heart of a parent, unable to bring herself to urge her child to hurry and give it up.

Perhaps sensing that feeling, the Apostle spoke in an even tone.

“I am not taking it from you. Eternal Winter is yours.”

“Ah…”

“I will return it once this crisis of annihilation has been resolved.”

“Thank… thank you.”

There was not even the slightest trace of longing in the Apostle’s voice as he said it.

Eternal Winter was a peerless Artifact.

But perhaps even such a divine treasure was no more than a mere item to the Apostle.

After bowing deeply, Han Seol-ah approached on her knees and offered up Eternal Winter.

The Apostle put Eternal Winter into his bag.

“Second. From this point onward, cooperate fully with my requests.”

“Understood.”

Min Ji-hee nodded.

“We will obey whatever you ask. Even if you demand my life.”

The Apostle shook his head.

“Do not misunderstand. My requests will be made in ways that are entirely reasonable by your standards.”

“…Thank you for your mercy.”

“I will exercise my first request immediately. Its content is this: put measures in place so that I will not be hindered while acting in this world.”

For an instant, Min Ji-hee’s eyes flashed with a sharp, unusual light.

‘Put measures in place… so that he will not be hindered?’

Her brilliant mind began probing the true meaning hidden within the Apostle’s words.

“I understand. As you wish…”

The Apostle nodded.

“I mention this only because you spoke of life and death, but I do not enjoy human sacrifice.”

“…Yes.”

At that dry, emotionless tone, a chill of cold sweat ran down Min Ji-hee’s spine.

A joke?

…No, was that actually a joke?

As Min Ji-hee stood there in confusion,

the Apostle spoke.

Relief flickered across Min Ji-hee’s face. But it did not last long.

“Third.”

The Apostle pointed at Han Seol-ah with a slender finger.

“You must die two hundred times.”

“…”

“…”

The Appraisal Center froze in an instant.

“What?”

The one who blurted it out was Jin Cheon-jin.

His face flushed red, and the fist he had clenched shook violently.

No matter if he was an Apostle sent for salvation, he had just spoken of killing his precious daughter.

As her father, the fury that rose inside him was unbearable.

“What do you mean by that?”

Even Min Ji-hee, always cold and composed, bit down on her lip hard enough to draw blood.

‘So those are the choices… drive Seol-ah into mortal peril, or let the nation fall into ruin.’

That was the choice that flashed through Min Ji-hee’s mind.

After that chilling remark—whether it had been a joke or not—about not enjoying human sacrifice…

this far too horrifying demand had followed.

The Apostle raised a hand.

“I do not hear an answer.”

“…”

“Will you accept it?”

“Is there… no other way?”

The words Min Ji-hee forced out with difficulty—

“There is none.”

“Could you take my life instead—”

“Wait!”

Han Seol-ah hurriedly stepped in front of the two of them.

“Seol-ah! I cannot, I cannot lose you—”

“No. That is not what I mean.”

With trembling hands, Han Seol-ah tightly gripped both Jin Cheon-jin’s hand and Min Ji-hee’s.

To the eyes of those two, it must have looked like human sacrifice—like they were being asked to send their daughter to her death.

But in Han Seol-ah's mind, memories of that world flashed through her.

The circular ring that formed when the flag was planted.

The battle against Nebula, who was terrifying to behold.

The first death she met in despair, in a fight she could never win…

and the first time she woke again.

Then the repeated battles, and the same ending every time.

It had been despairing, but more than anything else, the memory of growth had been undeniable.

‘It was… painful, but it was unquestionably an effective method of training.’

Han Seol-ah lifted her head and looked straight into the Apostle’s face.

‘The fact that he only said I must die means he is asking whether I am prepared to steel myself to that extent.’

Han Seol-ah steadied her resolve.

If it would make her stronger, she was already prepared to do anything.

“I’ll do it.”

At the firmness in her eyes, Jin Cheon-jin could no longer bring himself to stop her and let out a long sigh.

“You will summon me back to that world… won’t you?”

This was an opportunity.

An opportunity to become even stronger.

At that question, the Apostle curled his lips into a grin.

“With this, your ‘quest’ has been accepted.”