Conversion

She, who had been melting into the scenery, now burned. Yet, as her body was slowly revealed, there wasn’t a single flame on it.

It was a fire that blazed from within, from the inside out. A fire that rode the mana flowing through her body, impossible to extinguish.

A Death Beam, created by condensing lightning with the skill ‘Call of the Elements.’

A direct hit usually meant death, but if the target survived, the electric current would circulate through their body, tearing it apart from the inside.

Then, I converted that rampaging current into flames.

A combo I’d used without a second thought.

My first thought wasn’t, How cruel! but rather, Damn, this eats a lot of mana…

“Shit!” Na Seung-hyun cried out, biting his lip at the sight.

“One more?”

Crackle!

Not a Death Beam this time, just a single bolt of lightning.

Even so, he scrambled to roll out of the way.

“Hup!”

Crackle!

Another single bolt.

Realizing I was toying with him, he rose to his feet in a rage.

BOOM!

This one was real.

Unfortunately, I failed to convert it to fire this time. I tried, but the current just zipped through him and dissipated.

The last one was the same, so how did I do it then?

“Guuuh…”

Na Seung-hyun, collapsed on the ground, trembled as he pushed himself up. The way he shakily propped himself up by stabbing his dagger into the floor was—

Quite a sight.

Who told you to act like a parasite?

Looking at the battle in the distance, our side was holding its own despite being outnumbered.

This was because we had shaken Lee Yoo-hyun clean of his information and prepared every possible counter.

However… it seemed a few people not mentioned in Lee Yoo-hyun’s intel were keeping the fight balanced.

The woman who’d slashed my side was one of them. Did they bring in people from elsewhere?

Not that it mattered. If I joined the fray, it would be over quickly.

“Ugh… Who are you?” Na Seung-hyun asked, having barely managed to get to his feet.

“Your voice is different, and I’ve never heard of an Awakener this powerful.”

…So he noticed?

CRASH—!

One more time.

This time, I succeeded in converting the current to flames just before it dissipated completely, but Na Seung-hyun died on the spot.

Mana doesn’t circulate in a corpse, so the embers smoldered for a moment before flickering out.

I had consumed just over 7,200 Essense so far.

The Death Beam and its conversion alone cost about 7,000.

In mana terms, that was about 560,000. But it was a small price to pay to take down two fairly strong Awakeners without a scratch.

[Essense: 14763/175230]

Besides, I had plenty of Essense left.

After transforming back, I picked up the dagger Na Seung-hyun had been clutching and was about to cut off his head, but stopped.

In movies and comics, they always carry the defeated general’s head around to demand surrender.

I was about to imitate them, but it felt a bit… much. It just seemed wrong.

I decided to just jump into the fight over there instead.

“Hey.”

“Oh, Guild Master!”

As I entered the stalemated battlefield, all eyes turned to me. Park Eun-su was the first to ask.

“Did you take care of him?”

“Yeah. He was nothing special.”

I said, pointedly flicking Na Seung-hyun’s dagger.

“Woooooah—!”

The Narak guild members roared. In contrast, the mood on the other side turned grim.

“Not a single scratch on you. I guess those parasites really are nothing special!”

“A scratch? The scratch was here— Hmm, no, it’s gone. Not a single scratch.”

The wound on my side belonged to Lee Han-gyeol.

Seo A-gyeol’s transformed body was flawless.

If I were to undo the transformation… the wound would reappear, though.

I looked forward again, still flicking the dagger.

“Are you going to surrender? Or do you want to see this through to the end?”

*

It was a landslide victory.

None of Narak’s seven members were seriously injured. Only Lee Yoo-hyun, who had kicked things off, had a large gash on his back.

Even that was an injury that would fade soon enough… well, eventually, with a potion.

The Swallow Faction had brought in additional hidden Awakeners besides their initial seven, but it hadn’t mattered.

Their main seven were thoroughly countered, and Namgung Yoon’s flames and explosive potions quickly broke the flow of battle, allowing us to maintain a slight advantage despite being outnumbered.

Of course, the fact that I quickly took out two of their key members might have had something to do with it.

Anyway, what comes after a victorious battle? A festival.

It was a bit difficult to leave the gate since the cleanup wasn’t finished, but this was a place that ran its own black market.

They were rolling in money, so I offered to cover all the expenses.

Unless you plan on laundering it, money earned in the shadows should be spent in the shadows.

“Wow! This is what being a Guild Master is all about?”

“Right, so you guys have fun. I have to run a quick errand.”

“Hey, you can’t just leave all the men here and—”

I was heading to the prison.

The negotiation had included seven members from the Swallow Faction and three non-members.

Of the Swallow Faction, four were dead, including their leader. Two of the non-members were also dead.

The four survivors who surrendered were sent straight to prison. They would remain there until we heard from the rest of the Swallow Faction who hadn’t been at the meeting.

But I wasn’t going to see them right now.

“Is the telepathy working?”

No answer.

Of course not, I hadn’t removed his gag yet.

Realizing my mistake, I pulled the sack off his head and undid the gag.

He offered no resistance throughout the entire process.

“…It’s been cut off.”

“Right. That’s right. Your boss tried to ambush us and got ambushed instead.”

“Instead? You’re the ones who attacked first.”

“Who struck first doesn’t matter at all. Not one bit. So, what are you going to do?”

“…What are my options?”

“Well, it’s not much of a choice. Live or die?”

“I’ll live.”

I was the one taken aback by his unhesitating answer. You guys really had no loyalty to each other, huh?

As if sensing my gaze, Yoo Chae-un continued.

“You’d actually kill me if I said I wanted to die, wouldn’t you?”

“Probably?”

“So what’s wrong with wanting to live?”

“It’s not wrong. It’s more that… there’s no guarantee that someone who turns once won’t turn again.”

“Once the skill is linked, it can’t be broken without mutual consent.”

“The telepathy?”

“Yes. The one I had with my boss… with Na Seung-hyun.”

“Just linking it doesn’t exactly build trust. And there could be side effects.”

“Side effects? There’s nothing like that.”

“You know, like making my mind noisy or letting you hear all my inner thoughts.”

“There’s a function to block reception, and you can definitely feel when telepathy is being used. Besides, it doesn’t transmit all your inner thoughts. You have to consciously direct them to me, like you’re actually talking to me.”

“Oh, really?”

…He was answering so earnestly. I had been wondering how I was going to persuade him, and here he was, bowing his head and wagging his tail.

Seeing the conviction in his eyes, he seemed to know his own value. Unlimited-range telepathy? I couldn’t pass that up.

“Ah, but I have one more question.”

“What is it? I’ll tell you anything I know.”

“When you link with a Transformation-type Awakener, does it work both before and after they transform?”

“Hmm, I’m not sure. It’s worked sometimes and not others. It usually should, though. Probably.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It, uh… what was it? It depends on the transformation pattern.”

“Transformation pattern?”

I immediately ran to Park Se-hyuk.

“Transformation pattern?”

“Yeah. Do you know anything about it?”

“The basics. Most people transform gradually, like how I become a werewolf, but I’ve heard there are other ways.”

“Really?”

“It’s about whether there’s continuity or not. But non-continuous cases are rare. Most have continuity.”

“…Then do you know how a non-continuous Awakener transforms?”

“As far as I know, there’s one over in Europe. Uh… how should I put it? They transform like in a superhero story? Specifically… who was it? You know that woman from DC who spins around to transform. Like her.”

…That’s me.

“She acts like a hero with it, but she’s only really famous among other Transformation-types. She’s not S-rank or anything.”

“Se-hyuk, you know I’m always grateful for you, right?”

“Huh?”

I gave him a light peck on the lips and headed back to the prison.

“Let’s do it.”

“What?”

“The telepathy. Let’s link up. And before that—”

I stroked Yoo Chae-un’s hair.

“Let’s make a contract.”

*

‘So, when can I be released?’

‘Just wait for now. I’ve untied you, haven’t I? You have to stay in prison until we hear from the Swallow Faction.’

‘But I’ve already handed over my telepathy….’

After a non-disclosure contract, we linked our telepathy.

[Sub-trait: Telepathy]
[-Skill (A): Telepathy Transmission]
[-Skill (P): Telepathy Reception]
[-Skill (A): Block Telepathy Reception]

Linking the telepathy unlocked a ‘Sub-trait,’ not a main one. Just in case, I briefly undid my transformation and confirmed that the sub-trait didn’t appear for ‘Lee Han-gyeol.’

Telepathy that couldn’t be used in my Lee Han-gyeol state.

That could be seen as a negative, but it was actually a good thing, since I couldn’t rule out the possibility of a telepathic message sent after transforming back having a man’s voice.

If the telepathic voice suddenly changed from a woman’s to a man’s….

Of course, there was no guarantee that would happen, but considering Chae-un’s telepathy came to me in his own voice….

Although I’d bound him with a strict non-disclosure contract, having someone know about my ‘Transformation’ was not a good thing at all.

Besides, I’d managed just fine without telepathy until now.

As for Yoo Chae-un’s fate, that would have to be decided after the Swallow Faction contacted us.

According to him, only the Swallow Faction knew about his telepathy, so I needed to see how they would react before making a decision.

Whether to wipe out the remnants or absorb them into Narak. If possible, I wanted to do it without revealing the cards we were holding.

A telepathy that could be transmitted across gates was worth that much.

To be honest, the information has probably already leaked… but that didn’t mean I could just sit back and do nothing.

And there was always the possibility, however slim, that Yoo Chae-un might betray me….

Anyway, I had to consider all these things—that’s what I’m saying.

I’ll make sure you’re well-fed, so just stay put for now.

I returned to the celebration.

Everyone seemed to have lost their minds, drinking bomb shots made from an alchemical mix of Awakener-grade liquor.

“And then I…”

“Hah, those bastards. The way they were hiding like cowards.”

“By the way, when is A-gyeol coming back….”

“I’m back.”

“A-gyeol! What took you so long? The party was boring without you….”

“I wouldn’t say that. Looks like you’re all having a good time.”

“Here, have a drink. Who was it that took down their leader?”

“Seo A-gyeol!”

“Right, right. Ah, Eun-su.”

“Yes.”

“I’m going to interrogate those guys. Want to come with me now?”

“What? Right now?”

“Booo! Just hang out for a bit, Seo A-gyeol!”

“Shut up. I have a tight schedule for a while, so I can’t come here.”

Tomorrow was the lightning affinity meeting, two days after that was the flame affinity meeting, and after that, I had to clear a gate as Lee Han-gyeol.

I’d been active in the shadows for a while now, so it was time to step into the light.

Once this gate raid was over, I’d be recognized as a team leader, which meant clearing a major hurdle in my public life.

A gate raid where I set the schedule.

Instead of fitting into someone else’s schedule, I’d make them fit into mine.

My life in the shadows was chaotic and required constant attention, so I needed to have free control over my time in the light.

Honestly, the Expeditionary Force wasn’t bad, but my official affiliation was with Elemental, not them.

“We can handle the interrogation.”

“You think? It’s easier if I just use suggestion to make them spit out the truth.”

“Eh, is that really necessary? Their leader is dead anyway. We’ve got them locked up separately. A little torture and some cross-verification should do the trick.”

“I guess….”

“Yeah! A-gyeol, come on, let’s have some fun!”

“That’s right, Guild Master. You should rest today.”

“Fine. Just for today.”

“Nice! Hey, where’s the booze!”

*

The next day, I went to the guild to find out the location of the lightning affinity meeting.

“The person you want me to meet… who was that again?”

“I would like you to meet the leader of ‘Blue Forest,’ the criminal organization that runs the black market.”