Ch.73Rescue Signals Are Dangerous (2)

After successfully resolving the dungeon break and completing various follow-up measures, we ultimately had to return home, ending our brief vacation.

It was earlier than planned, but since everyone was tired and no longer in the mood to have fun, there were no particular objections.

Whoosh.

Pitter-patter.

Pitter-patter.

“Seriously, when is this going to disappear?”

“It’s really following me persistently…”

Even then, the side effect of ignoring the price hadn’t disappeared, so I had to stick my head out the car window and pitifully endure the rain.

As time passed, I was now back home, soaking in the bathtub to relieve my fatigue.

Pitter-patter.

Of course, the rain following me persisted. It was now beyond irritating to the point of making me laugh hollowly.

I tried to ignore it and began organizing my thoughts.

‘…At least I gained quite a few levels.’

Thanks to the experience points I had accumulated beforehand, I achieved the significant accomplishment of gaining 2 levels.

My current level is 39.

I’m now just one step away from reaching level 40, which once seemed so distant.

Although I was unexpectedly caught up in this situation while taking a break, since the broken dungeon was a high-rank large dungeon, I could say I was quite satisfied with the experience points gained.

Drip.

Pitter-patter.

‘The Book of Death is also gradually functioning better.’

Although I’ve had various concerns lately, my growth itself has been quite smooth.

For now, it seemed that if I continued at this pace and resolved the entangled issues one by one, there wouldn’t be any major problems.

“Gordon.”

– Yes. Did you call for me?

“Any changes in your memory?”

– Unfortunately, none.

However, there is one area that remains stagnant.

Quite some time had passed since I decided to restore Gordon and Chaehwain’s memories, but despite that, there hadn’t been much progress.

Since other matters were continuing to improve, this was currently the most unsatisfactory aspect.

“You’re one thing, but why is there still no response from Chaehwain?”

At first, I thought the memories themselves might have been completely lost, but after checking in various ways, that didn’t seem to be the case.

It’s clear that her memories are dormant somewhere in her soul, but they refuse to reveal themselves.

– Perhaps she doesn’t feel the need to remember?

“Explain in detail.”

– From what you’ve told me, Chaehwain was desperately fighting to maintain her existence—to protect herself—while in soul form.

“I suppose so.”

– In other words, it’s fair to say she abandoned everything else for the sake of maintaining her existence.

“…”

– Simply put, I think she’s in a state similar to a locked function in a game.

“So you’re saying we won’t be able to draw out her memories until she needs them herself?”

– That’s right.

Gordon’s explanation made sense. This meant that unless a situation arose where Chaehwain desperately needed to recover her memories, natural recovery would be difficult.

“This is challenging…”

How could I stimulate Chaehwain to awaken her dormant memories?

“Should I really bring her sister for a face-to-face meeting?”

– Personally, I think that’s quite a good approach.

But when I think about it, I essentially turned Chaehwain into an undead at my own discretion. Revealing that abruptly seemed a bit inappropriate, no matter how I looked at it.

“Let’s put that on hold for now.”

– That’s unfortunate.

After soaking in the bath for about an hour, the rain pouring on my head finally began to subside.

Drip.

Drop.

“…That lasted quite a while.”

I was worried it might continue until bedtime, so this was truly fortunate.

And at the same time, my phone, which I had left on the sink running a game on auto, began to receive message notifications.

Ring ring ring.

Ring. Ring ring ring.

– Shall I check it for you?

“…No, wait.”

Something seemed off. I’ve never set such a noisy notification sound, nor have I heard it before.

Moreover, I could faintly sense an unknown third party’s magical energy emanating from the phone.

Swoosh.

Whoosh.

Preparing for any contingency, I drew upon my magical power and fighting spirit as I slowly approached the sink and picked up the phone.

On the screen, a single message was flashing, announcing its presence.

The sender was JP.

No specific content was displayed. I clicked on it without hesitation.

Tok.

Suddenly, my vision blurred, and something began to penetrate my mind.

– Oh no! I should activate a protective spell…

“No, it’s fine.”

I instinctively tried to defend myself, but for some reason, it didn’t feel hostile. I surrendered to the flow and accepted the magical energy.

Whoosh.

Various pieces of information from an unknown source swirled in my mind.

An underground room with unfamiliar scenery.

A man imprisoned through some kind of magical restraints.

The location: Brenner, at the northernmost part of Italy.

And the man’s urgent voice echoing:

[I’ve been captured. Two enemies made contact. A silver-haired girl and a man with a sun symbol on his face. Both are strong. Not certain, but the man with the sun symbol is suspected to be one of the Founders.]

“What is this?”

I roughly understood the context of the situation.

An awakened person with some ability sent a message through him, and that person was likely JP, who was also my gaming friend.

And the captured man in the memory was probably JP.

However, even accepting that, I still didn’t understand why this was happening.

“Why suddenly send this to me?”

– What exactly is going on?

Ignoring Gordon’s question, I tried to calm my confused emotions and continued thinking.

‘He doesn’t know who I am.’

Thinking carefully, I certainly never revealed that I was a hunter or a returnee.

What was clear was that this wasn’t sent to me seeking help.

‘The message content itself wasn’t aimed at me to begin with.’

JP was trying to convey some information to someone and request help.

And that someone wasn’t me.

If so.

‘Either the situation was so urgent that he couldn’t deliver the message accurately, or he had no choice but to send it to me?’

At any rate, it seemed clear that my internet gaming friend was in danger.

– Master?

“Founder, founder. Feels like I’ve heard that somewhere before.”

– If it’s about the Founders, weren’t they referred to as the initial members of that Hades organization?

“Hades?”

Now that I think about it, Trione did mention something like that. I immediately picked up my phone to call her and confirm.

[A man with a sun tattoo? I believe there was such a person among the Founders. As I mentioned before, he’s of returnee origin. I’ve never met him personally, but I’ve heard he possesses formidable skills.]

This was too precise to be a coincidence.

“So he really was with Hades?”

If that’s the case, this is no longer unrelated to me.

For some reason, JP was investigating Hades, and during that process, he was captured by a high-ranking member and sent a rescue request.

‘I don’t know exactly what the situation is, but…’

He likely possesses a lot of useful information, and his abilities themselves seem quite capable. Plus, he’s a gaming friend I’d miss if he were gone.

In fact, it would be harder to find reasons not to rescue him.

– Are you thinking of accepting the request?

To Gordon’s question, who had received a rough explanation of the situation, I nodded and firmly stated my answer.

“I need to go to Italy.”

After finishing my bath, I confidently went out and started looking for the nearest flight and travel route.

And the very next day.

“…You say a foreign friend you met in a game sent you an invitation? That sounds too suspicious.”

“He-he’s not a weird person.”

“How would you know that, brother? As I always say, you lack awareness of danger. It’s clearly dubious.”

“Come on, he already knows where I live and what I look like.”

“Do you know how dangerous the world is these days? With just one awakened person involved, perfect crimes are easy. Do you think there are only a few ability users who can change faces?”

As I was about to leave for Italy immediately, I had to struggle quite a bit to persuade Seoha, who came rushing with fire in her eyes.

#

“You’ve been selling our information to that troublesome woman all this time.”

In a dark basement, a man with a sun symbol on his face spoke to the restrained Joseph.

“I hear you’re known as a reputable informant in your industry?”

“…Hmph, unnecessary talk. No matter what you do, I have no information to give to the likes of you.”

“I don’t particularly need it. If there’s something I want to know, I’ll find out myself.”

It might have sounded arrogant, but for the man before him, it was absolutely no joke.

Knowing this fact, Joseph swallowed hard with rising tension.

“What do you plan to do with me?”

In reality, he had no options left. Joseph’s life was entirely in the hands of the man before him.

And the man, looking at Joseph, began to continue speaking.

“As it happens, most of the work here is about to be completed, so this is a good opportunity.”

“What?”

“By sacrificing the lives of tens of thousands of villagers nearby, we will summon a fragment of Him.”

That was clearly related to Hades’ main objective.

The man gave a meaningful smile to Joseph, who had now adopted a serious expression.

“Don’t worry. You’ll also be used as one of those sacrifices, so your journey won’t be boring.”

“You sick bastards…”

Despite hearing that tens of thousands would be sacrificed right before his eyes, there was nothing Joseph could do.

Creak.

Thud.

The man had already left again, and Joseph was left alone in the dark basement.

“Damn it…”

It was at that moment.

In the mind of the despairing Joseph, an unidentified notification sound suddenly began to ring.

Ring ring ring.

Ring. Ring ring ring.

‘What?’

Joseph was startled by the sound.

This was clearly his own ability. It was now unfolding on himself for the first time in his life.

‘This can’t be…’

It wasn’t entirely impossible. If there was someone with an ability similar to his own, it wasn’t out of the question.

But given the situation, Joseph quickly checked the voice contained in the message, his mind full of questions about what it might contain.

And what was contained in that message was:

[Coming.]

Just four letters. Only those four letters with such a clear meaning.