Chapter 243: What Am I Supposed to Do with Hong Hyeonjin?

Episode 243

As soon as he heard the answer, Kim Jinsung immediately went to Dantalian’s subspace.

“You’re here quickly.”

Dantalian, who was in his usual human form of an old scholar, greeted him with a sarcastic remark.

“The sooner I know the solution, the better.”

He replied, settling comfortably on the sofa in the center of the room.

Dantalian frowned, seeing him acting as if he owned the place.

“You insolent…”

“I brought some black coffee beans. Want a cup? It’s Colombian Supremo.”

He asked, taking out a bag of coffee beans from his pocket.

Dantalian stared at him silently for a moment and then turned away.

“…Let’s have some.”

Moments later,

they were both sitting on the sofa, enjoying Colombian black coffee.

“…Hmm. Not bad.”

“I knew you’d like it. Now, tell me what you found.”

Dantalian put down his cup and thought for a moment, organizing his thoughts.

“It took me a while to find a solution because those ‘Allobon’ ability users are extremely rare, even across all dimensions.”

“So that’s why it took you three days?”

“I spent most of those three days searching for similar ability users. And I finally found a commonality in their abilities.”

“What is it?”

“They consume their souls.”

Kim Jinsung’s eyes widened. Souls?

“You’re saying they’re not sacrificing their lifespan…?”

“That’s right. They’re consuming their souls. As you know, all living beings have souls. Even Demon Gods.

When a soul leaves the body or is completely destroyed, the body can no longer move. That’s what you call ‘death’ in the Middle Realm.”

“Hmm…”

“I found some ‘Allobon’ ability users who didn’t sacrifice their lifespan to become stronger.

But at some point, they all suddenly ‘died’, even though their bodies were perfectly fine.

That’s when I realized that they might be consuming their souls instead of their lifespans.

And my research confirmed it.”

He stood up and walked towards one of the walls lined with bookshelves.

He touched a book, and the bookshelf slid open like a door.

He saw a cage behind the bookshelf, and a monster was growling inside.

“There’s a Demon God called ‘Aim’. He’s a being of pure fire. And one of his abilities is called ‘Soul Feedback’, which converts souls into Mana.

I’m going to use it on this monster.”

He took out a Mana stone with strange symbols engraved on it and started channeling Mana into it.

The Mana stone started glowing, and

*Roarrr!*

The monster inside the cage started writhing in pain.

It continued screaming and struggling as he channeled Mana into the Mana stone.

“…Huh?”

Kim Jinsung’s eyes narrowed.

The monster’s body was growing larger, its muscles becoming more defined.

“See? Even a mere monster can permanently increase its physical stats by using an ability related to the soul.”

He stopped channeling Mana into the Mana stone, and the monster, freed from the pain, charged towards the cage.

*Bang! Bang! Bang!*

He saw the thick, sturdy cage bars bending slightly with each impact.

“…Amazing.”

“That’s the basic principle behind how ‘Allobon’ ability users become stronger.”

He closed the bookshelf door and asked,

“Now that you know the cause, you should be able to figure out the solution. How can you defeat the Allobons?”

Kim Jinsung answered immediately,

“They use soul-related abilities, so I need to use soul-related abilities too.”

“Correct. So you need to find someone who can freely use soul-related abilities.”

“You already mentioned it. Aim.”

“Exclude Demon Gods!”

He shouted firmly.

“Didn’t you experience how much Mana Spirit Summoning consumes?

Do you really think you can use it every time you encounter an Allobon? Especially when we don’t even know how many of them there are.”

He nodded reluctantly.

He had used Spirit Summoning for the first time three days ago, to fight Hemingston.

He had been surprised by two things.

First, the power of Spirit Summoning was far beyond his expectations.

Second, it consumed an enormous amount of Mana.

Even he, with his massive Mana pool and incredible Mana regeneration rate, couldn’t use it for more than five minutes.

“You’re right. It’s not a good idea to rely on Spirit Summoning if I have to fight multiple Allobons for a long time.”

He muttered to himself and thought for a moment.

So he had to either devour a soul ability user or…

“…Wait a minute.”

He had a thought and looked at Dantalian with a surprised expression.

“You don’t mean Hong Hyeonjin, do you?”

“That’s right. Her ‘Astral Projection’ ability is a soul manipulation ability.”

“Wait a minute.”

He waved his hand and asked back,

“You’re asking me to kill Hong Hyeonjin? You know that’s impossible right now.”

Hong Hyeonjin was a valuable ‘business partner’ to him.

She and Park Do-joon were the reason why he could focus solely on becoming stronger.

“If I kill her now, everything will be back to square one. Even if I have to kill her eventually, it’ll be after we’ve driven out the existing clans from the Center Zone.”

And after they drove out the existing clans from the Center Zone, he wouldn’t need her Astral Projection ability anymore. He would have already eliminated all the ‘Allobon’ ability users by then.

“I know. And killing her isn’t the only option.”

Dantalian raised three fingers and continued,

“There are three ways for you to acquire her ability. First, kill her and absorb her ability, as you usually do.

Second, use Spirit Summoning to borrow the ability of the Demon God ‘Phenex’.”

Phenex?

“Phenex has an ability called ‘Yin-Yang Harmony’. When a man and a woman become one, the user can acquire the other person’s ability…”

“Wait, wait a minute!”

He shouted, his face filled with shock.

He asked Dantalian, making sure he understood correctly,

“You’re asking me to spend a night with Hong Hyeonjin…?”

“What’s wrong with that?”

“Huh?”

He had never said anything so stupid in his life.

He just sat there, his mouth agape, looking like a painted statue.

“Pfft! Why are you reacting like that? It’s natural for Middle Realm creatures of the opposite sex to mate and have children.

And as far as I know, it’s common in the Middle Realm for the strongest male to claim the most beautiful female.”

“Well, that’s…”

He scratched his cheek. It wasn’t wrong, historically speaking.

“Don’t tell me you don’t like her? Hmm… I think she’s quite beautiful, for a Middle Realm creature.”

“That’s not what I’m saying…”

He knew that she was beautiful.

She was always ranked among the top 10 in Korea’s annual beauty rankings. She was on par with celebrities who made a living off their looks.

“…I’ll be honest. I don’t trust her.”

“You don’t trust her?”

“Yes. To be precise, I don’t trust ‘people’. That’s how I’ve always lived.”

He had started his life as an orphan.

He had been bullied throughout his school years.

He had fled to the New Continent from the underground Fight Club and the Colosseum survival competition, and he had been living as a fugitive ever since.

He had never been able to rely on anyone.

The word ‘trust’ didn’t exist in his vocabulary. Only ‘doubt’.

“Like I said, she’s just a ‘business partner’. I have no personal feelings for her.

We could turn into enemies as soon as we achieve our goals.

What if she sets a trap and puts a surveillance skill on me while I’m trying to use the ‘Yin-Yang Harmony’ ability?”

“…You really don’t trust people.”

“What can I do? That’s how I’ve always lived.”

He shrugged and continued,

“If I had to choose, I’d rather kill her and absorb her ability. That’s more comfortable for me.”

“You’re a strange one. Most Middle Realm males your age would do anything to get a beautiful woman…”

“Isn’t it natural for the survival instinct to be stronger than the sexual desire?”

“There are many who are the opposite. In fact, the opposite might be the average.”

“…Really? No way.”

“Well, there’s no need to explain that now.”

He got back to the main topic.

“The third method also involves Spirit Summoning. Have you heard of Gamigin?”

He shook his head.

“One of Gamigin’s abilities is called ‘Soul Transmigration’. It transmigrates two souls in a space of ‘unity’, eventually making them the same type of soul.

Once that happens, the two bodies whose souls entered ‘Soul Transmigration’ can share each other’s abilities.”

“…Wait a minute.”

This was the third time he had said those words to Dantalian.

“So you’re saying that Hong Hyeonjin will also acquire my abilities?”

“That’s right.”

“…All of them?”

“I can’t be sure, since she’s not an Omurga like you, but she’ll definitely acquire most of your core abilities.”

“Hmm…”

His face turned serious.

Hong Hyeonjin acquiring all the traits and skills he had painstakingly collected…

And if she also acquired his absorption ability…

“…Then she’ll become a monster even worse than the ‘Allobons’.”

“What does it matter? She’s our ally right now. And even if she acquires your abilities, she won’t become as strong as you immediately.”

“You never know what the future holds. What if she becomes my enemy?”

Having an ability user with the same abilities as him as his enemy…

There was nothing more dangerous to him. He knew better than anyone how overpowered his absorption ability was.

“Anyway, those are the only three options I know of. If you want to acquire her ability, you have to choose one of them.”

He fell silent, thinking about his options.

After a long silence, he stood up.

“…I need to meet her.”

—

(To be continued in the next episode)