“I feel like there was definitely something important… but I can’t remember.”
*Crunch- Gnash-*
Jo Gi-man was trying to shake off the fog in his mind, gnawing on something down to the bone.
But the more he tried, the worse it got.
His thoughts were a jumbled mess, like a game of charades gone wrong.
“I guess I have to trust that nothing happened with the Seven-headed Dragon… but it feels off.”
First of all, his head was in no shape to think straight, but the real problem was the powerful beings summoned by his blue-eyed subordinates.
A gigantic monster, so vast that it couldn’t even be fully contained in his memory.
He wanted to ask about it, but for some reason, the Seven-headed Dragon was radiating a chaotic energy, and there was no reply to his frantic calls.
However, a strong will was being forcefully directed at Jo Gi-man.
“Kill the Blue-eyed.
You must kill the Blue-eyed.
Absolutely.”
That willpower kept flooding in incessantly.
Plus, through messages, he started to understand why the Seven-headed Dragon wanted to kill the Blue-eyed.
“If I kill the Blue-eyed… will the Seven-headed Dragon’s standing rise…? Is there even a level above it?”
This was the first time information about the Seven-headed Dragon had been shared, and while he found it odd, he brushed it off as trivial.
After all, for a being like the Seven-headed Dragon to rise a level would be on a completely different scale than an A-rank Hunter becoming an S-rank Hunter.
Of course, Jo Gi-man thought it was good that the Seven-headed Dragon was getting stronger, since it aligned with his goal of increasing his reincarnation count.
If the Seven-headed Dragon went up a rank, it might even increase the single reincarnation count he had originally promised.
“Killing something as significant as the Blue-eyed wouldn’t be a fair trade for just one reincarnation.”
If he could think he had a decent shot at capturing the Blue-eyed, he might consider negotiating further terms with the Seven-headed Dragon.
Yet, Jo Gi-man had another question.
“The fact that they summoned both a Great Beast and a being with the power to defeat a Great Beast at the same time… means that the Blue-eyed’s subordinates had that level of ability. Is that even possible? Did I miss something crucial in the foggy parts of my memory?”
Thinking back on the cycles he’d been through, it seemed impossible.
The Blue-eyed was an Evil God with immense power, but there were limits to how much influence he could wield through his subordinates in this world.
In fact, the power of the Seven-headed Dragon that was clinging to Jo Gi-man might actually be stronger here.
“It definitely doesn’t add up… If he wanted to summon a Great Beast, he could have just called one powerful guy right from the start.”
That left him with only one possible conclusion.
“The Great Beast probably wasn’t summoned by the Blue-eyed… and for some reason, he had to awaken his hidden power to kill it.”
The monster that later appeared seemed to affirm the Seven-headed Dragon’s suspicions regarding the Blue-eyed, and given the Hunters present at that time, the scenario seemed plausible.
Come to think of it, the early betrayal of the Barrier Mage Kim Jae-hyeon was something that had never happened in previous cycles.
“I have to start from scratch. I should try to forget the previous cycles.”
Anyway, Jo Gi-man decided to take his time sorting out that aspect later.
What mattered was that he had a chance to get a heavy dose of the reincarnation drug, especially since he barely felt joy from the usual stimuli.
Of course, taking down the Blue-eyed was daunting.
But he’d briefly experienced the guy in the last cycle.
“I need power that can deliver an unprecedented blow… That’s what I need.”
Reflecting on his encounter with the Blue-eyed, that was the conclusion Jo Gi-man reached.
The Blue-eyed had shown that the more battles he fought, the more restrictions fell away, allowing him to grow stronger rapidly. Or rather, one could say his original power was being unleashed.
“Of course, that’s the case for Jo Gi-man, who is the incarnation of the Seven-headed Dragon too, but if I have to go fight in the world where he resides, the advantage goes to the Blue-eyed.”
If he thought about it the other way, it meant he had to put everything on the line for that first shot.
That meant he needed a life-or-death kind of blow.
So Jo Gi-man had something prepared for this cycle.
“Arcana.”
This was the ultimate spell that could only be manifested by fusing five top-tier elemental magics.
It was common knowledge in the Sorcerer world that one couldn’t master multiple top-tier spells.
But Jo Gi-man had completely broken free from that restriction as he experienced cycle after cycle.
He had mastered two top-tier spells.
“Wait… Since I lost [Meteor], is it now only nine…? Ugh, this is so annoying.”
*Crunch- Snap-*
Gnashing the bones he was chewing on more fiercely, Jo Gi-man continued his train of thought.
He had already elevated over five elemental magics to top-tier, so he was only left with one.
“The ultimate water magic, Aquakanum… I just need to obtain that. But how on earth do I get it?”
There were a few things Jo Gi-man couldn’t figure out at all, one of which was that spell.
Water was the source of all life and was a mystical substance that could absorb any quality and combine various elements.
No matter how many properties of magic he raised to the highest level, without the fusion spell known as [Aquakanum], it would be useless.
Typically, the path of magic involved a painstaking process of stepping up from the ground up.
By laying down the fundamentals, he had to achieve an epiphany through constant circulation of high-level thinking, merely to awaken higher-tier spells one by one.
Only after going through that process several times could one handle a top-tier spell.
However, water magic weirdly allowed easier mastery of lower-level spells while being stingy when it came to top-tier magic.
Among those, there was the mysterious spell called [Aquakanum], which no one in this world had ever manifested.
It only existed in ancient texts, passed down as legend.
And by chance, Jo Gi-man discovered that this spell was crucial for the ultimate magic while perusing the ancient texts…
*Phew!*
As he continued his thoughts, losing one of the top-tier spells felt like a noose tightening around his neck.
“[Meteor]… Ugh, damn it! I can’t believe I lost it! What a waste!”
Even if he didn’t want to remember, he couldn’t help but think back to the struggle he went through to use that magic.
Frustrated, Jo Gi-man vented his anger at some unspecified person.
“When I lost consciousness, what kind of nonsense did I go through to lose my magic too? Damn it!”
Moreover, as he wanted to avoid going back down the same path, the messages that kept appearing only deepened his despair.
– Your understanding of fire-element magic has severed all at once.
– Due to the rapid loss of understanding, the Seekers vaguely react.
– Related beings are watching you with puzzled expressions.
– Your growth in fire-element magic decreases by 20%.
– Damage taken from fire-element magic increases by 20%.
“Ha…”
That was an absurd penalty.
Moreover, it seemed he had upset beings who clearly possessed a level comparable to the Seven-headed Dragon.
In case of an unforeseen encounter with the Seven-headed Dragon, he had painstakingly maintained the high-level beings he had managed to keep hold of in the mental realm…
Now, it felt like a complete letdown.
Feeling goosebumps all over, Jo Gi-man realized his taste for failure had vanished.
It could very well have been a side effect of the understandings he had built through loopholes in the cycles.
“Damn… Damn! I didn’t do anything wrong!”
He felt aggrieved, but there was no one he could confide in.
“Ugh, this is the worst time. I really want to reincarnate, damn it.”
As the influence of the Seven-headed Dragon diminished, Jo Gi-man’s impatience flared, causing his cheap slang from before awakening to slip out.
Though he wanted to throw it all away, Jo Gi-man had his own resilience.
“Alright… I just need to find [Aquakanum]…”
He gathered his thoughts again.
To his knowledge, that spell couldn’t just be obtained by mere training.
That’s why he was trying to devise a method to acquire it while subsuming the elite Hunters of the world and eliminating the nuisances along the way.
But it was all in vain.
All he managed to dig up were decrepit, ancient books, and the only meaningful information he had recently stumbled upon was this.
“Only those who follow the Goddess of Water shall obtain [Aquakanum]… It may be connected to Lake Katalin…”
As Jo Gi-man mulled over those words, his cheeks flushed bright red.
“…I will follow you… I’ll even lick the dirt from your soles if I have to! Just tell me where that Lake Katalin is, dammit!”
*Bang─!*
Jo Gi-man threw the leftover bones against the wall.
He was undeniably feeling anxious.
“Phew… I need to calm down. I need to review everything I’ve gone through.”
He realized he couldn’t continue like this and decided he needed to take some time retracing his steps.
“Should I explore Nando… again?”
Nando was an enormous dungeon, and since it was so vast, Jo Gi-man hadn’t been able to search every nook and cranny.
Now that Yoon Han-gyeol was absent, searching would undoubtedly take even longer.
However, it was the only suspicious place among the water-related dungeons.
And conveniently, the dungeon was currently unstable, with all sorts of problems cropping up.
It was possible that he might encounter an unexpected singularity that could make things easier.
If he lowered his rank a few stages with [Usurp], it wouldn’t be too hard to enter.
“Alright… I’ll focus on that for now.”
His mind was solely occupied with eliminating the Blue-eyed, leaving no room for any other thoughts.
Now was not the time to ponder trivial matters like guild competitions.
And that was also the will of the Seven-headed Dragon.
Jo Gi-man positioned himself in a lotus position and began to mutter a spell.
“…For the time being, assist my clone.”
With those words, a doll that looked exactly like him was created from Jo Gi-man’s body.
*Swish-*
A perfect copy with identical appearance, demeanor, speech, and walk—a true clone spell.
To top it off, it could utilize a staggering 30% of his power, making it indeed worthy of being called a clone.
“…Understood.”
Even while watching Jo Gi-man devour his meal, Jung Joo-in remained largely unfazed. She was, however, somewhat astonished to see Jo Gi-man planning to depart while leaving a clone behind for an extended period.
“What should I do if the Vice Guild Leader notices…?”
“Hmph, even if she realizes it’s a clone, there’s nothing she can do. She’ll probably see it as an opportunity to grow her influence. And since she just got hit hard this time, the probability of her focusing on training for a while is high.”
“Understood…”
As those words passed, Jo Gi-man had already disappeared, leaving only Jung Joo-in to stare blankly at his clone.
The clone met her gaze indifferently and spoke.
“…What are you looking at? Let’s get to work. Jo Gi-man’s loyal pup, Jung Joo-in.”
“…Yes.”
Despite the clone’s dismissive comment, Jung Joo-in narrowed her eyes but quickly responded and left.
* * *
As soon as Yeon-hee met Ah-rin, she launched into discussing the tailing.
Ah-rin clutched her head and displayed a look of utter exasperation when she heard Yeon-hee’s words.
“You’re tired of it too, huh? I’m tired of it too.”
Though it hadn’t been long since she’d been followed, she was already feeling a desire to distance herself from the Ilseom Guild. Of course, excluding Hyeon Joong-gil.
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