Chapter: 777
A pitch-black background comes into view.
I tried to see something, but all I could see was nothing—just the thick darkness that enveloped me.
What could this be?
What in the world is this strange background all of a sudden?
Just as I was questioning this unexpected situation…
Ah….
I suddenly realized what was happening, albeit a bit late.
For some reason, it looks like I had my eyes closed.
…Since when have I been holding them shut?
I was pretty sure I was just touching the magic stone a moment ago.
When did it turn into this?
I felt something strange nagging at me.
…Hmm?
I immediately tried to lift my eyelids, but they surprisingly wouldn’t cooperate.
It wasn’t that they were completely immobile, but I had to muster some serious effort to pry my eyes open.
Ugh.
Only then did a familiar ceiling come into focus.
This was the ceiling of the warehouse we had just entered.
This means… I must have been lying down.
What the hell happened?
I couldn’t recall how things became like this.
The last thing I remember was using the Magic Absorption Technique on the magic stone.
At that time, for sure…
It felt like the Magic Absorption was working fine as energy had started gushing from the magic stone.
After that, my memory was a complete blank.
…
What on earth has happened?
First things first, I tried to get up and assess the situation.
At that moment…
Wooof-!
…!
As I placed my hands on the floor to push myself up, I felt a vibration coursing through my body.
The initial source was my heart. A sudden sensation spread through my body in an instant.
…Ugh…
I swallowed back a groan of pain. What the hell is going on now?
Energy was swirling around my body and flowing through my veins.
Feeling something was off, I tried to adjust it.
Crazy…
It felt like I had completely lost control. The energy raged wildly, swirling in every direction.
It was rough and intense.
Fortunately, my body had been strengthened, or else I would have exploded by now!
All I could do was endure the pain.
Ugh… Ugh…
After some prolonged suffering and groaning, bit by bit the pain began to subside.
It wasn’t that the energy had calmed down; the chaotic movements of my body had just slowed. The vibrations from my heart also eased up.
Thanks to that, I could move my body just a little bit.
…Damn it.
Spitting out a curse, I cautiously scanned my body.
There didn’t seem to be any noticeable changes…
Crispy-!
Hmm?
As I tried to move, I felt something on the soles of my feet.
I looked down to check.
What the hell is this?
There were things scattered all over the floor. Something so transparent that you’d miss it if you weren’t paying close attention.
I reached out and picked one up.
The first thing I noticed was its slippery texture.
Though it was a translucent object of unknown origin, I felt like I had seen it somewhere before.
This…
I couldn’t quite place it.
Isn’t that a scale?
It felt similar to the scales of snakes and other such creatures. It looked almost identical.
However, I had never seen scales this transparent, and it was strange that they were all over the ground.
And also…
Where did the magic stone go?
Setting aside these mysterious scales, even the white magic stone that had been sucking up energy was nowhere to be found.
It wasn’t just the white magic stone, either.
Where the hell did the red magic stone go?
Not just the whites, but the red magic stones that had been scattered around were also completely missing.
The white magic stone could’ve vanished as I tried to absorb it. But where did the red one go? Did someone come in while I was out cold?
I don’t see any signs of that at all.
This was all incomprehensible.
I turned my head to take in the scenery.
Suddenly…
Crack.
…!
I felt an unexpected reaction from the scales I was holding in my hand.
Despite being transparent, it felt stable in my grasp, but it crumbled apart in an instant.
Not just what I was holding, but everything that had been lying on the ground disappeared as well.
What the hell is going on…?
It vanished before I could even examine it properly.
This had to be some kind of absurd situation.
What on earth happened while I was out cold?
And why had I lost consciousness in the first place?
Questions flooded my mind.
Yet, what mattered here was…
Did I actually absorb some energy?
Did I manage to take in the energy from the white magic stone?
That was the pressing issue.
The energy that had felt like it was flowing from my body through the earlier pain… it seemed like I had consumed something.
Then, what about my injuries?
I was curious about my body’s condition.
I should have needed at least three months of rest. I had hoped that even if the magic stone affected me, it would take a month or two off that time.
So, before I rolled the dice, I needed to confirm this.
Hmm.
I hesitated for a moment, worried that I might tap into my energy and go berserk again like before.
Though I was concerned…
Still, I can’t just avoid it.
With no other choices, I cautiously began to draw up my energy.
Woosm…
The energy began to flow gently through my veins. Gradually, I started to feel out my body. Thankfully, there was no pain.
Also…
Huh?
As I assessed my condition, my eyes widened in surprise.
I had expected a good reduction in my injuries, but…
I’m completely healed!?
It wasn’t mere reduction; it felt like my body was entirely restored.
No, not just restored; it seemed even better!
Huh?
What on earth is going on here?
Did I undergo some kind of transformation?
While it wasn’t shocking since I had experienced something similar when becoming a dragon…
Did I really just undergo a transformation by consuming the white magic stone?
That was a hard concept for me to swallow.
I lifted my arm and sniffed my clothes.
No bad odor.
The release of waste products is part of the transformation process.
All the impurities inside would escape, soaking my clothes with a foul stench. Yet, I noticed none of that foulness on me.
Maybe I simply don’t accumulate that kind of filth.
Whenever I transformed into a dragon, the impurities built up in my body seemed to be purified on their own.
It’s just like Pajeon jokingly said, my body was “practically flawless.”
So, is it that I underwent transformation, but still, not a whiff of bad odor?
Or could it be that it wasn’t a complete transformation after all?
Whatever it was, it was undeniable that something had changed.
Now betting won’t have much of a benefit, will it?
Since I’d consumed so much upon my return, my energy probably surpassed that of my previous life.
From experience, I knew that once my intake reached a certain level, it only amplified my firepower without actually helping my realm or body.
That much was clear.
…What the heck is going on?
What kind of miraculous occurrence is this?
I couldn’t just celebrate without understanding why.
I clenched my fists a few times and turned my head.
Status was all well and good, but I needed to know how much time had passed.
Squeak.
I opened the warehouse door and stepped outside.
It was still before nightfall.
Though the sunset glimmered faintly, looking at it made me conclude…
If not a full day has passed, then that means time hasn’t moved too much.
It probably wasn’t more than a day or a few at most.
Even my body felt the same. If it had taken that long, I wouldn’t be waking up in the warehouse.
I’d estimate that maybe only an hour or so had gone by.
That’s roughly how much time had passed, at least in my mind.
Then why the sudden fainting episode…?
As I gathered what I needed to know and took a step forward, I suddenly froze.
Ugh.
I raised my hands to cover my head.
It had to be the case.
– That extreme. That extreme-!
– So what I’m saying is…
– Mom! Mom, are you there…!!
– No, well, this time, Yeon-ssi said…
…
Sounds echoed in from all directions.
Not just the sounds, but the sensations were greatly enhanced as well.
Wooosh-!
Wind felt more vivid. I could clearly perceive every texture brushing against my skin.
Feeling this change, I immediately came to a decision.
The aura has grown significantly.
My sense of awareness was much more profound than it had been.
It felt like it had at least doubled.
I quickly redirected my energy to lessen that awareness, as I felt bombarded by too much information.
I felt like I might just explode with the sheer input.
And when the sounds finally subdued and my senses relaxed a bit, I exhaled in relief.
Ha…
I really wondered about the nature of all this.
Did I honestly change this much just from consuming a hundred-level magic stone?
It doesn’t seem like my mastery has expanded. How is my awareness this increased?
The clarity and range had both transformed.
It’s not a bad thing, but…
The broader and deeper my senses, the better.
As a martial artist’s mastery increases, so does their awareness. It develops continuously, creating so many opportunities to use it, and that’s a benefit—but…
I couldn’t understand why it had turned out this way.
I expected my mastery to grow hand in hand with improved awareness.
The fact that only my awareness had grown this significantly seemed odd.
What if my mastery did increase without me realizing?
That couldn’t be right.
I had checked it earlier when assessing my condition while placing my bets.
There was clearly no change in my mastery.
But…
Maybe I should check one more time, just to be safe.
Since I hadn’t been thorough, I subtly moved my hand again as if I had misunderstood previously.
Rather than channeling energy through my body, it was quicker to conjure a flame.
So, the moment I attempted to spark a flame…
…
I wasn’t able to ignite fireworks in the palm of my prepared hand.
Was it because the flames wouldn’t come forth? No, it was quite the opposite.
This… If I release this, I’m going to be in big trouble.
I knew instinctively.
Lighting a fire right now would lead to disaster.
It wasn’t going to harm my body.
But…
I doubt I can control it.
The firepower felt like it would just spiral out of control.
It was this instinct that held me back from unleashing any sparks.
What kind of ridiculous situation is this?
My mastery hasn’t expanded.
But it was clear that my firepower had ramped up drastically.
What sort of nonsense is this?
Even I didn’t have a clue.
But my body confirmed it.
How much had my firepower increased, really?
I wanted to set off fireworks right then, but there was nothing more dangerous than losing control.
Everything around me might go up in flames.
Normally, I’d manage it all to prevent damage from any flames.
Being out of control was akin to letting loose a barrage of real fireworks.
I figured I’d need to find a deserted spot to test this out.
Hmmm…
What in the world had gone on?
I was sure some fortunate event had occurred… and it was infuriating that I had no grasp of what it was.
…If I don’t know, I should start checking things out first.
Exactly, if something had changed, it’d be best to find out.
As I had thought before, I needed to find a place away from people to investigate this.
Just as I began planning to jump forward…
Woosh…
Something caught my eye, snatching at my ankle.
Somebody was approaching.
At first, I thought it was Nahi.
No.
Nahi wouldn’t move so overtly. If she were ever to come, it would be the magic presence that reacted first, not the sounds.
Who could it be? My curiosity didn’t linger too long.
Thud.
Someone landed lightly where I was.
“There you are! I’ve been looking everywhere for you.”
…What do you want?
A middle-aged man appeared with his flowing white hair.
The identity of this person was none other than Namgung Hyung, Woohyuk’s teacher, also known as the Spirit of the Mountain.
His unexpected appearance left me puzzled.
You were searching for me?
Namgung Hyung had been looking for me. That was already odd, but especially the look on Goeseon’s face was exceptionally strange.
I could detect suspicion and pity in his gaze as he looked at me.
There was a complex mix of emotions that were hard to articulate.
What kind of expression is that?
“Goeseon, what brings you here all of a sudden?”
“No, that… uh…”
…?
“There’s something I wanted to ask you first, my lord.”
“Yes.”
“Just how old were you when this happened?”
…Huh?
What kind of question is that?
How old was I when it happened?
I was utterly baffled by the intent behind the question.
…Goeseon, your explanation is quite lacking, don’t you think?
“Well, I mean… Uh… no, I can’t really say… I think it’d be better to go see for yourself first.”
What do you mean by that…?
“Oh, and if you try to run away, Lady Murong asked me to tell you this.”
What are you even saying…?
“She told me to pass on that if you don’t come quickly, she’ll really kill you.”
…
I was completely confused.
I didn’t understand what Goeseon was talking about, and I had no clue about the situation either.
…Let’s go for now.
For the moment, it seemed best to just go along with it.
With that thought, I started moving forward.
Where we arrived, following Goeseon, was none other than the dwelling of the god.
It was a place that Shin-ui had converted into a clinic. It was located where Namgungbia and Wi Seol-ah were staying.
Thanks to that, I was familiar with the area since I came here quite often…
What’s going on?
Unlike usual, there was an unusually high presence here.
Normally, there wouldn’t be more than five people at most.
Right now, it felt like there were over ten.
What could they possibly be doing to gather so many?
“What on earth is happening here?”
I immediately directed my question to Goeseon.
…Hmm. I guess it’s because there’s something interesting happening.
Goeseon languidly answered, as if it was difficult to articulate what he knew.
Meanwhile, the curious stares shot in my direction were particularly unsettling.
What could be going on?
I wondered what was happening inside that warranted such attention.
And what exactly had prompted my summons?
The whole situation was just baffling.
Especially with Murong Hee-ah—who had been actively avoiding me—threatening me to tell her that she’d kill me if I didn’t show up, it didn’t bode well for my chances.
Should I just bail?
Wouldn’t it make sense to ditch the whole thing out of simple curiosity?
My instinct screamed at me to run, but it was already too late.
As soon as I arrived, Goeseon opened the door to the residence. As the door swung open, the situation inside came into view.
A sea of familiar faces.
Of course, there was Shin-ui, the owner of the place, as well as Baekryeon-geom, who I hadn’t seen in ages, and Wi Seol-ah and Namgungbia, who was receiving treatment. Additionally, Dang So-yeol and Murong Hee-ah, who had summoned me, were there too.
…They look mad?
Murong Hee-ah’s expression made it clear they were none too happy.
Even Wi Seol-ah and Dang So-yeol looked unusually irked.
What could have happened to sour their moods so thoroughly?
Surely it couldn’t be me?
Just as I began to sweat nervously, I suddenly saw an unbelievable sight.
Namgungbia was sitting calmly with a child perched on her lap among the irate women.
The child sat casually, appearing youthful, giving off a child-like impression.
My first instinct was shock at a child being on her lap, but the main issue was…
…What’s with that kid?
The child looked strikingly similar to someone I knew.
With a cranky gaze and an impression as if they had received horrendous training.
The cheeks brimming with discontent and the upturned eyes revealed…
…It’s me?
The resemblance was uncanny to the point where it seemed like they copied my childhood likeness.
Am I dreaming?
Just as I was about to rub my eyes and grasp the impossible image…
Ah…
My gaze locked with that younger version of myself nested in Namgungbia’s arms.
In that moment…
…Dad…
What?
The child directed that innocent phrase my way.
All the piercing gazes in the room instantly converged upon me.
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