“Il-wol should definitely make something to wrap around his neck first, right?”
Since other parts are tightly covered by Bone Armor, that seemed like the priority.
“Il-wol’s neck… Hmm… It smells different than when he was a Summoned Creature…”
The smell of a man she had never encountered before…
Thinking about Il-wol’s armor naturally reminded Yeon-hee of Yoon Han-gyeol, and she shook her head vigorously.
“Huh…! No! Calm down! Please!”
Her legs kept kicking at the blanket, and the palm she had taken to cool her flushed cheeks was heating up instead, failing to cool her down.
Then, curiosity struck her again.
What kind of form will Il-wol take tomorrow?
“Ugh… still, it’s more comfortable to transform into my own appearance.”
And upon reflection, she felt a bit teased, wanting to revert it back.
Il-wol, taking on her appearance, somehow felt manageable, so she could scold him thoroughly.
Thinking about it, she felt like their personalities had been a bit different when they transformed yesterday and today. Did they end up resembling the personality of their transformed counterparts? Surely not to that extent.
“Yeon-i—”
The voice of Il-wol echoed in her mind repeatedly, urging them to continue what they were talking about earlier.
“Ah… if Il-wol insists on transforming into that form, I can’t stop him, I guess. Hmmm—”
So she spent quite a while indulging in delusions.
The time limit of her mimicry ability must have already passed. I wonder what Il-wol is doing right now.
“I want to go out…”
Finally, Yeon-hee mustered the courage to step outside.
Creeeak—
Gingerly, she opened the door and peeked outside, thinking she was being cautious.
She saw a stick moving quickly through the gap of the door. Il-wol was currently engaged in swordsmanship training.
Seeing that, Yeon-hee felt a bit more relieved, but at the same time, she also felt a pang of sadness.
“I feel like I’m the only one worrying. How foolish…”
What does Il-wol really think of me? He didn’t choose to become my summoned creature… But he kissed my forehead, didn’t he? Does that blind affection come naturally since he’s bound to me? What about the others?
It really didn’t make sense to be having such thoughts. It would be different if he were a truly living person… Perhaps I’m going crazy.
Anyway, I hope Il-wol can speak soon. I feel like my frustrations would lessen significantly if that happened.
For now, investing steadily in Dominance to fully grasp Il-wol’s status window is the priority.
Who knows, as I raise my Dominance, there might be some unexpected side effects.
‘Maybe Il-wol’s movements will be shared… Or I might even read his mind…’
With those thoughts, she moved her frozen body again.
Creeeak—
Slowly opening the door, Il-wol stopped swinging the stick and stared at Lee Yeon-hee intently.
“Wa, Water! I’m thirsty!”
“Clap, Clap, Clap!”
Creaking— creaking—
Her steps headed for the refrigerator, moving in sync with her arm. Yet, Yeon-hee was oblivious to how ridiculous her actions seemed.
And looking at Yeon-hee, Il-wol was desperately chanting calmness inside.
* * *
When Il-wol and Yeon-hee were breathing in the awkward tension together.
On Fregate Island in the Seychelles Archipelago, on the eastern coast of Africa, a powerful wave exploded incessantly, warping dimensions.
With just one explosion capable of erasing two or three soccer fields in an instant, an immense energy clash was occurring.
The intervals between the explosions gradually increased, and the aerial battles unfolding above the sea only caused the splashing waves to scatter.
In the abnormal space where the echoes of the explosions settled down rapidly, the first to appear was the incarnation of the Seven-headed Dragon, Jo Gi-man.
After a long time, he was engaged in a real battle, and his opponent was the early awakened one, Shayna Laine, from Australia.
As it stood, she was known to have the strongest sense stats among awakened ones in the world.
Ten years ago, she had made a prophecy—or rather, a premonition—of a great calamity soon descending upon China.
Jo Gi-man spoke to her in fairly fluent English.
“Haha— Looks like you’ve also been affected by the singularity? Last time, it didn’t even take a minute.”
As Jo Gi-man babbled incomprehensible things, sounding cheerful, Shayna exploded in anger.
“Damn it! I’ve met all sorts of lunatics, but I’ve never encountered a crazy person like you!”
A stranger appeared out of nowhere in her unique space and challenged her, speaking as if he knew her well. The more infuriating fact was that he was considerably stronger than her.
Although she was not combat type and considered one of the weakest among the early awakened ones, she was undoubtedly a powerhouse who had blocked the ‘First Wave’. Most combat-type S-rank hunters wouldn’t dare to approach her recklessly.
Even more so, this space was her unique domain. Without any proper preparations, he barged in, so surely he was in a severely weakened state.
Yet, despite that, Shayna couldn’t muster a meaningful attack against the man.
‘He’s too fast. What the hell is his stat level for him to move like that?’
Shayna’s back was already drenched in cold sweat. What a nonsensical monster. Would a Great Beast feel like this if it were to transform into a human?
“Shayna… while you’re an important resource, you’re not the absolute key. So, I’m afraid you’re going to have to die today. But rest easy. Living as my nourishment will be quite an exhilarating experience.”
“That’s funny! How can every single word you say be disgusting?”
Despite her desperate situation, Shayna refused to lose hope.
She pushed the realm of her senses she had honed over a lifetime to the extreme.
[Absolute Sense]
A secret skill that finds the optimal path for survival.
‘Show me. The path I must take!’
As she activated her ability, the unique space resonated and created intense waves. Suddenly, the world’s clock began to slow down drastically and soon grew silent, as if it had stopped.
“Huh— Huh— This damn ability is impossible to adapt to.”
Soon, beams of light named possibilities unfolded around her, drawing countless curves as they stretched outward.
Then, among the many branches of future paths, the ones with the least probability of her survival began to disappear quickly.
In that fleeting moment, Jo Gi-man’s mouth curved upward.
“Is that the ability? The Absolute Sense you created to escape like a rat?”
“―!!”
Shayna lost her ability to maintain her expression, revealing panic on her face for the first time. While overcoming the flow of time was one thing, how did he know about her ability?
“Hehehe— That face! I find it amusing every time I see it.”
“What… how…”
She had never spoken the name of her skill aloud, so who the hell was this guy? A god?
While she was in a state of confusion, the countless paths that had stretched out from her mind, softly glowing, were quickly dimming.
Typically, her skill would present dozens of options once activated, but already there were only ten choices left.
9, 8, 7… 3, 2, 1…
“······ Damn it.”
… 0
Surprisingly, the path of survival discovered by [Absolute Sense] was 0.
Unbelievable, but from the moment she faced the monster, the chances of her survival had evaporated.
“… No way… It seems… you… It’s a mad thought, but if that’s the case, it makes sense.”
Clap, clap, clap—
Jo Gi-man, as if he had finally understood, directed his applause towards her.
“Wow— You’ve never caught on to my true identity until now. Have you become more perceptive? That’s incredibly scary! Haha, but you’re out of luck. You may be the eternal second-place prize, but this time, you’ve somehow become the first-place prize. Haha! But don’t worry, I won’t underestimate your value. I know it’s hard to find a delicacy like you.”
Seeing the man licking his lips while gazing at her, Shayna felt a long-lost emotion of fear.
‘A snake… No… a dragon?’
Half of the man’s face, staring at her while drooling, was no longer human in shape.
She quickly simulated all the information she had gathered in her mind. As expected, the conclusion mirrored her earlier intuition.
While feeling terror, she was also overwhelmed by a new kind of thrill. She never expected this one-time gamble in her life to succeed like this.
“How many times was it again…”
“Huh?”
Up until the sixth round, she always absorbed Yoon Han-gyeol first, and since they hadn’t crossed paths at this moment, it was an unusual question.
How many times?
Rarely, Jo Gi-man felt intrigued enough to ask back.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean how many times have I used it? [Absolute Sense] that is.”
“…… This is really intriguing. I thought early awakened ones had fixed values, but this level of change…”
“… I thought so. You are an irregular who has lived a life of repeated iterations. Let me ask again. How many times have I used it? Four times? Five times?”
“…… It was usually said to be under ten times.”
“Heh heh… Just as I thought. If it were the usual route, that would mean you’ve used it two more times.”
“… Is that all you have to say? Then die.”
Jo Gi-man felt that he shouldn’t hear what Shayna was about to say next. So, he decided to stop satisfying his curiosity.
Swoosh—
He raised his hand. A light swipe would have her neck rolling down in no time.
At that moment, unexpectedly, Shayna burst into laughter as if she had a seizure.
“Hahaha—!! Somehow, somehow I felt it would turn out this way! I thought it was an absurd whim! I never expected it to end like this!”
Shayna Laine. One day in January, she suddenly felt an enormous sense of alienation.
It was definitely the kind of sensation one feels when meeting another sense ability user.
An unpleasant feeling, as if tiny bugs were endlessly crawling over her body in the darkness.
Then one thought occurred to her.
‘I have to do something. Otherwise, I’ll face it again.’
What ‘it’ referred to, she wasn’t sure, but her extraordinary skill had risen to a level close to foresight. She had a firm belief that something was going to occur.
Knowing her own abilities very well, she had been enduring the truly dreadful and painful side effects of [Absolute Sense] through training until now.
And timing was perfect; she had awakened an unbelievable capability yesterday, feeling good about it, she had visited this island for a vacation.
‘Did I see this moment…’
At that moment, her intense emotions surged, and she yelled at Jo Gi-man with all her might.
“The number of times I’ve used [Absolute Sense] is 300!! A whopping 300 times, you bastard! Thanks to that, my lifespan has been chopped down, and I barely have any years left to live. But do you know what ability emerged because of that?”
“Y-you crazy woman! What the hell—! What is that ability?”
“I won’t tell you! You idiot!”
Psst—
“What?!”
Before Jo Gi-man could execute his move, dozens of blades manifested above Shayna’s head, grinding her skull to pieces. It was something that transcended the realm of speed, something that he couldn’t catch up to no matter what he did.
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