‘Should I consider this fortunate?’
The mont my Avatar entered the Otherworld, I lost access to Absolute Dweller’s Eye and Telepathy, just like Park Sae-rom.
However, when I closed my eyes and focused, I could still receive all the sensory information from my Avatar.
That ant I could gather intel without the hassle of recording it on a smartphone.
But I had no way to intervene.
‘So the Shadow Castle was actually a monster.’
A massive shadow monster—that was the true form of what we had assud was a castle.
Without Absolute Dweller’s Eye, I couldn’t determine its exact level, but there was no way it was low.
‘Still, I suppose this is fortunate. It’s not moving.’
I concentrated on my Avatar’s senses, trying to gather more information, but aside from the fact that it was a living being, there wasn’t much to learn.
‘No matter how I look at it, it seems like the only way to escape the Otherworld is to kill that thing…’
But defeating it with just my Avatar seed impossible.
‘Do I have no choice but to wait for the domain to be completed?’
Even as I pondered, Thousand-Mile Vision was constantly feeding more information.
The Otherworld wasn’t only populated by shadow creatures.
There were orcs, goblins, and various other monsters living inside as well.
However, their fate was no different from that of humans.
In front of the shadow monsters, both monsters and humans were nothing more than prey.
‘The ti difference makes everything look like slow motion.’
Since reality moved five tis faster, the visual data coming from my Avatar felt like a scene with special effects.
I watched as an orc embedded a battle axe into a shadow monster, only for the shadow monster’s body to explode, instantly killing the orc.
‘That explosion is the real problem.’
Eventually, Thousand-Mile Vision reached the outer edges of the Otherworld, where a thick black mist spread.
The mist-covered area was larger than I expected, but inside, it was completely empty.
‘The survivor group… Were they the last ones?’
It seed like Song Tae-young’s group, whom Park Sae-rom had encountered, were the last survivors.
‘I thought there would be more.’
Ti inside the Otherworld moved five tis slower than in reality.
That ant even though ten months had passed in reality, it had only been two months inside the Otherworld.
I had assud this would an more survivors, but I had miscalculated.
‘Well, surviving in that environnt is practically a miracle.’
The only reason they had survived was likely because they had realized early on that the shadow monsters were linked to reflective surfaces like mirrors or glass.
After scanning the Otherworld, my Avatar began moving toward Park Sae-rom.
At that mont, I opened my eyes and imdiately started recording.
"Unexpectedly, my senses are still being shared in real-ti. So if you need anything, just say it on the spot. I’ll send supplies directly into the inventory."
For now, there didn’t seem to be anything urgently needed.
I had already supplied Park Sae-rom with food and essential items.
Besides—
"I’m going to start building the domain right now."
Oh Eon-ju’s title was Count.
Her domain radius would be 5km, and it would take five days to complete.
Which ant—
"Just hold out for one day."
If they survived in the Otherworld for just one day, the domain outside would be complete.
"One day is all you need to hold out."
Once the domain was built, I would be able to enter the Otherworld personally, instead of just through my Avatar.
At that mont—
[Citizen Park Sae-rom's Trust has increased.]
[Citizen Park Sae-rom's Trust has reached 100.]
[Acquired Shadow Manipulation.]
"…Huh?"
Since I wasn’t fully focused on my Avatar’s senses, I wasn’t sure exactly what had happened.
Had she been moved by the fact that I had co for her personally?
‘Either way, this is great.’
Anywhere else, her new ability wouldn’t have been that useful.
But here, it would be an incredible asset.
After storing the recorded video in my Avatar’s inventory, I imdiately began preparations for domain construction.
First, I summoned back Teams 5 through 8, who had been hunting monsters in Gyeonggi Province.
Originally, I had planned to mobilize hunting teams as well, but there were already forty-eight retainers assigned to hunting.
That alone was enough.
Moreover—
Jung So-ra and Cha Hyeon-seung were among them.
Jung So-ra’s spirit army and Cha Hyeon-seung’s beast army were massive forces by themselves.
Additionally, Cha Hyeon-seung’s group included eight beastn retainers.
Until now, Cha Hyeon-seung and the beast retainers had been part of Team 6, led by Kang Deok-su.
The reason Cha Hyeon-seung hadn’t been made team leader was because his title was only Knight—a rank that couldn’t possess a domain.
So Kang Deok-su had been assigned as the official leader instead.
But now, there was no reason for them to remain in Team 6, so I restructured the teams.
At the sa ti, I relocated myself to Gwangju’s forward base.
While using Thousand-Mile Vision to scan the surroundings, I took every precaution to prevent unexpected threats.
[You will now eliminate as many monsters as possible in this area. However, there is one thing to be careful of.]
After thoroughly explaining the dangers of the Otherworld and its boundary, I initiated the main operation.
The forty-eight retainers, each boasting monstrous abilities, began hunting in earnest.
The surrounding monsters were swiftly exterminated.
Once the area was sufficiently cleared, I turned to Oh Eon-ju.
"Are you ready?"
Oh Eon-ju nodded with a solemn expression.
"Then, let’s begin."
"…Phew. Okay."
Without hesitation, I began construction.
[The Count's Domain requires a citizen with a title of Count or higher for the five-day construction period.]
[Do you want to proceed with construction?]
[Yes / No]
‘Yes.’
[50,000,000,000 won will be consud.]
[Construction of Count’s Domain has begun.]
[Ti remaining until completion:]
- 119 hours 59 minutes 59 seconds
The mont the domain construction started, Oh Eon-ju groaned in pain.
Woooom!
However, as much as she suffered, the safe zone steadily expanded.
The retainers also increased their hunting speed accordingly.
Ti passed rapidly.
Thanks to everyone’s efforts, the process went smoothly.
And then—
Exactly one day later—
A crisis erupted.
The mont the expanding domain touched the boundary of the Otherworld—
The massive creature at the center of the Otherworld—
That thing which had remained completely still—
Started moving.
***
Reuniting with Park Sae-rom was easy.
Just like Teleportation, Thousand-Mile Vision also synergized well with my abilities.
As long as I had a "view", I could move anywhere.
Of course, teleporting over long distances drained my ntal energy, but a few kiloters was no problem.
‘Still, I’m starting to feel a little tired.’
It made realize just how ridiculously high my main body’s ntal power actually was.
Even with the restriction of only operating within my domain, my real self could teleport tens of kiloters without even feeling the drain.
‘This is frustrating.’
It felt like I had been swimming in the open ocean, only to be suddenly trapped in a cheap motel bathtub.
The difference in ntal capacity between my real body and my Avatar was that extre.
"J-Jaehyun-nim?"
"Hello, Sae-rom."
Park Sae-rom looked completely stunned as she stamred,
"J-Jaehyun-nim, why are you here…? D-Don't tell you ca to rescue —"
"No. I'm trapped too."
"…What?"
Her face instantly paled.
"Don't worry too much. I still don’t know the exact way out of here, but I have a good idea."
"O-oh, of course! That makes sense. Phew…"
"More importantly, there are a lot of people here who need imdiate treatnt."
At my words, her expression darkened.
"I did my best, but… there was only so much I could do with my abilities."
"You did well."
"…Huh?"
Ignoring her confused expression, I approached the most critically injured survivors.
Then—
Wooooong—
I spread World Tree’s Vitality over them.
A green glow washed over the dirty ergency stairwell.
Those suffering from severe dehydration, those whose bodies were failing despite IV treatnt, those whose minor wounds had beco infected, screaming in pain—
All of them were enveloped in the warm green light.
And then, their conditions began improving rapidly.
It didn’t take long at all.
A few deep breaths later, the people who had been on the verge of death opened their eyes.
"Huh?"
"Honey!"
"Mom! Mom! Are you awake?!"
The desperate final goodbyes of those preparing for death turned into tearful reunions.
Huuuuk…
Soft sobbing echoed from all around.
The crying spread like an infection, rippling outward.
"I'm so glad… hngh… I'm so glad…"
Watching the scene, Park Sae-rom murmured bitterly,
"…Jaehyun-nim, you really are incredible. I… I couldn’t do anything."
The stairwell was completely engulfed in darkness, but with Clairvoyance, I could clearly see her face.
"Don’t make that expression."
"…Huh?"
"These people were saved by you."
"…What?"
She looked at in complete disbelief.
I explained.
"If not for your first aid, so of them wouldn’t have lasted until I arrived. You saved their lives, Sae-rom. Every desperate action you took mattered."
"…!"
At that mont—
[Citizen Park Sae-rom’s Trust has increased.]
[Citizen Park Sae-rom’s Trust has reached 100.]
[Acquired: Shadow Manipulation.]
I couldn’t see the notification, but I knew for certain that my main body was seeing it right now.
Because—
‘My abilities just increased.’
A strange sensation made check my status window—
And there it was. A new awakened ability: Shadow Manipulation.
"…Thank you for the encouragent. Jaehyun-nim, you really are amazing."
Shortly after, I checked the recorded video stored in my Avatar’s Inventory.
Watching soone who looked exactly like speak to felt…
"…God, this is embarrassing."
How did pre-apocalypse YouTubers edit their own faces into videos every day?
Seriously, they deserved so respect.
"Anyway…"
There was nothing that the group urgently needed at the mont.
But I wanted to give them sothing—just a small way to comfort them after everything they had endured.
"A bit of alcohol and at. That should do. Make sure the at is freshly grilled."
Since they had been healed with World Tree’s Vitality, eating greasy food wouldn’t be a problem.
‘And we just need to hold out for one day.’
That wasn't too difficult.
Even if the shadow creatures ca, I was confident I could hold out for a full day alone.
…As long as that monster didn’t show up.
So we spent the ti drinking and eating, getting to know each other.
They were better people than I expected.
I didn’t drink too much—I had to be prepared for the worst.
Though I was hoping it wouldn’t co to that.
Kugugugugu—
The first sign was a faint tremor.
"Jaehyun-nim, what was that…?"
Park Sae-rom and I were the first to notice the change.
And then—
Kugugugugugu—
A second tremor.
Stronger than before.
"Uhh?"
"What the hell?"
The sleeping survivors began waking up, one by one.
‘Thousand-Mile Vision.’
Just in case, I activated it.
And then—
‘…Damn it.’
BOOOOOOOOM!
The Shadow Castle—no, the giant shadow monster—
Had started to move.
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