Chapter 20
“I’m so sorry…I don’t really understand. I’ve never died before…I an, this is the first ti I’ve ever been to a place like this. I’ve never heard of this space existing….”
–……
“So, if it’s not too much trouble to explain….Can I ask you one thing? Is it possible…for to return to my previous location?”
–Ah. Don’t worry about that. You’ll be back soon. In about two minutes, even if you wanted to stay longer, you won’t be able to.”
Perhaps in response to my courteous tone, Dawon answered quite sincerely this ti. If in two minutes I’ll be sent back even if I wanted to stay….Does this an the transportation process is automatic?
In addition, I was both confused and relieved that Seo Dawon, contrary to my expectations, had not bothered to pester into signing a contract.
–By the way, it seems like you’re confident in your ability to run away after these two minutes? I brought you here since you were begging for help, but you’re more relaxed than I thought you’d be.
“Huh?”
–Bae Jaemin and Lim Jisoo were about to chance upon your hiding location. If you return, you’ll return to that exact sa situation….Is that really okay?
What?
I didn’t quite understand what he had said, and my mouth was left ajar. At my stupid face, Seo Dawon kindly explained the situation again, as if he was teaching a child.
–I’ve pulled you into sothing we can call my ‘consciousness.’ In this space, ti flows extrely slowly. So, back in the real world, Lim Jisoo and Bae Jaemin are still on the verge of uncovering your location but have yet to make the actual discovery. Unfortunately, I cannot keep you for a limitless amount of ti in this spatial distortion; I can only continue talking to you like this for two more minutes.
“T-then if I return…I’m going to run into Bae Jaemin and Lim Jisoo?”
–Most likely, yes?
Contrary to his kind and patient explanation, his responses seed aloof.
But, according to his explanation, ti had been extended just before my impending death…It ans that Bae Jaemin is waiting for after my untily return.
If you think about the personalities of the two, as seen in Seo Dawon’s mories…it would be strange to not doubt my own livelihood in this situation. Before they found , hydrochloric acid or so other further trouble, they had these kinds of aningful conversations as well….
Lim Jisoo, who would lt the bodies of the murdered Red Lotus Guild with hydrochloric acid, had a thorough and vigilant personality. I don’t know about Bae Jaemin, but Lim Jisoo was truly a shrewd villain. So, with her cruel and ticulous personality, it was clear that she would try to kill with no regard to any excuses I might make.
Actually, even if I were Lim Jisoo, I would kill myself to stave off further issues in the future. My hiding location was just too suspicious.
I sat down and clutched my head while working through the implications and politics of the situation. At this mont, I recalled the one person that might be able to help overco this crisis.
I eagerly shouted to Seo Dawon, though I had no idea where he could be. “Seo Dawon-nim! Then….Is there no way for to escape safely? Could you return to soplace different….?”
–No. I’m already dead?
Seo Dawon refrained from answering clearly, again. And, as if to tease , he sarcastically added –Now, there’s only 1 minute and 10 seconds left.
I called upon him again, feeling like a ritual summoner talking to a deity through a magic circle. I made up my mind–nothing was going to stop now.
“D-dawon-nim…Then, what if you made a contract with ?”
–A contract?
However, Seo Dawon’s reaction was a far cry from what I had expected.
The contract was the ace up my sleeves, and I thought he’d jump at that chance with glinting eyes….But Seo Dawon responded with a complicated voice, as if he had no expectations nor interest in the matter.
Confused by the unexpected reaction, I hesitatingly stuttered, “I-I’m a Necromancer….” But I got the feeling that Seo Dawon wasn’t particularly listening. His soul seed to disseminate this aura of ‘Oh really? How interesting. But what does that have to do with ?’
What? Doesn’t he want to jump at this chance…..
An idea crossed my brain like a bolt from the blue.
“Why not? You have to get your revenge! It’s not fair!”
I couldn’t let myself die without a struggle, like a mouse or a bird. I blurted out any explanation I could think of, while feeling like I was clinging onto the invisible hem of Seo Dawon’s intangible legs.
–Revenge? But, my revenge has nothing to do with you, right? And, similarly, your death shouldn’t matter to either.
“That’s….”
–And if you wanted to sign a contract with in the first place, you would have imdiately summoned after viewing my mories…I wonder why you suddenly desire that now?
“But, but Seo Dawon-nim had just brought here…”
–Oh this? This was an unintentional intervention. Vengeful spirits are typically sensitive to a Necromancer’s desire–most want to curry their favor for revival. That’s why I brought you here instinctively. Should I call it an accident? If you want, I can send you back right now.
He answered neatly, saying the process was instinctual. But, strangely enough, I could feel a stinging hostility within his flawless explanation. It’s like he’s laughing at for daring to broach the subject of a contract…what did he expect from ?
But no matter how hard I thought, I had no other choice. In the end, I could only helplessly ask again, “Do you really have no desire to sign a contract with ?”
–Why? You’re not sincerely invested in my revenge, right?
“It’s…not that I wasn’t invested…Let explain…I just thought that it was too difficult for at this mont. So…”
–You think it’s impossible to attain revenge with your current power?
“Yes….”
–Then I should ask. If you have neither the ability nor the will to avenge …why should I tie myself to your fate? After I died, I was obsessed with my revenge and even missed the chance to reach nirvana.
His words were reasonable, and I was lost for words for a mont.
I was just too foolish. How stupid of to think I can gamble a ghost’s quest for vengeance with my life! So, I tried again, “No! If you could save my life this ti….! No matter what happens, I WILL avenge you!”
However, Seo Dawon seed to have lost all interest and didn’t even reply. I felt a cold gaze, as if he didn’t care whether or not I would survive on my own power after being flung from this safe space.
“Seo, Seo Dawon-nim! I spoke wrongly! If only you would help just this once….I’ll do my best to help you get even. I-I’ll do anything I can. And you ask , tell to do…I don’t want to die like this. Although I’m so sorry to say I don’t want to die in front of a dead person…Still, I’m so scared. And…And I’m really sorry! I’m going to die a dog’s death…
–…..
“Maybe my life would have aning if I beca a ranker like you….Every day I’ve been ignored and underestimated….It’s the first ti I’ve entered such a Dungeon and I’ve made it all the way here…If I die here, no one will know or tell my mother the news of my death….”
I felt like I was speaking to myself; I felt so unbelievably frustrated. I shut my mouth to calm down for a mont but…suddenly, a flood of tears burst from my eyes. Ah! Fuck! I really needed to fix the habit of crying while frustrated.
Apart from embarrassnt, resentnt deepened within the depths of my heart. To be honest, in this revenge, I’m like a crippled shrimp in a fight between whales. Lim Jisoo, Bae Jaemin, Seo Dawon…my fate–the danger of death–is tied to the swaying whims of people I had nothing to do with just this morning….
Really, this Necromancer is nothing more than a hopeless class. Ah, before this happened, I should have accepted Hong Seung-min sunbae’s advice and left the Hub to take the civil service exam….
There was no end to my pessimistic thoughts, and now I was certain that Seo Dawon would never want to contract with a loser like . When I leave this space, I’ll run into Bae Jaemin…should I just beg Jaemin to spare my life? Ah……All sorts of crazy thoughts began to flood my brain before reality struck .
–Are you finished crying?
Just then, Seo Dawon asked, without hiding the fact that he had been observing all this while. At his words, I almost cursed at him, but I stood still. It would be accurate to say that I didn’t even have the energy to be angry.
In addition, the magic underneath my feet flickered alarmingly. As Seo Dawon said, I would soon be brought out of this space and back to my original location. When I go back, I’ll be right in front of Bae Jaemin, right? I should get on my knees and pray…that’s all that I can do….
Haa…..Fuck it.
Would he spare a stranger when he was soone who could bear to betray a guild mber he had known for several years? Damn. If I knew this would happen, I would have called my mom in the morning.
–Hey. You don’t want to die, right?
Suddenly, Seo Dawon’s voice, full of vigor, could be heard above my head.
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