TL: Hanguk
PR: MiniPixelZ
<Nyamyok>
“Guys, Mommy’s here!”
Hiren, who had arrived at Eryon Castle, shouted. Toward her collections.
Inside the giant circular prison, Hiren’s young collections, dressed in high-quality clothes, stared at her with anxious eyes.
“Mehaha. Where should I put my baby?”
Hiren, enjoying the looks in their eyes, slowly walked around the prison, pondering where to place Paespaes.
Being anxious meant they were still alive.
She was respected by everyone and had a happy family and lived a normal, joyful life, but that period was too short.
A sudden accident.
From that accident, Hiren lost both her husband and child at the same time, receiving a tremendous shock and losing her sanity.
It would have been better if she could seek revenge, but it was merely an unfortunate accident.
Afterward, though she seemed to regain her mind, Hiren developed a strange compulsion to collect.
She started gathering young beings.
She tried to fill the sense of loss from losing her child by raising other things.
At first, she started by raising sprouts or baby animals, but though the emptiness seemed briefly filled, it only grew bigger.
And Hiren, as if addicted, began to capture all young beings, regardless of their species, to fill her emptiness.
Thus, Hiren captured all young life existing in <Nyamyok>.
When she could no longer fill the void and was in agony, she discovered Paespaes.
“Mehaha. This spot looks good for my baby to rest.”
Hiren laughed pleasantly as she put Paespaes in prison.
However,
“…….”
Hiren’s expression hardened as she turned her back. The void that had been briefly filled instantly expanded again, leaving her empty once more.
-Kuhkuhkuk. Let’s find a new collection. It was a little better this time. Next time, it will be even better.
“Yes.”
The endless emptiness again created a giant void and demanded a new sacrifice.
And then,
Sejun-nim… I am scared…
Paespaes, barely conscious, trembled in terror.
Because he saw corruption, grotesque with randomly attached facial features, emerge from Hiren’s shadow, whisper into her ear, and slowly consume her body.
Sejun-nim, please… come and save me quickly…
Just as Paespaes’ consciousness began to blur again,
-Kuhkuhkuk. You saw, huh?
Sssup.
The corruption licked its lips with its tongue while looking at Paespaes.
***
“Kyoot kyoot kyoot. Sejun-nim, over there!”
Iona pointed toward the massive white castle.
And then,
“Puhuhut. Chairman Park, my front paw is being pulled, meow!”
Theo also raised his front paw and shouted.
“Really?!”
As expected, Paespaes must be here looking for treasure!
Sejun became convinced by their words.
Feeling reassured, Sejun.
However,
No. If it were Paespaes’ hearing, he would have come to find me upon hearing my voice.
He soon began to worry again.
Thus, Sejun and his party arrived at Eryon Castle, worried about Paespaes.
Guuu…
What greeted them was twenty black mud humans wearing aprons.
[Minions of the Abyss]
More precisely, they were minions created to care for the young beings imprisoned by Hiren. In short, they were workers handling miscellaneous chores.
“Hehehe. Speaking of minions, I, Park Sejun also have them. Come forth! Shadow Minions!”
Seeing that, Sejun summoned his own shadow minions.
Sejun could afford to be relaxed because Iona had confirmed Paespaes’ life status through magic.
He’s safe after all! I knew it! Worrying about others really is pointless!
Thus, he was even more excited than usual.
Srrk.
From Sejun’s shadow, 200 shadow minions arose, each possessing 5% of Sejun’s stats.
As Sejun’s magic power increased, the number of minions he could summon also greatly expanded.
→ A shadow minion mimicking the Black Tower’s Tower farmer, Park Sejun.
→ Stats: Strength (7755) Stamina (7293) Agility (7214) Magic Power (7581)
→ Unique Skill: Son of Darkness (Master)
→ The shadow minion will disappear in three days. (When it disappears, it will report everything it has seen and heard to its master.)
Their specs could easily destroy level 1 worlds, but
“Guys, hang in there! Hey! You’re just getting hit?! You should dodge that!”
“Puhuhut. Chairman Park’s shadows are too weak, meow!”
“Kyoot kyoot kyoot. Sejun-nim, should I cast a shield spell?”
Kueng!
[Dad’s shadows are trying hard!]
Kihihit. Kking! Kking?
[Hehe. How can the butler’s shadows be strong when the butler is a sunfish! Should the great Blackie help out?]
They were being one-sidedly beaten by the workers of Hiren, a hero from a level 9 world.
“Why are the guards this strong?!”
Sejun could not think of them as mere workers, even with aprons on.
No, he did not want to think so. It hurt his pride less to think they were guards rather than just workers.
Thus, the 200 versus 20 battle ended with Sejun’s defeat.
Still, with 100 of Sejun’s shadow minions ganging up, they managed to take down one Minion of the Abyss.
“Hehehe. Still, we took down one, so doesn’t that mean we won?”
While Sejun was engaging in such mental gymnastics,
“Puhuhut. This is revenge for Chairman Park’s shadows, meow!”
“Kyoot kyoot kyoot. It was so frustrating! Power of fire….”
Kueng!
[They hit Dad’s shadow! Cuengi will punish them!]
The companions defeated the Minions of the Abyss.
Kihihit. Kking!
[Hehe. The great Blackie does not want to get muddy!]
Thud.
Blackie headbutted a Minion of the Abyss, canceling their summoning.
“Now, let’s go find Paespaes.”
As Sejun and his companions prepared to enter the castle after defeating the Minions of the Abyss,
“How dare you trespass into my castle, Hiren’s castle?! Who are you?!”
Hiren, having sensed something wrong with her minions, appeared.
And then,
“Mehaha. Such cute collections.”
She looked at Sejun and his companions with greedy eyes.
However,
“You and you, the ugly ones, get lost!”
“What?!”
“Meow?!”
Hiren pointed coldly at Sejun and Theo. There was no greed in her eyes when she looked at them.
104.28.193.250
Sejun, being officially ugly and not looking young on the outside, and Theo… was considered ugly by cat standards. He was an ugly cat.
It was no wonder Theo got rejected after confessing in Granier.
However,
“You’re calling me ugly?!”
“Haak! Chairman Park may be ugly, but not me, meow!”
The two could not accept it.
But there was someone even angrier.
How dare you call my Theo-nim ugly?!
“Kyoo—kyoo—kyoo—kyoo—kyoo—kyoo—kyoo—”
Goooo.
Iona, extremely furious, began gathering her magic power.
The fury of a wizard connected to eight streams of magic power.
One of the nine streams of magic had vanished, and the Grand Magic Stream that Sejun had cultivated could not be handled by anyone.
Being connected to eight streams of magic power meant she had reached the pinnacle among current wizards.
“Power of the dimension….”
Iona cast her ultimate magic.
“Parallel World.”
A magic that temporarily traps the opponent and herself in the same timeline but a different space.
The reason she used such a spell was…
“Power of meteors… Meteor Shower!”
Boom!
To beat Hiren properly.
Until now, she had restrained herself because she was worried about Sejun getting hurt, and to maintain her image in front of Theo.
“Heuk! Abyss Barrier! Abyss Cloud! Abyss Arrow!”
Hiren repeatedly used skills to block Iona’s attacks, but
“Power of gravity… Black Hole.”
“Heuk!”
“Meteor Shower!”
Iona skillfully layered her magic so that Hiren could barely endure.
“How dare you! Do you know how handsome my Theo-nim is!!!”
Iona vented all her anger onto Hiren.
While Iona was beating Hiren,
“Paespaes!”
“Paespaes, where are you, meow?!”
Kueng?!
[Where is Paespaes?!]
Kking~!
[Paespaes hyung~!]
Sejun and his companions searched for Paespaes.
Cuengi and Blackie tried to find him by smell, but the ventilation system inside the prison was so good that they could not catch the scent.
“What is all this? Guys, come out.”
Sejun used Theo’s dragon claws to cut the locks and release the young beings trapped in the prison while looking for Paespaes.
However,
“I won’t go out!”
“I’ll stay here!”
Bang!
Even when Sejun opened the prison doors, some children refused to come out and closed the doors again.
They were the catfolk children, residents of <Nyamyok>.
In truth, <Nyamyok> had suffered a catastrophic disaster and was nearly annihilated.
And these children had entered Hiren’s territory voluntarily. To survive.
The anxious looks the children in the prison had given Hiren earlier were not out of fear of her, but out of fear that they might be kicked out of this place.
“Uh… okay. Then stay here.”
Sejun, feeling oddly like he had become the bad guy, continued to search for Paespaes.
“Paespaes!”
At that moment,
“Um… are you looking for a golden bat by any chance?”
One of the children asked Sejun.
“Yes. Do you know where?”
“Yes. Hiren-nim put him over there earlier.”
“Thank you. Here’s something in return.”
Sejun handed the child some roasted and dried sweet potatoes.
Kking! Kking!
[Butler! No! That’s only for the great Blackie!]
Blackie protested vehemently, but
“Here. You worked hard too, Blackie. One for you.”
Kihihit.
Chomp. Chomp. Chomp.
The moment Sejun gave him a piece of the sweet potato, the protests vanished as if by magic.
“Paespaes….”
Sejun cautiously approached the prison where Paespaes was trapped and called out to him gently.
Seeing Paespaes trembling in shackles reminded Sejun of their first meeting and made his heart ache.
Clink.
Sejun carefully cut the lock on the prison and opened the door.
Then,
Swish.
He carefully wrapped Paespaes in his hands and took him out.
Clink.
He used Theo’s dragon claws to cut the shackles on Paespaes.
At that moment,
(Pip… Sejun-nim…?)
Paespaes regained consciousness.
“Yes, it’s me. Paespaes, are you okay?!”
(Behehehe… yes…)
Paespaes forced a laugh as he answered Sejun’s question. Trying hard to act cheerful only made Sejun feel even more sorry.
“Paespaes, you don’t have to smile if you’re having a hard time. It’s okay.”
(…Pip-pip… yes…)
At Sejun’s words, Paespaes answered weakly. Though his voice lacked energy, he looked much more at ease.
Then,
Kuehehehe. Kueng?!
[Hehehe. Paespaes, are you okay?!]
Kihihit. Kking?!
[Hehe. Paespaes hyung, are you okay?!]
Cuengi and Blackie asked about Paespaes’ condition.
However, as they stuck their heads in close, they created a shadow over Paespaes.
(Pip-pip! I don’t like darkness! I’m scared!)
Tremble, tremble.
Paespaes began to shake again in fear.
His trauma had worsened, and now even darkness had become a trigger for him.
“Paespaes, darkness is not something to be afraid of. And you actually like the dark.”
Sejun lifted Paespaes high to remove the shadow and spoke calmly.
(Pip. I like the dark?)
“Of course.”
You are nocturnal, Paespaes. (TL: Insert “You are a wizard, Harry” Meme)
“It’s just that the bad memories are making the dark feel unpleasant. Let’s practice getting friendly with the darkness again. I’ll help you.”
(Behehehe. Yes.)
Reassured by Sejun’s words, Paespaes smiled genuinely.
And then,
Fwoosh.
Paespaes’ body began to glow. With a black light.
Ssssh.
Though hidden by the black light, the faint idea left by the Corruption that had worsened Paespaes’ trauma was also burned away.
He is overcoming trauma this easily just because of my words?!
Sejun was taken aback.
He did not realize how important he was to Paespaes.
A short while later.
(Behehehe. Sejun-nim, thank you. Thanks to you, I awakened the power called Child of Darkness!)
Paespaes had obtained the power to become up to ten times stronger within darkness.
Sejun, who could awaken a power with just a few words.
Park Sejun, let me help you awaken too! Wake up!
He thought, just in case, and tried speaking to himself.
……
Of course, it did not work.
At that moment,
(Pip-pip! Sejun-nim, there is corruption here!)
Paespaes suddenly remembered and informed Sejun of the existence of corruption.
“Corruption? Where?”
(Pip! Inside Hiren’s shadow!)
“What?!”
Inside Hiren’s shadow…
“Iona is in danger!”
“Iona is in danger, meow!”
The moment Sejun and Theo realized Iona’s danger,
Boom!
An explosion sound was heard from outside.
*****
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