Ch. 220

Chapter 220: Louise’s Circumstances (2)

Hyun pressed Louise with a few more questions.

「So they haven’t realized you’re Darkness?」

「…Probably?」

「Makes sense.」

Come to think of it, Louise’s true self had only been exposed to the world twice.

The first was in Iluna as the Priestess. The second was in the Land of Darkness, as Darkness itself!

However, in the Land of Darkness, she had taken the form of a vampire blanketed entirely in demonic energy. From the NPCs’ perspective, connecting those two dots was far from simple. On top of that, having spent five years hiding in the Labyrinth, Louise had grown beyond recognition. Her facial features and overall physique had changed so dramatically that almost no NPC would recognize her as Darkness now.

「Phew… So what’s the plan moving forward?」

「First, I must awaken my subordinates who lie sleeping across the world.」

「Do you know where they are?」

「Um, I shall start searching from now on.」

Hyun couldn’t help but sigh at her response. Her plan was completely reckless. If he hadn’t come looking for her, could such a half-baked scheme have ever worked out?

「…I’ll help you search.」

Hyun checked the updated Main Quest once again. A matching notification had popped up for Ain, who had accepted the quest alongside him.

[Main Quest: Preparation for Flight]

• Darkness still desperately craves your assistance.
• Without your help, she may collapse after wandering the surface aimlessly…

「B-But I cannot possibly burden you again…!」

「Cut the empty talk.」

Hyun had already encountered the two golems who served as Louise’s attendants. If he scoured Interloop, he might uncover more entities like them sleeping in hidden corners.

As they exchanged various thoughts, the group finally emerged from the Labyrinth. Thanks to using Famur, who had been curled up in a corner of the 16th floor, they reached the surface in no time. On the way up, they didn’t forget to gather the remaining Legendary materials, either.

「Do you want to wait in the Private Room while I look into it?」

At Hyun’s suggestion, Louise’s expression turned momentary wistful. Memories of the time she had spent in the Private Room flooded back. How wonderful would it be if she could laze around without a care, just like back then?

「I cannot…」

Yet, Louise shook her head, her voice trembling slightly.

「In my current state, I am unable to stay in one place.」

「Why?」

「Dark clouds naturally gather wherever I remain, even without my conscious effort. Perhaps it is an involuntary reaction to block out the sunlight.」

Louise explained that hiding inside the isolated Labyrinth was the only reason she had stayed undetected for so long.

「If a single area becomes blanketed in dark clouds, wouldn’t it draw suspicion even without an oracle?」

「Is even the Private Room off-limits?」

「I am not entirely certain… but I do not wish to take unnecessary risks. Regaining my memories made me realize one thing for sure: nowhere on the surface is a complete shade.」

「Then where will you stay? You don’t have anywhere to go.」

「That is not true. This one has a plan in mind as well.」

‘I doubt it.’

No matter how confidently she spoke, Hyun remained skeptical.

For starters, returning to the Labyrinth was out of the question. With Karma’s death there, forces from the Heavens were bound to investigate. At the same time, no place on the surface seemed as secure as the Labyrinth had been.

If he had to name a safe zone, it would have to be somewhere off the surface altogether.

「Are you planning to head to the Symmetrical World?」

「The Symmetrical World…? Ah, you mean the Underground.」

Louise shook her head at Hyun’s question.

「Hyun, did I not tell you to trust no one? Even the Underground cannot escape the watchful eyes of the Heavens. Over the past five years, the boundary between the surface and the underground has blurred significantly.」

「No, so where on earth are you going to hide?」

「Fufu, I will not hide anywhere.」

Louise flashed a mischievous, rogue-like grin before continuing.

「Before heading to the Heavens, I intend to whittle down the number of divine oracles.」

「Whittle down the oracles? Ah…!」

At that moment, a forgotten fact resurfaced in Hyun’s mind. He recalled the wanted poster of Louise he had spotted back in Knights’ Street.

[The Witch in White]

(Portrait)

This individual trespassed into the Hartia Temple and slaughtered innocent priests… On [Date], killed two security guards at the downstream of Sentinel River and fled… Last sighted on [Date]…

Wields evil gusts of demonic energy; extreme caution advised.

[Bounty: 22,500 Gold]

「For some reason, in my current state, I can feel where the next oracle will descend.」

Hyun understood what she meant. Having failed to achieve full awakening, Louise was laughably weak for a Transcendent. However, her incomplete state came with a unique advantage: despite being a Transcendent, she faced zero restrictions on exercising her power! She didn’t need to consume her Ego or Empathy, nor was her lifespan shaved away like a Deva’s.

「I plan to travel the world for about a month, wiping out the oracles tied to the Light.」

In other words, in her current unawakened state, Louise was the sole Transcendent capable of interfering in the mortal realm without facing penalties. Furthermore, she fully understood her own edge. Through a Transcendent’s intuition, Louise could pinpoint locations where Divine Power converged.

Seeing her sly, clever play, Hyun felt a sense of pride—his guidance had clearly raised her well.

「You…」

「Huh?」

「Change your clothes more often.」

「W-What rudeness! I am around the same age as you now!」

「No, I mean put on a proper disguise before you do anything.」

Recalling the wanted poster, Hyun offered a practical piece of advice. Her current attire matched the portrait on the bounty down to the smallest detail.

「It’s better if I just buy you a few sets of clothes.」

Hyun decided to borrow a trick from Macaron—or rather, Karma. To operate under Pappy’s nose without raising suspicion, multiple sets of clothing would be essential.

He purchased a variety of outfits from the Cash Shop. The wide assortment was stashed directly into Louise’s inventory… or rather, the pouch she carried around with her.

With basic preparations settled, Hyun inquired about Louise’s timeline.

「One month?」

「I am ashamed to ask, but if you assist me, all preparations will be complete in one month.」

「And right after that, we move to the Heavens?」

「Indeed!」

The official Main Quest would kick off in a month as well. Until then, Hyun would be operating separately from Louise.

「Fufu, there is no need to worry about this one. In an emergency, I have this as well.」

Before parting, Louise smiled as she showed him a Return Scroll. She was still registered as a maid of the Shade Guild.

Realizing her intent, Hyun flashed a wry smile and cautioned her.

「Don’t rely blindly on that scroll. There are places where it won’t work—like inside the Labyrinth, for instance.」

Whether due to warped mana currents or specific magic circles, certain locations blocked all forms of teleportation magic.

Hearing that, Louise looked utterly shell-shocked.

「Wait, it doesn’t work inside the Labyrinth?! Why did you not tell me such a critical fact beforehand…?! Does that mean I was in danger for five whole years?!」

「Well, the Labyrinth was still the safest place to be. Just keep it in mind.」

Though Hyun had decided to operate independently from Louise, he wasn’t overly concerned. Darkness and Shadow could sense each other’s presence, and if worst came to worst, he could locate her again using the Orb of Demonic Power.

On top of that, they agreed to meet up in the Private Room on specific dates. Their first rendezvous was set for three days from now.

Fortunately, Louise’s plan didn’t involve anything absurd like raiding temples in major cities. She planned to target only remote, outlying village shrines, so she was unlikely to fall into serious danger.

As their conversation wound down, Louise’s expression turned wistful once more.

「Hyun… say.」

「Yeah?」

「Could you… not come with me?」

Hyun smiled wryly at her request. No matter how much her body had grown, did her personality remain unchanged at core?

Understanding the sentiment behind her words wasn’t difficult, but parting ways for now was the right choice. Moving forward, Louise was no longer the little child she used to be.

「Well, a month from now, we’ll be heading to the Heavens together whether we like it or not.」

「T-That is true…!」

「Don’t push yourself too hard. See you later then. I won’t forget my promise to look for your subordinates.」

And there was one more thing he couldn’t afford to forget.

Flash! Switching the target of his Assimilation, Hyun spoke up.

「Ain, is it fine if we hit the Arena tomorrow?」

By the time they returned from the Labyrinth, time had flown by, and dawn was already breaking. A quick check of his friend list showed that only Ain and Tartar were online. He had no idea what Tartar was up to, but there was no need to pay him much mind anyway.

「It’s way too late today.」

「Uh, y-yeah…?!」

「Didn’t you want to queue for League Matches in the Arena?」

Hyun recalled how Ain had nagged him a few days ago, asking to queue for just a few more matches.

「I didn’t expect you to remember that, Hyun…?」

「So we don’t have to go?」

「Of course we go! Obviously we have to go!」

In an instant, Hyun—who was currently assimilated—flinched.

Ain’s emotions, which had seemed drained after their return from the Labyrinth, suddenly blazed up as if doused in gasoline.

「Should I… skip school tomorrow…?」

Ain’s sudden murmur startled Hyun. Even back in his own high school days, he had never unexcusedly skipped a single class. Was Ain already considering cutting class like this?

「Didn’t you say your vacation is coming up soon?」

「That’s right!」

「Then stop talking nonsense and go to sleep early.」

Before logging off, Ain tossed out a strange question.

「Hyun, you said you aren’t going to hide your identity anymore, right?」

Hyun nodded without giving it much thought. After all, he couldn’t stay in hiding forever. In fact, to give Jini proper leverage, he needed to make his presence known to a certain degree. If he hadn’t gotten tangled up with Louise, he might have registered his ID on the Hall of Fame already.

「So you don’t mind getting famous!」

「If anything, that’s better. Why do you ask?」

「Ah, no… J-Just checking?」

[Player ‘Ain’ has logged out!]

After muttering something incoherent, Ain logged out. Left alone, Hyun’s Assimilation naturally dissolved.

‘What’s up with her?’

Using the lingering residual sensation from the Assimilation, Hyun tried to guess Ain’s intentions. A subtle anxiety crept up inside him—Ain always stuttered right before pulling off something big. Unable to figure out what she was up to no matter how hard he thought, Hyun quickly abandoned the train of thought.

‘She’ll tell me later.’

Back from Labyrinth to Lantern.

When he arrived at the Private Room, no one was inside. Sitting alone on the couch, Hyun opened the menu interface.

The newly upgraded capsule came packed with various features. Displaying both a browser and a document window side-by-side on the screen, Hyun began meticulously reviewing his future plans.

‘Alright, I’ve gathered all the materials Jini asked for!’

Louise heading to the Heavens was set for a month from now. Hyun listed out the tasks he absolutely had to complete before the official Main Quest kicked off.

He had three major goals.

‘First, I need to hit level 200.’

Leveling up was the most obvious, yet most crucial step. How quickly he reached level 200 would dictate the width of his options moving forward. Sitting at level 189 right now, reaching level 200 within five days seemed like a comfortable timeline.

‘Next up is class advancement.’

In the past, clearing class advancement quests took a considerable amount of time. Reaching level 200 as soon as possible was critical precisely because he had no idea what the 2nd Class Advancement Quest would entail.

‘And finally, I need to craft a Legendary item!’

Hyun scanned through the materials he had collected so far. His inventory held top-tier ingredients, including Sherat’s Tail. However, to craft the Legendary weapon he had envisioned, he was still missing one last component.

A Unicorn’s Horn—a magical ingredient obtained from the Sacred Beasts residing in the Heavens.

Up until now, Hyun had easily obtained materials associated with the Abyss, but opportunities to acquire items tied to the Heavens had been rare.

‘I’d buy it no matter the price if it were listed, but it never shows up.’

Hyun clicked his tongue as he searched through the community’s Auction House. Among its functions was the ability to check the last traded price of specific items. Yet, for some reason, the Unicorn’s Horn didn’t even have a record of ever being listed.

‘I don’t recall it being that rare of a material, though.’

Players pushing past level 200 were gradually emerging. Just as Abyss-aligned players were getting entangled with the Duke, top-tier Heavens-aligned players ought to have gotten involved with Devas by now. Thus, it made no sense for Unicorn’s Horns to be completely absent from the market.

‘Could this also be due to the real-world intervention Jini mentioned?’

Real-world organizations had manipulated the market prices of material items before, so the probability of that being the case here seemed high.