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𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟏𝟐𝟎
Whoosh.
Rustle, rustle.
「𝙒𝙤𝙬, 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙞𝙨 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙚𝙡𝙨𝙚.」
I had a similar feeling when I took the Green Cloud Pill, but the intensity was on a whole different level.
My body twitched uncontrollably, and sometimes it felt like someone was hitting my organs and bones with a hammer.
I could easily understand why there were cases of people dying after recklessly taking high-grade elixirs.
“Hoo.”
I let go of it as much as possible, allowing it to flow freely, and with the help of the magic circle I had set up, I took in the energy of the Nine Dragons Pill.
Whoosh.
Snap.
Crack.
At first, I couldn’t control the raging energy, but as I endured, its momentum gradually decreased, and I was able to regain my composure.
「𝙄’𝙫𝙚 𝙖𝙗𝙨𝙤𝙧𝙗𝙚𝙙 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙝𝙖𝙡𝙛 𝙤𝙛 𝙞𝙩.」
As the sun set and darkness fell, I was finally able to absorb all of the elixir’s energy into my body.
“Whew.”
Just like last time, it was still just a matter of transferring the energy into my body, so for a while now, I need to train to make it my own power.
In that sense, training here with Hwang Ji-hak will be of great help.
Rustle.
Thud.
Thud.
“Are you done?”
“. . .Thanks to you.”
Hwang Ji-hak, who felt the energy calming down, came back to me, and I erased all the magic circles I had used and started to return with him.
「𝙈𝙮 𝙫𝙞𝙨𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙞𝙨 𝙘𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙣 𝙪𝙨𝙪𝙖𝙡.」
It’s not that, but my whole body feels much more sensitive than before.
It seemed that my reaction was even more pronounced because I had just taken the elixir.
And in my senses, I detected a place with a strange energy.
“What’s that place?”
“Oh, are you talking about the Solitary Shade hall?”
When I asked a question about a name I had never heard before, Hwang Ji-hak began to explain with a meaningful tone.
“To be honest, I don’t know much either. The family members don’t either.”
“Not even the family?”
“Maybe. The elders might know something. However, in modern times, it’s a place that’s almost forgotten.”
Apparently, it was a rather mysterious space, even for the Hwang family.
“According to a tale of unknown origin, there’s an item sealed inside that our ancestor left for future generations.”
“Then isn’t it an important place?”
“Not really. The elders of each generation have searched every inch of it for a long time, but in the end, they couldn’t find anything.”
So now, the prevailing theory is that the tale is false, or that someone in the past took everything.
This was a story that I was also hearing for the first time.
Not only in the original story but also when I was working as a developer.
「𝙄𝙩 𝙬𝙖𝙨𝙣’𝙩 𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙚𝙙 𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙘𝙞𝙛𝙞𝙘𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙚𝙦𝙪𝙚𝙡 𝙚𝙞𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧.」
In that case, it’s one of three things.
It’s a place with absolutely no meaning, or it’s a place that’s still waiting to appear in a future story, or it’s a place that was added exclusively for Hell difficulty.
Since it was a rather interesting matter, I asked Hwang Ji-hak for his understanding and decided to check out this Hall of the Solitary Shade myself.
“This is it. When you open the entrance, there’s a small space underground.”
“Is it okay if I open it?”
“Sure.”
Creak.
Rumble, rumble.
When I opened the entrance on the ground, a small cave that could barely fit a few people unfolded, just as Hwang Ji-hak had said.
Rather than a treasure vault, it felt like a simple attic storage room.
「𝙃𝙪𝙝?」
In the midst of all this, something strange caught my eye.
Since the entrance was on the ground, light should have come in when the door was opened, but strangely, not even a tiny bit of light was able to enter the inside.
When I noticed that, Hwang Ji-hak, who was beside me, added an explanation.
“Natural light doesn’t affect the inside. However, strangely, the inside can be seen with the naked eye. The reason that the legend I mentioned wasn’t dismissed as a mere rumor was because of this trait.”
In short, it seemed like there was something there, but in the end, nothing was found, and this place was forgotten by the family.
“Should we go in and take a look?”
“Of course. Like I said, no one cares about it now.”
Even the elders who said that they didn’t care hadn’t found anything, so it was probably a mistake, but my intuition as a player was telling me that something was dormant here.
「𝙒𝙚𝙡𝙡, 𝙞𝙛 𝙣𝙤𝙩, 𝙬𝙝𝙮 𝙬𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙘𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙨𝙪𝙘𝙝 𝙖 𝙪𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙘𝙚?」
Moreover, they went so far as to magically block any light from coming in.
Creak.
Thud.
Creak.
I slowly pushed open the entrance and stepped into the cave, using all my spiritual power and detection spells to search the area.
However, I still couldn’t find anything unusual.
「𝙒𝙚𝙡𝙡, 𝙞𝙛 𝙞𝙩 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙗𝙚 𝙛𝙞𝙜𝙪𝙧𝙚𝙙 𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙚𝙭𝙩𝙚𝙣𝙩, 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙝𝙞𝙜𝙝-𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙚𝙭𝙤𝙧𝙘𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙛𝙖𝙢𝙞𝙡𝙮 𝙬𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙨𝙤𝙡𝙫𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙚𝙘𝙧𝙚𝙩 𝙡𝙤𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙜𝙤.」
Far from being disappointed, I saw this as a new beginning.
It wasn’t that I disregarded the elders, but I had overwhelmingly more knowledge in this area than they did.
Whew.
In this situation, I began to test each of the effective spells and surmised the series of spells applied here.
I tried most of what I knew, but unfortunately, there were no results.
「𝙄𝙨 𝙞𝙩 𝙞𝙢𝙥𝙤𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙗𝙡𝙚 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙡𝙡𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙡𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙡?」
However, since there wasn’t even a reaction, that probably wasn’t the problem.
I could tell from the fact that the high-ranking exorcists of the family had failed time and time again. Among them, there must have been those who could use advanced detection spells or even higher.
「𝙄𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙘𝙖𝙨𝙚, 𝙄’𝙡𝙡 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙚 𝙢𝙮 𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙖𝙘𝙝.」
Of all the things I’ve figured out so far, the strangest thing was definitely the light.
It was clear that all light from outside was blocked, but from the inside, you could see the surrounding scenery without any problems.
There was already a contradiction here.
「. . . . . . .」
Thinking about it carefully, when I used various spells a little while ago, the spread of light caused by spiritual power didn’t affect the inside of the room.
After testing it a few more times, I was finally able to come to a conclusion about the secret.
「𝙄𝙩 𝙨𝙚𝙚𝙢𝙨 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙘𝙚𝙣𝙚𝙧𝙮 𝙄’𝙢 𝙨𝙚𝙚𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙞𝙣𝙨𝙞𝙙𝙚 𝙧𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙞𝙨𝙣’𝙩 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙡.」
Another space was completely overlaid, so whether I lit a fire or the sun was shining, the scenery in my sight wouldn’t have changed.
In that case, there was someone I could borrow power from in this situation.
I summoned the name of a shikigami that had been in the shadows, gathering spiritual power.
“Sahwanjae.”
It was Sahwanjae, the demon yokai who had caused the disappearance of many people at Do-hwa-won last time.
Swish.
Poof!
『. . .Screech.』
Since it had already been completely subdued before I came out of the Eternal Labyrinth, it wasn’t difficult to make it my shikigami.
However, the yokai’s spells were so complicated and its combat ability was so poor that it hadn’t been of any use until now.
「𝙄𝙩 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙣 𝙙𝙚𝙛𝙞𝙚𝙙 𝙢𝙮 𝙤𝙧𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙗𝙚𝙘𝙖𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙞𝙩𝙨 𝙡𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙡 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙝𝙞𝙜𝙝.」
It was a pain in the neck, but after being constantly harassed by Ggong-sam-yi, it was now completely exhausted.
Just by looking at its drooping body and tired face, it was clear that the yokai no longer had the will to resist me.
“Sahwanjae, use your spells to search the area.”
『Screech.』
Whoosh.
Sahwanjae moved clumsily inside the cave and began to use its unique spatial spells.
As a yokai called a mirror demon, it must have been an expert in this kind of spell.
Sure enough, after moving around for a while, Sahwanjae turned its head and signaled to me.
『Screech.』
The place it was pointing to was the bottom of the front end of the cave.
Nothing could be felt from the outside, but since the yokai had said so, there must be some magical significance.
“Can you affect this space with your spells?”
Sahwanjae, who had been radiating its magic power here and there for a moment, shook its head as if to say no.
Since this was a space that the ancestor of the Hwang family had been involved in, it seemed that a spell of a higher level than Sahwanjae’s was spread inside the cave.
So now, it was my turn to solve the puzzle again.
“Good work. Now go in.”
『Screech.』
Swish.
Poof.
「. . .𝙄𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜.」
The spell that was spread out was spatial. And it couldn’t be dispelled by ordinary means.
Judging from the fact that Sahwanjae had pointed to a specific spot, it was highly likely that something special had to be cleared starting from that point.
「𝘿𝙤𝙚𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙖𝙡𝙨𝙤 𝙧𝙚𝙦𝙪𝙞𝙧𝙚 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙙 𝙤𝙛 𝙠𝙚𝙮?」
If it was in the form of an item, there was nothing I could do.
As I was lost in thought with no progress, Hwang Ji-hak, who had been watching the situation from above the cave, followed me inside.
“. . .Did you find something strange?”
“Sahwanjae reacted. The demon yokai I fought at Do-hwa-won last time.”
“The one who messed with space and created unknown passageways? That’s definitely interesting.”
Hwang Ji-hak, who had been deep in thought after hearing my words, gave me another piece of information with a slightly vague expression after a while.
“Come to think of it, there was also this in the tale. It said that the one who brings light to the Solitary Shade hall will become the owner of the item.”
“. . . . . . .”
If that’s true, I can probably guess what the condition is.
Can’t I just somehow shine light into this space?
In fact, there was a spell that came to mind that could do that.
「𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙃𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙜 𝙛𝙖𝙢𝙞𝙡𝙮’𝙨 𝙪𝙣𝙞𝙦𝙪𝙚 𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙡𝙡, 𝘿𝙤𝙝𝙬𝙖𝙜𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙜.」
A body strengthening spell that converts the spiritual power in the body into life energy, increasing recovery and defense.
When it’s deployed, the caster’s body is covered in a faint golden light and radiates light into the surroundings.
Dohwagwang was a spell that had been passed down from quite a long time ago, so it definitely seemed possible.
However, there was still one thing that bothered me.
「𝘼𝙡𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝 𝙤𝙣𝙡𝙮 𝙖 𝙛𝙚𝙬 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙛𝙖𝙢𝙞𝙡𝙮 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙛𝙖𝙢𝙞𝙡𝙞𝙖𝙧 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙞𝙩, 𝙬𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙𝙣’𝙩 𝙝𝙖𝙡𝙛 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙚𝙡𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙗𝙚 𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙞𝙩?」
If that was the key to unlocking the secret, there’s no way that the elders of those many generations wouldn’t have found anything here.
「. . . . . . .」
At that moment, a hypothesis pierced through my mind.
「𝙒𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙨𝙖𝙮 𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙧, 𝙬𝙝𝙞𝙘𝙝 𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙧 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙧𝙚𝙛𝙚𝙧𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙤 𝙚𝙭𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙡𝙮?」
Come to think of it, that’s right. People in this era wouldn’t know, but there’s actually one secret in the origins of the Three Great Houses: the Cheong family, the Baek family, and the Hwang family.
That is, the two families other than the Cheong family were originally forces that were no different from the Cheong family.
「𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝘾𝙝𝙚𝙤𝙣𝙜 𝙛𝙖𝙢𝙞𝙡𝙮 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙘𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙨𝙩, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙨𝙚 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙚𝙭𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙞𝙣 𝙞𝙩𝙨 𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙡𝙮 𝙙𝙖𝙮𝙨 𝙗𝙧𝙤𝙠𝙚 𝙖𝙬𝙖𝙮 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙚𝙖𝙘𝙝 𝙛𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙬𝙤 𝙛𝙖𝙢𝙞𝙡𝙞𝙚𝙨.」
If the ancestor who created this Hall of the Solitary Shade was referring to the founder of the Hwang family, then the spells he used at that time were probably rooted in the Cheong family.
In other words.
「𝙏𝙤 𝙗𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙠 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙚𝙖𝙡, 𝙄 𝙢𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙣𝙚𝙚𝙙 𝙖 𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙡𝙡 𝙪𝙣𝙞𝙦𝙪𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝘾𝙝𝙚𝙤𝙣𝙜 𝙛𝙖𝙢𝙞𝙡𝙮, 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙃𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙜 𝙛𝙖𝙢𝙞𝙡𝙮.」
And I knew of one spell unique to the Cheong family that fit the description of bringing light in the tale and was probably the origin of Dohwagwang.
「𝘼𝙣 𝙖𝙙𝙫𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚𝙙 𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙡𝙡 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙨𝙪𝙢𝙚𝙨 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙤𝙣𝙚’𝙨 𝙤𝙬𝙣 𝙡𝙞𝙛𝙚 𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙘𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙪𝙢𝙢𝙤𝙣 𝙥𝙤𝙬𝙚𝙧𝙛𝙪𝙡 𝙮𝙖𝙣𝙜 𝙚𝙣𝙚𝙧𝙜𝙮 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙧𝙚𝙥𝙚𝙡 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙙𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙣𝙚𝙜𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙫𝙞𝙩𝙮.」
That was the key to unlocking the secret of this Solitary Shade hall.