CHAPTER 15 - Shadow Keeper

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{Kim Dokja POV}

I left the two people and entered the hole with Lee Gilyoung. It was obviously a hole that was dug down in a vertical slope. But as soon as we entered, we could stand as if gravity was in effect.

It was due to the magic power emitted by the Edge of Darkness.

The darkness was so deep that I couldn't see anything, so I could only move forward with Lee Gilyoung. Black ether had the property of absorbing light, making a flashlight meaningless. If Lee Gilyoung's ability Diverse Communication wasn't available, I might have to use coins again.

"Excuse me Hyung."

Lee Gilyoung called out to me.

"Did you do it on purpose?"

"...What?"

"When that uncle grabbed Noona and Ahjussi, you let it go."

I had a moment of hesitation. In the darkness, Lee Gilyoung's fingertips were strange. Before I could ask how he knew, Lee Gilyoung spoke.

"At that time, I was looking at Hyung's face."

He was watching me even in those short moments. A very scary kid. It was no good hiding from a person who was so quick.

"Yes, that's right."

The answer was terrible and a message bomb was set off in my head. Indeed, this was a spectacle for the constellations.

[The constellations of absolute good frown at your cruelty.]

[The constellation Secretive Plotter is pressing you with shining eyes.]

"Why did you do that?"

"Because of the habit of the ground rats."
I decided to answer honestly.

"The ground rats have a habit of keeping their catches in the same place as their treasure. It isn't just food. Many things that seem rare are gathered. For example, an item. However, the paths are so complicated that it can't be found unless I follow their path directly."

Lee Gilyoung was silent for a moment. I continued speaking.

"I expected them to take Han Myungoh. I didn't expect him to grab onto Yoo Sangah."

"Then your purpose isn't to save Noona or Ahjussi, it is the items?"

"Yes. Are you disappointed?"

"Nope."

Lee Gilyoung's small hand gripped my finger tightly.

"Hyung shouldn't lie."

"..."

"If Hyung was such a person, you wouldn't have saved me on the subway. I believe in you."

Lee Gilyoung didn't act like a child but he was still a child. Lee Gilyoung didn't know. To be mature and to be an adult were completely different things.

[Some constellations are touched to tears.]

[200 coins have been sponsored.]

In this world, there were mean adults who would take advantage of such maturity. The hole was longer than I thought and we had to go downwards for quite a long time.

"Hyung."

"Yes."

"Hyung, are you a god?"

"...What?"

"Or the main character?"

Children sometimes asked sharp questions. It was because they lived in a world where stories and reality weren't clearly distinguished. Lee Gilyoung didn't know exactly what his question meant.

"I'm not a main character. Rather, I always envy the main character."

"But you still know something about this world?"

I thought for a moment before replying.

"That's right."

"Then I'll ask you one thing."

"I will answer it if I can."

"Once we clear all these scenarios...can we make a wish?"

"Wish?"

I was a bit confused.

"Usually there is a reward at the end of these stories. At the end of this story, is there something like that?"

In the darkness, Lee Gilyoung's breathing was trembling. Lee Gilyoung's expression when he saw his dead mother suddenly came to mind.

Those who adapted to this world suffered from it in different ways. Some were crazy, some were fanatics and some had irrational optimism.

I was grateful that this place was dark. It was because Lee Gilyoung couldn't see my face right now.

"We are almost there Hyung."

The surrounding black ether was shrinking rapidly. It was evidence that Dark Root was nearby. I tensed up and gripped the thorn.

[A few constellations are holding their breaths.]

I heard the sound of the ground rats somewhere in the ground. As the sound got closer, the sense of space expanded rapidly. I saw a light in the darkness, as if someone had lit a fire.

Then I saw a tattered box beyond that light. The moment I was convinced that I had come to the right place, messages rang in my ears.

[The sub scenario has been updated.]

[You have entered the 'Ground Rat's Treasure Trove.']

Right after Lee Gilyoung discovered the treasure box, I blocked his little mouth.

The world of Ways of Survival was relentless. The constellations enjoyed the adversity of the characters and added obstacles in the scenarios just to fuck with humans.

Things saying 'Catch me!' usually contained traps and even system messages couldn't be trusted.

"The treasure trove doesn't just contain treasures."

[The constellation 'Abyssal Black Flame Dragon' is disappointed.]

Abyssal Black Flame Dragon... He had wanted me to die for a while.

Anyway, I waited. Shortly afterwards, shadows started to emerge around the treasure chest.

It was the ground rats. They brought something through the tunnel, threw it and exchanged information.

Once a certain number of ground rats gathered, the number of lights illuminating the surroundings increased. It was black fire, flames made with black ether.

It was said that this place was the core of Dark Root, which was why it had so much black ether to burn. At that time, someone's voice was heard.

I threw the thorn as hard as I could. The thorn scratched the corner of Han Myungoh's mouth and continued into the darkness.

"Uwaaaaack! What?"

[The constellation 'Prisoner of the Golden Headband' is pleased.]

[100 coins have been sponsored.]

"Dokja-ssi!"

Yoo Sangah called out to me. But I wasn't looking at them.

Across the habitat of the ground rats, the darkness was split apart by the thorn. Then that damned guy came. There was no way it wouldn't be in Dark Root.

['Dark Keeper' could appear!]

[The sub scenario has been updated!]

[Sub scenario 'Kill the Guard' has begun!]

Like slaves surrendering to a king, the terrified ground rats fell to the ground. A dark figure appeared in the dim light. A tentacled monster reminiscent of a god of death.

Lee Gilyoung's complexion deteriorated sharply.

"Oof, Hyung, that..."

"It is okay."

Eventually, Lee Gilyoung fell to the ground and started retching. It wasn't strange.

A lot of pressure was felt just looking at it from afar. The cockroaches crawling around long had their stomachs exploded. Lee Gilyoung, who was connected to the cockroaches, would've suffered considerable mental damage.

"Gilyoung. How many more times can you use Diverse Communication?"

"...I think I can do it one or two more times."

"I understand. Then rest here for a while."

I left Gilyoung leaning against the side and approached Yoo Sangah and Han Myungoh. The panicked Han Myungoh was struggling.

"O-Ohuk! What is this...?"

I took the Swiss knife and cut the branches binding the two of them. I only moved the knife a few times. Then the part of the branch that it touched abruptly corroded and the blade melted away. Yes, this was the power of a demonic species.

"Stay back."

I said while raising a weapon made of the spine of a ground rat.

The grade 7 demon type species, Dark Keeper. Among the many monsters that appeared since the start of the destruction, the demon species were toxic.

In fact, the treasures of the ground rats were close to 'tributes' to the demon. Even if it was the same grade, the demon species were different from other monster species.

[The dark keeper has received the favour of the demon king it follows.]

"Kamyun. Der. Yitur."

The demon species had their own language, worshipped different demon kings and inherited some of the power of the demon king through Dark Root.

[The Dark Keeper has emitted 'Fear.']

[The exclusive skill Fourth Wall has neutralized most of the 'Fear' effect.]

Therefore, killing one demon meant becoming the adversary of their demon king.

"Yitur!"

I didn't know what it was saying but the situation didn't look good. I didn't want to fight if possible.

"M-Mother?"

Yoo Sangah. She still hadn't left?

"I told you to stay back."

"That monster just said 'Mother'..."

I thought for a moment about what this meant. No, wait a minute.

"Uhh, I think...K-Karud, yemiren? Ah, this is the pronunciation? Aketu?"

For a moment, I thought I was mistaken. But I didn't hear wrong.

"Kallitu!"

Surprisingly, the dark keeper nodded at the end.

[The character 'Yoo Sangah' has activated the 'Interpreter Lv. 3 skill.]

...Oh my god, she wasn't only good at Spanish. Let's see what would happen.

"What is he saying?"

"That...it keeps saying 'become Mother'..."

...Become mother? The dark keeper cried out again and pointed to Yoo Sangah.

"Kallitu!"

Yoo Sangah had a tearful face.

"Uh, Mother? I'm not married yet!"

The dark keeper pointed at Han Myungoh this time.

"Kallitu!"

Han Myungoh turned pale as he wiped his mouth.

"W-Why am I the mother? Father!"

The dark keeper's tentacles rose.

One of the tentacles entered his mouth and Han Myungoh turned black. There was the sound of something moving down Han Myungoh's throat.

That's right. This was what it meant to become the mother. I belatedly recalled that the demon species conceived their young in the body of other species.

"Yoo Sangah-ssi, you don't plan to have a child yet, right?"

"Of course!"

Yoo Sangah immediately understood the words and stepped back quickly. I swung the ground rat spear and tore at the tentacles attached to Han Myungoh.

The dark keeper roared angrily.

"Kallituo!"

The tentacles of the demon species were gradually breaking the ground rat spear. Even the stone hog thorn, which broke through the stomach of an ichthyosaur, would've been destroyed the moment it was stuck in a demon's body.

Before I knew it, Han Myungoh was far away while Yoo Sangah looked at me.

「 Is there a chance? 」

Her eyes seemed to be asking me. To tell the truth, I didn't have a chance.

After a few strikes, the ground rat spear was almost destroyed. The hand holding the spear was in pain.

The monster guarding the treasure chest couldn't be caught, just like the ichthyosaur of Dongho Bridge. That's why the original plan wasn't to deal with this monster but to obtain the treasure chest after it disappeared.

But as always, plans existed for things to go wrong.

"Dokkaebi. Are you watching?"

[U-Uh. You knew?]

The dokkaebi showed up in the darkness. I didn't know his name but he seemed to be a cousin of Bihyung.

"There should be some mail for me by now. I want you to hand it over quickly."

[Hihit. It isn't my responsibility. I-It is Bihyung's thing.]

"Right now, you are taking Bihyung's place. Don't you see the constellations complaining?"

[The constellation 'Prisoner of the Golden Headband wants to scold the dokkaebi 'Biryu.']

[The constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire' threatens the dokkaebi 'Biryu'.]

The dokkaebi Biryu gulped.

[...O-Okay. Instead, it is just this once. I think it will be interesting!]

The dokkaebi muttered something and the summoning began.

[The item has arrived from the exchange.]

[The item 'Broken Faith' has been acquired.]

[The brokerage fee was exempted due to the effect of the contract.]

Broken Faith. The item bartered for the 'ichthyosaur core', which was registered on the Dokkaebi Bag' exchange, had finally arrived.

The dark keeper saw the item coming out of thin air and laughed. No wonder it was laughing. All I received was a D grade item. It was a knife broken in half.

[The item is too old to use. The durability will be poor and it will be difficult to achieve any performance.]

Even the dokkaebi who gave him the item was giggling.

[H-How can you fight with that old thing? And it can't be used if you don't have a special skill...]

I knew that much. I wouldn't have bought it if I didn't know.

I sucked in a breath and concentrated my mind.

The hilt started trembling greatly. Biryu shouted with shock.

[Uh? How?]

It was natural to be surprised. It was because this was a skill, I bought from his friend for a huge 10,000 coins. Blue ether started to settle slowly on the surface of the broken blade.

[White Pure Star Energy]

After killing the ichthyosaur, I bought this skill from Bihyung. There were a few flaws compared to other superior energy techniques, but they weren't something that could be obtained for the time being.

[Broken Faith has responded to your star energy!]

[Blade of Faith is activated!]

Shortly afterwards, a brilliant white virtual blade sprang up from the edge of the broken blade.

Broken Faith. Its real performance was revealed when star energy was injected into it.

The number of tentacles increased by dozens and covered my field of view. I wouldn't be safe from these attacks with my current stamina level. It was scary. But now there was a chance.

It was because the Blade of Faith was the best quality weapon when it came to demon species.

The tentacles touched by the blade were oxidized and cut off. The dark keeper let out a terrible scream as its tentacles were destroyed. I felt magic power draining out but I wasn't in a hurry.

I calmly moved the blade.

I missed the tentacles many times because he didn't have the 'Fighting Senses' skill and I didn't have the Swordsmanship Training skill, so the way I wielded the blade was terrible. It was natural. I was a reader, not a swordsman.

And a reader fought in the manner of a reader.

[The attribute effect has improved your memories of the pages already read.]

The pages of Ways of Destruction flashed in my head.

「...The dark keeper's attack pattern is simple. Unconditionally, the tentacle on the upper right will first... 」

「 ...After the attack, a single tentacle at the bottom... 」

「 ...Its tentacles regenerate but it will take a few minutes... 」

The dark keeper shrieked as its tentacles were cut.

On the other side of my field of view was Lee Gilyoung. The young boy looked at me with awed eyes. Unfortunately, unlike his wishes, I wasn't the main character in this world. But I was confident of at least one thing.

"Kar. Mien. Der."

The dark keeper muttered as it barely managed to pull itself together from its shock. I didn't ask but Yoo Sangah muttered from behind me in a quivering voice.

"How do you know all my weaknesses...?"

This was what it meant. I gave an answer in a light manner.

"I usually read a lot of books."

I knew more about this world than anyone else.
_____________________________________________

"Young master-nim I feel something like the dead mana from over there. I can feel it faintly. I think it is quite far or maybe located underground."

"Let's go, maybe we'll get some clues."
They're moving to the direction that Mary pointed out.

- I think I can sense some divine power from that direction too.

Taerang reporting to Alberu.

"There's also some divine power from that direction Dongsaeng."

"Are they fighting each other?"

"I don't know because it is quite far from here."

"Let's get moving."

A gust of wind was surrounding Cale. Cale was standing there with a whirlwind around him. Cale group moved forward quickly to the direction of the two powers.

[Some constellations surprised by your skills.]

[Some constellations wary with your skills.]

[Some constellatios scared by your skills.]

[Some constellations interest with your skills.]

[Some constellations want to be your sponsor.]

[Some constellations keep their eyes on your actions.]

[Some constellations reporting you to the Bureau.]

[Some constellations think that you are cheating.]

[Some constellations beg you to choose one of them as your sponsor.]

....
[5.000 coins have been sponsored.]

<to be continue>

Author's note: It's really hard to write with someone bugging you even in your holidays. Can you tell me how to shut up some elders politely? I hope you enjoy the story.


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