Episode 59 – Hidden Shadow (1)
“You’re very quick to notice.”
At Seojun’s words, Amseong (暗星) showed quite a surprised expression.
And at his words, Seo-joon was able to be sure that the old man in front of him was cancer.
In fact, Seo-joon only guessed that it was cancer, but he wasn’t sure.
That would be the case, because Seo-joon did not know Amseong’s face.
However, judging from the stealth technique he just showed and the atmosphere he felt now, the old man was definitely cancerous.
As if to prove the time it had undergone a cataclysm, the ignorance had white hair with fine wrinkles.
However, perhaps because of the understated style, a very different feeling from Geomseong was revealed.
Above all, the long scar on his left eye along with his sharp eyes exudes the skill of a retired mercenary.
Amseong also took a close look at Seo-jun, just like Seo-jun.
Then he said with an expression that he couldn’t understand.
“No matter how you think about it, it’s just amazing. How on earth were you able to recognize my existence?”
If you think about it, Amseong was a master of assassination and a master of stealth.
And usually stealth meant dissolving oneself into the surroundings.
thus hiding oneself.
It was literally hiding.
And the more they practiced stealth, the more difficult it was to find out.
If you train and train like that, there is a stage called the end of stealth.
That is selflessness.
In a word, it was a state of erasing existence itself beyond erasing appearance.
The ignorance in front of me was a person who took a step towards the state of selflessness.
And since Seo-joon was able to see through such secret techniques of the dark castle, it was inevitable for the dark castle to be surprised.
Of course, it wasn’t completely captured.
But just being aware of its existence was a huge thing.
so that.
‘How could he feel it?’
Even Seo-joon was surprised by that fact.
Of course, I had some guesses.
It is none other than the Phantasmal Metamorphosis acquired while completing Keiron’s lecture.
It was unknown when Amseong started watching Seo-jun, but at least it probably wasn’t right now.
And Seo-Jun did not recognize the existence of the ignorance even before completing Chiron’s lecture.
However, as soon as I finished Chiron’s lecture, I was able to notice the existence of the ignorance.
After completing Chiron’s lectures, I wondered if it might be the influence that my intuition became more sensitive and expanded.
‘If this is the case, isn’t this the realm of super senses, not metamorphosis? Um… Do you have any other abilities?’
It seemed like I would have to listen to Chiron’s epilogue lecture to know that.
anyway.
Seo-jun confirmed that the old man in front of him was cancerous and relaxed.
Even if it’s an assassin, Amseong is one of the five heroes representing Korea.
The title of hero was not a title given arbitrarily, regardless of skill level.
Seojun asked Amseong.
“Did you come to see me because of Minyul?”
“Let’s just call it a combination of both sides.”
Seo-joon nodded his head at the answer of the calm darkness.
Judging from the fact that he didn’t ask who the name Minyul was, Amseong seemed to know of Minyul’s existence right away.
Seojun continued.
“As expected, you also intentionally left the secret pay.”
“Did he say that? Tsk. It wouldn’t be nice if people knew that the salary was given by me.”
“no. Minyul didn’t know Amseong, didn’t he?”
“…?”
Seo-joon had to hold back the laughter that erupted involuntarily at Amseong’s expression, which suddenly became dumbfounded.
“That… what did you mean?”
Then, in response to Amseong’s question, Seo-jun explained in detail what he had heard from Min-yul yesterday.
Amseong silently listened to Seojun’s words.
“Such an idiot.”
The final review was as follows.
In the end, Seo-joon couldn’t stand it and continued talking with a smile.
“As expected, Minyul is coming this way. I think I’ll be there in a little while, so let’s say hello after a while.”
“what? Is he coming here now?”
Seojun nodded.
however.
“Gee… time is tighter than I thought.”
For some reason, the reaction of the darkness was quite different from what was expected.
Seojun tilted his head and asked.
“What do you mean? Are you running out of time?”
“If I wanted to meet him, I met him right away. But I can’t meet him right now. That’s why I came to you in the first place.”
Seo-joon still couldn’t understand Amseong’s words.
“Why is that?”
“I don’t have time, so let’s start with the main topic. You bastard, what does that have to do with Jinrihoe?”
“Why are you asking that all of a sudden?”
“It is also the answer to the question you just asked.”
For some reason, Amseong continued the conversation with Seon Mundap.
Seo-joon couldn’t figure out the intention, but he answered Amseong’s question.
“It has nothing to do with it. ah. I’ve only met Lord Calia once.”
“Calia? Could it be that you are referring to the successor of the apostle of chastity?”
“yes.”
When Seo-jun nodded, Amseong gently lowered his gaze as if he was lost in thought for a moment.
“……So that’s what it was like.”
Then he muttered to himself and then opened his mouth.
“I have been following Jinrihoe.”
“yes? The truth meeting? Why?”
“Because I don’t trust them.”
Seojun tilted his head involuntarily.
It is also true that Jinrihoe was a group that ended the cataclysm and was a hero of mankind.
And, true to its name, the things they are currently doing are also the ones that stand out for their heroism.
“Most people in the world know that. But looks aren’t everything.”
Amseong spoke to Seo-jun as if recalling the past.
“You must know about the Great Monster Beserk, right?”
Seojun nodded.
Great Monster Beserk.
It was a monster overwhelming enough to be called the second cataclysm, and at the same time, it was also a monster that declared the end of the cataclysm by being defeated by a great voice and seven apostles.
But suddenly, why is that monster…?
The words of Amseong that followed were shocking.
“Beserk did not fall.”
“……yes?”
As if recalling the events of the day, Amseong trembled slightly and said.
“It was… a monster that could never be defeated.”
Seeing such a dark castle, Seo-joon lost his mind for a moment.
To the extent that even the dark side can react like that…
As Seo-jun, he couldn’t even dare to imagine Beserk’s power.
But what does it mean that such a Beserk did not collapse?
“What are you talking about?”
“Have you ever seen Beserk? With pictures or videos, of course.”
Seojun firmly shook his head.
That would also be the case, because there was no record of Beserk at all.
At that time, there were pictures drawn based on the testimonies of the heroes, but there were no records left in the form of photos, videos, or any other data.
Therefore, not only Seo Jun, but everyone did not know about Beserk.
Only the heroes of Cataclysm saw Beserk.
And there was only a great voice and seven apostles.
“Isn’t it strange?”
“What are you talking about?”
Darkness spoke calmly.
“If Beserk had fallen, his corpse would have remained. Why isn’t there even a single record left as a photo or video?”
“what?”
Come to think of it, it was.
If Beserk had fallen, the corpse had to be left behind.
Then, the appearance of Beserk is not a picture drawn based on imagination, but a photo or video.
The data had to remain in some form.
However, there is currently no record of Beserk.
Then the ambiguity continued.
“Beserk suddenly disappeared.”
Seo-joon calmed down his surprised heart and asked Amseong.
“Now, wait a minute. If Beserk didn’t fall, why is it known that the Jinrihoe saved mankind?”
“Because I’m sure they did something. Exactly the Great Voice did something to Beserk. However, Beserk did not fall.”
Seo-joon couldn’t easily believe Amseong’s words.
However, the dark star was the one who directly experienced the battle with Beserk.
“…That’s why you said you don’t believe in Jinrihoe.”
Darkness nodded slowly.
And it was a sudden thought, but the Sword Saint was like that too.
Like the dark castle, the sword castle is also a hero of cataclysm facing Beserk.
Above all, when Seojun met Calia with the swordsman, Calia said this to the swordsman.
‘You know better than anyone else that it’s not over.’
At that time, Seo-joon couldn’t understand what he was saying.
And in response to the swordsman’s reaction, Seojun just thought that the swordsman hated Calia.
However, now that I heard the words of the dark castle, it seemed that it was not Calia, but the distrust of Jinrihoe.
The darkness continued as if this was not the end.
“And as an incident unfolded a few years ago, I was convinced. No, there is nothing to call it an incident. Have you ever thought about why the position of the apostle of chastity is vacant?”
“no way···?”
“The apostle of chastity suddenly disappeared. Literally all of a sudden. Just like the Great Monster Beserk disappeared.”
“Didn’t Jinrihoe announce that he died of natural causes from old age?”
Then the darkness snorted and said.
“Sounds funny. The seven apostles have been together since before the cataclysm. But only the apostle of chastity died a natural death? Do you think this makes sense?”
“……”
“I thought there was a connection between the two. I started digging behind Jinrihoe to find out.”
“So… did you find out anything?”
“There are two.”
The ignorance first raised one finger and said.
“One is that the Jinrihoe bastards are trying to kill me like that.”
Then, the amnesia continued with the second finger.
“And that the 10-star dungeon break that occurred this time was the work of the Truth Society.”
“yes? The 10-star dungeon break was the work of Jinrihoe? How could that be… No, why the hell does Jinrihoe do such a thing?”
Amseong looked at Seojun and said.
“It’s because of you.”
“…?”
Seo-joon suddenly felt like he was losing his mind.
“The exact reason is unknown. But the Truth Society is keeping an eye on you. So I suspected that you were from the Truth Society, but… I don’t think so.”
Amseong nodded slowly and concluded his words.
“……”
Seo-joon organized the story of Amseong in a daze mind.
It was a long story of cancer, but to sum it up in one word, it was ‘Jinrihoe is suspicious’.
At the same time, Jinrihoe is keeping an eye on Seo-jun.
After organizing his thoughts up to this point, Seo-joon asked Amseong.
“But why are you telling me this?”
If you think about it, there was no reason for Amseong to come to Seo-jun and say these things.
Seo-joon came because he was suspicious.
But there was no reason to go into such detail.
As expected, he slowly opened his mouth as if he knew about it.
“I came to ask you a favor.”
“Please?”
The ignorance continued to speak.
“Can you take care of him instead of me?”
“If it’s that guy… are you referring to Minyul?”
At Seojun’s question, Amseong nodded and said.
“The Jinrihoe guys are still looking for me. And Jinrihoe observes the target in their own special way. I haven’t been able to find out the details, but it seems to leave a mark on everyone I come in contact with.”
The ignorance continued to speak.
“So there is no way to approach him right now. If I approach him, he becomes the target of the Jinrihoe. Still, he is the disciple who saved my life, and even if I want to help as a teacher, it is impossible because the people of the Jinrihoe pay attention. So, I want you to act as the middle bridge.”
Seo-joon paused for a moment and asked.
“yes…? wait a minute. Doesn’t that mean that even now there are traces left on me?”
“You are an exception.”
When Seo-joon made a questionable expression, Amseong immediately continued.
“As I said, you are already the target of attention in the Jinrihoe. At the same time, Jinrihoe couldn’t see you, just like me.”
“…What exactly does watching mean?”
“I’m not sure, but it seems that when the target of attention does something, you can see the consequences of it. That’s why the people of Jinrihoe express it as ‘seeing’.”
Seeing the consequences of the target’s actions?
Of course, I didn’t know how that was possible, but I thought it might be because Jinrihoe itself is a very mysterious organization.
It didn’t make sense to be able to have a conversation without a language barrier in the first place.
The darkness opened its mouth again.
“So they feel nothing different when I come into contact with you. At the same time, if they go through you, they will only regard your actions as your actions, not me.”
“ah···”
Seojun nodded.
Then, out of curiosity, I asked Amseong again.
“wait a minute. Amseongnim, even if that’s the case, why can’t the Jinrihoe see me?”
“I do not know.”
Amseong continued with an expression of doubt as well.
“I was able to get out of their gaze with a step towards selflessness. But how can you… I wonder too.”
And at those words of Amseong, Seo-joon suddenly recalled a conversation with his mentor in the past.
The fact that none other than the transcendent academy has no member information about Seo-joon.
Is there any connection between the two?
Seo-joon thought it over, but couldn’t come up with an answer yet.
Amseong suddenly started searching for Seo-joon’s arms, whether or not he knew what Seo-joon was thinking.
Then, he took out some books and handed them to Seo-jun.
“I don’t have time anymore. pass this on to him At that time, I only recorded dagger skills and stealth skills because I was writing in a hurry, but there are more details here.”
Seo-jun received the book and asked at the same time.
“How do you trust me?”
“The only thing I can’t interfere with is a person other than the target of attention.”
In a word, it was a story about not doing nonsense.
Seojun shrugged and said.
“If it’s like this, Min-yul can just leave it at home.”
“It’s not something I haven’t thought about. But it’s impossible. As I said, it is the result of my actions.”
Amseong-seong said that, and rummaged in his arms again and handed over a new book.
“It’s not worth the price, but take it. It will help you quite a bit.”
Seo-joon suddenly accepted the book Amseong gave him.
From what I could see, it seemed to be another secret recorded by the ignorance.
And speaking of the secret level of darkness, it was a treasure enough for those who dream of becoming hunters, even for S-class hunters to turn on the light in their eyes and run.
However, Seo-jun returned the book to Amseong without even checking it.
because.
“I don’t need any of this.”
Because it was useless to Seo-joon in any way.
“……”
The ignorance was absurd for a moment.
I don’t know if that’s why, but I just stared at the book that Seo-joon pushed me to take quickly.
How could that look hurt my pride, but what can I do?
what you really don’t need
I was dying to listen to the lectures of the Transcendent Academy, but I didn’t have time to learn the secret level of the ignorance.
And to be honest, no matter how great the ignorance was, it was nothing compared to the instructors at the Transcendent Academy.
It was much better to just hold on to any lecturer in the free pass and listen to the lecture than to learn the secret level of the cancer.
“Can’t you give me something other than this?”
At the words of Seo-joon that followed, Am-seong said, “What kind of crazy guy is there at the moment?” It was a look.
“……If it’s something else, what are you talking about?”
Seojun continued to think for a while.
And he said with a smile.
“Have you heard of child support?”
“…?”
For a moment, Amseong wondered if he had heard the wrong thing.
I did say it around the corner, but… No, what is it like to say it around the corner?
It was just asking for money.
But do you really want to ask for money?
It was none other than Amseong, one of the five heroes.
Giving up even the secret grade created by the ignorance.
“If you don’t, I won’t either.”
However, Seo-joon’s intimidation was not the most serious.
“…Why is the Jinrikai watching? I know now.”
In a different sense, Amseong fully understood the heart of Jinrihoe.
