Light of Arad: The First to Walk - Chapter 59



Only Noblemtl

059

Jinseong, who was heading towards the dungeon area: Noirefera from Underfoot and ultimately towards the first dungeon, the ‘Golden Cave’, flinched at the sudden vibration.

“Huh? What is it?”

“Crunch?”

Jinseong felt an unfamiliar reaction inside [Inventory] and immediately found it by touching it.

And soon I realized that it was an emergency contact coin I had received from the Magician’s Guild.

This is the very item that Jinseong used when he escaped with Lenny from Behemoth. Jinseong could not only contact Sharan, but also receive contact from Sharan, but he had never used it in that way before, so he was a little surprised.

“Sharan… what’s wrong?”

“Crook! Crack!”

“It’s annoying to have to go back and forth so many times, hey… Taco! Just take as much as you can. .”

Jinseong instructed Taco to use his growing octopus tentacles to collect gold coins.

Taco, who was sweeping up gold nuggets by scattering rakes here and there, and Taco’s act of collecting gold in his own way by his side had to end early.

As soon as he collected a decent amount of gold, Jinseong had to drink the teleportation potion again and return to the magician’s guild.

─────────────!

Jinseong, who returned to the office of the [Emergency Response Committee for Abnormal Phenomenon], tried to meet Sharan, but there was no need to do so.

“Mr. Jinseong. What is this… what is this? Did you know?”

Sharan was already waiting in Jinseong’s own office.

Jinseong couldn’t figure out her intentions as she asked questions somewhat more impatiently than usual.

“Huh? What?”

What she was pointing to was the set, but for now, what was she talking about?

“I mean, this equipment. The equipment that Mr. Jinseong entrusted to me.”

It is true that this item is imbued with the spirit of Direji.

There are also items that cannot be used by Jinseong yet due to level restrictions and other reasons.

However, the method of obtaining the item was different from when Jinseong himself was a user.

Rather than obtaining it as a reward or loot by clearing the dungeon multiple times, he gave Diregie the ‘existing armor’ that he had, specifically the plate armor set he used in the Sky Castle.

Afterwards, Direjiga returned the low-level plate equipment after putting his energy into it.

‘… … So, even when I looked through [Inventory], the image of the item was a bit different, and I don’t remember the exact dots, but I felt like it was a little different from what I knew. So, just in case, I asked Sharan-nim to check… … .’

However, Jinseong had no idea how to connect these facts with Sharan’s current attitude.

Besides simply achieving the required level, what else would be required for the true self to use it properly?

Jinseong couldn’t tell whether it was something related to purification or activation, so he asked Sharan, the head of the magician’s guild.

But why did this happen all of a sudden?

“Judging from your expression, I don’t think you knew… Is that right?”

“Yes, strictly speaking, I don’t even know what you’re talking about.”

“Hoooo… … I guess so. Let me touch it.”

Looking at Jinseong who was flustered, Sharan pointed to the items listed on the desk.

Jinseong tilted his head and touched one of the sets.

“Whaaaaaaaah!?”

Then I had to scream and pull my hand away.

Sharan sighed as she looked at Jinseong’s wide-eyed face.

“Can you guess how big of a deal this is?”

Her voice, filled with worry and concern, was not heard by Jinseong.

I had to suppress my pounding heart and just look at the equipment.

‘What the heck is this? This is crazy!’

The voice that came into my head as soon as I touched the item.

Whose voice is that?

[True… … .]

Jinseong knew for sure.

And as soon as I realized who the voice was, I knew why this had happened.

‘… … This is what Direjiga was talking about. He said that if you betray him, he will track you down no matter what – that you will not be able to avoid his pursuit, that’s what he meant!’

In the Dimensional Crack, there is something that Direjiga said to Jinseong himself.

Take revenge on Hilda, and be sure to ruin her plan.

This means that it wasn’t a simple threat that he would track down and infect Jinseong himself if he didn’t get help even if he did.

* * *

Sharan asked, pointing to the items with her chin.

“What are you going to do?”

“What do you do?”

“I can destroy it now. When I examined it before Mr. Jinseong came, it wasn’t even a fully developed self yet… Rather than a Diregie, it’s a piece of a Diregie? A fragment of a Diregie? No, even smaller units… crumbs of a Diregie? That’s all there is to it.”

It is clear that the spirit of Direjji is present.

However, it is not the main body of the delegation.

Moreover, since the force is not that strong, Sharan’s opinion was to get rid of it before it escalates into a big problem.

To be exact, it is the opinion of the head of the magician’s guild in the Duchy of Bel Myre.

“That’s not the main body of Derejie, is it?”

“Mr. Jinseong said it. If it was the main body, not only Mr. Jinseong, but I would have-”

“No, no, so… I’m asking if you confirmed it in terms of the concept of it being connected to the main body.”

However, there was still something left to confirm.

What on earth is the energy of the Direji before my eyes?

Is it possible that the 6th Apostle, the Direzier of the Black Disease, is completely connected to his will, thoughts, etc.?

Or is it completely independent?

“Why would I call you, Mr. Jinseong?”

“Ah, that, that’s right. Since Lady Sharan has never met Direji-. Ahem, I’ll check.”

Jinseong felt a little embarrassed by Sharan’s reaction and hurried to move.

The moment he laid his hand on one of the sets again, his voice seeped into Jinseong’s head.

[Kuk… … You’re worrying about something foolish.]

Although it was an awkward voice, Jinseong could immediately see the meaning behind the words.

‘You can hear conversations outside. You have to be the person in contact to hear this voice. Also… … .’

What does it mean to be troubled by foolish things?

Jinseong, who knew the background of the 6th Apostle and the Direzier of the Black Disease, could not just pass it over.

“It’s a different entity. It’s not connected to the Diregie in the dimensional rift. It may have similarities to the Diregie’s personality, voice, and things like that. This conversation isn’t being relayed to the Diregie in the rift, is it?”

[Yes. The true me, the me in the crack, is me and not me.]

“also.”

A being who cannot control his own influence arbitrarily.

Putting aside the lack of strength, the fact that the energy of the black disease does not spread to the outside in the first place means that the energy already here must be considered separate from the ‘main body’ Diregie within the dimensional crack.

Above all, wasn’t it already Diregie who was full of anger?

What if by some chance you were connected to a body inside a dimensional rift?

As soon as Sharan’s hand touched him, he would have been furious, so it is highly likely that he would not have shown such words and actions as he does now.

[Are you that arrogant, Jinseong? If a human who could ruin Hilda’s plans were to be arrogant like this, Hilda would probably kill him right away… … Hehe.]

Besides that, it was something that could be inferred just from the tone of voice that Jinseong was hearing right now.

It is a deregistration and not a deregistration.

Since he himself calls himself a separate entity from the Diregie within the dimensional rift, his speech is somehow different.

‘But… … How should I put this? I feel like I’ve heard it somewhere?’

It is clearly different from the Diregie in the crack that was burning with revenge.

Do you make joking remarks that seem somewhat playful and even calm and relaxed?

[I guess you’ve lost your words. If I heard you in the crack, I’d rip it open right away and try to kill you guys. Hehe, but before that, I have to take care of my body that’s being torn apart in the crack-.]

“Ah!? Ah! I remember!”

“Oh, that’s a surprise! Mr. Jinseong? What do you remember?”

Sharan’s eyes widened as she saw Jinseong suddenly shouting.

Jinseong lowered his head towards her as if embarrassed, then touched the set of again.

Then he asked.

A sense of discomfort or awkwardness felt by the person himself.

Even if it is said that Diregie has a completely different personality from the Diregie that stretched out its personality sharply in the cracks, there is nothing to say about Diregie.

There was only one reason why Jinseong remembered having had a similar experience.

“You… are you the old Dereji?”

According to my true memories, with the most recent main scenario quest update, Direzier’s character’s personality was completely revamped.

If we consider the Diregie that ran wild in the dimensional rift as having a personality that reflects such a patch, then the ‘other Diregie’ in front of us now is showing a personality similar to the Diregie of the past before the reorganization!

[Kkukkukkuk… … The only one who speaks incomprehensibly is Hilda, that bitch alone is enough.]

‘The joke level has gone up a bit, but… … This speech and behavior that is relaxed and believes in an immortal body… … is certain.’

It can be seen as based on the past personality of Diregie before the latest patch of the game Dungeon & Fighter.

Jinseong asked Sharan.

“Sharan, will the energy of Direji imbued on this equipment, this ego, gradually become stronger?”

“Well… if you consider that Direji’s energy is a kind of parasite and the equipment is the host – my opinion is that the equipment itself has its own limitations, so it cannot grow beyond a certain point, but it will definitely grow.”

“Well, if you say so, Sharan, then I can believe you. Then I will use it.”

Jinseong started to put the set into [Inventory] one by one.

Sharan spoke to Jinseong, who was acting without warning.

“Now, wait a minute. I appreciate your trust, but this isn’t an easy decision to make. From the beginning, if it weren’t for Mr. Jinseong, we would immediately summon the guild members and subdue and detain them! It would be a huge problem that would require a hearing. Do you understand?”

The Apostle’s ego, the equipment imbued with his energy.

We cannot even predict what problems or in what way something that has never existed before will cause.

In normal circumstances, the person who brought the item might have been detained and questioned for several days to determine his intentions.

If you really think that what the Mages Guild does is all about the peace and safety of the principality, her words are not an exaggeration at all.

“… … But Sharan-sama didn’t call anyone. When I returned, Sharan-sama was the only one in my office.”

Therefore, Jinseong was able to build greater trust in Sharan while feeling gratitude towards her.

She didn’t call anyone. She waited alone for Jinseong, even though it was clear that she was going to be a troublemaker who couldn’t tell which way to go.

“That, that’s it… … .”

“Thank you for believing in me. And if you did, please believe in me now.”

If all of that was based on the unlimited trust that Jinseong had promised himself.

Jinseong spoke to Sharan.

Sharan continued, sighing.

“… … Who said what? I didn’t believe it, and if I hadn’t believed it, Jinseong would have already been sent to prison.”

“Hmm? But you said there was a big problem just now-”

“It’s a big problem… … I meant that you should be aware of it. After all… … when a problem arises, the person who can deal with it first will be Jinseong.”

“Aha, hehe, as expected from Lady Sharan. Your analytical skills are very accurate, that’s all.”

Jinseong smiled and gave a thumbs up.

Sharan couldn’t help but sigh and laugh in vain at that sly attitude.

“…Really…Our vice-chairman is good at weaving things together in strange ways.”

“This is all because we’re doing it together. Hehe, then I’ll finish what I was doing and go! Oh, and by the way, hasn’t any airships fallen from heaven yet?”

“Oh, tell me more about that story. What happens next? This time, it won’t be an epidemic-”

“Yes. But there’s nothing special for Sharan to do. Rather, I’d like to ask you something.”

Jinseong asked Sharan as he retraced the flow of the next main scenario quest.

The existence of Heaven has been revealed and the possibility of interaction has finally opened up thanks to an NPC who barely escaped from Heaven, but users at this point in the story cannot go to Heaven right now.

“What is it?”

“Isn’t there any story about the Bantu? The Bantu came down near the northern border or something……”

The immediate threat to the principality is friction with the Bantu peoples north of the border.

‘Bantu’, a federation of various tribes that usually live scattered in the mountains.

They descend from their homeland of Seol-san Mountain without any particular notice to the duchy and begin a large-scale movement near the border.

‘Actually, it was because a problem broke out, but anyway… … at this point, no one knows about it.’

The queen of the Duchy of Bel Myer first asks adventurers and users to investigate the matter, and after completing all of the tasks, the users can finally ascend to the heavens.

The reason Jinseong did not act impatiently about NPCs coming down from heaven was also for the same reason as above.

So Jinseong flinched.

“Bantu…? No, not at all. The Queen didn’t say anything like that either. I don’t know much about the military deployment of the duchy, but I didn’t feel any special movements either.”

This was because, up until this point, there had been no reports of any movement by the Bantu people.

And what it meant, the words already came to Jinseong’s mind.

‘……pollution.’