Chapter 11
Once that incomprehensible situation was over, I was led back to the hotel by the two of them and took some time to rest.
“Being outside really is the worst…….”
As I enjoyed the wonderful combination of cool air and a warm blanket, the events from earlier suddenly flashed through my mind.
That’s pretty interesting.
Although some of the information was a little irritating, what I had learned from Choi Ha-min, who was also a Returnee, was quite useful.
A Returnee automatically became an Awakened the moment they returned to Earth.
But that didn’t apply to me.
There were two possible reasons that came to mind.
The first is that I didn’t take the regular route.
Unlike the other Returnees, who had been brought back to Earth by some mysterious force, I had found a way back here myself.
It was a minor difference, but problems often arose from such trivial things.
And the second is…….
Maybe I was simply too strong.
“……That’s certainly possible.”
It was a somewhat embarrassing thing to say, but I wasn’t being narcissistic.
It was a fairly serious hypothesis.
I didn’t know who or what was responsible for the phenomenon known as “Awakening,” but it was entirely possible that, for some reason, my power had been judged to be a destabilizing factor.
…….
There was something that had been bothering me throughout my encounter with Choi Ha-min.
Why hadn’t that peculiar aversion manifested itself toward him?
And exactly what was the scope of this side effect?
First of all, there was one thing the dungeon monsters and Choi Ha-min had in common, despite both being excluded from the targets of my anxiety symptoms.
They possessed power originating from another world.
If that was the case, then perhaps the scope of this side effect was limited specifically to beings from Earth.
In other words, there was an intention behind it to prevent me from harming Earth’s living creatures.
That was the hypothesis I had come up with.
Thinking about it that way, it also lined up with several aspects of what we’d discussed earlier.
Of course, there’s Seo-ha’s case as well, so I can’t be certain yet.
If I could meet other Returnees, I might be able to get a little closer to the correct answer.
With that thought concluded, I returned to my game and played for several hours.
Then, once again, the intercom sounded, announcing a visitor.
“Who is it this time…….”
I grumbled as I walked toward the room’s door.
Of course, this time, I didn’t forget to check the visitor’s appearance through the intercom.
“…….”
I immediately knew who the visitor was the moment I saw her.
It was the S-rank Hunter I’d had trouble with earlier.
The woman who was apparently named Helena.
The moment I confirmed her identity, I stopped walking and held my breath.
Maybe she’ll just leave if I pretend I’m not here?
Of course, there was no way that would happen.
“I came knowing you’re in there. Aren’t you going to open the door?”
“W-Well, I promised not to let anyone in…….”
“I could open it from my side, you know.”
“……I-I’ll open it right away.”
In the end, I surrendered and obediently opened the door.
With the strength of an S-rank Hunter, opening a locked door would obviously be child’s play.
Helena entered the room, her dark teal hair fluttering behind her.
“We’ve met once before, haven’t we?”
“…….”
She wore an alluring smile, but the desire contained within it was conveyed to me just as clearly.
Whether that was a good thing or a bad thing, it was obvious that she had come here with a purpose.
“I can’t stay away for long, so I’ll get straight to the point.”
After smiling sweetly, Helena asked me as though she already knew everything.
“Are you hiding your power?”
“…….”
Hearing that, I could only stare at her blankly.
No, I don’t have any power worth hiding right now.
Apparently, my intentions weren’t getting through to her, because Helena immediately continued.
“You’re a Returnee.”
“W-Well, that’s true, but…….”
“You’re also the one who taught Song Ha-yeon, aren’t you?”
At those words, I couldn’t help but become a little flustered.
I hadn’t expected her to suddenly bring up her name.
But that allowed me to roughly understand why all of this had happened.
Apparently, she had become interested after discovering that fact and had come looking for me.
I didn’t expect things to go this far…….
Perhaps that was also why she’d had trouble with Seo-ha earlier.
I fell silent for a moment, wondering what answer I should give.
If I answered carelessly, I had no idea how the other person might react.
Seeing that, Helena eventually smiled again and reached out her hand toward me.
“……You probably don’t intend to tell me willingly. In that case, I’ll ask your soul directly.”
“Huh?”
No, I’m more than willing to tell you!
I was just trying to figure out how to explain it!
I didn’t even have time to voice that objection.
At some point, my vision gradually began to lose focus.
And then, in an instant, I lost consciousness.
Helena was an S-rank Hunter, and as befitted one, she possessed profound knowledge of necromancy and was exceptionally versatile in that field.
Naturally, she was also capable of summoning someone’s soul and forcing them to confess, just as she was doing now.
Whoooong.
“Show yourself. Your soul.”
From their conversation, it was clear that Helena had some suspicions.
The girl standing before her undoubtedly possessed the answer she had been searching for.
With an expectant smile, Helena summoned the soul of the girl, Baek Eun-ha.
Srrrk.
Of course, she had no intention of harming her.
Once she obtained the answer, she would properly erase her memories of this incident.
There would be no problem with that.
Those thoughts vanished from Helena’s mind the moment she saw the form of the soul that emerged.
What…… is this?
She had summoned the soul, yet she couldn’t see its appearance.
Something resembling chains was tightly wrapped around the entire soul as though binding it completely.
She had used this method dozens of times before, but this was the first time she’d encountered anything like this.
For the first time in a long while, Helena felt her heart pounding.
“…….”
What she didn’t know, she had to learn.
Only then could she be satisfied.
Clatter.
Helena carefully manipulated the death energy and stripped away a portion of those chains.
Then she immediately froze.
Fwoosh!
Ah.
The world suddenly turned black.
She couldn’t see anything.
It wasn’t because there was anything wrong with her eyesight.
It was simply because the death energy that had burst forth had instantly filled the entire room.
“What…….”
It was dense.
Far too dense.
Even the high-level undead she’d encountered in the dungeon before, a Lich, hadn’t possessed death energy of this magnitude.
In a single word, it was on an entirely different level.
“……Ah.”
She instinctively knew.
Helena was about to touch something she should never have opened.
But, somehow, she simply couldn’t resist.
I want to see a little more.
Clatter. Clatter.
As though possessed, Helena began removing the chains again.
One layer.
Then another.
And at some point, she came to regret what she had done.
“Ah.”
What she heard was a scream.
The lamentations of wraiths.
The howls of ghouls trapped in hell.
She couldn’t tell whether it was reality or an illusion, but it felt as though those sounds were truly echoing in her ears.
Her thoughts became paralyzed, and all five of her senses seemed to malfunction, as though her body had stopped functioning properly.
Only then did Helena realize.
Even that overwhelming death energy from moments ago had been nothing more than a fragment of the being before her.
This……
This was something that absolutely should not exist in the world.
It was difficult to believe that such a thing could even outwardly take the form of a human.
In the truest sense of the word, it was living death.
…….
Like a mouse before a cat, Helena stood frozen in place, unable to move even an inch.
Cold sweat poured down her body, and her hands and feet trembled uncontrollably.
Yet even in the midst of all that, her mind organized the new fact she had just discovered.
Humans, when confronted with extreme fear, apparently shed tears without even realizing it.
Ah…….
Helena instinctively knew.
She was going to die here.
Even after death, she wouldn’t be able to close her eyes.
Her soul would be devoured without leaving even a fragment behind.
Ahh…….
The soul that was devoured would remain bound to the being before her for an eternity, unable to escape, and would suffer endless torment as payment for her insolence.
Literally, until the end of the world.
Just as Helena was about to sink completely into despair—
The world suddenly flipped upside down.
Clatter.
Somehow, the chains she had removed moved on their own and returned to their proper places.
The soul covered in death energy disappeared once more and returned to Baek Eun-ha’s body.
Whoooong.
“Ah…… ugh.”
She didn’t know what had happened.
At this point, she didn’t even want to know.
As her vision finally returned, Helena could only stare blankly ahead and shed tears.
“Sniff.”
“U-Um…….”
“Sniff, sob.”
Completely flustered and not knowing what to do, I stared at the woman in front of me.
I clearly remembered everything cutting off after she reached out her hand toward me.
But when I regained consciousness, she was somehow crying bitterly.
“P-Please calm down…….”
“Sniff…….”
The confident, composed air she had possessed before had completely vanished without a trace.
The beautiful area around her eyes was wet with tears, the skin reddened from crying, while her trembling body had gone cold and lost its warmth.
It took an incredibly long time to calm the completely distraught Helena down.
