Chapter 35
The orb slipped straight into Hyunseo's mouth.
A change occurred immediately.
-Ding.
[Lee Hyunseo's trait 'Sword Flower (Legendary)' fuses with Baekrihyang's Soul….]
"……Uh, uhhh?"
As Hyunseo panicked,
his body began to undergo a drastic transformation.
His golden hair turned black.
A red light now flickered in his formerly brown eyes, and…
'…Why are breasts appearing?'
His chest, which had been slender for a man,
swelled outward.
He was clearly transforming into the body of the possessing wraith, Baekrihyang.
My gaze shifted downward.
'No way?'
I hadn't activated Dragon Eyes, but hmm.
It felt as though something that should have protruded was missing.
Had the lower half changed too?
Had he become someone who had to sit down to pee?
'Good thing I didn't eat it.'
While inwardly relieved,
I quietly watched his transformation.
It took only ten seconds for him to change into the level-999 wraith, Baekrihyang.
-Blink, blink.
"W-what kind of sorcery is this…."
Hyunseo—or rather, Baekrihyang—looked around in confusion.
The words that had sounded like some strange language, though not Chinese, had somehow turned into proper Korean.
I greeted her cheerfully.
"Long time no see."
"…God? What is that ridiculous voice?"
"……."
But, um.
How could her first words after possessing him be an insult?
Was my nasal voice really that strange?
'And what does she mean, "God"?'
There was something else that bothered me a little, but I could worry about it later.
There was one thing that mattered most.
I had to get her accustomed to me before her possession ended.
"I'll explain briefly. Your soul…."
I explained everything quickly.
You got eaten.
From now on, you need to listen to him.
In short, that was what happened.
What was Baekrihyang's reaction after hearing it?
"Was the brat making such a racket inside this girl one of your divine retainers?"
"Pardon?"
"Your soul must be a precious item in this ancient tower. And this brat's talent is rather promising. I asked because I wondered whether you had taken him as a disciple."
"Uh…."
Her eyes grew bright instead.
She looked rather expectant, too.
Should I tell her the truth?
I hesitated for a moment, but
-Freeze.
"…You mean you bought my soul!?"
Baekrihyang, who had been standing still, shrieked in horror.
His consciousness must have remained even during the possession.
He was probably explaining from inside that it wasn't like that,
while Baekrihyang was furious over the fact that she had been sold.
"One trillion won!? How dare you pay such petty change for me!!"
"……Huh?"
"If you wanted my soul, you should have offered an entire kingdom, along with that Cheonghwa thing or whatever!!"
…Correction.
Her self-esteem was so enormous that she seemed to think one trillion won was the name of some stray dog.
This was driving me insane.
'I guess I need to mediate.'
"Phew…."
I secretly reached a hand behind me.
It was to retrieve the Moonlight Sword I'd used to cut through the Dimensional Wall and then shoved straight into my inventory.
-Shing—!!
The sword that had originally been hers was now pointed at its former owner.
"That's enough with the histrionics."
"Divine one!! Please listen, this insolent—"
"I said enough."
I glared at her, too.
I wasn't entirely sure, but Baekrihyang seemed to submit to me because I had defeated her.
So I planned to establish discipline by force of sword.
It worked exceedingly well.
"…If that is your will, divine one, I shall not prattle on."
"From now on, you will obey him. If you try anything funny during the possession…."
"I have already offered up everything I possess. How could I defy your will? I shall obey until my spirit fades away."
"Okay."
At least the situation was under control.
All that remained was, hmm.
Maybe I should test her skills.
-Whoosh.
"Take the sword."
I handed her the Moonlight Sword I was holding.
-Clack.
Baekrihyang accepted it with both hands, and I drew a Rare-grade sword.
I didn't forget to explain.
"Let's spar. Mr. Hyunseo needs to know how strong you are, too."
Let's have a brief match to test her power.
"If our swords collide, the one who attacked loses."
Of course, if we just kept clanging swords together, there wouldn't be a valid winner, so I added a special rule.
Baekrihyang's eyes glinted.
Her face flushed as though she were excited.
"It is the greatest honor to have the audacity to behold the divine one's sword!"
"Ah, yes. This time, you attack first three times. I won't hold a sword."
"Since my level is insignificant compared to yours, I gratefully accept the three moves you've granted me."
-Thrust.
She raised her sword.
She pointed it at me.
In contrast, I let my sword hang down toward the floor.
After our gazes crossed,
"Then I'll begin!!!"
-Tap—!!
Her body shot forward.
The marvelous footwork I'd seen on Floor 29,
that butterfly-like movement that had once terrified me, swept over me.
And I was in a situation where I couldn't even draw my sword.
At a glance, it looked as though the match would be decided in an instant, but
"……."
'She's slow.'
Back then, my level had been just under 700.
Yet I had still defeated her.
But what was my level now?
It exceeded 900.
With the title that gave me +50 to all stats, I comfortably surpassed Baekrihyang's specifications.
And above all else…
-Ding.
[The trait 'Dragon Eyes+' activates.]
I had swapped Trait Enhancement beforehand.
Thanks to that, the sword's path was crystal clear.
Dodging that was nothing.
"Hup."
"……!!!?"
I lightly twisted my body.
The sword feinted a thrust, then changed its trajectory to target my leg.
I spun along its path.
With Baekrihyang's distinctive footwork added in, the sword couldn't even brush against my clothes.
"……!!? This can't be. That was my best attack, so how did you evade it so easily?"
"Two more~."
"…This time will be different!!!"
Maybe she was angry about that.
-Whoosh, whoosh—!!
Baekrihyang swung her sword twice.
She cut twice almost simultaneously, and sword energy even shot out from the tips.
Coincidentally, it was similar to the attack I had used on Floor 29.
Of course, the result was completely different.
-Whirl.
'That's just my afterimage.'
Two waves of sword energy curved through the air along trajectories that should have made them impossible to evade.
But I managed to dodge them anyway.
It was the result of my Sword God and Dragon Eyes+ traits combined with my footwork.
-KRAAANG—!!!!
The only sound that rang out was her sword energy leaving sword marks on the safe zone wall.
"An illusory displacement!?"
"I don't know what that is. I just moved quickly."
"No, how did your internal energy increase so much!? When I first met you, you clearly…"
"Ah, don't reveal anything about me. Which floor we met on, anything like that—it's an absolute secret."
I also made Baekrihyang keep her mouth shut.
Then I gripped the sword I'd let hang down again.
Just this wouldn't give the third-generation chaebol heir the thrill he was looking for, so I planned to show a little more skill.
-Shing.
"We're supposed to lose if our swords collide, right?"
"…Understood!!"
Baekrihyang smiled brightly.
She had been like this on Floor 29, too. Did she enjoy sparring that much?
Her happy smile made her incredibly beautiful.
Since the original body was male, though, I didn't feel much of anything.
"Then…."
"I'll begin!!"
After that, we swung our swords at each other.
Without moving a single step, we attacked simultaneously from where we stood.
-Slashslashslash—!!!
Only the sharp sound of swords cutting through the air rang out loudly.
"……."
'This is harder than an ordinary spar.'
Because I couldn't touch the other person's sword.
I had to find an opening and thrust into it, but did that sound easy?
Our movements naturally converged around concise thrusts, but
'I can't let her hit me.'
My sword strikes already covered the entire front.
Not a line, but a plane.
It was a web-like defensive barrier created by overwhelming skill and specifications.
It must have felt like an iron wall to Baekrihyang.
"Huff, huff…!!"
Her sword accelerated even further.
Swish, swish-swish. Swish.
The sound of the sword piercing empty air grew even sharper.
Somehow, it sounded like even a dol hareubang was about to start swearing, but anyway.
-Sidelong glance.
[The trait 'Dragon Eyes+'….]
[Possession time remaining: 169 seconds]
'About time.'
Hyunseo must have figured it out by now.
Her swordsmanship was beyond anything that could be matched in the modern era.
And with the physical abilities of level 999 added on, she was more than capable of tearing apart a Tier-Four boss.
'Then shall we end this child's play?'
"Hup!!"
After blocking the sword path aimed at my side,
I immediately swung my sword.
It was an opening I'd seen hundreds of times but hadn't targeted until now.
I attacked a genuine weakness, not one Baekrihyang had deliberately exposed.
"Hup!?"
Baekrihyang panicked and tried to block it, but…
Unfortunately for her,
my sword stopped precisely beside her neck first.
-Thuck.
"Checkmate."
"Huff, huff… You're incredible…."
I withdrew my sword slightly.
Only then did the exhausted, sweat-soaked Baekrihyang crumple to the floor.
-Whoosh.
"I am not a body that tires so easily, but I overexerted myself while savoring the divine one's sword."
She even took off the jacket Hyunseo had been wearing.
The sweat-soaked clothes underneath were revealed.
The sight was a little… something.
"This brat was also astonished after witnessing the divine one's marvelous sword… Hmm? You ask what I'm doing with someone else's body?"
"……."
I knew the original body was male, but tsk.
This was a bit much.
"Put your clothes back on."
"…Ah, my apologies! It was already a foul-smelling body, and I behaved discourteously!"
At my one word, Baekrihyang put her clothes back on.
As a result, her possession time was rapidly coming to an end.
About one minute remained.
I had to finish quickly.
"There's no time, so I'll be brief. First, don't say a word about me. Second, obey Hyunseo from now on."
"Understood!"
I issued my instructions quickly.
Perhaps she sensed that her time was nearly up.
Baekrihyang answered without complaint.
Then, slowly—
she raised the hand she'd used to wipe away her sweat…
-Ding.
[Fragment of Baekrihyang's Soul]
A tiny amount of a powerful being's soul is contained within.
When carried, it resonates with Baekrihyang's soul,
allowing the two of them to communicate their thoughts.
"Here, I've put a little of my soul into this. With it, we should be able to communicate telepathically even when we're far apart."
"…Oh?"
"Looking through this brat's memories, she seems to be the daughter of a fairly respectable family, for one of his ilk. If you have anything for her to do, tell me anytime."
After creating an orb the size of a BB pellet in her hand,
Baekrihyang explained what it was.
She spoke too quickly for me to understand everything, but her instruction to have me order her to do anything I wanted came through loud and clear.
"I have priority over the possession, so you cannot possibly refuse me… Ah, there's no time. Take this first."
-Flick—!!
Then she flicked it at me with her fingernail.
I caught it reflexively.
After looking at it for a moment, I let out an inward exclamation.
'Isn't this basically a leash on the chaebol heir?'
Baekrihyang, the wraith loyal to me.
She had taken shelter in Hyunseo's body.
The Cheonghwa Guild's next strongest would become my puppet for twenty minutes a day.
'What a sweet deal.'
I had already been the one with the upper hand.
Now I was the absolute superior.
Good thing I didn't eat it.
'Take it for now!'
I instinctively pocketed it.
Baekrihyang smiled happily when she saw that.
No, calling her Baekrihyang no longer felt quite right.
Her hair had become completely golden by then, and her breasts had shrunk until her chest was flat.
"Though I am merely a host body that goes around reeking of human waste, I shall henceforth…"
After delivering one last barb,
-Clunk.
She—or rather, he—flinched.
The possession had ended.
"Th-this is…."
"What do you think? Clearing Tier Four should be easy now, right?"
"That it is, but, well. The thing is…"
And Hyunseo had suddenly been handed control of his body by me.
What were the first words he said to me?
"By any chance, did I smell really bad…? I poured all the perfume I had on myself…."
"……."
Even then, that was what worried him?
Not even a pubescent girl, what was this?
The inner world of a third-generation chaebol heir was profound indeed.
"Hard to say. I can't really tell because of the mask."
I offered him a well-intentioned lie for the moment, but
"S-sorryyy…."
"Ah."
It didn't work in the slightest.
…Well, he knew, too.
After living here this long, it was impossible not to smell.
'Shall I change the subject?'
"Ahem, ahem!!!"
I cleared my throat.
I was going to bring up another subject so he wouldn't feel embarrassed.
"By the way, Mr. Hyunseo."
"…Yes?"
Hyunseo, blushing as he fastened his jacket,
turned his eyes toward me.
Looking straight at him…
I went straight for it.
"You must have realized I'm Cheol Gangmin."
"……!!!!?"
Shock spread across the third-generation chaebol heir's face.