Persona
“···What the hell is going on?”
Obor, bewildered, looked around.
Nothing.
No matter how hard he searched, there was no trace.
“How is this possible?”
He had taken the time to set up a barrier to trap the creature for sure.
As a Trueblood himself, he had formed a core while dozens of vampires made up the structure.
And even prepared to keep the creature in check himself just in case…
“But it managed to escape the barrier with spatial movement?”
Was the creature that powerful?
Was it toying with all of them?
“The barrier is intact. We found no traces of it escaping.”
A Pureblood skilled in Blood Magic reported again.
He had confirmed it several times already.
It could have hidden and waited for the barrier to dissolve.
That’s why he checked inside multiple times, maintaining the barrier until the end.
And if it truly succeeded in breaking out, he had them investigate for any remnants…
‘It vanished without a trace.’
He was thoroughly mocked.
Raiding the hideout, stealing the fragments, and annihilating the vampires in this branch.
And then, it leisurely waited in the city until they came, mocking them and vanishing peacefully.
Ka-boom—!
The floor near Obor exploded.
His surroundings cracked and splintered.
“How dare you play with me? Hans… Hans—!”
After spewing his anger for a while, Obor caught his breath and looked at his waiting subordinates.
Five Purebloods and over twenty Lesser Bloods.
“Search the city and surrounding area thoroughly. Leave no small trace behind!”
“”Yes!””
At his command, the vampires scattered in all directions.
Obor surveyed the last place Hans had been.
Creeeeak—
Grinding his teeth, he swore to repay this humiliation.
“Oh… Obor! We have a big problem!”
The subordinate who just left rushed back urgently.
“What? Did the creature pull some stunt?”
The first thought that crossed his mind was that Hans had done something before vanishing.
But the problem was more serious.
“The Holy Church Order’s Paladin Order and a group of battle priests have surrounded the area!”
“···Why are they here all of a sudden? No, how did they sneak up on us without us noticing?”
The special combat unit of the Holy Church Order had been dispatched to halt the Undead King’s resurrection.
To prevent their target from escaping, even the archbishop had participated in hiding their energy with a large-scale Sacred Law.
They had approached covertly, but upon losing track of the Undead King’s energy, they quickly surrounded the area.
“···We’ve fallen into its trap. It stayed in the city to lure us, intending this from the start!”
How Hans managed to drag the Holy Church Order into a trap was anyone’s guess.
But it was certain that they had been toyed with until the end.
“Gather everyone; we break through in one direction! We have to escape before dawn. Hurry!”
He could feel strong Holy Powers rapidly approaching this way.
Paladins, the symbol of church military might.
And among them, an especially powerful presence.
‘Damn it! They even mobilized the Paladins!’
The peak of Paladins who had reached master level.
A strong opponent he could not afford to underestimate.
“You bastard, Hans! The Oath of Reversal too! I will make you pay—!”
Thus, the Undead King hunting squad of the Holy Church Order clashed head-on with the Brokoslac Clan of vampires.
Meanwhile, Seong-hyun Han was kicking off his blanket in comfort.
*
Hoo… I’m hungry.
I threw down my tattered blanket and pulled out my phone to order some chicken.
After kicking the blanket off for a while and venting my feelings, peace returned to my heart.
It was surely thanks to the effect of “Clear Mind.”
‘Thanks to the skills, I seem to be getting more resilient. Maybe I can be more brazen with my lines now!’
Not that I planned to go around doing that for real.
“By the way, Hans has been re-summoned again. Sigh.”
In this world, I wouldn’t have been able to roam freely anyway, but I wanted to try my best while I could.
‘Honestly didn’t think a Trueblood would pop up. Maybe I should have just slipped out of the city?’
Absorbing another fragment, he had evolved into an “Archlich,” overflowing with confidence.
So I thought I could easily shake him off.
‘Was he stronger than I expected? I could win if I fought him for real, but…’
For now, it felt better to avoid a fight since there was no real merit in it.
Hans had only obtained the “Forbidden Knowledge” a few days ago, and given time, he would certainly grow even stronger.
Making the final confrontation then would be enough.
‘Extracting the essence of “Undead” is a bit tricky to utilize right away.’
Having absorbed a second fragment, he jumped from a lesser demi-lich to an Archlich.
Even though it was a skill he had obtained, it seemed difficult to utilize properly.
If Hans’s essence meant the heart created by merging with the fragment, that was to be expected.
Preserving it safely on Earth and using it would be ideal, but it was questionable whether the dark magic of a heart located in another dimension would properly convey to Hans.
‘He can’t even receive energy directly through the “Avatar” skill.’
If that were the case, without the heart’s dark magic assistance, Hans would become just an empty shell of a skeleton.
It would be preferable to have Hans, who possessed powerful physicality, who wouldn’t be easily taken down and could be re-summoned anytime.
But he wasn’t entirely useless.
As long as he safeguarded the heart, even if his limbs turned to dust, he would be restored in an instant with an almost infinite amount of dark magic.
‘That can be researched in the future. But training is more efficient in Auterica, so I’ll have to send Heinz further away from Azhantu before teleporting him again.’
Currently, Heinz II was in Tilak City with his party, gathering supplies and information.
Staying in vampire territory too long as one wouldn’t do any good, so I planned to move further away.
Fortunately, becoming a Trueblood allowed him to conceal his vampire aura well, and by taking out his direct blood relative Wirak, it became harder to track him.
‘Well, they might already think he’s dead anyway. Hans certainly made a mess of things.’
Still, if he drew attention, it wouldn’t end well, so I needed to avoid being seen.
“Still, I gained a lot. Heinz II gained a decent force, and Hans absorbed another fragment.”
In addition, he secured various treasures and magical equipment.
It was a highly satisfying outcome.
“I put in enough effort so I should’ve amassed a good amount of karma, right? Let’s check how far I am until I can enhance my unique skill… huh?”
I opened the karma shop to check the figures and froze for a moment.
『Unique Skill Enhancement (700,000)』
『Owned Karma – 731,002』
“···Did it always give this much?”
I had recently spent a good amount of karma to evenly boost my physical abilities, so I shouldn’t have much left.
But somehow, it was now brimming with karma.
The Brokoslac Clan was among the top three vampire groups, but they were a minority race in Auterica, and Azhantu was just a remote little city.
“Does that mean the value of the Undead King’s fragment is significant? Maybe I inadvertently sowed discord between the vampires and the Oath of Reversal.”
After a moment of contemplation, that was my rough conclusion.
The more karma, the better, and what mattered now was that I could enhance my unique skill again.
‘I don’t particularly need anything, though. How should I evolve? Will I get another avatar?’
With a flutter of excitement, I immediately chose the enhancement option, and a throbbing headache hit me.
After a brief moment, I realized I could make one more avatar.
But that wasn’t the end of it.
“Oh?”
《Your unique skill has grown, awakening a possibility. You have acquired the special skill ‘Persona.’》
I unexpectedly got the related skill I had hoped for.
Thanks to “Mind Hub” helping out, I hurriedly checked the information, only to…
“Ha…”
My expression stiffened, and a hollow laugh escaped without me realizing.
The evolution of the unique skill was directed in accordance with what the user needed.
So the system deemed “Persona” to be necessary for me.
The skill’s effect was simple.
It was a skill that fills an avatar with one’s emotions.
“······.”
Time flowed endlessly in the silence.
While I sat there, I unknowingly began to shake one leg.
…It was the leg that bore the traces of ‘that day’ which had recently healed.
Now smooth, with no scars left behind.
I closed my eyes and sank into thought amidst the tranquility.
I began to understand why this skill emerged.
Slowly, I retraced my past.
Building relationships casually with the first people I met in this world.
Becoming an Undead and dealing with dark mages, subduing villains on Earth.
Sacrificing myself to help siblings in trouble and defeating the vampires of the city.
‘The me who had been cooped up in a corner for two years.’
The one who feared going outside and had only one friend left.
Indeed, after acquiring the “Avatar,” everything I had done was little more than playing a game.
Vivid, real experiences I could feel with intensity, yet they weren’t my reality.
Talking to NPCs without feeling embarrassed, slaying evildoers, and helping the weak felt like quest clears.
While I adventured brightly and energetically in this world as an avatar, I was still trapped in the corner of my room in reality.
The marks left on my body had disappeared, but my mind remained stuck in that time.
Hoo—
Taking a deep breath, I opened my eyes.
The quiet house.
The tiny sound of the refrigerator today was irritating in an unusual way.
This once vibrant and bustling home now felt lifeless, devoid of even a trace of vitality.
The sanctuary I had thought of had turned into a tomb, packed with dust in the silence, enclosing me.
Confronting the reality I had tried to turn away from, the sense of disparity choked me.
“Hans.”
As I whispered, darkness spread across the floor, and Hans slowly emerged.
Despite all attempts to suppress his energy, he still exuded an aura of fear that unsettled those who beheld him.
He had become several times more terrifying than when he was merely a demi-lich.
“Transfer the rotting emotions into the vessel…”
I focused on Hans and used “Persona.”
Loneliness, sadness, anger… The negative emotions accumulated within flowed in naturally.
Hans, being an Undead by nature, absorbed them like a sponge.
“Hoo… Is it over?”
When I finished moving the negative emotions I had faced, my heart felt lighter than ever.
It wasn’t about completely discarding those emotions.
It was more like organizing them neatly in a box for easy access.
After all, the avatar was still a part of me.
“I’m fine, but is Hans okay?”
Given that he was already an Undead, it would worsen if his negativity amplified…
I concentrated on Hans and examined my inner self.
I felt nothing abnormal.
If anything, perhaps due to consuming the negative emotions, manipulating dark magic felt even smoother.
[… Pain and despair are companions of life. Now I no longer care.]
I unknowingly muttered that at first, not even realizing it.
It simply felt like a given.
“Ugh—?!”
Suddenly sensing something off, I jolted upright.
No, it was undoubtedly something I had said…
[Hehe, indeed. An avatar filled with emotions develops its own personality. In a way, that’s only natural.]
Hans let out a cynical chuckle.
It felt so natural that it sent shivers down my spine.
‘Did I project part of my inner personality? I can’t let this guy face people at all.’
I could control it if I wanted to, but naturally, his speech pattern changed when I wasn’t conscious of it.
Should this be called a side effect…?
“Well, it’s fine. After all, I won’t be having people interact with Hans anyway. As long as it helps me, that’s what matters.”
As I concluded and nodded, a loud crash resounded from afar.
Bang—!
An eerie siren followed soon after.
Though it seemed distant, I could guess what was happening.
‘Is it a villain’s terror-related incident?’
Recently, villains had been particularly active, and reports of incidents were on the rise.
The news and the internet were flooded with related stories.
‘But it’s not like I can actively get involved…’
Unless something happened right in front of me, I had no intention of going out of my way.
There’s nothing to gain by rushing in; I had no personal stake in it.
I turned my gaze away and waited for the chicken I ordered to arrive.
Bzzz…
How much time had passed that I finally received a message on my phone, vibrating in my hand?
– Delivery Clan has sent you a message.
– The store you ordered from, ‘Cerberus Triple Chicken,’ is currently closed due to an accident.
– Your order will be refunded. We apologize for any inconvenience.
Staring momentarily at the message, I glanced out the window.
I gauged the direction of the commotion and cross-referenced my order’s location.
“···Ah.”
That place was the best chicken spot I had found after hopping between various shops.
Using fresh meat, crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside, with various flavorful seasonings and generous portions, it always satisfied me.
For nearly a year, I had only ordered from there when eating chicken.
Recently, the owner had been particularly generous, providing extra service now that I’d become a regular.
“···I see. I let it slide, and now it backfired on me.”
Truth be told, I might have been looking for an excuse.
A means to rationalize myself.
A justification for an irrational judgment.
[Is a reason needed to eradicate evil? No. The order of the world shakes, chaos descends, and rogues emerge everywhere. …Now I shall become their judge.]
Hans disappeared back into the shadows.
Yes, despite all the excuses, the conclusion was simple.
I despised villains.
