Hermit Wizard

Wizard’s Name (6)

Cold sweat was trickling down on my back.

“Please understand. It was impossible to throw myself into danger without being able to verify the authenticity.”

‘Damn it.’ I swore inside.

I didn’t expect the Truth-Seeker itself would be involved in that conversation. It was already the third Truth-Seeker who wanted to get involved in my lifetime. Anyway, that was awful!

=Hmm… right.=

With a slight gap, the will continued again.

=It feels bad, but… on the one hand, it’s a bit fun, too. These bugs were called from another dimension, right? That’s how you use the seeds on your body. I’ve never seen such a mortal, and it’s also unusual. The Song of Chaos said. It gave you a name, didn’t it?=

“That’s right.”

The Song of Chaos… in other words, the Truth-Seeker of Silver Forest. When I heard its name, the heat started to rise again. That trouble was all because of that Truth-Seeker!

Regardless of my anger, there was a sense of laughter.

=Giving a name means that you are not one of the meaningless mortals but rather an individual worthy of acknowledgment and recognition. I understand why it did that. You’re more than I expected, huh?=

The will of the Truth-Seeker became a little soft again.

=The Shockmeem aren’t accidentally caught as you randomly connect the Channels, right? The fact that you opened the exact dimension where this species lives means you have a dimension map. You couldn’t save it within human brain capacity. So, does that mean you have planted it in your soul?=

The Truth-Seeker’s will said that the Shockmeem imitated was mixed with a feeling of great interest. That kind of telepathy wasn’t unfamiliar.

=The soul high enough to store a dimensional map. That’s weird. Why didn’t anyone like you cross the wall? Were you imprinted by some deities and escaped? Well, you must not cross the wall in the first place for your existence to not get seized by the Gods.=

It was followed by a shady will that made me feel unpleasant.

=I’m curious why the Black Hermit wanted to have your soul by stuffing it? However, no matter how high a single individual soul is, it doesn’t mean much to us… is it just like a hobby? Was it his intention to collect it instead of eating it? Yeah, many of our partners have weird hobbies, after all.=

Suddenly, lightning seemed to strike in my head due to the will that followed.

=The Song of Chaos appears to let you go, but I can’t do that. I want to see your soul in person. Where are you now?=

Unlike so far, the telepathy that was just delivered had a real purpose and intention. I was almost unconscious, and I raised my mental barrier to the extreme.

However, the will of the Truth-Seeker who followed was depressing.

=Carraderina was mistaken. It’s not magic that manipulates these things. Then… Oh yeah. It’s Shockmeem’s pheromone. I know what it is. So, these bugs know where the male is?=

Suddenly…

-Wriggle

The guy attached to my chest started moving his body.

“… Maru?”

The eyes of Parvache and me were stuck to my bulging chest. The guy fluttered its bronze body and came out towards the nape of my neck. Fragments were separated by the Truth-Seeker of Silver Forest, revealing a pile of pale light tentacles.

Yes, the will conveyed by Shockmeem currently resonated throughout that room. Maru would’ve recognized all the telepathy we heard at the moment.

-Whreeeck!

The guy suddenly swelled. Maru’s body could expand and shrink freely. Its body, which was originally as small as the palm of my hand, widened like a tent and wrapped around my body as if to protect me.

“What? What happened? Why are you doing this all of a sudden?”

Shortly after that, the Shockmeem conveyed another will. Unlike so far, it wasn’t telling the other person’s will, but it spoke its own in a hurry.

=Contractor! The females’ movements are strange. They don’t respond to my pheromones!=

And then the change happened.

=Oh my… These bugs are useless. Oh, yes. It’s so cumbersome. Reclusive Soul. Can you hear me?=

At the moment, I doubted my senses. I couldn’t believe it, so I looked at Parvache.

“… Just now, that… is it right?”

It answered.

[I also felt the telepathy.]

I gritted my teeth. The telepathy of a foreign entity just resonated in my head. It wasn’t delivered through the Shockmeens. Did it find my location in that short time and deliver the telepathy directly?

I soon realized that that guessed was only half-correct.

-Kheeeeeeeek!

-Bang! Bang bang!

I could hear a roar outside the window. I ran to the window and looked out, and I could see smoke and flames from afar. Dozens of vehicles had been involved in multiple crashes on the Southern Ring Road.

I looked closer to the place. Some people were hanging out in the parking lot of the apartment complex. Some of them were looking up towards the sky. At that time, the will resonated once again.

=These bugs have nothing even after I look into their mind. They’re creatures that haven’t even created their ego yet. The level of consciousness is too primitive. Reclusive Soul, maybe you have no choice but to reveal yourself.=

As soon as the will was heard in my head, I saw the people in the parking lot grabbing their heads simultaneously, the same reactions when exposed to strong telepathy. That was… no way.

“Are all the people here also listening to that?!”

=…I guess so!=

It was driving me crazy!

It was more than 20 kilometers from the house where Carraderina’s brain was to my house. Nevertheless, hearing its will on that street meant that telepathy was at least being heard all over Seoul!

[How many kilometers is it spreading its will?]

Astonished, Parvache continued its words.

=Contractor, it appears to be that the females’ spirits have been completely overwhelmed.=

Shockmeem told me. I realized that putting the summoner on that side provided the reason for reverse tracking, and I hurriedly sent it back to its original world. It also agreed to return since the Truth-Seeker was tracking its pheromones.

[It tried to locate the male using females, but it seems to have failed.]

Even as Parvache speculated, the Truth-Seeker ‘Gramiel’ continued to spread its will throughout the city.

=Now, where are you? Shall we meet for a moment?=

‘You are not going to get me out of here!’

I asked while thinking about a few things in my head.

“Why doesn’t the Truth-Seeker use detection magic?”

I rolled my head. If the Truth-Seeker wants to find me quickly, it was best to use detection magic. Since there was a barrier in the house, it wouldn’t be exposed at once, but if the Truth-Seeker’s will was persistent, it would try to find me with the Anti-magic power.

However, instead of using such a method, it encouraged me to turn myself in by spreading his will to the widest possible range. That method was also threatening to me in its own way, but it wasn’t easy to find me immediately.

=There will be a limit to the move that can be used as it borrows the ascetic’s consciousness, not its own body.=

After that, the ascetic threw a few more words and encouraged me to show up. Of course, there was no way I would be willing to accept it.

“Isn’t it out of the question that it will give up on me?”

[Of course not.]

“… Shall I bounce to another dimension for a while?”

[You were going to cross the Shanghai Channel anyway.]

“Yes, that’s a good place.”

Anyway, according to the original plan, I should’ve moved to another dimension and found the Dragon’s soul by now, and for the time being, the progress had been delayed due to the alien who was looking for me from out of nowhere.

If the ascetic came out in that way, it was better to stick to the original plan and avoid it while searching for the Dragon’s soul and escape to another dimension.

While I was thinking about it, there was breaking news on TV. It appeared to be that the ​​telepathy, which suddenly started ringing in the minds of the people of that country, also covered Chungcheong Province. Reports and reactions on the Internet were rampant.

Meanwhile, the silver plate artifact for communication with White Deer was flashing on the living room wall. The residents of White Deer, who also received that will, tried to talk with me.

For the time being, it would be better to respond to it and urge preparations. I was in the middle of manipulating artifacts with such a mind.

=Hmm… No response? However, if I use the detection magic and wipe out the wizards at random, Carraderina’s brain will be burned out… Well, I have no choice.=

I had no choice. It wasn’t an expression that the Truth-Seeker would give up my search. Unfortunately…

=If you refuse the invitation…=

After a brief time difference, the Truth-Seeker’s next declaration resounded clearly in the heads of more than 20 million people.

=I’ll go there for a moment.=

A few seconds after its words, I sensed a powerful force boiling ferociously in the air. It was as threatening as the moment I confronted the Silver Forest’s Truth-Seeker, but it was a huge force of a little different kind.

The source of that power that my senses pointed to was… South!

“Oh, fuck!”

The Truth-Seeker came to that world directly beyond the Busan Channel! The presence that appeared hundreds of kilometers away was vividly conveyed to that place.

‘Oh, shit, what was going on? Don’t you have any rules for Truth-Seekers? Can someone just cross over to someone else’s jurisdiction like this? If this is possible, why hasn’t anyone crossed the line in the meantime?’

In the past, I once assumed a situation where the Dragon was chasing me to another dimension. Still, that was actually done by another Truth-Seeker, and it made me jump into insanity.

I thought, ‘This barrier will give me a moment. I need to get in touch with White Deer as soon as possible and coordinate future actions!’

At that moment, Parvache’s urgency hit me in the head.

[Min-joon! Mapo Bridge Channel! Now!]

The moment I got its will, I reserved my previous decision to connect with White Deer first. The plan to avoid the Truth-Seeker through the Shanghai Channel was also blank.

Next, I moved my body before asking why. With one hand, I grabbed Parvache’s body and put it in the backpack I had prepared under my feet before starting contact through the Shockmeems and carried the bag on my shoulder.

“Collapse!” I exclaimed.

The living room floor crumbled with my cry. I jumped down through the drilled hole through the basement floor that couldn’t be found in the original structure of that apartment complex. Maru, who covered my body like armor, gave its tentacles strength as if it was a lot of tension.

I ran toward the designated passage, blowing Mana into the pre-made door that ran right in front of the Mapo Bridge Channel. That caused it to start opening. The force out of my hand opened the door. The moment when the space on the other side was about to be connected through cracks in the air…

=I found you!=

Its will, which was full of joy, echoed throughout the city.

I shouted out inside, ‘That’s impossible!’

I couldn’t feel any detection magic yet. The power of echoes didn’t work for me since it wasn’t the one who opened the Channel on my chest. I tried not to be misled and focused on opening the door completely.

“… Huh?”

Contrary to such expectations, the Truth-Seeker’s touch came so quickly. My feet distorted, and I started to fall into a distant abyss!

“What the helllll!”

Suddenly, the view changed rapidly. I fell with my head facing down. It was an unrealistic phenomenon in which even the resistance of the air rubbing my cheeks wasn’t felt.

I hurriedly took out the piece of Maek Copper from the backpack with the other hand that wasn’t holding Parvache. I then took out a dream and broke it.

“Fly!”

Just like the girl who was the owner of that dream imagined, two wings sprout from my back. I tried to soar up, flapping my wings. However, I couldn’t resist the falling movement itself only by barely changing my body’s direction.

When I realized that I had fallen to an immeasurable depth, the light began to dance in front of me.

-Shruuugh!

I gave strength to the hand holding Parvache. Maru also gave strength to the tentacles surrounding my body. I felt an unrealistic feeling that made my mind wander. Someone was talking to me through that dizzy sense. It existed in front of me, behind me, on the right, on the left, on the outside, inside, and anywhere at the same time.

=Hello?=

That time, it wasn’t the will that spread throughout the city. It was aimed only at me, talking to me.

=It’s dangerous, it’s dangerous.=

I sensed something foreign that penetrated my mind.

Since I didn’t have enough time to chant the spell, I pulled out one more dream from the Maek Cooper piece in my hand and burst it. The condensed heart pain was released from the seal and wrapped me around.

“Ugh!”

I clenched my teeth and groaned. Intense emotions hit my mind.

A lie covered the front of my eyes. It was a dream of a man who lost both his wife and daughter to a robber in the past. On his way home after working overtime, he kneeled and screamed in a dense living room. He threw a cell phone with six missed calls on the floor. His dream reminisces about those terrible days of the past that haunted him every night.

Instead of embodying the dream scene in the physical world, I extracted only the mental pain he felt and covered it in my mind. Instead of being shaken or engulfed by that emotion, I endured the pain alone. The pain made my will more pronounced.

The intentional nailing of the mind made me wary of my mental defense mechanism. Something mysterious that was digging into my core stopped the infiltration on the way.

=Huh? Is it pretty good? Do you know how to use pretty cute tricks?=

Again, the will of the Truth-Seeker was heard everywhere. Its presence also flowed through space softly as if I was swallowed whole in its stomach.

I focused Mana on both eyes. I managed to see the nature of the Truth-Seeker vaguely. With the body folded halfway between the gaps in the space and the skinny cheeks twisted, the Truth-Seeker squinted and smiled at me.

Parvache, who confirmed the appearance, exclaimed in astonishment.

=The Space Ghost! …The cursed race that eventually produces the Truth-Seeker!=

Laughter echoed throughout the space.