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HELHEIM SCANS
[Translator - Asura]
[Proofreader - Gun]
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Side Story 45
'To think that the Taiji's Lost Souls even shared my senses...'
So that was how Yoon Seah knew so well, it was all because of these guys.
Seong Jihan looked at his fragments scattered on the floor.
The Taiji's Lost Souls, with two more face pieces added thanks to Dongbang Sak putting them in the formation.
'Has it already been 10 years with these guys?'
The dark bottom of the Abyss.
He had focused solely on training without bothering to measure the passage of time.
According to what the Lost Souls who came from outside said,
10 years had already passed, and even if he endured here for a long time, a thousand years would be the limit.
'...There's been no progress at all during that time.'
10 years.
It was a short time to overcome Infinite and the Transcendent.
But still, with this much investment, there should have been some progress.
However.
[10 years have passed, you say?]
[We've achieved absolutely nothing...]
[Didn't I tell you? Whether it's a thousand years or ten thousand years, it's impossible.]
Just as the Taiji's Lost Souls said,
Seong Jihan had achieved nothing during that time.
It was not that he had been idle for 10 years, but
In front of the enormous wall of Infinite and the Transcendent, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't find a solution.
Still.
"How do you guys know about my achievements?"
Seong Jihan said one thing while looking at the Taiji's Lost Souls who were mocking him.
Why were these guys so assertive?
[Not everything of yours is shared.]
[But your emotions, the sensations you feel, we feel them too...]
[You try not to break while making reckless challenges.]
[But isn't the feeling of hopelessness growing in a corner of your heart?]
Seong Jihan hardened his expression after hearing their response.
So just like Yoon Seah felt through the shared senses,
The Taiji's Lost Souls here also know all about the hopelessness and despair that Seong Jihan was feeling now, was that it?
Did they watch from the side, tsk-tsking at his 10 years of hard work?
'...There's no answer like this.'
For 10 years, he had been banging his head against a wall.
But he couldn't find a way at all.
To the point where he felt sorry for Dongbang Sak's trust in him from the outside.
Because right now, he had no achievements to speak of.
Even if he locked himself away in this underground bottom and tried to devise something, could a new answer that surpasses Infinite and the Transcendent emerge?
[Dongbang Sak...]
[Cannot be defeated...]
Seong Jihan, overwhelmed by a sense of defeat, looked down at the fragments jeering from the side.
He quietly gazed at them.
'Come to think of it, why did Dongbang Sak put these guys here?'
To maintain the Nine Palaces Eight Trigrams?
Or was it to prevent Mitra from using them if left outside, like in Yoon Seah's case?
Seong Jihan wondered as he looked at his fragments squirming on the floor.
The Taiji's Lost Souls at the bottom of this Abyss, interfering with training only with negative emotions.
These beings who hate Dongbang Sak but also feel despair that they can't defeat him,
Didn't act positively at all in Seong Jihan's attempts to overcome the wall.
They were complete hindrances to training.
So why were they gathered here?
Seong Jihan pondered deeply.
'...They said they share part of my senses, for sure.'
Then conversely,
Could he feel their senses from this side?
Seong Jihan tried it while looking around at the Taiji's Lost Souls.
And soon after,
'I really can feel it...'
Seong Jihan felt the senses of the Lost Souls in reverse.
The humiliation squirming at the bottom of the Abyss.
The fear when seeing Dongbang Sak and the shame felt while experiencing that fear.
Even the conflicting emotions of thinking Seong Jihan was doing something futile while watching him focus on training for 10 years,
Yet hoping for results.
'Such diverse emotions... reside in them.'
Though they started as the same Seong Jihan,
The emotional texture of the Taiji's Lost Souls was all different.
And as Seong Jihan learned about the Taiji's Lost Souls,
[Are you observing us...]
[What's the point of looking at the bottom of the losers.]
[You are the only successful work. If you keep looking at us, you'll be tainted...]
Whether it was because they didn't want their rock-bottom emotions exposed,
Or if they were worried now, it wasn't clear, but feeling that Seong Jihan was sharing their senses, they tried to dissuade his attempt.
But.
'...So that's what it was.'
Seong Jihan, looking at the Taiji's Lost Souls,
Gradually began to sense why Dongbang Sak had gathered them here.
"I understand why you guys are here."
Swish.
At those words, all the Taiji's Lost Souls looked this way at once.
Seong Jihan grinned as he saw this.
"He put you here to work together with me."
[...Work?]
[Don't tell me, that reckless attempt you're making.]
[You want us to do it?]
The Taiji's Lost Souls' reactions to Seong Jihan's words were mostly negative.
They hated Dongbang Sak but also feared him.
Their attitude was how could they possibly challenge 'Infinite'.
"Let me be honest."
Seong Jihan slowly opened his mouth while looking at them.
"With my talent alone, I can't create something to surpass Infinite or the Transcendent even if a thousand years pass."
[Honest or not.]
[We all already know that.]
They sure have a lot to say.
Seong Jihan continued with a bitter smile.
"But if a hundred or a thousand 'me's challenge it together... Wouldn't we find an answer within a thousand years?"
Geniuses among geniuses like Dongbang Sak or Mitra could be said to create something from nothing.
'But I wasn't one of them...'
Seong Jihan humbly acknowledged through 10 years of struggle that he wasn't at that level.
Even so, Seong Jihan wasn't lacking in talent either.
If all these other 'selves' whose senses were shared gathered,
And worked hard towards the same goal, he saw sufficient possibility.
But.
[...You are different from us.]
[You who even became the Blue Administrator.]
[The difference in talent between you and us losers is clear.]
[Even if we join in, we won't be of help.]
In fact,
The Taiji's Lost Souls who heard Seong Jihan's words seemed to lack confidence.
Among them was a Seong Jihan who had shown outstanding talent as the 'Sword of America',
But there was also one who had lived as just a gambling addict before disappearing after getting caught up with Taiji.
Even if they were all Seong Jihan, their talents weren't the same.
[Looking at Seah, I want to help, but...]
[To be honest... I don't even understand what you're doing.]
[It's just a waste of time.]
No matter how much these beings once ruled as masters of the Abyss and handled the power of the Void,
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HELHEIM SCANS
[Translator - Asura]
[Proofreader - Gun]
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The power that Seong Jihan, the 'Blue Administrator', dealt with was even more high-dimensional.
They were more likely to be a hindrance than immediate help.
But.
"We have 990 years left, don't we?"
Seong Jihan's attitude was firm.
"During that time, I'll teach you everything I know. All of it."
[You...?]
"Yes. Since I was able to do it, you can too."
[...]
990 years.
Rather than continuing a hopeless wandering alone, teaching another him would be much more efficient.
Even searching for a needle in a haystack,
Wasn't it better with many people than alone?
"Of course, I'm not asking you to do it for free."
[Then...?]
"When we overcome Infinite and control the Transcendent..."
Swish.
Seong Jihan looked at each and every one of the Taiji's Lost Souls without missing any.
"I will restore all the worlds within the Nine Palaces Eight Trigrams."
[What...?]
[Restore the worlds within the Nine Palaces Eight Trigrams...?!]
"Yes."
That was the world that showed the moment just before they all died by the Taiji Sword.
And.
It was also the world they had the most lingering attachment to.
"Eli was such a friendly child. So this is what it feels like to have a daughter. It was a fresh shock."
Seong Jihan talked about each world he remembered.
"Then to my son Hyunwoo in the next world I saw, I'm sorry. Because of the memory of losing Eli, I didn't try to get close easily. Though he was sticking to Seah... my heart wasn't in it enough."
[...]
"And who's the guy here who slept with 9 women? Date in moderation, you crazy bastard."
At those words, one of Seong Jihan's legs squirmed intensely.
So it was that guy.
Seong Jihan chuckled and continued speaking.
"The Transcendent of the Ark was too strong. That power was uncontrollable. But the Transcendent sealed in the Martial God's Tower... is controllable. If only you help me."
‘Learn from me and help me. Then I will restore your worlds too.’
At this promise from Seong Jihan,
Squirm. Squirm.
The Taiji's Lost Souls were visibly shaken.
[Do you know how many of us there are?]
[No matter how strong the Transcendent's power is, how can you save so many worlds?]
[Even if it's possible, you'd pour all the Transcendent's power into this?]
[All the power of creation here...?]
The power of the Transcendent, strong even though sealed in the Martial God's Tower.
But the number of Taiji's Lost Souls was not small either.
To recreate all of their collapsed worlds,
Most of the Transcendent's power might need to be invested.
"Yes. Use up all the power. What's wrong with that?"
Seong Jihan retorted as if asking what the problem was.
"Mitra talked about grand causes with the Transcendent... but we don't need to do anything grand. Let's just use it for our selfish desires."
Seong Jihan's expression looked utterly refreshed as he mentioned selfish desires.
[Selfish desires...]
[Ha. Ha...]
[Is that the conclusion you've reached?]
The Taiji's Lost Souls were bewildered at the conclusion to use the power of creation as they pleased.
But.
Squirm. Squirm...
They began to gather towards Seong Jihan one by one.
"Yes. My selfish desire is first... to save Yoon Seah."
As he said this, Seong Jihan held up one finger.
"And I'll continue to keep the real world safe."
He spread out another one.
"I won't choose between the two. I'll achieve both."
Swish.
Seong Jihan extended the two fingers he had spread towards the Taiji's Lost Souls.
"So you guys be greedy to your heart's content like me."
‘Be greedy. I'll make it happen.’
At those words,
[Ha. Greed...]
[Be as greedy as we want...]
[...For the first time, I like you.]
[Good. Teach us right now.]
[Even if not Dongbang Sak... I'll surpass myself.]
At the bottom of the Abyss.
A strange heat rose from the hellscape where Seong Jihan's fragments were scattered.
The Lost Souls who had sneered at Seong Jihan's attempt and said he would fail,
For the first time, they began to show motivation.
Squirm. Squirm...,
As his fragments gathered,
Seong Jihan thought.
'Yes. If one can't do it... a thousand of me will.'
Be it Dongbang Sak or Mitra.
If a thousand of him racked their brains for a thousand years,
They should find an answer.
'This is my solution.'
This was also likely
Dongbang Sak's solution for gathering all the Taiji's Lost Souls here.
Firm resolve settled in Seong Jihan's eyes as he looked at the Lost Souls.
And so,
A long, long time passed.
* * *
In the underground of the Abyss.
"...It's disappearing so quickly."
Yoon Seah stamped her feet as she watched the Nine Palaces Eight Trigrams on the surface of the Witch of the Void disappear.
Earlier, they said a small erasure was 10 years, but how many years had passed at this rate?
"My, you're so impatient. He'll do well enough on his own. Wait calmly."
"But... 10 years in that hell was already terrible. Won't he go crazy being alone for hundreds of years?"
"Hell... that depends on how you look at it."
Dongbang Sak, who had been leisurely stroking his beard while saying this,
Fwoosh!
Widened his eyes as light suddenly burst forth from the Nine Palaces Eight Trigrams engraved on the Witch of the Void's body.
"Hooh..."
A clearly different reaction from the Nine Palaces Eight Trigrams than before.
"Huh...? Huh, is it over already?! Grandpa, why is it like that?!"
"Hoho. I told you to be calm."
"How can I be calm seeing that!"
[Seah, please calm down... And that person isn't your grandfather, he's the Martial God...]
The Witch of the Void, whose body was flashing, said so.
Only then did Yoon Seah try to suppress her excitement.
As she watched the transformation of the Nine Palaces Eight Trigrams, unable to stay still,
Whoosh!
Something pale shot out from the center of the Nine Palaces Eight Trigrams.
Then the Nine Palaces Eight Trigrams were all sucked into it.
As the overlapping formations completely disappeared,
Swish...
In front of the statue of the Witch,
"Dongbang Sak."
Seong Jihan appeared.
"I've found the answer."
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HELHEIM SCANS
[Translator - Asura]
[Proofreader - Gun]
Join our Discord for release updates!
https://discord.com/invite/dbdMDhzWa2
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