Pale with fright, I fumbled at my face. Inside the mirror, Jung Garam began to similarly fumble at his face.
âThis just isnât right!â
Aghast, I approached one step closer to the mirror and touched it. However, the smooth coldness underneath my fingertips made things clear. Moreover, Jung Garam, within the mirror, reached out as well.
Afterwards, I slapped and pinched my cheeks, but the situation didnât change. Iâm actually wearing Jung Garam as a shell.
âWhat am I supposed to doâŠâ
While muttering helplessly at the mirror, I suddenly remembered the message I had heard while entering this [Vengeful Ghost Memory]. Something about increasing the difficultyâŠ
ââŠNo way, is the increased difficulty at fault for why Iâve become Jung Garam?â
No matter how you look at it, that seems to be the cause of this transformation; so, just in case, I called for the [System Message].
âSystem Message!â
[System Messages cannot be checked right now.]
However, the system messages flatly prevented access to message history. Come to think of it, I couldnât use skills during Woo Ragiâs memoryâperhaps things were similarly locked here?
âThen, I wonât be able to access the Status Window either?â
However, when I mumbled âStatus Windowâ to myself, a familiar translucent, gray window manifested before my eyes.
Name: Jung Garam â Lv 7731
Class: Special Hunter (Special Assassin)
Guild: Red Lotus (Grade S+)
HP â 22,341,333/22,341,333
MP â 71,000,000/71,000,000
Title:
Special Hunter â A title only given to the most extraordinary hunters amongst the numerous sea of normal Treasure Hunters who have single-handedly mapped more than 100 unexplored Dungeons or pathsâunrivaled in their ability.
<The âSpecial Hunterâ title increases agility by 10%.>
Mataraâs assassin â A title granted to the assassin who single-handedly protected the tyrant Matara and assassinated 10,000 archers, 7,000 spearmen, 200 master-class knights, and 5 archmages.
<The âMataraâs assassinâ title grants you priority on all assassination related contracts. Additionally, you can use the [Black Market]âs VIP ticket at any time.>
.
.
Stat :
Strength +980,000
Magic +250,000
Stamina +416,000
Agility +937,000
Luck +937,000
Intelligence +550,000
Physical critical damage: 5,245%
Maximum Physical Damage: 2,474%
Minimum Physical Damage: 903%
Physical Crit Percent: 87%
Curse Resistance: 9.21%
Vs. Monster Armor Pierce: 67%
Vs. Monster Magic Resistance Pierce: 32%
Physical Skill Cooldown Time Reduction: 66.87%
Probability of causing status effect âPoisonâ with skills: 14.23%
.
""
.
Skill
âExplosion: You can use bombs to destroy the surrounding terrain or enemies.
âDark Counter: A powerful counter that ignores the defenses of a specified target.
âDark Gambit: Coat your shade-touched energy with poison and use it to stop enemy movement.
âDarkest Descent: Over a period of time, movement speed increases significantly and skills will output their maximum damage.
âMapping: Update dungeon information in real-time, and share the information with party members quickly.
Although, the contents were completely different.
âJung Garamâs Status Window opened?â
It seems like my outer appearance wasnât just Jung Garamâa status window containing all his stats had appeared as well.
That wasnât the only surprising thing.
ââŠ[Explosion].â
A black sphere embossed with a holographic counter was created; ticking, seconds were dropping from [00:30]. I thought if the situation continued, I would only shatter the bathroom, so I pressed [Cancel Skill] straight away; I wouldnât be able to handle the situation afterwardsâŠ
âI canât believe itâŠâ
As the [Explosion] skill unfurled, I felt a huge flow of powerâa scale that I had never feltâcoming from myself; I was so overwhelmed. It was akin to how a man who had only ever ridden a tricycle might feel when he steps into a luxury accelerated sports car for the first time.
Ding Dongâ
""
There was no time to be mesmerized; the sound of a doorbell ringing suddenly echoed throughout the living room. I still felt agitated, but, aware of the need to check on visitors, I stumbled back into the living room where the intercom was.
When I touched the intercom screen, there wasâŠa girl in a dress, standing outside the door and looking this way.
[Jung Garam-kun. 1 Why are you late for the meetingâforcing me to come all the way here?]
As if she knew I was looking at her, the girl immediately started talking without any mannerly greeting. This chaotic development messed with my senses, but I managed to recall that the girl in the flashy dress was [Red Lotus]âs Bang Eunji.
Given that sheâs still alive and also mentioned a meeting, this [Vengeful Ghost Memoryâs] setting must probably be set before the [Tower of Command] incident. However, I still had insufficient information, and, judging from the fact sheâs personally come to find and interrogate me, some setback must have happened.
Looking at the big clock on the living room wall, it was pointing to 10 am. My best guess was that there must have been some important meeting this morning.
It was a bewildering situation, but I tried to think about how to answer in my own way⊠But, I had little idea of what to say, so a long time passed while I hesitated. However, as Bang Eunji tapped the floor with the tip of her boots in frustration, I felt nervous and said whatever came to mind. âT-Thatâs⊠I overslept.â
[âŠâŠ]
Bang Eunji paused and stared at the camera. Then, she tilted her head to the right, as if she doubted me. I wondered if I made a mistake and held my breath, but, after standing still, she suddenly stood upright.
[Jung Garam-kun, are you sick?]
She asked in a monotone voice.
This was such a meaningful question for me. It would have been nice if I could pass this with a simple greeting, but if she felt any sort of incongruity there was no way for me to explain. In addition, I was further at a loss because I had no idea how Jung Garam and Bang Eunji used to talk to each other.
However, Bang Eunji soon shattered the silence and continued to speak.
[I donât know what kind of scheme youâve brewed, nor am I interested, but⊠You realize youâll have nothing to say when youâre cut from the guild for missing a pre-raid meeting? Itâs natural for Jung Garam-kun to have a childâs body, but personal responsibility and maturity can be nurtured through effortâŠ]
If the real Garam heard that, he would be frothing at the mouth and come at her for a fight. Even I was half-fed up with the words that spewed out, one after another; in the midst of all that, the idea that Iâd be kicked from the guild pierced my ears.
âC-Cut from the guildâŠâ Even though this was inside of a [Vengeful Ghost Memory], the words still made me uncomfortable. Bang Eunji replied firmly.
[What are you mumbling about? Instead of cursing at me, you may as well hurry, wear your combat uniform, and come out. Iâve definitely delivered this message; if you donât arrive at the guild quarters by 11 oâclock, Beatrice is mine. Guild Master-nim gave me permission.]
After saying that, Bang Eunji disappeared from the intercom screen. Gripping my hair and pulling it out, I eventually looked at the clock one more time and hurried to the dressing room.
* * *
When I left Garamâs house, it was already 10:30. However, when I searched for the address of the Red Lotus office building on the internet, I found that it was only a 10-minute walk. There was no fear of arriving late.
But, I was still worried about what kind of attitude I should adopt in front of the other guild members.
âEspecially Seo DawonâŠâ
It was evident that Seo Dawon would appear in this [Vengeful Ghost Memory]âmy mouth dried up with worry.
âHow am I supposed to treat Seo Dawon during the Red Lotus heydays?â
He had quick perceptionâa little strangeness, and I could be interrogated or suffer something horrible. After our contact, Seo Dawon treated me fairly gently, but I often saw him act mercilessly to othersâŠ
âHe even slapped Koo Hui-seo yesterdayâŠâ
If Seo Dawon were to hit me⊠Even imagining that kind of situation made me tear up. Of course, in the case of capture, my safety was an issue as well.
âI should be sparing with my words as much as possibleâŠâ
In the end, I resolved to keep my mouth shut. Anyway, it was obvious that, as a Necromancer in this time period, even if I were to explain my words wouldnât be taken seriously.
TL: Weâre meeting the Guild members! Iâm so excited >.<
Also, thanks for commenting on the chapters guys~ Iâm always happy to read the comments. If you are enjoying this novel, consider rating it on NU as well~ it really helps <3
Footnotes
The -kun suffix is originally Japanese, but itâs used in Korea as slang as well, among friends.