Chapter 54

Mercadius’ Seeds

I had not yet guaranteed that the immortal possessed knowledge about this skill. However, I knew I couldn’t kill it right away without even attempting to ask. After all, the similarity between the immortal and [Mercardius’ Seeds] seemed more than just a coincidence.

And so, as I prepared to absorb it with [Mana Drain], I asked it straightforwardly.

But then, the answer I got in return was…

-Merca… What?

My attempt proved to be fruitless.

Either it really didn’t know what it was, or it was busy coming up with an underhanded scheme. I didn’t mean to go easy on it, so I added some more force on my finger.

At this, the thing hurriedly spoke once more.

-Wait, wait! Wait! Do you know how many skills there are in the world? Including unique skills, it’s impossible for one to know everything! However, there is always a pattern evident among them. Explain it in more detail!

I contemplated for a moment. Upon sensing my hesitation, it continued.

-Let me start with something I can infer right now! Since there is a proper noun in the skill, it is currently someone’s unique skill, or even if it weren’t, it originated from a unique skill. And it could mean that an Awakened has made a deal with the system to modify or change it!

Wait, what did that mean?

“Modifying the unique skills? Change it?”

As I showed interested in this information, it quickly began to pour more details into my mind.

– This option could only be revealed when the being meets the special condition in the dimension where the tutorial has finished! The transaction condition is that the system retrieves the unique skill acquired at the moment of Awakening. The Awakened one has nothing to lose. Instead of the unique skill being retrieved, the system opens the path for the Awakened to obtain an enhanced and modified version, or change it to a completely different kind of unique skill.

– Unique skills retrieved by the system will be set up to reduce performance and be converted to a normal skill card, so that other Awakened people can learn. Only the system knows how many dimensions it will distribute the skill cards to and how many it can duplicate.

It was information that could not be known in the past, seeing as we had not finished the tutorial.

Two more facts could be inferred from the words of the immortal.

– A unique skill is something that the system can’t create by itself. If it could, there would be no need to trade one with an Awakened to retrieve it. If it was possible, it could just make such a skill by itself.

Aside from that, it was apparently also possible that the very generic skills that Hunters learned through cards may actually be unique skills of Awakens that existed in other dimensions long ago.

“Are you saying that we can trade in skills with proper nouns by modifying or replacing them again?”

– It is possible! That’s how all of the normal skills with proper nouns are made.

If so, then that should be the case with [Artha’s Sword Dance].

I remembered when the devil’s sword witnessed my sword movement. It immediately recited the name of ‘King Artha.’

“Is the proper noun in the skill’s name of the Awakened person who modified or changed the skill?”

Was the name of the man who planted this curse in me ‘Mercadius’?

– Not necessarily. Depending on the Awakened’s intentions, it may be named after a mythical and legendary being that are passed down to the society instead of their own names, or the name of the region, country, or any unique concept.

I found it all ambiguous.

However, the more I thought about it, the more it hurt my head. Modification of unique skills was an option only available in a world where tutorials had been completed?

Based on the Mana color, my body’s curse was indeed a unique skill that the creator had unfolded by himself, not a normalized skill.

Then that meant that the being which had cast this curse upon me was not human.

‘This is too much. I would be prepared if I could at least know their race.’

With this, I asked, “Have you ever heard of Mercadius?”

– I haven’t.

I threw some keywords to the immortal that would specify the skill [Mercardius’ Seeds].

“Have you ever seen this kind of unique skill? Or something similar to it?”

Then, as if it found it surprising, it replied with agitated telepathy after a brief silence had occurred.

···What… is this?

It was too similar to its being.

– I don’t know who the caster is, but it has reached a tremendous level. The unique skill may not have been modified only one or two times. You judge this skill as of two functions: ‘brainwashing’ and ‘parasitism,’ but what’s more important to note is that it is linked to a parasitic creature on the host.

These were red tentacle-like creatures that made a cry like an animal’s whenever they were overpowered by [The Successor’s Eyes]. They then implanted a seed that would be hidden in the heart of the host via a yarn.

– There is no life-creating skill, but it is possible to modify something that already exists. This is a skill that is very rare and can only be accomplished by consuming a huge amount of Mana.

Who the hell was I up against?

“How do I track down the caster of the skill?”

– A permanently invoked curse cannot be quickly scattered.

[Dominating Touch] alone was subject to limitations, and the Mana was consumed throughout the duration. However, this skill had already been maintained for ten years.

– Special conditions must have been met to plant the curse. Therefore···

At this point, the immortal looked hopeful.

– To find the criminal, you must keep me alive!

What the hell was it saying now?

– Allow me to stay in this host or, if not, prepare a body of another Awakened to become my host. Not the woman whose heart is torn. Restoration of the host’s body is possible once I have settled in the heart.

I wasn’t even thinking about it, and it still had lots of requirements for the creature in danger.

– Listen. I can search through the memory of living things without missing out on anything to determine what happened throughout their lives. There must be a special occasion where curses were invoked even if you don’t realize it yourself! I can search the memory of the cursed hosts, and you can find out what they have in common! If you follow that link, you’ll find out who the caster of the skill is!

I could see what it meant by its words. With this skill, I could look through the minds of Han-seol, Park Chang-Hee, and the original Seo Jin-Wook. Seo Gyu-Cheol was also a possible target.

In other words, if this being could look through the memory of all of them, I could gather valuable information.

– I can bring up memories that you yourself have forgotten for a long time. Therefore, you must save me!

The immortal had obviously guessed why I had asked it this.

No, it decided in the first place that the reason why I didn’t get affected by its [Dominating Touch] was that I had other kinds of brainwashing.

This was the reason behind its confidence. However…

‘Am I crazy? To let you go to Earth?’

I asked as I let it flow with the other ear.

“Can you read the memory of the dead?”

-····It’s impossible. But you can still bring all the suspicious ones among those still living in front of me!

I found that part meaningless.

I asked a few more questions, but almost all of the answers it gave me were speculative ones. Instead of things about [Mercardius’ Seed], it gave out general concepts about those similar kinds of curses. Knowledge that was unknown to the Earth in my previous life was quite helpful.

By this time, I was certain that I had almost all the information I needed. An idea suddenly popped into my head.

“One more thing.”

I was hoping that this might be the last.

“Your race, what’s the population? How many more are there besides you?”

There was something that I couldn’t understand when I heard the explanation from the devil’s sword. This was because this being that was called an immortal seemed to be the only one existing in the entirety of the dimensions.

The alien answered with a short silence.

– I existed alone from the moment I gained my will. Of course, I don’t have any memory of before I existed. Other beings of the same race have never been seen even after traveling through so many worlds.

In short, this was a species with only one individual from beginning to end.

Of course, this was not normal. There was only one reason as to why such abnormal races exist, from my point of view.

“Someone touched it.”

– What?

There was a concept that had always remained in the explanation of the immortal. There was a kind that could modify a life form among the unique skills.

A parasite was linked to the [Mercardius’ Seed]. Therefore, the seed may be such a modified entity.

If so···

I called it with a name that I thought fitting rather than calling it an immortal.

“Parasite, you could also be someone’s skill-modulated existence. Your existence itself could be a by-product of some other skill.”

As soon as I said this, I could feel the creature’s utter disgust.

Undecoded telepathy had started pouring into my mind. The raging anger swirled and poked my mind like a thorn. However, it still couldn’t do me any harm because of [The Successor’s Eyes].

The parasite itself couldn’t have not thought of what I had inferred.

After a long period of self-examination, it must have come up with this possibility; the idea that itself could be a component or by-product of a skill.

The only difference between it and the seed was the intelligence and presence of Mana core.

‘Must it be the same being that made the curse on me? The idea itself is very similar. I can’t tell at this stage.’

Furthermore, the interrogation could no longer continue. I had already noticed the raging parasite sneaking its smoke of Mana out of the heart.

‘Let’s get this over with.’

It didn’t even know that I could see Mana.

It must have thought that my [Stealth] was unusable due to some kind of detection type skills. Because of the missing link in its information, the immortal was now making vain attempts.

Pshk!

I thrust my finger into its heart.

-Damn it!

When it was clear that it would lose its host, it escaped as fast as it could.

-Even if you can do such a thing to the host, you can’t easily destroy my….!

I didn’t even give it a chance to finish; I activated my skill.

[Mana Drain!]

At that moment…

Aghhh!

A shriek of the mind that sounded like its living soul was being ripped away echoed in my head.

W- What is this?! No! No!

The swirl of suction at the tip of my finger began to absorb the Mana core, much like a wispy cloud of smoke that integrated the parasite’s body along with it.

-No, my being… My existenceee!

If I had to liken it to a creature with a body, would it be like being eaten by a carnivore whilst maintaining its consciousness?

The speed of Mana core absorption was different from the usual.

Perhaps because of the peculiarity of existence, the Mana core, which had mixed in with the parasite, slowly absorbed into my fingertips.

As the absorption progressed, the telepathy it once screamed now became dull and faint.

– No. I’m being consumed. I’m ·······

The wall between emotions, thoughts, memories, and cognition collapsed. It both mixed and shattered.

– I am ··· I am ···

It was never a pleasant experience to witness the collapse of a being’s spirit.

Everything that had made up its world melted and shattered, and eventually left a very thin, shallow mass.

-·······I am.

Once it had been fully absorbed into my finger, an unbelievable silence enveloped me.

I said aloud, “It’s over.”

With this, I put an end to the bad blood of my past life here.

*

After completely finishing Angelica, I approached Han-Seol’s corpse.

‘The common denominator of the surely cursed three. It meant that I had to find it in my memory, right?’

Even if one didn’t realize it for himself or herself, I recalled the end of Park Chang-Hee.

‘If a situation similar to that happens.’

When I pierced through the heart of Han-Seol, I only confirmed the existence of a curse and immediately distanced myself from the body.

I didn’t want to create a situation where the seeds would fight each other in a setting where I also had to fight off the aliens in the vicinity.

‘Is it already gone?’

I looked down at Han-Seol’s body, and my worries proved to be unneeded.

‘It’s livid.’

I could hear it, even from here.

‘Geeeek!’

Red energy was rumbling in the fragments of the already torn heart. I observed its size.

‘It’s almost like the one that Park Chang-Hee had.’

Even when I looked at the one inside my heart or now, it was exactly double the size of that thing right now.

This meant that the size wasn’t different from the host’s potential Mana, or its progress on brainwashing the host.

‘Geeeeek!’

From the seed that had lost its host, a cry similar to that of a small beast came out. It sounded like it was throwing a fit.

‘Is that going to rush at me too?’

However, things were different this time around.

Swoosh!

Like a predator in front of its prey, the curse hidden in my heart produced a red tentacle out of my body.

I knew a similar thing would happen now.

‘Destroy that seed as it was then.’

When Park Chang-Hee’s seed was dying, the memory of Park Chang-Hee was reflected in my mind. His whole life flashed before me.

It was all vast information that one couldn’t remember all just by looking at it once, but···

‘I’m different.’

Once I saw it, I could always remember it, no matter how vast the content was.

‘Memories of original Seo Jin-Wook that are slowly being pieced together, and the memory of Park Chang-Hee. And the memory of Han-Seol.‘

If I compared all these memories, I would eventually find common ground.

‘On who placed this curse on me!’