CH 5

At that moment, Yi-Gyeol was captivated by the expectation that the young man might have completely seen him. He tried to get closer to him without any hesitation when suddenly, the young man’s eyes regrettably turned to another direction. Yi-Gyeol, who realized that he could not see himself in the reflection of the young man’s eyes, made a weak sound.

−As expected, he can’t see me.

As he murmured bitterly and stepped back, the young man’s eyes turned to him. 

“Who is it? Show yourself.”

His eyes were so sharp that even Yi-Gyeol, who could not be seen by him, felt nervous.

At the young man’s question, Yi-Gyeol looked around as if the young man was talking to someone instead of him. He really wanted to know if there was someone else in the room, so he looked around the whole room instead of the young man. He looked under the bed, but there was little space that no one could ever enter beneath it, and neither was under the chest of drawers, tables, or sofas. There was nowhere else anyone could hide. 

In the room, there was only the young man who was the owner of this place and himself, a soul. 

−But there’s no one else here.

As soon as he spoke in doubt, the young man leaned over and picked up the dagger that had fallen on the floor. He looked down at the sharp blade and held it firmly so that he could swing it at any time. The chilling face reflected on the smooth blade was creepy enough to induce fear to anyone. Yi-Gyeol, who was looking nervously at the figure, felt the rising of the fine hairs in his whole body, even though he doesn’t have one.

“The one who spoke just now, I’m asking who you are.”

−What…?

Yi-Gyeol was quite surprised at the young man’s cold words. He seemed to refer to himself, who could not be seen nor heard by anyone. 

−Me? But you shouldn’t be hearing….

Until now, no one has ever been able to hear his voice.

However, the young man heard and listened to Yi-Gyeol’s confused voice.

“Did you think I wouldn’t hear it when your voice sounded so clear?”

The young man asked, tilting his head crookedly. Even though no figure was reflected in his beautiful light-green eyes, he was clearly aware of Yi-Gyeol. 

The air in the room seemed to freeze. Yi-Gyeol couldn’t say anything because he, too, also wanted to know what was going on. Did this guy really hear his voice? But no one’s ever heard of him all this time?

“I asked who you are.”

The young man coldly said. His voice was so low and cold, that it seemed if he had been visible in front of him, he would have stabbed him first and asked with the dagger in his hand. Like the men before, Yi-Gyeol might have been stabbed painfully by the dagger and broke his arm. 

However, because of the mysterious fact that Yi-Gyeol’s voice could be heard by the strange young man, he forgot all of the previous situations. 

He felt something overwhelming that he couldn’t control up to the top of his head.

Through the OOBE phenomenon, he wandered from place to place in his soul state and spoke various words to the people he encountered, but none of them could hear his voice. In addition, it was ambiguous to describe it as a ‘voice’ since he doesn’t have a body, and the reality was he was just imagining it as if he was speaking out loud. There’s not much difference between thinking in one’s mind when that person is in his soul state and speaking out words in the same state. It’s not through the vocal cords, so no one can hear it. 

However, the young man in front of him clearly responded to his words and understood his language. He could understand all the languages of any country when he was in his soul state, so he tried, but he was amazed at how the man understood him. 

Yi-Gyeol felt a soaring excitement after a long time. His heart, which couldn’t be because he didn’t have a body, seemed to pound once loudly. 

−My voice… Can you really hear it…?

“….”

The young man gave no answer with an expressionless face. Then, it was Yi-Gyeol’s turn to be anxious. 

−Can you hear me? Please answer. Can you hear my words?

The young man briefly responded, “Yes,” to Yi-Gyeol’s desperate words. Then suddenly, a thrilled sound passed through the young man’s ears.

−Haa…. What going on, what the hell is this….

Yi-Gyeol was engulfed in a pleasant shock and couldn’t get out of it easily. 

The young man, who was still listening to the excited voice, lowered the dagger he raised so that he could swing it at any time. He scanned the surrounding area once more with his eyes, paying keen attention to catch any sign of movements.

The young man, Sethian Wren Kinelly, has been dogged by numerous assassination threats since childhood. As a result, he was not only capable of overturning most knights and generals but also has an extremely acute perception. If the distance was such that the voice could be heard clearly, there would be no way that he would fail to notice the opponent’s presence.

−No one has ever heard me before… How….

A murmuring voice broke into Sethian’s head. Noticing now, it seemed that someone, who doesn’t have a form’s voice was heard directly in his head, not in his ears.

‘I’ve never heard of any magic that can communicate a conversation through the head without any medium.’

He wondered if Magic Tower had created some new magic, but he immediately answered his own question that there’s possibly not. In the past, the magicians in the Magic Tower were said to have been extremely invigorated to the point where countless kinds of magic were developed, but now, most of them were unable to even use small magic to help their daily lives properly. Preserving the existing magic and immersing themselves in analyzing the research data of their ancestors, they could not afford to develop new ones.

Above all, if they actually created such magic, they would not be able to stay calm until now, wanting to be given a generous budget based on their research results.

‘Then what the hell is this voice?’

Apparently a young man, he was quite surprised that Seth could hear his voice. To be precise, it felt like the voice was thrilled rather than surprised.

−No one has ever heard my voice before.[1]

“It sounds so clear, it’s even more surprising that no one ever heard it before.”

Even just now, it sounds like he’s talking with his mouth near his head.

Seth repeatedly thought about throwing the dagger he was holding into the air and see what would happen next. 

Originally, he’s already felt the presence of the men who entered through the window in his sleep. He silently woke up, pretended to sleep as he was, and tried to catch the invaders off guard as usual. However, he almost opened his eyes prematurely due to the strange voice that came out of nowhere. The second time the voice was heard, Seth only knew then that the sound could not be heard by the other men.

‘There’s no way that those old men of the tower would make a new magic and stay quiet, and even if they did, they wouldn’t be able to use it inside the Imperial Castle.’

Normally, there are barriers in each country’s castles that could negate magic. And though currently, you can hardly see magic unless you go to the tower, but in the old days, there was a time when it had a golden age enough to be used as a necessity for war. Countries have spent a great deal of money to prevent the damage caused by magic, and impose magic-neutral barriers on the Imperial Palaces and large cities, and as a result, places where magic naturally works are rare. Immediately afterward, as a matter of course, the tower and magic took a path of decline in the blink of an eye.

Under such circumstances, he had to exclude the premise that the voice he heard just now could be influenced by magic.

Then what the hell is going on here. There is no place to hide, and it is not even magic. And on the subject, the voice is coming through his head, not his ears. It’s a vain hypothesis, but he can only think of one thing that fits.

“Are you a ghost?”

When he calmly asked, the voice, which had been mumbling with excitement until then stopped. After hesitating for a while, the voice gave an answer that’s also not an answer.

−Instead of a ghost… You can just say I’m a lost soul.[2]

Seth paused, frowning. He couldn’t believe that the voice that tried to wake him up and save him earlier came from a ghost.

“I never thought I’d ever talk to a ghost.”

−I didn’t expect I would be talking to Mr. Prince also.

The other’s pleasant voice resonated in his head.

Seth recalled some of the contents of the Soul Magic Book in the Imperial Library. It also contained information about the soul of a person, commonly referred to as ghosts, and also included some research on magic related to it.

To be honest, it was quite amazing. According to what was written in the book, there are only a few cases where you can communicate to a soul without the help of magic.

Seth, who was freely living his life daily, felt a strong interest in Yi-Gyeol’s existence.