Chapter 202

Chapter 202

There were roughly over a hundred souls in the night market.

‘Is this what a dokkaebi night market is like?’

T/N: Dokkaebis are mythical creatures from Korean folklore, similar to goblins and spirits.

- Woah, it’s so... mystical.

- There’s a bunch of floating lanterns walking around!

- Snowman’s a floating lantern too LOOOL

Seol knew a lot about this place.

‘The Trial of Bonded Fate. It might look chaotic at first, but it isn’t a particularly difficult trial.’

Even so, with Seol possessing five Peerless-quality items, he was at a loss for where to begin.

In times like these, when one was stuck, it was always best to rely on someone for help.

“Ur.”

- I'm afraid there's nothing I can do. Shamanism is too far from my roots, and there's nothing I can accomplish in such a short amount of time.

After saying that, Ur fell silent in the Shadow Space, seemingly embarrassed by his inability to do anything.

“Then... Jamad. Would you be able to find them?”

Jamad thought for a moment before saying...

- If it’s one by one, I should be able to. Still, it’s going to take some time. Also, a few of your items don’t belong to you but the elves, so you should let them find those themselves.

“Got it.”

Fwirl...

Fwirl...

Seol summoned both Karen and Karuna into the night market.

"You heard Jamad, right? Since you two were the ones who communed with Breath and Flare, it would be faster to find it yourselves."

Fwip!

"Yes, sir!" shouted Karen, jokingly giving a half-hearted salute. "Leave it to us!"

“Yes, master.”

Seeing Karen’s cheerful attitude, Seol continued.

“If you mess up...”

Jamad stopped Seol.

- She already left. For now, we should leave it to her and take care of our business first.

“...Yeah.”

Seol began wandering through the night market, searching for his Peerless items.

A rather large ghostly fire was stuffing its cheeks with all of the snacks at the front of the stall.

“Excuse me...”

As Seol reached out, the ghostly fire quickly gulped down whatever it had in its mouth before responding, "...Yes?"

[[An unknown soul is surprised by you. How do you respond?]

1. Can I have a bite?

2. Have we met before?

3. I really like the way you eat.

4. Have you seen someone like me?

......]

Jamad quickly interrupted Seol.

- Not this one.

Seol nodded.

“It’s nothing,” said Seol. “I apologize.”

“Ah... okay.”

As the soul began to stuff its cheeks once more, Jamad gave Seol a signal.

- Up ahead.

Seol immediately hurried forward and looked around.

“S-Stop it...”

“Hahaha... Did we do anything to you?”

“Go away, please... Just leave me alone.”

“Tsk... Stop acting like that and...”

A soul was surrounded by many others, unable to escape.

‘Which one of them is it?’

- I’m not sure yet. You need to get closer for me to be sure.

Without any other choice, Seol slowly approached them.

‘How do I butt in, though?’

- That’s something for you to figure out.

“Ah... Let go of my hand.”

“Huh? When did I grab your hand...”

Seol thought hard before recalling a line he had definitely heard somewhere before.

“Why don’t you hold it right there?”

- LOOOOL The cliche MC saving the FMC.

- Stop bothering her!

- Hurry up and say the next lines! ‘Who are you?’ ‘Me? I’m her boyfriend!’ ????

A large soul, who seemed to be their leader, quickly closed the distance between them and Seol.

“And who are you?”

[[An unknown soul is irked by your approach. How do you respond?]

1. What are all of you doing, ganging up on a single...

2. They’re not interested!

3. I’m their boyfriend!

4. It seems like I need to deal with you.

......]

Seol sighed after seeing the options. As he began to slowly pick one out...

- Found them.

Jamad brought him great news.

‘Who? Which one?’

However, every silver lining has its cloud.

- Right in front of you.

Seol then asked the large soul, who seemed to be the leader of the ruffians, a question.

“Haven’t you... met me before?”

“Me? And you?”

The other souls behind them began to shout, confused by the delay.

“Hey! What’s going on?!”

“Hold on a second! He’s...”

The large soul continued to stare at Seol before eventually scratching his head.

“I feel like I’ve seen you before...”

Seol quickly grabbed their wrists.

“Do you remember me now?”

“Ah... Ah!”

“What were you doing here?”

“I-I apologize... I’m sorry... I wasn’t trying to...”

“What are you sorry for?”

“Well... So... I... I’m sorry for everything.”

“Let’s go.”

“Yes...”

As Seol dragged the large soul away, the other souls watched with confused, absurd expressions on their faces.

“Wh-what just happened?”

“Huh? What about me? Why am I...”

* * *

Nom... nom...

Karen was thoroughly enjoying the night market.

“This is pretty good...”

“Right? It’s tasty, huh?!”

“What is this made out of?”

“Poison Umbrella Frogs.”

“......”

“Don’t worry, all of their toxins were removed!”

“N-No wonder it tasted so good!”

“Want more?”

“Yeah!”

Karen felt as though she had been assigned something important, yet she couldn't recall what it was.

It was both a characteristic of the Trial of Bonded Fate and an insidious trap.

Those who traversed its night market fell into a dream-like state, gradually losing their memories until they eventually forgot everything, including themselves.

The master of the Ghost Door created this trial with the belief that if an item holds true value to you, you should be able to instinctively recognize it.

Regardless, this trial was beginning to affect Karen now as well.

“Woah... this tastes amazing.”

“Yeah, that’s the dish I’m most confident in!”

Poke poke...

As Karen was beginning to enjoy her meal more and more, she felt someone poking her thigh.

“What the hell? Who is...”

“......”

“...Kids?”

She noticed a couple of kids, ones she felt oddly familiar with.

- He looks away for one second, and there’s something in his hands lmfao

While the other souls that Seol had seen were a myriad of colors, this soul was the only one he saw that was completely black.

“N-No, I’m not.”

Seol slowly put the child down.

You weren’t allowed to take items that didn’t belong to you during the Trial of Bonded Fate.

‘It would be going against the relationship they built up with their owners. You’d also be penalized heavily for it later.’

Seol nodded to himself as he decided to leave the child behind.

However, the stall owner laughed.

“Again...” she chuckled.

Seol looked at his right hand once more.

Wobble... wobble...

Before he realized it, he was holding the black soul again.

“It seems like you two are a good match,” she smiled.

“...What?”

“The child clearly wants you to take him as well. What do you think?”

“But if I do...”

Seol then looked at the black soul.

He paused for a moment before letting out a deep sigh.

“Haah... Would you like to come with me?”

Though taking an item that didn’t belong to you was already a problem, forcibly taking such an item was an even bigger issue. Even Seol wouldn’t be able to deal with the consequences of that.

However, for some unknown reason, the black soul began to rapidly nod his head happily.

Nod nod...

“Then I guess I have no choice,” said Seol. “Then... Haah... I need to find a way to deal with Kleptomaniac...”

Seol then began to walk toward the door the woman pointed at earlier.

Creaaaak...

As Seol stepped through the door with his items, the soul who owned the stall next to the female stall owner quickly came running.

"I can’t believe you recommended him to take Yahum’s item... Are you out of your mind?"

"Hehehe... I doubt he could take it with him anyway. Lord Yahum will punish him for it!"

"Ah... So you were aiming for that, haha! I see... It’s going to be quite fun to watch.”

* * *

[You have reached the end of the Ghost Door.]

[The Linked Adventure continues.]

[This Adventure is very dangerous.]

[You can only collect your rewards after all Adventures have been cleared.]

[You begin your next Adventure.]

[Your 28th Adventure is starting.]

[Adventure 28. The Master of the Ghost Door]

As Seol stepped through the door, he was greeted by Yeo-myeong, drenched in blood, and Filia with a shadow cast over her face.

‘They’ve obviously been through a lot.’

Yeo-myeong and Filia couldn’t welcome Seol back; they weren’t in their right minds.

However, being strong individuals, they did their best to hide it from Seol, not wanting to let him worry.

Thud...

Thud Thud Thud...

“Is that... a drum?”

Clap!

“And a bak?”

T/N: Baks are a Korean instrument made from six wooden boards tied together at one end, like a clapper.

The sound of traditional Eastern instruments felt like a marching band, steadily advancing toward him.

Hum...

Hum hum hum hum...

The surroundings slowly began to grow brighter as lit candles were lined up evenly on both sides.

And then...

“Hehehehe...”

“Kuahahahahahaha!”

“It’s been a long time... since I’ve sensed a living being like this.”

Ghosts began to line up, revealing themselves. Though they looked similar to humans at a glance, they looked much, much more sinister.

“Greed. You have brought such hideous greed.”

“What do you desire?”

Raise!

Raise!

Yeo-myeong and Filia both raised their weapons and placed them forth.

"Such greed!" shouted one of the ghosts. "But greed, too, is one of the greatest powers."

“Greed can make you do anything, after all! Hehehe, good!”

“But... What do you desire?” a ghost asked Seol.

Float float...

“I have no plans to answer you,” responded Seol.

Clap!

“Y-You foul...”

“It doesn’t matter! Hehe...”

A ghost then stepped forward before pointing a finger at Yeo-myeong.

“You! You will face Hwinin, the Tornado!”

“Okay.”

Another ghost then stepped forward, pointing at Filia.

“And you... Gozom, the Steel, will face you.”

“...Okay.”

Thud thud thud...

Multiple ghosts stepped forward to point at Seol.

“And you...”

Clap!

Suddenly, a heavy, thunderous sound erupted from behind the ghosts.

“All of you, step back... Hehehehehe!”

“Y-Yahum!”

“All of you are annoying... fuck off already!”

“Y-Yes!”

Thud thud thud...

Clap!

The sound of drums and baks.

The ghosts swiftly retreated in fear.

And then... the darkness gradually began to recede even further.

Faaade...

“Huh...?”

“Th-that’s...”

Yeo-myeong and Filia both gasped in fear.

A ghost, the size of an ogre, laid on their side, chuckling at Seol.

“You arrogant human... Did you think that you’d be able to leave with my item?”

Seol looked at the black soul before laughing as if it was ridiculous.

‘This was... Yahum’s item? No wonder...’

Yahum slowly stood up.

Thud thud thud...

While he was definitely massive, the energy he emitted was far more terrifying.

Clap!

“You... won’t be able to receive any reward.”

“...Why not?”

“Because you can never defeat me! Hehehehehe!”

Those who took items that did not belong to them in the night market had to face Yahum themselves, the master of the Ghost Door.

He was as strong as all of the ghosts here combined.

“Thieves like you... deserve to get punished! Hm... Alright! I will crush you and turn you into a weapon as well!” said Yahum while pulling out a spiked club.

“What do you mean by thief?” asked Seol. “You should get it straight.”

“...What did you just say?”

Thud thud thud...

Seol was not afraid of the situation at all. In fact, he knew that he would’ve had to face Yahum in the first place.

“I’m not stealing from you, I’m robbing you.”

“You insolent little...!”

Clap!

Fwiiiirl...

The souls beside Seol all returned to their original item forms.

Thud thud thud...

The black soul had turned into a pair of black gloves. Seol quickly tossed his original gloves aside and equipped them.

"Still, I'd take armed robbery over sneaking around and stealing behind people's backs any day."

Clap!

As the shadows enveloped Seol's body, he saw a new message.

[Haunted-Peerless: Yahum’s Dokkaebi Gloves activates.]