My Alter Ego’s Path to Greatness - Chapter 22

Persona

“…How did this happen?”

Obor was embarrassed and looked around.

does not exist.

No matter how much I searched, there was no trace.

“How is this possible?”

In order to truly catch him, we took the time to build a barrier and succeeded in trapping him.

Jinhyeol himself became the central core, and dozens of vampires formed the skeleton.

Still, just in case, he personally checked the guy…

“But you succeeded in escaping the barrier by moving through space?”

Does that mean his level was that high?

To the extent of making fun of everyone themselves?

“There is nothing wrong with the barrier. “I couldn’t find any traces of him getting away.”

A pureblood with a specialty in blood magic approached and reported again.

I had already checked it several times.

I could have pretended to disappear and hidden and waited for the barrier to be lifted.

So he maintained the barrier until the end and personally checked the inside several times.

Also, if they had really succeeded in breaking through the barrier, they would have investigated to find any traces, but…

‘they evaporated without leaving any trace.’

I was thoroughly fooled.

They raided the hideout, stole the fragments, and destroyed the vampires in this branch.

Still, they waited leisurely in the city until they arrived, and eventually mocked themselves and quietly disappeared.

Kwazijic—!

The floor near Obor exploded.

The world around him shattered and cracks spread.

“How dare you… play with me? Hans… Hansu—!”

Obor, who had been angry for a while, soon caught his breath and looked at his subordinates waiting around him.

Five purebloods and over twenty residual bloods.

“Scour the city and its surroundings. “Do not miss even the smallest trace and investigate thoroughly!”

“Yes!”

At his command, the vampires scattered.

Obor looked around at the place where Hans was last seen.

“Cluddeuk—”

The moment I gritted my teeth and promised myself that I would definitely repay this humiliation.

“Oh…Obor! “We’re in big trouble!”

The subordinates who had just left the position hurriedly approached.

“What? “Did he do something?”

The first thing that came to mind was that Hans had done something before he disappeared.

But the problem was more serious.

“A group of troops, including the Holy Knights of the Main God Church and battle priests, have surrounded the surrounding area!”

“…Why are they all of a sudden? “How did you not notice until you got here?”

A special combat unit of the Main Church dispatched to prevent the resurrection of the Immortal King.

In order to prevent the target from escaping after noticing their approach first, even the Archbishop participated and hid their energy with a large-scale Holy Act.

They approached secretly, but at some point they were unable to track the Immortal King’s energy, so they quickly blocked off the surrounding area and surrounded the center.

“…You fell into this guy’s trap. “It was with this intention from the beginning that they lured us into staying in the city!”

I don’t know how they lured the main church into this trap and laid a trap.

But it was clear that I had been fooled by his scheme until the end.

“Everyone gather together and break through in one direction! We have to get out before dawn. “Hurry up!”

I could feel strong divine forces approaching quickly this way.

They were paladins who symbolized the religious power.

And among them, there is one particularly strong energy.

‘shit! Even Paladins were mobilized!’

The pinnacle of paladins who have reached master level.

He was a strong man who could never be ignored.

“You damn Hans! Even the oaths of Yeokcheon! “I’ll definitely pay you back!”

In this way, the main church’s Immortal King subjugation force and the vampire clan Brokoslak clashed head-on.

It was around the time that Han Seong-hyeon was kicking off the blanket.

***

“Whoa… I’m hungry.”

I put down the tattered blanket, picked up my phone, and ordered chicken.

Perhaps it was because I kicked off the blanket for a while and let go of my mental demons that peace came to my mind.

The rapid calming down may be thanks to the “Bright Scenery Index.”

‘I think I’ve developed some tolerance thanks to my skills. I think I can say my lines more shamelessly now!’

But I really don’t plan on doing that.

“Anyway, Hans was reverse summoned again. “Ugh.”

I wouldn’t have been able to move around freely in this world anyway, but I was planning on doing as much as I could…

‘I didn’t know that Jinhyeol would come out. ‘Maybe you should have just left the city right away?’

By absorbing another fragment, he evolved into ‘Acrich’ and was full of confidence.

So I thought I would be able to get away with it.

‘It was stronger than I thought. If you fight properly, you might be able to win, but….’

There was no particular advantage to fighting right now, so it was better to just avoid it.

It’s only been a few days since Hans gained the “forbidden knowledge,” so if given time, he will become even stronger in the future.

It will be enough to settle the matter then.

‘Extracting the source of “immortality” is a bit difficult to use right now.’

By absorbing the second fragment, he evolved from an incomplete Demilich to an Archlich, skipping the intermediate stage, Lich.

Although it was a skill I acquired that way, it seemed difficult to use it properly.

The origin of Hans would refer to a heart created by fusing fragments.

It would be great if it could be used while stored safely on Earth, but it was skeptical whether the dark magic of the heart located in another dimension would be properly transmitted to Hans.

‘Because even the [Avatar] skill cannot transfer energy directly.’

In that case, Hans, without the support of the heart’s dark magic, will become a simple tin skeleton.

It would be better to have Hans, who is not easily defeated by his powerful force and can be reverse-summoned at any time.

Still, it wasn’t completely useless.

If you somehow protect your heart, even if your limbs are reduced to dust, they will be restored in an instant with nearly infinite black magic.

‘We can study that part in the future as well. However, it is advantageous in terms of time to train at Outerica. I’ll have to transmit it again when Heinz gets further away from Azantu.’

Now, Heinz II had arrived in Tilak City with his companions and was gathering supplies and information.

As a vampire, there was no benefit to staying close to their territory for a long time, so I planned to move further.

Fortunately, by becoming a pureblood, he was able to hide his presence as a vampire well, and by killing Wirak, a direct blood relative, tracking him became difficult.

‘No, wouldn’t they think he was already dead to begin with? Hans must have been so upset.’

Still, there’s nothing good about being noticed, so you should avoid it as much as possible.

“Still, I gained a lot. Heinz II also gained useful weapons, and Hans absorbed one more fragment.”

In addition, I obtained all kinds of wealth and magic tools.

It was a very satisfactory result.

“Since you have performed well, you must have accumulated quite a bit of karma, right? Let’s see how much time is left until the next enhancement of the unique skill… Huh?”

I opened the Karma store, checked the numbers, and froze for a moment.

『Unique Skill Enhancement (700000)』

『Karma – 731002』

“…is this really such a generous gift?”

I probably didn’t have much karma left after using it to increase my physical abilities not long ago.

Before I knew it, I was filled with karma.

Although the Brokoslak Clan is said to be one of the top three in the vampire world, they are a minority race in Outerica and Azantu is nothing more than a small city on the outskirts.

“Does this mean that the value of the Immortal King’s fragment is that great? “Perhaps the rift between the vampires and the Oath of Heaven may have had an impact.”

After thinking about it for a while, I roughly came to that conclusion.

The more karma, the better, because the important thing now is to be able to strengthen your unique skills once more.

‘How can I evolve when I don’t think there’s anything I need? Will there be one more avatar?

As soon as I chose Ganghwa with excitement, I got a pounding headache.

After a while, I realized that I could create another avatar.

It didn’t end there.

“oh?”

《Unique skills grow and potential blooms. Acquire the special skill “Persona”.》

I even gained the related skills I was secretly looking forward to.

In the meantime, “Mind Hub” was very helpful, so I was happy and hurried to check the information.

But…

“Ha…”

Without realizing it, my expression hardened and a hollow laugh escaped me.

The growth of unique skills occurs in the direction that the user needs.

So what I’m saying is that the system decided that I needed a “Persona.”

The effect of the skill was simple.

A skill to contain one’s emotions using an avatar as a vessel.

“……”

Time passed in vain in the silence.

While I was dazed, I realized that I had been shaking one of my legs without realizing it.

…It was a leg that had traces of ‘that day’ that had recently recovered.

My legs are now smooth with no scars left.

I closed my eyes and lost in thought in the silence.

I thought I knew why this skill came out.

I slowly looked back at the past.

I became friends with people I met for the first time in this world.

He became undead, dealt with warlocks, and subdued villains on Earth.

He sacrificed himself to help a brother and sister in trouble and defeat the city’s vampires.

‘I was stuck in a corner of my room for two years.’

I am afraid of the outside world and the only human relationship I have left is one friend.

Yes, in fact, everything I did after getting “Avatar” was nothing more than playing games.

It felt real because it was full of life and you could experience everything firsthand, but it wasn’t real to me.

Just as you don’t feel ashamed when talking to NPCs, you clear quests by punishing evildoers and helping the weak.

As an avatar, I was brightly and energetically adventuring in another world, but in real life, I was still stuck in a corner of my room.

The traces left on my body were gone, but my mind still stayed there.

“Whew—”

I sighed once and opened my closed eyes.

A quiet house.

The sound of the refrigerator making a small noise was especially annoying today.

The house that was once noisy and lively now lacks even a trace of life.

The space I had thought of as a sanctuary felt like a coffin trapping me as dust piled up in the silence.

As I faced the reality that I had tried so hard to ignore, the feeling of disparity took my breath away.

“Hans.”

As he chanted softly, darkness fell on the floor, and Hans slowly came up.

An aura of fear that is suppressed in every way, but nonetheless makes the viewer fearful.

It became several times more terrifying than what I saw when I was a demilich.

“Transfer the stagnant, rotting emotions into a container…”

I focused on Hans and used “persona.”

Loneliness, sadness, anger, etc… the negative emotions that had accumulated over the years naturally flowed out.

Hans accepted it like a sponge, probably because he was a good match for the original undead.

“Whoa…. Is this the end?”

As I faced the accumulated negative emotions and finished transferring them, I felt refreshed more than ever.

It wasn’t that I completely let go of my emotions.

It was more like a process of organizing things so that they could be neatly placed in a box and taken out and used at any time.

No matter what, in the end, the avatar was also me.

“I’m fine, but is Hans okay?”

Already, the negative impact of being undead is strong, but if it gets worse…

I focused my consciousness on Hans and contemplated my inner self.

I don’t feel anything unusual.

Rather, perhaps due to swallowing up negative emotions, it became easier to use black magic.

[…Pain and despair are companions of life. Now, I don’t really feel anything.]

Even though I said the word without realizing it, I didn’t notice it at first.

Because it was just taken for granted.

“Yes-?!”

Then, I suddenly felt uncomfortable and jumped up.

No, that’s definitely what I said…

[Tsk tsk tsk tsk tsk… I see. Does an avatar containing emotions have a personality that matches them? In a way, it’s natural.]

Hans let out a sarcastic laugh.

It was so natural that I got goosebumps.

‘Did you project some of your inner personality? After all, I can’t go out in front of people with this guy.’

You can control it, but if you’re not conscious of it, your tone of voice will naturally change.

Should I call this a side effect?…

“What happened? I have no business dealing with people as Hans anyway, so what does it matter? “It’s okay as long as it helps me.”

It was when I came to that conclusion and nodded.

thud-!

A shock sound erupted from afar.

Aaaaaan—!

Then I started hearing sirens.

The sound was small, probably due to the distance, but I felt like I could roughly understand what was happening.

‘Is it a terrorist attack caused by a villain?’

These days, villains are rampant and the number of accidents has increased.

There were only related stories on the news and on the internet.

‘But that doesn’t mean I can take an active role…’

I didn’t plan on going through the trouble of looking for it in case it happened right under my nose like last time.

There is nothing to be gained by coming forward and no direct harm has been done to me.

I looked away and waited for the chicken I ordered to arrive.

Ji-ing~

I wonder how much time passed when a text message arrived on my phone with a vibrating sound.

-Baedal Clan sent a message.

-The store you ordered from, ‘Cerberos Three Chicken’, has ceased operations due to an accident.

-Your order has been refunded. We apologize for the inconvenience.

I looked at the text for a moment and then looked out the window.

The direction of the commotion was assessed and compared to the location of the store where the chicken was ordered.

“…ah.”

It was the best restaurant I found while visiting several chicken restaurants.

It was made with fresh meat, crispy on the outside and moist on the inside, and the variety of seasonings and generous portions always gave me satisfaction.

For the past year, I’ve always gone there when eating chicken.

These days, he was a kind-hearted owner who provided generous service to regular customers…

“…Okay. “I left it alone and it hurt me.”

Actually, I may have been looking for an excuse.

A means to rationalize myself.

A basis for making unreasonable judgments.

[Do we need a reason to destroy evil? Not like that. As the order of the world is shaken and chaos arrives, outlaws are rampant everywhere. …Now I will be their law.]

Hans, who was next to me, disappeared into the shadows.

Yes, I made various excuses, but the conclusion was one.

I hate villains.

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