Chapter 154

Chapter 154

– Why four?

Only Elatra’s voice came through.

The merged Elatra answered in a tone markedly different from the conversation just moments ago.

Now that the two had become one, it seemed as if even their personalities had been split in half.

‘Haha… Looks like the two of you really did become one.’

– This is who I truly am. But you asked why there are four of us?

‘Yes.’

Dojae sat down and sipped his cold green tea.

Sari and Osun looked around for the suddenly vanished Elatra, but he decided to tell them later since it was bothersome.

– The seekers you’ve met so far total four. Me, Altein, Hayden, and Louisden. And the seekers you saw in Gelahan’s memories total nine. So excluding Gelahan, right?

When I first fell into Gelahan’s memories, I recalled a total of nine seekers seated around a circular table.

Excluding Gelahan, the remaining eight are the current seekers.

Elatra hadn’t been wrong.

But that part aside, what Dojae was truly curious about was this.

‘The main quest, you see. The main quest increases by one each time you meet a seeker and gain a passive skill. Eye, Nerve, Blood Armor, Skeleton. These were given to you by them. Then what about the remaining Heart? Who was the seeker who gave you the Heart?’

This.

Come to think of it, he still didn’t know who the seeker who gave him the heart was.

They had only ever spoken unilaterally through the quest status window. The first real conversation he’d had was with the half-Elatra.

Moreover, the quest.

Who created this quest?

This otherworld was a place where the word “quest” didn’t fit at all.

As seen in the ruined Magic Kingdom, the level of science and civilization was roughly medieval Europe, and modern items, especially those using electricity, were nowhere to be found.

– Huh? You mean no one explained that to you?

‘Yes. No one explained it to me.’

– Why? It’s not like it’s a secret or anything.

‘I wouldn’t know.’

– Huh? Altain. They didn’t even tell the enemy that? I thought it was common knowledge.

– Hold on. Let’s be clear here. It’s not that no one explained it; you just never asked, did you?

As Louis teased him, Altein hurriedly added.

Come to think of it, Altein was right—he didn’t recall asking.

After all, quests and status screens had become second nature to Dojae at some point.

‘Is that so? Well now… That seems like an important fact, yet you’re being rather harsh, Altein.’

– Heh heh, how can he be so shameless?

Dojae cleanly ignored Altein’s sarcasm before speaking.

‘Lady Elatra. Please explain.’

– Fine. I’ll tell you. It’ll be easier to understand if I start explaining from here.

Dojae listened intently to Elatra’s voice.

The unified Elatra remained gentle yet powerful, radiating both warmth and dependability.

– The first to take on the role of Seeker was Gelahan. And the last to ascend to the position of Seeker was Han.

Han became the last of the nine seekers.

She was highly curious, loved research, and fostered harmony among the other seekers.

The gathering Doja had witnessed was also initiated under her leadership.

– Han was the most emotionally rich among the seekers, and she knew how to elevate those emotions to a higher plane.

‘Han’ was said to feel a bit more richly than the other seekers.

Seekers who attained deity gradually became emotionally numb.

Gelahahn especially so.

He thought through and planned every step, not driven by emotion, before speaking.

In contrast, ‘Han’ would occasionally play pranks, express affection, and freely show his emotions to the other seekers.

– Because of this personality, Han was an extremely harmonious individual.

It was said that ‘Han’ enjoyed mingling and playing with the seekers.

Even outside regular gatherings, she often visited other seekers to share many stories, and all the seekers liked her.

– Of course, it wasn’t like that from the start.

Unusually, ‘Han’ was not a native being here; she was an alien presence.

Her form was human, but her appearance was entirely different from the people here.

Almost like a Daoist.

That was also why she was the last to ascend to the position of seeker.

Because she was an outsider, she couldn’t be trusted.

They said ‘Han’ came from across the sea, but even the seekers couldn’t easily traverse beyond the continent.

Even if the harsh environment wasn’t an issue, the distorted mana waves were severe enough to cause significant damage to their very essence.

Above all, the great goddess Gaia did not permit crossing.

Ultimately, it was Gaia who stood guard over the continent.

So ‘Han’, who had crossed that sea, was both wondrous and inevitably unfamiliar.

Yet her uniquely lively personality allowed her to become a member of the seekers.

– Han was the first to notice Gelahan’s intentions, wasn’t she?

– That’s right. She was the first to come to me for counsel.

– What? No, Altin. Han came to us first—my brother and me!

As Altein answered Elatra’s question, Luiden interjected.

Luiden spoke in a teasing tone.

– Luiden, you’ve got it all wrong. Han always came to me first to talk.

– I think Altein is the one who’s mistaken? That might have been true most of the time, but we were the first ones he talked to.

– Heh heh, think what you will.

– Altein! I’m telling you it’s true! Should we ask Han?

– Heh heh heh heh, go ahead and ask. See if it’s true.

As Louis flared up, Altein spoke to him as if soothing a child.

– It’s true…!

– Luiden, Altein. That’s not what’s important right now. Besides, we can’t talk to Han immediately, so let’s keep that fact under wraps for now. Can we talk a bit more then?

‘Yes. It seems we haven’t gotten to the most important part yet.’

– Right… We had our final meeting without Gelahan.

After Han realized Gelahan’s intentions.

She gathered the remaining seekers, excluding Gelahan.

Even then, they hadn’t foreseen the Hundred Years’ War that would follow.

They only discussed how to change Gelahan’s mind and whether the seeds of betrayal were truly taking root.

But betrayal occurred, and the Hundred Years’ War began.

– At first, we thought we could easily stop Gelahan. No matter how high Gelahan’s rank was, if we combined our ranks and powers, Gelahan wouldn’t be able to do anything. But he knew from the start that we were excluding him.

That’s how the renegades came to be.

He divided his essence into five parts and shared it among the four Apostates.

The Renegades gained power equal to, perhaps even surpassing, the remaining eight Seekers, and they interfered to prevent the Seekers from uniting as one.

– Over a hundred years, many races went extinct. The once-numerous humans, Ains, Fairies… Not only them, but many gods and demon lords also lost their ranks and fell. Yet, thanks to those sacrifices, the Renegades and Gelahan could be sealed.

Only after suffering immense devastation did peace return to the continent.

Yet it was not the peace of the past, but a peace shrouded in tension.

Gelahan and the Traitor had not been completely vanquished.

In other words, it was not an end to the war, but a truce.

– We too suffered great damage to our essence. As seekers, there was little we could do. We could only stand by and wait for our essence to recover. But Han was different. Han continued to worry about Gelahan.

Han feared the seal would break someday, yet he also worried about Gelahan itself.

Why did Gelahan think that way?

Why he, who loved peace more than anyone, had started a war.

In the end, she couldn’t know his intentions, but she prepared for the future.

– Han’s power is harmony. She possesses the ability to unite all things into one. She can absorb and bestow. Using Han’s power, we decided to unite our energies as one. We concluded that energies gathered into one would wield greater power than scattered energies.

After the war and the sealing, barely maintaining the lineage of seekers, they resolved to gather the essence together.

And they decided to hide that power somewhere.

– And Han, the adversary Lee Do-jae. We decided to hide it where you lived. Though Gelahan’s power reached beyond dimensions, we could not do the same.

Just before Gelahan started the war, the seekers realized he was affecting a completely different dimension.

A completely separate dimension, distinct in both space and time.

Soon, they realized that dimension was Earth, and by the time they knew, the war had already begun.

Han risked his own disappearance after the war ended, traversing dimensions.

Dungeons appeared on Earth, mana began flowing in, and Awakened Ones emerged.

– We sealed our own ranks along with the scattered mana of Gelahan, entrusting the power to Han.

Ultimately, the Seeker’s power sealed alongside Gelahan’s mana was the ‘Sealed Memories’ Dojae discovered.

Each time he absorbed them, the Seeker’s seal broke, and immense mana flowed into Dojae’s body.

– If the humans where you live were to absorb our essence and power all at once, their bodies wouldn’t be able to withstand it. Han created trials so the adversary could slowly accept the power and grow. It was a method devised by Han, who had crossed dimensions many times. And that is what the quest is.

That was it.

Something familiar to modern humans on Earth.

It was a game, and quests within games were a simple, fitting way to express growth.

‘I see… So then, is Han the seeker’s rank the heart of the golem?’

– Yes. It was created by her power of synthesis. The name ‘Golem’ is simply a convenient label for an adversary reborn through our essence and power.

Doja finally understood everything.

That all his abilities were meant to confront Gelahan.

‘I understand the quest. But if Han is the Golem’s Heart, why does the main quest show a completion rate of 7?’

[Quest]

Category: Main

Content: You have met the minimum requirements. To regain your full power, you must gather the scattered fragments. (Progress: 5/7)

…….

– So you’re asking why there are still four seekers left when you only need to find two powers?

‘That is correct.’

– Huh. Why would you assume there’s only one main quest?

‘Huh?’

– The main quest is the main quest. It’s not the final one.

‘…….’

Dojae fell into thought for a moment.

As Elatra said, the main quest is just the main quest; nowhere does it say it’s the final quest.

‘So that means… the two are powers that can grant me strength, and the remaining two are yet another kind of power?’

– Similar. Two powers remain, and one final seeker holding the last power.

The number of powers Dojae could newly acquire was two.

And the last one was unknown.

Elatra said she couldn’t speak of it.

But still, there’s one Seeker missing.

– Because Han can hardly be called a Seeker anymore… Only the power remains. Merely as a quest.