CHAPTER 43

Busan Station (3)

'What's going on?'

Kim Ga-young, who had just regained consciousness, was sobbing uncontrollably.

"Heo-eong. Dong-geon, hheu-ik."

Ha Dong-geon held the trembling Kim Ga-young in his arms, comforting her.

"You must have seen it wrong. It's okay."

Kim Ga-young shook her head desperately.

"I saw it… hhk… I saw him. I confirmed it was my dad. I definitely saw him…"

She could barely string her words together.

At first, he thought she was just rambling because of her head injury.

"Hhuek. My dad… our dad… how could this happen to him?"

But the atmosphere told him otherwise.

Her appearance, as if she had just come out of the water again, was proof enough.

Her soaking-wet figure meant she had gone back into the water.

She had seen it firsthand—

The tragic fate of her father, who had been dragged into the lake by the siren.

"Dong-geon… My dad… How could this happen to him? Hhhuu…"

Ha Dong-geon just held her silently. In his arms, Kim Ga-young sobbed bitterly.

Watching her like this, his heart ached.

Because her pain didn't feel like someone else's problem—it felt like his own.

An uneasy thought crept into his mind.

Kim Ga-young had stumbled upon her father's death by chance. But wasn't he voluntarily walking towards the deaths of his own family?

That thought shook him.

'Even in the worst-case scenario, there's always a way.'

Plan B.

If his family had already died, he would resurrect them using his ability.

No matter how much money it took, he would gather it all to bring them back completely.

Then, he suddenly realized—this situation could answer a lingering question he had always had.

"Reconstruct quest. Target: Kim Ga-young. Quest reward: Father's resurrection."

However—

[This is an impossible quest reward.]

It wasn't a notification about insufficient funds.

It was a notification stating the reward itself was impossible.

In other words, resurrecting Kim Ga-young's father was simply not possible.

…Was that so?

Ohn Ju's son had died within the domain of the Household Territory's influence. But Kim Ga-young's father had died in a completely separate place—Busan Station.

That was the difference.

'Not all deaths can be reversed.'

There were conditions—some deaths could be undone, while others could not.

Only those who had died within the vicinity of the Household Territory's influence could be revived.

Only the dead within its proclaimed domain could be brought back.

'That means—'

If his family had already died, no matter how much money he gathered, he wouldn't be able to bring them back.

Clench

For some reason, as he watched Kim Ga-young crying over her father's death, he saw himself in her.

Hoo…

He wanted to push forward immediately. But he couldn't bring himself to order Kim Ga-young to move while she was grieving the loss of her father.

Even if she cried and suffered, it still wouldn't be enough to ease the pain.

"Hhhuuuk…"

In the heavy silence, only Kim Ga-young's sobbing filled the air for a long time.

And then—

Hadong-gun said,

"Father, let's take him out from there."

He continued speaking while gently stroking Kim Ga-young's back.

"Let's pull him up from there. I'll go."

"Mm, mm."

Seeing Kim Ga-young desperately nodding with a nasal voice pained him.

Hadong-gun lightly kissed the trembling Kim Ga-young and immediately dove back into the lake.

Splash!

The beam from Hadong-gun's headlamp pierced through the darkness underwater, revealing the scene before him.

'How horrifying!'

The lakebed was nothing short of a hellscape.

There, the corpses of people and monsters alike, dragged in by the siren, were tangled together. Goblins, orcs, and humans were intertwined in a grotesque and repulsive display.

'No wonder there was nothing around here.'

It was similar to what had happened with Jeokho.

It wasn't just because a giant had rampaged—it was because this area belonged to the siren. That was why there was nothing living nearby.

Hadong-gun calmly swam through the lake and stopped in front of a man.

His face was so bloated from being in the water that it was impossible to recognize who he was.

But there was a way to identify him.

The Korail employee uniform he wore and the name tag attached to it.

「Kim Deok-hoon」

Hadong-gun's face darkened as he confirmed the name.

From his expression, it was clear.

'This man is Kim Ga-young's father.'

There was a reason why Kim Ga-young was certain he was her father.

Hadong-gun struggled to pull him up, but his lower body was stuck between a pile of concrete debris and steel bars. It wasn't going to be easy.

In the end, I stepped in.

'Storage—Kim Deok-hoon's body.'

Bzzz—

Hadong-gun watched as the corpse disappeared, realizing what was happening. Once the body was completely gone, he surfaced.

'Summon!'

As Kim Deok-hoon's body appeared, Kim Ga-young called out to him in a trembling voice.

"Dad..."

She stroked the name tag on his uniform, then covered her mouth with both hands and wept.

Why was it?

This time, rather than focusing on Kim Ga-young's sorrowful cries, my eyes were drawn to the expressions of those watching her.

Ohn Joo's teary eyes, Kim Da-jeong's bitter expression, Kang Deok-soo's shocked face, Kim Gun biting his lip, and Hadong-gun with his mouth firmly shut.

It was only after seeing them that I realized—

They all had the same look in their eyes as me.

The emotions I was feeling, they were feeling them too.

Everyone here was worried about their own families, and at the same time, afraid.

'I see.'

I had known it.

That I wasn't the only one longing to see my family as soon as possible.

That others had families too, and of course, they worried for their safety.

But I had tried to ignore it.

Because rescuing my own family came first.

'They all gave way for me.'

Knowing something in my head and truly realizing it were as different as heaven and earth.

I felt grateful to them. And guilty.

And my chest felt unbearably tight.

What should I have done?

Had I been too selfish?

But even knowing all of this, I still couldn't give up on my family.

Moon Byung-ho, who had been fidgeting anxiously as if he were guilty of something, cautiously spoke to Kim Ga-young.

"Wouldn't it be better to ask Jaehyun to keep the body for now? There's no suitable place around here, and making a burial site near the apartment complex..."

Kim Ga-young slowly shook her head.

"Dad would like it here."

"Huh?"

"My dad was a workaholic. He took great pride in his work, and he used to say that even after death, he wanted to be buried by the railroad tracks."

She spoke in a trembling voice.

"If possible, I— sniff— want to bury him by the tracks."

The next moment, I once again moved the body into the warehouse.

I was helping them transport Kim Deok-hoon's corpse, but Ha Dong-geon's party looked somewhat flustered as they watched.

Oh Won-joo hesitantly spoke up.

"Uh… How about we make the grave after we complete our mission and return to Busan Station?"

It seemed like they felt I was rushing the operation.

To clear up the misunderstanding, I assigned them all a quest.

Quest Details: Build a Grave by the Railroad Tracks.

Time Limit: 1 hour 00 minutes 00 seconds.

Reward: A small amount of experience points.

Failure Penalty: None.

[Would you like to assign this quest?]

[Yes/No]

'Yes.'

It was a bit inconvenient that this was the only way I could communicate my intentions.

Still, there were no major communication issues. As long as I corrected things like this, it was fine.

Receiving my intentions, Ha Dong-geon's party began moving toward Busan Station.

"Jaehyun, are you okay? You look really pale."

When I opened my eyes, I saw Seo Yejin looking at me with concern.

"Yejin…"

"Huh?"

For a brief moment, I almost said, "You're lucky, Yejin."

Her family had safely returned to her. They were together now.

So I almost said that she was lucky, that I was jealous.

Fortunately, I barely managed to hold onto my reason.

"Release the mice around Busan Station and check for any monsters. If the situation seems dangerous, report to Ha Dong-geon's party immediately."

"Understood."

I had nearly shown an embarrassing side of myself.

Feeling envious of someone who had reunited with their family—

'How pathetic.'

Maybe it was because my concentration had loosened, but my Absolute Observer's Eye had shrunk to only two viewpoints.

One was focused on Ha Dong-geon's party, and the other on Lee Jun-hyuk's party.

Since I had stopped assigning quests, Lee Jun-hyuk was now returning after finishing his hunt.

Seeing him reminded me of something—

'Oh, right. I still have two skill points left!'

I had been so focused on managing my multiple viewpoints with the Absolute Observer's Eye that I had momentarily forgotten about my remaining skill points.

'The second skill to upgrade is…'

I noticed that the upgrade button for the Dignity Maintenance skill was now active.

The moment I saw it, I didn't hesitate.

'Upgrade Dignity Maintenance skill!'

[The Dignity Maintenance skill has been upgraded to Lv. 5.]

[A new feature, Mystic Draw, has been added.]

[You have received 300 Crystals.]

'Crystals?'

I checked what they were and saw that they were a resource needed for the newly unlocked Mystic Draw feature.

One draw required 300 Crystals.

It was clear they were giving me exactly enough to test it out.

There was no reason to refuse.

'Mystic Draw.'

Wooooong!

As when Cami was summoned before, a dazzlingly intricate magic circle began to adorn the air.

At the climax of the spell, golden rays of light emitted from the magic circle converged into one spot.

And then—

Click.

Something fell onto the living room floor.

"A ring?"

It was an ordinary-looking gold ring.

"The Eye of the Absolute."

However, when seen through the Eye of the Absolute, the ring held a special power.

A ring that transmits the voice of the household's Absolute One to their retainers.

"Hmm, not bad."

Communication wasn't particularly difficult even now.

By exploiting the loophole in quest assignments, commands could be delivered at any time.

One could convey orders through the quest description and then cancel the quest immediately, passing on information without any drawbacks.

For more complex information, there was always the option of writing a letter and delivering it through the storage skill.

"Guess I'll give it a try!"

As soon as the ring was slipped onto a finger, it fit perfectly. Almost instinctively, an understanding of how to use its power came through.

The Absolute One spoke to Ha Dong-geon's party, who were visible through the Eye of the Absolute.

[Can you all hear my voice?]

Ha Dong-geon's party, who had just entered Busan Station, looked up at the sky in shock.

[Seems like you can hear me well.]

"Yes, we can hear you clearly," Ha Dong-geon responded.

[From now on, let's communicate this way.]

A modest grave was made beside the railway tracks.

O Won-ju placed the body in the hole he had dug, covered it with soil, and that was it.

"I thought it was an impossible wish, but Dad's wish really did come true," Kim Ga-young murmured after a brief moment of silence in front of Kim Deok-hoon's grave.

"Let's go now."

[You can stay a little longer.]

"This is enough. I was able to fulfill my father's wish."

Kim Ga-young stared blankly at her father's grave for a moment before speaking again.

"Thank you for respecting my stubbornness. It really helped ease my burden."

With that, Ha Dong-geon's party began moving again, heading toward Jagalchi Station.

After using the ring firsthand, it turned out to be even more useful than expected.

The greatest advantage was the ability to receive immediate feedback.

'Using quest assignments to relay information always took some time…'

There were also limitations on the type of information that could be conveyed—only details that fit within the quest format could be communicated.

Additionally, misunderstandings like the one earlier wouldn't happen again. Any action taken could be explained immediately.

Now that real-time communication was possible,

'This is actually pretty great.'

There were several other advantages as well.

'This would be even more compatible with Kim Da-bin.'

As soon as Kim Da-bin came to mind, a forgotten fact resurfaced.

'Oh, right. Kim Da-bin awakened too, didn't she?'

More precisely, when her loyalty reached 100, she had been automatically registered as a retainer.

Naturally, she would have acquired an awakening ability as well.

'Retainer Management: Kim Da-bin'

「Name: Kim Da-bin (Lv. 25) [+]

Title: [The Eleventh Bell]

Trust: 77 | Loyalty: 100 |

Awakening Ability: Telepathy

★Quest Assignment」

Upon seeing her awakened ability, a grin spread across the Absolute One's face.

'This is amazing.'

It was almost uncanny how perfectly suited her ability was for the job.

Just as the Absolute One was about to explain telepathy to her, the Eye of the Absolute showed an unexpected sight.

'Hmm?'

Kim Da-bin was surrounded by citizens, looking troubled.

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