novelraw Chapter 169: absorption
Chapter 169: absorption
Aeloria’s expression slowly became more complicated the longer she read.
Not scared exactly.
Just deeply concerned in a very elegant way.
Seong looked like she wants to lie down face first into the wet grass and stop participating in all of this bullshit.
Mihu had reached the point where her brain simply refused to process further information.
"(＠_＠;)... what does ANY of that mean..."
Han slowly raised one hand.
"I think Si Hon... I don’t know actually..."
Suha nodded immediately.
"Yea."
Then after a pause.
"Cool though."
Meanwhile Jisoo remained completely silent.
Which honestly felt significantly more dangerous than yelling.
Her eyes tracked every single line carefully while rain slid down her face and dark hair clung lightly against her cheeks. The deeper the explanation went, the more unreadable her expression became.
Because none of this matched anything she remembered.
Not the ring.
Not the system.
Not the visible interface.
And definitely not the fact this idiot somehow possessed an evolving artifact capable of permanent stat inheritance like it was a random side quest reward.
Meanwhile the owner of said terrifying artifact stared at the screen for maybe five seconds before immediately giving up.
"SUMMARY," Si Hon announced tiredly while pointing at the floating wall of text. "I already read all this before and there’s absolutely no way I’m doing that again."
He skimmed downward lazily instead, eyes half open like a student pretending to study before a test.
"Okay so basically..."
He pointed randomly at one section.
"So this thing works, right?"
Mimi immediately floated upward proudly and raised Spoony high above her head like a heroic commander presenting divine truth to the battlefield.
「Correct!! (｡•̀ᴗ-)✧」
Another point downward.
"And with this dragon thingy you can go Phase Two?"
Mimi gasped dramatically.
Then spun once in the air.
「YIPPEE!! ✧\(>o<)ﾉ✧」
Spoony sparkled beside her for absolutely no reason.
Si Hon nodded slowly.
"Right..."
Another long glance at the endless status information.
"You know what? We’ve been yapping for like ten years already. Let’s just get this started."
Then after a pause:
"And yea I forgot doing this makes me become a—"
Mimi interrupted immediately.
「Like a wet noodle!! (・∀・)」
"Great."
"(≧▽≦)" Mimi looked extremely proud of herself.
Si Hon stared at her blankly for a second while rain continued dripping from his hair.
"I created my own bully."
Then finally—
His eyes drifted toward the bottom of the system screen.
The glowing letters flickered softly through the rain.
「Phase Advancement. Next Phase Unlock 2/8 Requirement: Absorption Progress: 32 / 80 incomplete. Survive one near-death event — completed.」
Si Hon went quiet for a moment.
Then slowly turned toward the gigantic dragon corpse nearby.
Steam curled endlessly upward from the black scales as rain hissed against the still burning body.
The sheer size of it felt different now that the fight was over.
Less like a monster.
More like proof that today had gone completely insane.
"...ಠ_ಠ..."
A long exhausted sigh escaped him afterward.
"Agh..."
He rubbed his face slowly.
"I’m remembering the time we almost died running away from the hybrid monster."
Mimi immediately nodded hard enough her tiny body wobbled in midair.
「WAHHH that thing was HORRIBLE!! (╥﹏╥)」
"Yea."
「It kept chasing us forever!!」
"It literally threw trees at us."
「AND YOU ALMOST FELL!!」
"Sure."
「Still, Dad you’re alive!! ✧\(>o<)ﾉ✧」
"Sure."
Meanwhile behind them—
Everyone else remained completely silent while listening to this deeply concerning conversation between a tired 20s guy and his floating system child.
Rain continued falling softly across the ruined school grounds.
And somewhere in the distance—
Thunder rumbled quietly through the black clouds overhead.
But then finally—
Si Hon exhaled slowly and nonchalantly cool rubbed the back of his neck.
"Enough chatting," he muttered tiredly. "Let’s just do it already."
Rain continued pouring softly across the ruined school grounds while steam rose endlessly from the dragon corpse nearby, the massive black body still radiating enough heat to distort the air around it slightly. Even dead, the thing felt overwhelming up close.
Still—
The rain helped.
Every drop that struck the dragon’s scales hissed into steam immediately, cooling the surrounding heat just enough that approaching it didn’t feel like walking into an oven anymore.
Well.
A slightly less horrible oven.
Si Hon stepped closer anyway.
Wet grass bent beneath his shoes while mud clung lightly around the broken concrete scattered across the ground. Beside him, Jisoo still hadn’t let go of his wrist even once.
Not during the explanation.
Not during the status screens.
Her fingers remained wrapped tightly around him like she thought he might suddenly vanish into another dimension if she closed her eyes too long.
Si Hon glanced sideways briefly.
"You know you can let go now, right?"
"No."
"Cool."
The dragon’s corpse loomed directly in front of them now.
Up close, the damage looked... nothing...
Only the metal pipe rod still remained lodged deep inside the exposed weak point behind its neck while black blood was mixed together with the rainwater beneath the body in slow steaming rivers. Some of the scales had already begun cracking apart from the lingering heat trapped underneath them.
Meanwhile Mimi floated quietly beside Si Hon, hugging Spoony against her chest while staring at the dragon with sparkling eyes full of dangerous optimism.
Si Hon sighed once.
Then looked toward her.
"Mimi," he said quietly. "Go ahead."
The tiny white haired girl nodded immediately.
「Okay!! ✧\(>o<)ﾉ✧」
But the moment she tried—
Something appeared.
A golden system notification suddenly flickered directly in front of Si Hon’s vision.
Unlike the previous blue screens—
This one felt different.
Heavier.
The edges pulsed faintly like a molten gold while distorted symbols crawled briefly underneath the text before stabilizing properly.
And most importantly—
Nobody else could see it.
「SAGE OF GUIDE — WARNING.
Current target exceeds Proto-Bond Ring Phase 1 limitations.
Absorbing a Boss-Class Entity prematurely may result in A severe energy collapse.
Possible consequences: — Forced Dormancy — Core Instability — Memory Fragmentation — Temporary consciousness shutdown — Synchronization failure
Estimated recovery period: UNKNOWN
Proceeding may successfully force Proto-Bond Ring into Phase 2. However—
The host entity "Han Gyeol Mimi" will enter mandatory sleep state after completion.
Warning: Awakening time cannot be predicted. And sometimes... please read first」
Si Hon froze instantly.
His eyes widened.
"What?"
The rain suddenly felt colder.
"Mimi WAIT— STOP!!"
But it was already too late.
The black goo-like ring around his finger suddenly moved on its own.
Not fast.
Not violently.
Worse.
It moved calmly.
Like it had already decided.
Thin strands of black liquid slowly crawled outward from the ring and dripped onto the dragon’s scales before spreading rapidly across the corpse like living tar. The substance pulsed once—
Then began consuming.
The dragon’s body twitched faintly.
Steam exploded upward harder than before.
And Si Hon immediately felt it.
Strength.
Literally.
Something heavy surged upward through his body like hot electricity flooding directly into his muscles and bones. His heartbeat slammed harder against his chest while the exhaustion in his limbs lessened slightly under the pressure of raw energy forcing itself through him.
"Fuck—"
His knees almost buckled.
"Mimi STOP IT!"
But Mimi herself looked completely unbothered.
The tiny projection floated happily beside him while Spoony spun slowly in her hands.
「Absorption starting!! (｡•̀~-)✧」
"That’s NOT the problem!"
Beside him, Jisoo suddenly tightened her grip against his shoulder this time instead of his wrist.
Firm.
Sharp.
Grounding him instantly.
"Hey."
Her voice cut cleanly through the rain.
Si Hon turned toward her instinctively.
Jisoo stared directly into his eyes now, her expression tighter than before.
Not angry.
Not confused.
Something worse.
Focused.
"Just answer me honestly for once," she said quietly. "Who are you actually?"