Awesome Shut-In Necromancer

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The events that had transpired were fully explained by Trione upon our reunion.

To summarize, it seems I caused a commotion while being entangled with the Brenner Terror in Italy due to the opponent’s aggressive attitude.

Afterwards, just when an S Rank Hunter affiliated with the state was about to arrive, I managed to escape thanks to Helena’s help.

“Ugh. What? Then it wasn’t really my fault.”

Realizing the cause and effect, I maintained a confident demeanor, and the Korean Hunter Association even expressed doubts towards the Italian side, sending support.

Thanks to that, the chaos calmed down to some extent, but the associations of both countries ended up embroiled in a heated debate, wrapping up the incident with a rather tumultuous atmosphere.

In such a situation, I couldn’t shake off a sense of unease.

‘Is Italy intentionally trying to stir up trouble with Korea?’

According to Trione, Joseph extracted information that contained such content.

Thinking back, I couldn’t come up with a reason. It was likely entangled with political interests or some complex circumstances.

“…What does it matter?”

Worrying about it would only give me a headache. Such matters weren’t my area of expertise.

Bam.

Thus, I was currently holed up at home, spending my day on the bed due to the influence of my busyness over the past few days.

Doing nothing, like a zombie.

With my face buried in the pillow, I took the time to slowly reflect on this situation.

‘…….’

Though I lost something crucial that could have been the outcome of the ritual, I did learn to some extent about the existence of an organization called Hades.

‘…They’re up to something interesting.’

Hades is attempting to summon an ancient being that has been passed down through realms via some ritual.

‘Absurd, but it’s not impossible.’

In a way, my being flung into another world and eventually returning to Earth with Serejia’s assistance was of the same nature.

‘But are they capable enough to pull it off?’

That knowledge likely originated from one of the founders or members known as a Returner. However, it seems unlikely that such an impressive feat would be easy; questioning whether anyone powerful enough to achieve that even exists.

‘The leader can’t be that Eric guy.’

Unfortunately, it seemed that Eric had some sort of lock on his soul, preventing me from extracting solid information. But it didn’t seem like he was the one planning those things. You could figure that out just by sizing him up.

Rather, from what I observed, the one who locked something on Eric appeared to be more suspicious.

‘I have a feeling.’

That fellow is probably a Necromancer. The way he fiddled with souls was quite similar to my own.

Naturally, it piques my interest regarding what kind of being he intends to resurrect.

‘The name… Gideon? Hildion?’

In the memories of Verdi, who was a colleague of Eric, that ancient being was referred to by such names.

“I feel like I’ve heard that somewhere…”

However, no matter how much I pondered, I couldn’t recall anything more. Just as I was tossing around in bed, a call came in from someone.

It was none other than the Returner, Shin Do Yoon.

I activated the ring’s effect for a moment and pressed the call button.

“What’s up?”

[I called because I have something to tell you.]

Speaking of which, this guy is quite the character.

Though he certainly possesses considerable skills, looking back now, it’s absurd to think of what confidence he had to say he would take down S Rank Lee Ji Cheol.

“Loser…”

[I didn’t catch that. What did you just say?]

“Doesn’t matter.”

After a brief pause, Shin Do Yoon began to relay his intended message.

[Lee Ji Cheol’s recent movements are suspicious.]

“Lee Ji Cheol? What’s so weird about it?”

[He’s been consistently hiding his whereabouts, as if planning something. I tried to dig into it, but I couldn’t figure out what he was up to.]

I had forgotten about it since there hadn’t been any news, but it seems Shin Do Yoon had been gathering information on Lee Ji Cheol all along.

With a reluctant tone, I asked, “Are you really going to catch him?”

[……. ]

“S Rank is much tougher than you think.”

Just looking at Chae Hwa In, she could slice Eric, who boasted of immense power, in half.

I’ve heard that there’s a significant gap among S Ranks, but Lee Ji Cheol must surely have formidable skills as well.

[I’ve got no choice to begin with.]

“Ah.”

Thinking about it, I realized that was indeed the case.

Shin Do Yoon was in a position where he had to handle Lee Ji Cheol in exchange for some contract with a certain being.

To be honest, I’m also curious about what that being would do if Lee Ji Cheol gets killed.

[He’s been injured.]

“He got hurt? Why?”

[Couldn’t tell. He might have fought someone off while hiding.]

At this point, it wasn’t difficult to understand what Shin Do Yoon was hinting at.

‘If there’s a chance, now is the time,’

[If you’re still thinking about helping, come this way next Tuesday night.]

Hearing Shin Do Yoon’s words, I fumbled my answer awkwardly.

“Uh, well, it’s just… right now…”

[If you don’t want to, that’s fine. You’re just all talk.]

“Th-that’s not it.”

Being treated like a coward here was unacceptable. So, I tried to swallow my embarrassment and stated the honest reason behind my hesitation.

“I’m currently under curfew…”

[What do you mean by that?]

“I have a tracking device….”

I had recently caused a racket several times and had lost trust with Seo Ha.

Of course, there’s a tracking app on my phone, and I had promised to carry a special artifact for location tracking every time I went out.

So if I did something suspicious, the chances of getting caught would be pretty high.

[…] You never know when another opportunity will arise. You might have to go alone.

“I feel like I’ll get caught…”

[Shut up. I’m hanging up.]

Beep.

With that, Shin Do Yoon hung up after leaving his final words. I pulled the disheveled blanket back around me and thought.

‘…It doesn’t particularly matter what happens to Shin Do Yoon.’

I was just momentarily intrigued; he wasn’t that important of a talent to me.

However, that unknown being connected to Shin Do Yoon might be related to someone who made me end up in this state.

Therefore, thinking about the possible loss of my only connection made me feel a bit uneasy.

‘Tuesday, in four days.’

For now, I decided to keep watching the situation.

#

After this incident, my life saw a slight shift.

The first change, as mentioned before, was that Seo Ha became intensely vigilant over me.

“Oppa, are you going out today?”

“I-I’ll just stay at home.”

“…Got it.”

Every day, she would scrutinize my face with an expression of suspicion as she went out for work, and whenever I had to leave home for the guild’s dungeon raids, she’d summon Song Ha Yeon to stay close to me.

Though it felt like excessive worry, to be honest, there were numerous things I had secretly meddled in without Seo Ha knowing, so arguing about it would be pointless.

‘If this goes on, it could be troublesome…’

But I couldn’t imagine such a situation would last for months, so I figured as long as I stayed quiet for a while, it would be fine.

And, in truth, the real issue that concerned me lay elsewhere.

It was regarding Chae Hwa In.

Clang.

Boom!

“…Ugh! Here we go again.”

Clunk.

Clomp.

“What on earth is going on? Please, just stop popping out.”

“…It’s suffocating.”

Ever since I summoned her during the fight with Eric, Chae Hwa In has started coming out at random times, complaining that she’s trapped in the Book of Death.

Normally, it would be an impossible feat, but for some reason, Chae Hwa In could materialize at will. Now it had reached the point where forcing her back inside was becoming a challenge.

‘…….’

Indeed, as I predicted last time, I began to think that some other rule must be affecting Chae Hwa In.

Stomp.

Stomp.

“Where are you off to this time?”

“…Going for a walk.”

“You’ll just turn into a monster if you go out looking like that.”

At least her thin armor partially hid her face, but if someone were to recognize her, it would spiral into a troublesome mess.

Thud.

As Chae Hwa In turned away with a disgruntled expression, I instinctively shrank back to protect my head.

“I-I warned you! Don’t touch me.”

“…….”

Every time I treated her like a minion, she always seemed to have a tendency to give me a playful hit, which made me swallow my rising frustration as I tried to pacify Chae Hwa In.

“D-don’t put your hand there! Hurry, won’t your magic disappear?”

Though she was fundamentally not influenced by the contract, as she considered me her master, the reality was more akin to treating her like a younger sister or pet.

Just when I was jumpy day by day, the phone rang from my bed.

I checked, and it was Shin Do Yoon, who had contacted me earlier.

Click.

“Why now?”

[Are you Baek Eun Ha?]

Though the tone was somewhat similar, it wasn’t Shin Do Yoon. I lowered the phone from my ear and checked the name once more. It was definitely Shin Do Yoon’s number.

“Then who are you?”

[It’s Lee Ji Cheol.]

With that statement, I pressed the call ended button in shock, my expression blank.