Chapter 57

『It’s frustrating to talk alone. Hey, imagine talking to me and speak in your mind. Then you’ll be able to talk to me.』

‘…Luckily, it seems he can’t read my thoughts.’

『……Can you hear me?』

Following the guy’s instructions, I could indeed talk to him.

‘Damn it….!’

『Good, hehe… It’s a relief there’s a Dark Sorcerer here. Otherwise, I would’ve been killed by that crazy woman.』

『…Why are you doing this to me?』

『Reason? No special reason. Just because you’re a Dark Sorcerer like me.』

I didn’t understand his words. Was he saying he could enter my body because I’m a Dark Sorcerer?

Noticing something strange about me, Yoo Ju approached.

“….Yoon Seong, are you okay?”

“….Huh?”

『Hey, if you tell anyone I’m inside, I’ll self-destruct and kill you.』

‘F*ck, f*ck!’

I wanted to curse the world in this messed-up situation.

“Haha… No, Yoo Ju. It’s just fatigue from the battle.”

『…I did as you said.』

『Good job. Well, don’t feel too wronged. Before being a Dark Sorcerer, I’m a Parasitic Sorcerer.』

‘Damn it…. What’s a Parasitic Sorcerer?’

『I can enter the bodies of Dark Sorcerers or Chimeras with dark magic. Curse the fact that you’re a Dark Sorcerer.』

『…Chimera? You can enter a Chimera too?』

An amazing idea to escape from him came to mind.

『…Don’t make a mistake. From now on, I have to deceive him carefully.』

『…Don’t do this to me. I came to save you because Charis ordered me to.』

『…What? Did you just say Charis?』

I had to use the fact that he was connected to Charis and some strange group.

『Yes, to save Bahan, she ordered me to enter this dungeon.』

『….Explain in detail.』

『…The door is open. Now it’s up to me.』

Sweating bullets, fearing I might slip up, but since it’s a matter of survival, the words started flowing.

『…Yoon Yeon, hearing this woman was planning to attack here, Charis ordered me.』

『Hmm… Really? But… how do you know Charis?』

‘Damn it…’

I thought he wouldn’t suspect since Charis and the old man called him a fool, but he’s not that stupid.

‘Think. If I take too long, he’ll suspect. Think….’

『…I also follow Charis because I want to gain Citri’s favor. Charis is the second finger of Citri, the Demon Army Commander.』

‘Please… please…’

If he asks for more details here, I’m screwed. I’ve used all the information I know, so I can only pray he buys it.

『Ha… Following Charis, huh? No vision. The true essence of dark magic is Chimera synthesis…』

『……』

『Alright, but what’s your problem? Isn’t the plan to rescue me through your body?』

‘Got it. F*ck!’

『No. Actually, I have a Chimera I made to save Bahan.』

Since we’re going to raid the dungeon, retrieving the Chimera was the right answer.

『A Chimera? You, you know how to handle Chimeras?』

『Yes, like Bahan, I believe Chimera synthesis is the essence of dark magic, so since falling into this world, I’ve devoted everything to Chimera synthesis.』

『Oh… You know your stuff. Good. But why serve Charis?』

『That’s… actually, Charis and I don’t get along, but I want to gain Citri’s favor…』

『I see. Understood. But where is this Chimera? I don’t see it.』

‘Stupid bastard!’

I immediately pretended to search alone a bit away from where people were rummaging and ordered the Chimera to reveal itself.

『Oh… this? Indeed… you went through the trouble of hiding its presence just to rescue me. Good.』

‘Moron.’

If he’s going to misunderstand like that, I’m grateful to him.

『This Chimera is specially made by me to hide Bahan. You can hide here.』

‘….Surely, he won’t stay in my body…’

If he does, all this is for nothing. The Chimera can be remade since half the materials are left. Even if I have to sacrifice the camera, I need to get him out of my body.

‘Please!’

『For now, just enter the Chimera. This Chimera won’t be detected unless it reveals itself.』

The probability of him believing me and entering the Chimera is… about half. It’s not impossible.

In his eyes, this Chimera would look like it was made to hide him, as he mistakenly believes.

‘What Dark Sorcerer would make a Chimera with no combat ability?’

In other words, from his perspective, it’s a situation where he could completely misunderstand.

『Good. I’ll parasitize this Chimera, so hide its form immediately.』

As soon as he finished speaking, a dark energy left my body and entered the Chimera.

‘F*ck! Yes…! It worked!’

I immediately ordered the Chimera to hide its form as he said.

Since I’m away from the party, if I didn’t order the Chimera to hide, he might have sensed something was off and returned to my body.

‘Thanks for being fooled, you bastard.’

I quickly rejoined the group.

The others had already gathered their spoils. They were checking items with the Artifact.

‘Phew… f*ck..’

While they were excitedly checking items, I felt good thinking I had fought a battle alone.





He didn’t fall.

‘Where is Yoon Yeon?’

After spotting Yoon Yeon’s location, I immediately moved the chimera to her shadow and ordered it to reveal itself.

“Yoon Yeon! Behind me!”

In my haste, I ended up speaking informally to her. If I delayed even a little, that thing might re-enter my body.

‘I can’t give it even a moment to think.’

As soon as Yoon Yeon heard my shout, she turned around and threw a punch.

Boom!

Swoosh—

As the chimera shattered, Bahan revealed himself, looking at me in disbelief.

“What, what the hell?! You…?!”

‘No time.’

“Don’t listen to that bastard! F*ck, hurry! Kill him! Quick!”

Hearing my frantic shout, everyone turned to look.

Before the guy could fully grasp the situation, Yoon Yeon punched him, and his body exploded like a balloon.

Boom!

Whoosh!

Relieved to be alive, I slumped down, and curses started pouring out of my mouth.

“I-I’m alive! Phew… Ha… Haha…! Damn bastard!”

I didn’t even know what I was saying.

“Y-Yoon Seong?! What’s going on?!”

Seo Yoo-ju immediately approached me, but I couldn’t hear her voice.

“I’m alive! I’m alive! Hahaha!”

Kang I-seo, holding my slumped body, asked me with a serious expression.

“Hey, what’s wrong with you?! Why are you acting like this?! Crazy bastard, snap out of it!”

“Phew… Hoo…”

Maybe it was the stress of almost being self-destructed by that thing, but my body wouldn’t calm down.

Who could stay calm when there’s a ticking time bomb attached to their body?

Everyone here was looking at me like I was a madman. That included Seo Yoo-ju and Yoon Yeon.

“…Lee Yoon-seong, what happened? You need to explain why you’re acting like this.”

“Phew… Clan Master of Hwashin… Thank you. I owe you my life.”

“…What on earth are you talking about?”

Since they didn’t know the details, they couldn’t grasp the context of what I was saying.

I slowly began to explain to everyone.

“…That guy, Bahan… He’s a parasite mage.”

“Parasite mage?”

“Yoon Seong, what does that mean? A parasite mage?”

Seo Yoo-ju also seemed to be hearing about a parasite mage for the first time.

I roughly explained, omitting the part about Charis, how I had created the chimera and tricked Bahan into falling for it.

“…No wonder he seemed so weak. He had that kind of ability.”

“….. Y-Yoon Seong… I-I didn’t do anything…”

Seo Yoo-ju seemed to be in a panic, realizing that I could have died.

This time, it wasn’t so much about being saved by someone else, but more about surviving through my own wits, so Seo Yoo-ju seemed to be feeling a sense of self-doubt.

“…Yoo-ju, don’t blame yourself. Who could have predicted that kind of ability? I couldn’t have imagined it either until it happened to me.”

“I-I should have protected you…”

‘Phew… She’s out of it.’

Seo Yoo-ju seemed more shocked than I expected. I get it. This is the second time since her regression that I almost died.

‘Damn, why is my luck like this? Even with a Returner, I’m in this state.’

The world felt unfair. At the training facility, I was discriminated against by Ha Yu-ri for being a Dark Sorcerer, and now, because I’m a Dark Sorcerer, my body almost exploded.

‘Damn it…’

Kang I-seo spoke to me.

“…That’s a relief. I thought you’d gone crazy for a second there…”

“Yoon Seong oppa… I’m glad you’re okay.”

“Brother…”

The party members seemed shocked by the fact that I could have died. Not as much as Seo Yoo-ju, but everyone’s expressions darkened, probably remembering what happened with Joo Seung-hwan.

“Come on, why the long faces? I’m alive, so it’s all good. Haha! Everyone, cheer up.”

As I exaggeratedly spoke, Yoon Yeon asked me in a serious tone.

“…Are you okay?”

“Ah, of course. I’m alive, so it’s fine! Now that the dungeon raid is over…”

“You shouldn’t be okay.”

I paused at her words.

“Huh?”

“You don’t have to pretend to be okay. No one would be okay in that situation.”

“……”

I tried to ignore her words.

“Alright, let’s check the loot! I was in such a hurry that I didn’t get to check it.”

I immediately started checking the items. There was one ring and one staff.

[Mad Dark Sorcerer Bahan’s Ring (Hero Grade) – A ring worn by the Dark Sorcerer Bahan. Increases Dark Magic affinity and boosts magic power by 4 when equipped.]

[Mad Dark Sorcerer Bahan’s Staff (Hero Grade) – A staff used by the Dark Sorcerer Bahan before he learned chimera synthesis. Increases Dark Magic affinity and boosts magic power by 4 when equipped.]

‘It’s good, but…’

Reading the descriptions, the items were definitely high-quality. The problem was that they increased Dark Magic affinity, making them essentially exclusive to Dark Sorcerers.

‘They’re useless to me.’

I didn’t need them, but our party members needed usable items.