#192
Settler (3)
“···Come to think of it, I’ve said something like that before, right? Hehe, I think you thought I was joking back then.”
Chehai, who had been frozen for a moment, soon laughed heartily and shook his head.
His face quickly regained its composure as if he had never been flustered, and there was even a faint smile reminiscing about the past.
“···I’m sorry for telling your story to others so carelessly. But I swear I’m not doing it lightly. This is such an important matter. It might be of great help in dealing with the Immortal King.”
“Hmm? The Immortal King···.”
“I’m talking to everyone here. Please, Chehai. Please answer honestly.”
At Geos’s words full of sincerity, Chehai’s gaze turned back to the people in the reception room.
Although he is now living quietly, taking care of his children, he once built up a reputation on the bloody battlefield.
Of course, it wasn’t that difficult to read the aura of strength that was secretly flowing from them.
‘It was said that a suicide squad was formed to face the Immortal King.’
Starting with the saint of the famous Shinsin sect, a fierce-looking savage who doesn’t seem to be very appealing to children’s emotions, a young girl who looks about the same age as the thick-haired kids at the orphanage, and…
His gaze rested briefly on Hesperon.
Because I thought maybe I was mistaken about something.
‘···A third-rate wizard? No, that can’t be. Then, an assassin who faked his energy? Indeed, that would be more convincing. His skills are amazing.’
But while he was trying to convince himself like that.
Hesperon felt the gaze and smiled faintly as he stepped forward again.
“I think it’s going to be difficult for you to answer, so let me introduce myself again. I’m Ha Seung-hoon, an awakened person from Korea on Earth!”
And then, as if nothing had happened, he started introducing himself again.
“I plan to use the name Hesperon in Autherica, but you can just call me Heron! I think it’s been a little over two months since I got here. Hahaha!”
Chehai, who was taken aback by the sudden action, blinked and looked around the people sitting in the reception room again.
The group of warriors still looked at him with serious expressions.
“ha-.”
It seemed like it was no longer a situation where I could push myself out.
He sighed lightly and slowly opened his mouth.
“Korea? Korea… Yeah, I think I’ve heard of it. I heard that Korean cars are pretty good.”
In fact, it was a statement acknowledging one’s origins.
At that, Geos nodded heavily with shining eyes and leaned slightly towards him.
“As expected, Chehai, you too are from the same dimension as Heron.”
“Yeah. I don’t know if he knows, but I’m from Ethiopia.”
“Ah! I know. It’s a country in Africa, right? Next to Somalia.”
“Oh? You’ve been well-informed. It’s nice to hear the names of those rotten things after such a long time… It’s a really subtle feeling.”
Ethiopia, located in eastern Africa.
Although it was a country that was a long way from Korea, it was not a completely unfamiliar country as it had its own diplomatic relations.
It is famous as the origin of coffee and is quite well known to the people.
“···I don’t remember exactly when I came here.”
And then he paused for a moment, stroked his beard as he pondered something, then nodded and began to speak again.
“It’s been well over 30 years. I don’t think it’s been 40 years though.”
“···I see, it’s quite long.”
Geos simply nodded in admiration.
For the rest of the other worldlings in this place, aside from him, that wasn’t a matter to be taken lightly.
‘Wow, over 30 years?’
In fact, it goes without saying that if you can adapt to the world you’ve been sent to, the longer you stay there, the better.
Even if you were to stay for 30 years like Chehai, only about 3 years would pass on Earth, and if you decide to just live on Earth, wouldn’t your lifespan be extended tenfold due to aging according to Earth’s time?
Moreover, if you add in the growth correction that is only given in this world, it would be possible to decide to train for several decades and then return as a monster.
If something dangerous happens along the way, you might be able to escape before it happens.
‘But there is no one on Earth who has stayed for more than 20 years.’
It’s not just unknown, there really hasn’t been a single person like that until now.
And the reason is probably…
“Excuse me, Mr. Chehai? There’s something I’d like to ask you first.”
Hesperon spoke cautiously to the black man, who appeared to be entering his old age—his beard was beginning to wrinkle and turn gray.
“Can you use the system right now?”
“Ahem, so you knew. ···It’s been quite some time since it became unusable.”
This is precisely why those who stayed in this world for an unusually long time were called ‘settlers’.
Since the system was unusable, the Karma Shop could not be opened, and naturally, since I could no longer return to Earth, I was forced to live in another world for the rest of my life.
“Well, I guess it was true. Well, there are some things that have been known about Earth. Of course, it’s all indirectly transmitted, so it’s hard to tell the truth, and the reliability isn’t very high.”
So now that I was meeting the parties directly, it was a good opportunity to get the right information.
If the external reason for coming to see him was that he might be able to find a useful means of dealing with the Immortal King.
The original intention was to obtain more diverse information about the system and the Awakened through the settlers.
‘Information is the best weapon for whatever you do. The more information you have, the better, to use what you have efficiently.’
Moreover, isn’t he an irregular in many ways even within the system?
In that situation, it was natural that I needed to be more careful than others.
“Excuse me, Chehai, but could you explain in more detail? Perhaps even a trivial story can provide important clues. If you could do so, it would be of great help to both Heron and us.”
In order to gather information smoothly, the most authoritative saint in the place, Heinrich, personally asked him for a favor.
Geos and others joined in and continued to encourage him, resulting in…
“Heh heh, well it doesn’t really matter now that it’s all in the past. I wonder how much help this will be.”
In the end, Chehai had no choice but to raise both hands and tell the story.
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He hesitated for a moment about where to start, then gave a light cough and began to briefly explain his past.
“Ahem, I don’t know that guy named Heron. My hometown wasn’t a very nice place to live.”
Even Korea, which used to boast of having one of the highest public safety standards in the world, was in a state of chaos.
There is no need to further explain the situation in Ethiopia, located in Africa.
The government was preoccupied with protecting the capital, Addis Ababa, and naturally its control over the provinces was bound to weaken.
After that, all kinds of criminal organizations naturally sprang up one after another and began to grow in power···.
Chehai also lost his family in the process and became an orphan.
Of course, that was nothing special there, just an ordinary misfortune that could be seen anywhere.
“But in such chaos, the child’s means of survival were limited.”
The method he chose was to become an errand boy for a criminal organization that was no different from his enemies and beg for their mercy.
In this way, he became a member of the organization for over ten years, focusing only on survival.
But a sudden change came to his daily life…
It all started when I was chosen by the system and became enlightened when I was just over twenty years old.
“Hahaha, but unfortunately, my newly acquired ability makes me restless.”
Chehai, who had been speaking, quietly burst into laughter.
The unique skill he awakened is “Phase Refraction”.
It was a useful ability to manipulate space by twisting it in a localized area.
And with no more time to spare, he used the 24 hours given to him very wisely.
By cleanly wiping out the executives of the criminal organization he was involved with.
The organization, which was close to a local warlord, had a considerable amount of guns and bombs stored there, and Chehai’s ability was optimal for stealing them and using them for terrorist purposes.
Simply put, it was an act that the world called ‘pre-transmission awakening terrorism’.
“Well, back then, my skill level was low and I didn’t have enough time, so I could only take out a few guys above me. After that, I took advantage of the chaos to move to a quiet place and was soon able to escape to Outerica.”
In fact, from that point on, he had already given up on returning to Earth.
Now, even if I went back, I would only be retaliated against by the remaining members of the organization.
After that, he became a mercenary in this world and lived a rather eventful life.
Since he had no intention of returning in the first place, he invested every karma he collected into strengthening himself, and that is how he was able to survive for over ten years with all his limbs intact.
“Then, by chance, I stopped by this town and met my current wife. Since I had already saved up enough money, there was no problem in getting married.”
“Huh? Mr. Chehai, are you married?”
“Then would I have lived alone until this age?”
He answered curtly to Hesperon, who asked in surprise.
And Geos, who had been quietly watching the scene, faintly twitched the corners of his lips and muttered softly.
“···We met in this village too. At that time, I thought he was my age.”
“Hehehe, for the past few years, Geos, you actually seemed older than me. Hmm, now that I think about it, I guess I should tell you that.”
Chehai, who had been stroking his beard with a low laugh, turned his gaze back to Hesperon and continued speaking softly in a voice that had become even more serious than before.
“It was probably about 20 years after I came to Outerica. One day, I just felt instinctively that if I didn’t return to Earth right away, I would never be able to return.”
But he had no intention of going back in the first place, and he had no karma, so he forced himself to ignore that instinct.
and.
“Not long after that… the system became unusable.”
The changes didn’t end there, either.
Immediately after the system disappeared, he began to age rapidly.
It was as if all the years that had been on hold had come back to me all at once.
He still looked like he was in his twenties even though he was in his forties, but within a year or so he had become a middle-aged man who looked older than he actually was.
“Of course, fortunately, even in that situation, the other abilities and statuses still remained. I started delving into the unique skills as if possessed. I didn’t realize it, but the sense of loss from the system being forcibly removed was greater than I thought.”
but.
And so on for another 10 years.
It had been over 30 years since he had been transferred to another world—.
He lost all his abilities as an Awakened One.
Of course, the unique skill “Phase Refraction”, as well as other small skills that I’ve collected and even the statuses that I’ve strengthened by investing Karma.
“······.”
“······.”
Chehai, who had said that, closed his eyes tightly.
As soon as he closed his mouth, the silence that came upon the living room was filled with only the faint sound of breathing.
‘Not only are there no systems and shops, but there are also no restrictions on aging, and later on, even skills and status?’
At this point, even though he didn’t say anything, I had to assume that he had lost his ‘growth compensation’ in this world.
All of the benefits of being an Awakened person have disappeared, and you have literally become a native who has settled in this world.
‘Could it be that you forcibly recovered karma?’
Typically, the ‘return’ of the Karma Shop will involve returning to Earth and returning the system and shop.
But I’ve never heard of skills and status being reset…
‘Is this really the difference between a returnee and a settler? I got some good information.’
This was information that had never been heard or seen on Earth.
When Hesperon, satisfied with such a generous income, slowly nodded his head.
“Still, it’s not like I gained anything at all.”
Chehai, who had opened his eyes that had been closed before he knew it, looked at me and smiled faintly.
Then he slowly raised one hand.
He swung it straight into the air.
Crack—
“Huh?”
At the same time, Hesperon grabbed her back and jumped up in place.
A technique we have already seen several times through Geos.
The unique skill he had been talking about was definitely “Phase Refraction.”
“···Just now, your abilities disappeared···?”
“Of course, the unique skill disappeared. This is my vision of studying it and linking it to the Aura operation method.”
Of course, it was incomparably inferior to when he had “phase refraction”, but it was a sophisticated technology whose effectiveness had already been proven by Geos several times.
Isn’t it enough to allow a pure Aura user who hasn’t even reached Transcendence to attack beyond space?
‘I can’t believe that was created by analyzing his own unique skill…’
“You said it hasn’t been long since you acquired your unique skill?”
“yes yes···.”
“I’ve been using my abilities for over thirty years, and after the system disappeared and I’ve been digging like crazy for over ten years, I’ve come to realize something.”
Perhaps because I had just come into contact with his greatness, each word I said felt more weighty than before.
Hesperon listened to him with her hands folded in respect.
The same goes for Isae, who was sitting in a chair on one side of the living room.
She pretended not to notice, but she was listening intently, her ears perked up, trying not to miss a single word.
“A unique skill isn’t just an ability that’s randomly given. It has a deep connection to the person in question. The problem is that no one knows exactly what that is… not even the person himself.”
After saying that, he immediately raised the corners of his lips and showed a wonderful smile.
“I don’t know how much help I can be since our abilities are different. But I’ll start by teaching you the basic know-hows one by one. It probably won’t be so bad. Hehe.”
Chehai bursts into a confident laugh.
Somehow, behind his back, there seemed to be a halo of a level I had never seen even from Heinrich.
***
And it’s only been a day since I received his teachings.
《Unique skills grow and their potential blossoms. The number of avatars you can have increases.》
It was a time when unique skills grew without going through the Karma Shop.
