Absolute Dweller-Chapter 160

Kim Myunghwan opened his inventory and pulled out a cup of instant noodles.

Since he had poured hot water in advance and let it cook for exactly three minutes before storing it, all he had to do now was take it out and eat.

Carefully peeling back the lid, he found perfectly cooked noodles waiting for him.

"Hoo—hup. Slurp!"

As he enjoyed his meal inside the tent, a woman entered and spoke to him.

"Senior, does it taste good?"

"Hyena."

Kim Hyena was the leader of the party that Kim Myunghwan was a part of.

The reason she called him “senior” was that they had known each other for quite a long time.

From the days when they had to travel long distances just to hunt goblins before the concept of instant dungeons even existed, they had fought together.

Over time, Kim Hyena awakened and grew strong enough to lead a hunting team.

On the other hand, Kim Myunghwan had hit a wall and remained stagnant.

"Because I’m a non-Awakened."

At first, when they were hunting goblins and orcs, the difference between Awakened and non-Awakened wasn’t that significant.

That was because, in those early days, most people relied on firearms.

After the introduction of dungeons, the playing field was evened out—at least to a certain extent.

In fact, some non-Awakened with exceptional marksmanship were growing even faster than others.

But once they reached a certain level, the story changed completely.

The gap between Awakened and non-Awakened widened the higher they climbed.

"If I want to break through this wall, I have to Awaken."

But unfortunately, that opportunity had never come to him.

While hunters, being in constant battle with monsters, had a higher Awakening rate than the general population, the percentage wasn’t overwhelmingly large.

"If I never Awaken, I might be stuck like this forever."

That was unacceptable.

But unless he was incredibly lucky, there was no way forward.

"Senior! What are you thinking about so deeply?"

"...Nothing."

Thankfully, even after she became a party leader, Kim Hyena still treated him as a senior.

"Oh, I see. By the way, do you want one?"

"Oh! You have another one?"

"Yeah."

"That’s awesome! Thanks!"

Kim Myunghwan pulled another pre-cooked cup of noodles and a pair of chopsticks from his inventory and handed them to Kim Hyena.

"Here."

"Thanks for the meal!"

Sitting next to him, she took a bite and smiled in pure happiness.

Watching her, Kim Myunghwan asked.

"What about that mouse?"

"You mean Hamji?"

Kim Hyena carefully pulled a small hamster out of her inner pocket.

Peeking its head out, the tiny creature twitched its nose.

Kim Myunghwan stared at the hamster and continued.

"It’s still so strange. I had no idea this little guy had that kind of power."

When they first received the hamster as part of their supplies for the Seoul Restoration Operation, he had been baffled.

He was told that it functioned like a communicator, which was absurd enough.

But in reality, whenever the hamster was nearby, Kim Jaehyun’s voice could be heard inside their heads.

And when the weather suddenly turned to winter, leaving them trapped in underground buildings, the hamster had enabled them to receive supplies like sleeping bags and tents.

Not to mention—

"The Fire Spirit, right?"

The small flame outside the building, preventing the freezing cold from seeping in.

Kim Jaehyun had told them that even that fire spirit was something he could summon through the hamster.

"If it weren’t for that thing, we might’ve been in serious trouble."

To block out the cold, they had to seal the space.

But that made lighting a fire risky.

One wrong move and they could all die of suffocation.

Yet, relying only on sleeping bags and heat packs wasn’t an option either—the cold was far too extreme.

The fire spirit had solved all those problems at once.

"Senior, haven’t you heard the rumors?"

"What rumors?"

"Oh wow, so you really don’t know! Well, to be fair, this is top-secret information, only known by some of us who are close to the inside circle."

Kim Hyena’s eyes gleamed as she leaned in, ready to gossip.

"You know about Ye-jin, right?"

"Yeah. She’s the one who controls the mice, right?"

In an era where entertainment was scarce, the activities of vassals were the hottest gossip.

"Well, they say Ye-jin and Jaehyun have something going on."

"What?"

"Think about it—Jaehyun is using his abilities through the mouse, right?"

"Yeah."

"But did you know that requires physical contact? So, during every operation, they have to hold hands! That’s why they’ve gotten so close! Also, Ye-jin is the only vassal who talks casually with Jaehyun!"

Rumors were always exaggerated.

Somewhere along the line, people added their own fictionalized versions of the truth.

But it was precisely because of these exaggerations that people loved gossip so much.

"Senior, haven’t you heard anything?"

Kim Hyena had a good reason for asking him.

Kim Myunghwan’s sister, Kim Gayeong, was one of Jaehyun’s closest vassals.

"Hmm... not really."

But since Kim Gayeong was always busy, and he himself had been occupied with hunting, he hadn’t heard much about such rumors.

They had barely even shared a meal together lately.

"If you get the chance, can you ask your sister?"

"That’s a bit..."

Kim Hyena scooted closer, pleading.

"Senior, please, just once? Pretty please?"

"...I’ll think about it."

The distance between them shrank.

Inside the small tent, they were the only ones there.

With his lips pressed shut, a strange tension filled the air.

Then—

[In one hour, the North Gate will be opened. Team 31, stand by.]

Kim Jaehyun’s voice echoed in their minds.

"S-should we start getting ready?"

"Y-yeah. Thanks for the meal, Senior!"

As Kim Hyena hurriedly rushed out of the tent, Kim Myunghwan let out a long breath, the tension finally dissipating.

He began tidying up his space.

***

"Who the hell started this rumor?"

Contrary to Kim Hyena’s claim that it was top secret, the rumor that Seo Yejin and I were in some sort of romantic relationship had spread like wildfire.

"Is it just because we talk casually?"

It was true that she was the only one among my vassals who spoke informally with me, but that didn’t mean we were dating.

"We have a seven-year age gap."

A relationship like that wasn’t exactly easy with such a difference in age.

"And holding hands to activate abilities?"

That was completely baseless nonsense.

At that moment, Seo Yejin opened her eyes and spoke.

"Oppa, is this the last one?"

She was smiling brightly, clearly in a good mood.

"Yeah, that was the last one. Good work."

"Hehe."

It had been 17 hours since the Ice Dragon appeared over «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» Seoul.

Yet the creature had only taken ten minutes to pass over the city before disappearing toward Chungcheong Province.

The Ice Dragon had stayed in Seoul’s airspace for less than ten minutes.

And yet, the impact it left behind was immense.

"The entire city froze over."

Everything outside my domain was buried under ice.

The cityscape had turned completely white under thick layers of snow, and the Han River had transformed into an ice rink.

Even the transparent barrier had begun forming thin ice sheets, creating a dome overhead.

Even after 17 hours had passed since the Ice Dragon’s departure, the city remained locked in deep winter.

"It’s going to take days for all this snow and ice to melt."

Thanks to Seo Yejin’s pre-prepared hamster supply, our hunting teams suffered no casualties. Those who didn’t have enough time to evacuate were able to enter the domain through the North Gate.

"But..."

The freezing storm brought by the Ice Dragon had wiped out most of the monsters across Seoul.

Just a single pass over the city had frozen everything.

Like an unstoppable force of nature, it had made no distinction between friend or foe.

That included the survivors who had been hiding throughout the city.

They had already been struggling to survive—this was merely the final nail in the coffin.

"They were probably wiped out."

Seoul, at least, had been lucky.

All the major survivor groups had already been taken into my domain.

The timing had been miraculously perfect.

But...

"What about the people in the Ice Dragon’s path...?"

Considering its trajectory—

Gwangmyeong, Siheung, Ansan, Hwaseong, and parts of Chungcheongnam-do were likely all frozen solid.

The estimated death toll could be anywhere from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands.

"...."

Should I have fought it at all costs?

"No."

Even if I had used every method available to me, taking down that thing was nearly impossible.

The only feasible plan would have been to send a vassal with 100 trust to descend onto the dragon’s back.

But with a creature that could freeze a person just by looking at them, there was no guarantee that a vassal could even approach, let alone kill it.

The risk was too high.

"This was the best course of action."

And it wasn’t all losses.

Despite the devastation, I had gained something.

[Citizen Yoo Hangeul’s loyalty has reached 100.]

[Citizen Park Saerom’s loyalty has reached 100.]

[Citizen Kim Minho’s loyalty has reached 100.]

...

Most of my vassals’ loyalty had reached 100, significantly increasing my vassal limit.

And—

[Citizen Yoo Hangeul’s trust has reached 100.]

[Acquired ‘Clairvoyance’.]

[Citizen Jang Seongjun’s trust has reached 100.]

[Acquired ‘Psychokinesis’.]

[Citizen Lee Junhyuk’s trust has reached 100.]

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[Acquired ‘Control Water’.]

With some reaching 100 trust, I had also gained new abilities.

Each of the three new skills was incredibly useful.

Yoo Hangeul’s Clairvoyance allowed me to see areas outside my Absolute Vision’s range.

His abnormally high mental power let him scan incredibly far distances.

"I can’t exert direct influence through it, though."

Clairvoyance only let me see things—it didn’t allow me to use my abilities in those places.

To actively influence an area, I still needed vassals.

"Psychokinesis and Control Water, on the other hand, are huge."

Unlike Clairvoyance, these abilities could be used within my domain, centered around my vassals.

"This is way more powerful than just using the warehouse for support."

Additionally, trust and loyalty across the board had skyrocketed.

Notably, powerful figures like Cha Hyunseung and Yang Hayoung had shown a massive increase in loyalty and trust.

They must have felt the true power of the Ice Dragon—and witnessed how my barrier had completely blocked it out.

I gazed up at the sky above Seoul Station.

Even now, a massive glacier hovered in the sky, remnants of the Ice Dragon’s passing.

Looking at it reminded me of the direction it had come from.

"North."

If the dragon had continued on a straight path, then North Korea would have been utterly devastated.

Half of the country was likely buried under an endless frozen wasteland.

"...That’s horrifying."

How many more disaster-class creatures like this still existed in the world?

Just imagining it made my skin crawl.

And yet—

"Thank god."

That I had arrived in time.

"Choosing to prioritize rescuing survivors over hunting monsters was the right call."

The Seoul Restoration Operation had ended far too easily.

What should have been a brutal battle had been snuffed out in an instant by the overwhelming might of the Ice Dragon.

"But..."

My barrier had protected the people from its deadly cold.

"I can do this."

Instead of despair, confidence welled up inside me.

If even a monster like that couldn’t break through my defenses, then what was there to fear?

It reminded me of the Cyclops’ punch that I had blocked before.

"With my power, I can protect people."

There was hope.

"Seoul and Busan."

I had saved both.

"Now, the real work begins."

Starting from Seoul, I would expand outward—to Gyeonggi-do, Incheon, Gwangju.

I wouldn’t stop until I had saved all of Korea.