Absolute Dweller-Chapter 129

"The apartment complex over there, by Olympic Road, building 14," Choi Sang-hyun pointed to a dimly lit apartment cluster.

Thanks to the lights from Lotte Tower, it was possible to discern its location, but it was unclear exactly which building he was referring to.

Kang Deok-soo, who was riding on the back of a Kelikan with him, asked, “Where’s Olympic Road?”

Being natives of Busan, most of them were unfamiliar with the geography of this area.

“It’s the road right next to the Han River. Head that way, toward the river.”

“Oh, got it. Message received.”

Hearing their conversation, I sent a telepathic command to the Kelikan carrying Kang Deok-soo.

[Drop them off at the building next to the river.]

Since the Kelikan bound to the Contract of Subjugation couldn’t understand human language, I had to issue orders directly through telepathy.

Only Kim Da-bin among my retainers could communicate with Kelikan via telepathy, but she was already overwhelmed with administrative tasks, and overworking her further wasn’t an option.

Thankfully, I could use telepathy near retainers where the Absolute Dweller’s Eye was active, making this setup manageable.

With a flap of their wings, six Kelikan instinctively began descending onto the rooftop of the apartment.

Choi Sang-hyun urgently corrected them. “It’s the next building over. Right next door!”

Despite not understanding human speech, the Kelikans adjusted their course toward the rooftop of the adjacent building, displaying their basic intelligence.

Successfully landing on the rooftop of building 14, Choi Sang-hyun and Ha Dong-geon’s party quickly descended to the 8th floor.

And then.

Click.

Choi Sang-hyun unlocked the door to unit 803.

Inside was—

“Sleegi! Choi Sleegi!”

“Dad!”

Choi Sleegi, who had been waiting for her father’s return, ran forward.

Despite being a child, she was surprisingly tall, nearly matching her father’s height.

Sleegi started to leap into her father’s arms but froze when she noticed Ha Dong-geon’s party following behind him.

“Who... who are they?”

With no electricity in the apartment, a lone candle illuminated the living room, but it wasn’t enough to fully light up the space.

The dim figures of unfamiliar strangers standing in the shadows must have appeared threatening to her.

Moreover, it seemed Sleegi instinctively sensed the overwhelming presence emanating from Ha Dong-geon’s party.

Choi Sang-hyun strode toward his daughter, but she stepped back cautiously.

Feeling the tense atmosphere, Sleegi’s voice trembled with fear.

“D-Dad? What’s wrong? You’re scaring me.”

But Choi Sang-hyun grabbed her wrist firmly and spoke in an urgent tone.

“We need to go. Now. We can’t stay here.”

“Leave...?”

“Yes.”

As Choi Sang-hyun began pulling her along, Sleegi suddenly covered her mouth with one hand and exclaimed.

“Oh my gosh, are they already here? We’re going to Lotte Tower, right? Because I’m the bride now!”

“...”

The fear in her eyes disappeared, replaced by excitement and anticipation.

“So, they’re the Knights of God! They’re here to escort me, aren’t they?”

Watching her reaction through the Absolute Dweller’s Eye, I clenched my teeth.

‘So it’s true.’

This confirmed that Choi Sang-hyun hadn’t been lying.

Despite her physical maturity and advanced appearance for her age, Sleegi was still just a 15-year-old girl.

‘What a disgusting bastard.’

At that moment, Sleegi shook off Choi Sang-hyun’s grip and spoke cheerfully.

“Dad! We can’t just leave without packing our things!”

“...Fine.”

While an overly eager Sleegi packed her clothes, Choi Sang-hyun gathered food and essential supplies.

“Got everything?”

“Yes!”

“Then let’s go. Quickly.”

“Okay!”

Kim Ga-young approached the cheerful Sleegi and said, “Let me carry that for you.”

“Oh! Thank you, Knight!”

As Kim Ga-young effortlessly picked up the suitcase, Sleegi gasped in admiration.

“Wow! The Knights of God are so strong!”

Kim Ga-young responded with a faint, bitter smile.

Once they reached the rooftop, where the Kelikans awaited, Sleegi let out a terrified scream and clung to her father.

“Dad! M-Monsters!”

“They’re fine. They’re on our side.”

“On... our side?”

“Yes. Now, get on.”

Sobbing, Sleegi remained in her father’s arms until she noticed the injuries on his face.

“D-Dad? What happened to your face?”

Choi Sang-hyun averted his gaze and stepped away.

“Just get on. We don’t have time.”

“But...”

“Hurry.”

Reluctantly, Sleegi nodded. “Alright.”

Kim Ga-young helped Sleegi onto a Kelikan, and the creatures ascended into the sky.

Ha Dong-geon asked, “What now, Jaehyun?”

[Stay nearby for now.]

I wanted to bring them through the North Gate and grant them citizenship, but the North Gate was still on cooldown and unavailable for use.

Updat𝒆d fr𝒐m freewebnσvel.cøm.

This limitation existed because of Moon Byeong-ho.

‘I can’t predict when I might need the North Gate.’

As Ha Dong-geon’s party transported Sleegi, I shifted my perspective to Moon Byeong-ho’s location.

He was still wandering aimlessly in the maze.

‘What kind of ability is this?’

No matter which door he opened, countless corridors stretched endlessly before him.

It was clear that this space was anything but ordinary.

Logically, there shouldn’t be such a vast expanse inside Lotte Tower.

The only consolation was that I could extract Moon Byeong-ho at any time.

‘I have both Retainer Summoning and the North Gate.’

I deliberately preserved the North Gate because Retainer Summoning required a delay of a few seconds, which could be fatal if a swift reaction was necessary.

‘For emergencies, I have to keep the North Gate ready.’

Even inside the maze, the Absolute Dweller’s Eye and other abilities worked seamlessly, so Retainer Summoning should function as well.

While experimenting with possible ways to break through, Moon Byeong-ho tried everything he could think of—smashing walls, floors, and ceilings, or randomly opening doors one after another.

But the result was always the same.

‘A new hallway appears, that’s all.’

There was one last option: using Babel Meteor to deliver a massive shock to the space itself. However, the risks were too great.

‘It could cause a catastrophic disaster.’

It wasn’t just Moon Byeong-ho’s life at stake. The sheer destructive power of Babel Meteor could potentially obliterate not only Lotte Tower but also the surrounding area.

‘...Should I give up on infiltrating the 70th floor?’

After all, confirming the truth of Choi Sang-hyun’s claims had already been resolved by meeting Choi Sleegi.

Now, the priority was determining how to punish Jeong Hyeon-su.

[Deok-soo, ask Choi Sang-hyun when Jeong Hyeon-su usually appears before the believers.]

“Got it. On it.”

Kang Deok-soo asked, “Hey, mister.”

“Yes?”

“That Jeong Hyeon-su guy. When can we see him?”

“...He usually holds dawn prayers every day. So, you should be able to see him tomorrow at dawn.”

“Where does he pray?”

“There’s a dedicated prayer room inside Lotte Tower. That’s where it’s held.”

“I see.”

In other words, Jeong Hyeon-su would descend from the 70th floor for dawn prayers tomorrow.

‘Then there’s no need to risk infiltrating the 70th floor right now.’

Just as I was about to summon Moon Byeong-ho through Retainer Summoning—

“Hey! It’s dangerous!”

“Let go of me!”

Choi Sleegi, who was riding on the Kelikan with Kim Ga-young, began throwing a fit.

“Who are you people? What are you doing?”

“Calm down!”

“That’s Lotte Tower over there! Put me down! Right now!”

Sleegi, noticing that the Kelikans were flying past Lotte Tower and leaving the Songpa District entirely, realized something was wrong.

Her extreme indoctrination became apparent as she swatted Kim Ga-young’s hand away and attempted to leap off the Kelikan’s back.

Kim Ga-young immediately restrained her.

“You’re the ones who hurt my dad’s face, aren’t you? You’ll regret kidnapping me! I’m the bride of God!”

I swiftly issued a command to the Kelikans.

[Land. Right now.]

The six Kelikans immediately descended and landed on the rooftop of a nearby apartment complex.

But even there, Choi Sleegi’s tantrum continued.

“Heretics! Get your hands off me!”

Finally, Kim Ga-young lost her patience and snapped, “Wake up! The person you believe in isn’t some god. He’s just a criminal who preys on children!”

“Preys...?”

Sleegi’s face showed a moment of shock, but then it twisted in fury.

“I wanted it! The Lord accepted me! I’m chosen! He saved us! He saved us from the monsters that almost killed us!”

“...”

Kim Ga-young fell silent.

She, too, understood all too well the meaning of being saved from the brink of death in a world dominated by monsters. And so did I.

‘...’

Was he truly an evildoer?

If Sleegi genuinely wanted it, the context changed. In this lawless world upended by the emergence of monsters, it was difficult to apply the laws and morals of the past.

Just as people couldn’t be condemned for raiding supermarkets or looting empty houses to survive, not everything could be judged by the old standards.

In that case, his only crime would be attempting to kill Choi Sang-hyun.

But then.

‘Before that, he saved over 100,000 lives.’

Even if he’d simply been lucky enough to awaken an extraordinary ability, the fact remained that he was a hero who had saved countless lives.

His immense contributions had dulled the severity of his crimes in the eyes of the world.

That was the kind of world this had become.

A world where power absolved wrongdoing and where human life wasn’t valued as it once was.

A world where people committed murder just to secure a loaf of bread or to survive another day.

‘These are the people I failed to save.’

It was Jeong Hyeon-su who had saved them when they needed it most.

To them, Jeong Hyeon-su was what I was to my people.

So, was it truly the right choice to kill him?

***

“Amazing.”

Jeong Hyeon-su marveled as he observed Moon Byeong-ho, who was trapped and wandering in the maze he had created.

“To think he could last this long.”

The maze, a manifestation of illusion, rapidly drained the victim’s mental strength.

Ordinarily, a person would exhaust their mental fortitude before even realizing they were in a maze, leaving them in a perfectly brainwashed state.

But Moon Byeong-ho had been roaming around for tens of minutes, seemingly unaffected.

“He doesn’t even look tired.”

Even among the Trump Knights, none could endure a mental maze for this long.

It was clear that Moon Byeong-ho was a formidable individual, on par with the likes of Cha Hyeon-seung or Yang Ha-yeong.

“I must have him.”

After all, time was on Jeong Hyeon-su’s side.

All he had to do was wait for Moon Byeong-ho’s mental strength to wane.

“The timing is perfect.”

The moment of rapture was approaching.

It was as if fortune itself had delivered Moon Byeong-ho to him at just the right moment.

“Soon, 144,000 will gather.”

Once the 144,000 sacrifices were prepared, Jeong Hyeon-su would ascend to an even higher state of being.

And if he could also command someone with power like Moon Byeong-ho’s, dominating all of Seoul wouldn’t be just a dream.

“Just a little longer...”

The time was drawing near.