Absolute Dweller-Chapter 213

【Homebound Proclamation (Passive) Lv. 50】

No one may trespass upon the Absolute One’s domain without permission.

The moment it reached level 50, the expansion was unlike anything before.

For starters, the size of the safe zone had increased to an incomparable degree.

It now completely covered the entirety of mainland South Korea.

From Gyeonggi-do, Gangwon-do, Chungcheongnam-do, Chungcheongbuk-do, Jeollanam-do, Jeollabuk-do, Gyeongsangnam-do, and Gyeongsangbuk-do—eight provinces in total—down to the farthest reaches of Jeju Island, Ulleungdo, and even Dokdo.

Every inch of South Korea’s land and sea had now been absorbed into the domain.

And not just that.

‘North Korea and Japan have also been included.’

Even at level 49, Hwanghae Province in North Korea and Tsushima Island in Japan had already been part of the domain. But now, it had expanded further to include parts of Fukushima as well.

And in the process, the Japanese people caught within the area had been automatically registered as citizens.

‘It’s a massacre.’

The state of Japan within the domain was beyond dire.

‘Only 900 survivors… in a city this vast?’

He didn’t know the exact population of Fukuoka before the apocalypse, but given the size of the city, it had to have been at least several million.

Yet fewer than a thousand had survived.

A survival rate of less than 0.1%.

‘Absolute Vision.’

Surveying the condition of those within the domain, he saw that all of them were in extreme distress.

One man, in particular, was in the worst state—vomiting blood as he lay there.

Bzzz—

In an instant, he used the World Tree’s life force to heal the man’s wounds. The recovery was rapid.

‘An Awakened.’

The man’s ability was called Stealth Barrier, and it had plenty of practical applications.

‘This would be incredibly useful for setting up forward bases.’

He decided to speak to him.

[How are you feeling?]

The man, who had been touching his body in bewilderment, stiffened and warily scanned his surroundings.

It seemed he was on guard.

But there were ways to handle that.

‘Purchase relief supplies.’

Whirr—

A supply crate materialized in midair. The man flinched at its sudden appearance but soon relaxed after hearing the explanation.

[This is a relief kit containing water and food.]

The moment he opened the crate and confirmed the contents, his face brightened.

He began speaking, clearly expressing gratitude, but it was in Japanese—he couldn’t understand a word of it.

[How is your injury?]

The man checked his own body, then nodded and muttered something.

He didn’t know the exact words, but it seemed to mean he was fine.

[Citizen Fujiwara Kenji’s trust level has increased significantly.]

He would’ve liked to continue the conversation, but there was no time.

There were far too many others in need of assistance.

‘And I wouldn’t understand him anyway.’

Translation could wait. For now, his focus had to be on helping the survivors.

While distributing relief supplies to others in a similar manner—

[The Mingjing Zhishui effect has ended.]

Finally, the leveling process was complete.

It was time to take action.

While surveying the situation in Japan, he had spotted a child alone.

But—

‘That man must be her guardian.’

Conveniently, the man with the Stealth Barrier ability had shown up.

It looked like he had gone out alone to find food and water.

And in the process, he must have been attacked by monsters.

‘Well, that’s fortunate.’

Since the child had a guardian, there was no need to take her in.

With that settled, he shifted his focus back to the bigger picture.

‘…So Jeju Island got completely wiped out.’

First and foremost, the Black Insects that had infested Jeju Island had been completely eradicated.

When the Homebound Proclamation expanded, the creatures had all perished in an instant.

‘They served their purpose anyway.’

And it wasn’t just Jeju.

Monsters across the entirety of South Korea had been swept away, converting into experience points and settlement funds.

‘Looks like I’ll have to go to North Korea if I want to hunt monsters now.’

The meat from monsters, which people had been eating, had already been registered in the store, so it wouldn’t be a major issue.

‘Though prices will go up.’

Monster meat sold in the store was more expensive than those in the trade market.

There would be other minor side effects too.

But even considering those—

‘South Korea is now a complete safe zone.’

That single fact outweighed all else.

At the very least, the country was no longer under the threat of monsters.

‘The secondary base’s construction is back on track.’

That meant the outpost centered in Seoul had now been completely absorbed into the main base in Busan.

‘But looking at the domain’s shape… it’s not exactly seamless.’

The territory covering the Korean Peninsula wasn’t a perfect circle—it had irregular edges.

It didn’t include only South Korea, nor did it simply expand in a uniform manner from the previous base zones.

‘Are the outposts and territories creating some kind of synergy?’

It was similar to how the leveling-up process had been less painful when the secondary base’s domain overlapped with the main one.

‘Anyway, level 50 is completely different from before.’

As he pondered—

Beep—

A sharp ringing suddenly echoed in his ears.

And just like a TV switching off—

The world turned pitch black.

***

‘……?’

Darkness.

Not just darkness—there was nothing.

No sensation, no sound, no certainty if he was even breathing.

His vision was pitch black, his ears deafened, his nose unable to detect a single scent.

It was as if he were floating in a vast, empty void, drifting endlessly through a starless universe.

And in that formless abyss, a nameless fear took hold.

‘Absolute Vision.’

Out of habit, he tried activating it. Nothing happened.

‘Dabin, can you hear me?’

He attempted telepathy. No response.

‘Invisible Hand.’

No reaction.

‘Open shop! Open storage!’

No skill.

‘Clairvoyance, X-ray vision—none of it works.’

No power at all.

He was utterly powerless.

And in that suffocating void—

Fwoooosh!

Reality shifted.

“Haaah!”

When he came to, he was somewhere familiar.

A white porcelain sink. A toilet. A shower stall in the corner.

If you are reading this translation anywhere other than Novelight.net or SilkRoadTL, it has been stolen.

And directly in front of him—a sliding mirror cabinet.

He was in his own bathroom.

“Haaah… haaah…”

In the mirror, his reflection was pale and terrified.

‘A dream?’

It didn’t make sense.

If it was just a dream, he should have woken up in his bed.

Why the bathroom?

Was this what a blackout felt like after drinking too much?

And then—

“Haaah, haaah… haah?”

His reflection changed.

A moment ago, he had been panting in fear.

Now, the man in the mirror stared back at him with cold, lifeless eyes.

He froze.

That wasn’t him.

A stranger was standing in his place.

Eyes black as the void, swallowing all light, gazed down at him.

Then—

Fwoooosh—

The man's body ignited in black flames.

Fire consumed his arms, spread to his chest, his head—until he was completely swallowed and erased from existence.

And then—

Fwoosh!

The flames turned on him.

“!!!!!”

The black fire engulfed him.

‘What the—?!’

There was no pain.

Nothing at all.

And that made it even more terrifying.

Just moments ago, in that empty void, he had felt his entire existence fading.

This was the same.

The flames slithered over his body like a serpent, tightening, erasing—

And then—

Woooong!

A burst of light erupted from within him.

Green. Purple. Blue.

The flames recoiled.

And then—

"Gasp!"

His eyes snapped open.

"Haaah! Haaah!"

He was lying on the bathroom floor.

He was back.

He knew he was back.

‘Absolute Vision.’

His ability activated, giving him a clear understanding of his surroundings.

This was the same bathroom.

The same one from his vision.

‘Why?’

He remembered everything.

He had been in the living room.

He had just reached level 50 and was checking his expanded domain.

He had been sitting on the couch, reviewing all the changes.

And then—

‘Why am I in the bathroom?’

There was no memory of moving here.

"Huuuuh…"

Taking a deep breath, he sorted through the situation.

‘That wasn’t just a dream.’

He hadn’t blacked out for no reason.

That much was certain.

And waking up in the bathroom—

‘It wasn’t random.’

It had something to do with what he had just seen.

The black flames.

He knew what they were.

‘Not my power. No, the system’s divine authority.’

He had used it so many times, thinking it was his own.

But now, he was certain.

‘This isn’t mine.’

The man in the vision—

He had the same face.

But he wasn’t the same.

And he knew—

‘That thing is the true owner of this power.’

And as for why he had woken up in the bathroom—

There was only one explanation.

‘For a moment, that thing controlled my body.’

A shiver ran down his spine.

His instincts screamed at him.

That thing’s goal—

It was his body.

Not just any body—

‘A vessel.’

A flesh-and-blood container strong enough to hold it.

His whole body trembled.

The moment those black flames had wrapped around him, he had been certain—he was going to be erased.

It had been that overwhelming.

‘It tried to wipe me out.’

And it had failed.

‘Why?’

That thing had never made a move before.

Which meant—this time, it had been sure it would succeed.

But it had failed.

Something had stopped it.

‘That light at the end.’

The multicolored light that had pushed back the flames.

The purple energy—he recognized it immediately.

‘That was the divine power I absorbed from the Undying Revenant.’

Which meant—

‘The others must have been the same.’

Every divine power he had absorbed up until now.

That was what had saved him.

Apparently, absorbing divinities hadn’t been part of that thing’s plan.

‘I got lucky.’

But he couldn’t rely on luck.

He wasn’t about to let that thing take his body.

Which meant—

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‘Leveling up is on hold.’

The moment he reached level 50, this had happened.

That meant skill levels were definitely involved.

If he kept leveling blindly, he would only make things worse.

So before he did anything else—

‘I need to find more beings with divine authority.’

If he was going to level up—

It would be after he absorbed all of them.