Absolute Dweller-Chapter 221

[An entity that satisfies the conditions to be accepted as a citizen has approached near the house.]

[Would you like to offer citizenship?]

‘No problem. Offer it.’

Compared to before level 50, the territory itself had expanded enormously, but the frequency of offering citizenship had decreased significantly.

The reason for this was that the territory now covered all of South Korea, so the influx of new people from South Korea had stopped, and the number of people coming from Japan was small to begin with.

‘It’s about 5,000 people now.’

I had mobilized the full force of my retainers and hunting teams to clear all the monsters in Fukuoka.

At first, I had been cautious, wary of the mutants, but soon realized it wasn’t necessary.

It was because the power of my retainers had grown overwhelming.

Thanks to the experience factory in Jeju Island, most of my retainers had reached level 60 and showed overwhelming strength.

The monsters in Fukuoka Prefecture, at best, were only around level 50, and they couldn’t even touch a hair of my retainers.

‘Among them, there were 2 mutants.’

It was easy to identify whether someone was a mutant or not.

Through the eyes of the Absolute One, their information appeared as a human name instead of monster data.

One of them reverted back to being human, while the other couldn’t.

‘He completely transformed into a mutant during the mission.’

Turning them back into humans was simple.

The Avatar would directly subdue them and bring them to the boundaries of the territory.

One of them accepted the citizenship offer and returned to being human, like Nakamoto Hiroshi.

However, the other refused to accept the citizenship offer.

After two hours passed without him accepting the citizenship offer.

‘His name disappeared.’

The information visible through the Absolute One’s eyes changed to that of a monster.

At the same time, the offer of citizenship became impossible.

The transformation was complete.

‘But still, I was able to gather a lot of information.’

I expanded the eyes of the Absolute One I was operating and checked the facilities under Kim Da-bin’s control.

An open space outside the safe zone.

There, I saw:

「Stone Golem (Lv. 31)」

A body made of solid rock.

Covered in rocks clinging to it.

Looking no different from a monster, it was once the human being known as Fujita Yumi.

Thanks to the Stone Golem, I was able to learn that for retainer-level beings, even contact or attacks would not cause contamination. For ordinary citizens, however, just touching it would initiate contamination, but entering the safe zone would purify them.

‘I didn’t expect even non-awakened citizens to react.’

It had been reported that only awakened people reacted to it.

However, in reality, even non-awakened citizens were experiencing contamination.

This meant that the criteria for contamination weren’t based on whether one was awakened or not.

Building on this, I conducted additional experiments.

‘We confirmed that contamination reactions only occur at level 10 and above.’

More specifically, only humans over level 10.

It was a force that reacted only to humans, not monsters.

All of this information was thanks to Kim Da-bin’s hard work.

‘That ability of hers is certainly useful.’

The forced power through telepathy.

The Stone Golem was completely subdued and remained still like a statue, but if it went berserk, it was a monster with enough power to easily destroy a building or two.

The destroyed buildings around it were proof of that.

All of them had been destroyed during the experiments.

‘Now, it’s time to deal with it.’

I couldn’t let such a dangerous monster roam free.

I spoke to Kim Da-bin, who was looking at the Golem with a complicated expression.

[Have you discovered anything else?]

[......Nothing.]

Her emotions were faintly transmitted through the telepathy.

Though she had tried to suppress her emotions as much as possible, it was futile since she was sending the telepathy to me, whose mental power was far superior.

Kim Da-bin was hesitating.

‘Well, that makes sense.’

Even though the Stone Golem had taken the form of a monster, it had once been human.

Moreover, Kim Da-bin wasn’t like my retainers, who had gained vast combat experience on the frontlines.

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

She had been dealing with administrative duties and had lived a life far removed from monster hunting.

If it had been an ordinary monster, she might not have hesitated, but killing something that had once been human was something she couldn’t bring herself to do.

[Thank you for your hard work. I’ll handle the aftermath, so please return to your duties.]

At that moment, Kim Da-bin urgently sent a telepathic message.

[Je-hyun, with your power, couldn’t you return her to being human?]

Her voice carried a sense of compassion for the Stone Golem.

[Unfortunately, that’s impossible. She missed the golden opportunity.]

She had been given a chance.

If she had accepted the citizenship offer at the last moment, she could have returned to being human.

But she didn’t, and she became a monster.

Perhaps she had no reason left to accept the citizenship offer.

[I understand your feelings, but she has crossed the point of no return.]

[......I see. Understood.]

[I'll open the North Gate for you. Please rest well at home before returning to your duties.]

[No. I’ll take care of it and return myself.]

There was a strong sense of resolve in her telepathic message.

[Are you sure you’re alright with this?]

[We can’t always rely on you, Je-hyun, whenever something like this happens. And I’ve gotten attached to her. I want to at least send her off with my own hands.]

[Understood.]

Once her decision was made, Kim Da-bin prepared to take charge and finish the task.

She transferred the team on-site and, after placing a bomb on the Stone Golem’s body, backed away.

Just as she was about to press the detonation button to finish everything.

“No!”

A Japanese woman shouted.

She appeared to be a middle schooler and had not yet received citizenship, but seeing Jang Seong-jun beside her, it seemed she had just been rescued.

‘But why did she come here?’

That question was soon answered.

The girl ran barefoot toward the Stone Golem, and after Kim Da-bin stopped her, she asked:

[What are you doing, running toward it like that?]

The girl screamed.

“It’s my mom!”

She pointed at the Stone Golem.

‘......’

I turned to Jang Seong-jun to ask for an explanation.

[What happened?]

“The girl we encountered during the rescue operation. She was wandering the streets looking for the Stone Golem. It just so happened that I remembered the location where we had captured a mutant...”

Through the Absolute One’s eyes, I checked the girl’s name.

‘Fujita Kaya.’

She shared the same last name.

So, she really was family.

Since it was simple Japanese, Kim Da-bin seemed to have understood what Fujita Kaya had said.

Her eyes were trembling intensely.

Kim Da-bin then asked me.

[Je-hyun, is there really no way?]

I didn’t know.

At least, I couldn’t blow up the Stone Golem in front of Fujita Kaya.

This content is taken from freeweɓnovel.cѳm.

Then, I noticed something strange.

[Da-bin, how did you know Fujita Yumi was a woman?]

I had never revealed the true name of the Stone Golem to anyone.

Yet Kim Da-bin had referred to the Stone Golem as “she.”

[Fujita Yumi... So that was her name.]

Kim Da-bin paused to collect her thoughts and then spoke.

[To be honest, I’m not sure. I think I accidentally found out while giving commands through telepathy.]

For that to have been possible, part of Fujita Yumi’s personality must still have remained in the Stone Golem.

In that case…

‘Maybe it’s possible,’

With the things I had learned by carefully observing her through the Absolute One’s eyes, I came up with a plan.

I immediately explained my plan to Kim Da-bin.

[There might be a way.]

[Really?]

[Yes. As I mentioned before, there is an energy that causes mutations. When someone accepts citizenship, that energy is removed, and they return to being human.]

If Kim Da-bin had truly connected with Fujita Yumi’s personality through telepathy, it might be possible.

[Right now, Fujita Yumi’s personality is probably contaminated by that energy. However, if Kim Da-bin can differentiate her true personality from the contaminated part, it might be possible to preserve only the true part and remove the rest. It’s like surgically removing cancer cells.]

Whether it would actually work or not was uncertain.

[The best outcome would be her returning to human form through that, but as a backup, if you can maintain the force through telepathy even without being near her, that would be enough.]

I couldn’t say for sure.

Honestly, it was a low-risk gamble.

Still, if there was any possibility…

[We’ll try.]

If there was a chance, we had to grab at it.

‘Before we get started...’

There was something I had to do first.

[Fujita Kaya.]

At the sudden sound of my voice, Fujita Kaya flinched and trembled.

[Do you know your mother’s condition?]

“I know! But... it’s not possible...”

Tears instantly welled up in her eyes.

It seemed like she was on the verge of crying, but she still explained, not caring.

[We’re going to perform surgery from now on.]

“Surgery?”

[Yes. A surgery to return your mother to human form.]

“!!”

[It will be very dangerous. I can’t guarantee the success rate. But right now, it’s the only method we have.]

Fujita Kaya hesitated for a moment, then bowed her head, tears streaming down her face.

She turned to Kim Da-bin.

“Please, I beg you.”

Kim Da-bin, facing the crying child, wore an even more resolute expression.

‘Strengthening.’

Though I had tried not to use the dark energy, there was no choice in this situation.

Whoosh―

As black flames rose from Kim Da-bin’s body.

[Please begin.]

[Understood.]

Kim Da-bin slowly approached the Stone Golem and raised her hand.

She placed her hand on it and closed her eyes.

Time passed.

10 seconds, 30 seconds, 1 minute.

As time passed, the number of sweat droplets running down Kim Da-bin’s forehead increased.

At that moment.

Kwah-kick!

The Stone Golem began to move slightly.

‘This isn’t good.’

Kim Da-bin’s concentration had fully focused on the Golem, causing the force acting on her to weaken.

Immediately, I used telekinesis to bind the Stone Golem’s movements.

Still, time passed endlessly, and 10 minutes went by.

Just as it seemed like nothing would change.

Whooooosh!

The black energy rising from Kim Da-bin’s body began to swirl violently.

And then.

[Citizen Kim Da-bin attempts to break through her limits.]

An unexpected message appeared.

‘This is...!’

And a moment later.

[Citizen Kim Da-bin has succeeded in breaking through her limits.]

[Citizen Kim Da-bin’s maximum level has increased.]

[The power of the stars that citizen Kim Da-bin can accept has increased.]