Absolute Dweller-Chapter 226

The Trojan Horse.

It was the wooden statue that is said to have brought an end to the long Trojan War.

At the time, a false prophecy spread in Troy that if the wooden horse statue was brought inside the city, Troy would be victorious.

Believing the enemy's prophecy, Troy brought the statue of the horse, unaware that the enemy's elite soldiers were hidden inside it. The result was the fall of the city that had been protected for ten years.

The deeper the enemy infiltrated, the more deadly they became, like spies.

However.

‘If you know the true identity, it’s a different story.’

What if you knew that the enemy’s elite soldiers were squeezing into the cramped wooden horse?

And all it took was setting it on fire to wipe out the elite soldiers.

‘The energy of Orochi still lingers in Nakamoto Hiroshi’s body.’

To be specific, I could feel the silver energy deep inside his mind.

‘I thought it was completely erased when he acquired citizenship.’

Apparently, that wasn’t the case.

‘But why is it reacting now, of all times?’

It wasn’t just Nakamoto Hiroshi.

Higashi Yuko, Fujita Yumi, Ichikaya Kana, and others who had reverted from mutants back to humans.

I could feel the energy of Yamata no Orochi in all of them.

And moreover.

‘More people returned from being mutants than I expected.’

Among those I thought were just survivors, more than ten were showing the same symptoms.

They probably reverted to human form when they were forcibly granted citizenship during the domain expansion process.

They were responding one by one, and each time, I used the Absolute Being's eyes to identify those who had been mutants.

Then, an unexpected figure caught my eye.

‘The head of the Monster Hunting Association?’

In Japanese, it was Kaibutsugari Association.

As the name suggested, it was the group that led the charge in hating mutants.

Yet, the leader of such a group.

‘Was a mutant?’

The person who had been most active in oppressing mutants was, in fact, one of them.

‘How laughable.’

It was obvious why he had done such things.

No one would have thought the leader of that organization was a mutant.

I certainly didn’t.

He had hidden behind a convenient business card.

‘Coward.’

He couldn’t reach out to others who had shared the same pain, yet he was the first to throw stones at them.

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

Personally, he was a type of person I really despised.

At that moment.

“Rehyeon-nim?”

Nakamoto Hiroshi asked with a worried expression.

“Did, did I do something wrong...?”

“It’s nothing. But, are you really okay? As I mentioned earlier, you could lose your life.”

“I’m truly prepared.”

The energy of Orochi, deeply planted in his mind.

From that, I got an idea.

‘It’s probably possible.’

The Undying Ghost had died in our home.

The reason it was able to enter the deepest part of the domain was due to one phenomenon.

‘Resonance between energies that contain deities.’

Normally, only those with 'citizenship' could pass through the Four Great Gates of the East, West, North, and South.

Yet, the Undying Ghost, even without being granted such a thing, followed me through the North Gate.

This was possible because I had intentionally matched the waves, but fundamentally, it was due to the fact that the Undying Ghost was using divine energy.

So, similarly.

‘If the right conditions are met, I could bring Orochi to the center of the domain too.’

I was confident that if I could just bring it into the domain, I could manage.

Even if I didn’t do anything, the system would finish it for me.

‘But...’

The method would involve summoning it using Nakamoto Hiroshi’s mind as a medium for Orochi’s energy.

That meant I’d have to face the monster directly.

I was fine.

I could use the “Undying” power inside my home to boost my health.

Also, since the entire house had the “Indestructible” feature, there wouldn’t be much damage.

But.

‘Nakamoto Hiroshi, who is there, will most likely die.’

The only way to save him would be to carefully time a servant summoning or use teleportation to send him to another space.

But.

‘If I do it carelessly, a catastrophe could occur.’

In the worst case, Orochi’s remaining true body might be summoned where I send Nakamoto Hiroshi.

If that happened, not only Nakamoto Hiroshi but also many citizens would die or turn into mutants.

I’d need to move him only after the summoning ritual was complete, but would he last that long?

‘No.’

I had run simulations in my head countless times, and not once did a positive scenario appear.

‘It’s almost 100% certain that Nakamoto Hiroshi will die.’

I had honestly told him all of this.

Even so.

“I will do it.”

Nakamoto Hiroshi’s resolve was unwavering.

“Please, allow me to do it.”

He seemed almost eager about it.

This content is taken from fгee𝑤ebɳoveɭ.cøm.

Honestly, I couldn’t understand.

So I asked.

“Why... why go this far? Don’t you want to live?”

It was a pure question of curiosity.

Nakamoto Hiroshi hesitated a few times before tightly clasping his hands together and speaking.

“Of course, I want to live. I want to ignore everything and eat meat, drink, and live with Aiko and my precious comrades. But...”

His hands were trembling.

“You said I have no sin, but I don’t think so. I believe I share some responsibility.”

His expression was full of agony as he continued.

“Most of the memories from when I was a mutant are blurry, but there’s one thing I clearly remember. The smell of blood. Whenever my collapsing mind became a little clearer, I always smelled someone’s blood. I don’t know if you can understand, but because of that blood scent, I might have been able to keep my sanity. So, I am someone who survived by stepping over death.”

I didn’t need to use telepathy to know his sincerity.

The guilt choking his neck, his apologies to the victims, his sorrow, despair... all of it was conveyed to me.

“And...”

Nakamoto Hiroshi slowly raised his head to look at me directly.

His eyes burned with a belief in some certainty.

“This is also my revenge.”

With the belief that it had to be done.

"Never again should people like me turn into mutants, or die at the hands of mutants. If my life can stop all that tragedy, I think it’s a small price to pay."

He said this with earnest eyes full of resolve.

"I trust you, Rehyeon-nim, and I entrust my life to you. Please, make it meaningful."

[The trust level of Citizen Nakamoto Hiroshi increases.]

[The trust level of Citizen Nakamoto Hiroshi has reached 100.]

[‘Strengthened Resistance’ has been acquired.]

Trust 100, Loyalty 100.

He was the first among the Japanese to max out both trust and loyalty.

‘It’s a shame.’

He was too valuable to die like this.

It wasn’t just because he had maxed out his loyalty and trust.

His usual efforts in rescuing survivors, risking his life to save Ichikawa Kana, and his refusal to ignore the sins he had committed.

How many people like that are there?

At a time when some people are desperately trying to hide their own sins and leading the charge to scorn and exclude those in the same position as themselves.

"…It’s not decided yet."

"Huh?"

"There are more people who have reverted from mutants to humans besides Nakamoto-san."

I said, looking at him, who didn’t seem to understand.

"Since I’m not sure whether the summoning will succeed or fail, I plan to select the person with the best response and ask for their help."

I would have preferred it if he, the leader of the Monster Hunting Association, took the risk, but a man who throws stones at others for his own safety wouldn’t be willing to make such a sacrifice.

However.

"So, should we gather all the people who were once mutants? It’ll help familiarize everyone with each other."

"Are you talking about Higashi-san and Ichikawa-san?"

"Yes, including them."

I was just curious about how he would react if his true identity were exposed.

For a moment, I glanced around the state of Nakamoto Hiroshi’s house.

It was quite old, but the living room was reasonably spacious.

It was located in a neighborhood far removed from where the Japanese survivors lived.

"Is it okay to gather people here for a while?"

"Of course."

It would get a little cramped with 13 people, but it didn’t matter.

Just then.

Ding dong~♪

The bell rang, and a familiar voice followed.

"Hiroshi! Are you awake?"

Using the eyes of the Absolute Being, I saw Sasaki Aiko, in her pajamas, looking upset and knocking on the door.

‘Perfect timing.’

Sasaki Aiko’s party was on the side of mutants.

[Sasaki-san.]

"Eh…?"

[Nakamoto-san is fine. I’m sorry, but could you wake up your companions and bring them here right now?]

Realizing my identity, Sasaki Aiko replied with a pale expression.

"I-I’m so sorry! I’ll bring them right away!"

I waited for them to gather for a moment.

"Gasp! Gasp!"

"We, we’ve arrived!"

Even though it was still early morning, Sasaki Aiko’s party quickly gathered.

"Well, let’s get started."

With a light snap of my fingers, 13 men and women appeared in the living room.

I had already notified them via telepathy, so they were all up and prepared.

Higashi Yuko and Ichikawa Kana stood proudly.

Their identities were already completely exposed.

But the others were different.

"Gasp, gasp."

One person was taking deep breaths in anxiety.

"Dammit."

Another was muttering curses with a twisted expression.

"…It really came."

One was resigned.

Each of them was reacting differently, but all of them had hidden the fact that they were once mutants.

Among them, the funniest person was undoubtedly that man.

Rustle—

A man with a black plastic bag covering his face.

He must have drawn the most attention, as everyone focused on him.

However, no one spoke to him first.

They just observed silently, scanning their surroundings.

In that moment, I spoke.

"Welcome."

Everyone looked at me in unison.

"That voice is...?"

"Huh?"

I made eye contact with each person, continuing.

"As I conveyed via telepathy, everyone gathered here shares the same pain."

Thanks to the telepathy, everyone understood my meaning.

Some people looked around with a new, curious gaze, others sent wary looks, and some hid their faces with their hands.

The reactions were varied.

But compared to that man, they seemed less spectacular.

He was literally shaking in fear.

I directly addressed him.

"Hayashi Taro. How long are you going to keep that on your face?"

As I mentioned his name.

"Hayashi Taro?"

"Did I just hear that wrong?"

"Why is he… No way?!"

Just by mentioning his name, some people’s eyes turned murderous.

I mentioned him again.

"Hayashi Taro. If you’re trying that hard to hide yourself, I guess you do feel ashamed, don’t you?"

The atmosphere in the living room quickly heated up.

It seemed that everyone here knew his name.

"This bastard!"

"Are you even human?!"

"That son of a bitch was a mutant?!"

Everyone was getting agitated when, suddenly.

Whoooo—

‘Huh?’

An unexpected event occurred.