Absolute Dweller-Chapter 259

Darkness.

In the darkness, where nothing could be seen or felt, I felt as if I had lost my way.

Then a faint light flashed...

♪♬♩♬♬

A soft and sweet melody tickled my ears.

A warm warmth embraced my body.

“Hmm.”

With my eyes half-closed, I turned off my phone alarm and drifted back into a light sleep.

How many minutes had passed?

The sunlight that had entered from beyond the window forced me to get up.

“Yawn.”

I stretched and gazed at the ceiling, lost in thought.

‘It feels like I had a dream…’

But I couldn’t recall anything at all.

Lying lazily in bed, I finally noticed the smell drifting in from outside my room.

‘This smell…’

Seaweed soup.

And my favorite grilled fish.

Was it Akamochi?

It sounded like a Japanese name for fish, but I wasn’t sure of its exact Korean name.

Grandmother, grandfather, mom, dad—everyone used to call that red fish by that name.

So I remembered it as Akamochi.

Mesmerized, I opened the door and walked out to find my mom and dad sitting at the island table.

Mom saw me and greeted me cheerfully.

“Son! You woke up just in time. Come and eat.”

“...What’s today?”

It was rare for my parents to come over without saying anything, so I asked.

Mom pointed at the seaweed soup on the table and said.

“It’s your birthday today.”

“Oh.”

Has it already been like that?

“Happy birthday, son.”

Right.

Today was my birthday.

I’d been so busy that I had forgotten about it… wait, why was I busy?

What busy work did a jobless person have?

The only "busy" things I had were appointments related to games.

‘Was the raid with the legion commander yesterday?’

I couldn’t remember.

Strangely, yesterday was a blur.

It had surely been an ordinary day, but only a hazy feeling remained.

“Son. Are you okay? Not feeling well?”

Mom approached worriedly and placed her hand on my forehead.

“I’m fine. I just had a bit of a rough dream…”

...What kind of dream was it?

I had been uneasy about it ever since.

‘I feel like I’m forgetting something important.’

It was as though I had forgotten something I shouldn’t.

But.

“Come sit down. After you eat something delicious, you’ll feel better.”

Led by mom’s hand, I sat at the table, and all those little worries flew away.

“It’s Akamochi.”

“Of course. I got it for you, the biggest one, just like you like.”

Dad, who had been sitting at the table, tore off a piece of the fish and placed it on top of the fluffy rice.

As I took a bite, it felt like heaven.

The warm rice and the tender fish on top.

Exactly the taste I had been expecting.

“It’s delicious.”

“Right? Grandma got the biggest one for you.”

Naturally, we ate together, chatting and enjoying the meal.

“Oh, son. How about going to the house today? Grandma misses you.”

It had been quite a while since I visited the family home.

It was about time I went.

“Shall we?”

“Really? That’s great!”

The day passed quickly.

I went to visit my grandparents, greeted them, and had dinner together, talking about various things.

I spent the night at the family home and decided to go to my house in Seomyeon tomorrow.

It was a warm day, meeting all my family after such a long time.

I hoped days like this would continue.

‘It’s not so bad visiting the family home sometimes.’

The usual days went on.

I played games, read novels, watched YouTube and dramas.

In those ordinary days, the feeling that I had forgotten something precious slowly faded away.

[Jaehyun-nim.]

“...?”

I heard a voice.

It was so faint that I thought I must have imagined it.

A voice that felt oddly nostalgic.

As soon as I heard the voice, a name came to mind.

“…Dabin…?”

It was a name that felt like I was hearing it for the first time, yet it somehow seemed incredibly familiar.

At that moment, I thought something was strange.

[Jaehyun-nim!]

The woman’s voice came through a bit louder.

The emotion in her voice was so desperate, it felt like she was calling my name not with her head, but with her heart.

That voice.

[Jaehyun-nim! Wake up!]

[What happened?]

One by one.

[Aaah! We’re doomed! We’re done for!]

[Park Sae-rom! Get a grip!]

They started coming in.

[Why is Jaehyun-nim...?]

There were men too.

[Oppa! Open your eyes!]

And women.

And everyone’s voices were filled with urgency.

[Jaehyun-nim!]

[Open your eyes!]

When their hearts reached me.

“Gasp!”

I could return to reality.

“Oppa! Waaah!”

The first thing I saw was Seo Ye-jin’s face.

Behind her were Ha Dong-geon, Moon Byeong-ho, Kang Deok-soo, Kim Ga-young, Yoo Hye-rin, Kim Da-bin, Choi Hyeong-jun, Kim Geon, Kim Da-jeong, Oh Eon-ju, Lee Joon-hyuk, Kim Myung-hwan...

There were more than thirty of them gathered here.

Among the retainers, these were the most powerful individuals.

Their loyalty and trust were 100, of course, and they had all broken through the first limit. They were also the ones I had the closest relationships with.

“Why are you all here...?”

They should have been leading the charge on the World Tree conquest in another dimension.

So why were they all here, in my living room?

“Well…”

The retainers tilted their heads and answered as if it was an obvious question.

“Didn’t Jaehyun-nim summon us?”

“...Huh?”

I was confused.

I hadn’t summoned any retainers.

At that moment, I grew uneasy.

‘If the strongest ones are missing, the people who were sent out now…!’

Of course, they must be suffering major losses.

With all three people who had reached level 80 gathered here, it was inevitable that the front lines would be shattered.

I hadn’t even opened the portal for their return.

But thankfully.

‘...They’ve all returned!’

The retainers from other dimensions had all returned to Earth.

I sighed in relief for a moment.

[An enemy deity hostile to the Housekeeper Absolute Being has been detected.]

With a familiar notification.

Screech—

‘Aaaahh!’

I immediately recognized its identity.

‘Why!?’

I slowly closed my eyes, and his figure appeared before me.

“Why, you say?!”

Black chains shot out of the darkness, wrapping around his entire body.

I looked at him with an indifferent expression and explained to him.

The reason he was defeated.

“I’m not alone like you.”

I could understand.

For a moment, I was consumed by him.

Though I had thought I was confident, I couldn’t put up any proper resistance and was swallowed whole in one bite.

I had been fooled by the peaceful daily life he showed me.

He knew exactly what situation I would least resist.

It made sense.

Because, in a way, he was me too.

If I hadn’t had all my retainers, including Kim Da-bin, with me, I would have been completely consumed by that peaceful life.

I wouldn’t have even known that I had fallen for it.

But I wasn’t alone, and all my retainers reached out and pulled me out of the darkness.

“I cannot accept this! This isn’t your own power!”

“Right. This can’t be called my power.”

He was right.

“So, what about it?”

“…What?”

“So what can you do?”

I threw his earlier words back at him, and his face contorted in anger.

I approached him, whose expression twisted like an evil spirit, and spoke sincerely.

“Thank you. The power you built up, I’ll use it well, so don’t worry about it.”

I meant it.

If it hadn’t been for him, I would have had to face a miserable future as well.

Because of him, I was able to obtain the Housekeeper Absolute Being ability, and it was thanks to that ability that I made it this far.

“Good job. Your role ends here, so rest easy now.”

“AAAHHH!”

With a scream that sounded like a dying cry.

[Absorbing hostile deity.]

I could become the true master of the system.

【‘Housekeeper Declaration’ skill is now activated.】

Immediately after.

[WAAAHHHH―]

[Warning, warning.]

Ari began blaring sirens loudly through my phone and the living room TV.

[Black energy is rapidly approaching.]

[60, 59, 58…]

The estimated arrival time, which had been several hours just moments ago, had now been reduced to 1 minute.

Even more so.

[Target is accelerating.]

[...3.]

The remaining time quickly dwindled to just 3 seconds.

And then.

[Zero.]

The middle seconds were gone in an instant, and it went straight to zero.

Right after that.

CRASH―!

A tremendous shockwave was felt from the edge of the domain.

From a point about 10,000 kilometers above the house.

The black energy had reached there.

I looked up at the sky,

SWOOOOOSH―

The black energy was rapidly spreading, covering the entire sky.

‘The Eye of the Absolute Being.’

Looking at the boundary of my domain, I could see my territory being consumed in real-time by the black energy.

I immediately responded.

Another version of me.

Memories from hundreds or even thousands of years of fighting against the black energy.

The gamble had been successful, and I had managed to acquire his memories while maintaining my sanity.

Thanks to that, I knew how to fight the black energy.

‘Devour it.’

The black energy that was forming my domain rose like a swarm of bees and began to fight back against the black energy coming from space.

CRACK!

A hellish battle of devouring each other.

The scene I had seen in my memories unfolded before me.

‘It’s still bearable.’

For now, only the sky of Korea had been consumed by the black energy.

The black energy, which had spread wide like clouds, now formed a spear-like shape and pierced the Earth.

However, watching the speed at which it was consuming the sky along the boundary of my domain, it was certain that it would soon cover the entire planet.

Once that happens, the Earth will become a half-destroyed planet, with only my domain remaining.

‘That won’t happen.’

There was a way.

The secret lay in the activated ‘Housekeeper Declaration’ skill, which had fully consumed another version of me.

There were no transparent barriers in the expanded domain after level 50.

Monsters that suddenly appeared couldn’t be dealt with directly but could be temporarily trapped in dungeon-like formations, and there were areas where monsters that held hostility toward me couldn’t be killed freely.

In contrast, the area surrounding South Korea was entirely within my influence.

Those who held hostility toward me here were all wiped out, and no monster dared to step into my domain.

That was why it was called the Absolute Domain.

‘The two domains are different.’

In exact terms, the density of my power in each domain was different.

Conversely.

‘By adjusting the density, I can compress or expand the domain as I wish.’

For example, it would be possible to compress a domain that expanded from Asia into the Middle East and parts of Europe to make South Korea an Absolute Domain.

In contrast.

‘If I give up the Absolute Domain, I can easily cover the entire Earth.’

As soon as I decided,

Whooooosh―!

The transparent barrier that had perfectly protected South Korea collapsed, and my domain began expanding rapidly.

The same happened with the annex in the U.S.

Scattered seeds of domains and outposts in between were completely disassembled and became the foundation for the expansion.

As a result.

Zing―

I barely managed to bring the entire Earth into my domain.

And just as it was completed.

SWOOOOOSH―

The black energy, as if it had been waiting for this moment, enveloped the entire Earth.

“Jaehyun-nim… This is…”

“Ha…”

The retainers around me, with blank expressions, looked up at the sky and muttered.

Some were too shocked to speak, while others had collapsed, trembling in fear.

Kim Da-bin spoke with a hollow voice.

“Ultimately... the prophecy has come true.”

The prophecy that the black sky would cover the world.

It had become reality.

‘Even in this state, we can still hold on a little.’

But that was the limit.

The black energy from space and the black energy that had been bound to the system were devouring each other brutally across the entire Earth.

Because I had lowered the density to protect the Earth, I was gradually being pushed back.

If I kept gathering the World Tree’s heart from other dimensions, I could probably hold on like this for a few years.

But after that?

‘In the end, everyone will die.’

Just to be sure, I checked all the orchards in other dimensions.

Protecting only our home, which is the Housekeeper’s domain, wouldn’t be too difficult.

I thought it might be okay if I moved everyone into the orchard like this.

But those hopes were dashed.

‘The black energy is faintly observed in every dimension.’

When I made the effort to search, signs were visible everywhere.

‘From the start, everything I was given in each dimension was a discarded card.’

It was a desperate situation.

But even so, even as the sky was falling, there was still a way out.

I said calmly.

“Not everything has been realized yet.”

“...What?”

“The prophecy said the faint light would flash, and then it would end.”

Kim Da-bin’s gaze turned toward me.

“I will now make the last part of that dream come true.”

People looked at me with hard, stiff expressions.

Some were blank-faced, while others, like Park Sae-rom, were sitting and crying while looking up at me.

But they all looked at me with the same expectation.

They looked at me as if wondering how I would handle this hopeless situation, where even traces of hope were hard to find.

And I was the one who had to fulfill that expectation.

“I’ll be back soon.”

“Jaehyun-nim―!”

Whoosh―

With a light use of teleportation, I was instantly transported to about 10,000 kilometers above.

This place, far beyond Earth’s atmosphere, was definitely part of the cosmos.

‘I never thought I’d see this day.’

From space, Earth truly looked like a perfect work of art.

Lost in my admiration for a moment, I turned my back and looked toward the battlefield.

Two black energies were gnashing at each other, unfolding into a hellish battle.

The balance of power was slightly tipped in favor of the outer side.

Our side was losing ground.

‘The missing pieces will be filled by these.’

The deities I had collected over time.

Boom!

The red vampire deity I obtained from Jinzo.

The Lilith deity, which had once parasitized the World Tree.

The ghostly deity that led the immortal legion.

The Ice Dragon, the pinnacle of ice.

And countless other deities, including the World Tree’s deity, which had once been the largest part of my domain, excluding the black energy.

Just as the dazzling multicolored light that had leaked from me began to shine...

‘Hmm?’

From the deepest part of me, I could sense a force that shone brighter than any of the deities I had.

‘This is...’

A colorless light.

Although it was smaller than the other deities, it shone the brightest, perhaps the purest light.

As I focused on it...

‘Ah.’

I saw people with their hands clasped in prayer.

Uncle Choi Hyeong-jun, who, though timid, went out with a golf club to protect his family, the Ha Dong-geon party, who had sacrificed their lives for a mission to save a friend's family, the Lee Joon-hyuk party, who had shown talent in battle from the start, and the Kim Min-ho party, who had given their lives to counter the vampires in Ulsan, along with many other retainers from Busan.

After that, retainers from Seoul, across Korea, Japan, the U.S., China...

Thousands of retainers who had shown remarkable efforts.

And the tens of millions of people who had joined and believed in me.

Their trust and faith were coming together.

[The trust level of Citizen Kim Tae-young has reached 100.]

[The trust level of Citizen Shin Ji-yeon has reached 100.]

[The trust level of Citizen Kim Ha-neul has reached 100.]

[The trust level of Citizen Lee Ga-eun has reached 100.]

...

...

Their hearts were becoming even more intense.

At that moment.

[The conditions have been met.]

The stored skill points were recklessly consumed.

【The Housekeeper Absolute Being’s Dignity Maintenance skill has reached Lv. 10.】

【The Housekeeper Absolute Being’s Dignity Maintenance skill has reached Max level.】

A miracle occurred.

Flash—

[Hostile deity to the Housekeeper Absolute Being has been detected.]

[Absorbing the hostile deity.]

The system began to devour the black energy pouring from space with incredible speed.

Overall, it took on the shape of a black wolf.

But in one eye were the multicolored deities, and in the other eye, the purest light.

The wolf with two different eyes began devouring the black energy that was engulfing the Earth.

Each time the black wolf chewed and swallowed, it grew larger, devouring more and more energy.

It didn’t take long for the moon and sun, once consumed by the black energy, to reveal themselves.

Finally, as it began to growl, exerting influence across the entire solar system.

Swoooosh—

The black energy, which had aggressively invaded, began to recede like a retreating tide.

It had won.

Watching the black energy flee at an astonishing speed, I let out a hollow laugh.

“Ha.”

The gigantic black wolf, which was large enough to swallow the sun, came forward and acted spoiled.

As I rubbed what I assumed to be its nose, a pleased growl came from it.

“Good job.”

Finally.

Just when I thought everything had ended.

“Oh, right.”

I suddenly remembered one last thing that needed to be resolved.

The very thing I had thought was impossible just a moment ago.

With the size of the black wolf, it was certainly possible.

“Aren’t you still hungry?”

I opened a dimensional portal in front of the black wolf, revealing the enormous heart of the World Tree.

Zing―

The epilogue follows -

[Epilogue]

On a peaceful afternoon.

In an apartment playground, innocent children were running around.

Updated from freewёbnoνel.com.

“This area is only for six-year-olds!”

“Waaah!”

The children, grouped by their similar ages, were playing tag and hide-and-seek, with the leader giving instructions and organizing the games.

“Meow!”

“No, don’t go! If you get too close, it’ll run away!”

“You made it run away!”

The apartment walkway was crowded with children of all ages, from three to six years old.

The schoolchildren played a little more seriously.

The talkative girls gathered on the benches or garden tables beside the playground, gossiping away.

“Did you know? There’s a god living at the top of our apartment.”

“Really?”

“I’m telling you, it’s true!”

As the group of children chattered, a few high school students in uniforms passed by, and the topic of conversation changed immediately.

“I think those are the Kyungnam Technical High School boys!”

“Wow, cool! Do they live in our apartment?”

Kyungnam Technical High School had regained its former glory.

It helped that it was near the apartment complex where Kim Jaehyun lived, but the education system had dramatically changed due to the structure of earning money from monster hunting.

Children were no longer forced to study, and now, depending on their abilities or awakened powers, they were educated accordingly.

The most popular profession was undoubtedly the newly established ‘Hunter’ role.

The dungeons popping up everywhere had monsters that would break out if not subjugated beforehand.

Monster hunting was important to make money, but more importantly, dungeon subjugation was essential to ensure the safety of the citizens, and that was the specialty of the ‘Hunter’ role.

“I’m going to be a Hunter when I grow up!”

Being a Hunter had become a highly sought-after job, with many people working in related fields.

Even those without powers could gradually level up through physical activities or monster hunting and eventually pursue a career as a Hunter.

Then.

“Hey! It’s Santa!”

Someone shouted, and all the children’s gazes turned to one place.

It was someone who, when walking along the path, would occasionally give out gifts, and was somewhat famous as ‘Santa’ among the children.

However.

“Nice to meet you for the first time!”

“It’s an honor!”

As the kids saw the Kyungnam Technical High School students freeze in front of him, they were astonished.

“Wow. Santa is actually someone really amazing!”

“Of course! He’s pulling out presents like it’s nothing!”

“My dad can do that too, though?”

Right after that, the children flocked to him, bombarding him with questions.

“Uncle! Who are you really? Why are those older kids acting like that toward you?”

“I want some chocolate too...!”

“Hey! I got here first!”

In the midst of this, one child tripped and fell.

“Waaah!”

It was a pretty hard fall, and blood was dripping from the child’s knee.

The child who caused it was so sorry, unsure what to do, but then Santa stepped forward.

“Are you okay?”

“Sniff! Y-yeah.”

“Let me see. All the pain, go away.”

Then.

“Huh?”

The child, who had been crying, suddenly stopped.

“It doesn’t hurt at all!”

“Wow!”

“Uncle, are you an awakener?”

“Awesome!”

Santa just smiled and flicked his hand lightly.

Then.

“Waaah!”

Delicious treats appeared in the children’s hands.

Chocolate, Tanghulu, ice cream.

Sweet things that they usually couldn’t eat because of their mothers' strictness.

But strangely, whenever Santa gave them out, even the parents didn’t say anything.

That’s why the kids loved Santa even more.

“Uncle is the best!”

But when the children looked back at where he was, he had already disappeared.

“He disappeared again!”

“See! He must be an amazing awakener!”

“Let’s play hide-and-seek! Everyone, come here!”

“Me!”

“Me too!”

The children quickly scattered, forming their little groups again.

Returning home through teleportation, I sighed softly.

‘With regeneration being ten times stronger, the kids have become much more aggressive.’

It seemed that even small injuries, like a scraped knee, healed in no time, making their play and training far more intense than before.

Watching the pre-Hunters, who were still high school students, train in combat made me gasp in surprise.

There were even those who had awakened healing abilities, and those who had reached a trust level of 100 and become priests, so it wasn’t unusual for injuries like cuts or broken arms to happen during training.

‘...It’s inevitable for safety.’

For the price of bringing the entire Earth into my domain, I had lost quite a bit.

First, the Absolute Domain, which had stretched from South Korea to Fukuoka, Japan, was now reduced to just this apartment complex.

It made sense.

From the beginning, the power within the Absolute Domain allowed me to bring the entire Earth under its influence.

Now that I could exert influence across the entire Earth, it felt like my mental strength had slightly diminished compared to before.

‘It’s probably because the size of the Absolute Domain has decreased.’

My current level was 77.

After reaching level 75, even after clearing all the Ice Dragon’s nests, no dramatic growth had occurred.

‘At this level, an Absolute Domain that surrounds Korea and maybe even half the Earth would have been ideal.’

That way, I could have exerted more absolute influence across the entire domain.

‘If I had it that way, the scope of my activities wouldn’t be limited to just the apartment complex.’

But returning to that form was impossible.

‘If I show even a little opening, that bastard will invade.’

The black star at the corner of the sun.

He hadn’t given up on us yet.

In fact, after I took the World Tree’s heart, he had become even more relentlessly focused on us.

Anyway, because of that, there had been many more deaths or injuries due to dungeon explorations and monsters spilling out from dungeons.

But there was no need to despair.

‘If things keep getting better bit by bit, eventually, that effort will pay off.’

Right.

Ding!

[Skill level has increased.]

Just like this.

*The END*

___________

TL Note:

If you enjoyed this novel, check out another work by this author "Slime That Possesses Corpses".