Chapter 112: Soul Art Online (8)


“Baby, my baby...”


“I... I’m not a baby,” Nayu mumbled.


A heartwarming family reunion—one of those touching moments.


And yet, even while witnessing this scene, Yoo Hajin was preparing his ultimate weapon. Was his sense of humanity truly shattered, just as one would expect from a Mara?


Not exactly.


In fact, one could argue that Yoo Hajin was quite an emotional person.


So why was he preparing his ultimate weapon?


‘All of their names are red.’


Like any RPG, Lost Soul had a concept of monsters. The key distinction between monsters and NPCs was the color of their names—white for NPCs and red for monsters.


And every single person wearing the hanbok in this city had a red name.


‘Lost Soul’s monsters were so vicious they were practically called demons. The game was notorious for how merciless its monsters were—so much so that many players quit out of sheer frustration.’


It was inevitable. Every entity classified as a monster belonged to factions that either despised humanity or sought its complete destruction.


Even villains who didn’t actively aim to wipe out humanity were simply classified as “hostile NPCs.” Even the most despicable, utterly irredeemable villains were treated this way.


But red names?


That meant these beings weren’t just villains.


And yet, they bore the title GM—not to mention their absurd level 90 stats.


‘Is this place supposed to be some kind of final dungeon?’


There was no way Yoo Hajin could stay calm.


“That child… looks just like them. I suppose blood really does run deep.”


“Sharing the same appearance as them means they also carry the same fundamental Vow. A young Sky Shaman, is it? At last, we can put our plan into motion.”


On top of that, their conversation sounded incredibly suspicious.


Yet, the hereditary shamans emerging from the city had no idea that Yoo Hajin was already wary of them.


Did they seriously think this was just a game?


Sure, when this world was first constructed, game developers had been involved in its foundation. After all, they were experts in designing new realms of information.


But what they created was only the groundwork—a mere foundation, like a plot of land before construction even began.


The real world had been built atop collapsed fragments of the Spirit Realm. The pillars were erected with ultimate spiritual energy, the mightiest of all ley lines. The interiors were filled with spirits obtained through contracts and bargains.


For anyone to perceive this world’s game-like structure, they would have to see through all of that.


And yet, the hereditary shamans thought such a thing was impossible.


But the world never unfolds the way people expect.


The woman holding Nayu close spoke softly.


“Baby, I haven’t even given you a name yet...”


“I... I am Nayu,” she whispered.


“Nayu? That’s the name they gave you?”


The moment ‘they’ was mentioned, the expressions of the hanbok-clad people twisted with rage.


“The disgrace of the skies who betrayed their own bloodline.”


“The ruthless master who slaughtered their own disciples.”


Who exactly was this person to be so despised?


“Who is they?”


Yoo Hajin typed into the chat.


It was only then that the hereditary shamans finally turned to look at him.


“And who are you?”


“Are you of the rightful bloodline of Dharma vein and Law Lineage?”


“An outsider dares...”


Calling him “an outsider”?


For someone born into a shaman family, Yoo Hajin had more than enough credentials.


“My grandmother’s name is Ok-sun, my mother’s name was Geum-ryeon, and my little sister is Yoo Harin. Ever heard of them?”


“Grandson of Ok-sun the Sage?”


“Son of Master Geum-ryeon? I heard she only had a daughter, though...”


“Harin...? Harin-nim? You mean you’re Harin-nim’s older brother? I... I heard she had an older brother, but...”


Watching the hereditary shamans get worked up, three thoughts crossed Yoo Hajin’s mind.


First, Korea really does run on connections.


Second, just what kind of trouble has Harin been getting into? She hadn’t even made her official debut as a shaman, yet here she was, being treated like royalty by level 90 GMs.


And third... these people were definitely hereditary shamans.


Yoo Hajin was slightly taken aback by his final realization.


So Celestial-Slayer had been telling the truth all along.


The hereditary shamans were indeed here, in this hidden, bypassed part of the map.


Ok-sun the Sage and Master Geum-ryeon—those were the titles his grandmother and mother had once been called. If these people knew those names, it meant they had been part of the hereditary shaman clan long before the day of Awakening.


‘That means... there’s something I need to ask them.’


Not just about him, but something far more important.


What exactly happened to his grandmother and mother?


Their bodies had never been found.


Could they be here?


The answer came swiftly.


First, regarding him.


“You really don’t know?”


Hearing that, Yoo Hajin fell into thought.


They had said Nayu resembled him a great deal. They had also called her a young Sky Shaman—which implied that there had to be an older Sky Shaman as well.


A Sky Shaman...


If their fundamental vow were reversed, wouldn’t they become an Earth Shaman?


Sky and Earth…


‘Wait. Could it be—are we talking about the Master of Cheonji?’


“...Are you saying it’s the Master of Cheonji?”


“As expected, you figured it out.”


Again? The Master of Cheonji—again?


At this point, it would feel wrong if he didn’t show up.


With a bitter smile, Yoo Hajin moved on to his next question.


What had happened to his grandmother and mother?


“Ok-sun the Sage and Master Geum-ryeo... what happened to them?”


“They likely failed to ascend.”


“Failed to ascend?”


“Yes, ascension—the act of fleeing into a higher Spirit Realm that won’t be swept up in the coming destruction.”


It was GM Hyeon-jae who answered him this time.


“But they must have realized that it was impossible.”


“Why?”


“Because one of the highest Spirit Realms... belongs to the Great Adversary. The enemy of enlightenment holds one of the loftiest realms of all.”


GM Hyeon-jae muttered as if speaking to himself.


“Now, the only way to escape destruction is this.”


“Destruction?”


“You don’t believe in it? Master Geum-ryeon failed to raise her son properly.”


GM Hyeon-jae continued.


“Destruction is inevitable. Humanity’s history spans about three million years, but recorded history barely reaches ten thousand. Do you truly believe that, for the remainder of those millions of years, humans lived exactly as they had without a single shred of progress?”


Yoo Hajin had no idea how to respond, so he simply stared at the chat log.


“The OOPArts (Out-of-Place Artifacts) discovered around the world are proof of that destruction. This world has flourished and collapsed countless times before. We call this cycle reincarnation. No soul can escape its grand flow.”


Yoo Hajin was at least somewhat familiar with traces of ancient civilizations.


So that’s what they called OOPArts...


It referred to things like Qi-detection dog tags and power water guns.


Artifacts of super-science that modern technology couldn’t even begin to replicate.


But setting that aside—so civilization rising and falling repeatedly was what they called reincarnation?


That was new information for Yoo Hajin.


“Preventing the destruction of the world is impossible. Nothing in this world is eternal. Wishing for eternity is nothing more than a futile obsession.”


GM Hyeon-jae spoke with certainty.


“Then… there’s only one way to break the cycle of reincarnation.”


“And what is that?”


“I can’t tell you.”


Oh, you can’t tell me?


If it’s a secret, I guess there’s nothing I can do.


…Did they really think he would let it go like that?


While watching Nayu reunite with her family, Yoo Hajin casually started typing.


And with that, the program began running.


“Secrets, huh? Activating Heavenly Demon Crawling.”


To be precise, he had just activated his log-altering hacking tool.


With that, he started scraping and copying every single chat log that had taken place in this map.


What kind of conversations had they been having?


Lines upon lines of chat logs began filling up his notepad.


<GM Sansu: The swarm of bugs scraping against my nerves, their twisted dance clawing through my eyes...>


<Gu Seong-jin: In the darkness, distorted laughter. The wall lined with photos of children who took their own lives...>


<GM Hyeon-jae: What fills the void of a soul is not another soul, but... another soul...>


“...?”


Most of the conversations were completely bizarre.


Had the logs been corrupted?


But occasionally, there were normal exchanges buried within them.


<Kim Ak-ju: Memory is information, and information is the soul. Remember the most important detail. The Sanctuary of Baekryeonsa has two floors above ground and two underground. The way to reach the second basement level is...>


And the further back in time the logs went, the more frequent these coherent conversations became.


While decoding the logs, Yoo Hajin suddenly noticed something else—


A moment of Nayu smiling brightly.


More precisely, Nayu’s character, beaming with joy.


Tears welled in her eyes as she clung tightly to her mother.


“My baby, you’ve grown so much... There was so much I wanted to do for you.”


“Nayu’s expression—asking if this is real.”


“Of course. I wanted to hold you tight and make you all your favorite foods... Mama… Mama is so sorry.”


“Nayu, tears trickling. Nayu, hesitant but slowly hugging back.”


Nayu hugged the woman she called mother just as tightly.


“Nayu’s heart, feeling warm and ticklish.”


“My baby... My baby... I’m so sorry. I’ll never leave you again.”


At that moment, the last of the chat logs finished copying.


Yoo Hajin, staring at the text, felt his expression harden.


And then—


The mother turned to Nayu and spoke in a soft voice.


“So, my dear... could you do just one thing for Mama?”

– – The End of The Chapter – –

 

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Chapter 21
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Chapter 22
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Chapter 23
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Chapter 24
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Chapter 25
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Chapter 26
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Chapter 27
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Chapter 28
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Chapter 29
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Chapter 30
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Chapter 31
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Chapter 32
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Chapter 33
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Chapter 34
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Chapter 35
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Chapter 36
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Chapter 37
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Chapter 39
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Chapter 40
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Chapter 41
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Chapter 42
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Chapter 43
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Chapter 44
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Chapter 45
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Chapter 46
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Chapter 47
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Chapter 48
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Chapter 49
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Chapter 50
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Chapter 51
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Chapter 52
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Chapter 53
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Chapter 54
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Chapter 55
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Chapter 56
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Chapter 57
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Chapter 58
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Chapter 59
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Chapter 60
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Chapter 61
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Chapter 63
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Chapter 64
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Chapter 65
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Chapter 66
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Chapter 67
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Chapter 68
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Chapter 69
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Chapter 70
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Chapter 73
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Chapter 76
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Chapter 77
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Chapter 78
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Chapter 79
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Chapter 80
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Chapter 81
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Chapter 82
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Chapter 83
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Chapter 84
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Chapter 85
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Chapter 86
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Chapter 87
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Chapter 88
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Chapter 89
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Chapter 90
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Chapter 91
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Chapter 92
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Chapter 93
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Chapter 94
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Chapter 95
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Chapter 96
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Chapter 97
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Chapter 98
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Chapter 99
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Chapter 100
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Chapter 101
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Chapter 102
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Chapter 105
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Chapter 106
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Chapter 107
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Chapter 109
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Chapter 110
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Chapter 111
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Chapter 112
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