Chapter 628:
"Why are you here?"
Seong Jihan looked at Id, who was sitting on the floor.
His entire body emitted a gentle glow, with his head shining even brighter.
Seeing this, Seong Jihan could tell where the Power of Protection manifested.
'If I acquire the Power of Protection, will my head shine like that...?'
He wasn't too fond of that idea.
As he watched the light intensify from Id's bald head, Seong Jihan decided to prioritize other traits over 'Protection' next time he had to choose.
"I-I followed you out."
Id stammered, watching Seong Jihan's reaction.
"You acted like you'd stay holed up in there forever... Why did you follow me?"
"...Living like that isn't living at all. Until now, I saw no hope, so I stayed put. But if there's a way to survive... I need to find a path."
"Hmm. So, are you willing to cooperate with me?"
"Well..."
"If you're not, you can leave."
When Seong Jihan pointed toward the door with his finger,
"F-fine! I'll do it!"
Id quickly nodded.
'Well, he's not particularly useful in combat...'
Even the Power of Protection seemed to be used solely for safeguarding himself.
He probably wouldn't be of any help in a fight.
'But he does have information I don't.'
Recalling how Id's avatar had acted like a mental weakling on Server 4212,
Seong Jihan realized he needed to find a way to control the avatar from the main body.
As Seong Jihan stared blankly at Id,
"Ugh, what is that fire... Huh!? Is that... Could it be a server access device?"
Id, who had been glancing around, suddenly brightened and asked Seong Jihan.
"So what if it is?"
"C-could I perhaps... go inside for a moment? I haven't eaten in a long time."
"...? What's the connection between being hungry and the server access device?"
"If I connect there, I can have a meal...!"
He wanted to connect to have a meal?
Did he intend to access the server to eat food?
"No. How do I know what you'll do on the server?"
"No... I'm not trying to access the server. Besides, neither my avatar nor I have a server management device... It's impossible to access Server 4212!"
"Then?"
"I just want to simulate another reality to have a meal. Just a meal...!"
He wanted to have a meal using the server access device.
Initially skeptical of his words,
[It's certain that without the server management device you have, he can't access the server.]
As the Red Administrator, who had created the server management device, vouched for this, Seong Jihan decided to allow it.
"For free?"
"W-what...?"
"I worked hard to create that. Do you think you can use it for free?"
Of course, it was the Red Administrator who had done all the work.
But Seong Jihan had no qualms about claiming credit.
"Ugh... Well, what do you want?"
Id asked hesitantly, pulling a sour face.
"Is there a way to command your avatar from within the server?"
"Command my avatar...? What are you planning to do?"
"I told him to run away from Urd, but he panicked on his own and messed things up."
Seong Jihan briefly explained the situation to Id.
After listening, Id said,
"...That avatar. Without my direct control, he's completely unmanageable."
He criticized his avatar as if it were pathetic, without considering his own state.
"Can you control him directly?"
"If I had a connector, it would be possible... Ah, but don't worry now. Neither I nor my avatar have a server management device, so I can't influence him."
Id repeated himself, perhaps fearing that Seong Jihan wouldn't let him enter the connector.
He glanced at Seong Jihan, gauging his reaction.
"So, if you just need a way to give orders to my avatar?"
"Yes. As long as he doesn't do anything foolish and keeps running away quietly."
"In that case, there's a way... There's an emergency command."
"Emergency command?"
"Yes. Go to my avatar and tell him this."
Id cleared his throat and, looking a bit embarrassed, said,
"'Pleasegivemetwotraitsplease'."
"...What? That's the emergency command?"
"Yes... It's crucial that it starts and ends with 'please'. If you say it exactly like that, the emergency command will be activated."
Unbelievable.
While Seong Jihan was taken aback, he focused on the content of the emergency command.
"But why does he want two traits?"
"Obviously, to be freed from being an isolate."
Swoosh.
Id glanced at the server access device.
"The main purpose for us isolates to enter the server is to unlock another trait. I heard that if you're diligent in your duties as a 'White Administrator', you can obtain a trait..."
"Was it that difficult? I could choose a trait every time my White Light increased by 100."
At Seong Jihan's words, Id's eyebrow twitched.
"Hah... Are you boasting about being normal to me? A primitive human, a mere lab rat born from the server...?"
"And who's the one begging that lab rat for a meal?"
"Ugh...!"
At Seong Jihan's retort, Id bit his lip.
"You... If you could choose a trait, how did you enter Ark? Only isolates can be here! You were lying after all!"
"What happens when you have two traits?"
"Then you can immediately be released from isolation and freed from Ark...! I can escape this accursed place and be recognized as normal!"
So having just two traits meant you were considered normal and could be freed from here.
After hearing this, Seong Jihan had a question for Id.
"Then what are the normal new humans doing? Why are they letting Urd occupy Ark?"
"...I don't know. I was brought here suddenly, after all."
"Hmm... What are the normal new humans like?"
"Hah. Isn't that too much to ask for just a meal...?"
"So, you don't want to eat?"
"Ugh..."
At Seong Jihan's question, Id glanced at the server access device and sighed.
"Once you become normal... you gradually become light itself."
"Light?"
"Yes... Once you have two or more traits, your 'disability' disappears, and you become a true member of the Light Clan. The artificial organs we depend on transform one by one into light bodies, and eventually, we become genuine members of the Light Clan..."
At his words, Seong Jihan recalled his body transformed by the White Light traits.
Indeed, when 'Tower Implementation' was active, his left eye glowed, and when 'Device Mastery' was active, his right hand glowed.
And the Id before him had a shining bald head.
"So, just as your head shines naturally, the 'normal' ones have their entire bodies glowing?"
"Yes... Of course, transforming the entire body into light is only possible for the strongest among the normals. Most have about 50% of their bodies transformed into light. They grow gradually over time from there."
As Id spoke about the 'normals',
He scrutinized Seong Jihan from head to toe.
"But where do your traits manifest? And what's with your left eye?"
"Well, I have my reasons."
"Are you hiding a trait that manifests in your left eye? Hah. But covering it up so blatantly makes it obvious, doesn't it? Huh? But why is your right hand glowing...?"
Noticing a faint glow from Seong Jihan's right hand as he concealed his left eye entirely with Blue energy,
Id was startled.
"You... Did you really acquire two traits?"
"Well, yes."
"Then why are you here...? Don't tell me, even with two traits, you can't be freed?"
"How would I know? Aren't I just a lab rat born from the server?"
In reality, it seemed that completely covering his left eye with the stat 'Blue' made it unrecognizable as having 'two' traits.
But Seong Jihan didn't bother explaining that.
Then,
"No way... This can't be... Even with two traits, you can't leave here?"
Id's face turned panicked, and he buried his head in his hands.
"I've been holding on, thinking I could return if I got just one more trait... If I can't escape isolation even after obtaining a trait... Why did I endure all this time..."
It seemed that getting one more trait was Id's last hope.
Confirming that Seong Jihan was still in Ark even with two traits,
He began muttering to himself in a daze.
"What were you planning to do once you became normal?"
"Of course... I was going to report Urd in Ark... Bring her to justice..."
"But according to you, the normals have at least two traits by default. Some are powerful enough to have their entire bodies filled with light traits, right?"
"...Yes."
"Then why are they just watching Urd occupy Ark?"
"...I don't know. I don't know. Ugh... What would a useless isolate like me know...!"
Id seemed mentally unbalanced, perhaps because his hope had vanished.
So that was where his avatar's mental fragility came from—he mirrored his owner.
'It looks like I can't get more information from him right now.'
As Seong Jihan watched Id rolling on the floor,
Zzzing...
A light shimmered from beyond the open door.
Divine Eye entered through the doorway.
[You're here.]
"Yeah. I came a bit early because of his avatar."
[So you blocked your trait that way. It's good to see it was effective.]
As the Eye of Light looked at Seong Jihan's left eye, it said.
"Blocked... my trait?"
Id, who had been despairing on the floor, lifted his head.
"W-what do you mean? Blocking a trait...? Does covering your eye with blue energy have that effect?"
"Well, something like that."
"You... Are you an idiot? No, wait. Otherwise, you wouldn't have entered Ark... Fine! Then remove the block right now and become normal!"
"Remove this?"
When Seong Jihan pointed to his left eye, which was enveloped in blue,
Id nodded fervently, his eyes wide.
"Yes! Even if you're from the server, if you meet the conditions of a 'normal,' you can be released from isolation! Then go out there and report Urd! Bring her to justice...!"
Was it really that easy?
If those outside could intervene here, wouldn't they have done so already?
As Seong Jihan skeptically considered Id's proposal,
Flash...
[That's impossible.]
A woman's cold voice echoed from the Eye of Light that had entered the southern sector.
[Only three humans are left alive.]
"...What?"
[The remaining humans are Urd, me, and you, Id.]
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