Chapter 39 Part6 (1/2)

<chapter 39.=”” new=”” party=”” member=”” -=”” 6=””>

According to Sinea, the 'Spirits' Road' was only accessible by spirits. Lee s.h.i.+n Woo moved under her guidance, and at some point, the surrounding environment became faint, with a silver transparent layer of mana hanging under their feet. It felt like they'd entered a s.h.i.+mmering light tunnel.

It felt similar to the Giants' domain, where they were isolated by spatial magic. However, the sense of distortion was far more intense. Is it because only spirits could enter? He felt like he would either get thrown out or never be able to enter again if he was careless.

[Paul Zero, you have to follow me.]

”Ok.”

”...s.h.i.+n Woo, are you ok? You've been strange since way back. Is this 'spirit transformation' thing that hard on you?”

”Ah, no. It's nothing.”

'He's only sharp when it comes to situations like this,' Lee s.h.i.+n Woo inwardly muttered. Now wasn't the time to be deep in thought and study the 'Spirits' Road'. Jin was one of the reasons for that.

'I can fully transform into a human with the Disguise skill now, but I can't use it to that extent on others yet. If Jin figures this out, then he'll be really sad.'

He figured that the final remaining task was related to it, but he had no way of figuring out what that task actually was. Lee s.h.i.+n Woo had no idea how to increase his skill level going forward.

For the time being, Lee s.h.i.+n Woo was getting adjusted to the leveled up Disguise skill by maintaining the spirit transformation, but...

'I should transform into a human when Jin's not looking...'

Lee s.h.i.+n Woo was human. He wanted to sleep, he wanted to have s.e.x, and he wanted to eat. Once he realized he could regain all the things he'd enjoyed as a human being, he cheered and wanted to go through with it. But out of consideration for his partner, Jin, he endured with superhuman patience. If he looked 'strange', then it was because of that.

And there was one other reason. That was...

'I figured this out once I succeeded in transforming into a human. Ultimately, life and death, humans, the undead, or even the Dryads only look different on the outside; they are essentially the same at their roots. It's just a matter of perception. Like how I've fooled everything with my Disguise skill...'

Lee s.h.i.+n Woo didn't know how much hards.h.i.+p and suffering one had to go through to come to this realization. He came to this realization by using the Joker's innate skills however he wished.

Reaching the truth so sloppily was perhaps a fitting end to a swindler. Though if G.o.d figured that out, then she'd be shocked.

'But if that's the case, then there's a big problem. The source of my life, or the Invisible Heart skill is...'

Until now, he'd thought that his 'life force' had been stored in an invisible container called the Invisible Heart. He'd first thought of the idea after he'd encountered the archmage lich.

However, he was wrong. An ambiguous energy like life force didn't actually exist. Even if it did, Lee s.h.i.+n Woo could create it, and it would only be another type of energy like mana.

'Now that I think about it, the Archmage probably sealed his soul, not his life force.'

He wouldn't die, even if his body was destroyed, because he'd sealed his soul into a separate container. Then that would explain that disharmony he sensed then... Although the Archmage had been right in front of him, he couldn't sense his 'essence' and only felt a bizarre feeling.

Of course, Lee s.h.i.+n Woo's soul was contained in his body, so he was built differently from a Lich. In other words, the Lich's ability wouldn't help him learn more about the Invisible Heart!'

'Then what is the Invisible Heart?'

Of course, now that he could freely transform into a human, there wasn't anything wrong with ignoring that matter for now. Rather, there was nothing better, as he could maintain a human form while retaining multiple lives.

But despite that, he couldn't help his curiosity due to his instincts as a Joker. It was his nature to understand and control everything, so he couldn't help but pay attention to this unmeasurable power.

'Alright. Let's go with this hypothesis. I thought my life force was replaced by a level 100+ Invisible Heart skill, but I already know that that's not true. Therefore, my life and the Invisible Heart skill aren't the same.'

He came to the conclusion that G.o.d had tricked him, but he also thought she didn't do what she claimed needed to be done.

In other words, she could've given him the Invisible Heart skill with no strings attached, but she had taken his life and turned him into a skeleton with the excuse that 'it was too hard'.

'...My grudge can wait. In any case, Invisible Heart's more important.'

If he a.s.sumed that his previous hypotheses were correct, then the Invisible Heart was the G.o.ddess's power, not his own. Perhaps it was a crystallization of divinity.

It made sense, as the max level of Invisible Heart would go up whenever he completed one of the G.o.ddess's tasks.

'If I can make this power my own, then would it help me against powerful opponents?'

If he could imitate it with his mana, then he should be able to use Invisible Heart infinitely. At the very least, he would become a true, immortal undead. No, it wouldn't be that easy. He couldn't even figure out where to start.

[Paul Zero, we're almost there.]

”Ah, already?”

[By human standards, we've already run for five hours.]

Sinea called him, and Lee s.h.i.+n Woo stopped thinking so much and replied. It seemed like Sinea knew that he hadn't been paying attention to her, as she replied while sulking.

In order to best handle the Invisible Heart, he'd made various plans and practiced, yet five hours had pa.s.sed in the blink of an eye. Lee s.h.i.+n Woo was slightly surprised.

”As I thought, there's something going on with you, isn't there?”

”Mm, I was just thinking about my ability. I'll tell you about it later if I figure it out.”

”It feels like it's more important than that... Whatever, it's fine, since you'll tell me about it later.”