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Chapter 146
A witch.
Since this was a fantasy-based game, it was a plausible element to appear.
Didn’t a witch even feature in the effect of Monarch's Silence, one of Seonghyun’s main skills?
In any case, fantasy and witches shared a time-honored relationship.
However, Seonghyun himself didn't know much about witches.
This didn't mean he was ignorant of the culturally known concept of a witch.
He just didn't know precisely what "witch" meant within the world of Eternal World.
‘The Witch of the Night.’
But for Seonghyun, there was a very simple way to find out.
About the title "Witch of the Night," and about the woman named Serphina Nightbloom.
[Bidder number 11! The price rises to 6,000 Gold! From now on, to speed things up, we will be going up in increments of 200 Gold!!!]
Along with the auctioneer's announcement, the hall grew boisterous.
It was a scene of everyone clamoring to buy the item.
Bidder number 11, the Viscountess, was particularly aggressive.
It seemed the name "Witch of the Night, Serphina" was the cause.
‘A witch…….’
As expected, she seemed to be connected to black magic.
-Hmph~ I'm as popular as ever~ So, my handsome nobleman~ aren't you going to buy me~?
She spoke to Seonghyun with a sweet, cloying voice and a seductive posture.
‘Hmm.’
With her coming on like that, for some reason, it made him not want to buy her.
In any case, she seemed to have a connection to black magic.
Even if he didn't buy the item, there was no harm in finding out more.
He discreetly extended a hand when no one was looking.
-Hmph~?
Seeing Seonghyun's hand, Serphina made a sweet, nasal sound, her interest piqued.
At that moment, a turquoise aura began to coalesce from the center of her chest, where her heart would be.
It slowly gathered and flew into Seonghyun's grasp.
Naturally, no one else witnessed this.
Only the two involved parties, Serphina and Seonghyun.
These two alone.
Fiora could have seen it, but…
-S-So delicious.
She was too busy being moved by the food to notice.
A turquoise aura was now held in Seonghyun's hand.
As he absorbed Serphina's memories, they flowed into him like a panorama.
[You have accomplished something impossible at your current level with an ‘Unknown Power’.]
[Intelligence +10 and Wisdom +10 have permanently increased.]
The stat increase was incredible.
It was on par with Fiora's.
Leonik's had been a total of 23, and Fiora's was 20.
It was undoubtedly an enormous amount.
But even more surprising than the stat increase was something else.
‘This… is…?’
Memories rushed in like a violent wave.
As the vast memories surged like a tsunami, Seonghyun struggled to absorb them.
It was a long panorama, just like when he had absorbed the memories of Leonik or Fiora.
In their cases, Seonghyun had a rough idea of their stories, so he could skim through them.
But this memory was different.
‘Ah.’
A memory stretching from the distant past flowed in first.
From as far back as she could remember, she was ostracized for her innate mana.
All she did was use mana, something no one else could do.
For this act, the cause of which they couldn't understand, people pointed their fingers at her.
To her, it was an act as natural as breathing.
To others, the unknown was terrifying.
-We must drive her out of the village!
-We must cast out that evil child at once for our village to survive!!!
-Let us hurry and abandon the wicked child in the forest!!!
At the tender age of five, she was cast out from the village of her birth.
By her own parents' hands.
Driven out for simply handling mana as easily as others breathed, she learned to live by holding her breath.
She lived by never using mana, no matter what.
By never letting anyone know.
Suppressing her very essence.
And then, as if that had been the right answer, she grew more beautiful with age, and many men came to court her.
Just by not using her mana, she was treated so differently. She was happy.
‘I just have to endure and hide it.’
Realizing this, she dreamed of a future with a man she loved.
She became an ordinary woman, gave birth to a child, and lived happily with her beloved husband.
No, she tried to.
But one day, ten years after her family was formed, her husband asked a question.
-How is it that you alone do not age?
-Pardon? Hoho, my dear, you jest.
-No, answer me straight. I heard the villagers whispering.
-I… I am…….
-Are you, by any chance, a witch?
To that question, she could not answer.
The happy days she had spent until only a moment ago were shattered by that single question.
Even though she had lived holding her breath.
Even though she had told no one.
Because her lifespan was different from a human's, she was nearly hunted down by the hands of men.
No, betrayed by the very husband she had loved so dearly, she was nearly hunted by the Inquisitors.
But she survived to the very end.
If hiding like this was not the answer, then…
-Fine, I will become a witch.
After that incident, she stopped holding her breath.
She let her mana flow freely and learned the magic skills that were once called the exclusive domain of wizards.
Having gained power, she roamed freely, showing off her strength.
However, she could never bring herself to wander about during the day.
For while the sun was up, she longed for the warmth of the family she had lost.
During the day, she could not wander.
And so, with an even more defiant posture, letting out light laughs as if she were not sad, she lived on.
That is how she came to be called the Witch of the Night.
“Ah……”
Recalling that fragment of memory, Seonghyun looked at Serphina.
He could see her sorrowful eyes and a smile brimming with sadness.
-Hmph~ Is it because I’ve always lived with things being taken from me? Now that I’m dead, my memories are being taken~ It’s a novel experience~
Though she spoke playfully, her smiling face was steeped in sorrow.
The sorrow of not being able to be with the family she loved.
Watching her, Seonghyun let out a small sigh.
She was a ghost with quite a tragic story.
There were sometimes people like that.
People who deliberately acted playfully, even when faced with sadness.
Serphina was one of them.
-How embarrassing~
Seeing Serphina say such a thing, Seonghyun realized he had to obtain that lump of stone, no matter what.
He had no vessel for Serphina’s soul right now, which meant she had to remain bound to that stone for the time being.
He also understood the necessity of that stone-like object.
He couldn't use it right now, but…
‘That thing is the key to Serphina’s temporary shelter.’
It looked like a common lump of stone, but without it, there was no way to get to what she had left behind in her temporary shelter—the hidden spire in the sixth region.
Considering that, he had to get it.
Just as Seonghyun came to this conclusion and assessed the situation, the auction was already in its final moments.
[Ahhh!!! Number 11 again! 7,500 Gold!!! Ah, the other competitors have all dropped out!!! After three more calls, we will decide the winning bid…….]
As the auctioneer moved to conclude the sale.
Seonghyun urgently raised his number plate.
It would be a huge problem if he missed this.
[Ah… Number… 44! 8,000 Gold. You’ve bid 8,000 Gold!!!]
The moment Seonghyun suddenly raised his plate, everyone who had been participating in the auction with such fiery enthusiasm fell silent.
A sudden, quiet atmosphere.
‘What is this?’
Feeling something was strange, Seonghyun looked around.
And then.
Whip!
Whoosh!
Everywhere he turned his head, people did their best to avoid his gaze.
‘No way. Are they avoiding me because of Branch Manager Belmore? Seriously, to this extent?’
Even bidder number 11, the Viscountess, who had been so actively raising her plate just moments ago, was now busy evading his eyes.
And just like that.
[8,000 Gold? 8,000 Gold!? 8,000 Gold!!! Sold to number 44!!! Congratulations!!! We ask that you please collect your item after the auction!!!]
After the auctioneer's words, Seonghyun scratched his cheek.
He felt like he had caused a bit of a nuisance, but since he had profited from it, he decided it was fine.
However.
‘Let’s not come next time.’
Or if he did, he’d wear a mask and tell Branch Manager Belmore not to come.
The auction proceeded, and seeing nothing particularly special in the remaining three items, he simply let them pass.
And so, the auction that had been so full of incidents finally came to an end.
6.
Although a social gathering was scheduled to follow at the auction hall, Seonghyun wasn't the type to enjoy such events, so he slipped away.
Even if he were the type to enjoy them, he felt everyone would be uncomfortable if he was there.
It would be more accurate to say he deliberately left.
As soon as he exited the hall, Seonghyun found a staff member to collect his winning item.
He received the item from the staff member, who handed it over with an extremely polite attitude.
“Th-Thank you very, very much!!!”
[You have acquired the item related to the 『Witch of the Night, Serphina Nightbloom』, 『?? ??? ??』.]
[An additional keyword for 『Witch of the Night, Serphina Nightbloom』 has been recorded.]
‘Oh, so these kinds of system messages appear too.’
Well, getting something new was probably a good thing.
He thought vaguely, then offered his own thanks.
“I should be the one thanking you. Well then.”
“G-Go safely!!!”
The staff member’s service was exceedingly reverent.
‘I should probably disappear quickly for their sake.’
With that thought, Seonghyun left the auction hall.
He entrusted the lump of stone to Fiora.
It was an item that could go into his inventory, but if it went in there…
‘I don’t know what would happen to the ghost.’
It would be better for Fiora to hold it and take it to the Netherworld.
The fact that Fiora, being a ghost herself, could see other ghosts also played a part.
-Hmph~ I thought I’d be with the handsome nobleman~ but it looks like I’m going with a baby~
As Serphina spoke with a nasal, teasing tone, Seonghyun chose to ignore her and said to Fiora,
“Fiora, this is an important item. Can you take it to the Netherworld and keep it safe?”
-Yes, yes! I-I’ll keep it very, very safe. L-Let's go, miss.
-Oh my? Alright, let’s go.
Was it because she had experience raising a child?
When Fiora took the stone and spoke to her, Serphina smiled quite pleasantly and followed Fiora.
It looked like they would get along well.
‘Alright then…….’
Sensing a presence following right behind him, he let out a small sigh.
It wasn't a strange person.
Or was it?
With that thought, he turned around in a secluded spot.
“Successor-nim! You've purchased a fine item!”
He saw the ever-confident Branch Manager Belmore.
Still, Belmore had done it for his sake, so he couldn't really complain.
After all, he had benefited from it.
Even though everyone had been terrified, hadn't he heard that the auction set a record for its highest-ever sales?
You could call it a win-win.
As Seonghyun thought this, Branch Manager Belmore knelt on one knee, as if making an offering.
No, it really was an offering, wasn't it?
In any case, holding that posture, he presented a beautifully packaged item held in both hands.
‘…….’
It was a bit burdensome.
But that didn't mean he wouldn't accept it.
If he had refused things until now just because they felt like a burden, he wouldn't have accepted the skill books or items from the crow man, Kals.
That would have been ridiculous.
A burden was a burden. An item was an item.
Therefore, as Seonghyun accepted the item, the message he had been waiting for appeared.
[Would you like to enhance 『Young Helena's Staff』 with the 『Fragment of the Demonic Dragon's Heart』?]
Warning!
-Upon enhancement, the 『Fragment of the Demonic Dragon's Heart』 will disappear.
[Are you sure you want to enhance?] Sёarᴄh the NovelZone.fun website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.
[Yes / No]
‘This is the first time since the Shadow Mirror, right?’
Young Helena's Staff was still a Unique-rank item.
And hadn't he just obtained the Legendary-rank Hero Hindel's Sword?
His main class was Overlord.
It was time for his staff to be enhanced as well.
‘Then, shall I do it right now?’
What was there to hesitate about?
As soon as he pressed the accept button that appeared in the message window, Young Helena's Staff, which had been copying the Giant's Strength Belt in his inventory, transformed back into a staff and appeared in Seonghyun’s hand.
“Ah! Ahhh!!! That staff is!?!?”
Ignoring Belmore, who was screaming like a madman beside him, Seonghyun focused his gaze solely on the transformation.
On the staff of blackest ink, lights resembling starlight began to flash and emerge, as if stars were being born one by one in a solitary universe.
As they increased one by two, and all the stars settled into place upon the staff, it transformed into a staff that looked as if it were modeled after the cosmos itself.
Rather than calling it a staff, it was now more like a work of art, with a large, star-like jewel sprouting to adorn its head.
‘Whoa.’
On the outside, it looked much, much better.
So then, how would it perform?
As Seonghyun thought this and opened the item window.
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