Player who Returned 10,000 years Later

Side Story Chapter 16: Wikiholic (2)

Side Story Chapter 16: Wikiholic (2)

"Hm! Kang-Wooooo!"

Three days passed since Oh Kang-Woo stopped the training after it had become ineffective. He was doing nothing on the couch when Echidna trotted to him with sparkling eyes.

"Whoa."

Kang-Woo caught with with arms Echidna who jumped at him. It was like a loving daughter hugging her father but it did not look that way because Kang-Woo was shorter than Echidna at the moment.

"Are you staying home today as well?" asked Echidna excitedly as she wrapped her arms around Kang-Woo’s neck.

"Yeah. Training won’t get me anywhere anymore."

It would be different if there were some other way to hasten the reconstruction process, but Kang-Woo had no choice at the moment but to wait until the reconstruction took place naturally.

’I want to regain my powers as soon as possible.’

Kang-Woo glanced down at his lower body. Tears welled up as he recalled the lifeless François and he sighed.

Back when Kang-Woo realized he could use Mimicry, he wondered if he could return to his original form if he used it. Although temporary, he would be able to see François in his former glory. However, he was met with a despairing truth.

’Fuck…’

It was indeed possible to return to his original form using Mimicry; he had even joyfully gone to the bedroom with Han Seol-Ah after using it.

’But to think Mimicry had such a fatal flaw…’ Kang-Woo bit his lip in irritation. ’I couldn’t feel a thing.’

To make a simple comparison, Mimicry was like wearing a flesh suit that could freely change shape. It was only natural one wouldn’t feel a thing no matter how much one stimulated the flesh suit. In other words…

’He won’t get up… François has fallen and he can’t get up!’

Kang-Woo pulled on his hair as he recalled the memory of him excitedly heading to the bedroom as he held hands with Seol-Ah. Words couldn’t describe how pitifully she had looked at his bumbling self.

’I’m… impotent?! What do you mean, doctor?!’

Tears flowed down Kang-Woo’s cheeks.

"Are you crying, Kang-Woo?" asked Echidna as she looked up at him in surprise.

"It’s nothing," Kang-Woo answered as he shook his head.

"Hmm…" Echidna snorted softly and rested her head on Kang-Woo’s lap. "Hm! I’m still glad I get to spend every day with you!"

Kang-Woo had nothing to do after quitting training he had been playing games and watching anime with Echidna, who had also been at home all day lately. Han Seol-Ah seemed like she wanted to join because of how much fun Kang-Woo and Echidna were having as they played games, but her gaming skills were so atrociously bad that she was dejected after a few games.

’It sure is fascinating.’

Both Cha Yeon-Joo and Seol-Ah were far beyond humans in terms of physical capabilities but they were terrible at gaming for some reason.

"That aside," mentioned Kang-Woo as he patted Echidna’s head on his lap. "Do you not have any idol work to do?"

He thought Echidna was lazing around at home a bit too much for a popular idol.

"I was told to reflect on my mistakes at home because of the broadcast incident."

"Oh… Makes sense."

Kang-Woo smiled awkwardly and nodded. Echidna was lucky she was let off with only that much when she professed her love to a married man after winning a program being broadcast on live TV.

’She could have been banned from the idol industry for good. Well, I would personally turn the broadcasting station upside down if they did something like that.’

Even if he was powerless at the moment, he still had a card to play known as Kim Si-Hun. Making a mere broadcasting station kneel to him was of no consequence.

"What about… your fan club?" Kang-Woo asked.

Her diehard fans who called themselves the Watchmen were the bigger issue.

"Hm! They kept cursing at you and saying it was all your fault, so I gave them an earful!" Echidna sprang up from the couch and proudly placed her hands on her waist. She snorted proudly and pounded her flat chest. "I told them not to mess with you since no matter what anyone says, you’re the most precious person in my life!"

"What?"

’Why are you fanning the fucking flames? I mean, I need enemies who can stimulate the Demonic Sea, but…’

Kang-Woo did not want to get his shit beaten out by Echidna’s fans. Forget that, it was far too dangerous.

’For them, not me.’

Even if they managed to kill Kang-Woo, they might be gravely injured or even die from getting swept by the Demonic Sea that naturally flows out while he regenerated. Even Si-Hun and Balrog were injured from it.

’Even if they’re out to get me, I don’t want to kill Echidna’s fans,’ thought Kang-Woo as he clicked his tongue.

In the end, it was their choice to make. If the fans ignored Echidna’s words and attacked Kang-Woo, they would pay the price.

"Hohoho. There is no need to worry. The ones who call themselves the Watchmen have no idea what you even look like, my king," said Lilith, who entered the house without a sound and hugged Kang-Woo from behind.

Kang-Woo, having gotten used to it, turned back to Lilith with no sign of surprise.

"Did you do some info manipulation?" he asked.

"Yes. I concealed your identity so that you wouldn’t have to deal with annoyances."

"Nice work."

Kang-Woo thanked Lilith who already took care of it despite him not instructing her to. Lilith blushed and smiled.

"Anything for you, my king. Right, I also investigated what you asked me to."

"Wikiholic?"

"Yes." Lilith sat next to Kang-Woo and continued, "To summarize, it’s exactly what you heard from Si-Hun. It suddenly appears in front of you with a question to answer. If you don’t get it right, it teleports you to an unknown space."

’He sure loves sticking to that concept.’

"To point out… it only appears in front of Players, and it doesn’t just appear in one region; it has been spotted all over the world."

"All over the world?"

"Yes. I believe it has an ability that allows him to travel through space."

"Is there a chance that there’s just multiple of them?"

Lilith shook her head and replied, "After gathering information from witnesses, no more than one person has come across the Wikiholic in a specific time period. There could indeed be several of them since it has been witnessed throughout the world, but it is highly unlikely that there are several beings with such a unique ability."

"That’s true."

It would be a pain in the ass to deal with monsters possessing such an annoying ability.

"According to eyewitnesses, it looks like a giant lion with a gold mane."

’Is it a sphinx for real?’

"That aside, does no one know how strong the monster is?"

One could answer the Wikiholic’s question correctly to survive, but the easiest way would be to just kill it.

’It’s probably strong if it has survived until now.’

Kang-Woo had not heard how strong the Wikiholic was.

"Mm… It’s hard to tell," Lilith expressed.

"How so?"

"Wikiholic doesn’t attack anyone."

"It… doesn’t attack?"

Kang-Woo narrowed his eyes. It was an even bigger problem if it didn’t attack because it meant it had been causing havoc without needing to attack.

"There have been many survivors who attacked the Wikiholic, but… the monster almost felt invulnerable. They say it was like hitting an unbreakable wall."

"So it must possess Deific Essence," surmised Kang-Woo as if it were obvious.

Around beings with Deific Essence was a naturally-forming barrier that provided nearly absolute protection against attacks not imbued with Divinity.

’It can be broken with stupid amounts of sheer strength.’

However, not many people on Earth without Deific Essence were strong enough to break through the barrier. The majority of them would tire out before even leaving a scratch.

"Has anyone run away instead of answering its question?" asked Kang-Woo.

"A golden barrier forms around the individual and the Wikiholic as soon as it appears in front of them, which prevents the individual from running away."

"I see…"

Kang-Woo could not think of any monsters among those with Deific Essence who would do something like this.

’It’s most likely from an outer world.’

Gaia would have contacted him if a god of Earth manifested into the physical realm.

"There is also information from one of the survivors that they heard the Wikiholic muttering The scale of the Great Akart is tilting. "

"Akart… Never heard the name."

However, Kang-Woo managed to get valuable information from that information.

’Wikiholic is someone’s subordinate.’

In other words, the being was powerful enough to have a monster with Deific Essence as their subordinate.

’It’s been quiet for a while, but I guess it’s about to start again.’

Kang-Woo frowned in dissatisfaction. A monster with Deific Essence from an outer world invading Earth was bad news, especially if that monster was a subordinate of someone else.

"Have Balrog focus on investigating the regions where the Wikiholic was spotted," Kang-Woo ordered.

"Yes, my king."

Lilith bowed deeply to Kang-Woo, who clicked his tongue as she disappeared.

’I want to investigate it myself, but…’

Kang-Woo had no way of dealing with it if the opponent could use Divinity.

"Shit," Kang-Wo cursed as he looked down at his tiny hand.

This was his first time feeling so frustrated since he was weakened due to his body reconstruction.

Vrrrr.

Just then, his smartphone vibrated. He checked to see a number calling him he had never seen before.

’There’s no way it’s an ad.’

Kang-Woo was never bothered by annoying scams or phishing calls thanks to Lilith concealing his personal information. He tilted his head in wonder and answered the call.

[Kang-Woo hyung-nim!! It’s been sooooooooooo long! I happened to meet Si-Hun not long ago, so I thought I might as well call you to ask how you’ve been!!]

’Who dis?’

erigiii’s Thoughts

This is Kang Tae-Soo. His unique way of speaking can’t be translated very well into English.

Also, here’s an image of idol Echidna!