[Diamond Freeze] was already a skill far stronger than I had expected, but all my attention was focused on [Invitation].
There’s no way I’d fail to remember something like this.
Which meant it was either a skill added when EX-rank unlocked, an element unique to this game world, or both.
Either way, it was more than enough to pique my curiosity.
So I checked the description.
[Invitation]
▷Issues an invitation to the target.
▷If accepted, summons the target into your inner world.
▷Cooldown: 10 days
▷When used on a bonded target, cooldown: 7 days
Inner world.
It reminded me of the dream I had on the train to the Dang Clan right after winter break began.
The grand and magnificent hall, myself seated on the throne, and every S-rank hero I had raised so far.
It seemed that using the Invitation would allow me to summon someone into that hall.
No wonder the cooldown’s so long.
Even [Hardship] had a one-week cooldown, yet [Invitation] was ten days.
That alone implied how powerful the effect must be.
And there’s even a conditional 30% discount.
As expected of a Monarch-exclusive skill, using it on bonded targets like Dang Gyu-young, Seo Ye-in, or Hong Yeon-hwa reduced the cooldown from ten days to seven.
Though it’s not like I’m forced to use it that way.
The first one to ever enter my inner world had been the Heart Demon.
Though it eventually met its end after falling into qi deviation, that was because it had been an unwelcome intruder.
Which meant the possibility of receiving other guests still remained.
That left the most important question of all.
What exactly do you do after bringing them there?
I could make a rough guess.
The fact that the target had to “accept” meant there needed to be at least a minimum level of trust between both sides.
If so, then whatever happened within the inner world would likely be beneficial or at least favorable to the guest.
I’ll find out the details once I use it.
Still, it was already late at night, and I had absorbed an enormous amount of poison energy from the Yin-Yang Blood Jiangshi, so for now I returned to my room, circulated my mana, and got some rest.
Then the next morning, after Dang Gyu-young and Seo Ye-in woke up, I brought it up.
“I learned a new skill.”
“Another broken skill, I’m guessing? What does it do?”
“For now, this is the description.”
As I shared the skill window, the two of them read through it before tilting their heads at the same time.
And naturally, they voiced the same question I had already thought of.
“So you invite someone… and then what?”
“I’m about to find out.”
I raised one hand and began the sponsored segment.
“Welcome to ★Kim Ho Land★, where dreams and hopes come true! Now accepting guests! First come, first served!”
If I chained it together with [Octopus Limbs], I could use it on both of them, but since this first attempt was mostly experimental, I decided not to get greedy.
At that, Dang Gyu-young and Seo Ye-in raised their hands at the same time.
“Me!”
“……I wanna go.”
Then they exchanged glances before turning back toward me.
As if asking what I planned to do about it.
First, I attempted a peaceful resolution.
“How about one of you gives in? It’s not like I can only use it once.”
“We’d have to wait a whole week. Now I really want to see it.”
“……Kim Ho Land.”
Neither of them showed any sign of backing down.
I slowly nodded.
“Then we’ll settle it zero-sum style. You two decide the game.”
At that, Seo Ye-in slowly raised her fist.
Dang Gyu-young asked just to confirm.
“You mean rock-paper-scissors?”
“Yes.”
“Hey, that’s—”
She was about to say:
Isn’t that only advantageous for you? You obviously have absurd luck.
But then something seemed to occur to her, and she casually returned to a calm expression.
“Well, it is fast and fair. Let’s do it. Rock, paper—”
“—scissors.”
Dang Gyu-young won.
She used her ultimate move last night.
Because of the penalty, Seo Ye-in’s luck was currently buried six feet underground.
A reverse lucky charm, basically.
“……?”
Seo Ye-in tilted her head, then raised her fist again.
Dang Gyu-young questioned her once more.
“Rock-paper-scissors?”
“Best two out of three.”
“Sure, why not. Rock, paper—”
“—scissors.”
“Rock, paper—”
“—scissors.”
Only after losing three times in a row did an exclamation mark finally seem to pop up over Seo Ye-in’s head.
“Unlucky…….”
“You’re the one who suggested it.”
“Critical mistake…….”
Seo Ye-in transformed into a deeply depressed scissors-thrower, pulled the blanket over herself, and buried herself in the corner of the bed.
I tossed another comment her way.
“You just woke up. Why are you going back to sleep already?”
“Wake me up later…….”
“And when exactly is ‘later’?”
“When spring comes…….”
Meaning she intended to stay like that until winter break ended.
For now, I decided to leave her alone and continue testing [Invitation].
Looking at Dang Gyu-young, I spoke.
“Alright then, I’m using it.”
“Okay.”
[Activated ‘Invitation’.]
[Cooldown remaining: 6 days 23:59:58]
Then Dang Gyu-young slightly raised an eyebrow while staring into empty space.
“It says this.”
Then she shared the notification message with me.
[An invitation from the Monarch has arrived.]
[Will you accept the invitation?]
[Accept / Decline]
“So it really refuses to explain what it actually does until the very end.”
“Guess it’s telling me to come see for myself. But what happens if I decline?”
“That’s probably just the end of it. The cooldown would still apply.”
“That’d be a waste. I’ll accept it.”
Dang Gyu-young’s finger moved toward [Accept].
***
Blink. Blink.
Dang Gyu-young opened and closed her eyes several times.
She was no longer in the Dang Clan guest house but in a place resembling a royal palace or a grand temple.
Kim Ho and Seo Ye-in were nowhere to be seen either.
Looks like I’m inside Kim Ho Land.
Curiosity quickly filled Dang Gyu-young’s face.
The reason she hadn’t bothered correcting Seo Ye-in as she dug her own grave was simple.
This time, she really wanted to be the first one inside.
If it’s an inner world, that basically means it reflects his inner thoughts, right?
In other words, this was the perfect chance to figure out what Kim Ho was really thinking!
Maybe there were embarrassing dark secrets hidden somewhere in here.
Or maybe there was a giant portrait of herself hanging on one wall with the title: <My Favorite Qyu-Qyu>…
“Pffhahahaha…….”
Still snickering to herself, Dang Gyu-young soon looked forward.
Standing there was an enormous gate, perfectly suited to a palace-like setting.
It felt strangely familiar somehow, though she couldn’t remember where she might have seen it before.
Maybe it was just her imagination.
Anyway, I probably need to open this.
Would it move if she pushed it?
But was that really okay when she was technically a guest?
As those thoughts crossed her mind and she reached her hand forward—
Rumble……
The massive doors slowly began to open on their own.
Beyond them appeared an equally massive grand hall.
Whoa…….
Dang Gyu-young let out a silent gasp of admiration as she stepped inside and slowly looked around.
The interior was filled with countless silhouettes. Their forms were distinct, yet their faces remained blurred and impossible to recognize.
If there was one thing they all shared, it was their overwhelming presence.
It felt as though there were hundreds of powerhouses on the level of the Sword Queen or the principal gathered here.
And overall, the atmosphere within the hall felt strangely welcoming toward her.
As if inviting her forward, the figures quietly parted to make way.
As she followed the path, Dang Gyu-young looked around before eventually pouting.
Where’s my picture?
You’d think he could at least hang up a small one out of basic courtesy.
Not even that?
At this point, it seemed necessary to schedule a proper disciplinary session.
Dang Gyu-young began seriously considering whether she should pinch Kim Ho’s cheeks after leaving or just bite him repeatedly.
But then—
From among the countless figures, someone gracefully stepped forward and stopped before her.
A young lady dressed in a flowing black dress.
A black rose ornament adorned her hair, and despite the complete absence of sunlight, she carried an open parasol.
Altogether, it was the sort of outfit one would call gothic or goth style.
Dang Gyu-young’s expression immediately turned grave.
……So this is his type?
That felt way too niche.
Still, she mentally took note of it for later.
Soon, the gothic lady lightly lifted the hem of her dress in greeting.
Caught off guard, Dang Gyu-young awkwardly returned the greeting.
“Ah, it’s nice to meet you. Um… senior?”
As though she had understood the words, the gothic lady gave a slight nod.
It even seemed like a faint smile crossed her lips.
Given the friendly attitude, Dang Gyu-young initially assumed she had come to act as a guide.
But it quickly became clear that wasn’t the case.
The gothic lady performed another formal gesture.
The difference this time was that a combative aura accompanied it.
Dang Gyu-young asked cautiously,
“……A duel?”
The gothic lady tilted her chin in confirmation.
Then the shadows beneath her feet rippled and took the shape of a knight.
From head to toe….even the horse it rode was clad in full heavy armor.
The moment she saw it, Dang Gyu-young’s face stiffened.
An Umbramancer.
And one whose skill clearly surpassed her own by several levels.
At that point, she finally understood why the gothic lady had appeared.
She’s trying to show me.
The realm Dang Gyu-young would someday reach and had to reach.
So Dang Gyu-young respectfully bowed her head toward the gothic lady.
“Please teach me.”
At the same time, the silhouettes surrounding them rapidly retreated into the distance.
Not by physically stepping back, but as if the space itself were expanding.
Just like that, an arena suitable for a duel was formed.
Dang Gyu-young summoned all of her shadow undead.
Qyu Lab Director, Qyu Shadow Commander, Qyu Sword Commander, and Qyu Demon.
“They may still be lacking, but I worked hard collecting them.”
The gothic lady nodded as if in praise, then waved her hand as though to show off.
The shadows beneath her feet writhed as all kinds of different forms rose from them.
Lions, archers, serpents, mages…….
She has…… quite a lot of slots.
She had expected it to some extent, but seeing it in person still felt overwhelming.
Still, it doesn’t seem like the rank difference is that huge.
Her own Elder Qyu collection averaged around A-rank.
Meanwhile, most of the gothic lady’s shadows seemed to range from B to A-rank.
Though that heavily armored cavalryman looked close to S-rank at least.
Dang Gyu-young gave orders to her undead.
Take down ten each. Then we win.
She knew it was ridiculous, but that was probably the only way they had even the slightest chance.
However, the gothic lady seemed unwilling to allow even that.
She closed her parasol and slowly waved it toward her shadow undead.
Sssssss…….
For a moment, it looked as though their forms were collapsing all at once, but then they all took on the same shape.
The very form of the heavily armored cavalryman she had first summoned.
Clank clank clank clank!
What emerged soon after was a perfectly ordered formation of shadow cavalry.
Dang Gyu-young blinked.
“No way, Senior. You can do that too?”
Instead of answering, the gothic lady seemed to smile faintly before pointing the tip of her parasol this way.
At once, the shadow cavalry began their charge.
In an instant, they picked up speed and crashed into the Qyu shadow undead.
Boooom—!
Naturally, the undead were wiped out without putting up any meaningful resistance.
The cavalry did not stop there and charged forward even faster.
Dang Gyu-young awkwardly gripped her bat and thought,
‘Yeah…… this doesn’t seem very fair.’
Boooooom—!
***
“Hhk.”
Dang Gyu-young gasped sharply.
She looked around as if trying to figure out where she was, then asked me,
“How much time passed? Since I accepted.”
“Not even a few seconds.”
For a moment, she seemed dazed before returning to herself.
It appeared that time flowed differently between this place and the inner world.
Dang Gyu-young slowly nodded, then narrowed her eyes as she looked at me.
“Kim Ho.”
“Yes, noona.”
“You…… do you like gothic stuff? Goth? Gothic? That kind of thing?”
“Gothic?”
“Be honest. I’ll wear it for you.”
“What are you even talking about all of a sudden?”
It took quite a while before Dang Gyu-young’s misunderstanding was finally cleared up.
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