READ NOVEL ONLINE Chapter 18 - Hel World
✦ Chapter 18 – Hel World ✦
「Translator – Creator」
As I’ve mentioned before, I’ve never been fond of handling tools.
Throwing things, in particular, was always a challenge for me. Most of the time, either the tool or the target would end up shattered beyond recognition.
The 「Hel Ball」I had painstakingly created was no exception.
When throwing it, I had to exert the minimal force possible. After all, it would be disastrous if the 「Hel Ball」 broke or malfunctioned. I also had to avoid killing the Hel creature I was aiming at; it required the gentlest touch, like handling a feather.
As a result, my aim with the 「Hel Ball」 was terrible, and I missed my target completely.
“This is bad.”
— Growl! Growl! Growl!
— Patter patter patter!
The Hel creatures I had intended to catch seemed to sense my hostility and fled. All that remained was the 「Hel Ball」, lying on the ground, emitting a faint glow.
— Woong, wooong.
The 「Hel Ball」wobbled from side to side.
『Capture rate ??%』
Strange words appeared before my eyes. What in the world was going on?
Click—!
With a noise that sounded like a mechanism being activated, the Hel Ball’s movement ceased.
Was it over?
If so, what exactly had ended?
With a sense of tension, I picked up the 「Hel Ball」.
『Hel Possession Inventory』
『Lv.73 Somnia Paimon』
【Name: Somnia Paimon Lv.73】
〔Partner Skill: Ice magic— When activated, adds 10% ice attribute damage to partner’s attacks〕
『List of Possessed Skills —
Blunt Strike
Great Swing
Crystal Acceleration』
Status—
Attack: 105
Defense: 101
Efficiency: 95
Loyalty: 43
Task Aptitude:
Crafting Lv.2
Transport Lv.2
Pasture Lv.4
“So I can access this kind of information.”
『Hel Capture 1/1』
『Tutorial Complete!』
『Reward – Base Unlocked』
The tutorial requiring me to capture a Hel creature had ended. Surprisingly, the quest was cleared even though I had caught Somnia, a noble lady of the Paimon family, rather than a Hel creature.
Perhaps this game recognized humans as “Hel” creatures too?
『Your adventure in the 「Hel World」officially begins. Build your base, craft various structures and tools, and survive in the 「Hel World」!』
「Basic Base — Allows you to deploy Hel creatures to start various tasks or perform offensive and defensive strategies. The most basic form of a base. Very crude.」
「Tree Branches 0/2」
「Stones 0/5」
「Estimated Work Time – 30:15」
“Thirty minutes. That’s awkwardly long.”
I didn’t have the luxury of spending 30 minutes fiddling with tree branches right now. The crucial issue at hand was that Somnia was trapped inside my 「Hel Ball」.
I touched the 「Hel Ball」.
I wondered how I could get Somnia back out, and as I thought of her image in my mind, Somnia’s form appeared like a photograph within my 「Hel Ball」.
“Is it time?”
Toss—!
Pang—!
With a soft thud and a bang, the 「Hel Ball」, gently thrown into the air, bounced off the ground and emitted a white light; the light quickly took human form, and finally, Somnia appeared, collapsed on the floor.
“What on earth! What just happened?!”
I don’t know either.
I wanted to ask Somnia the same question.
⋆༺𓆩☠︎︎𓆪༻⋆
“A 「Hel Ball」? You mean to say I’ve been captured by a 「Hel Ball」? It felt like I was trapped in a really narrow space.”
The explanation of the situation was short and concise.
Fortunately, Somnia was an intelligent woman capable of devising various schemes and tricks. Even with my crude explanation, she quickly grasped the situation, as if she were looking at a detailed diagram.
“This is unprecedented. A 「Hel Ball」, isn’t it? An ancient, secret magical tool used to capture Hels and turn them into slaves. You used that to capture me?”
I hadn’t intended to capture Somnia. I had planned to capture one of the three Hels that had been drawn to the smell of the Hel Dumplings.
But the Hels escaped, and Somnia ended up trapped in the 「Hel Ball」I had created. Was this 「Hel Ball」now useless? Would I have to make another one to capture other Hels?
I was filled with worry.
Obtaining a ‘Sunflower’ and a ‘Moonlight Stone’ was a difficult and cumbersome task even for the emperor of this continent. Fortunately, I found a solution to the problem in the “Crafting” section.
「Hel Ball Charger」
「A charger that recharges the magic of the Hel Ball, allowing you to capture new Hels.」
「Stones: 0/5」
「Tree Branches: 0/5」
「Pandemonium: 0/5」
「Estimated Work Time – 3:00:15」
“Somnia, wasn’t Pandemonium also the original name for the luminous stone? Wasn’t it said that the luminous stone was just a glowing pebble with no other use?”
“Yes, that’s right. But more importantly, what should we do now? Can you return me to normal? Am I bound to live under the contract of the ‘Hel Ball’ like this?”
I didn’t know either.
I couldn’t find any function that would release or free something captured by the Hel Ball.
“Return!”
“Eek!”
“Go, Somnia!”
“Ugh!”
Even when I tried to suck Somnia into the Hel Ball or spit her back out, I couldn’t return her to normal. Some things are like broken glass, impossible to fix, and this seemed to be exactly the case.
Just as I was about to check the “Base Creation” section for a hint and clicked on “Basic Base Steup” to touch the stones, Somnia shook the dust off her dirty bottom with her palm and said—
“Maybe this was destined to be. Daniel, I think we should accept our fate as it is.”
“Fate?”
“Whether we like it or not, we’ve become entangled in this ancient magic tool. Until we find a solution, we have no choice but to be together, so why not take advantage of the situation?”
“Take advantage?”
“Daniel, how about we get engaged? Even if it’s not marriage, an engagement would be enough to avoid the emperor’s eyes. And we’ll have plenty of time to get to know each other.”
It seemed like a pretty good suggestion.
“So what were you trying to make with this?”
Somnia asked me as she was thinking about the engagement.
She must have noticed the traces of the basic base that looked like a pile of stones. Before I could explain, Somnia started tinkering with the pile of stones.
「Estimated Work Time – 5:15」
When I touched it, the estimated work time was over 30 minutes, but when Somnia touched it, the work time was greatly reduced to just over 5 minutes. Seeing that, I realized something.
It must be because of Somnia’s “Crafting Lv.2” aptitude! In the 「Hel World」, it seemed that tedious crafting tasks could be assigned to Hels.
Tick-tock-tick-tock.
“This is more fun than it looks.”
While Somnia was building the basic base, I once again looked at what I could call Somnia’s status window; this time, I carefully examined things I had overlooked earlier.
【Name: Somnia Paimon Lv.73】
〔Partner Skill: Ice magic— When activated, adds 10% ice attribute damage to partner’s attacks〕
What caught my attention this time was the ‘Partner Skill.’ Ice Magic. The name alone sounded quite impressive. It was described as adding extra damage upon activation, but now that the game had become reality, I was curious about how this feature would apply.
“Somnia, can I borrow your sword?”
“What for?”
Shing—! Slash—!
I borrowed Somnia’s greatsword and slashed at a nearby stone; The clean cross-section was covered with a bluish frost. For some reason, Somnia got angry with me then.
“Ah! That was a stone I was going to use as material! More importantly… is this ice magic? Daniel, did you just imbue the sword with ice magic?”
“Me? Magic?”
I had been called insensitive Daniel before. I was told countless times that my growth as a swordsman would be limited because I couldn’t sense mana at all.
To be honest, ‘Swordsman Daniel’ was third-rate.
But even for someone like me, there was an answer.
A way for ‘Swordsman Daniel’ to grow. It was to utilize the system of the 「Hel World」.” If I could make good use of this “Partner Skill,” I could become stronger than I am now. It had been about two years since I became emperor. For me, who thought there was nothing left to grow and no more stairs to climb, a path to ascend once again had been given.
Perhaps at the end of this path lies the answer to the Homecoming that I’ve longed for so much. As this thought occurred to me, my heart, which had felt as if it had stopped, began to beat again with excitement.
⋆༺𓆩☠︎︎𓆪༻⋆
A woman sat alone in a dark room, her body slumped in a chair.
She was feeling bored and listless when suddenly an owl flew in and perched on her shoulder.
—Hoo, hoo!
Tied to the owl’s beak was a small scroll; the woman took the scroll and unrolled it, immediately furrowing her smooth, fine brow.
“Somnia Paimon is getting engaged? And her partner is Daniel of Dantalian? Daniel of Dantalian? I’ve never heard of such a name. What kind of a backwater noble is he…”
The woman, who had been speaking angrily, suddenly shut her lips. Daniel of Dantalian. She had said she’d never heard the name before, but that was her mistake.
“He must be the man who fought against Galakrod of the Ascension Knights…”
Dimensia, the emperor’s secretary and representative of Barbatos, discovered a common name in two seemingly unrelated incidents.
She gritted her teeth in anger.
“This bastard! Not content with defeating the spy I was trying to plant in the North, he’s now engaged to the Paimon family to interfere with the imperial family and my plans?”
Dimensia of Barbatos finally lost her temper and stood up abruptly from her throne.
Step, step, step.
After pacing back and forth for a while like someone with anxiety, she finally smiled as if she had come up with a good idea.
“It’s my role to clear the pebbles that fall on the glorious path His Majesty walks. One who rises through marriage shall fall through marriage.”
Since ancient times, it wasn’t terrible monsters that brought down Heroes, but the women they loved. It was true for Hercules, and for Jason as well.
“It would be good to use a honeytrap to drive a wedge between Paimon and Daniel and break them up. Men are vulnerable to temptation. Especially young, passionate men.”
She could finally smile broadly after mentally listing a few noble ladies suitable to become pawns to seduce Daniel, the subject of the rumors.
“Daniel, live the rest of your life regretting that you ruined my plans! Kyahahahaha! Cough, ugh. Ahem. Suddenly my throat… ahem, hmm.”
Dimensia Barbatos, looking slightly embarrassed after coughing while laughing, glanced around and met eyes with the maid Laia, who was wiping a nearby pillar with a handkerchief; the maid immediately trembled and bowed her head.
“Madam Secretary, I… I… didn’t see anything!”
“You liar.”
“I really didn’t see… Huh? Where did she go?”
Dimensia Barbatos had suddenly vanished from the throne.
Maid Laia looked around with a bewildered expression, then quickly composed herself and gripped her handkerchief tightly.
“Huh? Who was I just talking to?”
Scrub— Scrub — Scrub— Scrub—
Now Laia diligently cleaned the imperial hall as if nothing had happened at all.
— End of Chapter —
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Translator’s Notes :-
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