The room was filled with deep silence.
I stood calmly, looking at my hands. Just moments ago, lightning had slipped from these very hands, and now… they looked completely normal.
Then I slowly sat down on my bed.
The room was still quiet.
And the strange thing was—there was calm inside me too.
After everything that had just happened, a strange sensation was drifting through my body. No fear, no panic—just a heavy, settled calm.
Then the snake broke the silence.
This time, there was no cleverness in its voice—only clear nervousness.
"Are… are you okay?"
I could see it in its red eyes.
Fear was clearly visible there.
Looking at it, it felt like even it didn't know what had just happened to me.
It kept trying to talk to me, as if it wanted to confirm some unknown danger.
I didn't know what to say to it.
Still, I answered.
"I'm fine."
But the snake still didn't believe it.
"If you're fine… then have you come under the influence of some evil DT?"
I shook my head.
"No. Nothing like that happened."
Even then, it didn't stop.
"But that black energy… what kind of energy was it? The one that was circling all around you?"
I stood up from the bed and began doing some light stretches, as if testing my body—to see whether I was really fine or not.
Then I looked at it.
"That dark energy… maybe it surrounded me from all sides," I said.
"And then… it merged into me."
The snake said in a low voice,
"I saw the same thing. As if you were absorbed into it."
After pausing for a moment, it continued,
"And then… in one second, that black energy completely disappeared. You collapsed to the ground."
I nodded.
"Yes. Something like that happened."
It spoke again,
"At that moment… what was happening to you?"
I closed my eyes, remembering that moment.
"When the dark energy had completely wrapped around me," I said,
"all I could see was darkness. Complete darkness."
My voice softened on its own.
"Then suddenly… that darkness began to clear from in front of my eyes.
And I saw… an open sky in front of me."
I took a breath.
"At the edges of my vision, dark energy was still swirling.
And above… in the sky, there was a full moon.
Countless stars were twinkling all around it."
That scene came alive again in my mind.
"Despite it being such a dark night… the sky was filled with light."
I clenched my fist.
"But the very next moment… that same dark energy came fully in front of my vision.
And everything became completely dark again."
I said softly,
"After that… I couldn't see anything.
And then… I came back here."
For a few moments, silence spread through the room again.
The snake took a deep breath.
"So…"
it said,
"this is… a good thing."
There was less fear in its voice now.
But the confusion hadn't completely faded.
The snake looked at me for a few moments, then took a deep breath.
"Whatever just happened…"
There was no laughter in its voice now.
"That was extremely rare."
It slid slightly along the floor and said,
"Out of thousands, maybe once, a human becomes a Paragon without any ritual."
I listened to it, but stayed silent.
"But how did this happen…"
it muttered.
"For what reason…"
I could clearly see that it was pushing its mind to the limit.
Then its gaze fell on my head.
On my head was that same holo—
still emitting light continuously like an LED bulb.
Its red eyes narrowed.
"This… what kind of holo is this?"
I stayed silent for a few seconds.
Then I deliberately lied to it.
"I bought it from a stranger," I said.
"He had his face completely covered with a mask. From his clothes and the way he spoke… he didn't seem to be from here at all."
The snake went silent.
It kept staring at the holo.
Then it said slowly,
"Maybe… this holo is the reason behind this incident."
I thought to myself—
I've been wearing this holo from the very beginning.
The red noble-cut diamond embedded in it has been emitting light from the start.
Then why didn't the snake suspect it earlier?
After thinking for a few moments, I found the answer.
In this world, there was no shortage of glowing stones.
Some gave light from fire, some from luminous stones.
Maybe electricity also existed in this world…
but it wasn't accessible to everyone.
So people here weren't surprised by glowing stones.
That was probably why the snake hadn't been suspicious of my holo earlier.
Then it changed the topic.
"Now that you've gained powers,"
it said in a serious voice,
"you should tell Narco."
My heart skipped slightly.
Narco…
If he found out that—
I went into the basement without permission and stole a book,
and gained power because of that book…
What would happen to me?
Even I couldn't guess.
A slight panic rose inside me.
Then I composed myself.
I thought—
If I tell everything to this snake…
then maybe I can avoid Narco's eyes for some time.
Because the truth was—
sooner or later, Narco was going to find out anyway.
My gaze went to the study table.
That same thick book—
still lying open there.
I blinked, then looked at the snake.
"I need to tell you something," I said.
The snake replied casually,
"What thing?"
I took a deep breath.
And then told it everything—
how I stole that book from the basement,
how that very book summoned it into this world,
and how through that path I gained power.
As soon as I finished—
the snake exploded.
"What?!"
It trembled with anger.
"Because of you, what am I supposed to answer Narco now?!"
Its voice rose.
"I didn't know you had stolen that book!
If I had known earlier—"
Grinding its teeth, it said,
"I wouldn't have told you anything."
Silence fell over the room again.
But this time…
the silence was heavier than before.
As soon as it finished speaking, I immediately tried to calm it.
I didn't want it to complain to Narco about all this.
I spoke one word after another…
But as soon as Jona's words reached its ears,
the snake's eyes widened.
Completely.
There was no surprise on its face.
There was fear.
It felt as if there was no request in Jona's words.
Instead…
it was an order.
It was listening to Jona's voice…
but there was a strange weight in it.
It felt as if some extremely powerful existence was commanding it.
The snake didn't take long to understand.
This…
was because of the holo.
But at that moment, it wasn't just seeing the holo.
It was feeling the heavy waves of Aurum rising from within Jona.
So heavy…
that every nerve in its body shuddered.
Finally—
a single word came out of its mouth.
"…Yes."
Just that.
Hearing its agreement, a strange relief spread inside me.
I was happy.
But the snake didn't stop there.
It looked at me again.
This time, its gaze was fixed directly on the holo on my head. And I couldn't understand—then it said,
"Can you…"
"hold this holo in your hands?"
I didn't think much. Out of fear that I had just calmed it and it might get angry again and change its mind—so then I did it.
I grabbed the holo with both hands…
and removed it from my head.
As soon as I did that—
the snake crawled forward. And climbing up from my legs,
it reached my shoulder.
Its breath was close to me now.
In a low but clear voice, it said,
"Do one thing.
Put your Aurum into it.
And try to suppress it."
I paused for a moment.
Then I trusted its words a little.
I decided to do what it said.
I tried to slowly put my Aurum into the holo.
At first, it wasn't easy.
After all,
I had just become a Paragon.
Controlling Aurum…
was still new to me.
The snake immediately corrected me.
"First, feel this,"
it said,
"how your Aurum is flowing inside your body.
Then try to release it."
I closed my eyes.
Looked inside my body.
I felt the pulse of Aurum…
its flow…
its warmth.
Then—
I tried to release it.
Slowly…
my Aurum began entering the holo.
And then—because of my pressure,
the holo began to change.
It…
started getting smaller.
Slowly…
smaller…
Where earlier it was wearable on my head—
now it kept shrinking until
it became the size of my ring finger.
And then—
it completely transformed.
It was no longer a holo.
It had become a ring.
Perfectly sized for my finger.
I was stunned.
My eyes stayed wide open.
Such a big thing…
how could it become so small?
I looked at the snake.
The amazement in my eyes was obvious.
"Th-this… how did this happen?"
The snake looked at me.
And calmly said,
"The item you possess…"
"is not an ordinary thing."
Its voice grew serious.
"This is a Hallowed."
"And that too… a fairly high-sequence one."
More than its words—
I was staring at the ring on my finger.
I still couldn't believe it.
"So…"
I asked softly,
"what are Hallowed?"
The snake stayed silent for a while. It was thinking.
Then it made a decision.
That it could tell Jona about this, and then it said,
"I can tell you about it."
The air in the room…
became heavy once again.