The truth

In front of him was the answer he had been seeking. The real threat. It was clear that the boy was nervous. The blue hologram in front of him revealed the truth.

Yook took a deep breath and began to read.

[ Evil spirits are the souls of deceased people full of regrets and remorse. The spirits with the strongest emotions possess the greatest magical power. There are also innocent spirits, controlled by a great and powerful King of Spirits to do evil things... ]

When Yook thought it was over, a new screen opened.

[ This King allowed the dimension between the spiritual world and the world of the living to connect for the first time in centuries, opening portals for spirits to come to this world, invading the universe... ]

...

[ The celestial spirit, the faithful companion, helper, and warrior of the Spirit King, couldn't stay silent witnessing this situation, for the Spirit King had broken one of the rules... ]

...

[ With the rule broken, a new King ascended the throne, which was the celestial spirit. Upon taking the throne, the celestial spirit became very strong and received an order from a higher being to destroy or defeat the former Spirit King... ]

Who emerged victorious in the end?

[ The battle was quick and the Heavenly King won, officially assuming the throne. The former King was banished from the spiritual dimension. After that, the Heavenly King allowed his spirits to face the evil spirits. However, their power was very great — anger, hatred, anguish... ]

[ The spirits of the Heavenly King did not have what was needed. Love, peace, were not enough. Negative feelings provides power, but positive feelings did not... ]

[ The innocent spirits of the Heavenly King needed stronger emotions to strengthen themselves. The spirits were already dead and their emotions were weak. They had no goals, no motivation. Even though the Heavenly King granted them power, the innocent spirits were unwilling to fight against their former allies... ]

[ Malice was necessary, which they didn't possess. The will to win and protect the world of the living was absent. They had sympathy for humans, but if humans died, new souls would be sent to the spirit world, and they could be together... The spirits no longer saw death as something negative... ]

[ The Heavenly King controlled the emotions of the spirits, but he couldn't reshape those emotions. If he infused malice in them, he would become like the former King... ]

[ Then humans would judge the spirits. They would make them strong with their motivations and emotions. The Heavenly King allowed the weakest and even the strongest spirits to be sent to the world of the living, helping the world of the living, preventing evil spirits from destroying people and the world... The spirits of the Heavenly King were named as magical spirits... ]

Everything was fitting together like a puzzle for Yook. But some pieces were still missing.

What Yook read next left him astonished.

[ I, Goe Wo, the 'creator' of the system, will be assisting all Spirit Summoners in maintaining peace in the world. Evil spirits or also called magical beasts are your enemies. There is a vast variety of evil spirits, with different appearances, strengths, and powers... ]

So all this time, Goe Wo was someone special. Goe Wo... is a spirit?

Yook just thought, there was no confirmation about it.

[ At the moment, in the world of the living, in the first layer of the dimension, the spirits here are weak but will become stronger over time. In the future, another layer of dimension will open up in your path, and destroying the spirits from another dimension before they invade the dimension of the world of the living is your goal... ]

[ Magical equipment, abilities, stats, Summonable Spirits, all of these will make you stronger. Use the system to strengthen yourself and move to the next layer of the dimension; the second layer awaits. We need you, and you need us. The reason we need you is simple; we cannot directly interact or intervene in the world, so the system will be used as an indirect way to meddle in the world of the living... ]

So, that's the reason? But wouldn't it be easier for the heavenly king himself to eliminate all evil spirits?

[ The Heavenly King cannot use his powers to directly help the world of the living, due to the rules and orders of a higher being. However, the celestial King can grant powers to people in the world of the living, but with one condition: they have the freedom to use their powers to become strong in any way they see fit, regardless of the means... ]

[ The evil spirits will arrive soon. You can locate them through the local map and the total map; the orange points on the map are the evil spirits, the blue points are the summoners. The evil spirits are being sealed and imprisoned, unable to leave a specific region... ]

[ But the spirits belonging to the wave cannot be sealed due to their higher power level. More information will be given in the future; this is all that can be revealed at the moment... ]

The last message closed, with Yook Hansan shaking and his head hurting from so much information.

So is this the truth? Now it all makes sense... But when will the evil spirits get here? And the wave? What exactly is this? That worries me...

"System... Are the evil spirits already here?"

[ Locating evil spirits around... ]

...

[ No evil spirits found ]

None?

"Open the total map of the city."

[ Preparing city map... ]

...

[ Mapping completed ]

Like a GPS, Yook could see the entire map of the city on the system's interface. Moving the map with his fingers, he found no orange points but could see blue points. This meant the system was working perfectly.

The system said they are in certain regions, trapped. But where exactly are they? I don't see anything. But if they're not here, this is my chance to prepare for them. Time to open the chests.

Yook had already opened his attack equipment chest and had six more to go at the moment.

I already have attack equipment. I want to get a defense one now.

Yook glanced at his inventory and searched for the bronze-colored chest under the defense equipment category.

Yook touched the chest icon and pressed the open button. The chest began to shake strangely, as if it were about to explode. The chest's mouth opened very slowly, and a white light was emanating from it.

Come on! Give me an iron chestplate as defense equipment! I'll be so happy! I'll be a good boy, I promise!

Immediately afterward, the light became as bright as a car headlight, and a light fragment jumped out of the chest, and a new window appeared for Yook.

[ Congratulations! You received a pair of bronze-rank magical leather gloves. They will be in your equipment inventory ]

"Haha. Haha... Hahaha! Screw this! This can't even be called defense! Is this normal? Or is it just my bad luck?"

Even though Yook was frustrated, he decided to take a look at the gloves he received.

[ Name: Pair of magical leather gloves/Lv 1 ]

Durability: 6

Defense/Resistance: 4 (+40 hp in stats when equipped)

Special Ability: None.

Magic Power: 50

Additional details...

Plus 40 hp? Is it true, I have stats! Maybe these gloves aren't that bad. But how do I check my stats?

"Open stats?"

[ Preparing summoner's stats... Calculating physical strength... Calculating resistance... Calculating knowledge... Analyzing the body... Please wait... ]

...

Yook's heart started to race. And the silence made him uneasy.

[ Status analysis completed ]

Yook Hansan was surprised to see their statuses.

"That's it..."