I Don't Need To Log Out-Chapter 326: Asef (9)

Asef began to revisit the one thing that had always given him fuel: his brother.

Efsa.

The hero.

The golden boy of their world.

And slowly, Asef's bitterness became an obsession.

He started doing things he hadn't done since he was a child.

He went back to the city. Not to live, not to reconnect—but to undo.

To desecrate.

He tore down posters with his brother's face on them.

Ripped banners. Burned printed flyers. Scribbled mocking phrases over the shining name "Efsa the Savior."

But it wasn't just petty vandalism.

He even impersonated his brother sometimes—putting on a uniform that looked like Efsa's, copying his tone and stance.

Then he'd walk through certain districts and make a show of cruelty, bullying citizens, insulting shopkeepers, pushing others around.

It was calculated.

It was twisted.

It was childish.

But it worked.

Because afterward, the rage was stronger. Cleaner. He could ride it like a current through his body. He could use it to fuel his next spell, his next control session, his next suppression of the thing lurking inside.

One day, while he was in the middle of one of these acts—grabbing a teenager by the collar and hurling him against a wall—he heard someone shouting.

"Guards! Guards!"

Asef tensed.

He could fight them. That wasn't the problem.

But getting into trouble would only slow him down. It would draw eyes, maybe even Efsa's, and that wasn't the kind of confrontation he wanted yet.

So, he prepared to run.

He glanced over his shoulder—ready to vanish into the alley.

But the guards... didn't come after him.

They saw him. Looked straight at him.

And walked past.

No hesitation. No questions.

It was like they hadn't seen anything at all.

As if he were invisible.

No.

Not invisible.

Untouchable.

Because of his brother. ƒгeewёbnovel.com

Because they thought he was Efsa.

That was how deep the hero's name ran.

Even when he wore it like a weapon.

Even when he dragged it through the mud.

They still flinched. Still yielded.

And that, more than anything else, made Asef's hatred bloom into something colder.

Sharper.

He stood still for a moment, watching the guards disappear down the street.

Then he looked down at his own hands.

The same hands as his brother.

And he felt the hate wrap tighter around his heart, like vines made of iron.

He wouldn't forget this.

***

More than two decades had passed.

Twenty years of silence. Of repetition. Of magic.

Asef had come far. His control over the parasite had strengthened. His spells flowed smoother.

The cracks in his psyche, once wide and fragile, had fused into something unyielding.

He was not the same man who had wandered through the plains like a husk.

And Hon—quiet, watchful Hon—called him outside.

Asef didn't question it. He never did.

He simply followed, stepping out into the wind-blown field behind the house, where the horizon stretched endlessly beneath a gray sky.

The sun was low.

It matched the tone of the conversation before it even began.

"It's time for you to go," Hon said.

The words didn't carry weight in his voice. They weren't heavy or ceremonial. They were simple.

Flat.

But to Asef, they landed like a hammer.

"…What?" he asked, his tone neutral but his eyes slightly narrowing.

Hon didn't elaborate right away. He simply looked at Asef with that same tired gaze he always wore. And then:

"As I said. You should go now. I've taught you everything I can. If you stay here any longer…"

He didn't finish the sentence.

Because he didn't have to.

Asef understood.

It wasn't just about Asef's progress.

It was about Hon.

It wasn't his time to leave—it was Hon's.

And Hon didn't want Asef around for that part. Not to watch. Not to feel. Not to risk unraveling everything they'd worked so hard to contain.

At least, that's what Asef believed.

He clenched his fists. A dull ember of hate flared inside him—not at Hon, not at Efsa, not at himself this time—but at fate.

The universe had taken enough.

Now it was taking this too?

His eyes gleamed faintly red, the heat rising, but only for a moment.

He suppressed it.

He always did.

With a calm breath, Asef straightened. His voice was quiet but steady. "I understand. Thank you… for everything. I'm still alive because of you."

Hon said nothing.

Asef didn't wait.

There was nothing in the house he needed. No belongings. No sentimental items. He had never owned anything here, not even a blanket he could call his.

He had lived simply. Trained endlessly. And now… he was done.

So he turned and walked away.

No goodbye.

No second glance.

Just long, steady strides into the distance.

But Arlon didn't follow him.

Not yet.

He stayed.

He wanted to see what the old man would do now that his "disciple" was gone.

And he was glad he did.

Because a moment later, the air shimmered beside Hon.

A portal opened.

Soft at first—just a ripple in space—but it widened quickly, forming a full circular gateway, glowing faintly with magic Arlon didn't recognize.

From within, a man stepped out.

Dressed differently. His presence distinct.

"Are you done?" the man asked casually.

Hon scowled. His posture straightened. His face began to shift—wrinkles smoothing, gray hair turning jet-black, his stooped shoulders straightening into something confident, arrogant.

"The hell I'm done," Hon muttered. "That was the most miserable twenty-year shift I've ever pulled. Babysitting a blank-faced idiot with emotional constipation."

He rolled his shoulders, stretching like someone who had just been freed from a prison of their own making.

"Ugh. Can't believe I had to seal my powers just to stay in the physical world."

"You'll be rewarded," the other man said dryly. "The higher world's waiting."

"Yeah, yeah. At least the job's done. He'll walk the path we want now."

Arlon's eyes narrowed.

So that was it.

Asef had been manipulated.

The suggestion to feed his hatred against his brother. The choice to build his identity around it. The entire path of suppression and magic.

All of it…

Orchestrated.

And Asef never knew.

He still didn't.

Without another word, the two men stepped back into the portal.

It shimmered once, then vanished completely, leaving the field quiet once more.

Arlon stood still for a moment longer.

Then, without hesitation, he turned and began to follow the only person that mattered now.

Asef.