I Don't Need To Log Out-Chapter 325: Asef (8)

Years passed.

Not in haste, not in peace—but with quiet, persistent motion.

Asef trained under Hon without complaint, without question. He learned slowly at first, then faster as his body and mind adjusted.

Day after day, spell after spell. Incantations carved into the air, complex rituals burned into muscle memory.

Time moved strangely in that small house.

And Asef, slowly, changed. freēnovelkiss.com

Leveling up brought a longer life—but not youth. The body didn't rewind just because the years stretched on.

That's why most of the powerful people there were older, unless they were prodigies like Agema.

But Asef was different.

His youth came back.

Not just strength or vitality—his face, his body, everything seemed to reverse. As if age peeled away from his skin like dust caught in the wind.

At first, he didn't know how to feel about it.

Even now, he wasn't sure he liked it.

He didn't know the source of the change.

Maybe it was the parasite—the thing slumbering inside him, bound by layers of discipline and emotional restraint. Maybe the body it resided in had to remain young.

Or maybe it was just the price of channeling something unnatural.

But none of that bothered him as much as one truth.

The more he looked at himself, the more he saw his brother.

And that… that was what he hated most.

Each time he caught his reflection—each time he caught the shape of his jaw, the sharpness of his features, the color of his skin—he saw Efsa.

And the years did nothing to dim that resemblance.

If anything, it only got worse.

As Asef trained, so too did his hatred grow.

Not hatred for the parasite. Not hatred for Hon. Not even hatred for the world that had broken him.

Only his brother.

The only emotion that remained, steady and solid, like a core of steel beneath his chest.

He needed that hatred.

Hon had taught him early on that controlling the parasite meant mastering his own emotions. Most people trained through balance, through clarity of mind, peace of heart.

But not Asef.

He had no peace left. No love. No joy.

His heart was a hollow thing.

Except for hate.

And Hon helped him forge it into something usable.

They experimented with it. Prodded it. Studied it. Hon was a patient teacher—but not a gentle one.

He pushed Asef to find the edge of that emotion, to sharpen it, to wield it.

And once they found the source of his strength, Hon sealed the hate itself.

Not to remove it, but to keep the parasite from using it to rise.

That seal became Asef's foundation.

Whenever he felt anything else; anger, joy, fear, guilt, he pressed down on it. Suppressed it. And let the memory of his brother surface instead.

That steady heat.

That bone-deep loathing.

It kept the rest of him in check.

And in return, it gave him access to power.

True power.

Magic.

Hon never told Asef directly, but over time, it became clear: the old man wasn't just a skilled sorcerer. He was something beyond that.

Maybe the strongest mage in their world.

Asef had no way to compare. He hadn't met anyone else capable of such feats.

But the things Hon could do, things he performed casually like turning water to flame or freezing the air itself, felt less like spells and more like authority over nature.

And yet, even with all that power, Asef couldn't cast magic freely.

Not without help.

Only when he reached deep into the sealed core of hate—only when he allowed himself to feel the sharp edge of that pain—did the parasite stir.

And when it stirred, it lent him magic.

Not for free.

No.

Each time, just before the spell ignited, there was a flicker.

A ripple of instability.

An explosion, not unlike the one Arlon had seen on Trion.

And now, at last, he understood.

Back then, during their first clash, Asef hadn't used magic.

Not because he lacked it.

But because it came with a cost.

Because it was tied to something deeper than mana or skill.

It was tied to the very thing Asef had built his life around... hatred.

And when Arlon returned to Trion, if the fight with Asef continued…

He wouldn't be holding back.

Not anymore.

***

As Asef continued to learn, as days folded into weeks and weeks into years, he noticed something else—something he didn't want to admit at first.

Hon was fading.

It wasn't sudden. It wasn't dramatic. But to Asef, it was obvious now.

His senses had sharpened beyond human norms, and he could see the flame behind Hon's presence dimming, like a candle nearing the end of its wick.

It flickered.

Unsteady.

Slowing.

At first, he didn't know what to do with the feeling.

He had trained for years to suppress all emotions that weren't hate. To channel every ounce of turmoil into the one emotion that kept the thing inside him at bay.

But now, something slipped through.

Sadness.

The last time he had felt it so clearly was the night his mother died. The night the only person who had ever held him with warmth was taken from him.

He hadn't allowed himself to feel that again.

And yet, here it was.

Heavy. Thick in his chest. He hated the weakness it brought with it.

And he hated that it wasn't going away.

He clenched his fists. Tried to breathe slower. To refocus. But Hon noticed.

The old man always noticed.

Without a word, he raised a hand—and with shocking speed for someone in his condition, delivered a sharp fist to the side of Asef's head.

Not magical. Not deadly.

Just blunt. And pointed.

"Stop wasting energy on things that don't matter," Hon growled. "Focus on your hate. That's the only thing keeping you upright."

Asef winced, but said nothing.

Instead, he did as told.

He dove deeper into the emotion that had kept him sane—if this could be called sanity at all.

---

Important Announcement!

Hi everyone. We are reaching the end of the novel.

There are only 11 chapters left. I will talk more about the story and what comes next there.

This announcement is about something else.

When I started this book, I planned for it to be around 300 to 400 chapters since it was my first time writing a novel.

And even though it turned out much better than I expected, it still did not fully satisfy me.

But do not worry! I learned a lot while working on this story.

So, here is the big announcement!

My second book, I Need to Log In, will be released on May 14!

I promise the story and the flow will be much better this time. And I will not be limiting it to 300 chapters.

It is not a direct sequel, but it will take place in the same universe as this one.

I hope you will check it out!

That is all from me for now.

Thank you so much for reading!

(Note: The same announcement will be made before the last chapter since it is actually released on the 13th of May, but it is a privileged chapter.)