Chapter 255. Forked Road (2)
Chapter 255. Forked Road (2)
Setting his own plans and goals, Seo Jun-Ho no longer recklessly challenged the test. He just worked on the Frost skill for days on end. Then one day, the Thunder God, who was eating lunch together with him, looked up at the sky and said, "Seems he'll be back today.”
"Who... Oh, are you perhaps talking about your disciple?”
"Yep."
"How do you know that?"
"Well, I have nothin’ to do but sit and look at the sky... Mah only friend’s the Sage of the Observatory Tower, so I know how to read heaven's secrets a little bit."
"Ooohhh."
He was able to read heaven’s secrets. It felt cool because it seemed like a line from the Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Then, the Thunder God turned his head and asked, "Have ya given up on the test?"
"No?"
"Then why have ya been playin’ house alone for a few days?”
"Playing house...”
Seo Jun-Ho looked at the Thunder God, who regarded the process of making various things with the Frost skill, playing house.
"I just decided that it wouldn't make any difference if I challenged you now. Change is needed."
"Hmm… Is that right? All right."
The Thunder God nodded and got back to eating bibimbap[1], Seo Jun-Ho asked,
"By the way, when did you become a Player?"
"Meh? Let meh see... It has been around twenty-three years."
"Twenty-three years..."
Seo Jun-Ho nodded slowly. When he was active twenty-six years ago, Players with elemental skills were rare.
'Especially if there was a Player using such powerful lightning, there’s no way I couldn't have known.’
At that time, every country had given out information about Gates and Players to Specter. It was to score so-called brownie points.
"Then you must have experienced the period of the 5 Heroes yourself."
"Yep, I played it on TV every day."
The Thunder God looked bitter and nostalgic as if he suddenly remembered those days. Looking at that face, Seo Jun-Ho couldn't help but ask, "Thunder God, why did you become a Player?”
In those days, the meaning of becoming a Player was quite different from now. Today, one would only have to train for months, take a test, and get a Player's license.
'There was no such thing as those back then. In the past, you just go into a Gate.’
There was no state-level management or systematic systems. So, it was also a time when people without skills entered Gates without hesitation.
‘Those were dangerous behaviors.’
When someone without a skill entered a Gate, there was a slim chance of them awakening their skills, as Gates was filled with much more magic than Earth. There were those who wanted power suitable for the new era and those who wanted to protect their families. So many people entered Gates as if they were possessed.
'It would have been nice if they had all become Players...’
Unlike ideals, the reality was cruel. When a hundred entered, eighty would become guests of the underworld and would never return. Moreover, among the twenty survivors, only one or two would awaken.
"It's obvious. Can you become a Player simply from luck?" Smirking, the Thunder God burst into laughter. "I was on the bus home after closin’ the dojo, and on my phone, I saw an article about a terrorist attack."
"A terrorist attack... Was it a fiend?”
"Yeah, but of all places, it was in mah neighborhood. Do ya believe in intuition?"
"I don't believe in it that much. Mine wasn’t good at guessing it right."
Buzzzz...
Seo Jun-Ho’s Keen Intuition kicked up a fuss.
"I felt a chill from my spine, so I called mah wife right away."
"Don't tell me..."
"She didn’t pick up. I don't even remember how I got home from then on." The Thunder God closed his eyes. "When I got to mah apartment in a hurry, the Players from the government had taken over… It was a total mess.”
“…”
"Well, after losin’ mah wife and daughter like that… I apparently awakened."
Seo Jun-Ho's face turned white.
"I shouldn’t have asked...”
"Huh? It's fine. Now... It doesn't matter."
It wasn’t okay that it didn’t matter anymore… Seo Jun-Ho swallowed his words. He didn’t know what to say, so he just stayed still.
Gulp, gulp.
The Thunder God gulped down the rest of the wine in the gourd bottle.
"Kuuu, the weather is nice. Ya have some, too."
He casually mixed the bibimbap and took a big bite of the well-cooked rice. Seo Jun-Ho could not lift his spoon until the Thunder God left the table after he was done eating.
"…I shouldn’t have asked."
"Do not mind it. Ya did not know before ya asked," the Frost Queen consoled.
That was true, but a person’s mind did not work like that. Seo Jun-Ho scratched his head and went over to the well with the bowls.
Scrub, scrub.
He straightened his back after washing the dishes cleanly.
‘Hmm?’
His keen senses recognized a man coming up the mountain.
‘Oh, is that the disciple of Thunder God? We're finally meeting.'
Feeling nervous for some reason, he just stood there and waited for the other person.
"Oh? Mr. Seo Jun-Ho!"
Upon entering the yard, the person waved happily at Seo Jun-Ho, standing by the well. However, Seo Jun-Ho had a blank expression after seeing the other person’s face.
"…Mr. Baek Geon-Woo?"
Why was he here?
***
"I was really surprised then. You were lying on the mountain path and dying."
"I am ashamed. And thank you again."
“How many times have you thanked me already? Anyone would have acted like me."
Baek Geon-Woo smiled nicely and waved his hand.
"What an interesting fate," muttered Frost Queen, sitting next to them.
She had also never imagined that Baek Geon-Woo was the one who had saved Seo Jun-Ho. This was the first time they had seen him since the Kobold Hunting Competition.
"Mr. Baek Geon-Woo, are you really the disciple of the Thunder God?"
“I am unworthy, but that is correct.”
"Since when…”
"I think it has been about four or five years.”
“That’s quite a long time.”
At that time, Seo Jun-Ho looked like he had realized something.
‘Wait, that ahjussi... He is still alive?’
‘Well, even if he disappears, he appears again a few months later.’
‘I heard that he’s holed up training every time he disappears.‘’
‘That ahjussi debuted at the age of sixteen... Wow, this year makes it his sixteenth year of active duty.’
‘What? He’s already thirty-two? Have you seen a bigger blockhead…?’
Seo Jun-Ho recalled the people’s words prior to the Kobold Hunting Competition.
‘So...’
Who would have thought he was being trained by the Thunder God every time he disappeared in the Wailing Mountains? Seo Jun-Ho apologized with an embarrassed look.
"I'm sorry."
"Hmm? Why are you apologizing all of a sudden…?”
"Back when we were eating during the subjugation. I meddled and asked why you don't use weapons. I had no idea you were the Thunder God’s disciple…”
Seo Jun-Ho’s face flushed with shame.
"No, as I told you back then, I learned a lot from you at that time." Baek Geon-Woo still vividly remembered Seo Jun-Ho silently fighting and protecting people. "And even if I am teacher-nim’s disciple, it doesn’t change anything. I really... I really am weak."
"Ayy, you don't have to be so humble here."
"…But it’s the truth..."
Baek Geon-Woo muttered bitterly and looked down at the palms of his hands. His hands were so callused that they seemed like stone instead of a human’s hands. He struggled until such hands were formed, but his skills remained average.
"Anyway, if you have any more advice in the future, please feel free to tell me."
"Yes…"
"Then I'll go rest now."
Baek Geon-Woo got up from his seat and entered the house where his room was located. Seo Jun-Ho watched him and scratched his head.
"Come to think of it; I forgot to ask him that."
"What?"
"Since he’s the Thunder God’s disciple, you know, that."
Baek Geon-Woo was a man who passed the test, ‘Grave of Thunderbolts.’ Seo Jun-Ho was going to ask how he passed the test when he met him, but the identity of the disciple was so unexpected that he had forgotten about it.
"Oh well, I'll ask him later."
From that day on, the three of them began to live together.
***
Ten days after the Frost Queen revealed Frost’s power to block to Seo Jun-Ho, the latter went to find the Thunder God.
"I want to take the test again from today.”
"Hoh, has somethin’ changed?"
"Unfortunately, it's the same as before."
He felt like he had been hovering around the same spot for ten days. So, Seo Jun-Ho had decided to recreate the same situation as when he had gained the power to disregard.
"However, please attack me with the determination to kill me."
"...Ah, what are ya going to do if ya really died?"
"That’s fine."
Seo Jun-Ho realized early on that the Thunder God was being considerate of him. Otherwise, getting hit by a thunderbolt shouldn’t have ended with him just fainting.
“…”
The Thunder God stared into Seo Jun-Ho's eyes for a while, then sighed.
"Aigoo, my poor Geon-Woo."
It would be fairer if the talented guys tried less and were a little more conceited… The Thunder God got up and gestured with his chin.
"Come out."
The Thunder God came out to the yard and naturally sat on the rock. Standing at the starting point in front of the wooden floor, Seo Jun-Ho stabilized his breathing.
‘I've been thinking wrong this entire time.’
This test could never be passed by simply avoiding the thunderbolts.
‘It's a battle.’
He had to attack so that the Thunder God could not continue his attack. Seo Jun-Ho had to ask to confirm, "Whatever method I use, I just have to get to the front, right?"
"…Yep."
The Thunder God smiled lightly. It was a pleasant smile as if he was looking at a challenger who had finally found a clue to beating him.
"Then I'll start."
With Overclocking at fifty-five percent, as soon as the body heat heated up the air, Seo Jun-Ho ran across the floor. Up to this point, it had been the same as before.
Activating Overclocking at fifty-five percent, Seo Jun-Ho ran across the ground as soon as the temperature around him rose. Up to this point, it had been the same as before.
‘First, I'll launch an attack.’
Seo Jun-Ho's turned at a right angle.
Crash!
He felt a thunderbolt falling behind the top of his head.
Crackle!
Dozens of ice spears created in the air flew toward the Thunder God.
"Hmm."
Rumble!
A stream of lightning moved like a river and wiped out the ice spears.
'That's ridiculous…!’
Surprised, Seo Jun-Ho created ice the size of a house over the Thunder God’s head.
"Hoh, in a flash...”
Bzzzzt!
While the Thunder God was breaking down the ice, Seo Jun-Ho had surpassed the forty-meter mark. It was then that the Thunder God’s attacks intensified.
‘Five?!’
Only a single thunderbolt had fallen at a time, but now, it suddenly increased to five.
Boom, booooom, booom!!
The lightning’s intensity had also become incomparably stronger than before. Seo Jun-Ho moved diligently and constantly fired attacks. However, the ice spears disappeared as soon as they flew out.
'This monster...'
His enemy was just sitting still, but Seo Jun-Ho felt powerless.
‘The difference is this much?’
Of course, the Thunder God was known to be especially strong among the Nine Heavens, but Seo Jun-Ho hadn’t expected him to be this strong. The pressure weighing on his shoulders felt like he was in front of the true God of Thunder.
Flash!
Seo Jun-Ho hurriedly made an ice shield to protect himself. However, the thunderbolt struck the shield, shattered it like it was a cracker, and penetrated the pit of Seo Jun-Ho's stomach.
"Gasp!"
Seo Jun-Ho’s entire body felt as if it had gotten stabbed by a knife. It was his first time feeling this kind of pain. The floor started to get closer. When Seo Jun-Ho unknowingly kneeled, his intuition strongly warned him to dodge.
"…Ugh!"
Seo Jun-Ho barely dodged by throwing himself to the side, and then he grabbed the ground with his hands.
Craaaackle!
Seo Jun-Ho struggled as he hid in an igloo thick enough to be like an air raid defense bunker.
"Damn it, what am I supposed to do to get the power to block?"
“Did I not say that you may get a different power?"
“If it’s not the power to block, then I won’t be able to bypass the rain of lightning and get through.”
"Well…" The Frost Queen trailed off.
At the same time—
Crack!
The igloo split, and the bright sunlight shone on him.
“…!”
When he carelessly looked up, five lightning strikes could be seen falling from the sky. Each lightning bolt had the power to easily tear a person's body apart.
Thump, thump.
On the brink of death, Seo Jun-Ho opened his eyes to a powerful, brand-new feeling.
'Ah, if it’s now...’
Unfortunately, it wasn’t the power to block. Even after thinking about it multiple times, he didn't think he would be able to ignore and bypass those lightning bolts.
But then Seo Jun-Ho bent over and stared at the approaching lightning bolts.
"Hmm…?!"
Witnessing the strange phenomenon, the Thunder God almost stood up without realizing it.
1. Bibimbap is a dish mixing rice, namul (vegetables) and gochujang (red pepper paste). ☜