Translator: Wan ED/PR: Solarin
[1]
⟨Weapon’s rarity rose from UR to UR+⟩
Together with a new system message, the effect of rarity change engulfed the Nine Iron Teeth Rake.
Paaat!
Because the Nine Iron Teeth Rake lit up, my vision was dyed white.
When Baek Ho-gun, who blocked the fork by holding the White Fang with both hands, gradually disappeared in the light.
The surrounding scenery completely changed.
‘Where is it…?’
It was night in this space, as if time had stopped.
A moment ago it was dark, because the ceiling of the Silver Training (Eunryeon) Building’s training room was depicting Seven Stars of the West Mansion, but they gave off a feeling of being a part of the interior design, because of the wall lightning.
But the place I was in right now was completely different.
‘This…’
Under the night sky shining with numerous stars.
There was an enormous chess board, broken here and there.
The chess board was completely filled with black and white chess pieces.
Opening phase, when not even a few moves were played yet.
The whole scene wasn’t strange, but the state of the chess pieces was somehow strange.
‘The side I’m standing right now. Only the black chess pieces aren’t in good condition…’
The solid white chess pieces, sparkling with light, were facing off against the black chess pieces, worn down and full of cracks.
It was so bad I doubted it would be fine to hold those black chess pieces to play the next move.
[You had managed to safely use this Nine-Toothed Rake, huh?]
At that moment, I heard a voice from the Nine Iron Teeth Rake I was holding.
The voice was exactly the same as when I heard it on Cymopoleia.
[You still didn’t change your mind about giving that pig a beating?]
Naturally, it didn’t change.
Zhu Ganglie returned and Dark Mastermind was also in good health.
There were many things I had to do.
“Of course.”
[Do you know that the being which instigated Zhu Ganglie isn’t something that a human can dare to compete with? You probably know that if you confront that being and Zhu Ganglie, you will lose, even with them, right?]
I knew that.
Because it was an existence that was difficult to deal with even with the power of my outstanding Playable Characters.
Even so, my answer was set.
“Yep.”
After I replied without hesitation, the Nine Iron Teeth Rake, which I was holding in my hand, hummed, emitting a superpower wave.
[Hahahaha! That’s a good mindset! Then if it’s such mind, both me and Laozi will acknowledge you as the owner of the Nine Toothed Rake!]
After the superpower wave engulfed he Nine Iron Teeth Rake.
The Nine Iron Teeth Rake’s handle changed from earthly tone color to ebony[2], and the metallic shinning teeth changed to shinning jet-black.
It seemed that the handle was dyed black, and the teeth became more solid and sharper.
[I’ll await with anticipation the day when my new owner will use ‘Ninth Fork’, huh?]
The Ninth Fork, which was said to be the most powerful.
Didn’t they say that Zhu Ganglie wasn’t able to use that fork?
Seeing it speak like this, it seemed that I’ll have to make sure to use it one day.
[But that so-called board… Hmm…]
“Are you talking about this world? What is this space?”
[This space is a visual representation of your mental world.]
You’re saying this is my mental world?
Looking at the crumbling chess board and chess pieces, I thought ‘no way’, but I was convinced when I looked at the black chess pieces carrying out a fierce attack operation, and said:
“What was Zhu Ganglie’s inner world like?”
[You saw it by yourself.]
Are you talking about that space I saw when I was pierced by the Nine Iron Teeth Rake Zhu Ganglie was holding?
“I couldn’t see anything.”
In the space where it seemed that the time had stopped.
In that space was only me and Nine Iron Teeth Rake.
[You saw it right, huh?]
You are saying I saw it right?
I couldn’t understand and was about to ask back, but a certain thought sparkles and flashed through my mind.
“No way, was that space with nothing a world reflecting Zhu Ganglie’s inner mentality?”
The mental world of that synonymous with greed and gluttony, Zhu Ganglie, had nothing in it?
[I’m glad that the new owner still has something left, huh. It’s dark here, but there are many stars.]
At the end of the Nine Iron Teeth Rake’s words, my vision began to dye white again.
Paaat!
After the light stopped, I saw Baek Ho-gun.
In the residues of the superpower wave which rose from the White Fang clashing with the Nine Iron Teeth Rake, I heard a system message.
⟨Skill level of ‘Use of Everything’ rose from 4 to 5.⟩
Skill level of Use of Everything also rose.
Was it a result of reaching the proficiency to raise the item’s rarity from UR to UR+ and being able to perfectly hear that weapon’s voice?
“I guess you obtained what you wanted, eh?”
Baek Ho-gun, who was quietly looking at me, withdrew the White Fang and tied with Brilliant Gaze Yeong-ho, while he spoke.
Baek Ho-gun’s gaze was on the Nine Iron Teeth Rake that gained a glossy texture thanks to turning black.
“Were you able to hear the voice well?”
“Uh, thanks.”
A bit of warmth lingered on Baek Ho-gun’s face, who heard my thanks.
Woof! Woof-woof!
As if judging that the spar had ended, our bright Snare ran in this direction.
“Let’s end here for today.”
“Okay.”
When I replied like this and was about to hug Snare, I felt a slight sense of incongruity in Baek Ho-gun’s words.
‘’For’ today? Are you thinking of sparring more?’
I achieved my goal of hearing the Nine Iron Teeth Rake, but it seemed that Baek Ho-gun planned to continue to help me with training even in the future.
The help of Myth category Ho tribe member, who was my Playable Character, was naturally a welcomed thing.
‘Ah, come to think of it…’
It seemed that I heard that the two of them, Snare and Baek Ho-gun, were training together.
I asked Snare, who was showing off its charms in my arms, asking to be petted a bit more.
“I heard from Hwang Jiho that you’re also training. Can you show me?”
… Keung.
Snare turned its head away and curled up in my arms.
It also made a sound without energy, so it seemed that I made a mistake.
“Snare, are you tired? Sorry, don’t burden yourself! Let’s play together!”
… Woof woof!
Apologizing was the right choice.
Snare regained its energy straight away and started wagging its tail energetically.
“Someone came, eh? Stay here.”
Baek Ho-gun, who was observing me and Snare, turned around and went outside.
Did some Ho tribe members came to the Silver Training (Eunryeon) Building?
If not, what kind of hero[3] dared to break Byeoksa’s barrier?
My short worries were immediately resolved.
“Jo Uisin, why are you here?… Ah, were you training again?”
The one to appear was Hwang Jiho.
In addition, there was something dim hanging from Hwang Jiho’s hands.
‘That, perhaps…’
⟨Skill ‘Brilliant Gaze’ activated.⟩
At the same time as the superpower wave poured into my eyes, I took a good look at what Hwang Jiho was holding.
Its identity was that of a Mountain Spirit, whose substance was much clearer than before.
They were dangling from Hwang Jiho’s hands upside down.
After I looked at them, Mountain Spirit started to struggle while asking for help, but…
Krrrrr…..
But after hearing the growl that seemed to come out from a beast that rose up from hell, the Mountain Spirit’s movements completely stopped.
‘Where the hell that sound came from?’
There was no way that Baek Ho-gun or Snare would make such a sound, so the culprit had to be Hwang Jiho or Mountain Spirit, or perhaps it was the creaking of the building, or I had auditory hallucinations.
“Why did you come here?”
“To ask Baek-ho to give Mountain Spirit’s a mental rehabilitation.”
Hwang Jiho shook Mountain Spirit he was holding in his hand with an annoyed face.
Mountain Spirit was frantically begging with both of its hands to be put down, but I couldn’t pretend I didn’t hear Hwang Jiho.
“What Mountain Spirit did for you to be like this?”
“That bastard taught Eun-ho’s descendants a strange jest.”
Hwang Jiho’s explanation was as follows.
Hwang Jiho, who came back home to take a rest.
He suddenly realized that traces of Eun-ho’s three descendants vanished from the mansion and in a panic he started to search for them.
He found them in the center of the maze garden.
Eun-ho’s descendants’ whole body were covered in blood and collapsed on the ground.
“When I discovered those punks, I don’t think they have any energy of life at all. So…”
After Hwang Jiho mindlessly ran up to the children, they suddenly broke out into giggles and laughter, and they spoke like this, while standing up:
— Hwangho-nim! You were extremely surprised, correct?’
— We wanted to give You a surprise, so we learned a way to hide our traces!
— I took a picture, can I send it to Uisin hyung?
The descendants, who covered themselves in fake blood made using paints and made a corpse play.
Even after checking their state, Hwang Jiho had to work hard to smile, while he spoke.
— You deceived the Ho tribe’s head, even if it was just a moment. So it’s admirable, eh? Who among the three of you come up with such an idea?
Hwang Jiho thought he had to talk very nicely to catch the leading party and teach them later.
They pointed at Mountain Spirit, who was spinning in the corner of the maze garden, celebrating the great success of the surprise.
— Mountain Spirit taught us. Mountain Spirit knows many fun pranks.
— Right! I guess because they often played with the People from the Eungwang School’s 3rd year class 0, they know many ways to play a joke.
— Hwangho-nim and Uisin oppa are also in class 0, correct? We also want to go to the class 0 next year! We will take lessons to prepare to join the class 0 in the future.
— Hyung and noona are right… When I go to Eungwang School, I should also go to class 0.
Hwang Jiho, who said those words, pressed his temples hard, as if he had a headache.
“Because of that ruined Mountain Spirit, our descendants got some strange desires…”
The descendants, no different from biological children, are dreaming of joining the class 0?!
As an Eungwang School’s chairman and class 0’s senior, it would give him a headache.
“Anyhow, it’s like this. Give him some taste of pain, Baek-ho.”
While saying this, Hwang Jiho threw Mountain Spirit, who he was holding upside down, in front of Baek Ho-gun with a swish.
Mountain Spirit was startled and tried to flee, but before that, Baek Ho-gun captured them with the Brilliant Gaze and said:
“If you’re a Mountain Spirit of the realm where the oldest warriors of the Korean Peninsula, Myth category Ho tribe members gather and of the divine mountain, Heavenly Wings (Cheonik) Mountain, you need some combat knowledge. Take a battle stance.”
Swhrrr—!
Baek Ho-gun pulled out the White Fang with a cold and stern expression, and pointed it at a Mountain Spirit.
And then a one-sided beating unfolded.
“Hahaha! Baek-ho is overflowing with energy today, eh? I did well bring them here!”
While watching, Hwang Jiho laughed happily as if his insides relaxed, and I was accepting the baby acts of the cute Snare.
It seemed that Mountain Spirit was desperately looking at me with sad eyes, but every time Snare licked my fingers with its small tongue, everything immediately turned good.
***
The final exams ended last week, but the aftermath of them still continued.
At the Eungwang School, which was always the first to use the rapidly changing modern otherworld theories, people often brought objections about the right answers to the exam questions.
So, at the Eungwang School, the first grades were announced with the grading system decided beforehand, and then for the next week, it was a period for formal objections and grade corrections.
‘It seems that there is a lot of talk on the 2nd year side this time.’
The discord came up on the topic of the possible usages of the random item boxes, which appear and disappear in the otherworlds.
It was said that the students, who received minus points because they included the evaluation that it’s better to disassemble the boxes of R and lower rarity, raised an objection and brought up a fierce debate.
The student side won.
And the one leading that whole debate was my disciple Yeom Junyeol.
Besides this, Yeom Junyeol raised an objection to several other questions, whose answers were treated as incorrect and received approvals for them, and the answers which were originally approved also received additional points.
‘Yeom Junyeol didn’t bring up grades, because of that, huh?’
Yeom Junyeol didn’t give up on the first place and aimed to turn it upside down with the last-minute objections.
I didn’t know what kind of ranking he would end up with after the correction yet, but I was awaiting it with anticipation, as it seemed it would be good.
One more thing ended as a hot topic after the final exams.
‘You safely captured this opportunity, huh?’
The well-meaning victim, who was swept in the illegal school admission in the past.
The student ended up being illegally admitted in the special screening process with the intention of using her as nothing but a smokescreen.
That student was said to receive 50% on the final exams this time with her efforts alone and was approved to stay enrolled at the school.
Just like before, there was an opinion that the student should be expelled, but anyhow, that student choose to remain at the Eungwang School and safely passed the exams, so her staying at the Eungwang School was finalized.
When headed to school, while checking the warm news like this on the general bulletin board.
“Hey, vice class president.”
It was Song Daeseok.
While I saw a few heading to school students steal a glance at his bright face that was reveled, he spoke:
“I submitted the intern application.”
One more good news was added this morning.
I was happy about Song Daeseok submitting his application, but the fact he informed me about it was nice by itself.
“Congrats. Did you tell Min Geurin?”
“… No, not yet. If I fail at the interview, she may cry, so I can’t.”
As expected, Song Daeseok consideration towards Min Geurin was extraordinary.
“Well, then it’s just it.”
Song Daseok who spoke like this, didn’t say anything more and headed towards the classroom.
We didn’t say a word to each other while walking, but this particular silence wasn’t heavy or uncomfortable.
***
A young man, looking to be in his 20s.
A child, tall enough to just reach that young man’s waist.
The two exchanged suitcases, each of them prepared.
The suitcase of the child was full of pouches filled with a liquid of strange color, and the suitcase of the young man was full of banknotes only in 50,000 units.
“Money confirmed! Thank you for your patronage, Hwang-ho!”
The child spoke with a bright voice, while looking at the suitcase brimming with cash.
Hwang-ho, who looked at the happy child, who touched the pile of cash with pretty and gentle eyes, asked:
“I have something to commission.”
“Ok! Say it. I’ll do it if you just give me money.”
Hwang-ho tested and sounded out that Nok tribe[4] a couple of times.
Can they be trusted or not?
He had a lot of trust in the Nok tribe as they had a trade relationship for thousands of years, but even so, he had to be certain.
Hwang-ho, who finished a few commissions and trades, decided that he could trust the Nok tribe right now.
“Do you know about a poison, which erodes the bodies with superpowers?”
The eyes of Hwang-ho, who spoke like this, quietly observed the Nok tribe’s head.
The Nok tribe’s head, who appeared like a child, blinked his eyes quickly, while stomping his feet.
“There is such poison? Did you make it up right now? It’s not an imagined poison, right? I don’t know about it?”
“I by chance discovered it at the side of the lake of the theme park I recently took over. I think I tentatively call it superpower poison.”
Superpower poison filling the Frozen-type Otherworld.
It was impossible to make the antidote with just the technology of the Association and Ho tribe.
‘It’s possible for Jo Uisin to personally detoxify it or to do this by using pretty high rarity items, but just that won’t solve the fundamental problem. We have to make an antidote.’
Hwang-ho, who reached such a conclusion, decided to drag the Nok tribe into it.
So he spent a lot of time to figure out if the Nok tribe betrayed them or not.
“Here, take a look.”
Miasma wrapped in a golden superpower wave flowed out of Hwang-ho’s hands.
The expression of the Nok, who saw the toxic energy of the superpower poison, was full of delight.
Even his horns sprout out to communicate through signs just how excited he probably was.
Looking at that appearance, it became even more certain that he wasn’t a traitor.
“I want to research it! I want to do it! Please let me do it!”
Hwang-ho looked at the Nok tribe’s head who stretched his hands towards the miasma and then his eyes sparkled as he smiled:
“Not a long time ago, the take-over of the Seokchon Lake’s theme park officially ended. There are some remains of the superpower poison there, so contact us if you’re prepared to come to research the poison.”
*~*~*
[1] No title — ‘Beginning of growing thread (6)’
[2] ebony — literally ‘black tree’. It’s also called ‘crow tree’ sometimes. Namu wiki is also telling me that rhino figurines are symbols of ebony tree.
[3] heroes — literally ‘dragon person’, a slang for someone very bold
[4] Nok tribe — ‘Nok’ for a ‘deer’.
Translator’s note: The R rarity random boxes which Jo Uisin said he would always disassemble?
Did you see a mistake? 🐞
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