After some time, Eshnunna told everyone that Chi-Woo was awake. Since she didn’t feel comfortable saying Chichibbong, she simply said, ‘He opened his eyes.’ Fortunately, everyone understood instantly what Eshnunna meant. And not long after Eshnunna left, Zelit came to visit Chi-Woo while he was circling his exorcism mana lying down.
“Are you finally awake? We worried about you a lot.”
“I have caused unnecessary worries. I’m fine now.”
“Thank goodness. Really thank goodness.” Zelit dragged one chair closer and smirked while looking at Chi-Woo.
“You look like you have a lot of questions to ask,” Chi-Woo said in slight surprise while looking at Zelit. Zelit had once been hopelessly stuck in his room, but it seemed he had regained his full vigor.
“What about the others?”
“If you are talking about Ru Amuh, Ru Hiana, and Allen Leonard…unfortunately, they are no longer here.”
“…What?” Chi-Woo gasped, thinking that Zelit was saying that they had all died in the process of trying to capture the capital.
“Because they left for the South.” Zelit winked and calmed Chi-Woo down. Chi-Woo snorted as Zelit chuckled.
“So, you can joke too?”
“Haha. Let me tell you what happened…” Then, Zelit began to slowly explain everything that had happened until now. The recruits, who had left the fortress before Chi-Woo, circled around the border like they had planned to and defeated a group of evolved mutants. They fought all mutants at sight and, after they judged that they had gained enough experience, they moved to the capital. The heroes who had benefited from the yongmaek gained a huge confidence boost, and even though their ranks were still F, they displayed fighting skills incomparable to that of their previous selves. In fact, they suffered some injuries but no casualty; they wholeheartedly believed that they were ready to capture the capital.
“But we didn’t realize how difficult that would be.” Zelit licked his lips. “Those guys had more intelligence than we thought.”
First of all, there were more evolved mutants than they had expected. Even though many of them must have left, there were still over hundreds of them in the capital. And as soon as these mutants sighted the recruits, they had run wildly toward them. However, the fight was still doable because Ru Amuh blocked well from the front, and Allen Leonard displayed fearsome battling skills from behind. Surprised by the strength of the recruits, who they had regarded as tasty treats, the mutants changed their strategy.
They ran back behind the castle walls and locked themselves in. It was then the problem arose. The mutants who could attack from a distance continued to attack, and those who couldn’t broke parts off the structures nearby and threw the debris from atop the castle walls. Caught off guard, the recruits had no choice but to retreat. It was common knowledge that when two forces of similar powers fought, the side on the defensive held the advantage. It would have been even preferable if the mutants had fought them head-on instead. Thus, the recruits, who also lacked in numbers, couldn’t hastily approach; if they made even one wrong move, they would be annihilated before they could go past the castle walls.
And as they entered a gridlock, Zelit came up with a scheme: to attack an unexpected area while their enemies were distracted. The capital wasn’t as well-protected as a fortress, and it was bigger in size. Even if there were hundreds of them, it was impossible for the mutants to safely protect the wall in all directions. With that as his foundation, Zelit divided the recruits into two groups: one with the majority of the recruits and the other with the rest. As the majority approached one side of the wall and pretended to attack, the smaller group made up of their most skilled members would surmount the castle walls using the darkness of the night as their cover.
“The thing was, I happened to find a part of the castle wall that was broken. It still wasn’t an easy height to jump over, but we succeeded in penetrating.” Zelit smiled as he reached the part about his achievements. Truthfully, Zelit’s plan was also a dangerous one, and if things turned out wrong, their small numbers could have dwindled into zero. But one hero had shone brighter than the rest. In charge of the smaller infiltration team, Ru Amuh sensed the presence of a group of mutants before they could reach them and dealt with dozens of mutants by himself.
Chi-Woo couldn’t help but admire Ru Amuh’s skills. Since he had experience fighting the mutants at the Evalaya mountain, he knew how impossible the task of dealing with dozens of mutants at once was. And while Ru Amuh struggled with these mutants, the infiltration team succeeded in opening the gates and was quickly joined by the main unit.
“It really was a bloody battle. So bloody we couldn’t tell foe from friend…but of course, I’m sure it couldn’t compare to yours.” Zelit smiled wryly.
After a long night of battle, victory came to the recruits. It was largely thanks to Ru Amuh’s ardent efforts, which everyone agreed on.
“But Ru Amuh simply said that it’s thanks to his teacher that the remaining recruits and him could live and see the sun rise.”
And this was also true to some degree. No matter how outstanding Ru Amuh was, he had his limitations. After all, it was Chi-Woo who set the foundation that allowed Ru Amuh to really display his skills. Zelit had realized this after experiencing it first-hand. What would have happened if Chi-Woo hadn’t considered everyone’s opinions and didn’t create the yongmaek? Everyone would have been wiped out in this plan to capture the capital. It was because everyone had recovered a bit of their original powers that they were able to stand against the evolved mutants and buy some time. And thus, Ru Amuh gained the support to drag his team to victory.
“What happened after that?” Truthfully, Chi-Woo was most curious about what happened during the time he was asleep and how he was now transferred to the capital.
“Well, I suppose you won’t have any memories of it.” Zelit nodded, and Chi-Woo began to feel slightly anxious.
“According to the princess, you were in a serious condition several days after your return,” Zelit continued. They were all happy that Chi-Woo had returned safely, but when they heard the state he was in, they were distressed.
“You were basically in a coma. And your body kept getting warmer and colder hundreds of times over and over again, and each time, you would writhe in pain… It didn’t appear to be a simple fever.” Zelit added that Chi-Woo had basically come back from the dead. And since they didn’t really have much to do in the fortress, they decided to move Chi-Woo to the capital. But even after they transferred him, and they did all they could do to search for a remedy that could heal Chi-Woo, they failed to find anything. It was then the witch came. The witch informed them that since the recruits kept their promise, she would complete her side of the promise too and left.
This was an opportunity for them to go to the central region. Perhaps there would be a method to heal Chi-Woo there. It would be better than simply praying for Chi-Woo to get better. And thus, Ru Amuh took with him Ru Hiana, Allen Leonard, and several members of the fifth recruits who would be their guide and headed south.
“Well, that ended up being pointless now that you are awake,” Zelit said. After Ru Amuh’s new team left, Chi-Woo’s condition miraculously improved, and his body looked to be healing itself.
‘It’s thanks to my Divine Blood,’ Chi-Woo thought after hearing this. He probably had suffered from a serious illness, but his recovery period had been cut short thanks to his ability.
“Then…”
“Who knows? If we can trust the witch, she is probably wandering around the demon empire. Since Ru Amuh said they will take the shortest path, they would probably arrive at the central region in a few days.”
Chi-Woo was a bit disappointed. The central region was where his brother was. ‘I also want to go…’ Chi-Woo wondered what type of expression his brother would make if he went and saw Chi-Hyun. Wouldn’t he be really shocked?
“I know it’s a bit late, but we don’t know what’ll happen; maybe I can…” Chi-Woo attempted to persuade Zelit again but soon gave up. Zelit angrily yelled at him by reminding Chi-Woo that he had just woken up, and there was no need for him to go when the others had already left.
“No, you can’t go. I’m completely against it. But if you still want to go, it will be over my dead body.” Based on his intense reaction, it seemed like Zelit had PTSD about sending Chi-Woo to the Evelaya Mountain.
“All right, I got it. I’ll wait patiently here.” Chi-Woo wasn’t able to persuade Zelit in the end and decided to take care of his body instead. He wasn’t too disappointed because he could easily surprise his brother here as well. ‘Now that I think about it, I wonder how many snacks I have left…’
While Chi-Woo looked around for his bag, Zelit made a couple of polite coughs. “It’s now your turn to tell us your story.”
“My story?”
“You just faced a god. How did you do it? Honestly, it’s still hard for me to believe that you came back alive.” Zelit’s eyes were shining with excitement.
Chi-Woo softly smiled. “I just gave them one punch, and they immediately died.”
“Hey.”
“It’s a joke. Haha.” Chi-Woo laughed and let out a deep sigh. “I was just…” He scratched his head. After a stretch of silence, he continued with a thin smile. “Lucky. Nothing really much other than that.” He had really been lucky; he couldn’t think of any other explanation. If he didn’t have his talisman, if he wasn’t able to endure the beam of light, or if the god who had regained consciousness for a little bit didn’t want to end its existence—if any one of these factors had gone awry, Chi-Woo wouldn’t be alive right now.
“…Yeah. Is that so.” Zelit didn’t push further. With his keen senses, he could make an educated guess of what Chi-Woo had gone through based on the statement that ‘he was just lucky’. Even though Zelit was a survivor who had gone through his fair share of intense fights, it was probably incomparable to what Chi-Woo had just experienced. However, there was one question he really wanted to hear the answer to.
“Then perhaps, the plan to draw that god to our side…”
“Ah, about that.” Chi-Woo’s expression was unreadable. All of the wolf god’s holy energy had been absorbed into the spirit seed. However, he wasn’t sure what would come out of it. “Well, first of all…it doesn’t seem like that plan worked out well. I’m sorry if you were hopeful about that.”
“Not at all! Don’t apologize to me. Even if you ran away and returned here, there is no one here who would insult you.” As Zelit said, regardless of what happened, Chi-Woo had really accomplished an amazing feat. In a way, he had basically defeated a final boss even before the game tutorial was over. Since he accomplished such an amazing feat, it was natural for Chi-Woo to expect a reward that was way above what was given to beginners. Moreover, Chi-Woo was instrumental in helping them unite with the past hero recruits. It was something that no one could dare hope for, but Chi-Woo had done it.
“Do you have any specific plans in mind for the future?” After increasing their strength by increasing their number, Zelit was extremely curious about what Chi-Woo was planning to do.
Chi-Woo replied without much thought, “To start, I want to rest.” He didn’t mean much by this. Since he had just overcome an enormous fight, he wanted to focus on healing until he fully recovered.
However, Zelit took Chi-Woo’s words in a slightly different light, and his face darkened. ‘I mean…his body was originally in poor condition.’ Zelit believed that Chi-Woo had used forbidden spells that cut off his lifespan in exchange for power. Even though he heard that Chi-Woo had made a contract with a god, there was a high chance that he had used the same spells again to face a god this time. That might have also been the reason why Chi-Woo had felt uncomfortable about explaining his fight with the god in detail.
‘I can’t let this continue. Even though he’s been successful, he’s been doing it while cutting his own lifespan. I need to awaken the growth system’s functions as fast as possible—so that at least the burden on this hero’s shoulders will lessen.’
While thinking of matters that Chi-Woo would welcome with open arms, Zelit hid his concerns and said, “Yes, you should rest first. I was in too much of a hurry. You’ve just woken up. I apologize.”
“It’s all right. They’re concerns we need to address.”
A short silence passed between them. Zelit stared at the bemused Chi-Woo. He wondered what the hero in front of him was thinking. What kind of shocking plan was he coming up with again? He was curious but didn’t ask further. When it was time, he was sure that Chi-Woo would tell him.
Zelit got up from his seat and walked slowly to the window. He looked back at Chi-Woo, who was still deep in thought, and said, “Do you want to see for yourself?”
“…What?”
‘Ah, I’m hungry.’ ‘When are they going to give me food.’ ‘I want to eat chicken.’ Chi-Woo replied a few seconds later because he was busy thinking these thoughts.
“The results of your achievement.” Zelit tilted his head towards the window outside.
“It’s not mine, but ours,” Chi-Woo replied monotonously and carefully stood up. He didn’t have any strength in his body, but he managed to inch his way to Zelit.
“Look at it.” Zelit fully opened the window, and cool wind flowed in. Chi-Woo’s eyes slightly widened at the sight in front of him. Then, after a while, a happy smile appeared on his face.
* * *
“How much longer do we have left?”
“With our current speed, we’ll be able to reach it around—tomorrow!”
About four or five people were running through the canyon. The fifth recruit who replied to Ru Amuh’s question looked extremely pale and fatigued; judging by the hero’s rough breathing, they seemed extremely tired. However, the fifth recruit felt uncomfortable about suggesting to rest since Ru Amuh seemed to be in a great hurry.
Ru Amuh had been running without turning back even once, but raised his eyebrows suddenly. Even though he planned to maintain their current speed as much as possible until they reached their destination, something was making him slow down with his synesthesia. There were more than tens or hundreds of presences; even if he was to make a conservative guess, he would say there were at least thousands of individuals heading in his direction.
‘What is it?’ Considering their current situation, if thousands of beings were moving at once, one of the four major factions was probably moving their soldiers. The Abyss was going to only pretend to attack, so it was unlikely for them to come all the way here. Then, there was a high possibility that it was the Demon Empire. ‘No way. Why here of all places…’ Since Ru Amuh and his team had almost reached their destination, he naturally thought of the worst-case scenario.
In the end, Ru Amuh and his companions stopped. No matter how much of a hurry he was in, Ru Amuh judged that it was best to first check out the situation. He scaled the canyon and mapped out an escape route as he stared at a particular location with his head peeking slightly out. After a moment, he was able to see it—a long procession approaching them from a distance. Ru Amuh tried to gauge their identity as he looked down at them with anxiety.
“…Uh?” When the procession got close enough for him to get a good look, his eyes widened.