Chapter 231. Three
Chi-Hyun told him to come to his official residence. When Chi-Woo went up to the top floor and opened the door, he saw his brother sitting at his desk like usual.
“Hey, I’ve arrived.”
“It’s been two days,” Chi-Hyun twirled the quill pen in his hand and said. “I thought you’d give me a call as soon as you arrived.”
Chi-Woo was startled. “How did you know?”
“What?”
“That I came back two days ago.”
“There’s nothing I don’t know in this city,” Chi-Hyun responded casually, but as he stretched his arms, he looked slightly fatigued.
“Are you okay? You look tired.”
“Not really.” Unbeknownst to Chi-Woo, Chi-Hyun had secretly followed the expedition and killed a group of angus scouts that were fleeing. Then he waited endlessly outside Narsha Haram, wondering all night whether he should break the tower. Completely in the dark, Chi-Woo simply thought, ‘Was he not able to sleep well?’
“So.” Chi-Hyun yawned and finally looked at Chi-Woo. “How was it?”
Chi-Woo was well aware that Chi-Hyun wasn’t asking out of pure curiosity or to hear him brag. He let out a deep sigh and said, “It was…hard. It made me recognize my place.”
“In what way?”
Chi-Woo smiled wryly. His brother didn’t like vague answers. “I think I was too arrogant.”
“…”
“Especially about not raising my rank.”
Chi-Hyun’s gaze eased a little. It seemed Chi-Woo had said the correct answer. Originally, Chi-Woo had planned to raise his rank after raising his physical abilities to his satisfaction through pure training. He was right in that this was the best way to efficiently get stronger. However, it was a method that didn’t consider the ‘time’. Liber’s environment was extremely hostile and dangerous. They were not in a situation where he could slowly grow stronger by catching a lv. 1 slime. If he just stepped one foot outside the city—no, even if he stayed quietly in the city, it wouldn’t be strange at all if a boss level monster suddenly appeared and attacked him. Of course, he could lock himself in a remote place and only focus on training. However, there was no point working so hard day and night to raise his abilities to rank S if the world was already destroyed. All his efforts would have been in vain then.
Time was not on the side of humankind. Although the situation had improved with the emergence of a holy city, it could not remain peaceful like this forever. Rather, other forces were most likely making plans to find a way to attack and conquer this place. Thus, Chi-Woo had failed to take Liber’s situation into consideration when he refused to raise his rank, and it veered into arrogance; he should have known that they didn’t have the slightest leisure to wait or sit around.
“The growth system was created to more effectively and quickly save the world,” Chi-Hyun said. In fact, a lot of heroes had probably thought like Chi-Woo at least once, since people thought alike. However, none had been successful with this method because it was impossible. Otherwise, the growth system wouldn’t have even been necessary.
“You need to reverse your thoughts.” Chi-Hyun meant that Chi-Woo should use the growth system as his foundation to grow stronger instead and only use shortcuts or tricks as an additional way to support his growth.
“Yeah, that’s why I’m not going to be too greedy. I’m planning to raise my tier after raising my rank to C or B.”
“That’s doable.” Chi-Hyun nodded. Rank C was a level that humans could only achieve after devoting their entire lives to training, but Chi-Woo could probably soon reach it.
“Well, I’ll do that if it doesn’t work out…but I’m planning to ask Goddess La Bella first.”
“Hmm? What request?”
“Whether I could keep my stat points even if I increase my tier. Then I can use it right away to increase my abilities when I’m in an emergency or when I want to, right?”
“That would probably be difficult.” Chi-Hyun’s reply was negative. “That’s a special privilege that disturbs the fundamental nature of the growth system. Besides, you’ve already received a special benefit.”
“Yeah, but there’s no harm in asking. It'll be great if Goddess La Bella says yes, but it can’t be helped if she says no.”
“Do as you want.” Since Chi-Woo nonchalantly shrugged, Chi-Hyun did not stop him further.
“By the way, there is something…I want to consult with you about.”
Chi-Hyun nodded for Chi-Woo to continue.
“I think I have to decide my path now.”
“Path?”
“My class. You know, I think I don’t have a clear identity right now.” Originally, Chi-Woo had wanted to walk the path of a warrior. However, after going through this expedition, he clearly felt that it would be hard for him to fight like Dalgil or Ru Amuh even if he became one. It couldn’t be helped since they had such a big difference in experience; unlike Dalgil or Ru Amuh, Chi-Woo hadn’t gone through numerous life and death experiences since he was young, and it was impossible to develop fighting prowess like Ru Amuh or Dalgil in a short time. In the end, this was also a problem of limited time.
“If you had to pick one, a priest would be better than a warrior, since there are so many warriors anyway,” Chi-Hyun replied calmly. “But is there a reason for you to choose one?”
“As expected, you too—what?”
“You can just do both.”
Chi-Woo blinked with a dumbfounded expression. “You’re telling me to have two classes?”
“No.”
“Then what? Isn’t it better to walk on a single path? There’s a saying that you should dig up only one well, you know.”
“Not at all.” Chi-Hyun shook his head and crossed his arms. “Just look at me. I have dozens of classes.”
“…” It was then Chi-Woo finally realized that he had chosen the wrong person to consult with. His brother was an exception among exceptions.
“Get rid of your assumptions. Warriors can use magic if they want to, and likewise, there’s no law stopping priests from wielding weapons,” Chi-Hyun continued. “Class is merely a title. It’s entirely up to you to decide in which direction you want to grow.”
Of course, it also made sense for a regular hero to just focus on one class. However, in Chi-Hyun’s perspective, Chi-Woo was far from regular. Chi-Hyun continued, “Don’t be afraid and continue walking while thinking. You’ll find the way in the process.”
“Is that so…”
“If you can’t make up your mind, why don’t you try being a priest first? Expedition requests will continue to come, and you’ll make the perfect leader as a priest.” As his brother said, there was no safer and more comfortable team than a party led by a high-level priest.
Chi-Hyun continued, “Anything is fine as long as you grow.” In the end, everything boiled down to growth, and Chi-Hyun was saying that as Chi-Woo grew stronger, he’d find a way on his own. “So, did you talk about all the things you wanted to consult with me?”
“No, one more thing.”
Chi-Hyun chuckled. “You’re the only hero who uses me however they want.”
“Come on, what do you mean by using you? We’re brothers.”
“Why, am I wrong? I feel like a human encyclopedia just for you.”
“Fine, fine, I get it. It’s not like I have no sense of shame at all.” Chi-Woo coughed and took out a long box of snacks from his pocket. Chi-Hyun’s eyes widened.
“…What is that?” Chi-Hyun was so shocked that he was late to respond.
“How about it? Will this be enough to make it up to you?”
“How did you bring that here?”
“I dipped into the family savings.”
“Cra—” Chi-Hyun stopped mid-word, but Chi-Woo clearly heard what he was going to say—‘crazy fucker.’
“I thought you would like it.”
“Yeah…but even then…”
“No one else was going to spend it except for me anyway.”
Chi-Hyun clutched his head at his brother’s confident answer. He looked as if he was wondering if this was okay.
“So you’re not going to eat it?”
“…Give it to me first.”
Judging by how he was glancing at the snack, it seemed Chi-Hyun wanted to eat it. Chi-Woo giggled and opened the box. “Actually, I brought quite a lot, but there are only two left now. After entering Liber, I ate some because I got really hungry in the beginning—” Chi-Woo tore the bag inside vertically while walking towards the desk.
Crummmble-! But he stopped walking when he saw crumbs falling out. There was not a single chip intact. Everything was crushed into powder.
“…”
Silence fell between them. On second thought, there was no way the snack would have stayed intact when he carried it in his bag throughout all of his tumultuous adventurers. But he had no idea everything would have turned into powder.
“…It’s fine.” Chi-Hyun smacked his lips and sighed.
“N-No, wait. This wasn’t how things were supposed to go.”
“Forget it. I said it’s fine.”
“I’ll clean this up first, and I have another one. That one might be okay.”
“Just leave it there and continue talking instead,” Chi-Hyun spoke with a slight voice of complaint.
“How….what on earth…sigh…” Chi-Woo scratched his head and only began moving after Chi-Hyun showed his annoyance. Then he took out another item to show to Chi-Hyun.
“This is…” Chi-Hyun, who had looked slightly dissatisfied, brightened up when he saw an ingot with the color of a cool sky.
“It’s called reliquia. So this is a—”
“I know what it is. I guess that Mamiya punk has a bit of conscience left in him.”
Chi-Woo was taken aback; even before saying anything, it seemed Chi-Hyun knew the whole situation and how Chi-Woo was able to get the reliquia.
“Y-You knew about it? Then you know that it’s something good, right?”
“Well, it’s not something you can get in this time period.” Even Chi-Hyun easily acknowledged the value of the reliquia.
Then Chi-Woo glanced at him and said, “Then…do you want to use it?”
Chi-Hyun looked surprised. “Are you saying that because you don’t know the value of this object?”
“No, I do know. But I don’t know how to use it. It’s basically just a pretty stone to me…”
Chi-Hyun laughed as he saw his brother smile and mumble. It seemed Chi-Woo was offering the reliquia because he felt bad about the crushed chips. If Chi-Woo wasn’t his younger brother, he would have accepted it with glee; it would definitely be an item that would be of great help in the future. Chi-Hyun felt greedy for the first time since he entered Liber, but he held it in because it was his brother’s item.
“Never mind. I’m fine, so you use it.” Above all, a certain goddess was getting really worked up over the reliquia, so Chi-Woo would probably get into big trouble if Chi-Hyun decided to take it.
“But I don’t even know how to use it.”
“Just keep it. You’ll find a use for it sooner or later if you hold onto it.” Chi-Hyun smirked and pushed the reliquia back to Chi-Woo, and Chi-Woo had no choice but to take it back. Then Chi-Hyun said, “If you’ve asked all your questions, let me ask you one of mine.”
Chi-Woo straightened his posture at Chi-Hyun’s words—his brother’s question; just hearing this made him nervous.
“You still have your die, right?”
“Yeah, I didn’t use it during this expedition. Honest.”
“That’s not what I’m asking about.” What Chi-Hyun said after was extremely shocking. “Let’s throw it.”
Chi-Woo froze. He couldn’t believe his ears.
“Let’s throw the World’s Milestone,” Chi-Hyun repeated, thinking Chi-Woo must not have understood him.
Only then did Chi-Woo stammer, “…Right now?”
“Yeah.”
“Here?”
“Yeah.”
“So suddenly?”
“It’s not sudden.”
“Then why?”
“Well…” Chi-Hyun clasped his hands. He looked like he was wondering whether or not he should explain this to Chi-Woo, and then he finally said, “The Demon Empire is too quiet.”
“The Demon Empire?”
“Yeah, their movements look suspicious, but…they’re not showing any signs of external activity. They’re as quiet as a mouse.”
“But isn’t it understandable they’re acting like that around here? Isn’t that why you allowed me to go out for the expedition in the first place?”
“That’s why I’m saying it’s even weirder,” Chi-Hyun said flatly. “They’re being too rational.” Since the Demon Empire wasn’t invincible, they could be laying low for now, and there was a good reason for that as well. However, the reasoning was too rational and a little too sensible; that was why it was suspicious. It felt like they were outrightly saying, ‘We can’t pay attention to you guys for a while because of this specific reason, got it?’
“One of the things you have to be careful about in life is the word ‘reasonable’.” It felt strange that Chi-Hyun, who was basically the figurehead for reason and logic, was saying this. “You need to always be wary about rationality because people use their own rationality to justify their thoughts and claim it as reasonable.”
For example, person A might make a reasonable-sounding business proposal to person B. Then naturally, B would consider the proposal reasonable and accept it without question. However, they should have doubted A’s proposal at least once and think about why A wanted to work with them. The moment a person thought something made sense or fit a theory, faith and trust began to arise, and all doubts would fly out the window. it was also much more painful to be stabbed in the back by someone you trusted.
“Think about it carefully. Didn’t you notice anything strange about the expedition?”
“Now that I think about it…” Chi-Woo furrowed his brows. He recalled the group of angus scouts he encountered.
“I don’t have a good feeling about it. I tried to find out by myself, but it was all futile. The Demon Empire has strengthened their vigilance to an unprecedented extent.”
Now that was extremely suspicious. ‘It doesn’t make sense that they’re acting like they can’t pay attention to us for a while, yet they’re strengthening their boundaries to the highest level.’
“That’s why I’m saying we should throw the die,” Chi-Hyun continued. “If you’re lucky, we’ll at least know the direction we should be going.”
Chi-Woo understood what his brother was saying, but even then, he hesitated. “But what if I get less than 3…”
“Don’t worry about it.”
“…Aren’t you saying that too easily? You told me to not use it carelessly.”
“Yeah, but I didn’t tell you to not use it at all,” Chi-Hyun said calmly but firmly. “It’s time to throw it, before it’s too late.”
Chi-Woo also made up his mind. “I’m throwing it because you told me to. Even if we get a low number, don’t blame me.” Chi-Woo reached into his pocket and took out the World’s Milestone. He hesitated for a while and said, “Then…I’m really going to throw it, okay?” After checking with Chi-Hyun once more, Chi-Woo threw it with all his strength.
[Rolling the World’s Milestone.]
The World’s Milestone rolled for a long time and finally stopped moving.
[Result: ★★★★★★★]
[Innate ability [Blessed] Luck consumed (80 → 73)]
Chi-Woo’s eyes became big as saucers.
[The world’s flow twists and separates.]
[Huge success! An incident occurs.]
Chi-Woo had been nervous that he might fail, but he rolled a seven; not five or six, but an astounding seven. He hadn’t expected this at all.
[The creation of the holy city has raised the alarm of the Demon Empire. The Demon Empire has been investigating the demise of the Great Demons around the holy city’s establishment and has succeeded in finding a connection between these two events.]
[Feeling a great threat, the Demon Empire decided that they could not sit idly by. They identified and acknowledged the mysterious existence who has been hindering their every plan and have decided to get rid of this being at all costs.]
[A frightening and meticulous plan is already being carried out slowly in secret at this very moment, and as soon as the conditions are met, a terrible disaster would occur in the not-too-distant future. Before that happens, you must remove the embers of disaster in advance…]
“What’s the result?” Chi-Hyun read Chi-Woo’s expression and asked with interest. Chi-Woo was about to say something, but he couldn’t reply because—
Flash! His vision suddenly brightened, and he felt a sharp pull in his lower stomach, as if his body was being sucked somewhere.