Chapter 269. Abraxas (2)
Chi-Woo was promoted to gold tier. Of course, he didn’t have to take a promotion test for each tier. Instead, he used some of the exemptions he’d saved so far. Even considering that, Chi-Woo’s promotion speed was unprecedented. In fact, he hadn’t ever dreamed that he would be able to move up so fast. It seemed that rescuing the heroes had earned him an unexpectedly great amount of merits. Regardless of what happened, Chi-Woo finally reached the gold tier he had been dreaming of.
—In honor of your merit, I will give you two blessings in the name of La Bella.
It was now time for Chi-Woo to receive compensation.
—Which physical attribute do you want my blessing for?
“Exorcism please.”
—Do you want a new blessing? Or do you want to strengthen a blessing you previously received?
She was asking him whether he wanted to bloom new class skills or raise the rank of his existing skills. Chi-Woo pondered for a while and said, “I wish for a new blessing.”
La Bella stretched out her arm. Her fair hand became even brighter as it glowed. Chi-Woo felt a soft touch on the top of his head and at the same time, felt a mysterious force in his body.
* * *
When Chi-Woo opened his eyes, he was back to the normal world. Chi-Woo got up from his seat, turned on the device, and called up his user information.
1. Name & Rank: Choi Chi-Woo (EX)
2. Sex & Age: Male & 23ｆ𝑟𝑒𝐞𝚠𝒆𝚋𝚗૦𝐯ℯ𝙡. com
3. Height & Weight: 180.5 & 73.5kg
4. Denomination: ‘The Goddess of Scales’ and ‘Guardian of Balance’, La Bella
5. Tier: Gold IV
6.Class: Exorcist → Monk → Advanced Exorcist → High-ranking Exorcist
7. Heavenly Title: Three Lines
8. Disposition: Neutral
[Strength B]
[Durability B]
[Agility B]
[Stamina B]
[Mental Fortitude B]
[Exorcism B]
1. [Martial Arts A+] – the fundamental principle of martial arts. Although streams of water flow in different ways, they all end up in the same place. A type of combat philosophy that only those who learned the way of one can pursue. If the user builds up overall experience and knowledge, he can perform martial arts at a master’s level. However, this does not apply to a different category of moves with fundamentally different roots.
2. [Intuition A+] – ability to understand something immediately. The user immediately accepts the phenomenon without need for sensory input, experiences, and reasoning. If the attack is not within a certain level, it cannot escape the user’s perception. Although it has been fully absorbed as part of the user with the unity ability, it has been upgraded and will be maintained as an innate ability due to the synesthesia ability.
3. [Purification Breathing C]
1. [Choi Chi-Woo’s Original Exorcism Prayer C] – a prayer to expel evil beings. Originally, it is a ritual that is carried out based on devout faith, but with the power of La Bella, the user can freely use it. This is a new kind of prayer that only Choi Chi-Woo can perform and use. All scriptures and prayers recited by the user were imbued with exorcism mana.
2. [La Bella’s Bible C] – the bible of La Bella, the Liber goddess of balance. An ability to summon her bible, which is linked to all class abilities. Rather than increasing its original effect, it changes it. When this ability is activated, it converts one’s disposition to True Neutral at least temporarily.
3. [La Bella’s Sanctuary D] – it summons the sanctuary of La Bella, the Liber goddess of balance. The resistance capability of the sanctuary is based on exorcism mana, and all powers exerted by the user receive a boost.
1. [??????te ?????lity EX]
2. [Unity A+] - Everything goes round and round and round into one. All flow becomes one. Even if there are different types, if the roots are the same, it will bind into one form. Once the reason for everything has been realized, there is no need to make distinctions. Even if the user meets someone at the same level, if the opponent’s class types are limited, the user will have an upper hand.
3. [Golden Ratio S]
1. [Release I – II]
After reading his user information, Chi-Woo smiled proudly. ‘It changed a lot.’ Before, all his attributes had been rank C outside of his mental fortitude, which had increased from rank C to rank B after he continuously died during his training. His durability and stamina also rose to rank B through training.
He rose from iron to bronze to silver to gold. After raising his tier a total of three times, his strength, agility, and exorcism all improved by one rank. But the most significant achievement was his new innate ability—unity. It combined several existing abilities and evolved into one stronger ability. Moreover, he gained three class abilities from La Bella. After reading each of them one by one, it turned out they were all useful abilities he had never imagined having. If he knew he would be able to grow so much, he would have raised his tier much earlier. Then he might not have to work so desperately and could have survived more comfortably.
“Hehe…hehehehehehe….” Whenever he looked at his user information, laughter came out. He couldn’t believe that his physical abilities were now plastered with Bs even though his core of balance was sealed. He realized again the power of the golden ratio, which had risen to S-rank.
—Is it done? Did you get it done?
Philip hurriedly asked.
“Come on, do you think it’s easy to get to gold tier?”
—Then why is your face like that? Stop making me wait in anticipation and just quickly tell me! Is it gold now?
“I mean, well. Honestly, I didn’t expect anything, but she just handed me the gold tier.”
—Really?
“Yes, I was so shocked!”
—Wowwwww!
Philip made a huge fuss.
“Geez, why are you so happy, Mr. Philip?”
—Hey, you’re making me upset. Who’s the ghost that’s always been by your side? It’s me!
“Well, that’s true.” Chi-Woo swiped his nose and tried to look dignified.
—Ah, you should just look happy too. Express how you feel. You’re actually really happy, right?
After Philip said he should fully express his happiness at times like this, Chi-Woo nodded whole-heartedly. Then he smiled brightly and raised his arms before shouting, “Yeahhhhh!”
‘I’m gold tier! Gold tier!’ He cheered and enjoyed his happiness to the fullest. He was overjoyed since he thought it would take him a while.
“I didn’t know it would be this easy! Is it okay for me to have it so easy like this?”
Philip smiled at Chi-Woo, who was expressing pure joy like a child. ‘Have it so easy?’—there was nothing further from the truth. Although it’d only been a few months, the time flow that Chi-Woo actually experienced was well over a few years. The blood and sweat that he had shed so far nourished his rapid growth and allowed him to get to where he was. Philip was proud of Chi-Woo the more he thought about it, and watching Chi-Woo made him excited too. As the saying went, joy doubled when you shared it.
—Yesssssss!
Philip soon joined in. The two clapped and folded their arms and spun around. Then they even did random dances of no distinguishable style. It was then—
“Kyaaak!” They heard a piercing scream. At first, Chi-Woo thought that he and Philip had screamed, but that wasn’t the case. A woman with her hair down ran out to the yard with her arms open like a soccer player who just scored the winning goal. Shockingly, it was Eshnunna.
“Kyah! Kyahhh! Kiyaaaaack!” She screamed and hopped around like a rabbit.
By the time Chi-Woo and Philip were so shocked that they stopped dancing, Eshnunna also joined them after running all over the place like a crazy woman. Her long hair was soaking wet. Her face was pale, and her lips were blue. And for some reason, her entire body was radiating a cold chill. Moreover, there were melted ice cubes on her, but that wasn’t the important part.
“It was ice!”
“W-What?” Chi-Woo, who didn’t know what to do, was shocked that Eshunna suddenly grabbed his arms tightly.
“Ice! It was ice! Fuck it! Finally! Kyahhhh!” She shook Chi-Woo and then raised both arms in excitement. They danced together in uncontrollable joy. She even showed off a belly dance by twisting her waist. She seemed extremely happy; it was all good. All very good, but the problem was…
–Look away.
Just as Chi-Woo was about to glance down instinctively, Philip said in a stern voice.
Chi-Woo hurriedly averted his eyes. As soon as he turned around, he saw Evelyn come out a few minutes later. Evelyn smiled wryly and sighed when she saw Eshnunna doing cartwheels. Then she hesitated and opened her mouth, “Uh…Eshnunna? I’m glad you’re happy but…um…child! Stop!”
Eshnunna, who began a techno dance, paused and turned to Evelyn. Evelyn couldn’t even bear to say it out loud and just mouthed the words, ‘Clothes, clothes!’ and pointed at her with her index finger.
Eshnunna lowered her head and soon after, she froze like ice. It wasn’t an exaggeration; ice was really coming out all over her body. She was in her completely natural form without a shred of clothes on. After a moment of silence, Eshunna quickly looked up and stared at the back of Chi-Woo’s head, who was looking at a distant mountain that didn’t exist.
“Ackyahhhhhhhhhh!” A scream of completely different emotions came out, and she immediately bolted. Evelyn followed after her with a deep sigh.
–Take responsibility.
When they were left by themselves, Philip spoke in a tone stronger than ever before.
–If you’re a man, you should take responsibility.
“What, what are you even talking about?”
–You saw.
“No, I didn’t see anything.”
–Stop lying.
“…I glanced. Barely glanced. It couldn’t be helped in the first place.” Chi-Woo grumbled and then suddenly stared unexpectedly at Philip. “Anyway, what’s with you all of the sudden? Considering your personality, I thought you would be smiling from ear to ear and talking about a good view or whatever.
–Hey, you little shit! I’m her ancestor.
“Ah.”
Philip burst into rage. He huffed in anger and said he wasn’t a dog in heat who couldn’t tell the difference between right and wrong.
–Anyway, that’s enough. Since the uninvited guest is gone, shall we forget what just happened?
The two began dancing again and continued their celebration. However, their celebration didn’t last long this time either.
“You look happy.” Someone made a sudden visit. It was the long-headed hero Chi-Woo hadn’t seen in a while—Zelit.
“I’ve never seen you do that before. I didn’t see you as someone who’ll dance alone.”
When Zelit stared at him with a curious gaze, Chi-Woo’s face became hot. All the while, Philip spun around Zelit and giggled, ‘You can’t see me.’ It would have been less embarrassing if they were embarrassed together, so Chi-Woo felt annoyed at Philip.
Chi-Woo pretended to be nonchalant as much as possible and quickly changed the topic by asking what business Zelit had with him.
Zelit got straight to the point, “Please lend me some money.”
“Money?”
“Well, maybe it’s because of my greed, but the size of my project keeps getting bigger. I can’t stop now, so…” This would make it the third time Zelit borrowed money from him. Zelit seemed to have a bit of conscience as he turned away and coughed awkwardly.
Given Chi-Woo had already decided to lend him money, he nodded without much thought. “Yes, well, as much as you like… Ah, wait a minute.” Then he realized that he made a lot of money through his missions but was penniless. It was because Evelyn took it all, saying she would manage the finance of the family. It was usually the role of the wife to manage the money and lift the whole household.
Chi-Woo started, “There’s no…”
“Money?”
“That’s not it. It’s not that I have no money, but I left it all with Ms. Evelyn. Please wait a moment.” Chi-Woo planned to ask Evelyn for some money after explaining the situation.
“Then I won’t be able to borrow it,” Zelit said calmly. “Actually, I came to see you a few days ago when you were away.” It turned out that Zelit had already visited him once and talked with Evelyn instead of Chi-Woo, and Evelyn rejected his request flat-out. Come to think of it, Evelyn had asked him if he had anything he wanted to say to her and told him to make time to talk to her later. That must be because of Zelit.
“Well…” Chi-Woo fell into thought. He wondered what he should do. The moment he brought up this topic to Evelyn, it would be like pouring oil on a burning fuse. Then he suddenly had a good idea, so he clapped and said, “I can introduce you to someone who can lend you money instead of me. What do you think?”
“Hmm?” Zelit blinked. He was going to borrow 10,000 royals this time after serious contemplation. Was there anyone who could lend him such a large sum when everyone was working so desperately to earn another penny? “It doesn’t matter to me, but…who is it?”
“A hero called Choi Chi-Hyun.”
Zelit flinched. It was certainly true that Choi Chi-Hyun could easily afford an exorbitant amount of money since he was in charge of managing the city. However, he was way too big of a big shot. Aside from whether Chi-Hyun would lend him money, Zelit wondered if he could even meet him. Although he had met Chi-Hyun at the former capital of Salem when Chi-Hyun just barged in, this was the holy city, Shalyh. It was unthinkable that he would get to randomly meet Chi-Hyun in a city that has already been somewhat systematically organized.
“Will the legend meet me?”
“I can’t be certain, but if I or my master talk to him, he would probably meet with you once. But it’s up to you, Mr. Zelit, to make him lend you the money.”
Zelit let out a small exclamation at Chi-Woo’s confidence. Chi-Woo was not the type to lie or act boastfully; he must have the ability to carry it out if he said so. If it turned out as Chi-Woo said, it would be a bigger opportunity than he’d ever imagined. Meeting the legend alone was big enough on its own. Still, Zelit was curious and asked, “That’ll be great for me, but can I ask you a personal question?”
“Yes.”
“What on earth is your relationship with the legend that you can do this much?”
Chi-Woo didn’t immediately reply; he stared at Zelit for a moment and said, “If it’s you, Mr. Zelit…” Then he nodded as if he’d made his decision.
“It seems you have some kind of connection with him. It was like that both at the former capital of Salem and here.” Zelit asked out of pure curiosity.
“He’s my older brother.” Chi-Woo answered simply.
“?” A figurative question mark popped up above Zelit’s elongated head.
“Older brother. My blood-related brother.”
“??”
“Well, I’m actually the blood-related brother of the legend, Choi-Chi-Hyun. And my name isn’t Chichibbong. It’s Choi Chi-Woo. I’m really sorry for having deceived you so far, but I had my own reasons for hiding it. Ah, and please keep this a secret as much as possible.” Chi-Woo explained all this very quickly.
“????” Of course, Zelit couldn’t take in this information immediately, and Chi-Woo had no choice but to share a part of his user information; only his name, planet of origin, and proof that he was the youngest son of the Choi family. The next moment, Zelit’s face changed dramatically. A great many expressions appeared and disappeared in quick succession, but in the end, what remained was the calm expression he originally had.
“…”
“…”
A sudden gust of wind blew, and a heavy silence fell between them. It was difficult to gauge how much time passed.
“…Yeah.” All of a sudden, Zelit looked refreshed, and he said with an enlightened tone, “I understand now. I’m in a dream.” He smirked while waving his hands in the air where Chi-Woo’s user information was displayed. “I see. It’s a dream. Haha. Geez, look at me. It’s been decades since my mind has been so dysfunctional.”
“No.”
“I thought it was strange from the moment I saw you dancing alone. Even though there’s no way that can be true.”
“Mr. Zelit?” Chi-Woo tried to explain that it was not a dream, but Zelit didn’t listen.
“Anyway, when on earth did I fall asleep… Since this is a dream, all right, I’ll—” Zelit grinned from ear to ear like a person who ate a hallucinogenic mushroom and shouted, “Damn this blasted book! Get off me!” Suddenly, he threw the big, thick book that he had always carried onto the ground and cried out vigorously, “Okay! I’ll dance with you too!” Zelit rolled his sleeves and really began dancing. He started doing something reminiscent of popping.
“Haha! This is more fun than I thought.” He moved his whole body in all directions and beckoned at Chi-Woo. “What are you doing? Let’s dance together! It doesn’t matter because it’s a dream! Hahahahaha!”
Philip burst into laughter in front of Chi-Woo, who was staring at Zelit with a blank expression. Then their eyes met, and soon after, Philip raised the corners of his mouth, and Chi-Woo eventually ended up laughing.
—Ah, screw it~!
In the end, everyone began laughing, talking, and dancing together at once. It was a complete mess.