Chapter 42
Chapter 42
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 42
Chapter Title: Sword Demon Ma Ilcheon (2)
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I remember it.
—Then, please select your perk.
The first time he visited the Customizing Room.
He had followed Austin's guidance without knowing a thing, inexplicably drawn to choose Ma Ilcheon's right arm.
And that had been the beginning of their bond.
—What was the reason?
It wasn't the most poetic first words from someone whose head he'd severed over a hundred thousand times.
—But your sword might be different.
It had taken so long, but nothing filled him with as much fulfillment as the moment Ma Ilcheon acknowledged him.
—The sword that shatters the heavens.
And his final lesson.
A bond begun by chance was now hurtling toward catastrophe.
Kim Gunja didn't want that.
Not because Ma Ilcheon, the Sword Demon, was an absolute being.
He was someone who, even in his final moments of dissolution, called him his disciple and cherished him.
Kim Gunja didn't want to see such a man vanish.
He didn't know what an investor was.
He didn't know what the Majesty Ring was.
He had no idea why such absolute beings gathered in the Customizing Room.
Or what investor privileges entailed.
Or why a master was necessary.
He knew nothing.
But one thing was crystal clear.
Right now, in this moment.
He knew exactly, desperately, what his deepest wish was.
Wooong—
A blue light seemed to emanate from the Majesty Ring and envelop him—or so Kim Gunja imagined.
In the state of descent.
As Kim Gunja viewed the world through Ma Ilcheon's eyes, the world suddenly felt drenched in ash, in gray.
As if only he and the Majesty Ring existed in it.
He was startled by the unexpected phenomenon, but only for a moment.
The Majesty Ring quickly announced the results.
And then, the details appeared before his eyes.
Forcefully cancel.
Meaning it was something that should have been irreversible.
Yet the Majesty Ring was bending the rules, prioritizing Kim Gunja's wish.
There was no hesitation, no second thoughts.
It wasn't like they were asking for his heart or brain, after all.
Compared to what Ma Ilcheon had been willing to bear for him, this was a mere drop in the bucket.
Kim Gunja smiled brightly and responded.
'I accept.'
The moment the thought formed, the gray-drenched world regained its true colors.
And then,
Kim Gunja—or rather, Ma Ilcheon's lips slowly parted.
In utter disbelief.
"...Incredible."
And Ma Ilcheon wasn't the only one thinking it.
Kim Gunja paid little heed to the investors' backlash.
Whatever they blustered, they were beings who didn't truly understand anyway.
To him now, Ma Ilcheon mattered more than all of them combined.
Ma Ilcheon gazed up at the night sky with a wistful expression.
"Tch... This lord raised his disciple well enough."
And then, the alerts appeared.
As Ma Ilcheon's presence faded, control of his body returned to Kim Gunja.
In that instant, Ma Ilcheon's lips moved faintly.
"........."
A very small, but clear voice.
As Ma Ilcheon whispered something to Kim Gunja, the investors reacted furiously.
"Tsk tsk. The commotion... I'll watch from afar. The path your sword will carve."
With those final words, Ma Ilcheon's presence vanished like smoke from that spot.
"Ah..."
Kim Gunja could feel it.
The colossal presence that had filled him was gone.
A momentary sense of loss.
But knowing it wasn't true dissolution—just a return to the Customizing Room—it wasn't too sorrowful.
As long as the Customizing Room existed, they would surely meet again.
"Hoo..."
He took a light deep breath and faced reality.
Looking around, the lab beneath the shattered barrier resembled a crater the size of a soccer field.
The fallen children were all wounded and unconscious.
Moving them all alone was impossible, so after a brief hesitation, he contacted the Association for the children's sake.
He briefly noted discovering a Homunculus lab and abandoned children, adding coordinates.
As he carefully laid the children aside,
"Hm...?"
He spotted a glinting necklace where Manub had died.
Not flashy, but exquisitely crafted at a glance.
The moment he picked it up, he confirmed it was an artifact with depleted emotion, and of tremendous grade.
'Legend grade, huh...'
Considering mythic-grade artifacts were virtually unknown to the public, this was among the highest obtainable.
Though for legend grade, its effect felt a bit simplistic.
Puzzling, but he pocketed it anyway.
As he turned back to the children,
'Uh...?'
The sudden alert was entirely predictable.
The levels temporarily elevated by the descent were reverting.
'Wait...'
Recalling the astonishing prowess Ma Ilcheon had displayed through his body, unease flooded him.
Cold sweat trickled down his spine.
What was it?
A gut feeling that something tremendous was about to crash down on him...
"......!!"
An indescribable agony struck Kim Gunja's entire body.
Like being hit by lightning.
Unable to even groan, he collapsed like a rotten log.
The backlash was that severe.
Even when Association staff arrived and rushed him to the hospital, he remained unconscious.
A hospital near Jirisan Mountain.
"I can only say I'm truly astonished."
The doctor who examined Kim Gunja shook his head.
"Even for an awakener, I've never seen anyone push themselves to the point of passing out like this. And the condition aside..."
Reviewing Kim Gunja's recent schedule and cleared gate reports from the Hero Guild and Association for a precise diagnosis, the doctor clicked his tongue.
"Hunting seven gates in just half a month is impressive enough before heading out for support, but clearing six gates in a multi-gate over a single day? And that wasn't enough—you went hiking for stamina training and stumbled on a Homunculus lab, tackling it solo... Good lord. I have to ask, Mr. Kim Gunja. Are you in your right mind?"
Kim Gunja, lying in bed, gave an awkward smile at the doctor's stern tone.
The harsh words belied the warm smile and kind expression that revealed his genuine admiration.
The doctor set aside the files and spoke gravely.
"I have plenty of advice as a doctor, but first, I must say this."
Gripping Kim Gunja's hand firmly with both of his, he continued.
"Thank you. Truly. As a citizen, and as a father to a child."
When a multi-gate erupted, nearby cities inevitably suffered.
Kim Gunja had given his all despite an insane schedule to stop it.
The rescued children were all missing from the local area.
Not his own child, but as a parent, he understood their pain all too well.
Hunter.
A profession that hunted monsters to protect citizens, yet everyone knew it was tangled with money, power, and fame.
Yet this hunter before him, Kim Gunja, acted purely out of duty, without ulterior motives.
His records made it clear.
The mindset with which he'd become a hunter.
It was impossible not to be moved.
Releasing Kim Gunja's hand, the doctor spoke with resolute conviction.
"As your doctor, I'll do everything to ensure full recovery. Just as you've upheld your duty as a hunter. So please, for the time being, forget hunting entirely and focus solely on resting. You more than deserve it."
Unable to correct the slight misunderstanding, Kim Gunja could only nod under the doctor's intensity.
As the medical staff finished rounds and left, he let out a soft sigh.
A bit regretful that he had to rest like this.
'Recovery, huh...'
As the doctor said, the descent's aftereffects meant days of bed rest.
If he could use the Customizing Room, it would be easy, but saving Ma Ilcheon had cost him a week's access.
'...Can't be helped.'
But the descent hadn't brought only downsides.
Having experienced a whole new level of technique firsthand,
His magic power level had risen a tier, now solidly A-rank.
'Proficiency in Heaven-Shattering Sword and Heaven-Shattering Divine Art increased too, and those sensations linger.'
He itched to test it lightly, but that was impossible now.
Recovery came first.
'Hm...'
Finally getting real rest after so long, Kim Gunja lay back in bed.
And recalled the moment the Majesty Ring responded to his wish.
He'd been too distracted then, but he'd sensed a subtle discrepancy.
'It was different. Definitely.'
The voice during Ma Ilcheon's descent had been off too.
He'd dismissed it as imagination at first.
But repeated instances turned doubt to certainty.
'Different from the usual system voice.'
All awakeners said it.
The system voice was highly artificial.
Devoid of emotion, no different from a mechanical alarm.
But.
The voice seemingly from the Majesty Ring was hard to call mechanical.
It resembled a soft, refined woman's voice.
He couldn't fathom why.
'Come to think of it, I need to contact Pentagram, and there's a mountain of cleanup...'
He planned to tell Pentagram the same as the Association.
Something urgent must have pulled the Homunculus group away, leaving only inert puppets and kids behind.
Mentioning the Puppeteer Alchemist would complicate things too much.
As Kim Gunja organized his thoughts,
Knock knock knock.
"Um... May I come in?"
A young voice he didn't recognize.
A bit curious, but no reason to refuse.
"Yes. Come in."
Rustle.
Maybe thirteen or fourteen.
A child with gauze patches on his face entered.
Seeing him, Kim Gunja guessed.
One from the lab.
The approaching child bowed to Kim Gunja.
"Thank you. I heard you saved me, mister."
The woman behind him—likely the mother—bowed too.
His condition was better than the others', suggesting exceptional mental fortitude.
"Good. Glad you're safe."
As he patted the bowing child's head, a sudden thought made him beckon lightly.
The puzzled child drew closer, and Kim Gunja whispered in his ear.
The child blanked for a moment, then beamed.
"Yes. I'll remember."
Grabbing his mother's hand, he left the room.
Outside, the mother asked.
"What did the mister say?"
She hadn't heard the whisper.
The child shook his head.
"No. He said it's a secret."
"You can tell Mom. What was it? Huh?"
"Not even Mom!"
Unable to win against the child's firm tone, the mother relented.
Heading to their room hand-in-hand, the child repeated the word in his mind to never forget.
The name of another hero who saved him.
Grandpa Ma Ilcheon.
Alone again in the room.
Having seen the child off, Kim Gunja recalled what Ma Ilcheon had whispered to him.
—Don't fully trust the investors.
The investors who'd reacted so vehemently to Ma Ilcheon's words.
It was certainly a phrase to provoke such a response.
Pondering the true meaning of Ma Ilcheon's advice, Kim Gunja slowly closed his eyes and began circulating the Heaven-Shattering Divine Art.
For swift recovery and growth.