One Who Soars Above the Leaper (6)
HP falls below 30%
HP falls below 29%
The fierce snowfall had already risen to Hyun-soo's waist.
Swirling flakes filled his vision completely.
He gazed down at his own hands.
Your hands grow stiff and ache as if they might shatter.
"Haa."
A puff of white breath escaped Hyun-soo's lips. Every so often, a wave of comforting warmth emanated from the Yeti King's Ring.
Temperature Control
A warm energy envelops your body.
Ice attribute resistance increases by 60%.
◈ Durability: 5,000/5,000
◈ Defense: 68
◈ Level Requirement: 310+
◈ Stamina +4%.
◈ Ice attribute attack power +43%.
◈ Ice attribute resistance +50%.
◈ Passive Skill: Survival.
◈ Active Skill: Temperature Control.
◈ Active Skill: Snowfield Dash.
◈ A ring dropped by the Yeti King, excelling in snow-covered mountains.
Temperature Control, this active skill could activate once every ten minutes, normalizing body temperature for one minute.
But it wasn't a cure-all.
HP falls below 5%
Afflicted with abnormal status: Terror.
Afflicted with abnormal status: Fainting.
Relentless notifications tormented Hyun-soo.
He collapsed into the snow, on the verge of blacking out.
His mind grew hazy, sleep tugging at him.
Then it hit him.
If he failed to reach Sage Arte this time, he'd never meet him.
That meant forfeiting what the Blacksmith God had left behind.
Hyun-soo needed it.
A way to grow stronger, a path forward.
His eyes snapped open.
You exert extreme mental fortitude.
Acquire 1 Will.
Survival activates.
HP recovers by 10% and all abnormal statuses are purged.
The Survival embedded in the Yeti King's Ring activated based on the wearer's mental strength.
Hyun-soo pressed on.
He faced near-blackout countless times.
You exert extreme mental fortitude.
Survival activates.
A gust hurled him into a tree.
Kwajak!
"Kuhk…."
But Hyun-soo rose and walked on.
At last, he reached the Sage's Tower.
Kkiiik—
Stepping inside, Hyun-soo encountered unexpected figures.
Levels that defied common sense.
Brushing snow from his clothes, Hyun-soo thought.
'I won't cower.'
He used to.
Every day, hunched shoulders dragging him deeper into despair and sorrow over his life's downward spiral.
Not anymore.
He had conquered that blizzard himself to reach this place.
He was no longer inferior to them.
"Master Craftsman Hyun, I greet Sage Arte."
Your reward is maximized.
Hyun-soo's heart pounded.
A reward for piercing that impossible path.
He wondered what it would be.
Then he sensed the heavy silence blanketing the chamber.
Ben and Barad silently took in their friend Hyun-soo.
They were stunned too.
When the once-in-a-century blizzard struck suddenly, they'd feared their friend might never reach them.
But here he was.
'When did he grow this much?'
'Is this really the Hyun I know?'
Barad and Ben felt an inexplicable thrill gazing at him.
The most shocked were Ruwon and Peya.
'He's little more than a frozen corpse now….'
Yet his eyes still burned with vitality.
'Watching this one become a legend could be amusing.'
'With that mental fortitude, he'd make a fine legend.'
Intrigued, they spoke.
"We'll take our leave."
"Until next time."
Ruwon and Peya vanished in beams of light.
The most intrigued was Arte himself.
As master of the Sage's Tower, he had known Hyun-soo was coming.
'But he was a flickering candle on the verge of snuffing out.'
Teetering endlessly in the gale, he seemed doomed to perish before arrival.
Yet he overcame it.
He arrived.
And behold!
That unyielding, steadfast body that refused to break….
Plop.
"…?"
Hyun-soo suddenly fainted.
"He does this often."
"Our boy's always been a bit frail."
Even more absurd was the casual reaction from Barad and Ben.
"???"
Their exchange astonished Arte further.
"It's only natural—he's frailer than us two."
"You know, he made it here with unbreakable resolve."
Arte was purely awestruck.
Soon Barad and Ben lifted him and departed.
Moments later, Arte followed.
Arte arrived at his destination.
There stood the statue of the Blacksmith God Asuka.
The handsome man with white hair tied crudely held a hammer in one hand and a sword in the other.
Symbolizing martial prowess and smithing.
Arte recalled his conversation with the Blacksmith God.
'Bring my heir before this statue, and he'll claim what I've left.'
The Blacksmith GodArte knew was the strictest.
No—he had to be.
'Even to his own heir.'
The God was ever ready to cast out his heir.
'Power belongs to those who seize it.'
And the God's words:
'My statue will judge the path he's walked. The reward varies by his proof. If he shone as a smith, the hammer; if in martial deeds, the sword.'
A hammer meant smithing power.
A sword meant martial prowess.
But whichever, the quality mattered.
'Rusted hammer, or golden?'
Rusted meant failure despite reward.
Golden meant worthy proof.
"As picky as ever."
But Arte understood.
Those who walked the path of god were no ordinary souls.
Moreover, the God's approval hinged largely on climbing this mountain.
As he pondered, waiting, half a day passed until the man awoke.
A dove soon flew to him.
Awakening, Hyun-soo wore a resigned expression.
'Fainted again, huh….'
"Fainted again"—his shorthand for it.
Then he checked his God's Approval.
'Didn't know this existed.'
It had started rising when he began ascending the tower.
'Meeting Dun turned out to be a boon.'
Dun knew the Beres Mountains best.
Thanks to him, Hyun-soo halved a two-day trek to half a day.
'Incredible approval rating.'
Hyun-soo smiled at his achievement.
The dove gestured for him to follow.
'Finally, time to claim it?'
He sensed following it would grant the Blacksmith God's legacy.
For the first time, he saw the God's form.
Less a smith, more a noble youth.
Brandishing white hammer and sword—strikingly handsome.
Arte spoke.
"Hammer or sword—one will come. Hammer for smithing power, sword for martial might."
Both appealed to Hyun-soo.
"How do I receive it?"
"Touch the statue."
Hyun-soo placed his palm on its chest and stepped back.
A faint light rippled from the statue.
"Your mountain climb and life's path will manifest as approval."
Acquire additional God's Approval based on your path.
Acquire 65%God's Approval.
Arte asked.
"Curious—what's your God's Approval?"
'Around 80%? Incredible—such approval….'
Hyun-soo replied.
"Total approval: 227%."
"…What?"
With trembling eyes, he beheld the smith Hyun-soo before the statue.
Only then did Arte realize.
'Far too meager.'
For just a single hammer or sword.
Then Arte noticed something strange.
The statue's hammer and sword crumbled to ash, scattering.
A sound emanated from the hands that held them.
Creeeak—
'No way…!?'
Arte couldn't hide his shock.
Blacksmith God Asuka descends.
Arte's eyes shook violently.
Gods rarely manifested in the world.
Hence, rewards came from the statue.
Arte swallowed hard.
He knew why the God descended.
'Approval too great—his heir pleased him too much…!'
The God, overjoyed, rushed here in an instant.
And soon Arte witnessed it.
An entirely new reward descending.
He intuited.
'Beyond compare to mere hammer or sword.'
Blacksmith God Asuka descends.
Hyun-soo was stunned. Even as the God's heir in the game, he'd expected ages to meet Asuka.
Gods were lofty and noble.
Ares' lore.
No player had ever truly met a god.
The statue's eyelids twitched.
Curious about his heir's astonishing approval, God Asuka descended.
A temporary manifestation.
Asuka's eyes scanned him.
'Sturdy frame, callused right hand, unwavering gaze. But this alone wouldn't yield such approval.'
Asuka pondered deeply.
What forged him thus?
Exceptional skill?
True.
But soon Asuka saw the true essence.
'Unyielding tenacity.'
Asuka was purely impressed.
Gazing at his heir, the God said nothing.
He knew.
One who achieved this deserved commensurate reward.
'Yes, grant it—that surpassing hammer and sword combined.'
Hyun-soo saw the God smiling mysteriously at him.
The blinking eyelids stilled.
Asuka's soul departs.
Where he vanished, new things remained.
The God cherishes you.
As if the God whispered to him.
Something unknown descended from the heavens.
A platinum crown.
Hyun-soo's heart raced as he grasped it.
He was certain.
This was the God's greatest reward.
Hyun-soo examined the crown.