Chapter 242
Chapter 242
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Vine
Chapter: 242
Chapter Title: All You Need Is My Recognition
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Excitement.
It had been nearly a hundred years since Mugak last set foot here, and his face was unmistakably brimming with it.
"Master."
He looked around.
He instinctively knew what those menacing figures were.
"They're probably... the apostles from my later generations. The ones who made it to the center through insane competition. But."
Whoosh!
Mugak's foot shot out in earnest.
"It's only because I wasn't there that they could become apostles of the War God."
Not the techniques he used to teach me.
But real combat footwork for actual fights!
Kwarung!
Mugak charged.
He raised his foot.
And slammed it down.
「Stomps.」
It was on a whole different level from anything Mugak had shown before.
No clumsy punches.
Precise and fast.
A perfect kick.
"If they'd met me in their time, they never would've become apostles."
Pababak!
Spinning kicks in midair struck the monsters' abdomens in rapid succession.
- Krur...?
- Umm?
The gray monsters flinched and retreated.
Some wore shocked expressions.
- That guy's...
- First generation...! It's the first-generation Mugak...!
- Oh ho? Mugak?
- That Mugak with the True Fist?
- I've heard of him. Even in our generation, his name was legend...
Apostles who recognized Mugak.
The emotion in their eyes was fighting spirit.
- I've always wanted to meet you... perfect!
- Indeed, did the War God... anticipate a situation like this...?
- Let's fight...! Fight me!
"Hoo."
I sighed as I watched.
Mugak's raised foot radiated immense power, but the Tai Qing Heart Method told me otherwise.
It would be a tough battle.
No, even before that.
"...Mugak, with that kid's power, he can only handle two of those monsters over there."
The old man assessed it precisely and informed me.
"And with your power... hmm, you might barely tangle with one. No chance of victory here."
'No chance, my ass.'
If we can handle three but there are six, it's just twice as hard, right?
'Literally just that.'
To me, who had sealed a dragon and conquered Delaila’s highest-difficulty trials in a row.
This didn't even feel like a trial.
'I expected this anyway, didn't I?'
That the medium dungeon would be insanely tough.
- Heh heh, where'd your focus go...!
One of the gray monsters charging at Mugak suddenly turned toward me.
'To catch these bastards... I said I'd make them feel the difference with my fists, right?'
The moment I swung my fist to smack away the incoming one.
Pabat!
"...!"
It twisted like an eel, slipping through the air to evade my attack.
And in the same motion, its shin slammed into my abdomen.
Pueok!
"Krgh!"
It hit pretty hard.
'Damn.'
Definitely fast, huh?
I admitted it honestly.
'They're strong after all.'
Even back on Earth, I'd thought they were strong.
A constellation called the War God who gathered the universe's greatest fighters and turned the strongest into apostles—there's no way they'd be weak.
- You seem used to pain...! Well, pain always comes with fighting...!
Swipe.
As I floated in the air after taking its kick.
Kwarung!
Another barrage of punches rained down.
'Damn it.'
I have to dodge or block.
But no way to do it.
I couldn't spot any openings.
'Can't summon Kaden either.'
Given their nature, if I fought through summons instead of my body, they'd recover endlessly.
War God or whatever.
Whatever damn law it was.
I had to face them bare-handed.
'No.'
It was ridiculous.
If that's the case, why not Fist God or Foot God.
No, body, so Body God?
Anything sounded cooler than War God.
"You fool! Get your guard up! Even if you're used to pain, taking hits like that will wreck your body!"
'Got it.'
Yeah.
Taking those is bad news.
"Hup!"
I drew in a deep breath and glared.
Trying to read its attacks, I pulled up energy from deep within.
'If I can't block or dodge.'
Then I'll just attack too.
Isn't there a saying that the best defense is a good offense?
"This guy?"
The watching old man widened his eyes.
"What are you planning? You gonna clash head-on? He's not like Mugak! He's dead serious about killing you!"
The old man shouted in worry, but it was too late to back out.
Its attack was already closing in, and I'd committed my body.
Now.
Time to show my best move.
"Hraaah!"
I thrust the rapidly gathered and compressed energy at the gray monster.
"Th-that's Poison Flash!"
Kwaaaaa!
The condensed energy exploded forward from my hand.
Ten Thousand Techniques.
Secret Technique.
Poison Flash.
At the same time.
Flash!
Its barrage of punches halted.
No, more like vanished.
Melted away completely by the poison.
'I usually put it in a spear.'
Spear, sword, hand.
Doesn't matter when you're using Ten Thousand Techniques!
- Krur...? What's this...
- Poison?
Pududuk!
And soon.
An arm sprouted from its shoulder again.
- Cowardly.
- Can't accept poison.
"Damn it."
What, that cheaty bastard?
A monster that recovers endlessly unless it submits.
That's too much.
Kwarung!
"Hm?"
I turned at the sudden roar.
From the looks of it, one monster had kicked Mugak away!
Mugak flew back from the force, plowing a long crater into the ground.
Kugugugu....
Amid the shaking earth and rising smoke.
"Master."
Mugak, sprawled out, looked at me with a hollow expression.
"Five on my own is impossible."
"Damn, I know."
What now?
How do I handle this?
Looking up, the essences were still debating away.
[The Gold Essence opposes.]
[The Water Essence says time is infinite anyway, and there are plenty of alternatives.]
[The Water Essence says there's no need to hang on one bug.]
[The Wood Essence warns that mindset will keep you stuck here forever.]
....
Blah blah blah.
Status windows popping up every ten seconds still.
"Damn it, just decide already."
[The Fire Essence says to wait.]
[The Fire Essence is pondering.]
Yeah.
This'll never end.
We'll be long gone to the afterlife by the time they finish pondering.
'This.'
I clenched my fist.
Can't rely on the essences.
I have to find the way out myself.
That's why the old man called my level iffy too.
'What to do.'
Think.
Think, Joo Dong-hoon.
Kwarung!
The gray monsters were still relentlessly pummeling Mugak.
A beatdown.
Group pounding in slang.
Even a strong Mugak would die at this rate.
'Wait?'
Die?
Dying?
An idea flashed in my mind.
"Hey, Mugak!"
Sssit!
I dodged a gray monster's fist by stepping on its shadow and shouted.
"Tell me, Master!"
"How do those bastards recover! What's the mechanism!"
"Mechanism? What do you mean!"
"I mean, those damn specters! What's the principle behind their recovery! You said using weapons makes them recover. You said you have to truly subdue them to make them vanish!"
"That's right!"
"So! Is it the weapons causing recovery? Or because you haven't truly subdued them!"
"...That's."
Kwarung!
Mugak's kick pushed back the gray monsters simultaneously, launching him into the sky.
"The latter! Not weapons. You can't use weapons here anyway because of the War God's power!"
"Oh, right?"
Come to think of it, he was talking Earth terms last time?
"Weapons or not. You have to truly subdue them to stop the recovery!"
"...Yeah?"
Then.
One way to turn this around.
A bit of a gamble.
Thump!
My pounding heart wasn't rejecting it.
Pretty reliable, right?
"Mugak!"
"What, got a plan?!"
"How about you become a specter?!"
"...What?"
Mugak, mid-fight, looked stunned.
"Me, a specter?"
"If you die and become a specter, you'd be invincible in this situation!"
First, become a specter.
Then refuse the beatdown.
Wouldn't that make you invincible?
If you don't submit, you keep recovering.
"No."
Mugak shook his head.
"Specters have only fighting spirit left. Becoming one means losing myself. Better to become an apostle than a specter."
"...Apostle?"
"You know it too, Master! That I qualify to be an apostle!"
"..."
Apostle is one step above specter, right? Sounds good?
But.
"Wouldn't apostle make you a servant of the War God...?"
"Not really. You've seen apostles on Earth, right? Apostles just get the War God's recognition. As long as you have the will to fight, you can go anywhere, do anything. Even challenge the War God if you want. Those six probably went mad and challenged him for real. That's why they became servants."
So.
Same laws whether in the War God world or after becoming apostle?
Winner takes all.
"Master."
"What!"
"If you want, I'll become an apostle right now! Sucks I can't do it with fists, but seeing this, I get it. Feet are my thing!"
Mugak laughed bitterly and shouted.
Become an apostle, huh.
"Haa."
Fine.
All good.
But.
Crushing this guy's dream of earning the War God's recognition with fists just because of a crisis feels kinda shitty.
"..."
A moment's thought.
It was brief.
"No."
No need.
"No need for the War God's recognition or whatever. Mugak."
All you need is my recognition.
Because I'm your master.
Woooong!
I drew up energy.
"Dana."
Fududuk!
At my call, the healer Dana appeared.
"You called, Master?"
"From now on, heal me and Mugak with everything you've got!"
"Master?"
Mugak looked at me.
I grinned back.
"Thought of a little cheat, but realized no need to become apostle for recovery. I can provide plenty too."
"But then we can't take out those apostles..."
"Exactly."
I cut him off.
"So from now on, infinite training with recovery."
Until we can crush them all without recovery.
* * *
Chilly November, early winter on Earth.
Deep underground somewhere.
A sinister-looking man smiled.
"..."
With a predatory curl of his lips, he continued through the underground tunnel.
The one emanating high ranker-level energy was none other than Jakan.
Nick Jakan.
Alias: Hell Hound.
The former leader of the Shadow Brigade.
He had received a report from assassin Go Jae-young in the past, tried to steal Joo Dong-hoon's opportunity, and fought Seoul's Five Stars' Divine Archer.
Then fled swiftly.
"Kuh. Damn bastards."
Nick Jakan recalled that day.
Even now, climbing from world rank 92 to 90.
He couldn't forget the humiliation.
'Joo Dong-hoon, that opportunity he had back then.'
Slurp.
Jakan licked his lips.
What was it?
What kind of opportunity turned a non-ranker into a high ranker overnight?
And to a much higher rank than his own.
'Lucky bastard.'
Nick Jakan's alias is Hell Hound.
Meaning once he bites, he never lets go.
So after fleeing, he'd spent over a year investigating only Joo Dong-hoon.
His growth, group founding, Russia incident to Budapest incident.
Compiled every scrap in a secret room.
Why?
'For revenge.'
From the moment he got the report from his subordinate.
He'd already considered that opportunity his.
The lucky bastard still had what should've been stolen by him.
But.
The more he learned, the farther revenge slipped.
Joo Dong-hoon had surpassed him in ranking.
Plus fans like Thunderclap, Divine Archer, Berserker, Sophia, etc.
High rankers galore.
Just as he was despairing.
He connected with an entity through some channel.
'Calipena.'
World rank 12 villain.
Alias: Sea Goddess (Doris).
Famous hunter who soloed dark world groups.
'And her needing an item he has helped too.'
Definitely.
With her help, it was winnable.
'Plus.'
Joo Dong-hoon was MIA now, right?
Hit him where it hurts and steal massive funds.
By.
Raiding Separate Heavens.
"Kekeke."
Joy spread across Jakan's lips.
A hearty laugh he hadn't cracked in a year.