Chapter 229
Chapter 229
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 229
Chapter Title: Return to Daily Life
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Rumble rumble rumble!
A golden blaze roared forth with the fury of raging waves. The Samadhi True Fire I'd conjured moments ago was mere child's play. This flame was the true essence of goblin sorcery.
"Well, Kim? Think you can block this one the same way as before?"
Whether due to the flames or the other way around, Seo Cheon-seul's long hair had transformed into blazing golden fire.
No—flames spewed from every orifice atop his head, giving him the stunning appearance of wearing a massive mask forged from light, heat, and gold.
With a flourish of his long staff like a conductor's baton, in the name of the Thousand Gold Captain—
Screeeeech!!!
Was this really the sound of fire?
The Thousand Gold Captain's flames twisted and writhed, emitting a monstrous roar, before morphing into a nine-headed serpent that charged straight at me.
Screeeeech!!!
[Ghost Step]
Whoosh—
I took a few steps back, facing down the flames as they thrashed their nine heads toward me.
A beautiful blaze so radiant it could scorch the optic nerve. The spellwork was dense and airtight, as if refusing to tolerate the method I'd used before—no gaps to exploit.
[Detect]
"But you're just recycling the Samadhi True Fire I made earlier, right?"
There it is.
Amid flames fierce enough to incinerate an entire mountain, I spotted the weakness I'd planted beforehand.
'Yeah, it's still there.'
My hook of mana remained—even if reduced to mere ash-like remnants, it was unmistakably my hook.
[Spell Overload]
[Spell Enhancement: Maximize]
Boom rumble!
A clash of alien mana unleashing massive energy and vibrations.
The ground quaked, innocent leaves burst into flame, and startled clouds scattered in the absurd updraft.
And I pierced through that chaotic torrent of mana—
'Good, through.'
[Transmute Properties]
[Forced Phase Transition]
"W-What, Kim? This is—?"
"Yeah. Back to earth from fire."
Fire begets earth.
Earth begets metal.
And metal cleaves wood.
Without wood, fire cannot thrive.
Blah blah—
After an intricate process too complex to summarize briefly, the Thousand Gold Captain's flames—clatter clatter rumble—
turned into hundreds of gold coins that rained down onto the ground.
"To turn my flames into coins—bahahaha! What a joke!"
Seo Cheon-seul looked briefly flustered before bursting into laughter.
"It's Thousand Gold Hall's fire, isn't it? Mana born from a desire to glitter from the start—taming it wasn't hard."
"Bahahaha! Impressive! Truly impressive! And here I am, the Thousand Gold Captain, wielder of your pathetic mortal delusions and desires!"
He sounded delighted, but he didn't dispel the flames still wreathing his body. With a grand swing of his staff—
whoosh—
it transformed into a dazzling golden cudgel.
"Hey, Thousand Gold Captain. You really doing this?"
"Bahahaha! Shall we make it real?"
"Th-Thousand Gold Captain! This is going too far!"
Heo Sang-hyeon appeared with his five undead golems.
He swung his elongated skull staff like a baton, blocking the path between me and Seo Cheon-seul not just with the golems, but with hordes of wraiths as well.
'Huh? He brought that many?'
Three undead golems was his limit before.
Thanks to the Dream Haze? He'd clearly reached a new level as a necromancer.
"Go!"
Golden mana erupted at Seo Cheon-seul's shout.
Boom rumble!
- Aaaargh!
- Gyaaaaah!
Wraiths scattered in all directions, shoved aside by the force. The golems, too, lost cohesion and crumbled into junk, spilling across the ground.
"Who dares block the Thousand Gold Captain!"
"Hey, Thousand Gold Captain. You really doing this?"
"Bahahaha! Shall we make it real?"
Boom!
An absurd leap.
The golden goblin charged, swinging his cudgel—
"Uwaaaah! Shin-hwa-nim, dodge!"
Heo Sang-hyeon hurriedly assumed a defensive stance, but Seo Cheon-seul brushed him aside with a dancer's grace and...
Whummm—
The dizzying golden arc of the cudgel closed in.
'Ugh, this'll kill me if it hits.'
[Suppressor]
[Twisted Bond]
[Tangled Steps]
But the newly activated spells weakened the Thousand Gold Captain's immense power, while the ensuing magics warped space itself.
Tzzzzz—
The cudgel twisted in a way defying description, veering not toward my head, but his own.
"Whoa whoa whoa!"
Whoosh—
Seo Cheon-seul leaped into an acrobatic twist, evading his own cudgel.
A technique no mere human could match, defying inertia and gravity.
"Bahahaha! Amazing! Truly amazing!"
Clap clap clap clap!
Seo Cheon-seul laughed heartily, applauding. He'd charged in with killing intent, yet now sported a perfectly clear, unrumpled demeanor...
'A weird feeling.'
Seo Cheon-seul was genuinely thrilled. His joy was infectious; blocking his attack felt less like survival and more like solving a playful puzzle tossed by a friend.
"Bahahaha! Even in a real fight with you, Kim, I'd lose."
"Well, this is my home turf. In Thousand Gold Hall, you'd win."
"Modest, aren't you, Kim? Bahaha—"
Seo Cheon-seul spun his cudgel once, and it reverted to a long staff.
"Whew—"
He exhaled tobacco smoke once more.
This time, the smoke moved like tangible clay, wrinkling and merging with the scattered golem fragments on the ground. In an instant...
Swish!
Seo Cheon-seul—no, the Thousand Gold Captain—leaped atop the tangled mess.
Where he landed, an ornate dais had appeared—one that definitely hadn't been there before.
Made from golem shards and smoke, no doubt, but now it was an opulent platform adorned with dozens of gold-forged dragons.
"Bahahaha!"
Striking a majestic pose atop the dais, the Thousand Gold Captain boomed in an overly dramatic voice.
"Thousand Gold Hall is the domain of glittering gold and the dreams of all! And I, the Thousand Gold Captain who guards it, cannot tolerate defeat at the hands of a mere Kim!"
Now I get it—what he wanted.
"Thus, the Thousand Gold Captain shall not attack Kim Shin-hwa! This is the declaration of the Thousand Gold Captain, acting in the name of the Ten Thousand Gold King!"
Boom!
The Thousand Gold Captain leaped again, landing elsewhere, and the golden dais dissolved back into golem shards and smoke, scattering away.
"Hmm, you okay with that?"
The Ten Thousand Gold King had ordered the soul stone fetched—probably by force if words failed.
"Bahaha—I have the authority for that."
As proxy for the Ten Thousand Gold King, the Thousand Gold Captain could issue limited declarations in his name.
He'd used it to declare, "I won't fight Kim Shin-hwa." Meaning the mission—"fetch it by force if needed"—was impossible. In short, Seo Cheon-seul had defied the Ten Thousand Gold King.
"Hmm—Thousand Gold Captain, what the..."
"Kim, don't carry that heavy burden forever. Call on me anytime you need."
No room for chit-chat.
"Got it."
I helped up Heo Sang-hyeon, who sat there looking baffled—
"Ugh, Sang-hyeon-ssi, sorry, I can't lift you with my strength!"
"Ah, no, Shin-hwa-nim. I'll get up!"
"Bahahaha! Weaklings, all you Kims!"
Seo Cheon-seul yanked Heo Sang-hyeon to his feet, even brushing the dirt from his clothes, then said.
"And if you can, choose to live a bit longer."
"I'll live long."
"About a millennium."
"Can't live that long."
"A species that withers and dies in the blink of an eye—how do you burn so bright like moths to flame?"
Pity aged a thousand years gleamed in Seo Cheon-seul's eyes. Hard to relate to compassion for mortals' short lives.
"Cut the nonsense. Goblins wouldn't get it anyway."
Somehow, Gong I-su had said something similar.
"Bahaha—true enough. Time for another round. Know this, Kim? Each sip of Dream Haze adds a year to your life."
"Yeah, you killed the vibe, Thousand Gold Captain—so liven it up with a trick."
"Ah, then I should sing a tune."
"Ani—everyone's leavin' me alooooone—"
Jang Hyeon-deok stumbled out suddenly. His cheap dyed-blond hair framed a flushed-red face as he staggered forward.
"Ah—flower boyyy—everyone drink a penalty shoooooot—penalty shooooot—"
* * *
The booze-fest resumed and raged through the night.
No suspicions, mishaps, or fights this time—just songs, dances, chatter, laughter, food, and drink in pure, peaceful bliss.
I half-thought it'd spill into the next day, but with so many freakish constitutions among us, the party wrapped before the new sun rose.
"Kim, what's this?"
"Told you I'd get you a gift. Here it is."
"Huh? Wizard-nim, when'd you snag this?"
Jang Hyeon-deok, who'd passed out midway, scratched his head as he shuffled out of the mansion. Half-sober, but no typical hangover woes. Dream Haze, alright—no such thing as a hangover.
"Brought it back when I went for snacks earlier."
With gates punched into a few spots in Paju, it was quick if I tried.
Meanwhile, Seo Cheon-seul gawked at the item I'd pulled out.
"Hoh, an Odo-bike, eh."
"You know it?"
"Back in—oh, three years ago? When this country was under those hengeyokai bastards, I roamed around smashing them. Saw a few then."
"Three years ago, we had that here?"
Jang Hyeon-deok questioning Seo Cheon-seul's wonky timeline.
"Nah, he means the Japanese occupation. Not sure exactly when, but at least 70, maybe 100 years back."
No idea if there's some backstory, but was Seo Cheon-seul among the independence fighters then?
"Bahaha—so this is your gift, Kim?"
"Yeah. You were whining about only advancing one step at a time? Ride this from now on."
"Nice."
Vroom—
Couldn't snag a fancy model on short notice at night, but no matter.
Roarrrrr!
The moment Seo Cheon-seul mounted and revved it, the frame turned gold—and the wheels into blazing golden fire-wheels.
"Woooah!? What's that? Where'd you get it?"
"Not for sale. Ride it, Thousand Gold Captain, and even your coal van would spew fire across water."
"Ah, goblin perks—make me rich make me rich make me rich."
"Bahahaha! Farewell then! I'll deliver your parcel to the Ten Thousand Gold King!"
The sun was rising.
"Bahahaha—"
Vroooom! Roarrrrr!
Seo Cheon-seul fled westward like dodging the dawn, trailing a long golden streak.
"Master—no... Shin-hwa-nim, you alright?"
Heo Sang-hyeon.
Unlike usual, his shirt buttons were half-undone in disarray, and his normally neat hair was a total mess, half-hiding his big eyes.
"Yeah, more worried about you, Sang-hyeon-ssi."
Jang Hyeon-deok was already chipper—yang energy in the booze?
"Never... drunk this much before... That jar was..."
Seo Cheon-seul's booze jar still sat in the living room. Wondering how one jar yielded so much?
"That leftover alone could fill a swimming pool."
"Ugh, right..."
"Alright, let's head in and clean up?"
Heave-ho—pulled an all-nighter partying, but not tired at all. Overflowing with unprecedented vigor, even.
* * *
A night enchanted by a goblin—or actually enchanted by one? Anyway, once that wild night ended, everyday life resumed as always.
My routine was monotonously cyclic.
Holed up in a dark basement researching surreal magics, emerging at dusk to throw myself into perilous scraps as a fixer.
Boom!
"Graaaah!"
Ah, lately, it's a bit special.
Picking jobs Tudor selects, focused on ones tied to certain groups.
"Abyss Hunter! So you've come this far!"
"What's with that cringey title?"
The fake monks of Sangbul Temple, devotees of the Elephant Buddha, ignored my question and bellowed.
"Why attack us! Why!"
"Decided to wipe out every last one worshiping that elephant-lookalike. Anyway, no more words? Come on, all together: 'Hyaah—charge!'"
"Hyaah—charge!"