Chapter 171
I Became the Successor of the Martial God
Chapter 171.
And at the very moment Yoo Baek-jun was leaving the North Sea and returning to his original world—
Whooosh!
“…Huh?”
The Eternal Ice Crystal vibrated.
Seol Hwa-ryeon took out the Eternal Ice Crystal from her embrace. She didn’t know why, but it was shimmering brightly.
Then, the light flew away at an incredible speed and disappeared beyond the gate that was about to close.
“…Huh?”
Seol Hwa-ryeon tilted her head in confusion.
It felt like something had slipped out, but no matter how she examined the Eternal Ice Crystal, nothing seemed to have changed.
She tucked the Eternal Ice Crystal back into her embrace and looked at the spot where Yoo Baek-jun had been.
“Great Hero, may you stay safe until the day we meet again.”
As she was about to take a step, Seol Hwa-ryeon suddenly remembered a fundamental problem.
“Oh no, I forgot to ask for his name.”
* * *
Yoo Baek-jun emerged from the gate.
Outside was a snowy mountain similar to the one beyond the gate. Here too, a relentless blizzard was raging.
Brushing aside the numerous messages floating before his eyes, Yoo Baek-jun hurriedly moved forward.
“Ugh, the tent. Where did I put the tent?”
—Growl!
Seol-yeong, as if knowing where it was, went ahead, and there was a large tent where the beast had gone.
It was the tent he had set up before crossing through the gate.
He had planned to rest here for about a day before returning to his family.
“Whew! Human psychology is something else.”
Perhaps because he had wandered the snowy plains for so long, he was utterly sick of being battered by the blizzard.
Even though he barely felt the cold.
—Growl, cough, grooowl.
Seol-yeong shook the snow off its fur and began licking various parts of its body.
Yoo Baek-jun turned on the heater inside the tent and checked the messages that had appeared earlier.
[Gate objective achieved.]
[As a conquest reward, the Frozen Soul palm has been enhanced, and traits and items related to the North Sea Ice Palace have been granted.]
[Trait: Master of Ice Techniques (A) has been acquired.]
[Item: Frost Ring (A) has been obtained.]
Several achievements had also been unlocked.
[Achievement: Ice Diving unlocked.]
[Ice Diving: Survived after diving under a frozen glacier for an extended period and moving through it.]
[Reward: 300P granted.]
[Achievement: One Against a Hundred unlocked.]
[One Against a Hundred: Successfully fought against numerous enemies alone and inflicted significant damage.]
[Reward: 300P granted, and the Massacrer (B) rank has been upgraded by one level.]
[Achievement: Explorer of the North Sea unlocked.]
[Explorer of the North Sea: Completed a quest important enough to change the future of the North Sea. Your exploration is altering the fate of the North Sea.]
[Reward: 500P granted, and a C-rank trait enhancement upgrade ticket has been obtained.]
Three achievements in total.
This North Sea Ice Palace gate was quite a significant event. If not cleared, the future of the North Sea Ice Palace would have been completely different.
‘If cleared, a follow-up event would trigger, leading Seol Hwa-ryeon to seek revenge on the North Sea Ice Palace. If not, Seol Hwa-ryeon would die falling off a cliff.’
And the North Sea Ice Palace would fall into the hands of Bing Cheon-ak, who obtained the Eternal Ice Crystal.
He had changed that fate.
“Hmm, a C-rank trait enhancement upgrade ticket.”
This was different from ordinary upgrade or enhancement tickets.
[C-rank Trait Enhancement Upgrade Ticket]
―A ticket that can instantly upgrade a C-rank trait to B+ rank.
―Cannot be obtained through ordinary means.
Needless to say, it was a valuable item. The question was which trait to upgrade with it.
‘Should I learn a new C-rank trait and upgrade it, or…’
Yoo Baek-jun rummaged through his status window.
Coincidentally, there was one C-rank trait: Energizer. A trait he had learnt earlier on.
[Energizer (C)]
―Your body does not tire easily, and fatigue recovers faster than an average person’s.
“This… isn’t bad.”
His memory was a bit hazy, but…
This trait, when upgraded to B-rank or higher, transforms into a new trait with additional effects.
He had learned this while upgrading various traits after first obtaining the Book of the Martial God.
“Hmm. Well, sounds good.”
He currently has 3,200P.
Since there was one trait he needed to learn, spending points on a C-rank trait felt wasteful.
Yoo Baek-jun decided to upgrade Energizer.
Whoosh!
As he tore the ticket, a bright light flashed, and the words ‘Energizer‘ in his status window shimmered.
Shortly after, the words ‘Energizer‘ disappeared, and new text began to appear.
[Vitality Surge (B+)]
―Your body does not tire easily even after strenuous activity, and short rests can recover fatigue.
―Boiling blood enhances the effects of recovery methods and reduces blood loss when injured.
―Additionally, magic recovery speed is increased.
Energizer had transformed into a new trait: Vitality Surge at B+ rank.
A pretty decent trait.
Considering how expensive it would be to buy outright, he had saved a lot of points.
“Feels like life is returning to this body…”
—Meow?
Yoo Baek-jun felt a surge of energy returning to his exhausted body.
The trait’s effects were kicking in.
Satisfied, he was about to check the rewards from the conquest when—
“Huh?!”
—Meow?!
Something flew into the tent as the door flung open. A shimmering sphere of light.
The sphere hovered before Yoo Baek-jun, then burst with a cheerful ’pop’.
The cold energy inside spread out, flowing into the Frost Ring and Yoo Baek-jun.
―An unknown cold energy has imbued you and the Frost Ring. As a result, the Frost Ring’s rank has increased, and a trait has been altered.
“…Huh?”
This was an unexpected message.
Unknown cold energy. Yoo Baek-jun pondered what it could be.
And the light that had flown in earlier…
“…The Eternal Ice Crystal?”
Something suddenly came to mind.
During the North Sea Ice Palace event, he had experienced something similar…
[Due to the unknown cold energy, Master of Ice Techniques (A) has changed to Ice Blood (A+).]
[Due to the unknown cold energy, Master of the Extreme Cold (A) has been upgraded by one rank.]
Yoo Baek-jun checked his status window.
Two things had changed: Master of Ice Techniques and Master of the Extreme Cold.
[Ice Blood (A+)]
―Your blood has frozen cold. A trait only those of the North Sea Ice Palace can possess.
―Greatly enhances the power of ice technique and reduces Magical power consumption when using them.
―All North Sea Ice Palace skills gain an additional rank increase, and additional effects occur when executing North Sea Ice Palace martial arts.
―Greatly increases the reserve and regeneration speed of Elemental ice magic.
[Master of the Extreme Cold (A+)]
―You can freely wield extreme cold.
―Greatly increases the power of cold-related skills and reduces magical power consumption.
―You no longer feel cold, and your physical abilities strengthen in colder environments.
―Gains high resistance to ice-attribute attacks and immunity to freezing-related status effects.
Yoo Baek-jun let out a small exclamation.
He hadn’t expected Master of the Extreme Cold to upgrade. High resistance to cold-based attacks and complete immunity to freezing status effects.
And Ice Blood.
“This is… quite valuable.”
In terms of P, this trait was easily worth over 2,000P. While its performance justified the cost, spending 2,000P on it would have been questionable.
Given the nature of ice techniques, it was hard to see significant effects outside of North Sea Ice Palace martial arts.
‘But if it’s free, why not?’
The puzzling part was why the Eternal Ice Crystal had given him such a gift.
“Hmm…”
He pondered but couldn’t find an answer.
Heroes Road was a game with many variables, so it might just be one of those things.
Yoo Baek-jun slipped the ring onto his finger.
[Frost Ring (A+)]
A ring crafted from the essence gifted by frost fairies. Contains immense power.
―Options: Freeze Enhancement, Fairy Affinity
―Skill: Blizzard Storm
*Freeze Enhancement: Enhances freeze-attribute attacks.
*Fairy Affinity: Increases affinity with fairies, making it easier to form contracts.
*Blizzard Storm: Summons frost fairies to unleash a blizzard accompanied by hail.
And an A+-rank item to boot.
For its rank, it had some disappointing aspects. Especially Fairy Affinity. This option suited a spirit-summoner-type hunter more than him.
The saving grace was that it was a ring with a skill. That would surely come in handy.
“Now, all that’s left is to spend the P, right?”
He had 3,000P, a hefty sum, and one trait to learn. But before that—
“Let’s rest for now.”
—Meow.
Yoo Baek-jun lay down on the sleeping bag.
Even with the Vitality Surge trait, the desire to sleep was irresistible.
Seol-yeong climbed on top of him, curling up and closing its eyes.
“…….”
—…….
Soon, the sound of snoring filled the tent.
* * *
After a day’s rest in the tent, Yoo Baek-jun returned to his family.
“Ah, the weather’s nice. So warm.”
—Meow.
Inside the family’s barrier-protected grounds, it was warm—a paradise compared to the harsh environment of the North Sea.
Though outside the family’s walls, the blizzard still raged, but inside was cozy.
“I just want to laze around like this…”
—Purr…
Yoo Baek-jun and Seol-yeong lounged in the room, enjoying their leisure.
Han Seong-ah watched them with concern.
“Young Master, now is not the time to relax. There’s much to be done.”
“Yeah, I guess so…”
“Yoo Kang-ho has successfully conquered a gate. Lately, he’s been active and trying hard to win the family head’s favor.”
“Oh, has he turned over a new leaf?”
“And Yoo Tae-rang… According to Jeon Soo-yeon, he’s secretly sending swordsmen loyal to him to Busan. Very discreetly.”
“I see.”
“…….”
Han Seong-ah pouted.
She had worked hard to gather this information while he was away, but Yoo Baek-jun seemed uninterested.
“Young Master!”
“Yikes, you scared me.”
—Meow?!
Yoo Baek-jun and Seol-yeong jumped in surprise.
“This is no time to relax! You need to act quickly!”
“Instructor Han Seong-ah…”
“Yes, Young Master!”
“Is there a way to coast through life without effort?”
“Huh?”
Yoo Baek-jun muttered blankly.
“I need… a vacation. Summer’s coming up. How about a few days off at Haeundae Beach? The scenery is nice there.”
“You do know monsters appear at Haeundae, right, Young Master?”
“…….”
Yoo Baek-jun let out a deep sigh.
It was common knowledge that gates frequently appeared at Haeundae’s beaches in summer.
“Damn, guess I’ll only rest when I’m dead.”
“Do you really want to rest that badly…?”
“Gah!”
Min Yi-jae suddenly popped up from the floor. This time, even Yoo Baek-jun was startled.
“What the—? Since when did you change your entrance strategy?!”
“Hmm…”
Min Yi-jae seemed satisfied with Yoo Baek-jun’s reaction and fully emerged from the floor.
Han Seong-ah gave him a strange look.
“You have odd hobbies.”
“Hmm…”
“I agree. So, what’s up? You’re not the type to show up without a reason.”
Min Yi-jae nodded quietly.
“Their preparations are complete…”
Preparations.
The meaning was obvious.
“The Cult of Resurrection is about to begin their plan.”
Yoo Baek-jun sighed.
“Expected, but still shocking news.”
The Night of Death event was about to begin.