Audhumla's Milk

"0.02? Ah, so that's it."

Checking Asgard's share price again, he found it had climbed 0.02% since his initial purchase.

Wait a second. That meant—

"If it drops, the trait experience drops too?"

Would a negative return demote the trait entirely?

Fortunately, that didn't happen. Asgard's dimension had plunged to –0.04% in an instant, but the trait's experience simply reset to zero.

Whew.

Sunghyun wiped the cold sweat from his brow.

"So it grows according to the rise in whatever stock I invest in… but if that stock falls, I have to give the growth back."

What was this?

It was easy.

An investment method that never took a real loss — that was the one thing Sunghyun had always been best at back on Earth.

No wonder the legendary Buffett himself had once said, from a public stage:

"I recently met a young Korean man. Looking at his investment style, it felt as if I'd gone back in time. No — not quite. He was investing more perfectly than I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠ever had at that age."

Investment was Sunghyun's specialty.

He smiled.

"Haha. This is fun."

Coming back to the present, he checked the new shop listings that had appeared after purchasing Asgard stock.

When he opened the shop, the Asgard and Hermopolis dimension catalogs were listed separately.

Tapping into the Asgard list, he found items cleanly arranged all the way up to A-rank.

"Ooh. Some of these names sound vaguely familiar."

Traits, skills, equipment — names that rang a bell from somewhere on Earth.

But for the most part, the only standouts were the occasional famous god's name mixed in. Nothing truly practical.

"What the hell is this? This is A-rank?"

There were items whose purpose he couldn't begin to guess — and those were the ones priced obscenely high, which only made them more interesting.

Odd curiosities aside, nothing famous enough for him to recognize on sight.

"Then why did my instinct go off?"

Maybe…

Sunghyun left the A-rank goods behind and checked B-rank.

There it was.

Truth?

A dubious feeling stirred, but Sunghyun bought Audhumla's Milk anyway.

Wiiing—

A hole opened in midair, and a single wooden bowl appeared.

"It just hands it over like that?"

Sunghyun stared at the white liquid sloshing inside the bowl.

"So I just… drink it?"

His instinct gave no reaction to the milk itself. It only pressed at him, as if urging him to hurry up and drink.

"Hmm… looks like ordinary milk…"

Gulp! Gulp!

Sunghyun put his mouth to the bowl and downed it in one go. The milk slid cleanly down his throat. He wiped his lips with the back of his hand.

"Ahh~. Tastes great, at least."

Easily the best milk he'd ever had.

Except—

"What the hell? Why isn't anything happening?"

Nothing changed after he finished the milk.

"A scam…?"

The moment Sunghyun furrowed his brow—

"Urgh!"

He clutched his chest and collapsed. At the same time, a pure white veil rose around his fallen body, and a man appeared.

"Whew! Found him. Seriously, where the hell did this human Kim Sunghyun even get Audhumla's milk?"

Hermes, master of the dimension.

After Hayato's party had left, Hermes had turned the entire planet upside down searching for Sunghyun. He'd saved the Forest of Demonic Beasts for last, half-expecting nothing — and the moment he found him, the man was pulling Audhumla's milk out of thin air.

"Huh? Wait, that's— Audhumla's milk? Where did he even— wait, wait, wait! He's drinking it right here? Oh, for fuck's—!"

Thud—

Hermes had heard plenty of stories about Audhumla's milk, and he'd drunk it himself once. He knew exactly what happened when a human drank it.

Fortunately, Sunghyun had taken precisely 150ml.

Hermes picked up the empty bowl that had fallen to the ground.

"How the hell did he even know the right amount? This is insane. Guess all I can do is wait."

Hermes settled against a nearby tree and waited, staring at Sunghyun without end.

"When's he going to wake up…"

Sunghyun had lost consciousness — and yet he hadn't.

More precisely, it felt as if his soul had left his body and was being carried somewhere else.

What the hell? Where am I going!

The sheer speed made it impossible to think straight. When his mind finally settled, he looked around.

Fortunately, he could still move — though his body was translucent.

Except—

Where is this? My voice won't come out.

Without a physical body, no sound left his mouth. He was like a ghost.

Looking around, Sunghyun recognized the place at once.

A place he could never return to. A place he missed desperately.

The old house where I lived with Mother and Father.

Sunghyun closed his eyes for a moment, as if gathering his thoughts.

"Oh my, Sunghyun, have you been well?"

A familiar voice. His body moved toward it as if drawn.

Mother…?

His steps slowed, savoring the sweetness of the memory. When he reached the source of the voice, the person he had always longed for was alive and moving.

"Ururururu, peekaboo!"

His mother held a baby in her arms, laughing brightly. A younger version of his father watched them with a warm smile.

Looking at the baby, a familiar memory surfaced.

That's… me?

It was identical to the childhood photos that had hung in their house.

Why is it showing me this?

He couldn't understand why Audhumla's milk would present him with this scene.

Then, suddenly, both parents left the room. Sunghyun fixed his eyes on the child. He reached out a finger, about to touch him—

"I wouldn't do that if I were you."

An old man was standing beside him as if he'd always been there.

Snow-white hair and beard, golden eyes, a body of immense power.

What… what is this? This isn't an illusion?

"Hmm? Illusion… illusion, is it. Ah, so that's how it is. You must be young Sunghyun, then?"

The old man looked straight at him, eyes gleaming.

The deduction was far too fast. Sunghyun's eyes trembled violently.

H-how did you—

"Seeing as you can't speak, you must have drunk Audhumla's milk. Haha! So that's what happened. It seems I succeeded, then. Tell me, boy — where are you right now?"

Hermopol— wait. I can't even talk, so how are we having a conversation…?

Watching the old man read his thoughts, Sunghyun felt a deep unease.

The old man stroked his beard and smiled.

"That much is nothing. Now then — judging by the fact that you're carrying my lightning, my plan appears to have succeeded to some degree. And your talent… hmm. Oho? Haha! Beyond even my expectations! And Hermes's dimension, no less. I rather like this."

My lightning? Wait—

What exactly are you talking about?

"You seem to have roughly figured it out. Yes — as you guessed, I am Zeus, the original master of that lightning. I preside over one of the dimensional halls."

Ze…us?

"Hmm? You don't know me? My stories are rather widespread in the Earth dimension, aren't they?"

No, it's not that — I was just startled. By the way, do you know why I'm here?

Sunghyun carefully formed the will behind the question. Zeus read that will and answered.

"The truth obtained through Audhumla's milk is connected to the will of the universe. So it is not easy for me to know that will precisely. Still, a few things can be inferred. Yes."

Such as…?

Sunghyun's brows lifted.

"I'll tell you that in due time. First — your instinct. Do you know what that instinct of yours actually is?"

Sunghyun's eyes trembled.

His instinct? He'd turned over many theories over the years, but never found an answer. Did Zeus know it?

And why was Zeus being so kind to him? Could it be that—

Before Sunghyun could spiral into strange suspicions, Zeus waved a hand and cut the thought short.

"Haha! No need to overthink it. I hold considerable goodwill toward you, so I'll simply tell you myself."

Zeus held goodwill toward him…? That was not entirely welcome news.

"What kind of nonsense is that. Tch! The media has ruined people. Simply put: if I help you, a destiny arises in which I will later receive great help in return. That is why I am aiding you. The help I give will likely be the lightning you already carry — and the truth about your instinct that I am about to share. Setting aside the secondary matters."

Destiny? Help?

Sunghyun's head jerked back as if struck.

"You seem confused. Your senses are probably running wild as well."

How did ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠he know that?

"I can see it all. Yes. You must have some vague sense of what your talent is, no? There must have been many times in your life — unconsciously grabbing an umbrella just before it rains, or oversleeping and missing a bus that later overturns."

That was right. Sunghyun had experienced such things with eerie frequency.

That day had been no different.

"That day? Ah, I see. Your talent was so deeply buried in the unconscious that ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠it only managed to save you."

From mere fragments of information, Zeus had pieced together exactly what had happened to him. It truly felt like standing before the king of the gods.

It was exactly as he said. One day at twenty, on his way home from university, Sunghyun had simply not wanted to go home. He'd called a friend who lived nearby and started drinking. Then his phone rang. It was his father. Anxious, he'd answered immediately. His father's trembling voice asked where he was. When Sunghyun said he ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠was out drinking nearby, his father told him to come to the hospital at once.

He'd been terrified. Breath caught high in his throat. At the hospital, his father told him everything. In the hours he hadn't come home, a fire had broken out in the house before dawn.

That night his father had been buried in work, so only his mother had been home. His instinct had never told him what was about to happen.

And so he had said goodbye to one of his stars.

As Zeus said, his senses had saved him. But put another way—

They had only saved him.

"An unconscious talent is like that. But now — you can consciously awaken that sense of yours, can't you?"

He was right.

Ever since falling into another world, Sunghyun had been able to consciously control his instinct. He simply hadn't thought about it deeply. He hadn't had the luxury.

"Do you know why? Why you can consciously regulate that sense now?"

Earth — the you who lived on Earth, and the you who fell onto Hermes's planet. There is a fundamental difference between those two.

A fundamental difference?

Something flashed through Sunghyun's mind.

— You awaken.

"Exactly. That is it. Your awakening."