Chapter 274
Chapter 274
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 274
Chapter Title: 89. Partner (2)
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Time flew by, and the weekend arrived.
Travel day. Or rather, training day had dawned.
Yeoreum, who had gotten a message from Yoo Ji-tae, informed her team that she'd be gone for a week. The ranking competition was ending in a month—taking a whole week off? But after the grueling past three months, Team Mochi accepted her request without complaint. Everyone was mentally pushed to their limits. They needed the break.
The time Yoo Ji-tae pulled up in the car at the promised spot to wait for Yeoreum.
"……."
Winter sat in the passenger seat, arms crossed.
This blue-haired kid was thoroughly displeased with the situation.
"…Why are you going together?"
"Who? Yeoreum?"
"…Yeah."
"I was originally planning to go just the two of us."
"……?"
That made it even more displeasing.
Yoo Ji-tae was just staring at his watch. Winter pulled a sulky face for a while, but with no one paying attention, she finally relaxed it.
Still, she couldn't stop grumbling.
"…Why a water trip…."
Her words paused briefly.
She was wondering if saying this made her seem too childish. Winter pouted her lips and grumbled a bit more before continuing.
"…Going to a water park, but… you didn't invite… me…."
"Water park?"
"……."
"Oh. Winter. Looks like you've got the wrong idea."
"……?"
"I wasn't taking Yeoreum out to play. She's going there to train."
"…Train?"
At a tourist spot?
"…What about me?"
"You're playing with me."
Only then did Winter's pout slowly retract. If that was the case, she could accept it.
That was when someone yanked open the passenger door.
It was Yeoreum, her bob haircut grown out a bit longer since last time.
"Hello!"
"Hop in."
"Man, it's been forever. Huh? The blue kid's here too."
Not particularly thrilled to see her despite the time apart, Winter just wiggled her fingers in a half-hearted wave. Yeoreum suddenly scooped Winter up, slid into the passenger seat, and plopped her on her lap.
"……!?"
Winter nearly freaked out at being sat on Yeoreum's lap but hesitated, then held back.
It was because of the scars covering Yeoreum's hands gripping her waist. Plus, Yeoreum's expression played a part. Her usually grumpy face wore a faint smile.
It was a bit more annoying, but you don't spit in the face of a smile.
"You've gotten heavy since I last saw you."
"…Huh?"
"Stop stuffing your face and playing around all day. Manage your weight. Don't wanna turn into a pig again like last time?"
"…Mind your own?"
"Your double chin was hilarious back then."
"…Hands. Off."
The two bickered.
Meanwhile, the car sped toward the warp station. They passed through to Southeast Asia, then followed a rift into the dimension of the "Silent Sea."
When they opened their eyes again.
A mystical scene unfolded before them.
It was a cylindrical world.
A world where the horizon felt incredibly close. Gazing far out, it looked like a transparent membrane wrapped around the horizon beyond the sea.
The sea lived up to its name—profoundly still. No wind. Gray skies held clouds that didn't move. Despite its vast size worthy of being called an ocean, not a single ripple disturbed its surface.
Winter thought it felt like a world where time had stopped.
Far out in this "Silent Sea."
About two nautical miles from the coastal rift was a tiny outcrop of rock. That's where they decided to stay.
He pitched a tent with his field kit right after arriving and lit an inextinguishable campfire with his gear.
Yeoreum sighed at the world of nothing but water in every direction.
"Whoa. This place is reeeally boriiiing…."
She scanned from near to far. Everywhere she looked, only the water mana she despised.
"……Freakin' hate it."
Meanwhile, Winter had already kicked off her shoes and dipped both feet in the water. Splash, splash. The still surface rippled from her kicking.
"From now on, you're starting training."
"Yeah. I'm ready."
Yoo Ji-tae spoke as he rummaged through his gear.
"The water in this Silent Sea has one unique trait."
"What's that?"
"The water-attribute mana particles form complex hook shapes."
"Hooks?"
"Yeah. They don't leave much room for other attributes to interfere. Viscosity's ridiculously high. Trying to boil ramen with this water? It'll take at least three hours. Even in the middle of it, there's 'water that devours heat.'"
"Whoa. Yeah, feels like it…."
Yeoreum eyed the water suspiciously.
"It looks super thick too, right? Same principle?"
"Exactly. The complex hook-shaped mana particles tangle with each other. It affects the material world too. Surface tension's intense. Might feel like a swamp."
Just standing here was unpleasant enough, but Yeoreum nodded nonchalantly.
"You look confident. Feeling good?"
"Confident? Dunno about that. But I can't exactly say I'm not."
He recalled her worries.
"You mentioned feeling mana depletion?"
"Yeah."
Yeoreum replayed the past three months' battles in her mind. Fighting on the front lines. Fighting again. And again. At some point, her heart felt empty.
"Whenever it got too tough, my polymorph kept trying to break. Running wild alone for hours, but mana always ran short."
Bitter tone.
If there were a hundred dragons, her innate talent would rank around 98th. Pathetic by dragon standards.
Starting with hatching a hundred years later than her peers.
"Yeoreum. Listen up."
"Huh?"
"I'm about to tell you something really important."
Yoo Ji-tae's voice turned deadly serious.
"Mana flows as much as you desire it."
"Yeah, I know."
Mana was the power to manifest will into physical space-time.
"If you want to hold more mana in your heart. What do you think you need?"
"Dunno? Holding stronger will for longer?"
"No. Time can be short. You need stronger will."
"Stronger will……."
"Time is just opportunity. The young get more chances to build strong will."
To break limits.
Beings must face extreme situations.
"Ten years or a hundred with half-hearted will? Minimal change. But crave it desperately for just a week like your life's on the line? Massive mana will crystallize in your dragon heart. Beyond imagination."
Advice from experience.
In this water, Yeoreum would experience real-time suffocation. To survive, she'd have to maximize her heart's mana to protect herself.
Tents all set. Yoo Ji-tae stood.
"Honestly, I'm a bit worried about this."
"Why worry about something you haven't even started? I'm fine. My motivation's through the roof right now."
He held back.
When Yoo Ji-tae said he was worried, it meant there was reason to be. This training was that dangerous. That painful. He'd done it himself.
But Yeoreum had to do it now.
Her twenty years of playtime weren't long. Maybe no different from two years. Half-hearted will didn't change with time anyway.
Just once. One desperate moment like death was near—that's all it took. Failing that one moment meant never changing.
"The sea here's narrow but deep. Deeper than most earthly bays. I planted three identical flags down there. 200m, 500m, and even deeper. Retrieve all three."
"Got it! Right now?"
"You won't get all three at once. Start with 200m."
"Roger!"
Yeoreum was still upbeat. Even though just standing here choked her.
But that confidence wouldn't last….
"Brace yourself mentally."
"Did that on the drive over."
"Do it more. Armor your mind in advance."
"Aigoo, why so serious? Doesn't suit you. I said I'm good. You don't trust me?"
Yeoreum pounded her chest, eyeing his expression.
"Last warning. No matter how rough, endure. Can't find the flags? Don't come back."
"Jeez, nagging. This is like the thirtieth time."
"Listen well. Once training starts, I'll be harsh. Won't ask for understanding."
Some things allowed no compromise. His words carried that weight. Yeoreum yelled with a dazed look.
"I won't come back! Drown and die, fish out my floating corpse! Happy now?"
She had to do it now.
Failing now meant never.
Yoo Ji-tae nodded.
"Hey, Master."
Before entering the water. Yeoreum tied her hair up, her voice calmer.
"I never rushed you for the next training, right?"
"You didn't."
"Wanted to nag daily but held back. Figured there was a reason. But I never dreamed it'd take a full year without teaching me anything big. Jeez, how long I waited for today?"
"……."
"So what if it's tough? I've endured worse every day. Right? Pain and hardship I can take. But weakness? Can't stand that."
Yeoreum yanked down her tracksuit zipper. Training top underneath. Scars covered her body. Three months' lifestyle hit home. She kept them to wear proudly.
Yeoreum held out the tracksuit.
"Ah, smokes in the pocket. Keep 'em outta this filthy water."
"Got it."
"200m, 500m, and deeper. Start with 200m, right?"
"Yeah."
"Okay. When I bring back the 200m flag…."
She tapped index and middle fingers to her lips. Cigarette break.
"Deal?"
"Yeah."
"Then I'm off."
Splash—Yeoreum dove in.
Ripples faded. Splashes stilled. Bubbles vanished. He peered into the blacker-than-blue depths.
One thing he hadn't told Yeoreum.
Mana manifests will. Hook-shaped attribute mana arises from will to cling desperately. In other words, this vast pool was one giant trap. And all "traps" are set by "hunters."
A hunter lurked in those deeps.
Yeoreum, who dove in boldly, didn't go far before snapping her eyes open and freezing in place.
The seawater began choking her throat. It entangled her whole body. Amid friction so intense it made her want to vomit, her fire mana started tearing away.
'No one said it'd be like this……?'
He'd only called it swamp-like. Wrong. The sea was alive, moving.
200m seemed easy. Should've woken her heart with breathing first.
Yeoreum looked up at the surface. Barely 10m down. Better go up, use Kal-Gulakwa breathing to ignite her heart's mana.
That's when she tried surfacing.
Grab—!
A large, rough hand blocked her head.
'What the hell? Just gonna go up for a sec!'
Definitely Yoo Ji-tae's hand. Yeoreum grabbed the wrist to shove it away. But it wouldn't budge. She squirmed more, and it slammed her body back down with brute force.
Her head spun from the impact. Plummeting a dozen meters in an instant, Yeoreum's eyes widened.
Yoo Ji-tae looked down from above.
"……!"
Yeoreum sensed something was wrong.