Chapter 344
Chapter 344
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 344
Chapter Title: Mother
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‘...Did I meet the conditions?’
There was no time to question it.
The moment the system message appeared, Lee Hyuk-soo’s body was engulfed in a blinding light and transported somewhere far away.
The familiar sensation of spatial translocation.
But this was incomparably more intense and violent than before.
Whiiirrr—!
When he came to his senses, he was standing in the center of a massive circular arena.
“......!”
The overwhelming spectator stands encircled him on all sides.
But they weren’t filled with human crowds.
Indistinct black shadows packed the seats, filling the air with an ominous low rumble—whispers or cheers, it was impossible to tell.
The floor was covered in dark crimson sand.
Scattered everywhere were shattered weapon fragments and unidentifiable stains, remnants of past brutal battles.
The sky was dyed blood-red like a sunset glow, and a faint stench of blood and death lingered in the air.
Death’s Colosseum. The name fit perfectly.
How did I get in here?
He had no idea. The condition was supposed to be the ‘incarnation.’
Lee Hyuk-soo felt a moment of bewilderment, but he quickly regained his composure.
He didn’t know the reason, but he’d succeeded in entering the Colosseum interior—his goal.
Now the challenge was surviving this place, finding the path to Valhalla, and meeting Dagon.
His gaze fixed on a point in the empty air.
Floating in the blood-red sky like a mirage was a number, counting down rapidly.
A match set to begin in 5 minutes.
Shing.
Without hesitation, Lee Hyuk-soo drew the Greatsword of the Lion King.
Rumble—!
The massive iron gate on the opposite side of the arena groaned open.
From the deep darkness beyond, two red glowing eyes flashed amid heavy breathing.
Grrrrrr!
With earth-shaking footsteps, his first opponent finally emerged.
An undead giant clad in steel armor—broken and rusted in places—wielding a massive axe.
Its eyes burned with hatred for all living things.
“Undead, huh.”
Lee Hyuk-soo murmured softly as he tightened his grip on his sword.
His gaze was fixed unyieldingly on the approaching behemoth.
The path to Park Chan-woo would never be easy from the start.
Boom!
The undead giant swung its enormous axe and charged at Lee Hyuk-soo.
His first match had begun.
“Hyuk-soo, why are you pushing yourself so hard?”
In the special patient room.
Lee Hyuk-soo’s mother, Kim Ji-yeon, propped herself up in bed and looked at her son with worried eyes as she spoke.
Having miraculously awakened from her vegetative state, she was still recovering, but her concern for her son was as strong as ever.
No—even greater, now that the world had changed so drastically.
“...Mother. I told you. I’m trying to create a safe world.”
Lee Hyuk-soo replied in as gentle a voice as he could manage.
“Does it have to be you? There are plenty of others. I’ve heard there are strong heroes besides you.”
Kim Ji-yeon pleaded earnestly, grasping her son’s hand.
She wanted him to stay out of dangerous fights.
Lee Hyuk-soo’s heart grew heavy under his mother’s warm touch and anxious gaze.
He wasn’t without the fleeting wish to return to being an ordinary son by her side.
But he knew better.
He had no right to that—or the leisure for it.
“The others... of course they’re strong.”
Lee Hyuk-soo opened his mouth quietly.
“But Mother, there are things only I can do.”
His eyes drifted briefly to some distant point.
In that short moment, countless threats and nightmarish scenes flashed through his mind.
Abyss entities beyond comprehension, cunning demons and creators’ schemes, and at the center of it all, one man who miraculously turned the tide like a miracle.
The world is far more dangerous and complicated than you imagine, Mother.
It was a thought he couldn’t voice aloud.
He couldn’t show his barely recovered mother the raw horror of this hellish reality.
The Abyss known to ordinary people was merely the tip of the iceberg.
Beneath it lurked an unimaginable abyss, and those who peered into it could never return unchanged.
“Because of what I’ve seen and experienced firsthand... problems have arisen that only I know about, or only I can solve. I can’t turn away from them, Mother.”
He continued, carefully concealing the parts she might not grasp.
“Raw strength alone isn’t enough. This world is riddled with rules and traps we don’t understand. I just know a little more of the way. If someone has to face that darkness head-on, I believe it should be me.”
His gaze returned to his mother lying in the bed.
The miraculous warmth he’d regained. His brother Min-o’s face. The world they would live in.
She’s opened her eyes again... I can’t let her live in a world like this. At the very least, I have to create a safe world where she can enjoy a normal life without worry.
That was the greatest reason he couldn’t set down his sword.
A safe world for his mother to live in.
For that, he could brave any danger.
And the key to it all lies with the Prophet.
Lee Hyuk-soo repeated inwardly.
Park Chan-woo.
He wasn’t just some powerhouse.
He was a being who saw what no one else could and forged paths no one else imagined.
Only he might know the end of this hellish Abyss—or even create it.
I have to find him. Only when he returns... can Mother, and everyone, truly be safe. That’s why I can’t give up. If not me, who else would dive into that danger to find him?
He had to find him.
No matter what.
Even if it meant his death.
“All right... if that’s your will... how can your mother stop you.”
Kim Ji-yeon’s eyes welled with tears as she gripped her son’s hand tightly.
A complex mix of pride, heartache, and gnawing worry.
“But Hyuk-soo, promise me. No matter the danger, put yourself first. Don’t be reckless—always come back alive.”
Her voice trembled faintly.
“That... Prophet you mentioned.”
Kim Ji-yeon continued cautiously.
She had heard the name a few times through her son.
Humanity’s hidden ally—or savior.
“I noticed... your eyes light up differently when you talk about him.”
She seemed to be peering into the depths of her son’s heart.
“I hope that Prophet guides you well and keeps you safe. Don’t shoulder everything alone... join forces with him. Please, please come back safe, my son.”
She had no choice but to entrust her son’s safety—and the vague hope of the world’s salvation—to this ‘Prophet.’
Her words were both worry for her son and a desperate prayer for the one he had to find.
“......Yes, Mother.”
Lee Hyuk-soo’s throat tightened; he couldn’t manage more.
The fact that he owed even his mother’s life to Park Chan-woo weighed heavier on his heart, making it all the more urgent.
No matter the cost, he had to find Park Chan-woo.
Beyond his mission for humanity, it was a desperate journey to repay a personal debt and protect his family.
Lee Hyuk-soo made a solemn vow in his heart and squeezed the hand holding his mother’s.
“I promise. I’ll come back alive.”
With those short words, he turned with heavy steps and left the room.
His mother’s tears and prayers followed his back.
Hah... hah... hah!
Ragged breaths tore from his lungs.
Lee Hyuk-soo staggered, on the verge of collapse, barely propping himself up by stabbing the Greatsword of the Lion King into the ground.
I have to survive.
In his fading consciousness, his mother’s face and his promise flashed before him.
He gritted his teeth.
He couldn’t fall here.
The road ahead was still long.
He had to find Park Chan-woo and protect humanity.
He downed a potion and caught his breath harshly.
Blue lightning flowed from his wounds to staunch the bleeding, while his depleted stamina and mana slowly recovered.
Recovery time was short.
With the system message, the opposite iron gate opened again, and a new opponent slithered out.
This one was a chimera-type beast with agile movements.
Then came endless battles.
Steel golems, spectral knights, tentacled horrors, even warriors seemingly kidnapped from other dimensions.
Opponents kept changing, growing steadily stronger.
Lee Hyuk-soo swung his sword without respite.
I have to survive.
The Greatsword of the Lion King spat sword energy, cleaving and piercing foes.
Dozens, hundreds of swings.
His body became a mass of wounds, mana depleting over and over.
He couldn’t count how many times he brushed death’s door.
But he didn’t fall.
His promise to his mother, his obsession to find Park Chan-woo, and his duty as the Sword King kept pulling him to his feet.
How much time had passed?
Finally, after felling yet another formidable foe—a massive winged half-demon—he caught his breath, drenched in blood and sweat.
Champion challenge qualification.
He’d finally made it this far.
The end of this endless gauntlet was in sight.
“......”
Lee Hyuk-soo exhaled raggedly and shook the blood from his greatsword.
Every muscle screamed in protest, but his eyes burned sharper than ever.
“No reason not to.”
As he accepted the challenge, the entire Colosseum shook violently, like an earthquake.
The shadows in the stands roared in frenzy, and the arena floor split open as a massive platform rose from the center.
Then, at one end of the arena, a gate far grander and more imposing than the one he’d entered through—crafted from obsidian, perhaps—began to creak open.
A premonition of an opponent on an entirely different level.
Lee Hyuk-soo gathered his last reserves of strength and regripped his sword.
Swish......
Finally, someone stepped out from beyond the gate.
No dramatic entrance.
Silently, as if seeping from the shadows, a figure emerged.
Its body was shrouded in black, face indiscernible, but the aura it exuded was deeper and more chilling than any foe before.
No warmth of life—just pure killing intent and the poise of a honed warrior.
And in its hand... a massive sword of familiar shape.
......!
Lee Hyuk-soo’s eyes widened.
He recognized that presence and the sword’s form.
He could never forget.
The gatekeeper from the second night, in Khan’s palace.
The shadow warrior Park Chan-woo had revived in that bizarre way.
“Ajos......!”