Versatile Rune (4)
Only now did Hungyo truly understand why Gongmyeong Magong was called a demonic art.
'This agony is beyond anything.' The process was, by its very nature, one of forcing the impossible—staking the practitioner's own innate true qi and his very life as collateral. Of course torment was bound to follow.
- Uuurrrghk!
The firepower that Pokryongi, clad in a full Versatile Rune set, had spent four hours piling up collided with the killing chill of the Nine Yin Severed Meridians, and together they blew Hungyo's body apart from the inside out.
Had things been normal, he would have been force-recalled on the spot. But the wondrous principle of Gongmyeong Magong held his flesh pinned in place, patiently transmuting those two colossal powers into serene, gentle qi.
'Focus!' Hungyo gritted his teeth. His wish to save that girl and be of service to his Lord burned strong, of course—but an even greater hunger gnawed at him.
'I want... to grow strong, too.' Like Pokryongi. Like Aso. He stood at the vanguard for now, but he knew the day would come when he was left behind. He was a Training Instructor—built, quite literally, for training others and nothing more. 'But what if I absorbed that vast ocean of energy?' Then he, too, could become a main force! Beyond teaching others, he could stand at his Lord's side with strength of his own! When the time came, he could even join the push to the hundredth floor of the Tower of Ordeal!
'Then just kill me.'
KWAGAGAGAGAGA!
Hungyo let go of the last rein of control. He flung both channels wide open and drew the energy in with nothing held back. The yin and yang qi rampaged through his insides like a bull gone mad.
PWOK! Every blood vessel in his body seemed to rupture at once, and his whole frame turned a mottled purple-blue. And it didn't end there. Blood streamed from every opening he had—eyes, nose, mouth, every last pore.
- W-will he be all right?
Pokryongi panted hard, her face twisted with dread.
"..."
It pained Baek Jinwoo to watch Hungyo suffer, but he held his silence and simply observed. This was no ordeal being forced upon the man—it was Hungyo's own choice, and a choice deserved respect. 'And yet...' He stole a glance. The face of the girl, who had been moaning at intervals, was visibly easing.
"Haaah... haaaah..."
The yin energy was flowing out of her—which meant Hungyo's treatment truly was working! In effect, he was suffering in her stead, shouldering the agony that should have been hers to bear.
How much time passed like that? At some point, Hungyo closed his eyes and clamped his mouth shut.
- Gghh... mmph.
Even through the agony, he refused to let a single scream escape. He simply endured.
- Lord Jinwoo, my part is done.
Tuk! The moment she drew her staff away, Hungyo's arm slumped down, boneless. And with a soft hiss, his fingers slipped free of the girl's arm they had gripped so tightly.
- Every last wisp of flame energy has passed into him.
Which could only mean the girl was the same. The moans that had poured out of her without pause were gone, and healthy color had returned to her skin. The yin energy of the Nine Yin Severed Meridians had vanished completely, and the meridians it had frozen solid were thawing, working once more as they should!
'The treatment is a complete success.'
The problem was Hungyo.
- ...
Thud! Hungyo lay collapsed where he was, eyes closed. He hadn't been force-recalled, so he wasn't dead yet. But Jinwoo knew—he soon would be. This was the final stretch of the process, cramming as much internal energy as his dantian could hold before the end came.
'You've been through so much.' Truly, what a thankful summon he had. Honestly, what good would strength do Hungyo himself? 'The one who gains is me.' Because his summon's combat power would rise by exactly that much. In other words, Hungyo was enduring that agony for one reason alone: for Baek Jinwoo.
"Thank you, my friend." Baek Jinwoo murmured the words quietly. Could he have heard them, even lost in that agony? The corner of Hungyo's mouth lifted, if only a little.
Poof! In the end, Hungyo was force-recalled. His HP had reached zero. What had become of him, Jinwoo couldn't help but wonder... but five hours would have to pass before he could summon the man again.
Baek Jinwoo reset the summon timers on Ramba, Pokryongi, and Doldori, and had them begin building their stacks anew. Then—clunk! The door swung open, and he stepped out. Cool air wrapped around his whole body as he left the room still sweltering from Hungyo's ordeal.
Jasim stood waiting at the door, worry carved into every line of his face.
"I-is it... is it over?"
How long had he stood there? His face bore the marks of five hours spent choking down the urge to throw the door open at every sound that seeped out of it.
"Yes. It's over."
Baek Jinwoo smiled at him. Ahh—so this was how a surgeon felt after a successful operation? Hungyo was the one who had suffered, yet something triumphant swelled in his chest all the same.
"The treatment was a success. Your daughter is safe."
"Hghk—! Hghhuk!"
Thud! Jasim's legs gave out and he sank to his knees. In the same breath, he stretched both hands upward and clasped Baek Jinwoo's tightly. What words could possibly suffice? Jasim knew with absolute certainty: this, this very moment, was the happiest of his entire life.
"Is it true? Is it really true? Thank you... thank you! Hghhuk!"
"This is no place for that. Go inside and see for yourself."
"Y-yes, sir!"
As if that was all he had been aching to do, Jasim hurried into the room. Slow, steady breathing drifted from within—and then the sleeping girl's eyes fluttered open.
"...Dad?"
It was the first time. The first time words free of moans had ever come from his daughter's lips. And that wasn't all. Not a trace of that chill remained in her body, and her face, no longer pale, brimmed with life.
"My baby girl! Are you truly all right?"
"Dad... I'm not hurting anymore. I'm not cold at all."
"Hghk... hgh-hgh-hghk!" Jasim swept his daughter into his arms and wept. Baek Jinwoo watched the pair in silence for a moment, then turned and walked away—to give the moving reunion of father and daughter its privacy.
A short while later.
"It's nothing fancy, but please, eat." Spread before Baek Jinwoo was a lavish banquet the likes of which he had never seen in his life.
"No, really—you didn't have to go to all this trouble."
"You are the savior of my daughter and me alike. I hardly know how such a debt could ever be repaid. To begin with—the five top-grade Versatile Runes I promised." Jasim sent a trade request and laid the runes into the window. Beyond any doubt, they were genuine, top-grade Versatile Runes.
"Thank you." Baek Jinwoo smiled and pressed Accept. At long last, his collection of Versatile Runes numbered eighteen.
"And please, take this as well." In the fresh trade window sat a most curious summon: the Interpreter Bird (A-rank). A limited-edition summon obtainable only as a reward from the Tower of Ordeal—so long as the creature perched on your shoulder, every human being within its range could speak to and understand one another.
"I must beg you not to refuse this one. You said five Versatile Runes would suffice, but my heart does not agree. Please do not think too heavily of one man's wish to do something—anything—for you."
"...Then I'll accept exactly this much, and nothing more."
As he had said before, he had no desire to line his pockets by exploiting a father's love for his daughter. And yet? He wasn't quite so saintly as to refuse something someone was determined to give him. Especially that bird... it did look pretty useful.
"Hahaha! Thank you! Now then, you must be hungry—shall we start with the meal?"
"No, I'm grateful, truly... but I've pushed myself rather hard. I'd like to rest a little first, if you don't mind."
"Ah... I see."
Truthfully, he was hungry—but he had no appetite. Until he had confirmed Hungyo's condition, he doubted a single bite would go down. '...What a modest man.' Jasim gazed at Baek Jinwoo, moved all over again. How many swindlers had beaten a path to his door over the years? Charlatans claiming his daughter was cursed and demanding fortunes in tribute; others who put an obscene price on her cure and refused to budge. 'Money spent on a man like this is money well spent.' And Jasim? Money was all he had. The oil his wells pumped out year after year and sold across the globe only piled fortune upon fortune, no matter how freely he spent it. 'Yubaek—in South Korea, was it?' Jasim made a quiet vow. Every single year, he would seek out rare items useful to players and send them to Yubaek— anonymously, every time.
South Korea. The Player Zone.
"GRAAAAAAGH!"
A ranker clenched both fists and roared at the sky.
"Hey, you lunatic! What are you doing out in public? Keep it down, will you?"
"I'm thirsty! Thirsty! I'm going crazy, I'm so thirsty!"
Passersby murmured as they watched the two rankers raising a ruckus, ricocheting between the buildings.
"...Those two."
"Carpe Diem?"
"That's Ki Jaehyeok and Kang Jiho, isn't it?"
The two famous high school rankers. With both of them freshly named to the national team, their stock was climbing like it would never come down.
"People can tell exactly who you are. Pipe down."
"Haaaah... sorry, hyung." Kang Jiho, the younger of the two by a single year, scrubbed a hand through his hair. The truth was, both of them had been living for one thing alone: the national team call-up—the single day each week they could receive Baek Jinwoo's instruction. 'And then?' Canceled. On account of Baek Jinwoo's personal circumstances. Unable to stomach the hollowness of it, they had taken to shouting their lungs out. That was how desperate they were—there they still were, circling the Grand Hall, heaving sigh after sigh.
And then—
"Hm? What are you two up to?"
Someone approached and greeted them in easy familiarity.
"Oh—Ari-noona!"
Ki Jaehyeok recognized her at a glance. How could he not? Hong Ari—Korea's Rank 3 and master of Arirang Guild. A player more famous than the president.
"So you were missing Jinwoo-hyung too, noona?"
"W-what is that supposed to mean?"
"Then why else are you pacing around outside the Grand Hall?"
"..."
Hong Ari flinched—hit dead center. Truth be told, those ten hours of training had been a revelation for her as well. She had come home and gutted Arirang's entire internal training system from top to bottom—enough said. After that, she had waited on the national team call-up just like everyone else, only for the schedule to be yanked away without warning... and her feet had carried her out to the Grand Hall on pure instinct.
"And what about you two, then...? Why are you out here?"
"We told you straight already, didn't we? We miss Jinwoo-hyung."
"Haaah, yes, exactly! That's it! I mean, come on—who cancels a schedule out of nowhere like that? If he was going to, why did he take a trillion won of the nation's money?"
In the end, Hong Ari owned up to it, grumbling under her breath.
"Noona."
That was when Ki Jaehyeok's eyes lit up.
"Hm?"
"Honestly? There's something we've been chewing on."
"Which is?"
"Whether we might just go straight to Yubaek and pay him a visit."
"Huh?"
Hong Ari's brow furrowed. What kind of public-nuisance stunt was that supposed to be? The man wasn't coming out, so the plan was to barge in on him? She couldn't stand sasaeng fans—the obsessive stalkers who haunted celebrities' doorsteps—at the best of times, and the idea turned her stomach all the more for it.
"Isn't that crossing a line?"
Even as she said it, the honest part of her wanted to go, too. She wanted to ask why he had canceled. She had a whole week's worth of questions backed up about everything that had left her stuck.
"Wait—did you really not feel it, noona? That hyung... when he teaches us, he isn't teaching us for real."
"Huh? What is that even supposed to mean? It's been nothing but helpful."
"No—I'm certain. A hundred percent. He's skimming through the material. The only reason it still feels so helpful is that our level is pathetically low compared to his."
Ki Jaehyeok had felt it. The look in Baek Jinwoo's eyes—how should he put it? Like a man watching kindergartners? It wasn't the look of someone teaching a class of prodigies. It was the look of someone drilling players who couldn't even meet the minimum standard.
"Be honest with yourself. From where Jinwoo-hyung stands, the country pays him either way. What reason would he have to teach us with his whole heart?"
"...He's taking a trillion won, though?"
"The trillion won is the trillion won. Training people from other guilds—not even his own—like true personal disciples is another matter entirely."
"So what exactly are you saying?"
"Like I said. We want to go to Yubaek."
"And once you're there?"
"We ask him to teach us properly. We'll do anything he wants. He's the one who said it, remember? The thirsty man digs his own well."
"..."
Hong Ari read the sincerity burning in Ki Jaehyeok's eyes. 'Well, he's not wrong.' Not one word of it. Even a stranger could see that Baek Jinwoo's skill was world-class. And compared to him? They were rankers, sure—but merely Korean rankers. Rankers of a nation the whole world graded as second-rate. Put simply: frogs at the bottom of a well. 'Become Baek Jinwoo's true disciples... and aim for the world rankings?' Hong Ari's fist clenched tight. What reason was there not to go? If anything, urgency seized her—because if Baek Jinwoo accepted those little runts and began training them in earnest, her hard-won Rank 3 seat would be pried right out of her hands.
"...When are you going?"
"Seeing as it's come up—why not head over right now? Might as well take a look at the famous Yubaek headquarters while we're at it."
"Um... would it be okay if Seon-young-unni came with us?"
O-rang (Five Wolves), Oh Seon-young. Thoroughly outclassed by him last time, she had already become one of Baek Jinwoo's most devoted fans.
Ki Jaehyeok smirked at Hong Ari's question.
"Why would you need our permission for that? If you want to go, then go."
Even if she got the door slammed in her face, even if he took a dislike to her—that much was each person's own to shoulder.