Chapter 112
Chapter 112
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 112
Chapter Title: Truth of the Betrayal
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In the heart of the sea on the 7th floor.
Cha Min-woo, who had set up lodging on a small island, looked up at the sky.
"Was there an island like this?"
How far was it from the city? How had he even gotten here?
Not even Cha Min-woo knew.
His eyes had been covered, and his hands and feet bound.
Glance.
Cha Min-woo's gaze shifted to Hwang Gyu-seong, who was basking in the sunlight in the grand lodging's front yard.
Taking a nap in a situation like this. He seemed utterly carefree.
'Is that guy really...'
Hwang Gyu-seong.
One of Blue Eyes' legends.
The fact that he was right there in front of him still didn't feel real.
"What I want is for you to kill Kim Il-su, the one you hate so much."
Those were Lee Won-jae's words that had convinced Hwang Gyu-seong.
When Cha Min-woo first heard them, he doubted his own ears.
"Vice Guild Master. What do you mean by that?"
When he went to confront him later.
Instead of answering, Lee Won-jae had asked him a question in return.
"Min-woo, you joined here because you admire Lee Soo-hyuk, right?"
After that.
The conversation he'd had with Lee Won-jae wouldn't leave his mind.
'Is it true?'
Once more, Cha Min-woo's gaze turned to Hwang Gyu-seong.
No.
More precisely, to where he had been.
"Why do you keep staring?"
Swish.
Hwang Gyu-seong's hand approached the back of Cha Min-woo's neck.
"Planning to kill me?"
"...No."
How had he gotten so close without a sound?
Even lost in thought, he hadn't sensed a thing. It sent chills down his spine.
He'd thought mid-tier rankers were a joke now, but this was on another level entirely.
"I know you're not someone I could take on."
"Oh? Then why the staring?"
"Just curious. If you're really Hwang Gyu-seong."
Cha Min-woo was still conflicted.
Could he truly trust the man before him? And could he trust Lee Won-jae?
His actions might betray Blue Zone, so he had to tread carefully from here on out.
"Do I need to prove I'm me?"
"It's important to me too."
"And if I am?"
"I'd ask you some questions."
Why Lee Won-jae wanted to betray Blue Zone.
"Did our guild really betray Blue Eyes?"
Hwang Gyu-seong's lips curled up at Cha Min-woo's question.
It wasn't a smile of amusement. Cha Min-woo felt an unprecedented chill and eeriness from that expression.
'Is he angry?'
Gulp.
Tense, he swallowed hard but didn't look away.
He couldn't avoid it. He had to hear the truth.
About what had happened that day.
"Yeah, we did."
Hwang Gyu-seong spoke.
"The raid succeeded."
"Lee Soo-hyuk's raid was a success."
"That bastard Lee Soo-hyuk was incredible. Because of us? He pushed himself flying around non-stop."
"Lee Soo-hyuk was amazing. For his comrades, he unleashed Master of Lightning without rest, soaring through the air."
Hwang Gyu-seong's words overlapped with Lee Won-jae's in his mind.
Unless the two had coordinated to fool him.
How could they match so perfectly?
"That's when that guy stabbed us in the back."
"Guy?"
"Kim Il-su. Your guild master."
As expected.
No different story. He was telling the same tale as Lee Won-jae.
"What? You didn't know?"
"No. Not at all..."
"Figures. They buried it."
The power of a massive guild was beyond imagination. In this tower, they could do anything they wanted.
Hiding facts and manipulating public opinion was child's play for them.
"The rumors say you betrayed Lee Soo-hyuk."
Not everyone knew, but players of a certain rank had heard the whispers.
Blue Eyes had betrayed Lee Soo-hyuk.
Blue Zone had moved to cover up that disgrace.
"Probably."
"Which is the truth?"
"Don't believe it? Fine by me. I don't plan on explaining myself to a kid like you."
Cha Min-woo nodded.
Right.
The man before him, Hwang Gyu-seong, had no reason to convince him with effort.
He was strong enough that dozens of players like Cha Min-woo couldn't touch him.
"Then one more question."
So Cha Min-woo asked the one remaining doubt.
"Why were you there?"
Not anywhere else.
Hwang Gyu-seong had been in the forest where the demons dwelled.
Demons were enemies of players. Finding him there was suspicious, to say the least.
But.
"Don't you think it's weird?"
Once again, Hwang Gyu-seong answered with a question.
"Pardon?"
"Now it looks like giant guilds and groups dominate the tower, players ruling everything. But this world wasn't always like that."
"...And?"
"Demons? Arch-enemies? What a joke."
He walked back to his spot, lay down, and gazed at the clouds drifting in the sky.
"You've grown soft in peacetime, forgotten why we were dragged here."
At those words, a message flashed in Cha Min-woo's mind.
"...The day that will come someday."
No way.
Cha Min-woo's eyes widened.
"Do you know about that day?"
No player had solved the mystery of that day.
Not even Lee Soo-hyuk. Even 20 years after his death.
No one had found clues about what would happen on the day to come.
Yet.
"Who knows."
This man before him.
"I don't trust you lot either."
Seemed to know something about it.
Viola opened her eyes again half a day after collapsing.
In a small annex for honored guests of the royal castle.
Drenched in cold sweat, she sat up and spotted Su-hyuk and Vigo having a simple meal in the annex.
"Lady Viola!"
"You're awake?"
Su-hyuk handed her the soup he'd kept for her, just in case.
"Here, eat. It must be hard even to sit up."
"Ah, yes..."
With a dazed voice, Viola took the bowl.
She warmed her empty stomach with the hot soup.
Su-hyuk, nearly done with his meal, checked her condition.
'She looks okay.'
It hadn't been a life-threatening injury to begin with.
The sudden collapse was likely mostly mental damage.
Halfway through her soup, Viola suddenly looked at Su-hyuk.
"...Thank you."
"Pardon?"
"Thank you for helping. Sincerely."
Viola stood and bowed to Su-hyuk.
"If not for my benefactor, I wouldn't have learned the truth, failed my mission, or gotten revenge."
Benefactor.
The way Viola addressed Su-hyuk had changed.
And then.
Step.
One step closer to Su-hyuk.
She brought her face right up to his.
Smack.
"...?"
Their lips touched.
Countless question marks flooded his mind. Vigo watched from behind with a shocked face.
He looked ready to scream but clamped his hand over his mouth.
And soon.
Swish.
Viola ended the brief kiss and pulled away.
-??????
-???????
-Whoa ㅏㅏㅏ insane
-Safe seat gets this???
Su-hyuk touched his lips.
He'd removed the lower part of his mask to eat, and suddenly his lips were stolen.
Why?
Viola knelt before his bewildered gaze.
Kneel.
"I pledge to serve the one chosen by thunder as my master."
"No need for that..."
Flustered, Su-hyuk tried to raise her but stopped.
A Valkyrie was kneeling. Something she wouldn't do even with a blade to her throat.
There had to be a good reason.
And that reason was surely the Heart of Thunder in Su-hyuk's possession.
"I have many questions."
Now that she pledged to serve him as master, answers would come easier.
Indeed, Viola's demeanor—from her speech—had completely changed.
"Ask away."
"What is thunder exactly? Why does Asgard protect it, and why do they want it in Muspelheim?"
It had nagged at him.
Viola called the power Su-hyuk wielded the power of thunder. And indeed, aside from the name, it was the same as lightning.
What made the Heart of Thunder so precious that Asgard guarded it so fiercely?
Why had those in the cutscene gathered to decide its master's fate?
Perhaps as a Valkyrie, Viola knew.
"Long ago, gods, giants, and demons waged war over thunder."
"War?"
"Yes. A massive war."
Gods, demons, giants.
All races far superior to humans.
"The gods won. Asgard participated too."
"Asgard 'too'? Other gods as well?"
"So I've heard. I don't know everything..."
"Heard?"
"Yes. It was before I was born."
Before Viola was even born—how ancient was it?
Far older than he'd thought.
Su-hyuk fiddled with the thumbnail-sized blue gem and asked.
"What makes this worth their greed?"
Even when he got the Heart of Lightning.
Countless masked figures had focused on him.
Solely because he'd obtained it.
"You'll have to meet the king."
Glance.
Viola's eyes went to the Heart of Thunder in Su-hyuk's hand.
"And probably..."
She trailed off.
Su-hyuk knew what she hesitated over and asked.
"It's only half, right?"
After a surprised look, Viola nodded.
"Yes. Correct."
As expected.
Among all those gods, the nameless one who claimed the Heart of Thunder said he'd give his thunder to his son.
No genius needed to figure out who, even unnamed.
'King Odin.'
Asgard's king. One of the mightiest among the great gods.
Odin.
He was the god who took the thunder.
And the other half was probably.
'In Thor's hands.'
The Heart of Thunder was a material item. The other half wouldn't differ in form.
Meaning Thor possessed an item infused with the other Heart of Thunder.
Already a headache.
'Not easy to find.'
Forcing it from Asgard's prince wasn't feasible. It would mean making enemies of all Asgard, not just Thor.
'Give up? No, first find out why the other half was discarded...'
Then.
"Will you come with me?"
Viola stood from her kneel and extended her hand to the pondering Su-hyuk.
"To Asgard."