Chapter 228
Chapter 228
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ace
Chapter: 228
Chapter Title: The Heavenly Demon Eats Clouds
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The Heavenly Demon tore into the clouds. Crunch crunch—the sound echoed quietly across the sky, like someone chewing kimchi.
"You want me to teach you how to part the clouds?"
"Yeah."
"Why can't you do it?"
What's so impressive about making clouds? That was what Thor's expression said.
It must have felt utterly obvious to Thor.
Lee Soo-hyuk was about to ask how he did it himself but stopped.
'Well, considering this guy's age...'
His opponent was Thor.
The God of Thunder. King of Asgard. Son of Odin.
The span of his life far exceeded any human lifetime. Players might live longer than average people and age slower, but they couldn't bridge the gap to a god.
Moreover, Thor had devoted his entire existence to wielding thunder.
No matter that Soo-hyuk had lived as the Master of Lightning, he couldn't easily close that temporal chasm.
"You're poking at a sore spot."
"...I didn't mean to dismiss it."
"Just dismiss it. Laugh if you want."
"Pfft."
Thor struggled to hold back his laughter. It was almost more irritating than if he'd just burst out laughing openly.
He finally swallowed it down and spoke.
"Ahem. Right, yeah. Controlling clouds is truly the starting point of mastering thunder."
Thor cleared his throat pointlessly, his shoulders tense with effort.
He looked different from their first meeting. He'd seemed solemn at first, then boisterous, and now he verged on childish frankness.
Soo-hyuk, momentarily baffled, soon understood his feelings.
'Well, he's wielded thunder his whole life.'
Thor’s life had begun with thunder and continued to this day.
Even before his birth, Odin had destined him to be the Master of Thunder. Following his father's will, Thor had lived from childhood honing that power.
Yet he'd been consumed by it, even steeling himself for death.
Now he'd passed it to Soo-hyuk—losing everything, one might say.
'And now it's being put to use like this.'
It wasn't just tension in his shoulders; it must have felt like validation of his entire life.
"But that's strange."
"What is?"
"Why do you need to know how to make clouds specifically? Is it for the Heavenly Demon?"
It was hard to grasp what he meant. The Heavenly Demon?
As if he'd come to make clouds for something like the Heavenly Demon's rest area.
"Maybe to wield thunder?"
"More precisely, to wield it even better."
"...?"
Thor looked puzzled.
He couldn't understand?
From the way he made clouds, it seemed like he handled thunder far better than Thor did.
"I mean, using clouds amplifies thunder's power, right?"
"How do you use clouds to amplify thunder's power?"
"Huh?"
A barrage of question marks flooded his mind.
'Isn't this obvious?'
It was weird.
Soo-hyuk had known how to amplify his power with clouds from the first time he'd wielded lightning.
It wasn't about mastery; it was as natural as learning to breathe.
But Thor couldn't do it?
'Come to think of it...'
As he pondered the reason, Soo-hyuk grasped the difference between himself and Thor.
'What I originally wielded was lightning.'
Lightning and thunder.
Their powers were similar. So alike it felt like they were one and the same, just with different names.
But similar didn't mean identical.
'That must be the difference.'
Thunder rumbled in his mind. Naturally, the corners of Soo-hyuk's mouth lifted.
Seeing that expression, Thor reacted with amusement.
"Looks like you've already grasped thunder better than I have."
Soo-hyuk didn't know what Thor knew. Conversely, Thor didn't know what Soo-hyuk knew.
But if he could make clouds, Soo-hyuk would possess both.
Soo-hyuk had already proven his abilities in a storm-cloud-filled environment.
The league prelims. A stage packed with thunderclouds and pouring rain.
Lee Soo-hyuk atop the spire, unleashing lightning that day—he was so convincing that people might have believed the real one had returned.
The gall.
Truly the gall, putting the two Lee Soo-hyuks side by side like that in chat.
Now, there was no denying it.
"Alright. I'll help you."
Thor boomed heartily.
"What's so hard about it?"
"Thanks."
"Thanks my ass. I'm curious too."
Thor grinned.
"What you'll look like unleashing thunder from within the clouds."
Five days had passed since the stream began.
Ten days remained.
"Hm..."
Kim Ye-ryeong tilted her head, propping her chin as she watched the stream by the campfire in their campsite.
"Why the grumpy face?"
Kim Si-woo handed her a wooden bowl steaming with food.
"What's not to like?"
"It's boring."
"The stream?"
"Yeah."
She took the bowl without looking. Munching on rice mixed with miso soup, she scrunched her face even more.
"Food sucks too."
"If you're gonna complain, make it yourself."
"Mad? Beat me at rock-paper-scissors then."
Si-woo growled wordlessly. Ye-ryeong slurped another spoonful and gagged dramatically.
Si-woo eyed her annoyingly and ate his own portion.
It really did suck.
"...Still at it, huh."
He glanced at the stream Ye-ryeong was watching.
Lee Soo-hyuk held Thor's hammer, standing motionless.
"Said he's making clouds."
"That's the method, apparently?"
"That?"
"Yeah. But can he? Even Soo-hyuk couldn't."
"He never got this far."
Soo-hyuk had challenged the Hydra and died. Precisely, his trials had gone up to floor 7.
So from here on, it was uncharted even for his past life.
"Doesn't mean this guy's stronger than Soo-hyuk."
"It's time."
The limits of levels built on accumulated time couldn't be ignored.
The time Soo-hyuk had spent tackling the Hydra on floor 8 alone far exceeded all the time streamer Lee Soo-hyuk had spent climbing the tower.
"Well... won't take him that much longer."
"Agreed."
Ye-ryeong nodded at Si-woo's words.
"In a way, he's more impressive than Soo-hyuk."
Fanboy vibes dripped from the words, but they weren't wrong.
Streamer Lee Soo-hyuk's growth was extraordinary even to them.
'Talent-wise better than Soo-hyuk? Guess it's true.'
Words from Hawk's Eye, a streamer friend of Lee Soo-hyuk.
Everyone had laughed it off then. Over time, recognition grew, reevaluation happened, but opinions were still split.
But as his comrades, they could say it definitively.
Streamer Lee Soo-hyuk had talent surpassing prime Lee Soo-hyuk.
And moreover.
"Think he can pull it off?"
Ye-ryeong mumbled, chewing the flavorless rice.
"Clouds."
"...He'll manage. He's done everything so far."
The method didn't matter.
Possibility? Unknown.
But Lee Soo-hyuk had reached here by achieving the impossible.
He'd do it. Just a matter of time.
"How much stronger will he get?"
Regret tinged Ye-ryeong's voice.
This stream might be their last. He'd keep streaming, but they wouldn't.
Ten days ahead.
After that, they might never watch again.
Her pouty expression shifted as she whipped her head around.
"Remember? Back when Soo-hyuk flew around."
Soo-hyuk on overcast days was unreal.
Si-woo nodded.
"...Couldn't keep up then."
Among them, Lee Soo-hyuk had always led.
The most outstanding, fighting from the riskiest spots. Comrades often trailed him.
They could because each was elite.
But.
"How do you chase that?"
Weather-boosted, he became untouchable.
Flying, almost.
Even Guseong, Ilsu—no one in the guild could match him.
"Wasn't human."
"Kinda cocky too. Knew he was hot shit."
"Same."
"Right? Totally."
They chuckled. That's why they watched his stream.
It took them back, painlessly tickling old stories.
Meal ended quickly.
Ye-ryeong curled up, chin on knees.
Repetitive footage had thinned viewers.
Makes sense.
Unlike usual, it was boring.
But.
"...Makes you wanna root for him."
Beyond fun, hope he succeeds.
Ye-ryeong dove back in. Same screen, but her focus peaked.
Clink—Si-woo paused clearing plates, looked up.
Stars above.
Annoyingly clear night. Great usually, but today it stirred thoughts.
'If it had rained that day...'
Would their fate differ?
He shook his head at the nagging doubt. Not solvable alone.
Only dead Soo-hyuk knew.
Soo-hyuk sat gripping the hammer.
Five days in, Thor watched sleeplessly.
'No way it's that quick.'
Admirable persistence. Five days motionless, no food or sleep—even gods struggle.
But effort doesn't always yield results.
'Took me years to make clouds.'
Told him that, yet he persisted.
Didn't expect such stubbornness.
"Yawwwn—."
Crackle—.
"Hm?"
Thor yawned hugely, then turned.
His eyes shook.
'This guy...'
Thought he'd lost his way amid the stillness.
Smirk—.
Soo-hyuk's eyes slowly opened.
Light pierced lids long closed. Blurry vision caught a single cloud he'd made.
Clench—.
He balled his fist.
Not joy at success, but regret surged first.
'If it had rained that day...'
He knew hypotheticals were meaningless.
Past unchangeable, assumptions endless.
Yet no human avoids them.
Especially with deep regrets.
'...It would’ve been different.'
Yeah.
Definitely.
So.
'Now, it will be.'
