Chapter 60
Chapter 60
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 60
Chapter Title: Lingering Doubts
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Pak pak pak-.
"Hoo, haa-."
It had been a long time since he'd felt this exhausted without even using Lightning.
Soo-hyuk had scoured every corner of the village. Dark alleys, building rooftops, crowded streets packed with people.
He had checked every possible hiding spot.
But no matter where he looked, there was no sign of her.
He knew it.
If the one he was searching for now was truly her, there was no way he could find her.
'Whether she's alive or not......'
There probably weren't even ten players in the entire tower who could track her down if she was dead set on hiding.
'I can't find her. Not right now.'
Thinking coldly, that was the reality.
He knew it was a pointless effort. Normally, he wouldn't risk his life or waste his strength on something so futile.
But.
Still, he couldn't stop.
Just like that first day of his reincarnation. Just like the day he first discovered the Ice Flower.
Even knowing it was hopeless, he couldn't just stand still.
'Is she really alive?'
This wasn't as certain as the Ice Flower.
The Ice Flower that never melted. He could clearly sense Si-woo's mana within it.
That was how he was almost certain Si-woo was alive. It gave him hope that they might meet someday.
It became the fuel to keep pushing forward.
But perhaps one more.
Not just Si-woo, but one additional survivor.
'Ye-ryeong......'
The item he had launched had sent four people flying.
But according to the records, none had survived that spot. Without the Ice Flower, he never would have known Si-woo lived.
Yet maybe it wasn't just one.
'Maybe all four?'
Crunch-.
Soo-hyuk gnawed at his lip in frustration at the ridiculous notion.
He knew it was impossible. Back then, all four—including Si-woo—had been battered wrecks.
If even one survived, it was fortunate. Two would be divine luck.
Four? Out of the question.
'Don't assume yet.'
He halted his sprint and stood still, lifting his head.
His breath burned in his throat. Despair and hope clashed, stirring a tangled mess of emotions.
The only thing he could be sure of right now was Kim Si-woo.
He couldn't confirm Ye-ryeong based solely on Unhyang's words.
Because.
'If it was her, she definitely would have shown up.'
Ye-ryeong wouldn't stay hidden with Min-jae's relic right there.
Maybe it was just some fan of his.
A coincidence—a top player among his viewers—wasn't impossible.
'Don't jump to conclusions. Calm down.'
He stood there steadily, regulating his breathing.
Only then did he realize someone was behind him.
Swish-.
Unhyang.
She had been following him, keeping a consistent distance.
"Um... are you okay?"
At Unhyang's question, Soo-hyuk finally considered how he must have appeared.
He had bolted out mid-meal and dashed around like a maniac. It must have looked utterly insane.
"What's going on?"
"Nothing at all. I just mistook someone for an acquaintance."
"The person I mentioned?"
"Yeah. But on second thought, it wasn't them. Must've been my mistake."
It wasn't a lie. Nothing was confirmed yet, so it could easily have been.
But a woman's intuition was a fearsome thing.
Unhyang eyed his hasty excuse suspiciously.
"Soo-hyuk-ssi."
"Yes?"
"Don't you have any friends?"
"......"
It struck right at the core in more ways than one.
Dusk had fallen.
The streets had emptied out, and beneath Cha Min-woo's feet, a pile of discarded cigarette butts had accumulated.
They were keeping watch around the inn Soo-hyuk had entered.
"Did we miss him?"
Hee-young looked anxious.
She kept fretting that they might have let the target slip due to their own error.
"No."
"How can you be sure?"
"Just got word from Il-su hyung-nim."
Cha Min-woo flipped his kit screen around to show her.
"Withdraw."
The screen displayed the two words: 'Withdraw'.
A message from Blue Zone's leader, Kim Il-su.
With just those two words, he commanded over a thousand players spread across the 3rd floor.
"Withdraw? Seriously?"
"Yeah. He said the target never came here. If he had, we wouldn't have overlooked it."
"Huh? Then......"
"He never showed. What a waste, damn it."
Cha Min-woo grumbled irritably. They had come all the way down to the 3rd floor, but the mission hadn't even begun.
And right now, something else was souring his mood even further.
"And... he said even if it was a trap, the guy would've charged right in."
At those words.
Hee-young became convinced of their target's identity.
"Then it's really......"
"Yeah. Looks that way."
"Didn't you say those rumors were nonsense?"
"That's what I thought."
They had hoped it wasn't true.
But Kim Il-su's message suggested the rumors that had circulated for years might actually hold water.
"Did they really betray Lee Soo-hyuk......?"
Late into the night, when everyone was asleep.
Soo-hyuk climbed to the inn's rooftop. Empty streets stretched below, and the cooler night air brushed across his face.
His tangled emotions kept sleep at bay. For once, he had come out without his mask.
No one here to recognize this face anyway. No reason to cling to the mask any longer.
Soo-hyuk leaned against the railing and fiddled with the Ice Flower he kept in the drawer.
The flower Si-woo had left behind.
He had sort of stolen it, but it was still something the guy had given him.
"Are you really alive......?"
If he was, then where in the world was he, and what was he doing?
'Is it really because of this?'
Soo-hyuk pulled out his kit and stared at the screen.
Articles that had been making waves for quite some time.
[Blue Eyes Fractured: Was Lee Soo-hyuk's Death Caused by His Comrades?]
[Guild Master Kim Il-su Mum on Internal Strife. Brushes Off with 'Nothing to Say.']
[Kim Il-su's Exit Due to Infighting? What Really Happened That Day?]
Just the top headlines were like this. For twenty years, these conspiracy theories had resurfaced whenever people started forgetting.
Of course.
Some articles even pointed fingers at Kim Il-su.
[What Happened That Day? Does Kim Il-su Have a Clear Conscience?]
Stuff like that.
'Grains of sand in the desert.'
This let Kim Il-su naturally cover his tracks. No—most journalists were zeroing in on his other comrades instead.
They were the 'deceased' ones, after all.
Whereas Kim Il-su was an untouchable giant.
'Seems like... some people buy into it.'
Crunch-.
Using him to sully his comrades' names. And yet Si-woo was still in hiding.
Why?
It was a night full of reasons sleep wouldn't come.
He wouldn't be able to rest easy until he confronted what happened that day and demanded answers.
'Twenty years since then.'
Soo-hyuk reflected on the day's events.
'No matter how slow the pace, progress is progress.'
Omar Schneider.
Honestly, it was shocking. For a 3rd-floor player to be this formidable.
Who knew—maybe the 4th, 5th floors, and beyond had even more like him.
'And Kim Il-su.'
The old friend who was also like an enemy, the one he needed to question about that day.
'He wouldn't have just sat idle.'
No—quite the opposite.
More hardworking than anyone Soo-hyuk knew.
Dedicated to everything, and in terms of skill, right on his heels—no one would argue otherwise.
By now, the guy was surely much higher up.
Maybe even surpassing his 20-year-old self.
'I need something more.'
He was playing catch-up.
No matter how great a player he'd been, leaping decades ahead wouldn't be easy.
And to do that, he needed an edge.
Something extra—like, say.
'That spear.'
Swish-.
He pocketed the kit and raised his hand.
The spear that had pierced Omar Schneider.
Not as devastating as the giant-slaying one, but it was a weapon unlike any he'd wielded before.
From the moment he gripped the Lightning Spear in the 2nd-floor trial, the thought had lingered.
Maybe he'd been handling this power all wrong up until now.
Pssit-.
Yellow lightning trickled along his fingertips.
A power he'd wielded for so long, yet it felt strangely unfamiliar.
No.
More precisely, he understood it more deeply now.
'The same, but different.'
He'd thought he knew everything about Lightning.
That with enough stamina, he could control it all—which was why he'd obsessed over endurance.
But that wasn't it.
This power wasn't so simplistic.
"The second legend concerns how the gods and giants fought over lightning."
Pelius's tale of lightning.
The mighty force coveted by gods and giants alike.
And also.
"Gods and giants. Beings so great that mere humans couldn't stand against them."
"This was forged for humans to battle—and defeat—them."
The power humans had dared to grasp in order to triumph over them.
'I thought I was wielding it right......'
Pajit, pajijit-.
He clenched the crackling lightning dancing in his palm and muttered softly.
"That wasn't it, was it."
Creak-.
Realizing his own shortcomings brought a smile instead.
He'd assumed this was his peak, the best he could do. If not...
Then he could climb even higher.
And the next step toward that was.
'Thunder Cave.'
Conquering it would reveal more.
About the secrets of this power.
Screwing over Blue Zone and Kim Il-su would just be a bonus.
The next day.
Unhyang found a nearby café first thing in the morning.
Cakes, tarts, pies, tiramisu...
The table overflowed with sweets. Having come alone, she ordered all her favorites freely and shoveled her top pick into her mouth as she spoke.
"Can't hear you. What'd you say?"
-Sorry for being rude!
The voice was so loud it was impossible not to hear. On the kit screen beyond, Cheongryang knelt with her arms thrust high overhead.
"Whaaat~?"
-Rude... Hey, this oughta be loud enough—pretend you hear it at least?
"What? Can't hear puppy talk from a bet-losing mutt?"
-Uwaaaah!
Cheongryang clutched her head and let out a frustrated scream.
The two had made a wager. Unhyang bet on Lee Soo-hyuk's victory; Cheongryang on Schneider.
And the result was Soo-hyuk's win.
Already strapped for cash, Cheongryang now had to hand over her entire monthly salary to Unhyang.
-Hey, you're loaded!
"I've got a ton of expenses lately."
-Still, you'll blow it all on cakes anyway.
"Blow?"
-Sorry.
Cheongryang usually wilted under Unhyang's aura, but now she desperately needed to stay in her good graces.
Handing over a full month's pay might leave her starving for real.
-You've scarfed four already. Cut me some slack.
"With empty words?"
-What do you want? Should I bark? Woof?
"Don't make creepy noises. Urk-."
She actually mimed gagging, paused thoughtfully, then said.
"You. Just do one thing I tell you to."