Chapter 31: How a Veteran Trains an Almighty Being
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 31: How a Veteran Trains an Almighty Being
Jinhyuk checked his newly acquired ability with a satisfied look.
'Blessing of the Stars.'
Teresa's unique ability, which received the blessing of the constellations.
He had finally gotten his hands on it.
'I really gained a lot from coming to this ruin.'
Artifacts like 'Frozen Tear' or 'Braham's Ring' were useful, but they couldn't compare to the unique abilities of Cheon Yu-seong and Teresa.
'To think I've obtained two unique abilities of top-tier rankers...'
He wanted to keep a straight face, but he couldn't control his expression. Like someone who had just won the lottery, the corners of his mouth twitched upward naturally.
Whew, let's calm down.
Jinhyuk composed his breathing.
There were so many unique abilities in the world. He couldn't afford to settle for just this.
Besides, 'Blessing of the Stars' could eventually be replaced with an even higher-tier ability through Fusion.
Heaven Beyond Heaven.
Until he reached a height so lofty that other rankers wouldn't even dare look up at him, he couldn't afford to slack off for even a moment.
'First, I should gather the skills that will create the best synergy.'
The recipes were already fully mapped out in his head.
Just then.
"Um, Jinhyuk?"
Teresa gently tapped his shoulder.
Right. He had forgotten about her.
He had been so engrossed in his new ability that she had completely slipped his mind.
"Ah, sorry. I was just checking something."
"It's fine. More importantly, have you thought of a way?"
"Nothing grand. I'm just going to try grabbing it with my bare hands."
"...Pardon?"
Teresa looked at him as if he were talking utter nonsense.
No matter how versatile he was, a cursed sacred relic could not be touched without divine power.
And the only person here who could wield divine power was... only one person.
"Actually, I'm quite the devout believer. I regularly attended Sunday school as a kid, and I never missed religious services even in the military."
"Y-You can use divine power just from doing that?"
"Why? You don't believe me?"
"Of course I don't!"
Teresa raised her voice, uncharacteristic of her usual self.
"What did I say on our way here?"
"To... trust you... unconditionally."
She remembered it perfectly. As expected, smart students had excellent memories.
"Then trust me."
"..."
At his silver-tongued words, Teresa bit her lip tightly.
Regretting not believing him was something that had happened just a few minutes ago. Therefore, it was hard to repeat the same mistake.
"B-But this is a different story."
True. She wasn't wrong this time.
"Hmm. Let's do this. Shall we make a bet on whether I'll be perfectly fine after touching this?"
"A bet?"
Teresa's voice trailed off at the mention of a bet.
It wasn't that she was afraid of losing. She had already promised to hand over 10,000 Coins, so there was nothing left for her to wager.
"I won't make any unreasonable demands. If I lose, I'll give you this sacred relic. But if you lose, Teresa, you have to appear as a guest on my stream sometime in the future."
"I think I can manage that much."
"Is it a promise, then?"
"You'd better keep your promise too, Jinhyuk."
Of course I will. If I lose, that is.
Hummmm!
Right at that moment, Jinhyuk's hand began to glow faintly.
A magical energy that brought peace to the mind.
There was no mistake. This was divine power.
"Ah..."
A sigh that had been building up deep inside Teresa's lungs escaped her lips.
A sense of futility and emptiness. And beyond that, a sense of despair, as if everything she believed in and protected had crumbled to the ground.
He understood her completely. But at this point, she should just accept it as it is.
Just as one gets wet when it rains, this was an inevitable outcome.
"I'll be looking forward to having you as a guest."
Jinhyuk lightly patted Teresa's shoulder. With this, he had secured a reliable ally.
[Fragment of Merlin's Staff (Material)]
Acquisition Difficulty: AAA
Attack Power: ?
Durability: 5/5
Description: A fragment of the staff used by the legendary British archmage, Merlin. Because it is cursed, only those who can use divine power can touch it.]
An AAA-grade material that could only be obtained in labyrinths or ruins.
It would fetch a handsome price on the Coin Exchange or the Black Market, and it would be useful for crafting magic tools, but... he had a very specific use in mind for this.
'Only those who know nothing treat treasures so carelessly.'
Fools who couldn't even utilize a hundredth of an artifact's true value.
'Well, it's thanks to those fools that veterans shine even brighter.'
Think about it. If everyone in the world possessed pioneering vision and quick judgment, what would be the point of an information gap?
In a way, instead of cursing them, he should probably be grateful.
'That aside, luck was on my side in many ways during this raid.'
If it weren't for Teresa, he would have had to decipher the Covenant of Apostle Peter and obtain the staff through a much more tedious method. He also would have had to construct a much more elaborate setup to trick Alice.
But thanks to her presence, things had gone smoothly.
Jinhyuk packed the fragment away safely.
It was time to leave this ruin.
* * *
"This is a scoop, so make sure you get it no matter what."
"I don't care if it takes a day, a month, or a year—wait there like a stone statue! Hey...! Hey, you bastard! Approval came down from above, so shut up and stay on standby!"
Reporters from broadcasting stations, representatives from various guilds, porters, and miners. A crowd of literally over several hundred people stared at the entrance, waiting for someone.
-The raid on the ruin will be over soon.
Those were the words left behind by the man who had held a worn-out sword while radiating waves of murderous intent. This whole uproar had started because of that single sentence.
"Manager, do you think what that man said is true?"
Assistant Manager Jung Jae-hyun from the Awakened Association spoke up cautiously.
In response, Manager Kim Tae-chun, who was standing next to him, bit down on a cigarette.
"Who knows. It's too absurd to just blindly believe. Damn it, if I had heard it myself, I would have asked him a few questions. It's a real shame those porters who met him got so terrified they just let him go."
The raid team had entered without even properly preparing their forces. No, even if they were fully prepared, this was a raid that should take at least three weeks.
And they were going to finish it in this short of a timeframe?
If it were that simple, this ruin wouldn't have been so notorious in the first place.
However, they couldn't just dismiss it as the ravings of a madman. Because the fact that he had come out of the ruin meant he had defeated the guardian guarding the entrance all by himself.
It was a situation where it was hard to believe, yet equally hard to doubt.
"What a headache."
Manager Kim scratched his head.
But right at that moment...
Whirrrr!
A bright light began to pour out from the entrance of the ruin. At the same time, a golden status window appeared before everyone.
[The ruin 'Corridor of the Fallen' has been cleared.]
[This great achievement will be displayed in the 'Hall of Fame' for the entirety of tomorrow.]
"M-Manager!"
"It was... real."
Manager Kim stared blankly at the entrance.
From within, people covered in wounds were emerging one by one.
The main forces of the raid team, the Balhae Guild, and the Sion Guild's raid team.
Click-click-click-click!
Camera shutters went off like crazy.
"They're out!"
"Oohhhhh!"
People raised their voices to capture the sight of the heroes.
"Congratulations on clearing the 1st-floor ruin!"
"May we ask how you managed to clear it in such a short time?"
"Please tell us who the MVP of this raid was!"
Reporters shoved their microphones forward. To get an interview, they naturally had to find the raid leader who led this expedition.
Just then...
"E-Excuse me. Are you the raid leader, Player Song Cheon-hwa?"
A male reporter asked a smooth, bald man. At first glance, he had doubted it, but looking closely, there was no mistake.
It was indeed Song Cheon-hwa, the raid leader of this expedition.
"..."
However, Song Cheon-hwa, whose pupils were completely dilated, did not answer. He merely walked forward mechanically.
At his soul-less expression, the reporters began whispering among themselves.
"My goodness. Not just his hair, but even his eyebrows and eyelashes are completely gone!"
"What on earth... happened inside?"
"As expected of a ruin. It must have been incredibly brutal."
"It looks like he achieved his Second Awakening at the cost of his hair. The Balhae Guild must be thrilled. They hit the jackpot."
Although he had lost something precious, if he had completed his class advancement through a Second Awakening, it was a trade-off that was dozens of times more profitable.
Of course, to those who knew the truth, the reporters felt even more ruthless than vampires.
Ultimately, unable to watch any longer, Teresa intervened.
"It wasn't Mr. Song Cheon-hwa who cleared the ruin."
"T-Then, was it you, Player Teresa...?"
"Did the Sion Guild succeed?"
All eyes focused on Teresa. The surroundings fell so silent that one could hear the sound of dry throats swallowing.
"No."
Teresa quietly shook her head. And she pointed her palm toward the person standing right next to her.
To Jinhyuk, who was wearing a mask with a bizarre pattern.
"This person cleared the entire ruin all by himself. We... were merely spectators watching the stage."
* * *
The appearance of a super rookie.
At that fact, the entire nation, including the [Tower of Trials] community, heated up with excitement.
[The Masked Player. Who Is He?]
[Clearing a Ruin Solo! The Emergence of an Absurd Monster!]
[World's Top Guilds Decide to Dispatch Investigation Teams on Tomorrow Morning's First Flights.]
[In 3 Hours, His Exploits Will Be Revealed in the Hall of Fame.]
Literally all attention was focused on him.
Particularly because this coincided with a period where no significant progress was being made on clearing the 3rd-floor boss monster, the government and the media pushed this event even harder under the pretext of giving people hope.
A new hero recognized by Europe's top-tier ranker, Teresa. The player who saw the end of an impregnable ruin that no one else could conquer... or so they said.
"Geez, they've slapped every single modifier they could find onto me."
Jinhyuk scratched his head.
He had expected a hot reaction, but this was beyond his imagination. If anything, wearing a mask to avoid getting dragged into annoying trouble was a stroke of genius.
'Since I'll be getting an S-rank soon, I can just operate under that identity.'
The 100 Players.
The 1st and 2nd ranks had now been decided. All that was left was to properly balance the two and design the board to my advantage.
Since Teresa had also promised to keep her mouth shut, there was no need to worry too much.
For now, this matter was settled. Next up...
'I should have a chat with the sulking True Ancestor.'
In the ruin, he had solved it by stuffing her into his pocket, but he couldn't keep giving her the silent treatment forever.
'Even though she's hard to handle, there's no card as useful as her.'
The arduous journey to the 50th floor of the Tower. This was the very first choice that would determine whether that path would be easy or difficult.
Jinhyuk carefully pulled out the ring.
As if she had been waiting, a sharp voice immediately rang out.
[How dare you lock me up in a dark, smelly pocket all day! Human, do you even know who I am—!]
"Excuse me, Miss True Ancestor. Or should I say, great-great-great-grandmother?"
She still didn't seem to grasp the situation. Does she still think she's an omnipotent vampire with absolute power?
Jinhyuk gripped the ring and began to spin his arm.
Whoosh!
Whoooosh!
His shoulder rotated rapidly in a clockwise direction.
[Kyaaaah! Stop! I'm dizzy, so stop it!]
Alice screamed.
Jinhyuk stopped the circular motion.
"Well? Have you come to your senses?"
[Do you think you'd come to your senses if you were me?! Remember this clearly! A vampire never forgets a grudge!]
Looks like she still has a long way to go.
Fine. She's got some backbone, being a True Ancestor and all. It's no fun if she submits too easily anyway.
Originally, he had planned to use a proper mix of carrot and stick, but he had changed his mind. He would train her thoroughly with nothing but the stick.
"This stop is... Vomit Station. Severe dizziness is expected, so passengers, please hold on tight."
Jinhyuk announced in a clear, ringing voice, playing the part of the subway announcer.
[S-Stop it! Seriously, I feel like I'm going to throw up, so stop!]
"The doors to exit... do not exist."
Once again, the Hell-Joseon style spinning barrel ride was open for business.