Chapter 193
Chapter 193
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 193
Chapter Title: Toward the Holy Mountain, Nowon-gu Breakthrough Operation (4)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
7.
[New Area: Star Pleasure Garden - ‘New Nowon-gu’]
- Paradise Transfer Bonus · Penalty.
a. All unique · exclusive skills’ usage counts are reset.
b1. Hostile Paradise! Stars’ healing effect is halved to 50%!
b2. Using [Star Nebula Liquid] can amplify Stars’ healing effect up to 120%.
8.
“Ye-jin, can I confess my honest feelings?”
The shaman, Hwang Ga-in, said.
Staring straight up at Do Ye-jin from beneath the torture platform.
“To be frank, I don’t have any particular feelings for your dad.”
Her appearance was always so distinctive.
Her hair was split right down the middle—half black, half white.
Her irises were the same, half black and half white.
And below them, her voluptuous figure was accentuated by a shaman’s robe that contrasted in black and white halves.
“If anything, maybe gratitude?”
“……?”
“Thanks to him turning back time, I got to meet Choi Sin-yul.”
Turning back time?
What did that mean? As Ye-jin lifted her head in confusion, Hwang Ga-in smirked and continued.
“Sin-yul told me the Stars test a world up to five times at most.”
Five tests?
What nonsense was that? Do Ye-jin didn’t react.
“But during those five tries, the Absolute Gods never intervene.”
Chewing on those words, Do Ye-jin squeezed her eyes shut again and let out a groan.
「WIIIIIIEENNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNG…….」
The sticky, squelching sound of something melting away her flesh and bones.
“They just watch. To see if there’s any promising material in that world to choose as apostles.”
Even in this cold, Hwang Ga-in started fanning her face.
“And if they spot that potential? They rewind time again, and that’s when the Absolute Gods step in.”
As Do Ye-jin sorted through her thoughts, a single term suddenly flashed in her mind.
“That’s…… the 6th Time Axis……?”
Hwang Ga-in seemed genuinely surprised at that. Her fanning hand paused for a moment.
“You know that term……? Hmph, Song Chan-un must’ve told you first.”
“…….”
“By the way, you’re a real monster. Huh? How long ago did they cut out your vocal cords, and you’re already talking?”
That was when it happened.
A massive, spine-chilling vibration slithered through the air, as if something enormous was moving.
Chills prickled up her spine.
Scary. Scary. Scary…….
That thing…… Hwang Ga-in’s child, the god…… was drawing closer and closer…….
“Yeah, that’s the 6th Time Axis exactly. Only a World Executor can create it.”
“World…… Executor……?”
“And only through a World Executor can the gods intervene deeply. Oh, I mean your dad.”
Ah, this story again.
Tales of a father she didn’t even know. It was exhausting, truly…….
“Your dad went rogue and made this Time Axis without the Absolute Gods’ approval.”
She didn’t even have the strength to respond anymore.
Her head just throbbed endlessly, ready to split open…… Do Ye-jin let her head droop limply.
“With the World Executor rewinding the world’s time and vanishing, that’s why everything’s such a mess now.”
“…….”
“No matter what the Stars try, they can’t intervene.”
Hwang Ga-in snapped her fan shut with a clack and muttered, “Ahh.”
“So one of the Seven Star Gods hurriedly sent down four Star Messengers.”
“…….”
“But the best they could do was Hunter contracts. They can’t match the old administrators.”
Star Messengers…… stand-ins for the Executor…… something like that?
But why only four?
There were so many cities across the world…… Even just covering Seoul took four Star Messengers.
I don’t know…… I don’t get it…….
I’m in too much pain right now…… so cold…… and…… I don’t even want to live anymore…….
“That’s why you’re important. Come on, tell me. Where the hell is your father hiding?”
“…….”
“Song Chan-un turned you into a total wreck, and he still didn’t show? You’re really abandoned?”
“………….”
“What the fuck is he planning that he won’t show even when his only daughter’s about to die? Huh?!”
“……………….”
“Say something, you bitch! You’re not mute. Want me to cut out your vocal cords and tongue again?”
Do Ye-jin didn’t answer.
She was tired of answering. All the questions the world had dumped on her.
Why don’t you have a mom?
Why do you only fight with your friends?
The answer to the first question led to the second, and the answer to the second looped back to the first.
“Your dad’s just a disease.”
It had always been like that.
Ever since her mom died.
That had been Do Ye-jin’s entire life.
“Cancer, cancer. A cancer cell defiling the Stars’ natural order.”
But now it was her dad who was the problem.
What an absurd story. She wondered if the world could really be this cruel.
“Come on, speak.”
“…….”
“Think your turn’s still far off? Can you relax?”
“………….”
“Want to get eaten all horrific like that? Or just die peacefully? Your choice.”
My choice?
What a joke.
Since the apocalypse, not once had her life ever been her choice.
“Just…… kill me…….”
The moment Do Ye-jin said that.
She burst into mad laughter without realizing it. Hwang Ga-in said in disbelief.
“You’re laughing……? Have you finally lost it?”
“Hee, heeheehee, hahaha.”
“But you know, pretending to be crazy and bluffing won’t do shit?”
“I said kill me?”
Do Ye-jin stopped laughing abruptly and spoke in a flat tone.
“Thanks to you…… now…… I’m not scared of dying anymore…….”
Death was the fear of loss.
When she had nothing left to lose, what was there to fear?
9.
“Let’s think about how we’re getting down now.”
For a moment, every Hunter in the cab wore a look of utter despair.
No countermeasures……?
Beneath her exotic dark brown topknot, eyes protected by combat goggles held not a trace of playfulness.
This is insane.
Just as everyone was about to freak out.
Seo Hwa-yoon crossed her arms playfully and flashed a sly grin.
“JK.”
“……!”
“I’ve got a plan, so everyone shut up from now on.”
“You’re messing with──”
“──Warned you? Acceleration might make you bite your tongue.”
In that instant, everyone folded like origami. Seo Hwa-yoon chuckled at the sight.
“Wasted time dragging it out to avoid explaining.”
Then the cab’s front door burst open with a bang, and Lee Seong-mi entered, supporting Park Ji-yeon.
“Seong-mi, good work. Ji-yeon too.”
Lee Seong-mi.
Her appearance was gradually turning more Western.
“Yeah.”
A side effect of her unique skill, perhaps.
Her hair and irises were slowly dyeing into lotus pink.
“《Lotus Cloud》. How much longer can you keep it up?”
“I hit the usage limit, but it’s fine now.”
She grumbled about the change, but the Association ladies envied her unique look.
“Crossing from one Paradise to another recharges it right away.”
Ping─── peepipeepipeepipeeping!
At that moment, something sharp scraped across the vehicle with a shrill sound.
“Interception already. Faster, faster, faster!”
“Prepping now.”
Lee Seong-mi swiftly took her seat.
The moment she drew her glowing blade that bloomed like a pink lotus, the Lotus Sword.
“Done!”
She secured herself and Park Ji-yeon with the seatbelts.
“《Lotus Binding Guard》!”
The next instant, the train began plummeting toward the surface like it was floating, screeching wildly.
Ping, peepipeepipeepipeeping────!
The upward acceleration slammed into their muscles, trying to hurl their bodies into the air.
“Ugh…… uwaaaaaaaaah!”
Without the restraints, their heads would’ve smashed into the ceiling long ago.
What…… the hell is happening?
In that extreme state, Shin Tae-yeop barely twisted his head to peer out the window.
Holy……
Is there a shaman Hunter out there?
The ground was blanketed in pure white snow clouds.
From them, icicle-like projectiles rained down.
Peepipeepipeepipeeping─────!
There it went again. The eerie scrape along the train’s body.
“Everyone hold on tight. Showtime starts now!”
Seo Hwa-yoon shouted urgently.
At that moment, Shin Tae-yeop’s heart lurched.
Shiiiiiieeeeeek─────
Pale glowing orbs.
They were hurtling in at insane speeds.
“Three! Three incoming!”
The first one merely grazed the train and fizzled out.
“Dodged?!”
The second followed right away.
It too fell short of the train’s altitude, exploding far below.
“Yeah! It was a bit low!”
Kyaeeeeeng!
Ice crystals scattered from the blast point, sending chills down his spine.
That was close.
If that hit the train directly……
Shuwaaaaaaaa──────
Just as he caught his breath.
─────Kyaeeeeeeng!
A crystal-clear, hair-raising roar.
At the same time, blinding white light poured through the windows.
Explosion, explosion.
A glowing orb had detonated right beside the train.
It’s Ekillas……
This was Ekillas’s power. Shin Tae-yeop knew it instantly.
“Fuck, what the fuuuuuuuck!”
“Uwaaaaaaaaah!”
“ShiraaaaaaaaaaaakkkkKK!”
The explosion’s shockwave.
The horizon outside spun wildly, and every passenger screamed like mad.
“I said shut your mouths!”
Was it the uncontrollable spin?
The descent felt even faster, the world whirling dizzily before their eyes.
“Crash in 6 seconds…… no, 4 seconds!”
Mun Ji-hyo, maintaining 《Thousand Ri Eye》, yelled in panic.
“3, 2──!”
And then.
Everything happened in a single instant.
“──Seong-mi, let’s go!”
“1──!”
“──Got it!”
The moment Seo Hwa-yoon shouted and Lee Seong-mi screamed back.
The train slammed into the ground.
Or…… it should have.
Instead of a deafening crash of everything ripping apart.
………Sarrrrrrr……
All that came was.
《Lotus Cloud》 enveloping the train inside and out, a serene floral melody.
Shin Tae-yeop knew right away.
Lee Seong-mi, it was Lee Seong-mi.
She’d absorbed the impact with her unique skill.
And the train.
Instead of smashing into solid ground.
Hit something squelchy like mud…… and bounced upward slightly with a slide.
“《Material Transformation》 to change the ground…… and now 《Form Memory》……!”
Shouting that, Seo Hwa-yoon slapped the car body with her palm.
“Turn this train into a car!”
In that instant.
The steam locomotive’s wheel structure and outer wheels morphed into tank treads, like an armored vehicle.
The train, flung by the impact.
Settled into the snow with an uneasy metallic groan…… and began charging forward without issue.
“Yes! It worked woooooo!”
Seo Hwa-yoon roared into the headset, and the Association Hunters bellowed back with all their might.
“Waaaaaah!”
“Yeeeeeehaaaaa!”
What form had she recalled?
What science had she applied to adapt the train’s power to a tank? Shin Tae-yeop couldn’t fathom it.
“Whoa…… insane…….”
“Sh…… rak…….”
“Shyrak, is this for real……?”
They could only trust their eyes.
Unbelievable as it was, this train was now gliding across Nowon-gu’s snowy fields.
At a speed far from slow.
Shin Tae-yeop unbuckled and stood, leaning out the window.
There it was immediately.
The cityscape blanketed in white snow.
A deathly silence, devoid of any signs of life.
And.
To the north of this dead city.
Surak Mountain, Ekillas’s Holy Mountain, looming with an eerie, churning hue.
“Shirak! Shirak! Shirak!”
Shyrak barked frantically.
Sensing it with his energy, perhaps—Shyrak was saying.
Ye-jin was there.
Shin Tae-yeop stroked Shyrak’s head and whispered.
“I know, just hold on a bit.”
It was a promise to himself too.
Ye-jin…… you idiot.
Shin Tae-yeop summoned a magic square in his palm for a moment, then clenched his fist, scattering it to sparkles.
Just wait a little longer.
I’m coming—we’re coming to save you.