The Ice Prison Heart

Sun Wukong scanned the frozen surroundings and let out a hollow laugh.

'It's pretty good, right?'

「You call this pretty good?」

Sun Wukong looked around and chuckled in disbelief.

「Just how did you manage to survive—let alone win—in an environment like this?」

The result created by the Yellow Wind Demon's finger was impressive ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠enough to draw admiration from even Sun Wukong.

The entire underground waterway clearing had frozen solid.

The skeleton legion charging at Lee-hyun, the cloud of acid rain filling the ceiling, the filth pooling across the floor—everything.

Lee-hyun had always kept one thought tucked in the back of his mind.

Is there no way to perfectly recreate the cold of that place?

The holy relic of the Ice Palace that Lee-hyun should have claimed had been taken by the traitors.

He could not wield its power, but on the other hand, no one had experienced the palace's bitter cold and suffering more than he had.

For four years he had endured an excruciating curse, after all.

So he wondered if he could draw on that experience to recreate at least a portion of the cold.

Lee-hyun had a deep conversation with Docheol Elder about the matter. The old blacksmith stared at him with an unreadable gaze, then quietly looked at the storage box Lee-hyun had entrusted to him.

He asked if he could use one of the items inside.

Lee-hyun nodded.

And the result was this one-time-use item that produced a truly astonishing effect.

A world of ice had arrived.

Because the range was narrow, the effect was even more potent.

It's exactly the same as four years ago.

With that thought, Lee-hyun landed on the ground.

Thud!

Then—

Crackle-crackle-crackle!

He detonated the lightning energy he had kept tightly condensed.

Blue-white lightning bolts poured down like a storm.

Rumble—

The lightning spreading out from Lee-hyun shattered and tore apart everything that had been frozen.

The skeleton legion, the acid rain, the filth—all of it turned to powder and vanished.

Whiiiish…

Lee-hyun leisurely walked through the aftermath and stood before the hidden boss.

The creature was half-frozen, shivering finely.

Tremble, tremble.

Whether from the cold or from fear, it was impossible to tell.

Yet the gaze it fixed on Lee-hyun burned with unyielding will.

Without a word, Lee-hyun pressed his index finger against the black skull clutched in the creature’s hand.

Flash!

Crackle—

The equally frozen black skull shattered into pieces under the force of the condensed lightning.

All the powder swirled into a vortex and was absorbed completely into Lee-hyun.

As if returning to its rightful place.

'Open status window.'

Lee-hyun discovered a new feature in the status window.

My magic power has skyrocketed.

The magic power stat, which had been the lowest among the six ability scores, had now surpassed even the highest stat—Strength.

The result of absorbing the Demon King's spiritual beast and the black skull just now.

And thanks to that—

Additional functions were special abilities unlocked once an ability coefficient reached three digits. They strengthened each ability based on the karma a hunter had accumulated.

And when these additional functions piled up, they eventually formed a single Authority.

Only from that point onward could one be called a true Ranker.

It was the power of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the Snow Queen.

* * *

This was exactly why Lee-hyun had sought Curse Immunity.

To ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠dissolve all the ice crystals remaining in his body, dramatically increase his magic power, and use that foundation to awaken the Snow Queen’s power.

By infusing the Snow Queen’s grudge directly into his magic power itself, he would gradually obtain strength comparable to hers.

The holy relic stolen by Na Ye-bin and Seo Chang-woo could not be reclaimed immediately.

But Lee-hyun had succeeded in obtaining a far superior treasure.

Now my magic power carries the ice attribute on its own. Even without activating the Breath of Dueok-shin, ice-attribute magic will follow automatically.

Of course, great advantages came with equally great disadvantages.

Lee-hyun’s signature attributes were lightning and flame.

Ice was naturally their opposite and could negatively affect his output.

But Lee-hyun decided to use that very opposition to his advantage.

As a kind of cooling system.

To complete the condensed lightning and properly begin training in Diovis, I need to worry about overheating the magic circuits. With the Ice Prison Heart, that concern disappears.

Lee-hyun had not forgotten how his magic circuits had been destroyed when he pushed beyond his limit during the fight with the Snow Queen.

But as long as the Ice Prison Heart remained, he would never have to worry about that again.

Depending on how I use it… it might even prove far superior to the stolen relic.

The Ice Prison Heart truly held that much value.

Just wait a little longer. I’ll soon make your necks run cold.

Lee-hyun lightly swept his hair back.

A refreshing breeze blew past.

Whoooosh!

With this, I’ve added ice goblin to the list along with fire and night.

Lee-hyun smiled coldly as he stood once more before the hidden boss.

Step.

“……!!”

The creature’s eyelids trembled violently.

Its complexion had grown far paler than before.

The hidden boss felt an indescribable pressure emanating from Lee-hyun.

So the Snow Queen’s rank radiates from me? This is an unexpected bonus.

“You… took my uncle’s relic!”

The hidden boss shouted in a strained voice, but—

Thwack!

Lee-hyun struck the side of its neck with the edge of his hand, knocking it unconscious. He did not forget to forcibly shut down the core with lightning as well.

“Is it over now?”

All that remained was the commotion on the surface.

But there was a way to resolve that too, so only the matter of returning remained.

「What do you mean it’s over! I haven’t finished what I wanted to say, you bastard!」

Of course Sun Wukong jumped up in protest.

Lee-hyun simply laughed lightly.

“Don’t worry. I was planning to finish that as well. Why don’t you come out now?”

But when Lee-hyun lifted his gaze toward the ceiling, his smile vanished.

“Sa Oh-jeong.”

At that moment—

Whoooosh—

Thud!

A black shadow suddenly descended and landed on the ground where ice powder swirled.

It was a handsome man with a ghost-pale face and hair neatly tied up.

A rosary necklace made of eight connected human skulls hung around his neck, and in one hand he held a Buddhist staff commonly called a khakkhara.

“Katkatkat. To think I would be discovered so easily. It makes sense—Senior Brother’s scent is quite thick here.”

「……Oh-jeong.」

Sun Wukong stared at him with deeply sunken eyes.

Sa Oh-jeong.

The youngest of the three disciples of Tang Sanzang—Sun Wukong, Zhu Bajie, and Sha Wujing. After the journey of Journey to the West ended, he became a Buddha known as the Golden Body Arhat.

“Greetings. My name is Jang Lee-hyun.”

“Katkatkat. What a very polite human you are. So different from our reckless senior brother. Nice to meet you. I am Sa Oh-jeong. As you can see… I am a monster. Katkatkatkat!”

Contrary to the solemn personality described in the myths, Sa Oh-jeong appeared to be a rather cheerful and friendly person.

…It was hard to believe he was the mastermind behind the atrocities that had occurred in this dungeon.

「You…」

Sun Wukong asked his former youngest junior brother with a slightly trembling gaze.

「Are you truly Oh-jeong?」

“I wondered what you were going to say. Of course I am. Well, to be precise, I am merely an illusion recorded within Senior Brother’s myth. Katkatkat.”

Lee-hyun was startled.

He knows his own identity is false?

Cases of native beings realizing their world was fake had never been reported before.

Was it because he was a divine being who had already completed his own narrative?

But then—

Sun Wukong shook his head.

「No. The one here is the real thing. Isn’t that right?」

‘?!’

Lee-hyun looked at Sun Wukong in shock, and in that instant, all the laughter vanished from Sa Oh-jeong’s previously cheerful face.

「The real Sa Oh-jeong—or rather, the shell of the Sa Oh-jeong who fell from heaven—hid inside my myth to survive. Am I wrong?」

Lee-hyun was shocked once again.

Falling from heaven.

A term referring to the phenomenon of descending from an immortal being to a mortal one.

In other words, Sa Oh-jeong had suffered the same fate as Sun Wukong.

“……Ah, Senior Brother had the Fiery Golden Eyes, didn’t he? Well, well. I tried to tease you, but it seems nothing goes as planned. Katkatkat.”

Sa Oh-jeong shrugged as he looked at Sun Wukong’s eyes shining with golden light.

“In truth, I am not the only one who fell. Zhu Bajie, the monk—everyone ended up in similar states. Ah, and your sworn brothers, the Seven Great Sages, as well.”

「What?」

Sa Oh-jeong answered with a bitter smile.

“Katkat! After Senior Brother met such a violent end, who do you think the main gods targeted next?”

「……!」

“It was us, of course. They said the roots had to be pulled out. Katkatkat. Thanks to that, I fell to the surface as nothing but an empty husk and had to hide here. Katkatkatkat.”

「……!!」

Sun Wukong’s fists trembled violently. The veins around his eyes bulged, turning his gaze bloodshot.

「Explain in detail!」

A thick, seething grudge poured from his suppressed voice.

「What exactly happened to all of you?!」