Chapter 26
Chapter 26.
The voice telling him not to use skills and to die.
Even after determining that the voice was similar to his mother's.
'Why on earth would Mother be here...?'
Lee Ganghan simply couldn't believe it.
Lee Ganghan's mother.
Yoo Eesu was someone who fell into the category of extremely 'ordinary.'
She was from an orphanage.
A mother who had married his father at the young age of early twenties.
'She went missing while searching for a cure for me.'
After Mother went missing.
He had searched for her for a long time but couldn't find even the smallest clue.
But to think he would hear her voice in a place he never expected?
[You must die! Ganghan, you must die!]
He never expected her to urge her son to die like this.
Sssss...
And as she kept shouting.
Shadows fell on the wall where the voice was coming from.
A bizarrely shaped face appeared.
[Hiiiiik! It's a ghost!!!]
The Divine Maiden ghost made a fuss upon seeing it.
Lee Ganghan actually came to his senses upon hearing the Divine Maiden's scream.
Right.
There's nothing certain yet, is there?
It might be a different entity that just has a similar voice.
"I'll ask again. Are you really my mother?"
[Don't use skills!]
"You're not answering."
Don't use skills.
Just die.
At the voice that only repeated such words.
Lee Ganghan's eyes sank deeply.
"Then I'll proceed in the direction you don't want. Heavenly Demon Divine Art."
As he activated the Heavenly Demon Divine Art and stretched his right hand upward.
Thud...!
The rock that was trying to crush Lee Ganghan.
Could no longer descend and was blocked by his single hand.
Indeed, using the Heavenly Demon Divine Art.
No matter how 'Impossible' the difficulty was, it was a weight that could be overcome.
'But if I hadn't used the Heavenly Demon Divine Art, I would have been crushed.'
Right.
I would have died just as that voice wanted.
Lee Ganghan supported the rock with his right hand.
And tightly clenched his fist with his left hand.
And.
[Skill, 'Heavenly Demon Divine Fist' is activated.]
As the Heavenly Demon Divine Fist activated.
Bang!
His fist directly struck the rock.
Then.
Craaack...!
Cracks spread throughout the entire rock.
Thud, Thud...
The debris of the shattered rock fell to the ground.
[Wow! You're using the Heavenly Demon Divine Fist in a completely embodied way. As expected, your understanding of the Heavenly Demon Divine Art is high!]
Seeing Lee Ganghan's Heavenly Demon Divine Fist.
The Divine Maiden ghost was amazed, calling it the level of embodiment.
"It's just system power and skill power though?"
[But you seem to use the power too naturally as if it's your own...]
Lee Ganghan answered nonchalantly.
But the Divine Maiden ghost continued to highly evaluate Lee Ganghan's level, having seen something in the Heavenly Demon Divine Fist.
Meanwhile.
['Strength' training has failed.]
[Would you like to reset the difficulty setting?]
Apparently destroying the rock didn't count as training.
A system message appeared asking him to change the difficulty.
Well.
They sent a rock for him to roll to build strength.
But he shattered it, so it's reasonable to call it a failure.
At that moment.
[Set the difficulty to Impossible.]
[It must be Impossible to build strength.]
[It must reach 20, 20.]
[Choose Impossible! And die!]
The 'voice' that had only repeated not to use skills earlier.
Now forced Lee Ganghan to keep going with Impossible difficulty.
"20...? You're saying I can raise it to 20 with Impossible difficulty?"
Even at Lee Ganghan's question.
[Set the difficulty to Impossible.]
Starting with these words.
His mother's voice repeated the same words from earlier.
Now that he looked at it, it wasn't a proper conversation.
It seemed like recorded audio from that side was just automatically playing.
'When I use skills, sounds like 'don't use skills, die' come out, and when setting difficulty, it's 'set to Impossible and die,' something like that.'
Anyway, the conclusion is to die.
Lee Ganghan examined the wall where the black stain appeared with a hardened face.
Every time the bizarrely shaped face writhed.
[Set the difficulty to Impossible.]
The instruction to set the difficulty to Impossible kept repeating.
[Ugh. Now that I look at it, it's just repeating the same words...? Earlier it was telling you not to use skills.]
"It seems like when specific situations arise, it only says the corresponding words."
[That's right. What on earth is its identity to act like this...? Ah. Didn't you say it was your mother earlier?]
At the Divine Maiden ghost's question, Lee Ganghan nodded.
"Yeah. The voice was too similar to my missing mother. So."
Lee Ganghan tapped the wall where the black stain was located with his hand.
"I think I need to break this wall."
[Um... you're going to break the wall?]
"Yeah."
[Didn't you say it was your mother?]
"That's exactly why I need to break it."
Hup.
Lee Ganghan briefly held his breath.
And threw his fist at the wall with full force.
Then.
Boom, boom, bang...!
The wall surface immediately shattered.
Although he didn't directly destroy the black stain that was making his mother's voice.
After shattering the area above it.
Ssss ssss...
Black smoke rose thickly above it.
And.
[Ahhh... foolish...]
[Everything was for you...]
A voice exactly like his mother's echoed.
Soon the black smoke disappeared.
'...For me.'
The Impossible difficulty set in the training hall.
Continuing training by dying there repeatedly.
Is that for me?
Lee Ganghan smiled bitterly.
[Still, this time it didn't seem like an automatic response...]
"Right. Though I ultimately couldn't have a conversation."
He looked at the broken wall and thought of other training halls.
If there were traces of imitating his mother's voice there too.
He would have to go and check.
Especially.
'I need to do it before the duration of the Heavenly Demon Divine Art ends.'
If he hadn't activated the Heavenly Demon Divine Art.
Lee Ganghan would have already been crushed to death as the 'voice' intended.
Since other training halls might have similar trials.
He needed to quickly go and check while the Heavenly Demon Divine Art was still active.
'Come to think of it, the 24-hour limitation didn't activate here.'
Since this was a portal he entered after activating the Heavenly Demon Divine Art in the tower in the morning and falling asleep.
Time-wise, 24 hours shouldn't have passed, but the Heavenly Demon Divine Art activated well.
Does the first tower have different cooldown applications?
'I'll have to check later.'
Lee Ganghan thought so.
And entered the portal that was open behind him again.
Then.
Ziiiiing...
He returned to the Heavenly Demon Valley again.
'Then I need to enter the next training hall.'
Lee Ganghan ran toward the Agility Training Hall portal.
At full speed.
[Le, let's go together~!]
Then the Divine Maiden ghost quickly followed.
Just before entering the portal, she settled on his shoulder.
[I'll observe carefully this time too. Earlier I was a bit scared...]
"A ghost being scared of a ghost."
[I'm not a ghost!]
With a perfectly ghost-like appearance.
She shouted angrily that she wasn't a ghost.
"Got it, Divine Maiden."
Lee Ganghan chuckled.
'This time... let me properly understand.'
Soon he entered the Agility Training Hall with a serious face.
***
['Agility' training begins.]
[Difficulty setting - Impossible]
The Agility Training Hall.
Here, countless arrows flew densely.
Testing how much Lee Ganghan could dodge among them.
But perhaps because the difficulty was set to Impossible.
There was almost no space to dodge in the Agility Training Hall.
[You must die! Ganghan, you must die!]
This time, a black stain appeared on the floor.
His mother's voice urging him to die was heard.
"..."
While deflecting arrows with his hands.
Thump!
When he stomped on the floor with his foot.
Ssss...
Black smoke rose from there.
[You became strong too quickly...]
[The blessing should have been maintained longer...]
Then it spoke new words like in the Strength Training Hall as the smoke disappeared.
'The blessing was indeed connected to that voice.'
Lee Ganghan, who couldn't 'realize' while dominated by the blessing.
If the Heavenly Demon Constitution hadn't been enhanced to D grade.
He would still be dominated by the blessing.
Continuing to meet death in the training hall.
When Lee Ganghan's expression hardened.
[The energy felt from there... it's pure demonic energy.]
This time, the Divine Maiden, who had said she wouldn't be scared.
Detected demonic energy in the black smoke.
Pure demonic energy.
'That's not the kind of energy Mother would have.'
Lee Ganghan left the Agility Training Hall.
With his doubts.
"Let's go to the next one immediately."
The third training hall he entered like that.
In the Stamina Training Hall.
['Stamina' training begins.]
[Difficulty setting - Impossible]
Iron chains wrapped around both arms and legs.
Several large iron balls appeared, making Lee Ganghan's body heavy.
And from behind.
Whoooosh...!
Huge flames erupted.
And began slowly approaching toward Lee Ganghan.
'If I don't want to burn to death, I should run with the iron balls on?'
This builds stamina?
Lee Ganghan looked at the iron chains binding him as if it were absurd.
Crack, crack...!
And tore off the restraints.
Then.
['Stamina' training has failed.]
[Would you like to reset the difficulty setting?]
A failure message appeared immediately after tearing off the iron balls.
[Set the difficulty to Impossible.]
Then from the back where the huge flames had erupted.
His mother's voice was heard.
Precisely from the wall in the back.
"..."
Bang!
When Lee Ganghan walked there and broke the wall.
Ssss...
The black smoke that rose this time.
Didn't disappear but gathered together.
And formed a face.
A face that looked exactly like his mother Yoo Eesu.
"...Are you really my mother?"
At Lee Ganghan's question.
Swish.
The 'face' opened its mouth.
[Ganghan, you'll regret today's choice.]
[20 was a really important number.]
Emphasizing the stat 20 once again.
[If you ever want to reverse your choice... become weak.]
[Then I will bestow a blessing upon you again.]
As if doing a favor.
She said she would grant the blessing again if he became weak.
This, is she telling me to lower the Heavenly Demon Constitution to E grade?
Lee Ganghan frowned and spoke again.
"Please answer my question first. Are you my mother?"
[Are you curious?]
Grin.
The face in the smoke raised the corners of its mouth long.
The corners of the mouth raised beyond human limits.
Looked like a clown's exaggerated smile.
[If you're curious, become weak. I'll come to bestow the blessing again.]
"..."
[Or... yes. Come down, to the bottom of the first tower.]
Swish.
The face that was looking at the ground.
Smiled brightly at Lee Ganghan once more.
[Then you'll be able to know.]
With those words as the last.
Ssss...
The form disappeared as smoke.
Lee Ganghan blankly watched that sight.
"Become weak, or come down..."
For the Heavenly Demon Constitution to go to E grade.
He would have to die while climbing towers in reality.
Actually, since it hadn't been long since he reached D grade.
Dying once would be easy.
'But I have no intention of becoming weak.'
He had been dying without knowing it due to that unidentified blessing.
He had no intention of repeating this.
He didn't know why stat 20 was so important.
But continuing training with this crude method was something he would pass on.
Then.
"I need to go down and meet them."
So he needed to confirm whether it was really his mother.
Or if it was an entity impersonating her.
[...Really dense concentration of demonic energy. To meet that person, you'd have to go to the middle floors of the tower... no, even below that.]
"You can determine that too?"
[Ah, of course I'm not certain... but it's definitely an extraordinary existence. Being born as the child of such a person, is that why you were so exceptional too, Heavenly Demon?]
"Well. The mother I knew was ordinary though..."
Lee Ganghan recalled when his mother left home.
And thought of his father in America.
'When I get out of here, I'll have to ask about the circumstances of that time once more.'
He himself didn't know the situation well since he was just sleeping.
But his father might know something separately.
When Lee Ganghan thought so and returned to the Heavenly Demon Valley.
[Oh... Heavenly Demon! Your body...]
The Divine Maiden ghost pointed at his body with her finger.
"Huh?"
After exiting the Stamina Training Hall.
Lee Ganghan's body had become half-transparent.
And.
[The time you can stay in the 'First Tower' has all passed.]
[Returning to the original world.]
A message appeared saying the time was up.
Paaaah...!
A red portal appeared behind Lee Ganghan.
'What? Why is the time so short?'
There was still a lot to do here.
Lee Ganghan thought so.
Swoosh...!
But the portal pulled his body in.
[He, Heavenly Demon! Please make sure to see me again next time!]
"...Yeah."
Lee Ganghan received the Divine Maiden's farewell like that.
And returned to the original world.
Home.