The Last of the Giant Race
Right after they cleared the sixth floor, a giant’s form began to appear above Baek Yeon-ho’s head.
A semi-transparent figure.
It was hazy, like a ghost monster from a game, yet its outline stood out with perfect clarity.
A massive upper body. Thick arms and broad, powerful shoulders. A long beard braided down his chest.
At first Yeon-ho thought he was seeing things. Then the description etched into the Shield of the Earth’s Cry came back to him.
Feature: A shield granted to the first to clear a hidden route of the Tower of Despair. The giant Kenzo is sealed within.
That’s the giant Kenzo?
Baek Yeon-ho swallowed dryly without meaning to.
—Krrrrm.
The giant’s form twisted its heavy body as if stretching after a long sleep.
—Where is this place? Looks like some half-assed world right after the tower showed up… Are you the punk who dragged me out?
A voice like rolling thunder slammed straight into Baek Yeon-ho’s mind.
He whipped his head around, but the rest of the party seemed completely unaware. Jang Cha-yul and Baek Do-hee were chatting quietly; Kang Si-a was silently watching their surroundings the way she always did. Even Hyun Si-woon was just staring blankly at something in the distance.
Only I can see and hear him?
—Tch. So the one who’s supposed to use this shield from now on is this scrawny greenhorn? Look at those bones. One poke and you’d snap like a twig.
H-hey…
Damn it. Where was he even supposed to start?
Baek Yeon-ho frowned and scratched the back of his head.
—Hey, you! What the hell is a man doing? If you’re going to talk, finish the damn sentence! Scratching your head like an idiot—you looking to die?
W-what?
Yeon-ho’s eyes went wide.
He can read my thoughts?
—Of course I read thoughts. What else would I read? Haaa, I’ve seen it all. Ptooey! I’m grateful you pulled me out of that hellish tower, but of all the people in the world I get stuck with this stuttering fool. You even climb the tower properly like that? To get my power back, you have to punch through the tower, you hear me!
“…”
Baek Yeon-ho was speechless. So a crude thug was stuffed inside the shield? And the guy never shut up—his skull was already ringing.
Who exactly are you? This is our first meeting. Don’t you think you’re being a little too rude?
—Hmph. Talking back so cheekily… Who am I? Carve it into that empty skull of yours, greenhorn. My name is Kenzo. The last bloodline of the giant race who stood like a mountain at the top of the tower!
Giant race?
Yeon-ho was thoroughly confused. He had no idea what any of that meant—until something clicked.
Ah.
Si-woon had mentioned it before. There were weapons that could temporarily unleash a Ranker’s power. That lightning attack earlier had almost certainly been one of them… Could this guy be the same kind?
I should talk to Si-woon about this.
If anyone had answers, it would be him.
That was how Baek Yeon-ho ended up seeking out Hyun Si-woon.
“Kenzo, you say?”
After hearing the rough explanation from Yeon-ho hyung, Hyun Si-woon drew the Formless Sword. Ha-wol popped out with a soft poof, and he asked at once.
Ha-wol, do you know a Ranker named Kenzo?
—Kenzo?
Ha-wol tilted her head for a moment, then smirked as the memory returned. A derisive little smile tugged at the corner of her lips.
—Hehehe. Don’t tell me it’s that guy—the giant?
Sounds like it. Beard on his face, talks a lot.
When he relayed exactly what Yeon-ho had told him, Ha-wol nodded.
—So that blockhead ran his mouth at the Tower Lord too? Must have gotten himself sealed in the tower.
You know him?
—Of course I do. We once shared the same sky—how could I not? Probably a tanker who used to hover around the top hundred.
Oho.
Hyun Si-woon’s eyes lit up. Naturally he couldn’t compare to Ha-wol or Noe-je, but top hundred was still impressively high. For Baek Yeon-ho this was nothing short of an enormous windfall.
—He strutted around with his nose in the clouds calling himself the last descendant of the giants. Well, there is a reason he has no choice but to keep quiet in front of this lady. Hehehe. He’s sealed inside that shield, you say?
Yeah.
—Pass on my regards. Ask the blockhead if he’s been well.
Do I really have to…?
—You can’t keep hiding my existence from them forever, can you?
Hmm. That was true.
A flicker of contemplation crossed Si-woon’s brow. Until now he had simply told the party he “just knew” the martial arts. It didn’t make much sense if you thought about it. They had all lived in the modern world together—how would he know the exact formulas, stances, and heart methods so precisely? The others were simply kind enough not to press the issue. They had to have noticed something was off.
Alright.
Revealing Ha-wol’s existence this time might not be a bad idea. His gut told him that if opportunities like this kept coming, the others would eventually obtain Ranker-based items of their own. Making up excuses every single time would only get more annoying.
Fine, then.
The corner of Si-woon’s mouth curled upward. Come to think of it, the situation was pretty funny—a reunion with a Ranker who was an old acquaintance of Ha-wol’s.
“Hyung.”
“Yeah?”
“Tell Kenzo this. Ask if the blockhead’s been well.”
“…What?”
A moment later Baek Yeon-ho’s face went paper-white. The way his color drained while he stared into empty air made it clear Kenzo was reacting.
At that same moment, Kenzo was utterly dumbfounded.
It was fine that some stammering Climber had rescued him. Anything was better than being trapped in the tower with no end in sight. But…
What that Climber’s companion was spouting made Kenzo’s soul leave his body.
What?
Blockhead?
That was a nickname a few Rankers who looked down on him used to whisper behind his back. Of course no one ever said it to his face. There simply wasn’t anyone bold enough to show that kind of disrespect to the last descendant of the giant race.
And yet some mere Climber—a brat no better than a newborn—dared call him a blockhead.
—What did that insolent bastard just say?
Kenzo was so furious he didn’t even have room to wonder how Hyun Si-woon knew the nickname.
—Hey! Crush that insolent bastard’s head with this shield right now! Otherwise I won’t give you a single scrap of help with your climb!
“H-hey, Si-woon… Kenzo-nim seems pretty pissed…”
Baek Yeon-ho was worried. This was a legendary shield he had barely managed to obtain. He wanted to get along if at all possible.
—Speak properly! I’m not angry! I’m just dumbfounded! Tell that guy clearly—does he know who I am to run his mouth so carelessly?! I am the Ranker Kenzo! The last descendant of the giant race! I can crush a bug like him with one finger!
Yeon-ho kept relaying the words in real time. Si-woon smirked.
“Descendant of the giants? Not the shame of the giants?”
—W-what!
Kenzo was one breath away from foaming at the mouth. He felt bitter regret that he was only a spirit and couldn’t exert any physical force.
—Kyaaaaargh! Shame? What do you know to dare spout such nonsense!
“Don’t remember? The incident where you, full of giant pride, picked a fight with a female knight Ranker lower than you and got cut in half—shield and all.”
—Gahk?!
Kenzo’s spirit body went rigid.
H-how does he know that?
It was the single most humiliating defeat of Kenzo’s entire life. He had taken one look at the rising female knight’s face, fallen for her on the spot, charged in to show off, and been thoroughly smashed. The result had been catastrophic.
—H-how does that guy…
Kenzo’s flustered voice rang inside Baek Yeon-ho’s head. Yeon-ho could only stare blankly at Si-woon.
“And you still couldn’t give up, right?”
Si-woon gazed into empty air with a distant look, like an actor recalling a scene from an old film.
“Tried for a rematch in the forest at night and…”
The corner of his mouth rose in a sly curve.
—S-stop! Stop it!
Kenzo’s urgent cry burst out. What had happened after that was a nightmare he didn’t even want to imagine. She had happened to be with the leader of her group, and that leader had beaten him until his soul nearly left his body. That moment of absolute terror—and the even more horrific moment when he lost control of his sphincter entirely.
—I get it, so tell him to stop! I’m sorry, just shut that mouth…
“Oh, really? That great descendant of the giants wet his pants so thoroughly…”
—Uwaaaaaaargh! Uwaaaaaa!
Kenzo’s soul screamed. Now he was almost certain. This was no coincidence. This was a being who knew every last humiliating detail of his history—the nightmare existence who had called him “blockhead” and beaten him senseless.
Lord of the Moon, Silent Heavenly Shatter! That crazy bitch!
—S-stop!
Kenzo’s voice began to tremble. He was no longer looking at Hyun Si-woon. His spiritual gaze was locked on the ordinary-looking sword Si-woon held, and on the cool, familiar energy radiating from it.
H-Ha-wol…
He had heard she was sealed by the Tower Lord. Word was she had been hit so hard that no Climber would ever find her… yet there was already a Climber who possessed her?
—Tell him to stop talking. Please! I was wrong! I’m sorry!
By now Baek Yeon-ho had fully grasped the situation.
“Si-woon, he says he was wrong. Please stop.”
“Stop what? After that day he got trauma so bad he couldn’t even go near female Rankers, and whenever he drank…”
—I lost! I lose! Surrender! I surrender! I know who she is! Please pass on my regards to her! This lowly Kenzo never meant to offend her!
Kenzo’s cry was almost a wail. Yeon-ho relayed the desperate surrender declaration in real time and let out a hollow laugh. The thug-like giant who had been calling him a greenhorn moments earlier had vanished; now a terrified, gentle sheep stood trembling in his place.
Just what are you, Si-woon…
Once again Baek Yeon-ho felt he could not fathom the depths of Hyun Si-woon’s existence. At the same time a vague intuition settled over him: there were probably a few more beings like this near the man.
“Alright, hyung. I’ll stop now.”
Si-woon tapped the Formless Sword with a satisfied smile. Only then did Kenzo’s spirit body let out a long sigh of relief.
—Hoo… hoo…
Kenzo was still gasping.
“But I have conditions.”
—C-conditions?
Even though he couldn’t see the giant, Si-woon could almost hear the panic. He continued smoothly.
“From now on, don’t act recklessly toward Yeon-ho hyung. Teach him everything you know with real sincerity and become a solid master for him. You can do that, right? After all, to get your power back, hyung has to succeed in climbing.”
Kenzo answered without a second’s hesitation.
—Of course! No—of course, sir! This Kenzo will raise this greenhorn into the greatest shield-bearer alive!
With that vow, Kenzo’s spirit body slipped back into the shield like a mouse diving into its hole.
“…”
Silence settled over them. Baek Yeon-ho simply stood there, not knowing how to process the surreal scene he had just witnessed. Si-woon gave his shoulder a light clap.
“Let’s go, hyung. I’ll explain the details with everyone else.”