The Tower Begins to Crumble

The boss fight 《Ruin Approaches》 begins. [The Tower Begins to Collapse]

The world starts to shake violently.

"W-what the hell?!"

Sun Wukong whips his head around in panic. With a sharp pop, he vanishes like he's teleported and reappears right behind me.

"Don't move from behind me."

One hand thrust forward, the other stretched back to shield me, his Adam's apple bobs hard. In an instant, the Geunduun unravels like thread and wraps protectively around me. So it can be used like this too.

"I told you to cut that out."

At his single command, the quaking world freezes as if nothing had ever happened.

"Seriously, do you have to do that every single time you show up?"

This is way past overkill. It's not like an elephant stomping on an anthill.

"Please ride on my back, Father. The scenery here is quite nice. I'll send you on a filial sightseeing tour."

"Agh, seriously. Dad, I'm trying to train here. Just go!"

"Why's he acting like that?"

—Chik, chik.

"Huu—" I pop a cigarette into my mouth and light it. The smoke drifts lazily upward.

"Uh······ Yeah."

Sun Wukong, still dazed and unable to process the situation, answers in a cracked voice.

"Y-yes······."

"Master, you okay?"

"······Yeah."

The voice that had wrapped around the world like a thick blanket quickly unravels and fades. Guess he's gone.

"How old are you anyway, Master? You really went thousands of years without it?"

"······."

"Uh···· Sorry. Wanna do it with me?"

"Please don't say things like that····."

"Fine."

Thankfully, Sun Wukong, who had been completely frozen, starts to loosen up. Just a few words and the guy disappears, yet it feels like a natural disaster just passed through.

"He shows up and acts like that sometimes. Don't let it get to you."

"How am I supposed to not let that get to me?"

"Fair point."

Sun Wukong makes a dumbfounded face.

"Aren't you being way too nonchalant? I don't want to experience any daddy-daughter conflicts."

"You sure know how to put things politely. Nobody says 'daddy-daughter' or 'grandpa-grandson' these days. Master, are you my grandpa?"

"I've lived an awfully long time."

Sun Wukong lets out a deep sigh. He looks seriously conflicted.

"Is he really your dad?"

"Yeah. Sort of?"

"Sort of····?"

"Huu—"

Without answering, I blow out another stream of smoke. After wrestling with his thoughts for a while, Sun Wukong plops down on the ground and picks up his game console.

"Not gonna ask anything else?"

"Sigh. Even if I did, there's nothing I can do about it. I don't know anything except that the Tathagata is plotting something."

Letting out a short sigh, Sun Wukong dives back into his game. Munch, munch.

"Master, stress-eating isn't good for you."

"Would you turn it down if you were me?"

"Guess not."

The brief storm has left me completely drained. Thunk! I plant the Yeoui into the ground and lean back against it. Makes a pretty decent backrest.

Tick. I flick the shortened cigarette with my finger, sending sparks flying.

—Chik, chik.

"Huu— Master."

"What."

"Teach me the Geunduun technique."

With a sharp snap of his fingers, clouds begin gathering just like before.

"I've been through every kind of hardship, but there's no need for you to go through the same. Stay inside it."

"That's it?"

"The technique itself isn't much once I pass it on. Like I said earlier, the real problem is enduring it."

The gathered clouds slowly drift toward me. They flow over my body until I'm completely enveloped. When I try to breathe, the clouds seep into my nose and mouth. My throat itches and breathing becomes difficult.

"Erase your stray thoughts."

Just as my mind starts to fade from lack of oxygen, Sun Wukong's voice crashes into my ears like thunder. A single drop of water falls onto the surface of my crowded thoughts, spreading ripples.

"Huaa!"

A sudden gust of wind blows away the clouds that had wrapped around me.

"Good work."

While I catch my breath and come back to my senses, Sun Wukong's flat voice reaches me.

"How long was I in there?"

"A long time."

My body feels like stone.

"How long is 'a long time'?"

"Who knows. Did you think learning a Buddha's technique would be easy for a human?"

Only after the clouds completely vanish do I see my surroundings again. The environment hasn't changed much from when I entered the clouds. The grand architectural ruins are still scattered everywhere. The only differences are that the mountain of snacks I left out has turned into trash, and Baek Seol is asleep on my lap.

"You could've told me it would take this long. Baek Seol must've waited forever."

"Baek Seol's fine."

I lift my creaking head and meet Sun Wukong's eyes. He's sitting perfectly straight, his gaze sharp and focused.

"That child is deeply connected to you. She'll wake from her deep sleep soon enough."

When I pet the soundly sleeping Baek Seol, her ears twitch.

"Huu. Thank goodness."

The discarded snack wrappers look faded, like a lot of time has passed.

"For someone like you, that was incredibly fast. I thought it'd take hundreds of years."

"Is that supposed to be comforting, you damn master?"

"Puhuhu."

Those divine-seat types have a weird sense of time. It's hard to keep up with them.

"Our Baek Seol, are you hibernating?"

When I pet her and speak, her ears twitch again. She looks like she'll wake up soon.

I carefully tuck Baek Seol into my pocket and stand up. My whole body creaks. Rumble, thud—! The generator that came out of the pocket dimension makes a loud noise.

"Master, come here."

Sun Wukong, who had been sitting motionless like a statue, brushes off his rear and stands.

"See this key? Just turn it."

Click.

"What's this?"

Sun Wukong approaches and examines the generator closely.

"You're out of battery so you can't play games, right?"

"Yeah."

"Connect the cord from the generator to the charger—er, the power bank."

"Oho. So this thing will stop running someday too?"

The clever monkey makes a sharp observation.

"This is a gasoline generator. As long as you have fuel, you can keep using it."

Seeing the gasoline can I pull out, Sun Wukong nods.

"And this too."

I show him how to use the laptop and he nods repeatedly.

"Human progress is remarkable."

"Didn't you get Choco Song-song from a human too?"

"Right. I received it from a human who recently climbed the tower. He's already dead, though."

While answering, Sun Wukong connects the charger to the game console. Once the screen lights up, he sits on the floor and starts tapping away furiously.

"Master, eat some snacks while you play."

"Oh! Thanks."

Leaving Sun Wukong to his game, I focus my mind. Clouds begin to gather in front of me. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠When I carefully step onto them, my body sways unsteadily. I still can't last even a few seconds. It's nothing like the dense clouds Sun Wukong showed me. The quality is far too low.

The fist strikes in a state of no-self are powerful, but on the flip side, even one proper punch leaves me completely exhausted. I thought I'd gotten pretty used to no-self after waking up lying on the Geunduun, but that was just an illusion. Even the proper Geunduun Sun Wukong gave me was hard to stay on for more than a few seconds. Maintaining no-self on this hole-riddled cotton-candy version is way beyond me.

"The technique has settled into your body, so it'll get better the more you use it."

"I can feel my mental limits though."

"Puhuhu. I told you, no-self is difficult even for gods. You have to be born with the talent."

Sun Wukong handles it like it's nothing. The guy really is on another level.

—Chik, chik.

"Huu—"

My clouds have terrible cohesion. On a whim, I try condensing them smaller and they shrink to the size of the ball Baek Seol plays with. When I step onto the small cloud ball, it gently wraps around my foot. Much better than trying to make it ridiculously huge like Sun Wukong does.

"Oh! Master, look at this."

I summon two small Geunduun and wear them like skates. My body glides forward smoothly.

"····What the hell is that."

"Geunduun skates."

"Hah."

Sun Wukong lets out a disbelieving laugh.

"Why are you twisting the technique so much?"

"Huh? This is easier though?"

"You think splitting the Geunduun in two and operating it that way is easier?"

"Yeah."

It uses way less power and concentration. Even this is still too hard for me right now, so I'll have to use it in short bursts. Probably best to activate it only during explosive movements and cancel it once I have momentum. It's a versatile technique in many ways.

"It's fine and all, but if you use it like that, the headwind will make it tough. You're stripping away all the technique's built-in functions and only using the mobility part."

"I can't use it as recklessly as you, Master."

"Time will solve that."

"I'm human, remember."

Sun Wukong stares at me like he can't comprehend what he's seeing, then goes back to his game.

"I don't care how you use it, but keep going like that and your body won't hold up."

"Without my sturdy body, I'd already be a corpse."

Jecheon Daeseong-ryu Geunduun — Light Use.

"Hup!"

I create a small Geunduun for explosive speed, then cancel it immediately.

Bang—!!!

Crash!!

"Kuaaa·····."

"Puahaha!"

Clouds of dust rise around my embedded body.

"Daaad, Master's bullying me."

"W-wait!"

Completely startled, he drops his precious game console and flails his arms.

"Ha···ha, ha! N-no, Autumn's father."