The Yellow Universal Ticket, Registration Card- Heavenly Strength (1)

“Why does this guy keep telling me to learn that? How does he even know me?!”

“Listen, young lion. This is perfect for you, I swear. Trust me on this.”

“What am I supposed to do with this training? Enter a bodybuilding competition?”

“Oh! You don’t know what you’re talking about! A man needs strength, you see. But do you know where this strength comes from? It comes from stamina. Is stamina and strength all you need? No. You need agility to connect stamina and strength fluidly! You have to develop these three physical abilities evenly. But you already have the basics down. It’ll be quick. Yes! I stake my honor on it, from my 7,700 years of life in the ‘Battlefield of the Gods.’”

‘What nonsense. Does he think he’s a dragon? Even a dragon wouldn’t live that long. Not 70 years, but 7,700 years?!’

I wanted to escape from this muscular con artist as quickly as possible.

But this man, like that fiery guy who never misses a three-point shot, didn’t know how to give up. He persistently urged me to receive the ‘training.’

However, there was something undeniably unusual about this man’s strength. I couldn’t break free from his grip on my wrist.

“Anyway, I’m going to learn something else. No matter how much of a senior you are, I can’t use my one and only registration card for something forced on me. Look for someone else.”

“Oh! This person. How can a young man be so stubborn?! I’m telling you, it’s perfect for you!”

“Who are you to say that?!”

The audacity of this muscular middle-aged man finally made me angrier, and what infuriated me even more was the reaction of the other neighborhood men around us.

“Hey, Jimnas, you’re at it again. Looks like you’ve caught another sucker.”

“Jimnas always does that during the time of ‘Battlefield of the Gods.’ He claims he’s just trying to quickly train someone to meet his quota and be done with it.”

“That’s why he teaches the easiest training method. There’s no secret technique or anything like in other teachings. You just have to push your body to the limit. Of course, you gain monstrous recovery abilities in return.”

“Still, it’s always the good guys who get caught. Can you believe there are people who come to help just because Jimnas asks for it? I mean, look at Jimnas’s size. Does it make sense that he can’t carry a small bundle with that build? It’s usually the kind or the foolish ones who get caught.”

“Hahaha, that’s true!”

“Hahahaha.”

“Puhuhuhuhu.”

‘You, you, you people!’

“Hey, you!”

“What? Us??”

“Yes! Don’t you think you’re being too harsh?!”

“Who to whom? Surely not us to you?!”

“Of course. I’m a representative and you’re just continentals. You shouldn’t speak so carelessly!”

It seems the representative’s scolding had an effect. The surrounding men all fall silent.

Silence descended on the street of practitioners.

“Don’t worry. It’s not like I’m going to punish you or anything…”

“Puhuhuhuhu!”

“K-kukukukuku!”

“Puhahahahaha!”

“Hahahahahaha!”

“Hahahahaha. Oh, my stomach. Jimnas, this time you’ve caught a sucker who’s also funny.”

“Is that so? Puhuhuhuhu.”

Anyone could tell it was mocking laughter. It made me angry.

“You people!!”

“Hey, kid.”

Suddenly, a chilling aura enveloped me, and I was so startled that I stumbled backward.

My mouth went dry, and my mind felt completely blank.

The adventure(?) in the Monster Belt that I barely escaped from was more terrifying and frightening.

Though I managed not to soil my pants through desperate effort, I couldn’t hide my trembling legs.

“Representative. Do you think that’s something special? We’re prisoners bound here because we’ve displeased the gods, and you’re just a convenient slave. Got it? Think your power is great? Not at all. Anyone here has the strength to kill someone like you with a single punch. Understand?”

“Wh-What…?!”

“Anyway, you and I are in the same miserable situation. So stop complaining and just learn this.”

―From the story of a representative who was forced to use the registration card in the first year before regression.

Due to Naruan’s mind attack, which started in the morning, I skipped breakfast and hurried to get ready to go out.

I felt like I would really explode if I suffered from those cancer-inducing people again today.

However, it seemed like there was some entity that didn’t want me to go out.

Miku and Tess came looking for me from the morning.

Starting with Tess expressing concern over me skipping meals, Miku followed with words of gratitude.

“Thank you! I received life and once again, I am deeply indebted.”

The people of this continent are all good, but this is the problem. How can this be the way a thirteen-year-old boy speaks?

Cringe. I had to clench my fists from the morning.

“…So, did you learn it?”

“Yes!”

Even as Miku answered, he couldn’t hide the smile blooming on his lips.

Or maybe he couldn’t. That’s how excited he was.

Next to him, Tess was also smiling, though it was subtle enough to miss if you didn’t look closely.

“Right. If you keep trying, there will be next times, so don’t rush too much. Take it slow and do your best.”

“Thank you, Kim Han. Besides expressing my gratitude, I came here because I noticed some unusual activity while carrying out your instructions and wanted to report it and receive further directions.”

“Unusual activity?”

“Yes. While purchasing the items you instructed, the prices have recently increased overall. At first, I thought it was because I was buying them unilaterally, but the price hike is too steep.”

“Hmm, really?”

“Yes. So, I wanted to ask if we should continue purchasing or wait and observe the trend for a while.”

Finally, it’s moving. Well, it was bound to happen as the second year began.

“Keep going. Let me know if funds run short at any time. Oh! And Tess.”

“Yes, Kim Han.”

“This is for you, Tess. It’s a book similar to the one I gave Miku. It will be helpful.”

“…What?”

Three skill books were taken out and placed on one side of the desk.

I pushed them forward for him to take, but Tess hesitated to step forward. He just kept glancing between me and the skill books.

Well, it’s only natural to react this way since just opening the book provides intuitive information about the skills and allows one to use them proficiently.

“Take it. I’m giving it to you so you can manage not only household chores but also the legion that will be formed in the future.”

“Thank you.”

In every place where people, or rather beings that communicate and live together, form a society, having superior abilities can be a power that makes it easier to gain an advantage over others.

I want to believe that the grateful and loyal gaze this father and son were sending me is close to genuine.

“Then please take care of that. You don’t need anything else, right?”

“No.”

He gestured for me to leave and hurriedly resumed preparing to go out.

After finishing all preparations, I checked the yellow ticket neatly stacked in my inventory and stepped out of the mansion.

I managed to escape ‘alone’ only after scolding Naruan to practice the Black Butterfly Dance instead of following me.

Perhaps because the number of representatives entering Exorsus had increased. As soon as I stepped outside the mansion, representatives dressed differently from the continentals were easily noticeable.

Especially as I moved from the mansion near the northern city wall towards the plaza in Exorsus, the bustling noise grew louder.

By now, the adventurers and exploration guilds in the north, the temples in the east, the spirit and mercenary guilds in the south, and the magic towers in the west were all likely busy preparing to ‘pass on’ their skills to the visiting representatives.

Even though I had the master of the five elemental magic towers as my slave, they were taking turns going to the magic tower daily to ‘pass on’ skills to the visiting representatives.

All the guilds in Exorsus were busy preparing for the representatives who would visit with their registration cards.

I left the mansion and headed towards the plaza.

I entered the northern street of the plaza, where the guilds that were least likely to receive registration cards from representatives were concentrated. This was where the adventurer and exploration guilds were located.

In my previous life, I naively wandered in here and got caught up in receiving skill transfers, but this time, I’m seeking them out because I need them.

Sitting on the steps in front of the gym, the instructors were chatting noisily like street thugs. I approached a middle-aged man among them, whose muscles seemed about to burst as he laughed.

“Hahaha. I told you, right? At night, I’m something else, huh?”

After throwing around some lewd jokes, the man, who had been showing only the back of his head, turned towards me as if he sensed a group approaching.

A typical middle-aged macho face with a scruffy beard.

‘Nice to see you, Master.’

“Huh? What’s this? A representative?”

His bushy eyebrows twitched as he widened his already intense eyes, unable to hide his puzzled expression.

Then, as if startled by something, his gaze, which had been fixed on me in surprise, quickly turned away as if uninterested.

“What? A representative? Oh, it really is!”

“Already?”

“No way! They can’t be looking for us.”

“……”

“Hey? Isn’t that representative the one? The Divine Hero, Kim Han?”

“It is, isn’t it?”

“Oh! It is!”

“Wow!”

They exclaimed in admiration. Unlike in my previous life, where they would have insisted I must learn, Jimnas, who had completely turned his attention away from me, was handed a yellow registration card.

“Huh?”

“I want to learn ‘Training.’”

With those thick and short words, Jimnas’s face changed in a peculiar way. His expression was filled with dissatisfaction.

His thick, black, caterpillar-like eyebrows twitched as he spoke bluntly.

“Why?”

“What do you mean?”

“Why do you want to learn something like Training? I don’t know what you’ve heard, but you have no talent for it.”

“Is that so?”

This is amusing. In the past, he persistently clung to me, saying he saw potential, but now he’s bluntly saying I have none.

“Anyway, as far as I know, if I give you the registration card, you have to ‘pass it on’ unconditionally. I want to learn Training.”

“No! Why are you trying to learn it? It’s useless for someone like you who overflows with divine power! It’s meant for those who have barely a speck of divine power, so they can cling to life in the hellish ‘Battlefield of the Gods’ and somehow manage to surrender and return to Exorsus!”

“…!”

Was that it? Was it really because they sensed my divine power was as small as a speck and urged me to survive and return?

Perhaps it was the aftermath of the emotional exchange with Hazel yesterday, but my chest felt tight and my nose tingled.

In truth, after my regression, I hadn’t sought out Jimnas.

The skill ‘Training’ was undoubtedly good, but there were many stronger techniques, and I knew many transcendents to introduce to the legion members.

The reason I came to learn Training goes back to before I traded registration cards with the two scoundrels.

While discussing the issue of the Three Gods’ Manifestation to further escalate the conflict between the Heavenly God Amor and the Demon God Serpens in the Garden of Gods, Aitas joined the discussion.

After the general plan was concluded, Aitas said something meaningful to me.

“Ah. Kim Han, you have a lot of registration cards, right?”

“Huh? No, I only have two.”

“What are you talking about? You have two, plus two more with the meatheads you own.”

“Ah? Can I take those for my use?”

“No, you can’t take them. You have to ‘trade’ them.”

“Ah… But?”

“Learn Training, you won’t regret it.”

“…What?!”

“I’m off now~ Let’s go on a date next time, okay?”

“…Crazy woman.”

Well, that was roughly how the conversation went. After that, I really did end up ‘trading’ the registration card, and with four cards in hand, I thought learning ‘Training’ wouldn’t be a bad idea.

Since I had extra registration cards and had been down this path before, I could increase my stats more effectively and efficiently.

“So, I’m planning to learn it. The representatives I have to deal with are all monsters.”

“What?”

Jimnas showed interest for the first time at my cryptic words. Among the transcendent, I wonder if there’s anyone else who still retains such purity like this man.

“Is there a place where we can talk quietly? This doesn’t seem like a conversation for the street.”

“…Follow me.”

It’s my first time entering Jimnas’s training hall.

Inside the training hall, the floor was laid with polished stone, and exercise equipment heavy enough to intimidate any ordinary man was scattered around.

Crossing the training hall and going further inside, we arrived at a small room that didn’t match Jimnas’s large build.

Similarly, it was odd to see two large men sitting across a small table that didn’t suit their size.

“Now, speak.”

“Even if I came to receive ‘Training,’ I’m still a guest. Aren’t you going to offer me some tea as manners?”

I spoke slyly, and he clicked his tongue, handing over a steaming kettle.

I looked around, fetched a suitable cup myself, and drank the hot tea, feeling a gaze close to murderous intent.

“…Why?”

“Are you really a representative? Why are you acting so sly?”

“I’m mature for my age.”

“Bullshit. Enough! Spin your tale. I’ll listen and then decide.”

Despite Jimnas’s urging, I didn’t respond and only leisurely began to speak after finishing the tea with a peculiar aroma.

“Hmm… How should I put this? Have you ever met the representative of a Demon God? Or were there any other representatives besides me who left a strong impression on you?”

“I don’t know if he was a representative of a Demon God or what, but someone as strong as you passed through this street a few days ago. I think it was… yes, the day when the faces of dead representatives appeared in the sky. A man dressed entirely in black. Unusually, he was barefoot.”

Lonely Martial Artist, Proy Rium.

“…I see. May I ask one more thing? Are you a transcendent?”

“…What? You? How…?”

“This is truly the last question. Do you not wish to escape this cursed ‘Battlefield of the Gods’?”

“…”

Jimnas’s expression hardened like stone.

However, the aura emanating from his body indicated that he was not silent but rather enduring.

“I also think that escaping the ‘Battlefield of the Gods’ is difficult. But you can die. No, I can kill you.”

“…Who are you?”

Perhaps he had reached the limits of his patience. Jimnas’s entire body became a massive storm, releasing energy in all directions.

The teapot and cups on the table shattered and scattered.

Some of them grazed my body, leaving small wounds, but they did not escape Jimnas’s gaze.

“As you know, I am a representative. Also, I am the representative who can grant you eternal rest in the end.”

“…Madman.”

The energy vanished as if washed away, and the curt words carried a rebuke towards a young man indulging in delusions.

“I understand that most of those called transcendents, including Jimnas, were exiled here after defying or challenging the Heavenly Gods or Demon Gods. If the gods call their representatives ‘slaves,’ then they call you transcendents ‘criminals.’”

“…Ugh!”

“However, if my plan succeeds, we can weaken the powers of the Heavenly Gods and Demon Gods by at least half! That should be enough to give all the transcendents the peace they desire.”

“Hmph! Just a representative, and you think you can do what other gods can’t, against the Heavenly Gods and Demon Gods?”

“There are things only a representative can do. That’s why I need ‘Training.’ Because my opponent is not just some mere representative…”

“…Impossible.”

“It’s possible.”

I immediately countered Jimnas’s voice, which was soaked in regret, with a voice full of conviction.

Jimnas’s thoughts would be correct in most cases. But if all the arrangements I’ve prepared come to fruition, it’s enough. No, it’s more than enough.

“Sigh… The fools who became transcendents and were exiled here were as confident as you.”

“I’m different from those fools. Including you, Jimnas.”

“…Understood.”

“…Thank you.”

‘Thank you, Master.’

Jimnas placed his hand on my head. He didn’t move for a long time.

However, the energy being absorbed around him hinted that he was preparing something extraordinary.