Episode 119

It was the end of the third month of training.

At the summit of the mountain, the eyes of two men moved to a single person.

He gently unfolded the Unified Elimination Demonic Martial Arts, and quickly adjusted his form.

Then, when he moved again, sparks rose from his sword, and he immediately performed an attack which surprised the two onlookers.

Bang!

An explosion that annihilated anything it touched.

The Infernal Energy Explosion Sword attracted the attention of the two men with a deafening roar.

“T-this is crazy…!”

Imugi’s jaw dropped, and his eyes widened, unable to understand what he had just seen.

And before the shock went away,

“Is it my turn now?”

Yorim stepped forward, and Imugi’s gaze turned to him next. A few weeks ago, this guy had said that his physical abilities had rapidly improved.

In recognition of his achievement, Seol-Hwi revealed to him the hidden ability within his Divine Weapon.

That’s why Yorim currently had a confident expression on his face.

“I heard the name of your Divine Weapon’s ability is Reaper of Souls.”

“Reaper…?”

Imugi looked interested. He was curious to see what kind of ability would come out, based on that name.

What sort of ability would this spear, which was as solid as an iron rod, produce?

After Jeok Song and Imugi gave him space, Yorim took a stance, and immediately swung his spear to the side, then fell back.

He jumped forward again, and swung his spear a second time.

Slash!

Six beams of energy rushed out from the spear and soared into the sky, then disappeared right away.

The spear was set on the ground, while Yorim moved backwards.

Swish!

The spear moved according to the heart of its wielder - all of the energy beams, except for their afterimages, moved in tandem, and they all looked invisible to the eyes.

“Isn’t that the Air Controlled Spear?!”

Imugi was shocked.

Beyond the level of just controlling the energy, Yorim was able to release energy and manipulate it at will. This couldn’t be explained unless it was the Air Controlled Spear.

“No, it isn’t… but I do control the energy beams.”

“Shit, seriously…!”

Various curses left Imugi’s mouth. He too knew that this wasn’t the Air Controlled Spear, since it didn’t have high enough energy.

But the fact that Yorim could control these energy beams at all was amazing. Yorim, who wasn’t even the Captain, possessed such an ability.

Imugi immediately picked up the Crescent Blade that Seol-Hwi gave him.

“Damn it! I will ask the Captain to teach me too!”

Yorim shook his head when he heard Imugi say that.

“The Captain told us not to seek him out unless we had dramatic achievements. That is why Yong Jin has been training day and night.”

“Ah…”

“If you want to learn the Divine Weapon’s ability, hurry up and go around the mountain. If you don’t show growth from it, even if you beg Captain for a hundred days, he won’t listen.”

“Damn it!”

Imugi frowned. This time, he had no excuse for Yorim’s words.

Unlike the others, he didn’t concentrate on training during his free time, and would sit around idly.

“I will definitely get stronger, and discover the ability of my Divine Weapon!”

He yelled at Yorim and Jeok Song as he climbed up the mountain, before disappearing from view. The two men looked at each other and smiled.

“Now he seems to be getting his act together.”

“Right.”

Jeok Song walked to the shade of a tree.

“By the way…”

As he was about to sit down, he looked around for a moment, and then asked Yorim,

“Where did Seo Ryeong go?”

Seol-Hwi was at a loss for words. To be precise, he couldn’t find what to say in this situation.

So he felt it was fortunate when he saw choices in front of him.

Of course, that was until he saw what his options were.

These choices are insane!!!

The first and third options were off limits. There was no way he’d choose them, because they’d be a surefire way to provoke Seo Ryeong.

And the second option was also too terrifying.

Despite this, Seol-Hwi couldn’t pick an option right away.

The lesser evil is the best…

His choices had always been the worst or the lesser evils.

But what if he made the worst choice here? He wondered what would happen…

Damn it! I can never make a choice like that though!

Seol-Hwi chose the fourth option.

“Ah!”

As soon as Seol-Hwi chose his answer, Seo Ryeong looked surprised. She took off her coat to toss it towards Seol-Hwi.

Thank god.

Seol-Hwi immediately covered himself, but then time stopped once again.

This is bad…!!

Once again, the choices came up with the worst options. And it wasn’t as easy to choose this time.

Seo Ryeong’s expression changed. Her face now clearly said she was embarrassed, and that she wanted to run away.

“Well, there wasn’t much to see?”

At those words, Seol-Hwi felt a bit aggrieved.

“Anyway, what did you come here for?”

He changed the topic quickly. Seol-Hwi couldn’t help it, because this was an uncomfortable situation to be in.

“The training paid off.”

“It seems so.”

Seol-Hwi nodded at her words. He knew it the moment he saw her.

She felt stronger than before.

Seo Ryeong’s weapon was the Ghost Arrow.

Outwardly, it looked like the nib of an arrow, and its length was about that of a brush. Its size was similar to ink brushes used for writing.

It’s unique.

Seol-Hwi failed once or twice to activate the ability, before he managed to succeed on the third try.

Swisshhhh!

The Ghost Arrow that was in Seol-Hwi’s hand flew away at a great speed.

“Is that it…?”

“…!”

Seo Ryeong, who was about to comment on how the arrow was fast but not much else, fell silent.

Kwang!

There was an explosion in the distance - it was so far away that it was hard to see. And when Seo Ryeong looked at Seol-Hwi again, he was still holding the Ghost Arrow in his hand.

“Only the energy flew away.”

“Huh? Energy…?”

“Right. It was an arrow shaped from energy. It simply appeared similar to the actual Ghost Arrow.”

Seo Ryeong couldn’t believe it.

She obviously saw Seol-Hwi throw the arrow, but then it turned out to be a fake. And it wasn’t just that, it had flown so far away.

“As a Divine Weapon, it isn’t easy to get used to. You will need to train with this by yourself.”

“Thank you, Captain.”

Seo Ryeong didn’t hide her excited expression. She was so excited that the embarrassed look from before seemed like it had never occurred.

“Practice well and get to know it. Meanwhile, I will stay here for at least another month.”

“I understand.”

Seo Ryeong nodded, and accepted Seol-Hwi’s suggestion.

“By the way, Captain.”

As she was walking away from him, she suddenly stopped.

“When will we do it?”

Seol-Hwi was confused.

“What do you mean…?”

“It’s something we talked about before.”

“What… Ah!”

A few things popped into his mind, including a memory of the library.

“Let me know when. I’ll wait for you.”

After saying that, Seo Ryeong went down the mountain. And Seol-Hwi was caught up in an unknown feeling, as he watched her go.

“No way…”

-‘Will you spend a hot night with me?’ ¹

His choice in the past.

Was she talking about that?

…No, maybe this?

-Let’s escape from this hell together.

“Come to think of it…”

The previous choices Seol-Hwi made, when he avoided the worst ones, he chose the best ones.

And he got out of his immediate crisis. No, he thought he did.

But now Seol-Hwi could understand it.

“Aren’t I still in a crisis now?”

He didn’t know. If he wanted to know, he would have to die and come back to this point.

“Despite knowing the answer, why do I keep making these choices…”

Seol-Hwi shook his head. These choices always messed with him, making him angry.

Huh?

Notifications suddenly appeared in front of him.

New information became available to Seol-Hwi.

That’s right! I must have…!

Seol-Hwi realized that he had broken through the wall.

He saw that he had finally learned the Supreme Wind God.

What’s this…?

Seol-Hwi didn’t know what it could do yet, but he was sure that it would be worthwhile.

And the Sura Exploding Flame Arts, and Supreme Wind God. They were two things the AI said would help him get out of future crises.

Then my stats…?

Seol-Hwi changed his combat method.

And he checked his abilities.

Combat power was no longer shown.

Seol-Hwi didn’t know if the system was taking time to measure it, or if it wouldn’t appear at all.

“Blood in my eyes…?”

Those were unexpected words. Seol-Hwi couldn’t even begin to guess why he needed to do this, but…

“Should I just try?”

Seol-Hwi lightly drew his hand to his sword. He cut his palm with the blade, then let the blood drip onto his eyes.

And as shown by the skill table, he raised his internal energy in both his hands and legs.

“This isn’t that special…”

Seol-Hwi, who was examining his hands, suddenly fixed his gaze on something.

Drip…

Drop…

Blood which should have fallen to the ground - somehow, it was suspended in the air.

What…?

Seol-Hwi felt it right away. That time had slowed down.

Moving his head, then his hands, they weren’t affected. Though the blood dripped to the ground slowly, Seol-Hwi could still move like normal.

Phew…

His breathing wasn’t affected either.

For that moment, time stopped, until things sped up again and Seol-Hwi could feel the wind pass by.

Drip. Drop.

Seol-Hwi had a blank expression on his face as he watched this happen.

“This makes no sense…”

Supreme Low Temperature Ice.

He thought it had something to do with reducing temperature, but it seemed like it actually had to do with time.

As he experienced just a while ago, Seol-Hwi was able to move faster than the slowed time.

“But it looks like I really got something amazing!”

This wasn’t lacking to the two techniques he learned recently. It was something which would strengthen him even more.

“There’s no need to delay this any longer then.”

The moment had come to see the results of months of hellish training.

“A fight with Mount Hua’s Gu Yeom.”