Chapter 84 Volcanic War (1)
Calling it lightning would be an understatement. A red flash of light blazed across the world with the sound of thunder, but the shape was different. It wasn’t a branch form that stretched out, but in the shape of a cylinder, it was shot straight from the sky. The radius was about twenty meters, and the power that he happened to experience in person was…
Thrilling.
“…”
Smoke rose from his rigid body. It only took 0.1 seconds for the electricity to flow throughout his body, and the organs were electrified. His body quickly recovered with Bloodseeker Energy, but it was a close call. The moment the sky turned black, he activated Force Shield because of his hunch. It was a good thing. Otherwise, he might’ve disappeared without a trace, just like the Hatchery’s body.
‘This might be the most powerful single skill ever….’
Soon after his body fully recovered, Yoon-seok hurriedly flapped his wings and stopped mid-air. He had been falling down a huge hole in the ocean from the flash of light that shot down from the sky. Yoon-seok moved his wings and ascended, only to see an even more ridiculous sight.
Shaaaaaaaaaaa-!
The ships were being rocked by the recoil waves as if it was a scene recreated from a disaster movie. The ships were far from the center, and their size was too great to turn over.
‘Thank god.’
Yoon-seok was relieved thinking so, not knowing what the countless people who were watching were thinking.
“That day, we were lucky to have accepted his offer.”
A white man who was watching the situation on-screen on the U.S. mainland muttered. Perhaps none of the staff here would disagree. Fahur somehow felt like his shoulders straightened.
“So didn’t I tell you again? Mr. Yoon-seok isn’t someone we should fight against.”
There had been plenty of talk in the U.S. about how they shouldn’t work with a terrorist. Every time Fahur spoke up, he would say, don’t even think about it. Did everyone want to kill themselves?
If they wanted to make Yoon-seok an enemy, he would leave Earth. Of course, even the confident Fahur never imagined that Yoon-seok would have gained such absolute power. When the pillar of light burst out at the end, he was trembling.
‘He didn’t feel like a human being back then either….’
Suddenly, Fahur smirked. He saw the head of the agency, who went back to his office, start to sign the report. If he remembered correctly, it was a report posted by the Korean branch a few days ago. For reference, the contents were to increase the number of people guarding Yoon-seok’s family.
It suddenly hit Fahur again that a lot would change in the future by a single person with absolute power.
A hotel located in Korea.
Yoon-seok turned off the TV, where he appeared all over the news.
“It was fascinating at first, but it’s embarrassing to keep looking at it.”
A week has passed since then. There was no particular incident following that; rather, it was the most peaceful time he’d spent on Earth recently. Well, although the outside world was in the midst of chaotic upheaval.
—March 9th will be a historic day. We…no, the human race has won.
Surprisingly, the next morning after everything had happened, in just a few hours, the video was edited beautifully like a movie and released to the world under the guidance of the U.S. The impact was enormous.
The London Massacre, the Hatchery that almost engulfed the Pacific Ocean. Those who distrusted the global government, helpless without any countermeasures for days, changed their attitudes instantaneously. The U.S. president, who sent agents to the Tower to invite Yoon-seok, reached an all-time high for approval rates.
However, within a day, Yoon-seok became the most famous hero in the world. Of course, only a few knew his real name and appearance.
‘Is it hard to call it a minority?’
Frankly, there were quite a few in the know. The organizations that managed challengers had information on Yoon-seok. But it wouldn’t be exposed to the public. No matter what country it was, no place would want to be hated by Yoon-seok.
That was how the world started to change. Not like the stock market, politicians’ support ratings, or the national situation. Not that kind of change, but a real change.
‘Well, I’m only at the starting line now, but…’
Maybe they realized that it could have been the end or saw that they needed to build power to keep Yoon-seok in check. The schedule was all the same anyway. Challenger groups from each country realized what a powerful challenger was capable of. As a result, they all began to devote more and more effort to nurturing challengers.
Yoon-seok served as a kind of stimulant. That was the real reason why he allowed the show to be aired.
‘It’ll take time, but they should be able to keep out some invaders.’
Not just invaders. They should be able to defend themselves from challengers from other dimensions who came with ill intent. It was necessary to do so, so Yoon-seok could continue developing his strength in the Tower without worry. In that sense, it was a bit of a shame that he wasted time by buying a week’s worth of tickets…
‘Let’s say I’m recharging.’
Recharging wasn’t exactly wrong. The U.S. President, Challenger Association Chiefs from all over the world, and many more. Many powerful people wanted to meet Yoon-seok, but he rejected all of it. He just walked around the city ordinarily for the past week and enjoyed his time on Earth, doing things he sometimes thought about in the Tower.
Money was plentiful. Even if it wasn’t part of the compensation, the U.S. government bought the gemstone retrieved from the crack for an amount of money that exceeded his imaginations. Well, what was the meaning of all this?
‘Is this going to be the last?’
He had a few calls to send his regards, but he didn’t meet his parents. If he entered the Tower, he would lose contact anyway. Rather, he decided that it would be better to make the excuse that he was traveling. His mother was worried about the trip he was taking in this situation, but…
It would be much easier to think that he was traveling than confess the truth.
‘It makes me feel sorry that I took advantage of the guilt.….’
Yoon-seok showed his strong will, so his parents didn’t say much. Perhaps they felt that they had no right to interfere with Yoon-seok as a parent because of the Kang Hyung-woo incident.
“…”
Soon Yoon-seok laid on the sofa and started surfing the web with his smartphone. There was nothing better than this to empty his mind. He binge-watched webtoons, visited game-related communities that he used to enjoy, and read articles following keywords on the real-time search list he had grown sick of.
Most of them were articles about him. To be honest, all the articles contained the same contents, so it was unnecessary to read them, but the comments below were fun to read.
-Wow, a slap on the cheek, and it died.
└ When I played the scene from the high-speed camera, it shows that he swung the sword 4,000 times in a second.
└ Four thousand times doesn’t make sense.
└ Then the destructive rays make sense?
└ I heard he’s Korean. Auntie, please give me a bowl of Philippon!
└ It’s only a rumor that he’s Korean. It was said he’s Korean-American.
└ I’m an American. I’m envious that Korea has a challenger like this.
There were only two known pieces of information about Yoon-seok: he was Korean and maintained a close relationship with the U.S. Challenger Association. It was from an official announcement in the U.S.
-I’m a challenger, and he’s super famous in other dimensions with the nickname Bloodseeker.
└ Bloodseeker? You must be a fan of old men who used to watch martial arts.
└ Yes. Next deluded patient plz.
Some people sometimes posted information about Yoon-seok on the Internet anonymously, but…
It was always dismissed as a rumor and was carefully censored by the state association. Perhaps that comment would soon disappear.
-The Savior has come down to Earth. Follow him to be saved!
Yoon-seok smiled bitterly at the last comment. That wasn’t the only comment of that kind. Keywords such as savior and hero were used in almost every article. He didn’t know if it was genuine or not. However, he was only curious about one thing. If they knew the wish, he wanted to be granted once he reached the top of the Tower…
Would they still be able to call him that?
‘Savior…’
Before leaving the Earth and returning to the Tower, Yoon-seok dwelled over the title.
「Ticket (Rank E) has expired.」
「Go to the waiting room on the 10th-floor.」
A week passed since he came back to the waiting room. Was it because he lived comfortably for the time being? It was a bit strange. However, thanks to that, his slackened mentality felt tightened.
As he felt last time, it wasn’t a resting place but a place to get ready, just as the word suggested.
‘Let’s check it out first.’
After clearing his debt with the U.S., the reward he gained wasn’t just motivating challengers to keep ascending and improving. No, when he thought of the power he saw a week ago, perhaps he could say this was the biggest reward.
*Judgment of the Ruined Monarch (Rank B-) – 10 seconds later, a light of destruction is fired at the designated place. Wait 600 seconds to reuse.
Characteristic 1, Instant Kill: Instead of increasing cooldown time by 4x, the activation time is reduced to 1 second.
Characteristic 2, Massacre: The range of light increases by 15m radius.
Characteristic 3, Lethal: Maximal magic consumption is fixed at 50%. The power increases by 2x in proportion to the absolute value consumed.
Three whole attributes. Yoon-seok, who carefully checked each one through the information page, slowly nodded.
‘That’s how it is.’
It was only then that Yoon-seok could see why such a ridiculous power came to Earth. It was all thanks to the 3rd characteristic, Lethal. Without that, that power would have been achieved only after using all the magic that reached S rank instead of half.
‘It can be used as a finishing move.’
Soon after, Yoon-seok also finished checking the absorbed stats level. He didn’t know why the devil’s highest stats was stamina, but…
It had grown from D+ to C+ after killing the Hydra. As long as b Bloodseeker Ultimatum} was present, it wouldn’t mean much to Yoon-seok. Still, it was a little better than having a low rank.
‘Is it all nonsense other than the skill…?’
Yoon-seok smacked his lips in disappointment. Do objects from the Tower all count as equipment? Sadly, no equipment was looted in the duel with the demon. This was because the devil wasn’t using any equipment after coming to another dimension.
‘If I knew I could request for a duel, I would have kept it alive.’
Yoon-seok recalled the challenger named Shin Sang-hyun. He’d found out later, but he had a Unique Skill that allowed the Tower’s equipment to be brought back to real life. It was self-evident that it would be a great help to fight invaders on Earth in the future if he had obtained it.
‘Well, it’s not like I can get what I want.’
Soon Yoon-seok gave up on the lingering regret. Unfortunately, he couldn’t turn back time. Even if time was turned back, it remained unknown whether it would turn out the way he wanted. In addition, even if it weren’t a Unique Skill, there would still be a way to bring equipment if he looked hard enough.
That was what the Tower was like. After all, all the answers were up there.
‘Let’s get back to business.’
Yoon-seok controlled the tablet and pressed Challenge. And…
「Get ready. The duel will begin soon.」
He didn’t open his eyes in the arena. The scent of plums tickled his nose.
It was Moorim.
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