139th Episode
‘No, no way. Hold up. Just like that?’
Just because I got friendly with the slum kids for three days? Was this bastard’s world domination desire really that loosely wrapped up?
I grabbed my head in confusion and barely managed to force out a sound.
“Hey, first of all, why were you trying to dominate the world in the first place?”
“… Hero, do you question why you breathe every time you do it?”
With a mournful look, Ruci launched into her cryptic rhetoric.
I immediately grabbed my cheek.
“Cut the crap.”
“Ah-ah! Alas! I won’t talk nonsense! Let go!”
I had said it once before, after all. Words should be concise and to the point, devoid of unnecessary ornamentation. Cryptic rhetoric in front of me is punishable by death.
Ruci, who had been groaning while rubbing her cheek, turned her head and said:
“All demons were created by the witch Diana. We were born with a clear purpose from the moment of our creation. For me, that purpose was to rule this world.”
“… I see.”
I realized the meaning of Ruci’s previous statement. Breathing is an automatic element of life; no one consciously thinks about it.
For Ruci, her ambition to conquer the world was like that element.
“I’ve never questioned this desire until now. I’ve always been the type to take what I want, so I thought I wanted everything… the whole world.”
“…”
“But now I don’t know. For the first time in my life, I feel curious about why my mother instilled this desire in me.”
A once automatic desire now seems puzzling.
Like proof of her sincerity, Ruci’s face was clouded with confusion.
“Hmm.”
… Well, there’s no way for me to know exactly what Ruci’s feeling right now.
It’s similar to when someone asks you, “Do you usually stick your tongue on the roof of your mouth?” And suddenly, you become painfully aware of your tongue every single second. I roughly understand it like that.
Given my limited intelligence, that’s about the best I can do.
“Your past actions don’t go away just because you repent. Got that?”
So I gave up empathizing and bluntly pushed the facts.
This is the Korean no-nonsense direct speech style. No nonsense, no future, Yes Macho-man.
“… I know. How could someone who deals with death and time be unaware of that?”
Despite twitching her shoulders a bit in surprise, Ruci smiled bitterly and nodded.
Her mood completely deflated, she slumped down, and it was kind of refreshing to see this woman, who maintained supreme confidence regardless of anything thrown her way, now look like this.
Still, it didn’t suit her.
“Alright, missy.”
I roughly ruffled Ruci’s hair. Her three horns on her forehead were so bothersome that I grabbed them like a steering wheel and shook them around.
The grip felt surprisingly good. Maybe I should torment her by messing with her horns rather than her cheeks from now on.
“Kyaa! You crazy hero! How dare you do such a thing right now?!”
“When else if not now?”
“Truly, you’re a…!”
Ruci’s face turned bright red as she wildly swung her arms around but quickly shut her mouth.
Then she defiantly turned her head away.
“See here, hero.”
“What is it.”
“If I die… will you feel sad or angry?”
“…”
I briefly imagined her death. I immediately stopped because I didn’t want to imagine it for even a second.
“If you die, you’ll just be resurrected. You’ll probably be laughing your head off somewhere.”
“… Haha!”
I made a joke to shake off the chilling image.
Ruci replied with a cynical laugh to my answer and began to walk ahead.
“Heh. I was stupid to expect something from you.”
“I knew you were stupid.”
“What’s your problem?”
I briefly glanced at her as she walked. Her expression wasn’t completely clear, but at least it wasn’t as bleak as before.
That’s about as much as I can help.
“… Hmm?”
While following her, I suddenly turned my head, realizing Seseona had been unnervingly silent for a while.
When did it start? Seseona was gone.
“Seseona?”
Only after turning back to where we had been did I spot her.
There she was, happily chatting with someone, far behind us. It seemed she’d drifted away during my serious conversation with Ruci.
‘What the hell. What’s going on?’
I returned along the path I came and soon saw who Seseona had been talking to.
No, actually, they weren’t hard to see. It was none other than the massive Crane the Dragon, my alternate world acquaintance and dignitary of the Dragon Empire. He was having an animated conversation with Seseona.
“Oh, is this some kind of meeting square?”
I chuckled at the absurdity of the situation.
The person Seseona was talking to was none other than Grenade.
My alternative world companion and the dignitary of the Dragon Empire, Grenade, was enthusiastically chatting with Seseona.
“Hey, Mr. Jung Yong! Over here!”
Seseona vigorously waved at me as she caught sight. As soon as she saw me, Grenade turned his head too, his majestic dragon face lighting up instantly.
Kuung! The ground shook as he thunderously charged from the other side of the street.
“Hey! Bislac!”
His loud voice echoed through the avenue. It was powerful enough to make passersby stop momentarily out of surprise.
Seeing Grenade stumble and charge towards me, with his typical lack of grace, confirmed it was the real deal.
“Bislac! Long time no see!”
“…”
He was as slow as ever. His pace was closer to a stealthy night crawl rather than a run.
I almost burst with impatience waiting for him, so I ran towards him. This must be what they mean by “if you’re impatient, just run yourself.”
“Hey, Bislac! What a surprise meeting here! Have you been eating well?”
His characteristic deep, boisterous voice was suddenly right in my face. His towering physique blocked the moonlight, casting a deep shadow over my head.
It wasn’t easy to gauge when the Trial curtain was up, but now with buildings surrounding Grenade’s head, his enormity was more evident.
“Long time no see, Grenade.”
“Actually, it’s my first meeting in Crossfade. I saw you briefly at the National Dignitary Meeting.”
Even though this was our true first encounter in Crossfade, there was an immediate sense of familiarity.
Without hesitation, we both burst into laughter.
*
Walking along the avenue of the Temple of the Unspirit, Grenade and I reconnected after some time.
“Is it almost four months since we last saw each other?”
“About that long, yeah.”
“Time sure flies.”
“Sure does.”
Thanks to Grenade’s notoriously slow movements, we were progressing at a speed of about twenty meters every minute. The sun was almost completely set by now.
Seseona had tactfully made space for Grenade and me to reconnect by walking off with Ruci.
“Bislac. How’s the Old Beard and the Frog Gentleman since I graduated?”
“They all fell into the Valley of the Dead in Unterland. Except me.”
“Tch. So it was everyone except you? You must’ve had it hard.”
“You bet.”
Thankfully, Seseona had laid the groundwork nicely for a conversation. The problem was that the topics were starting to run thin.
He briefly glanced at me and chuckled in his unique reptilian laugh.
“You seem to have gotten stronger, Bislac.”
“Why do you still call me Bislac?”
“I call anyone weaker than me ‘Bislac.'”
“Ah, well…”
I ran out of things to say and just clicked my tongue. The reason I couldn’t argue back was simple.
He’s genuinely stronger than me.
[Name: Grenade]
[Nickname: 163361813th official Hero, the Sage of Dragon Liquid, Kongpo (轟砲) of the Dragon Potassium]
[Lv. 351]
[HP: 4280/4280 MP: 950/950 Physical Condition: Slightly Tired]
[Strength: 939 Agility: 4 Intelligence: 72 Hero Sense: 10]
Our levels were similar. In fact, his was slightly higher.
How could it be possible that he was stronger than me, who had suffered and fought so hard against the Resurrection Sect?
Naturally, that thought crossed my mind. So much so that I even went as far as waking up Older Brother Sooho to protest.
―Hm? Maybe he was just strong even before the summoning.
That was Older Brother Sooho’s answer.
When I demanded a more detailed explanation, he bothered to explain even though he seemed annoyed.
―The level design is set based on the stats of an average Korean man. That was why I fit in as one, but if someone initially surpasses the stat limits for level 1 by a lot, the levels and abilities adjust accordingly. Okay?
In simpler terms, Grenade had been an overachiever even before he was summoned, which is why his level was higher than mine.
An alternate-world reincarnation and even then born with a golden spoon? There’s nothing left to say.
‘Now that I think about it, he always said things like that…’
Whenever Grenade failed to escape the Trial’s Mist, he complained to his incompetent brothers.
He would assert that in terms of sheer force, he was the strongest here. Once he got out, everything would be over. Blah blah.
At the time, I didn’t think much of it. After all, even in Korea, there are soldiers who enter military boot camp boasting but end up being the weakest. And there are those loners who suddenly transform into kings of the urban jungle after ten years.
In places where there’s no way to verify such boasts, men’s vanity works like that.
‘So those claims were all facts?’
Dang. Sometimes you think you understand the world, but then it still surprises you.
