0% – Theater
The mont Murtanie’s head fell on the screen, the theater was filled with silence. The audience watching the movie was so imrsed that they couldn’t even breathe.
Except for one boy who was cleary irritated.
“Ah! Stop covering my eyes! Why are you even doing this?”
“Hey! Seungyub, you bastard, will you wet the bed at night if you see sothing like this?”
“Mooksung. Just move your hand. You think Seungyub can’t sleep just from seeing a corpse?”
“Ha! This damn hotel is really the worst place for kids to grow up. Why are there so many occasions to see corpses? How can kids grow up normally like this? They’ll just grow up to be crazy psychos—“
“Mooksung. I was born here.”
“...”
“Ah! So that’s why Ahri is a crazy—“
“Hey!”
Ahri kicked Kain. Eunsol, who had been listening to the childish conversation that wasn’t even funny, got a little annoyed.
“Be quiet! It’s really interesting right now. This is totally a hero movie. I didn’t know Jinchul was this strong!”
Kain agreed, “That’s right. Was Hyung always this strong? He seems much stronger than when he fought the monkey on the first day of the Hotel. With Hyung’s current strength, wouldn’t he kill monkeys like that in just 10 seconds?”
Eunsol muttered regretfully, “I guess his Blessing has grown. I wonder why my Blessing is still like this... The cooldown for Hand of Greed is ready. But it’s hard to use when it’s not Party Ti.”
On the screen, an old man called the Great General of National Defense appeared, personally handing over a splendid guandao and armor while praising Jinchul’s achievents. While watching the scene where the surrounding generals kept praising Jinchul in the conference room, Ahri had an ominous thought.
There’s nothing wrong with being strong. But the flow of thoughts is a bit unsettling. To say it’s refreshing and enjoyable while fighting like that on the battlefield...
***– Cha Jinchul
From the mont I killed Murtanie, the tide of war turned in our favor. Judging by how Grandpa Commander-in-Chief and other generals were all making a fuss about how I contributed greatly to the victory and how the Emperor would bestow an enormous reward, it was certain.
Around that ti, I started to feel uneasy as I recalled the movie’s run ti.
The fight on the battlefield was so chaotic that I wasn’t sure exactly how much ti had passed. But it was certain that there was still more than an hour left until the movie ended. What did this an?
It ant there was no way it ended with the army just conquering the plains! Surely so unimaginable shitty event was waiting to tornt .
The ominous feeling started to beco reality when an envoy sent from the plains arrived at the military camp.
“We tell you, descendants of the Emperor. The anger of the Sky God has filled the plains—“
There was an old woman in the envoy who was surprisingly still alive, said to be the leader of the shamans of the plains.
When that shaman ca and spouted nonsense, one of the generals burst out in anger, “Hey! What are you doing not cutting off that old hag’s head right now!?”
“Oh ho! Even in war, there’s no law about beheading envoys!”
“The Sky God shall send down his loyal hound to the earth... His anger shall co upon the land with lightning...”
They were saying that if we didn’t withdraw the army imdiately, the Sky God’s anger would descend upon the earth. “Common sense” would say to just ignore it, but thinking “cinematically”, I started to get a feeling.
Isn’t this the “second crisis”?
Cold sweat ran down my spine. Without realizing it, I strongly grasped the splendid crescent blade placed beside , and the general next to showed a puzzled reaction.
“General Cha?”
“This doesn’t feel good.”
“What do you an?”
“General Baek, are the shamans of the plains famous? Is there any rumor about them summoning demons or sothing?”
“Haha! General Cha, you must be joking? The being possessed by the demon they summoned was Murtanie, and didn’t you behead him?”
So Murtanie’s identity was a being possessed by a demon summoned by the shamans. Then is the next crisis of a similar type?
Soon, the envoy from the plains left.
In the strategy eting, it was decided to advance after relieving the soldiers’ fatigue for two weeks. I also heard that they would distribute alcohol and at to the soldiers as they had overco the great barrier called Murtanie.
It was a reasonable decision. Originally, even during war, when there was a chance, one should boost the soldiers’ morale. The only disappointing thing was that I, who played the biggest role in obtaining that alcohol and at, didn’t get to taste any of it.
In typical movie fashion, two weeks passed in the blink of an eye.
Honestly, this mont really sucked.
Co on, is it that hard to give one piece of at, one sip of alcohol? Is it reasonable to be back on the battlefield 3 minutes after the eting ends?
I didn’t know if I should be grateful for this, but the injuries I got while fighting Murtanie had completely disappeared. It seed that unlike my perceived ti, two weeks had passed in the movie.
As I grumbled while looking at the vast plains that suddenly appeared again, I was surprised to find myself on a horse. Fortunately, it must have been an extraordinary horse because it kept pace with its surroundings on its own, so I didn’t suffer the disgrace of a general falling off his horse.
The majestic sight of thousands of troops advancing on the vast plains and at its very horizon—the God of Lightning descended upon the earth.
***The na of the God of Lightning was known as Kurta. The nomads of the plains called it that, so it must be right. It was certainly a creature that looked similar to a wolf. Except that it was bigger than an elephant and wielded lightning.
“Aaaaah!”
“B-block it!”
“Retreat behind the wall! Retreat!”
“G-General!”
Had it been 10 minutes since Kurta started rampaging? In that short ti, the empire’s forces were busy running away in panic, like a herd of wild boars encountering a tiger.
Just Kurta’s movent caused lightning to strike all around, burning soldiers black. A light swipe of its front paw crushed two soldiers at once, and with a light jump, it instantly closed a distance of over 10m and collapsed a barrack.
It was such an overwhelming sight that I didn’t even have the energy left to get angry. That being was not an enemy that a normal human army could defeat, even if thousands gather. The more numbers there were, the more crispy human at there would be.
You can hear what I’m saying outside my lines, right?
“Guide, you fucking bastard! You want to catch that?”
***The mont the lightning-wielding wolf appeared, the theater was in an uproar.
“Wow! Are you really crazy? You want him to defeat that? Where’s that bastard guide? Where is it hiding?”
“This is too much! Murtanie was at least human, so that’s one thing, but what the hell is that monster!?”
Amidst Mooksung and Songee’s shouts, Ahri, who was watching the screen with a dazed expression, asked Kain, “Kain...”
“...”
“Do you think you could win if you went in? For reference, I absolutely can’t win.”
“If possession works, it’s one shot.”
“It’s called the Sky God’s hound? Isn’t it half-god? It seems like its rank would be incredibly high.”
“Then I can’t win. It’s a bit much to use Incarnation.”
“Aren’t you saying that too easily?”
“No, it’s not that I’m saying it easily... It’s obvious that thing isn’t ant to be fought, right?”
Ahri nodded with a sigh.
Not just Kain, but she herself felt similarly. As they had experienced several tis in the Hotel already, sotis the Hotel sent out enemies that couldn’t be defeated even if one died and ca back to life, or that require enormous sacrifice to overco.
Usually, in such cases, the correct answer was not to fight.
“We probably need to prevent the summoning itself, or interfere with the summoning process to make it appear in a much weaker state.”
Let’s think about it logically.
If they could summon such a monster without any cost, why would the plains forces stupidly wait until Murtanie died, and they were on the brink of defeat?
They must have paid an enormous price.
The shamans might have committed mass suicide, or a mber of the royal family might have sacrificed their life as an offering, or they might have used up an extrely rare ingredient that could never be used again. Or they might have paid all of these prices.
Of course, such magical procedures usually took quite a long ti.
Eunsol looked at Ahri and asked, “You know the envoy from the plains earlier? After they left, the Great General of National Defense said to rest for two weeks, right?”
“That’s right.”
“Was that a mistake? It seems they summoned that wolf during that ti.”
“That’s what I think.”
“The next person who goes in should actively voice their opinion at the strategy eting after the plains envoy leaves. They should say to push forward imdiately, right?”
“If it’s the eting after the envoy leaves, that’s when the protagonist has just defeated Murtanie, right? It’s a timing when the protagonist’s voice carries a lot of weight. If they say to push forward imdiately, the eting will probably flow that way.”
Kain sighed as he watched his companions naturally discussing “next person”. They had all concluded it was a failure at the point where that overwhelming monster appeared.
What if the entire Hotel party went in?
It seed like they could win if Songee twisted the wolf’s senses, Elena supported with Ominous Imagination, and Jinchul shoved the Star into its mouth. But the only being who entered that movie now was Jinchul with just his Blessing and no Inheritance.
Even Kain thought this was a failure. He just sighed because the next person to go in would most likely be himself.
***– Cha Jinchul
...I felt it naturally.
The gazes of the people around gradually converged on . Not just the soldiers, but even the generals trembled and looked only at . Even Grandpa Commander-in-Chief with the grand title of Great General of National Defense was no exception.
After all, if there was sothing in this world who could defeat such an extraordinary being, it would only be —no, it could only be .
One who stood in a position unreachable to ordinary people.
One who faced Adversaries that humans couldn’t hope to defeat.
One who could reassure those trembling in fear.
That was the essence of a hero—and the protagonist was said hero.
That was why I smiled and opened my mouth, “Great General.”
“...General Cha.”
“Would you pour a drink?”
The Great General made an expression as if wondering what I was saying, but filled the cup as requested. I said sothing I had always wanted to say at least once in my life, sothing that could only be said at a ti like this.
“I’ll return before that drink gets cold.” 1
Footnotes
1. ED Note: Jinchul is reference the three kingdoms here. Specially Guan Yu, a general serving Lei Be, who said this before heading off to battle.
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