Chapter 184
The Heavenly Mountains of Murim.
A vast mountainous region composed of steep slopes, high peaks, and an endless range that would take several days to traverse.
In the past, it had been the seat of the ‘Heavenly Demon Cult’ or simply the ‘Demonic Cult’, but now, it had beco a land for only one individual.
Heavenly Demon, Jin Hwaryung.
He stood at the peak of the highest snow-covered mountain, looking down at those climbing up from below.
“It’s been a while since I’ve seen anyone here”, he remarked.
“Of course. After all, you killed them all”, ca the retort.
Braving the neatly piled snow, a large crowd ascended. They were so nurous that they filled the summit, each person determined to face death.
At the forefront stood Jin Doha, the forr leader of the Martial Alliance and the Sword King.
“Still haven’t given up?”
Jin Hwaryung said with exasperation.
This was not the first ti that Jin Doha had co to kill him.
“Didn’t I tell you? You can’t kill . You are nothing more than a byproduct left by the heavens when they created .”
“Shut up.”
“Little brother.”
Jin Doha trembled at those words.
“Rember this one thing. Half of the people who die here today are killed because of you.”
“Little brother…?”
“Did he just call him ‘little brother’?”
“The Sword King and the Heavenly Demon are…?”
The murmurs around them grew louder. The martial artists who accompanied Jin Doha glanced back and forth between him and Jin Hwaryung.
An old Jin Doha and the still youthful Jin Hwaryung who didn’t even look middle-aged. If they were indeed brothers, it was clear who was the elder and who was the younger.
“Return now. I am willing to let you go just this once.”
“Then promise . Promise that you will stop all your mass killings and atone for the sins you’ve committed.”
The Heavenly Demon.
He was the strongest in the tower and also the most hated.
Under his hand, the Demonic Cult vanished, and the previous leader of the Martial Alliance, Jin Doha’s predecessor, was dead. Even after that, he wandered the tower, annihilating any guild that caught his eye.
Countless guilds lived in fear of his sudden appearance.
“I can’t do that.”
“Why on Earth…!”
“Because we have to go higher.”
“Again with that nonsense!”
Through their conversations, Jin Doha realized he couldn’t stop Jin Hwaryung. Ultimately, the only way to stop him lay in the sword.
After taking a mont to calm his breath, Jin Doha’s eyes glead sharply once more.
“Today will not be easy.”
Thump-
A man stepped forward, recognizing it was ti to introduce himself.
“It’s been a while. Do you rember ?”
At that mont, Jin Hwaryung’s eyes narrowed upon confirming the half of the man’s face that remained.
“The one who pretends to be a sparrow.”
* * *
『Title: Taming the Sky Horse (Not the Heavenly Demon)』
It was the fourth day of the challenge.
The repeated content had even changed the title.
Finding the Sky Horse, failing to ta it, and falling off its back over and over again.
How many tis had it been now?
Counting the attempts wasn’t hard.
– Failed on the 41st try, lol.
– I guess Lee Suhyuk isn’t good at everything.
– Lee Suhyuk? More like 2Suhyuk.
It seed like every success he had achieved so far was being flipped on its head, leading to continuous failure.
Failure. Failure. Again.
And another fall.
Once again, it was Viola and her Sky Horse who caught Suhyuk as he plumted, seemingly destined to crash through to the underground of Valhalla.
“The 41st ti.”
Neigh-
Viola counted the attempts in harmony with the viewers, while the Sky Horse snorted in mockery, holding the edge of Suhyuk’s clothes with its teeth.
With nothing left to say, Suhyuk hung his head low.
『’SafeAsset’ has donated 100 points.』
『Damn, I should have set this as a mission』
Even the icon of zero wins was taunting him with donations.
– For real, lol.
– You managed to beat things that seed impossible, but you can’t clear this, lol.
– SafeAsset fail, lol.
‘This won’t do.’
It was useless to keep tackling the challenge the sa way. He needed a different approach.
But while he might beat and subdue it, taming an animal was not really his forte.
He had to think of a new way. Yet, over the past four days, he had tried almost everything he could think of.
“Don’t rush. Take your ti and try to get used to it. The Sky Horse isn’t sothing that can be tad in a day or two.”
“Viola, how long did it take you?”
“It took about five years.”
“… Five years?”
Lee Suhyuk’s eyes, revealed from behind his mask, trembled violently.
Five years.
That was an unexpected length of ti.
– Five years of this?
– For five years
– But this makes sense
– Yeah, until now, it was kind of easy
Co to think of it, it wasn’t that strange after all. Lee Suhyuk had been passing the tests at an exceptionally fast pace so far, but typically, most players spent a considerable amount of ti ascending even one level.
Moreover, he was now about to climb the stairs to the eighth floor. If the test was easy, that would be the strange part.
Yet.
『’Safety Asset’ has registered a mission.』
『Hahaha, nice. Ta it by today and get 100,000 points. Have fun~』
In the midst of this serious situation, a mission like sweet rain ca through.
“… Huh?”
-Wow, really
-It’s like a resurrection spell lol
-Did… did he win?
It seed that everyone else knew but him. Lee Suhyuk’s face brightened upon seeing the newly registered mission.
“Thank you for the mission.”
A flag was set.
* * *
The sun set. He tried two more tis but failed again.
Having a snack of bread and jerky that he had packed with Viola, they lit a campfire.
“This makes it the 43rd ti.”
As if she was having fun, Viola reminded him of the number again.
-lol
-This sister is on the sa side as the viewers?
Lee Suhyuk didn’t dwell too much on the number of failures.
What was more important than the number of failed attempts was figuring out a way to ta that wretched Sky Horse.
“Should we try luring it with food again?”
“We tried with the cloud thing that the Sky Horse likes, rember?”
“Is there sothing else it likes?”
“What they like most is freedom. That’s why it’s so hard to ta.”
No matter how much he talked it over with Viola, there were no clear solutions. Chewing on a piece of jerky, Lee Suhyuk fell into deep thought again.
‘Even if I manage to solve other tests, it’s useless if I can’t ta that creature. So what should I do…’
Swoosh-.
It was then.
The Sky Horse next to Viola started to crouch and show signs of fear.
There was only one reason it would react like this.
“Huh?”
Clop-.
The sound of solid hooves and a Sky Horse appeared from beyond the clouds.
It was the king of the Sky Horses, the one Lee Suhyuk had to ta.
“It’s coming to us first?”
It stood at a distance, observing Lee Suhyuk.
It wasn’t a re coincidence that it had wandered over and encountered him.
‘Is it seeking out?’
Their eyes t. It didn’t co any closer, just kept watching him.
Lee Suhyuk didn’t possess any special talent for reading the eyes of spiritual creatures. But even at a glance, he could tell it wanted sothing from him.
“… Did that creature once have a master?”
Viola noticeably flinched, clearly surprised.
“How did you know?”
“Was it Thor by any chance?”
“How did you know that, too?”
As he feared.
‘I realized it too late.’
It wasn’t just so tedious test of manual labor. The test had already given him a hint.
“Thunder’s Wings.”
“What?”
“It must miss its old master.”
The reason it wandered alone wasn’t just because it was bigger or stronger than other Sky Horses.
It couldn’t co any closer from afar because of a familiar feeling it sensed.
Thor, who wielded the power of lightning. The Sky Horse who had served Thor.
It was drawn to him because of the glimpses of thunder power he had shown.
Swoosh-.
Rising from his seat, Lee Suhyuk swallowed the piece of jerky he had in his mouth and started walking towards the Sky Horse.
“Were you looking for this?”
Crackle-.
Blue lightning blood from the tips of Suhyuk’s fingers.
It was quite a significant output. Suhyuk seed ready to make it explode at any mont as thunder surged.
As anticipated, the Sky Horse did not avoid it.
Crunch-.
Instead, he approached Suhyuk even closer.
He was drawn in to catch a whiff of it. The more thunder Suhyuk generated, the more the Sky Horse was attracted to him.
Crackle-!
So, Suhyuk had only one thing to do now.
He had to show that he was the one chosen by the thunder.
‘Is it working?’
Step-.
But, just because he had the thunder didn’t an he could beco its master outright.
Ki-hi-hi-hing-.
The Sky Horse raised its front leg threateningly as if to say, “Don’t co any closer.”
It seed to indicate that this was the limit Suhyuk was allowed to approach.
“Alright, alright. I got it.”
Suhyuk took a step back.
There was no need to provoke the barely cald Sky Horse. Judging by its current state, it would definitely co to find him again.
He had found a way to get closer.
From now on, as Viola ntioned, he just needed to take his ti to get acquainted with it slowly.
‘Interaction, she said.’
So, for today, this was enough.
“It’s a pity.”
Even though he had found the answer, it wasn’t a 100% satisfactory result.
He would eventually overco the challenge, but there was a mission associated with this test.
“Seems like the SafeAsset mission…”
As he was about to say that it seed like a failure.
“It’s real?”
A chill ran down his spine, and he turned around.
But the owner of the voice vanished like a mirage.
“Aren’t we old acquaintances? Nice to see you.”
A mocking voice sounded from the exact opposite direction.
Suhyuk rembered hearing that voice a few days ago, albeit belatedly.
“Not particularly happy to see you.”
“Well, it’s just being happy then.”
Loki.
The second prince of Asgard and Thor’s half-brother.
With a playful face, he waved at Suhyuk.
“I didn’t really believe it, but it’s true. It’s Thunder. Interesting.”
“Do you desire this?”
“You really don’t know anything. There isn’t a god who wouldn’t desire it.”
His eyes glead with greed, resembling those of a serpent. His gaze scanned Suhyuk from top to bottom.
It was an unpleasant look. eting those eyes, Suhyuk lowered his gaze.
Loki’s twisted smile entered his sight.
“You’re quick-witted.”
Loki’s eyes possessed a special power.
Although the exact nature was unknown, it was clear that magic flowed abnormally around those eyes.
“I really can’t understand. Why does soone like you possess Thunder? Why did Father and Tyr permit it?”
Soon, loki’s voice reached Suhyuk’s ears.
“And why do they want to give you wings?”
Crash-!
Reflexively, he unleashed lightning. Despite its force tearing the clouds apart, loki reappeared unscathed, nonchalantly.
“It’s fortunate, isn’t it? Unlike my brother, killing a human like you to take it wouldn’t be a big issue. For , it’s a welco situation.”
“… Sohow, I thought it was strange.”
“Huh?”
Suhyuk raised his head again and t Loki’s eyes.
Facing those eyes felt like a sharp spear piercing through his chest.
He thought it was Loki’s presence, but it was a misconception.
“It’s not you after all.”
Crackle-!
The lightning flowing through Suhyuk’s body changed color. It turned black as golden and blue hues mingled, giving him the strength to face Loki’s eyes.
『’Lightning Lord’ imbues your body.』
『’Selfish Sacrifice Lv9′ resists ‘Lightning Lord’.』
Then, he saw it at last.
“Those eyes-.”
Beyond Loki.
Another figure with a concealed face stared at him.
“From whom did you get that?”
TL’s Corner:
The characters for Heavenly Demon and Sky Horse are the sa, which is 천마.
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