world number.
A mythical entity that appears frequently in various myths and can be found in Korea.
However, if I were to pick a representative one, everyone would say Yggdrasil of Norse mythology.
I heard that three huge roots extend to the springs that exist in each world to support their huge body, and they extend their branches to reach all nine worlds.
Also, there are many mythical beings intertwined around it, such as Nidhogra, which chews roots, and Latatosk, the squirrel, which is said to ride down the stems and tickle each other.
Actually, I don’t remember any more.
The reason I suddenly came up with this story was really nothing.
This is because the world tree that appears in ‘Clouds of the Horizon’ was inspired by the world tree that appears in this Norse mythology.
Maybe that’s why, in the middle of the game, I was able to find settings that reflected those elements.
For example, beings under the protection of the World Tree receive additional damage from beings powered by Surt, who burned the World Tree… .
And that there is an event monster named Nidhog.
event monster.
It’s not that there’s a disadvantage just because they don’t meet because it’s an eventful character, but as the name of the event suggests, it goes without saying that it’s good to keep these guys as much as possible.
There, Nidhogg was a monster that was famous in many ways among these event monsters.
It was because anyone with a branch of the World Tree could catch it.
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Originally, it would have been an event monster prepared only for Yeeun Lee, who will be awakened as a priest and incarnation of the World Tree.
But paradoxically, the characters that could catch this Nidhogg were also limited, and that was because of Nidhogg’s unique nature.
It was that the strength of Nid Hog itself changed according to the strength of the user.
In other words, the stronger the hunting side, the stronger the Nidhogg.
Each character has a different point in time when they come to the world tree, so in some cases, you can visit around the second half of the game, making it impossible to even think of catching Nidhogg.
But paradoxically, it was said that now was the right time for me.
Nidhogg’s strength is determined by the strength of the opponent.
And I am no different from the general public except for the fact that I have the branches of the world tree.
‘Is it exactly double the total value of all things such as status, talent, skill, skill, possessed and equipment? No, three times?’
And, in the case of consumption items you have, it is not included in the calculation.
Therefore, among the strategies to catch the Nidhogg, the so-called orthodox strategy was to carry bombs or magic traps in large quantities and catch them.
The problem was that I couldn’t find such a thing right now.
Unless you were an incumbent hero, or at least an academy student, there was no way you could get those things.
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Of course, I was scheduled to attend the academy, but I must not forget that I am a preliminary student, not an academy student.
Because a prospective student could be canceled at any time if something unpleasant happened.
There was no way to let them deal with explosives or trap magic tools that are allowed only for active heroes.
Unfortunately, it was said that I had to come up with something.
I arranged the tools for hunting Nidhogg and did the last check.
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Of course, if I had prepared it in advance yesterday, I could have taken the challenge right away after getting the branches of the World Tree, but if I didn’t even get the branches of the World Tree after preparing them thoroughly, I would have become a duck egg on the Nakdong River.
So, I decided to think positively that I had time to rest and reorganize for the day.
It was because the time was not so tight.
‘I think this should be enough.’
I squatted for almost hours, carefully carrying my preparations in my arms.
To be honest, I don’t know if it will work, but it’s still better than nothing.
“Shall we go?”
With those words, I grabbed my bag and got up from my seat.
It was the first monster raid in this world.
* * *
According to the original Norse mythology, Nidhogg clings to one of the three large branches of the world tree Yggdrasil, and chews the root to dry the world tree to death.
And I don’t know what the name of the root is or what world it is connected to.
But he knew exactly where he was in the cloud world here on the horizon.
Bukhansan, where the general server of the Aegis system that protects the world tree and the sky over Seoul, is hidden an hour from my house.
You could meet Nidhogg in the middle of the line drawn exactly between those two points.
The conditions for meeting Nidhogg were simple.
The first, of course, was to possess the branches of the World Tree.
And the second was to sleep in a designated location.
They appear in their dreams and fight each other, and if they lose, they lose the branches of the World Tree and are kicked out of the dream… … I remember it was the setting.
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Of course, in the original game, it was game over without being sarcastic.
I was pretty much seated.
Fortunately, it was a secluded place where no one came, so I thought that no one would disturb me even if I was sleeping.
“after… … .”
When I tried to fall asleep, I couldn’t sleep because of the tension.
So I leaned back on the bench and started thinking about Nidhogg.
Nidhogg.
A monster that looks like a mixture of an Eastern dragon and a Western dragon.
Air can’t fly
They are immune to all poisons, and can spew fire infrequently.
eyes are dark
Because of their unique scales, blunt weapons are more effective than swords or spears.
The strength of the character determines its abilities and body size.
and… .
“uh?”
When I woke up, I found myself in a very dark place.
I wondered how I got here, but I couldn’t figure it out.
It’s a dream.
I felt like I had come to Nidhogg’s nest.
A fishy, disgusting smell with the smell of damp soil.
And in the distance you can see a huge, old and rusty iron gate.
“You’re right.”
I opened the bag and took out the things I had brought in one after the other.
Most of them were heavy tools such as hammers, short crowbars, and monkey spanners.
Because of its unique structure, Nidhogg’s scales cannot be pierced with a knife without some skill.
So, things like knives and awls were not brought with them.
It was because hitting with a blunt was much more effective.
I wrapped the belt in several layers and put tools all over my body.
Then, he took out the object he had made while saving time to sleep and carefully held it in his hand.
“after.”
let’s go
With that determination, I approached the iron gate that I had no idea when it was built.
When I put my ear to it, I thought I could hear something moving inside.
I took a deep breath and opened the door and went inside.
Inside was a darker place than where I first opened my eyes.
And when I saw the shape of something wriggling from the other side, I shuddered.
“… … .”
Something was twitching and making a crackling sound.
That would be Nidhogg.
With that in mind, I took a step forward.
‘It’s a lot smaller than I thought.’
What I saw in the game was at least enough to fill this wide cavity.
What I saw in front of me now, far from filling the cavity, looked nothing more than the size of a hippopotamus I had seen in a zoo in the past.
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Of course, from my point of view, it’s huge.
“… Ouch.”
Noticing that I had entered, Nidhogg turned his head.
When several pairs of bright red eyes looked at me, I felt a strange chill.
The boy turned around slowly.
Let’s check how fast it moves first.
I slid my left hand behind my clenched fist, and with my right hand I held a crowbar and pushed it forward as if to warn him.
It was a so-called paru.
It wasn’t an object used at the construction site, so it was light, so it didn’t put any strain on my wrist, but it was short in length and relatively low in power.
“… … .”
Nidhogg made an indescribable sound as he walked towards me.
As he opened his mouth small, pieces of wood fell out of his mouth.
He must have been chewing on the roots of the world tree.
As I was looking at it, I suddenly felt a strange feeling in my arm.
“Ugh?!”
When I looked down in surprise, a branch of the world tree had come out of my arm.
The momentum was ferocious, but the problem was that Nidhogg, who saw the branches of the World Tree, was also making a more ferocious sound.
As I was thinking about what the hell was going on, I heard a ringing sound in my head.
[The branch of the World Tree senses the unforgivable existence and begins to threaten it!]
[For the safety of the host and oneself, the branches of the World Tree unleash its power!]
[Temporarily, the protection of the World Tree seeps into your body and soul!]
There was no time to question what the hell happened.
Because Nidhogg flew straight at me.
Fortunately, it wasn’t to the point where I couldn’t react.
Although he managed to avoid it, the fact that there were no wounds on his body was proof of that.
And, thanks to the protection of the world tree that I had heard about earlier, my body felt much lighter.
I thought it might have gotten that much more agile because of my smaller body, but fortunately it didn’t seem like it.
As I turned, I continued to swing the crowbar.
As if to keep pace with him, the branches of the World Tree stretched their body arbitrarily, threatening Nidhogg.
Contrary to his memory, Nidhogg, who had become so weak, flinched as if he felt threatened by even such an act.
What, it’s nothing.
I thought so and continued to swing the crowbar.
Seeing Nidhogg back and forth over and over again, I thought it was stupid to be nervous for nothing.
And the next moment.
When I woke up, the right hand holding the crowbar was gone.
“uh? Ugh… ?!”
Startled, he fell backwards, and Nidhogg’s snout swooped right above him.
The panic and fear that my wrist had been cut off, and the pain I had never felt before in my life, came to me before I thought that my head might have been blown off if I had been idly.
“Uh, uh… !”
In the movie, they scream like mad and scream, but I couldn’t even do that.
It was so painful that I couldn’t even scream.
“Ugh. Fuck, this, profit… … .”
There wasn’t even blood coming out.
It was because the cross section of the severed wrist was blocked as if it was melting because of Nidhogg’s poison.
Seeing the red, pink, white, black, and so many colors mixed together, it just took my breath away.
“Cree… !”
Then I heard the breath of an animal that felt completely different from before.
Fear of dying, I reflexively struggled and pulled myself back.
And unlike the previous scene I saw for the first time, the branch of the world tree that had grown bigger was constantly being called out in size as if to contain Nidhogg.
“Whoa, whoa… … .”
When I pressed as hard as I could under the severed wrist, the pain seemed to have eased a little.
I somehow managed to get up by urging my trembling legs.
If I stand still like this, the branch of the World Tree is not the problem, and I may die.
I stuttered and muttered something.
“… … .”
As I whispered quietly, the branches of the World Tree stretched out some of them towards me as if they understood.
I swipe over what was in my left hand.
Then the branch of the World Tree picked it up as if knowing it.
I looked at Nidhogg, who looked at me like I was searching this way.
As soon as I let go of my left hand, I felt like a scream would come out, so I gagged one of the things that was tied to my belt in my mouth.
Cracking my jaw, clenching it, I stared at Nidhogg as if to kill him.
개새끼야.
You really don’t let go, you bastard.
I was able to somehow get my legs to mumble like that.
It’s almost blind, so it can detect opponents by movement and sound.
I reached out my left hand and picked up the hammer.
“Suck!”
When I threw the hammer as hard as I could and dropped it next to him, his head turned straight to it.
At the same time, I ran to him and threw the tool again.
“Kaak!”
He quickly pulled himself up and opened his mouth with a roar towards me.
It was meant to spit fire.
Then, before I could do anything, the branches of the World Tree were swung wildly.
And the barrel I was carrying flew right into Nidhogg’s mouth… … .
Whoops!
“Ke ha ha ha!!!”
Nidhogg twisted in pain as the explosion erupted in his mouth.
done.
Fortunately, it worked as expected.
I heard that finely grinding the head of a match is similar to gunpowder.
In addition to that, there were nails and small pieces of iron in it, so his mouth must have literally become lumpy.
Because the outside of the body is hard, the inside is soft.
Besides, his strength is at most two to three times mine.
It couldn’t have been fatal.
I’ve been making two, just in case, but I haven’t had time to take out the other one.
I immediately twisted my back, shifted my weight, and slammed it right into his eye with a lever.
With an eerie feeling, the guy screamed again.
“Ki ha ha ha!”
He was thrown away by his struggle, but he quickly got up from his seat.
Perhaps it was because of the crowbar stuck in his eye, the guy was twisting and roaring as if it was painful.
I pulled out another tool and picked it up.
At the very least, I thought that the castle would be unlocked by destroying that guy’s bones.
* * *
“Ugh… Ugh… … .”
I let out a rough breath and wiped my wet forehead.
It was because he had been swinging the tool for almost hours to the point of tearing the palm of his hand.
He was now almost mutilated, in a form that was terribly hideous.
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Originally, even the seeds would not have been eaten, but it was possible because Nidhogg was weaker than I imagined.
I kicked and kicked Nidhogg’s corpse, which is now still motionless, with all my might.
It was so hard that the foot on this side of the kick hurt, but I didn’t care.
He didn’t even feel the pain of riding up from his right arm, perhaps because of excitement.
“ha… … ha… … .”
When I came to my senses, I couldn’t even see if the branch of the World Tree, which had slipped out as if it had almost swallowed one of my arms, had disappeared into my body.
As I looked around for a moment, Nidhogg’s body had disappeared at some point, and there was a large door in front of me.
“Whew… … .”
I opened the door.
Now it was time to wake up.
* * *
And when I woke up, in my right hand, there was a dagger that I had never seen before.