Inconvenient companion (3)
“Are you okay?”
At Si-yoon’s question, Kim Cheol-jin raised his head.
Before long, his face changed completely as if it had never happened.
He replied with his usual benevolent smile.
“Ah, of course. Although I suffered a little.”
Cheoljin Kim gets up from his seat.
“It’s fine.”
Then, looking around what seemed to be a cave, he looked back at Siyoon.
“Are you all right?”
In addition, Si-yoon noticed that Kim Cheol-jin’s atmosphere had subtly changed.
“Sure, I’d like to say, but I don’t. Stamina is also stamina, but it consumed too much mana.”
In fact, his mana had been depleted once, but thanks to the trait ‘one who goes beyond the limits’, he still had enough.
My stamina was still good thanks to my iron body.
But even so, Si-yoon deliberately faked his weakness and built up a build-up.
Like a coveted fruit, so that afterwards he could not bear to bite the bait.
“I’m sorry, but can I leave you to take the lead? I think I should conserve my stamina and mana as much as possible.”
“I am willing to do so. Because I still have room.”
“Thank you.”
When he turned around and looked at him, Siyoon’s pupils narrowed.
The intention is unknown, but Gate threw a clue about the future to Siyoon.
‘then···.’
There was a high possibility that Kim Cheol-jin also saw something there.
Si-yoon could at least know that he was fighting in a different place than he was.
It was because, unlike Siyoon, who was like a wet mouse, Kim Cheoljin did not.
“By the way, may I ask what happened there?”
At his question, Siyoon let out a small sigh.
“…a monster I hadn’t seen before appeared. Even if I couldn’t do it, it was above the advanced level.”
“Hoo.”
Kim Chul-jin said in unison as if he was interested.
“A monster I’ve never seen before. What kind of monster was it?”
“Well, I don’t know what to say. It was a huge monster that seemed to devour the world. Whether it was fantasy or real, I don’t want to see it again.”
It wasn’t a lie.
It was because Apettitus actually appeared there.
Of course, he couldn’t pretend to know a monster that hadn’t descended yet.
When he answered as if he had encountered an unknown being, Kim Chul-jin laughed in amazement.
“So you’re saying you survived the monster?”
“I was lucky. Because I was able to find a way out.”
“hehehe, but if you don’t have the skills, it’s impossible… I covet you even more.”
Saying that, Siyoon asked him as he stepped inward.
“That one?”
“Well?”
“What happened there?”
There, Kim Cheol-jin’s footsteps stopped.
After a while, he let out a small groan and raised his head.
“…how should I explain it?”
Siyoon looked down at his sword.
There were still clear bloodstains on the tip of the knife.
“It feels like a nightmare.”
“nightmare?”
“The devil of the gate is a very nasty thing.”
he let out a low laugh.
“He showed it to me.”
There was something different about his back when he said that.
“A very… very terrible nightmare.”
“Is that really okay?”
When he asked again, Cheoljin Kim shook his head.
“hehehe, don’t worry. did i tell you It’s like a nightmare.”
He looked back at Siyoon and smiled faintly.
“A dream is just a dream, not reality.”
Kim Cheol-jin gave strength to the hand holding my sword.
“I’ll go.”
“…”
Siyoon’s eyes looking at him became strange.
‘As expected, I saw something.’
But was it really like you?
Siyoon thought that the possibility was small.
That was only possible because he was a ‘player’.
However, the Gate is a place where the flow of time flows differently.
‘perhaps.’
Cheoljin Kim might have seen it.
Really your own past, or your future.
It didn’t matter if it was in the past.
It’s something you can’t change anyway, and as he said, it was like a nightmare.
‘But if what you saw is your future.’
His behavior could have been different.
Siyoon’s eyes narrowed.
There was no conversation between them as they walked through the dark cave.
Even Kim Cheol-jin, who kept talking to scout him until now.
Eventually, the narrow alley begins to show its end.
In the meantime, they did not encounter a single monster or trap.
As if the gate was willing to let them in, it just left the way open.
In the cave that gradually begins to widen, a huge cavity begins to come into view.
In front of him, Cheoljin Kim muttered in a low voice.
“You have arrived.”
There, Siyoon looked at the common end.
Then, as if he had been waiting, a huge beating sound resounded.
What was there was a huge heart.
Clinging to the walls of the cave like a parasite, it pulsated steadily.
pounding.
And around that heart, I could see brown branches extending like blood vessels.
Cheoljin Kim looked up at the ceiling and let out a sigh of relief.
“Fortunately, it seems it’s not too late.”
…there was Tiamat.
Beyond the transparent ceiling of the cavity, the huge, high-ranking monster crouched and conceived hundreds and thousands of eggs inside itself.
“It seems that the magic bullets you shot were quite lethal.”
“Because I was aiming for the brain.”
“It was a great blow. But I don’t think the time I earned from it is running out now.”
Certainly, from his point of view, Tiamat seemed to be almost fully recovered.
If that monster descends outside the gate this time, then the disaster will truly be impossible to prevent.
Gwangju redevelopment or whatever, it could have been completely blown away.
“Then let’s finish it soon.”
Kim Cheol-jin puts his magic on top of his magic sword.
Then, his blade began to vibrate.
Siyoon also pretended to be having a hard time and took out a heavy machine gun and blew magic into it.
Kim Cheol-jin, who glanced at him, said.
“Then I will take the lead, so if an unexpected situation arises, I will support you from behind.”
“I will.”
Tdubeok, ttubeok, he moves toward the common center.
In the meantime, the magic power surrounding his sword was gradually increasing.
‘·······.’
Except for the roaring sound of magic and the beating of my heart, I couldn’t feel any sound or presence.
Siyoon looked at the core of the gate and thought.
‘Subtly… the heartbeat is slow.’
Originally, I think it moved a little more vigorously.
In addition, Kim Cheol-jin, who had already crossed half of the common space, looked back at Si-yoon as if it were strange.
Seeing that, Siyoon frowned and murmured.
“Nothing?”
He recalled the ‘walking calamity’ Aphetitus he had encountered earlier.
‘Is it the aftermath of summoning it?’
Then Kim Cheol-jin turned to him and said.
“Nothing.”
The power of an instant.
Shiyoon clicked his tongue slightly at the wild momentum sweeping through the black coat.
Cheoljin Kim smiled.
“I am there.”
However, Siyoon did not respond to the prank and said.
“Break the nuke while talking nonsense.”
“No, I thought you would be a bit surprised.”
“Is this the time to play pranks like that?”
In the first place, it is the gate that cannot be relieved until the moment when the nuclear power is destroyed.
If he reveals his teeth, it must be right after breaking the core.
That’s why Siyoon wasn’t shaken from the beginning.
“Oh, sorry. The atmosphere has been so suffocating since earlier.”
He continued, turning his sword toward the core of the gate.
“I wanted to ventilate. And I wanted to do something like this at least once. It feels like something dark.”
Cheoljin Kim smiled and gestured to Siyoon.
“Anyway, it looks like there’s really nothing, so don’t worry.”
“If you play pranks like this again, then I know how to make a hole in your head.”
“Not mind me.”
When Siyoon stood next to him, he lowered his sword as if nothing had happened and took a lower posture.
“Then let’s finish it now.”
“yes.”
With a click, Siyoon bit the bullet belt again and aimed it at the heart in front of his eyes.
The brilliance of the magic sword that interlocked there as if it had been waiting for it.
Soon, along with the pure white swords that were being swung, the large caliber bullets that were fired shattered the hearts in front of them.
Then, Tiamat reacted immediately.
“■■■■■■■-!!”
It’s a while to let out that goosebumps scream.
After that, the cracks in the space began to suck her in like a vacuum cleaner.
As if he doesn’t want to go back, he moves his huge rake-like hand and struggles, but to no avail.
The moment the hideous face disappeared through a crack along with hundreds of monsters, Siyun knew that the gate had really begun to disappear.
[Special Achievement ‘Blocked the first gate!’ has been achieved!]
[achievement rate 13/121]
[A ‘Heroic Artifact’ is given as an achievement reward.]
At that moment, he noticed that a ring had formed on my hand.
Seeing it, Siyun recognized the identity of the artifact at once.
[Ring of Wisdom]
– Increases magic power by 15%.
-When used, any crowd control can be dismantled immediately and immunity to that crowd control for 24 hours.
(Cooldown: 24 hours)
The increase in mana was also an increase, but it was the second effect that caught his eye.
Not enough crowd control to instantly dismantle, immunity for a day.
This was a huge advantage.
Isn’t it the same crowd control as the previous ‘peer’ that even strong people like Nam Seung-min and Kim Cheol-jin are vulnerable to helplessly?
This will be a dagger that can catch you off guard when dealing with monsters or strongmen of higher rank or higher in the future.
But that wasn’t the end.
[Synergy between the artifact ‘Ring of Acuity’ and the trait ‘Thunderous Power’ has been found!]
[With the effect of synergy, it is now possible to analyze the structure of complex mechanical devices at a glance.]
“…!”
There, Siyoon took a small breath.
Up until now, the ‘Cheon Hae-ryeok’ could only be fully understood by looking at the formulas, books, and blueprints that clearly showed the internal structure.
However, thanks to the synergy with the artifact ‘Ring of Wisdom’, it is now possible to analyze the structure of the mechanical device without a separate blueprint or disassembly.
Its applications are limitless.
For Siyoon, this synergy seemed to be stronger than the effect of the ‘Ring of Insight’.
Eventually, he lowered the sword Kim Cheol-jin was holding into the cave that started to shake.
Seeing that, Siyoon quickly hid the ring in her pocket.
“Looks like the exit will open soon.”
Cheoljin Kim speaks with a clear face.
In addition, Siyoon took a step back and prepared for the next phase.
It was because as long as the core of the gate was broken, if Kim Cheol-jin was an infiltrator, there would be nothing to hold back.
An opponent who looks tired just by looking at it.
There are no eyewitnesses here.
The scene of the incident will soon disappear.
What better place to show your teeth than this?
Siyoon thought.
‘Ask.’
bait.
“Good job.”
Cheoljin Kim is coming.
He stretches out his hand toward Shiyoon.
It was also the time when Siyoon took a pistol in his hand.
“How did you do it with just the two of us?”
He returned with only the ‘Ariadne’s thread’ retrieved from Siyoon.
Siyoon’s gaze goes to his waist.
His sword wasn’t drawn at all.
There, Siyoon answered quietly.
“… you’ve had a hard time.”
Then, as if they had waited, a crack in the space began to open in front of them.
Siyoon noticed that it was an exit leading out of the gate.
Seeing this, Kim Cheol-jin took out a business card from the inside of his shirt and handed it to Si-yoon.
“As I said before, I really want to recruit you.”
Siyoon quietly took it and listened.
It was engraved with White Flame Vice President, Kim Chul-jin.
“If you feel like joining us, feel free to contact us here.”
‘I’m just going?’
Siyoon answered while hiding his true feelings.
“Do that.”
“I want you to come back to where you came from this time.”
He said scratching my cheek with his index finger.
“I had a hard time because I dropped it in the wrong place at some point! Ha ha ha!”
Cheoljin Kim grinned at Siyoon.
“Then see you soon.”
Then, without hesitation, he moved into the portal.
She pretended not to notice Siyoon’s gaze.
“…”
When he came out, he was greeted in a dark forest.
It must have come out somewhere inside the outer wall of Gwangju.
When Kim Chul-jin looks back, the crack that had just been there disappears as if it never existed.
Then he cast a lighting spell on it and walked slowly along the narrow alleyway.
Had it taken that long?
A man with a black sedan was waiting for him out of the woods.
Contrary to his small stature, a long sword the size of his height.
Even the bandage wrapped around his left arm as if he had not yet recovered.
The juvenile prosecutor, Park Jae-joon.
“Are you here?”
“Good find.”
Kim Cheol-jin said while retrieving the ‘Ariadne’s thread’ connected to Park Jae-joon.
“How was it?”
Park Jae-joon asked with his back leaning against a tree.
“Have you had any success?”
“How come you sound like you’re dissatisfied?”
Then Jaejoon Park raises his head involuntarily.
The words I was trying to come out didn’t come out.
What came out at the end of that, was far from being criticized in the end.
“…16 of our employees were killed in this operation.”
“That is unfortunate. But their sacrifices will be remembered forever.”
“…”
Kim Chul-jin passed Jae-joon Park, stopped and said.
“Why do I look like a disgusting hypocrite?”
Park Jae-joon did not answer. I just looked at him in silence.
The back seat of an open sedan.
Kim Cheol-jin, who caught it, smiled a little.
“Of course it is. It’s not wrong. But bear in mind.”
He said looking up at the extremely dark night sky.
“The path of the powerful is always paved with hypocrisy.”
His eyes turn to Jaejoon Park.
“Once you start, never look back. Wouldn’t it be too sad if it wasn’t?”
Kim Cheol-jin’s face showed a low smile.
“Those who have died by your hands until now, those who have died by my hands… And even the lives of the employees who crashed today will all be dog deaths.”
“…!”
He shot at Park Jae-joon in a bloody tone.
“So, I’m telling you not to regret it with such an asshole face. okay?”
“…”
Jaejoon Park, who bit my lip there.
Then he lowered his head and replied.
“I got it.”
“yes. great. Oh, and.”
As if remembering Kim Cheol-jin, who was about to get into the car, he looked back at him.
“I guess I’ll have to change my plan a bit.”
“You mean the plan?”
“Because I saw something very… interesting inside.”
He remembered again what he had seen in the gate.
With all my plans failing, my soul is captured by the devil at the gate and I am crying out.
The moment he cut himself off with his own hands, Kim Cheol-jin saw a fragment of the future, albeit for a moment.
The time when he broke the core of the gate and exposed his teeth towards Choi Si-yoon.
Cheoljin Kim saw it. The necklace that shone on Siyoon’s neck.
Liver sieve.
And once the artifact was activated, it could summon the opponent from anywhere.
Memories of pure white black air slicing in front of my eyes pass by.
‘Iarin, that cheeky thing…!’
Although it was only an indirect experience, the sensation of her white lotus sword cutting through my body was still vivid.
‘I’ve been asking you to come and go, so you cut me after sticking with mere service?’
The window of the sedan is cracked by the power of the sudden grip.
It was the moment when he, who had barely endured himself, caught his breath and tried to cancel the lighting magic.
Opening his eyes, he suddenly drew his sword and cut through my shadow.
“!!”
Then something disappears with a grotesque sound.
Kim Cheol-jin’s face twisted when he realized that he was a shadow demon.
“This bastard…!”
At that moment, the moment of exchanging business cards with Choi Si-yoon flashes through his mind.
“Such a masterpiece!!”
Make sure to read from noble mtl dot com
Dark magic, shadow demon.
In the end, his hand, unable to overcome his anger, broke the door of the sedan.
place far away from it.
Appearing somewhere in Toechon, Siyoon grinned as she felt her shadow demon disappear.
“Cheoljin. You are right.”
Why are you pretending not to be?
In front of him, Pil-woo appeared on a motorcycle.
“young master.”
“Are you here?”
Pil-woo said to him with an excited face.
“The employees of Dongnam Construction are said to be waiting for you. Let’s go.”
There, Siyun laughed and put herself in the saddle.
“Then shall we go?”
“I will make you very comfortable.”
The motorcycle they rode started off.