Chapter 1116 — Book 2: Chapter 313: Eccentric Power (8)
14 min read ·
Clang!
Cale became anxious the moment Choi Han's sword clashed against former hero Gisk's sword.
“Wait, right now-!”
‘Choi Han, your registration isn't completed yet!’
That meant that Choi Han’s stats were not fully reflected in the status window yet.
As he wasn’t an official quasi-NPC yet, it was likely that Choi Han could not use his full strength yet.
Just as Cale was slowly able to use more of his ancient powers, Choi Han needed to progress with the registration to use his full powers.
“Hmm?”
Clang!
“They are pretty even?”
Clang, clang!
The two swords clashed again.
Former hero Gisk and Choi Han were evenly matched as they exchanged blows over and over.
“Oh greatest of all evils!”
Cale heard the bear urgently speaking to him.
“Gisk, he is a former hero but he was also the original leader of the Seventh Evil!”
‘Hmm?’
"What do you mean?”
Dragon Lord Neo. ‘He wasn’t the boss of this place from the beginning?’
“My liege, I've already mentioned that the concept of this place is fairy tales, right?”
The Heinous Dark Bear was sharp enough to explain.
“As the Seventh Evil, they were not mere fairy tales but only the twisted and cruel backgrounds of the fairy tales. This place has all sorts of fields with the masters of those fields choosing someone to become the final boss.”
Numerous fields with different cruel fairy tales as the basis.
The Time Hell was the combination of those fields.
“Originally, the final boss was hero Gisk, who had defeated the masters of the respective fields.”
"And?”
“One day…”
The bear’s face turned serious.
"The Dragon who ruled one of those fields, the Cotton Candy Lair, and lured in children… That Dragon changed.”
Cale learned for the first time that he had transported into the Cotton Candy Lair.
"That Dragon was Neo?”
“Yes, my lord. The new Dragon, Neo, defeated Hero Gisk and turned him into the guard for his house.”
“That’s when Neo became the leader?”
“Yes, my lord. And-”
The bear stopped talking for a moment.
But it soon hid its hesitation and continued.
“And the leaders of the other fields don’t know about that fact.”
"What do you mean by that?”
“They all just recognized that Neo was the leader of the Seventh Evil as if it was obvious.
Huuuuu.”
The bear sighed and hid its shaking paws behind his back.
“Only I, only I remember that change. No!”
The Dark Bear raised its voice.
"The other field bosses knew that Neo defeated Gisk to become the new leader. However, they did not recognize that Neo was not the original ‘Cotton Candy Lair Dragon!’ Nobody realized that the Dragon suddenly changed after an update! Only I noticed it!”
Mutant.
An existence that notices the external man-made interferences and changes to the game system.
Those words suddenly flashed in Cale’s mind.
“Neo didn't just take you as his subordinate and name you a boss for nothing.”
The Dark Bear’s pupils started to shake.
“The ones who knows the secret. He put you by his side to keep an eye on you. Isn't that right?”
The bear nodded its head.
“That’s right.”
The bear clenched its eyes shut before opening them back.
"Anyway, Gisk is currently a guard and has turned from a hero to a tarnished former hero!”
“Mm.”
Cale felt something was off about the bear’s explanation and asked.
“But why is it that a hero was the leader of the Seventh Evil?
Aren't heroes… righteous?”
“I'm not sure? But anyway, his original title was hero!”
Cale opened the quest window.
[@#% Quest has appeared!]
[1. Find the hero with Count Ruiphe and stop the scary @# god trying to destroy this world!]
[2. Please work with Count Ruiphe to find our older brother.]
[Client: System]
Cale looked away from the quest window that still had errors and asked the bear.
“Then Gisk must be very strong?”
He had been the original leader of the Seventh Evil after all.
“Of course! He is very strong! I tried to emula-”
“Hmm?”
“Eek!”
The bear gasped and covered its mouth before slowly removing his paw and answering honestly after Cale glared at him.
“Umm, to be honest with you, my original concept was attending to the hero. I was a young bear that wanted to become a hero.”
The bear hesitantly answered but his gaze looked innocent.
Cale looked at the bear with an odd gaze.
He felt like he could not see the emotions in the bear’s eyes as it peeked at the hero.
‘…It’s worried about him.’
The bear was worried about the hero.
But it wanted to look away at the same time.
“Hmm.”
“……!”
The bear must have felt Cale's gaze as it quickly looked away from the hero and solemnly spoke to Cale.
“Anyway, we need to defeat that tarnished and pitiful former hero! Oh greatest of all evils!”
“I don’t know about that.”
“Excuse me?”
The bear found Cale’s reaction to be odd.
Cale chuckled and explained to the Dark Bear.
“I think you may not be the only mutant.”
“Excuse me?”
Cale pointed at Gisk.
“The former hero. He's not fighting properly right now.”
Clang! Clang!
Gisk and Choi Han were only fighting with their swords.
They were only fighting with their physical strength and sword abilities.
Cale heard the children averaging ten-years-old as he watched.
“Human, Choi Han seems to be having fun!”
“He seems to be enjoying it, nya!”
“That's right. He’s enjoying it, nya.”
The bear’s eyes opened wide.
“W, what did you say?”
The bear subconsciously looked at Cale and saw Cale open his mouth.
Cale spoke toward Gisk.
“You heard everything we said, right?”
They weren’t that far from each other.
“The former leader of the Seventh Evil, no, the Seventh Evil himself should have no problem hearing a conversation from this distance, right?”
Clang!
However, Gisk just ignored Cale.
C, claaaang!
He just started swinging his sword faster at Choi Han.
“Pfft.”
Choi Han clucked and opened his mouth.
Clang!
Their swords continued to clash as he did so.
“You didn't learn a proper sword art.”
“That seems to be the case for you too.”
Gisk just licked his lips with his tongue.
The tired and fatigued eyes of the former hero clouded over. An eccentric heat started to rise.
His eyes were focused only on Choi Han and his sword.
“…You grew up like a wild dog just as I did.”
He looked as if he could not hold back his excitement.
“But I cannot play with you any longer.”
Gisk’s sword suddenly changed directions.
Swooooooosh-
As the wind seemed to gather at his sword…
“Gisk the Tempest!”
The bear subconsciously shouted with excitement. Its voice was full of admiration.
Choi Han’s sword moved without any shaking.
Baaaaaaaaaang!
A different sound than earlier echoed out.
There was a cloud of dust.
Chhh-
The sound of someone being pushed back was heard.
Boom!
Former hero Gisk. His back struck the cracker door.
“…Ha.”
He lowered his head.
Five steps.
That was how far he was pushed back.
The shackles and chains on his ankle were tight.
He would probably have been pushed back farther had it not been for the chain and this cracker door.
“No.”
If the opponent had not gone easy on him, the chains would have probably been pulled out and he would have slammed into this motherfucking cracker house.
Gisk raised his head.
“…….”
Choi Han.
This existence that had no title or descriptors.
All this guy had was his name.
However, he was still standing there.
He had not been pushed back at all.
“T, this is impossible!”
The Dark Bear’s voice reached Gisk’s ears.
The little bear who used to follow him around, busily traveling all around the Seventh Evil.
The bear shouted in anger.
“The hero-nim, the hero-nim has not used any of his true powers yet!”
“Ha.”
Gisk scoffed.
He looked toward the stake that was connected to the chain and the shackles.
The plate of food placed by that stake…
This bear would sneak over and leave a plate of food for Gisk, who would only pretend to be asleep. The plate was full of expensive and healthy foods.
“H, he also has not used the Hero's Sword either……!”
The bear was stomping its feet in anger as it talked.
Gisk didn't even glance at the bear.
Instead, he looked at Choi Han as he commented.
“I'm sure you would have used all of your strength if you were fully registered as well. You also used only your sword art and did not use any of your powers.”
They were the same.
The two of them had fought under the same conditions.
Gisk was looking at the calm Choi Han.
“You were so rough and crude so I didn’t think it was the case, but… You have a foundation.”
A self-deprecating smile was on his face.
“I thought your sword art was a wild one like mine without a foundation. One you learned while fighting across many battlefields. But you have roots.”
Choi Han's family had been passing down an ancient sword art for generations.
Choi Han had changed it to suit him best.
“As expected, it is hard when you don’t have roots.”
Gisk's eyes no longer looked clouded over. His eyes started to look gloomy.
Hero Gisk.
After being set up as the hero, he went through numerous battlefields to learn his sword art.
As the son of a common farmer, he didn't have a chance to learn a proper sword art. The sword art he gained by swinging his sword to survive-
‘It has no foundation.’
Yes.
Just as the esteemed nobles and the beautiful Queen had said…
It has no foundation.
If it wasn’t for the power bestowed upon him for being the hero…
He was nothing.
He would be someone without any special talents or anything.
‘That’s why I lost.
That’s why I lost to those Dragon bastards.
Those bastards who suddenly attacked our home.’
His fatigued face looked even more grim.
“In the end, is this, is this the limit for me without my title of hero……?”
It was at that moment.
“You would not have been pushed back so easily if you were at full power.”
“!”
Gisk looked toward Choi Han.
Choi Han pointed at Gisk’s face.
“Your face. It doesn't look like you slept properly?”
Cale opened his mouth once he heard that. He was talking to himself, but he spoke loud enough for everybody to hear.
“Is he also stuck in something like a Time Hell Neo created?”
“……!”
Gisk looked directly at Cale for the first time.
Cale saw this and started to smile.
“By the looks of it, you experience something whenever you go to sleep. Neo must have done something, right?”
“…….”
Gisk was silent.
He then closed his eyes.
When he falls asleep, he had to reexperience that hellish time when he gave up everything he had as the hero of the kingdom to become the master of the Seventh Evil.
Every single time.
Always without an exception.
The thought of heroes in fairy tales not existing in reality… The thought of a hero not being able to do anything against those with power and authority…
Gisk couldn't handle the dreams that made him feel that sense of helplessness as if it was real.
Gisk had no choice but to helplessly be tied down to this place as Neo was the only one who could free him from the curse of that dream.
To be more specific, he didn't want to do anything else.
He just wanted to sink to the bottom like this.
“…….”
That was when he met a swordsman who seemed to also not have a foundation.
Gisk smiled bitterly.
‘But that was not the case.’
This bastard's sword art had roots much sturdier and deeper than most noble bastards.
‘In the end, I-’
Gisk could not open his closed eyes.
It was at that moment.
“You have roots as well.”
He heard Choi Han’s voice.
“You seem to be the only one who doesn't know that.”
“…What?”
Gisk opened his eyes.
He looked into a pair of transparent eyes that looked completely truthful.
“It is natural for a sword art, like a tree, to grow larger and the roots to get deeper as time passes. However, all sword arts have a beginning.”
Choi Han put his sword back into his scabbard.
“A sword is for swinging and slashing. If you have a method to do that, that is your root. You already have your own roots. However, that is just the beginning.”
Choi Han was honest when it came to the sword.
“Whether it is crude or not…”
A smile appeared on his face.
“Your sword art was the first thing to entertain me in a long time.”
He suddenly had a thought.
‘The Heavenly Demon would find it entertaining if he met this guy.’
Former hero Gisk's sword was completely wild. He seemed authentically focused on a mercenary’s sword art.
It had no form or moves, but… It was still fully focused on the goal of the sword.
That itself was the way to handle the sword and sword arts.
“I wish to exchange blows again next time.”
As Choi Han answered honestly…
“Ha, haha-”
Gisk started to laugh.
He then got up from the cracker door.
Clack.
The chains made some noises but he paid no attention to them.
Instead, he put down the sword in his hand.
Tang.
He paid no attention to the sword that fell to the ground and clenched the scabbard around his waist.
“T, that is-”
The bear sounded shocked but Gisk looked at Cale as he spoke. He seemed to be that swordsman’s liege after all.
“One day, I was able to realize things in this world like the Dark Bear.”
Cale's eyes clouded over.
“Based on your reaction, you must have met others who are similar to the Dark Bear and me.”
That was right.
Cale had met Count Ruiphe.
“I thought that this eccentric power that awakened me- “
Gisk stopped for a moment before continuing.
“I think that this eccentric power is the power to tell me the truth of this world.”
Cale listened as he thought to himself.
Maybe…
The more the Hunter bastards, the Divine World, and the Demon World try to mess with it…
The more external intrusion increased…’
Maybe the core of the system, similar to the foundation of this world, may be purposefully creating bugs in order to protect the world in this world, no, to protect the bug itself.
‘One.’
One was derived from the system. It looked like he would need to meet that punk again to talk about this.
That punk should know the intentions of the system.
“But there was nothing I could do despite knowing the truth. No, I didn't really want to do anything.”
Gisk continued and Cale focused on him.
"But it looks like I should be able to find someone who could do it for me. No, maybe this is my duty?”
A smile appeared on Gisk’s face.
He looked tired but happy.
Shhh.
He pulled the scabbard off his waist.
The sword was in the scabbard.
It was not the sword he used to fight against Choi Han.
“Is it possible-”
The Dark Bear looked as if it didn’t know what to do.
Gisk calmly handed Choi Han the sword.
The bear saw this and screamed in despair.
“The Hero’s Sword–!”
The Hero's Sword.
As Cale's eyes clouded over after hearing that.
Gisk shook his head.
“The Hero's Sword is not the name of this sword.”
Only the sword's old scabbard and old handle were visible.
Gisk calmly explained as Choi Han looked at the sword.
“The Sun Sword.”
This was the Sun Sword.
“It is the sword only the one chosen by the sun can hold.”
A half-transparent window appeared in front of Choi Han.
“Choi Han, I hope you can deliver this sword to the hero.”
[@#% Quest has appeared!]
[1. Please find the hero in place of the tarnished Former hero Gisk and deliver the Sun Sword!]
“However.”
Gisk sternly spoke to Choi Han.
“Only hand this sword to someone you approve of. Someone you do not approve of does not have the qualifications to become the hero.”
* * *
While that was going on…
“What the…?”
Crown Prince Alberu Crossman, whose account name was the Disrespectful Emperor, scowled.
===================
Main Quest 2 [Become a hero who will help the successful birth of ??God!]
===================
The second main quest he had yet to accept…
A new sub quest appeared underneath it.
This was his first time dealing with something like this.
===================
– Chain sub quest 1 [Receive the approval of the swordsman who helped the former hero reach enlightenment!]
===================
“Ha!”
Alberu Crossman shook his head in disbelief.
‘It looks like I will have a lot to talk about with Cale Henituse.’
Alberu sighed but focused on the game.
‘Mm.’
He oddly felt unsettled but did his best to ignore it.
—
Translator's Comments
Until they talk to each other… let the misunderstandings commence!
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