Chapter 209
[Cheon Seong-Hwi
Health: S(5+15) Strength: A(52)
Dexterity: A(5+20) Sense: A(8)
Magic: S(1) Destiny Force: S(4)
Karma: 25,039,300
Coins: 430,034,225
Destiny Weapon: Tarot Deck of Destiny S(5)
Skills (7) Traits (6) Items (10) Cubes (0)]
[Common Skills: Rust of Ruin A(99)]
[Unique Skills: Symbol Embodiment, Borrowing Destiny]
[Item Skills: Myriad Faces, Shadow Control, Titanic Wave, Steel Plate]
[Traits: Natural Enemy of Chaos A(6), Thousand-Man Killer B(7), Scorn for the Weak C(99), Mystery Killing D(99), Savior’s Gaze D(99), Foul Play (D(99)]
[Items: Bulgasal (S5), Wings of Evolution S(4), Silver Bracelets of Queen Consort Muryeong S(5), Gold Necklace of Queen Consort Muryeong A(5), Myriad Cheoyong Mask A(7), Archane Hoodie C(99), Titanic Tide Kris C(99), Steel Tortoise Heart Guard D(99), Pressurizing Leather Boots C(99), First-Class Murder License Ring F(0)]
A billion Karma disappeared in a flash. After several cubes were shuffled before him, he was left with 25 million Karma before he realized it. However, Seong-Hwi could only smile as he looked at the resulting status window.
“You’re my lucky charm,” he said as he patted Bulgasal’s head as it ate a steel gauntlet.
Pwoo!
He used 140 million Coins to buy Bulgasal two items with A-rank potential, but he did not find it a waste in the slightest since it was crucial to his stat raising. He had mainly focused on raising the Health stat because he had been the most exhausted he had ever been after unleashing the power of the Fruit of the World Tree.
The Health stat was the center of everything. One couldn’t fire a cannonball unless the cannon were sturdy enough. Not only that, but the ammunition that was the Fruit of the World Tree was powerful enough to burn one alive if one were to use it recklessly. Hence, Seong-Hwi had chosen the Health stat.
Thank goodness I have the Silver Bracelets of Queen Consort Muryeong, Seong-Hwi thought.
The first thing he had done was promote the silver bracelets to S-rank, and he was met with a jackpot.
I can’t believe it raises an S-rank stat by fifteen points!
The Silver Bracelets of Queen Consort Muryeong, alongside the Myriad Cheoyong Mask, were an item he had even before reaching the Mirror World. He had broken them out from the National Museum of Korea after realizing they had S-rank potential—one of the highest, even among the S-rank items. He now realized it was the best decision he had ever made.
The Strength stat can’t receive the same effect since I don’t have enough Karma to get it to S-rank yet, but that’s something for later.
His Health stat reached S(20), the highest among his stats, but it was only quantitatively the highest. His most powerful stat was Destiny Force, which had been reduced to B-rank after its caliber was heightened, but he restored it to S-rank. Destiny Force was versatile and the source of power for Symbol Embodiment, Borrowing Destiny, and the Wings of Evolution, so it contributed greatly to his power.
With this, my Health, Magic, and Destiny Force are S-rank. I’m a Triple-S human!
Since he had also promoted his D Weapon, Tarot Deck of Destiny, to S-rank, he could call himself a Quad-S human.
Since my Magic, Destiny Force, and D Weapon stats have reached S-rank, I could aim to borrow a seven-card destiny now.
He had borrowed a seven-card destiny in his past life as a Double-S of Magic and Destiny Force. He had pushed himself at the time to find a way to fight against Dragon King Regnator, but he believed he should be able to borrow one now without severe side effects.
He had also promoted the Wings of Evolution to S-rank and raised the Rust of Ruin skill stat to A(99). He had made the best use of the one billion Karma.
The problem is... my days are numbered.
[93 of the Grace Period Chains remain.]
[93 days remain until the termination of Indigestion.]
[7% of the Fruit of the World Tree’s power is available.]
Seong-Hwi gulped. He reached the Capital within a day thanks to the warp gate user that the Union had provided him. The power he could utilize was increasing, but it did not make him happy. Not only did his life become shorter the more he used it, but he would rather not have a power that could kill him during combat.
“I’d bet Lina would be fascinated by this,” Seong-Hwi said to himself as he went to visit Lina and soon realized his expectation had been way off.
***
“Are you crazy?! Huh?! Are you?!” Lina, an intelligent-looking woman with black hair and eyes, wearing a white gown and purple-rimmed glasses, slapped Seong-Hwi’s body with her hands in tears.
Seong-Hwi remained silent. His S-rank Health stat made her slaps feel lighter than a cotton bat. Rather, he was sure that she felt like she was slapping a steel wall.
He grabbed her wrists and said, “Stop it.”
“Stop what?! That’s my line! Why do you always return in the worst condition possible?!”
Seong-Hwi couldn’t find the words as he stared at Lina’s grimace, her face covered in tears.
She continued, “You were almost dead back when you returned from Subterra! And now what? You don’t have long to live? How could you say something like that with a smile? Is this funny to you?!”
“I can’t say it as I cry, can I?”
“You... You’re so—Let go of me!”
Seong-Hwi let go of Lina’s wrists. She glared at Seong-Hwi as she rubbed her wrists, and Seong-Hwi did not avert his gaze from hers.
Lina broke the silence after some time. “Haaa... What did you eat, again?”
“The Fruit of the World Tree.”
“I can tell it’s insanely dangerous just from its name. Why did you eat something like that?”
“Because I needed power.”
“You and that goddamn power! What’s got you in such a rush? What’s chasing you?!”
Seong-Hwi thought momentarily and answered, “As I’ve told you before, by my destiny.”
Lina shook her head as she removed her glasses and wiped her face. She covered her eyes with her hands and quietly mumbled, “Can’t you just... give up on that destiny? Is it worth getting hurt to that extent?”
“My destiny... includes yours,” Seong-Hwi answered.
Lina’s lips subtly quivered. She then remarked, “She always smiles when she’s with you, but Jurie is also really worried about you. Do you know what she told me the other day? She’s scared that she’d find out about your death through the Network one day.”
Seong-Hwi did not answer.
“I have no idea what you truly want,” Lina said.
Seong-Hwi remained silent as he thought about what she said.
What do I truly want? Oh, to shine brightly. But what do I want to do by shining brightly? What am I doing all of this for?
Just then, he was reminded of the contents of the letter that Curiositas gave him, which he tried so hard to forget, but couldn’t.
“I wonder if my birthday... really is on Christmas Eve?” Seong-Hwi said.
“What?”
“I want to know.”
He was a tree with no roots—a being with no beginning.
“You...” Lina trailed off as she stared at Seong-Hwi’s face through her fingers.
It was the first time she had seen that kind of expression on the man she had thought was always strong-willed. His expression was crumpled with a mix of loneliness, doubt, rage, and despair. However, he was not crying.
“I don’t know how to go back. Only forward,” Seong-Hwi said.
Even if multiple destinies corrupt his psyche, he believed he would reach his destination if his goal were simply to go forward. Wherever he ended up, the fact that he arrived there was all that mattered to him.
Lina stared at Seong-Hwi for a while and put her glasses back on. “Huuu... Explain it to me again, but slowly this time. Don’t even leave the tiniest of details behind.”
***
Seong-Hwi repeatedly explained the events that occurred after he ate the Fruit of the World Tree to Lina, including his meeting with Curiositas and what he said and did. He told her everything except about the letter that Curiositas had given him.
“So... that Curio-whatever-the-fuck toyed with my precious test subject, is that it?”
“He’s the Second Fiend—”
“Whatever the fuck!”
Lina had returned to her normal self. She examined Seong-Hwi’s blood with the Microscope of Truth as she simultaneously wrote notes with a pen in one hand, and continuously cursed Curiositas.
“Converting a high-density energy source into stats, huh? It’s quite the experiment. Is that even possible?” Lina wondered.
“Is it that hard to do?” Seong-Hwi asked.
“Of course, it is! Have you heard about a race other than a dragon using a Dragon Heart?”
Like Charles? Seong-Hwi said inwardly.
Lina nodded as Seong-Hwi remained silent and said, “Of course, you haven’t! Because it’s suicide!”
“Why?”
“Do you still not understand after experiencing it firsthand?” Lina took her eyes off the microscope eyepiece and stared pitifully at Seong-Hwi. “Indigestion, right? Meaning, a human can’t absorb something of that capacity or quality. For example, it’s like you ingested a massive amount of cellulose.”
“Cellulose?”
“It’s a type of fiber. Vertebrates don’t secrete enzymes that can break beta-glycosidic bonds, so they usually can’t digest cellulose. Humans can’t live off of branches, right?”
“Sounds like I’m in a biology class.”
Seong-Hwi nodded as he rubbed his solar plexus. The Fruit of the World Tree was an aggregate of surplus nutrients randomly absorbed by Sefirot, the World Tree. It was only natural that he wouldn’t be able to digest it easily.
“Grace Period Chains, was it? Think of that as the enzyme that can break the beta-glycosidic bonds. They make the Fruit of the World Tree possible to digest over the span of a hundred days,” Lina said.
“If that’s the case, why is there a penalty? Death, no less?”
“They just make it possible to digest. They don’t do the digesting for you, meaning you have to digest it yourself. The problem is that there aren’t many ways to digest that enormous amount of energy.” Lina turned the microscope adjustments as she continued, “Is it impossible, even with your hexagonal genes? Have you tried putting it into the Wings of Evolution?”
“Of course, I have. They absorbed the elf genes from it, and now I can use Nature Force, but that’s about it. Nothing else is going in.”
“The Wings of Evolution are like a vault that stores the genes of various races... So, it’s impossible to store stats... In that case...” Lina mumbled as she organized her thoughts, and Seong-Hwi simply waited. She asked, “You said you’ve used the Fruit of the World Tree, right? How was it?”
“My stats rose at random each time I unleashed the power, with a disproportionate amount of physical burden.”
Seong-Hwi thoroughly explained his findings during his battle against Cocoa Farm in Manaus.
Lina nodded. “It’s an overclocking of sorts.”
“Overclocking?”
“Increasing the clock speed of computer components like the CPU, RAM, or GPU to enhance performance.”
Lina went on to explain Ohm’s law, but Seong-Hwi let the information go out the other ear.
“So, it forcibly increases the processing speed, right?” Seong-Hwi asked.
“Yeah, but the problem with that is the burden from the overclocking can fry the circuits. It shortens the hardware’s lifespan, and in this example, the hardware is you. So, don’t ever use that power again!” Lina warned.
Seong-Hwi inwardly expressed surprise at Lina’s insight. I didn’t tell her that I lost one day because one of the Grace Period Chains’ strands broke...
He would have had another earful if he had.
“Anyway, I need to do more research. I’ll come up with something, so don’t you dare take a step outside the Capital. Not one step! Got it?”
“Yeah, I’ll be counting on you to save me.”
Seong-Hwi smiled as he brought his hand toward Lina, who smirked and grabbed it. He did not doubt that she would find a way.
Though I won’t slack on finding a way either, he thought.
***
Seong-Hwi walked down 34th Street in Manhattan, New York. He could see the Union’s headquarters, the Empire State Building, at a distance. A sea of people filled its surroundings, shouting and holding picket signs.
“Lee Kang-San! Lee Kang-San!”
“Glory to Underground!”
“Free Lee Kang-San from the Sēmen!”
“Free him! Free him!”
I wonder if Lee Kang-San is in Justitia by now, Seong-Hwi thought.
He had asked Kang-San about his plans going forward before separating from him. Kang-San mentioned he would help the elves settle in, then head to Justitia with Bafor to protest Underground’s legitimacy.
Gambling on the establishment of order in the outer zones using justification, huh?
The Sēmen only took action on matters regarding mainly the superior races and a few intermediate races. There was no room for inferior races. Kang-San had visited Justitia of his own accord to demand a spot; he was not summoned.
The rumors that he was summoned must have been the work of the other powers.
There were plenty of powers who disapproved of the establishment of Underground. They did not like that the ones they had been looking down on were attempting to stand at the same level as them, or even higher.
Kang-San will take care of things on his end, so I don’t have to worry about that. I’ll focus on what I have to do.
Seong-Hwi had come to the Empire State Building to inform Bong-Seong, Remy, and others about what had happened in Sefirot. Since their trust in him had played a major part in his plan, it was only courtesy to inform them of the results.
I have something I want to ask Lee Bong-Seong, too, Seong-Hwi thought as his eyes glinted.
Just then, he noticed a girl of roughly middle school age running to the Empire State Building as she pushed past the sea of people.
“Please let me through!!”
Ruff! Grrr! Ruff!
A small Yorkshire Terrier on the girl’s head barked.
“Hm? That’s...”
Seong-Hwi remembered her. She was a member of Shin Jun’s party, guiding them through the Dark Forest at the front of the group despite shaking in fear.
“I believe her name was... Ha Rin?”