Chapter 111
The first memory of Volter, the demon from Muspelheim, was of gazes filled with prejudice and hatred.
“He’s too small.”
“Such an unimpressive creature.”
“A disgrace to Muspelheim.”
He remembered looking up at the demons who uttered those words for a long time. Muspelheim was the world of giants. Giants and demons. A world inhabited by a great race possessing the strength of both.
That was what Muspelheim was. But in such a place, ‘Why am I so small?’
Volter was born devoid of a giant’s bloodline, possessing only the power of a demon.
Crunch-.
If his first memory was of hatred and prejudice, his first meal was a discarded bone with scraps of meat. Volter grew up eating such things.
He survived by eating whatever he could and built up his strength. He avoided being trampled by giants several times and hid away.
How much time passed like that?
One day.
Suddenly, he realized they didn’t seem so big anymore.
Drip, drip-.
So he killed them all. On the day he stood atop the corpses of demons whose bodies were torn apart by thousands of thorns, Volter no longer feared other demons.
Then one day.
“… Huh?”
A different kind of demon came to find him. A demon of a different stature. A body so sturdy that the thorns couldn’t pierce it.
Much greater than the demons who had initially looked at him with disgust, an overwhelming sense of powerlessness enveloped him.
“I have a task for you.”
The demon suddenly presented him with a whip and a carrot.
“If you do well, we’ll accept you into ‘us’.”
Us.
Just the word made Volter’s heart burn with fervor. Even though he had killed countless demons who scorned him, the truth was, he wanted to be a part of the group known as Muspelheim.
“What do I need to do?”
At Volter’s question, the demon whose head was hidden by clouds responded.
“Bring me thunder.”
Thunder?
Volter looked up at the sky with a puzzled expression. Even in Muspelheim, where the flames blazed, thunder and lightning occasionally struck. But Volter had never thought of it as something one could hold.
Above all,
‘Is it really necessary?’
Even in the sky he looked up at, the demon before him was there. With overwhelming strength and stature.
His presence, which naturally commanded awe, seemed incomparable to the thunder and lightning striking from the sky.
‘For someone like him?’
These natural phenomena seemed like mere child’s play in front of him. That was how Volter thought at that time.
*
BOOM-!
He heard the sound in a split second. Something swept over his body. By the time he recognized it, the world had already turned black.
He felt it instinctively. He must not get hit. But he couldn’t avoid it.
Then, could he block it?
His body moved before his thoughts did. Numerous thorns enveloped Volter’s body like armor.
Crunch-.
Thousands, tens of thousands of thorns were crushed. In the blink of an eye, the black wave shattered the thorn armor and swept through Volter’s body.
‘What just passed…’
Crackle, crackle-.
His body wouldn’t move, as if paralyzed. He couldn’t even feel the heat. By the time the black-tinged lightning wave had swept through his body, his entire body had already been charred.
‘-I see.’
After a moment, Volter realized his situation.
‘I’m dead.’
Thunk-.
His body toppled over. In the moment he sensed his death, Volter struggled to lift his head and looked at Suhyuk.
Crackle, crackle-.
A faint black aura was still flowing around Suhyuk’s body. Whatever had entered his body…
He had become something completely different from before.
‘Ah…’
As he looked at Suhyuk, Volter recalled the demon who had once told him to bring the thunder.
‘So that’s why…’
He began to understand why such a great demon desired that power so much.
Sizzle-.
Volter’s body, which had fallen to the ground, crumbled into black ash and scattered.
『You have leveled up.』
『Agility increased by 1.』
『Focus increased by 1.』
『Magic increased by 1.』
As Volter fell, Suhyuk leveled up.
Crackle-.
The power that had filled his body drained away. As the presence of the thunder’s master dissipated, he felt his body lighten.
And at that moment.
『You have passed Stage 3.』
『You have leveled up.』
『You have leveled up.』
『You have leveled up.』
『Strength increased by 2.』
『Agility increased by 2.』
『Focus increased by 2.』
『Stamina increased by 1.』
『Magic increased by 2.』
『You have gained 20,000 points.』
『You have obtained the ‘Heart of Thunder’.』
After hunting the demon, Suhyuk had already leveled up once, and now he leveled up three more times.
He had also gained a substantial amount of points. While he wondered if there might be more rewards besides the Heart of Thunder, it seemed that this was indeed the final reward for the trial.
‘Should I be satisfied with this?’
Glancing at the sparkling blue gem in his hand, Suhyuk pondered. The Heart of Thunder gleamed brilliantly. Though there were no additional rewards, it wasn’t as if the rewards were lacking.
After all, it was an item so precious that both Asgard and Muspelheim coveted it.
‘And not just them.’
As seen in the cutscene, it wasn’t only Asgard that desired the Heart of Thunder. Many other beings, whose faces he wasn’t yet allowed to see due to his current level, all wanted this item.
However,
【 Heart of Thunder 】
Grade: Legendary
Type: Material
Description: A raw gemstone imbued with the power of lightning.
Note: It is a half-piece.
The issue was that it was still difficult to use it properly in its current state.
-Material??
-Feels a bit underwhelming…
-Underwhelming? LOL Look at the grade!
-Do you see a Legendary grade as a joke?
When he quietly revealed the item’s options, a heated debate arose among the viewers about its value. Most of the opinions were positive.
There was no particular reason. As with most players, the first thing that caught their eye was the grade.
‘Legendary grade…’
It wasn’t the first time he had obtained such a grade. In the second floor’s trial, Suhyuk had gotten his hands on a Legendary item.
However, the “Lightning Spear” he acquired then was a single-use item.
Now, the next one he obtained was classified as a material.
‘It’s better than a one-time use item, but still…’
It gave him a headache.
‘The problem is finding an artisan.’
From his previous experience, he knew he could use the item even in its current state.
It was highly effective. When he harnessed the item’s power, even with relatively little effort, he could unleash higher output lightning.
However, material items showed their true power only when properly crafted.
『’VultureHebila’ has donated 100 points.』
『I know an artisan, want an introduction?』
It started with that donation message.
– I also know a jeweler.
– My friend is a really famous artisan in the Murim World.
– My profession is artifact maker, LOL.
From introductions to claims of being an item maker themselves, many messages poured in. It was difficult to tell if they were genuine or not, and pondering this, he glanced at the chat briefly.
“Vi-Viola!”
Vigo’s urgent voice called out. Turning his head to see what was wrong, Viola had collapsed unconscious.
“Move aside.”
Fearing something might be terribly wrong, he approached and checked her pulse, hearing her gentle breathing.
-She’s out.
-Sleeping tight.
-Made herself at home.
Relieved, Suhyuk let out a sigh of relief.
“She’s asleep.”
It seemed she had finally relaxed. The wounds inflicted by Belveim were not minor, and she had pushed herself to keep moving.
While most of the immediate problems were resolved, the trial wasn’t over yet. There were still many things he needed to learn from her.
***
In the dark forest, Yerang held the neck of a demon tight in her grip.
“Talk.”
Her nails dug into the demon’s flesh. The red-skinned demon’s eyes filled with blood as his body trembled.
“Who was here? And what happened?”
“If you do that, he won’t be able to talk even if he wants to.”
At Shiwoo’s intervention, a glint of killing intent flashed in Yerang’s eyes momentarily. She seemed quite agitated. It was understandable.
‘To think no one would be here.’
It had been quite some time since they entered the forest. During that time, Shiwoo and Yerang had not encountered a single trap, not even an ant.
The only thing they found were demons hiding in the forest. From the demon’s useless chatter, they were able to infer what had happened here.
“Quite the buffet today.”
“From Blue Zone to a couple of wandering ants?”
Signs of battle were evident throughout the forest. They weren’t old. Among them, there were quite a number of footprints.
Just by looking at the footprints, Yerang could tell what had transpired here.
‘A real fight took place.’
It wasn’t a trap meant for them. There was another reason why numerous players from the Blue Zone were moving here. Which meant…
‘Could it really be that Gyuseong is here?’
But why here, of all places?
Thud-.
Yerang let go of the demon’s neck. The demon, whose neck was punctured by her fingers, gasped and clutched his wound.
“Cuh… Huff-.”
“Now answer. Unless you want to die painfully.”
“So, you’re certain you’ll kill me.”
“Want to live? Then make it happen.”
It was unclear if she was negotiating or being serious. While demons weren’t afraid of pain, they weren’t indifferent to death. Hearing Yerang’s offer, the demon’s gaze wavered.
“… Lee Wonjae came from the Blue Zone.”
“Lee Wonjae?”
Yerang’s eyes narrowed. Lee Wonjae. The vice guild master of the Blue Zone, essentially Kim Ilsoo’s right-hand man.
The second-in-command of a major guild. Not someone who would typically move himself. For that lazy guy to come all the way here.
“Yes. And he took some human with him. They came for that person specifically and left immediately after.”
“What human?”
“I don’t know his name. Someone much higher up took him in.”
“That kind of answer—”
Yerang was about to berate him for the unsatisfactory answer but closed her mouth.
Clearly, the demon before her was a low-ranking one. Most of the truly formidable ones were far above the 6th floor and wouldn’t be subdued easily.
He probably was telling the truth.
“… Anything else you know?”
“That’s all there is. That’s the end.”
“I see.”
Nodding with understanding, Yerang stepped back.
Then,
Crack-.
The demon’s body began to freeze, and Shiwoo spoke up.
“I never said I’d let you live.”
Freezing the demon’s body from head to heart, Shiwoo turned to Yerang. With a complicated expression, Yerang looked at him.
“Gyuseong.”
Shiwoo shared his thoughts with her.
“It seems he’s still alive.”
“… Yes.”
Yerang shared that same thought.
“What will you do?”
“Do you need to ask?”
Crack-.
Her eyes gleamed with determination.
“We’ll find him. No matter what.”