Chapter 145
Lee Suhyuk looked out the window while tending to Viola’s bedside. Snow was still falling outside. At a glance, it looked as if it had piled up halfway to bury even a grown man.
Viola was in a deep sleep. She must have been exhausted from losing so much blood.
As he changed the wet cloth on her forehead, Suhyuk recalled the words she had spoken.
‘That old man…’
Tyr, a god of Asgard who had, with a single slash, severed Bergelmir’s hand.
“He’s an ancient god who, along with Odin, established Asgard.”
The god of swords and war, law and duels. The order of Asgard was maintained by his hands. He held one of the highest ranks and possessed tremendous power in Asgard.
‘No wonder he looks so old.’
Humans believed that gods were immortal. And indeed, their lifespans allowed them to live what seemed like an eternity from a human perspective. Because of this prolonged lifespan, they hardly aged.
Even someone like Viola, who was over a thousand years old, remained utterly beautiful without a single wrinkle.
So, how old must Tyr be to look that aged?
“I thought he was just a god with a nasty personality—”
Suhyuk spoke into the microphone, careful not to wake Viola.
“Turns out, he’s a high-ranking old god.”
– You still call him ‘old man’, huh, LOL
– Suhyuk’s opinion: Tyr, the old man who loves law and war
– But seriously, what can you do if he’s a god, LOL
While chatting briefly with the viewers, he heard someone approaching from outside the door.
There was only one person who would visit here. Conscious of Viola, the person didn’t come inside but waited outside the door.
Suhyuk carefully got up and walked towards the door where Tyr was waiting. His face was still full of dissatisfaction.
“You certainly took your time coming out.”
“Why hurry? As long as I’m quick at other times.”
Tyr was left speechless by Suhyuk’s subtle reproach. When it came to being quick or slow, no number of words would suffice.
“Follow me. We need to talk.”
Without waiting for Suhyuk’s response, Tyr started walking first. Suhyuk watched his retreating figure.
He didn’t want to spend more time with this stubborn old god, but he had no other choice.
‘The trial isn’t over yet.’
They had prevented Bergelmir’s seal from breaking, but the trial wasn’t finished.
If the trial had concluded, he should have received a message. Yet, there had been no such message.
This meant one of two things.
Either there was still work to be done, or the reward calculations were delayed.
Suhyuk felt it was likely the latter.
‘That old man must be holding onto it.’
Following Tyr, Suhyuk persisted.
“You said you had something to say?”
When Tyr hesitated for a long time, Suhyuk urged him to speak. There must have been a reason he called for him but was hesitating to talk.
“Baldur was the greatest in Midgard.”
The story he started to tell after a long silence was somewhat out of the blue.
“If that fellow had been a Valkyrie, the position of Brynhild would have been his by now.”
“Is the leader of the Valkyries that weak?”
The Brynhild Lee Suhyuk had experienced was already a master of weaponry for a long time.
Not only was she superior in terms of the amount of magical power and physical ability, but Baldur’s swordsmanship was far below hers.
“Don’t be arrogant. It doesn’t mean Baldur is stronger than Brynhild. It just means if he wasn’t half of what he is.”
Apparently, Baldur was quite recognized even amongst the gods of Valhalla.
Tyr, who had roamed the battlefield with Odin and established Asgard, compared Baldur to the leader of the Valkyries, no less.
“What’s the difference between the two?”
“Birth.”
“So he’s not a god.”
Tyr, who was walking with his hands behind his back, nodded. It was an obvious question with an unchanged answer, but for some reason, it slightly irritated him.
Ultimately, this situation stemmed from the gods’ irrational and obstinate attitudes.
“What happened to him?”
“Tyr… Tyr-r-!”
It was still vivid. Baldur’s cry as he screamed Tyr’s name.
His wail was as desperate and desolate as a beast whose offspring had been snatched away.
“And what happened between the humans and the gods?”
“You ask too many questions.”
“Are you dodging again?”
“No.”
Tyr, who was leading, turned his body around.
“This time, I’ll answer.”
“… Really?”
“Although I haven’t grown fond of you, I owe you.”
Tyr remembered his promise with Suhyuk. And because of this incident, he owed him, deciding to answer Suhyuk’s questions.
However, Suhyuk did not expect this stubborn-looking old man to acknowledge him and comply so easily.
“Thank you for protecting Midgard. I should say this.”
“It’s surprising. You seemed to dislike me.”
“It’s humanity I dislike. And you are among them.”
Tyr’s gaze flicked toward Suhyuk’s hand and then returned.
“Well, I do dislike you a bit more than others.”
“So you still don’t like me.”
“You don’t even know what you’ve done, do you?”
Suhyuk recalled what he had done.
If he was talking about the matter at hand, it was naturally preventing the seal of Bergelmir from breaking. That was the purpose of this trial, and having accomplished it, he was awaiting his reward.
And perhaps this meeting with Tyr was likely to be that reward.
“The population of Midgard is 600 million. Bergelmir had the power to annihilate all of Midgard.”
“600 million people?
No matter what, that much?
“When it gets colder and the hearths freeze here, how many do you think would survive? Before they even have a chance to fight, the ‘half’ of Midgard would have frozen standing.”
Even sealed, Bergelmir, the ancestor of the Frost Giant, had created winter in Midgard.
If he had been released from the seal, things could very well have gone as Tyr said.
“And you think that’s all? If his plan had succeeded and Ragnarok began, it might have resulted in a full-scale war between gods and giants.”
Suhyuk’s head spun as he listened to Tyr’s story.
The viewers listening along with him felt the same way.
-What’s with the scale?
– A sudden rise in status is really funny lol
– Are you saying you’re just going to brush it off with a few words??
– Well, they do say one word can settle a thousand gold debts
– Is that even possible? lol
That seemed right.
No matter how you thought about it, this wasn’t something that could be glossed over with just a few words.
According to this, Suhyuk was the savior of Asgard.
Even the stubborn Tyr couldn’t deny this fact.
“Then let’s settle that later.”
And naturally, Suhyuk had no intention of brushing this aside with mere words.
“Tell me about this first. Starting with Baldur.”
“I brought news of that guy’s wife. It was me.”
Tyr’s words continued.
“Why… why….”
“She challenged Valhalla. Not once, but twice.”
This was a story from over a thousand years ago.
Back when Baldur was the captain of Asgard’s guard.
His wife, who had spent half her life with him, returned as a cold corpse.
“Heimdall’s forgiveness is only once. The second time, there is no mercy.”
“But isn’t he impossible to surpass in the first place!”
Baldur and his wife had once challenged Valhalla. It was to keep their promise of entering Valhalla together and finding happiness.
However, during Valhalla’s trial, they encountered Heimdall and were frustrated when they couldn’t overcome that barrier.
Baldur gave up and accepted it. Only gods chosen at birth could enter Valhalla.
On the other hand,
“Exactly. You all should give up. Surrender. But sometimes, there are those like his wife who did not give up.”
Baldur’s wife did not give up.
She didn’t extinguish her dream of someday going to Valhalla and challenged it once again.
“So, did you console the guy who lost his wife?”
“I told him.”
“What did you say?”
“She was punished for trying to fly without wings.”
– Wow, such a jerk;
– Terrible personality
– Is this guy for real?
Gritting his teeth tightly, Suhyuk clenched his fist, feeling a surge of anger.
“Why are you doing this?”
Building a wall called Rasderikh, drawing a line between gods and non-gods.
Baldur and his wife were shunned by the gods just because they had human blood.
It was incomprehensible.
Why did they hate humans so much?
“This would also answer your second question.”
Suhyuk’s question.
“Is it related to that arm and your hatred for humans?”
It was a question about the missing arm of Tyr.
At that time, he had just asked for it as part of a mission.
“It was humans who did this to my arm.”
That appeared to be the correct answer.
‘Humans?’
It was an answer not easily believed. Without having witnessed Tyr’s prowess, one might have doubted, but Suhyuk knew he was not a being who would fall to humans.
His power was so immense that he could split Midgard’s winter with a single strike.
“Does that answer your question?”
“It’s not enough yet.”
Suhyuk shook his head.
Though he had received an answer, he still did not fully comprehend it.
“That explains why you hate humans, but it doesn’t explain why Asgard hates humans.”
Not all gods of Asgard were one-armed like Tyr. His explanation was a personal reason, not that of Asgard as a whole.
“You’ll have to go and hear it yourself.”
“Go?”
“It’s a gift.”
Tyr pulled out a stiff feather and a broken piece of a sword from his bosom and handed them to Suhyuk.
“It’s the feather of the owl that lays golden eggs. It’s your passage to Valhalla. Just say it’s from me.”
“And the other one?”
“Just take it first. If anyone asks where you got it, tell them it’s from me as well.”
Suhyuk looked at the gift Tyr handed to him.
As expected, the meeting with Tyr was to settle the rewards of this mission. However, the reward was not quite what he had anticipated.
‘Entering Valhalla is a given… the additional item is this sword piece.’
A single piece of a broken sword with no clear purpose.
With just this, he couldn’t judge whether the reward was good or bad.
Most likely, it was related to the follow-up test.
‘It seems I’ll only understand it by seeing it through to the end.’
Still, gaining entry to Valhalla was a success. In doing so, he had achieved one of his primary goals.
Suhyuk’s objective was to meet the gods of Valhalla and obtain the remaining half of the Heart of Thunder.
Just as he was receiving Tyr’s gift,
“I wonder if the gods who bear the same wounds as mine will recognize you.”
Tyr’s words held deep meaning.
Just when Suhyuk was about to ask what he meant by ‘the same wounds’, he was interrupted.
『Stage ? – Passed ‘Bergelmir’.』
『Acquired ‘Feather of the Owl that Lays Golden Eggs’.』
『Entry to Valhalla is now possible.』
『Acquired ‘???’s Sword Piece’.』
『100,000 points acquired.』
『You have leveled up.』
『You have leveled up…』
『…』
『Passed the test of the 6th floor.』
Suhyuk’s sixth test concluded.