Chapter 153
Thud-thud-thud.
A man approached in front of him.
As the distance gradually closed, it became more evident that there was something abnormal about his appearance.
Gruuuu-.
A faint growl escaped from his lips.
Bloodshot eyes. Drool seeping through his uncontrollable, gaping mouth.
He looked like a madman who had lost his sense of self.
‘He’s coming.’
The mad figure drawing closer was certainly familiar.
It wasn’t hard to associate him with Thor.
No.
It was so easy to tell that it didn’t even require effort. Even though it was a cutscene, he had already seen him several times.
Moreover,
‘He has the other half.’
Gruuuu-.
The madman, Thor, revealed his teeth like a beast with no consciousness left, only raw instinct. There was no trace of the dignity and nobility seen in the cutscenes.
“Nice to meet you… But talking is pointless, isn’t it?”
He tried to greet him, but stopped.
It was obvious just by looking at him that a conversation was impossible.
Thor circled around Suhyuk. As if gravity didn’t apply to him, his steps were light.
Crackle-, blue sparks flickered in Thor’s eyes.
He was so consumed by rage that it wouldn’t be surprising if he exploded and reached out at any moment.
Go.
Please go.
If he unleashed his mad rage here, the trial would end. He might have to start everything over again from scratch.
Perhaps the missing sword fragment would never return.
Gulp-.
At that moment, as he held his breath and swallowed hard,
Swish-.
Thor, who showed no interest in Suhyuk’s inaction, suddenly turned his body.
Slowly, Thor moved away. It was only after observing and keeping guard that Suhyuk finally relaxed his tension.
Thor had moved so far away he was no longer visible.
Only then did Suhyuk recall.
The Mjolnir he possessed, the remaining half of the Heart of Thunder, was the very reason he had come to Asgard.
“… It’s going to take a while.”
Even though the objective was right in front of him, he couldn’t do anything.
Fighting him was an absurd idea. Even if he hadn’t been exhausted, nothing would’ve changed.
The aura he exuded was beyond what Suhyuk could dare contend with in his current state.
With that, Suhyuk resumed his journey towards his goal.
* * *
Shooooo-.
『You have immersed yourself in the ‘Bath of Strength’.』
『Your stamina is rapidly recovering.』
He immersed himself in the bath located at the destination. The scorching hot water instantly drained his strength as he dipped his head in.
“Ah, this feels like living-.”
He felt his muscle fatigue easing. Looking at the message indicating his stamina recovery, it was clear that submerging himself in the hot water wasn’t just a simple warm bath.
Adding to that.
『The Bath of Strength” seeps into the body.』
『Strength increases by 1.』
A message overflowing with the rewards of hard work.
“Is it Odin’s arrangement?”
The path of strength, and this bath.
He felt like they were all gifts prepared by Odin.
Handling thunder.
At first, it was a perplexing notion, but he started to grasp it.
“Thor…”
Though he had only glimpsed him briefly, his appearance was shocking.
Eyes devoid of self-awareness like a beast. He seemed unable to control the lightning as if he had gone berserk.
No matter how you looked at it, he was nothing like the prince of Asgard seen in the cutscene.
“Is this what happens when thunder is mishandled?”
Though he couldn’t be certain, it was the only thing that made sense to him.
Otherwise, it was hard to think of any other reason why Thor would end up like that.
Most of all.
“Because I had not thought about it myself.”
Every time he used the Heart of Lightning, he felt a sense of disharmony.
It always felt like someone else, not himself, was possessing his body, making him feel like a stranger to his own self.
The Heart of Lightning possesses the body.
It had been quite a while since he thought that the message might be literal.
“Why did Odin leave Valhalla to come to a place like this…”
It seemed to be because of his insane son.
『Strength increases by 1.』
While he pondered, the bath that had been full enough to completely soak him had somehow emptied more than halfway.
His fatigue had remarkably recovered. The fatigue level, which was close to 90, had dropped below 20.
“I was lucky this time.”
The fact that Thor didn’t harm him and just passed by could only be attributed to luck.
If Thor had bared his teeth and swung his hammer at him, the trial would have ended at that moment.
But he couldn’t relax just because it had passed.
Ssshh-.
Lee Suhyuk rose from his seat and got dressed again.
“There’s no guarantee I won’t run into him again.”
In this trial, Thor was like a walking catastrophe.
There was no way to defeat him in this trial. Even without Mjolnir, he was inherently the highest-ranking god inheriting Odin’s bloodline.
If possible, it was best to avoid him.
“Mjolnir…”
Thinking of Mjolnir, which had been in Thor’s hand, Suhyuk scratched his head in frustration.
Another half of the thunder’s fragment.
Originally, that was Suhyuk’s reason for coming to Valhalla. But the thought of snatching it seemed impossible no matter how he looked at it.
Moreover,
“If I reach the same place as Thor at the end…”
New tasks complicated Suhyuk’s mind.
Was it really the right choice to complete the fragment of thunder?
It might be a choice akin to a moth flying towards the flame, leading to self-destruction.
He saw the path to proceed. This time, it was a path painted in bright blue.
Shaking off the complex thoughts from his head.
“Hopefully, I won’t run into him so soon.”
With his stamina recovered, Suhyuk moved forward again.
The second path was the ‘Path of the Wind.’
As he walked, Lee Suhyuk felt as if he was floating, akin to traversing through space.
If the Path of Strength was a test of enduring multiple times Earth’s gravity, this one was the complete opposite.
There was one more thing: wind blew here as the name implied.
Whooooosh—
Pushed and carried by the wind, Suhyuk eventually realized the crux of the test.
This wasn’t a trial of resisting the wind itself.
It was quite the opposite.
The point was to adapt to the wind and utilize it.
As Suhyuk grasped the core of the test and moved forward,
“Grrrr—”
“……”
Thor appeared before him once again.
Due to this, Suhyuk lost his concentration and was blown backwards.
‘I miscalculated.’
Thinking he wouldn’t encounter him again proved to be a mistake.
Thor appeared before him once more.
It was as if the limitations of this space didn’t apply to him, as he walked towards Suhyuk briskly.
“Grrr, grrr—”
Fortunately, Thor did not attack Suhyuk this time either.
However, unlike before, he didn’t just leave immediately.
He merely followed Suhyuk’s side.
“Do you have any business with me?”
“Grrr—”
“No, never mind.”
Though Suhyuk attempted to engage him in conversation, he soon gave up.
At this moment, he needed to be content that Thor wasn’t harming him. There was nothing to gain and potentially much to lose by provoking him with casual conversation.
One never knew when Thor might suddenly turn and attack.
‘Just focus.’
Suhyuk resolved to ignore him.
He considered the possibility that Thor might be there to increase the difficulty of the test, to disrupt his concentration and force him off the path.
Having understood the essence of the trial, Suhyuk moved his feet lightly, as if stepping on the wind instead of being carried away by it.
After a while, he successfully traversed the wind.
『You have successfully passed the ‘Path of the Wind’.』
『Agility increased by 1.』
Once again, he managed to pass the path safely.
“Better than before.”
Awaiting Suhyuk at the endpoint was a silver box. Using a key placed right in front of it, he opened the box to find a pristine white garment covered in dust.
【 Wind 】
– Grade: Unique
– No Wear Restrictions
– A garment woven from wind itself, making the wearer’s body lighter.
– Agility +8
The item bore an impressive stat increase of eight. Its grade was even Unique.
He dusted off the dirt from his clothes. He took off the clothes he was wearing, placed them in his inventory, and changed into new ones.
『The Blessing of Wind rests upon your body.』
For a moment, it felt like his body was floating on the wind.
But that was just an illusion. His body felt that light.
‘Nice.’
He moved his body around.
His agility increased significantly, and thanks to the performance of the item, he felt confident that he could move much faster than before.
However, as great as the performance was, so was the anxiety.
‘The reward is too generous for the difficulty.’
He could accept it happily, thinking it was Odin’s arrangement, but it wasn’t something to take lightly.
In any trial, the greater the reward, the higher the difficulty, naturally.
‘It’s like they’re giving out rewards in advance…’
Suddenly—
Thinking this, Suhyuk glanced at Thor standing behind the box.
“Are you going to keep following me?”
Thor still did not respond.
There must have been some reason for his following, but his lack of communication while loitering around was quite nerve-wracking.
Wouldn’t he suddenly turn and attack?
It felt like carrying a powerful bomb in his bosom.
But what could Suhyuk do?
He didn’t have the ability to shake him off.
“Alright, then. Keep following.”
Just as Suhyuk continued toward the next path—
Swoosh—
The Thor who had been following him suddenly blocked his way.
He stepped aside to go around, but Thor kept blocking him.
“What do you want?”
“Grumble—”
“If you have something to say, say it. If you can’t speak, convey it some other way.”
By now, Suhyuk had figured it out.
Thor wasn’t trying to attack him. Surely, there was a clear reason he kept following.
So, he needed to understand that reason to proceed.
“Are you seeking help?”
Thor nodded.
Fortunately, he couldn’t speak but seemed to understand.
Nodding or shaking his head.
Suhyuk began to ask questions to figure out what Thor wanted.
“Do you want to leave here?”
“Grr—”
“Do you want to return to your original state?”
“Grr—, grr—”
“Do you wish to see your father…”
“Growling—”
“Never mind. Just don’t get angry.”
Even after asking several questions, there were no satisfactory answers. When nothing else came to mind, and Suhyuk hesitated, Thor finally acted for the first time.
Thud—
Thor thumped his chest.
Not knowing what it meant, Suhyuk furrowed his brow in thought.
And then, suddenly—
“Could it be…”
With a chilling thought appearing in his head, Suhyuk asked.
“Are you asking me to kill you?”
Thor nodded.
TL’s Corner:
Sadje, Thor became a mindless beast.