Chapter 183
The scene displayed in the cut-scene was of the garden where Tyr and Heimdall used to share tea.
Instead of Heimdall, however, Odin had returned to Valhalla and was seated there.
Seeing this, Lee Suhyuk felt a surge of anger and turned to the microphone to speak.
“That old geezer seems to be enjoying his tea just fine.”
-LOL
-Seems like he’s really enjoying it?
-Tyr: Super delicious, LOL
Having dropped him among the gods without a word, now they were leisurely drinking tea. Even though he had to accept that it was just a test, it still made him furious. If he forgot for a moment that he was a human, it was a situation where he should have even been grateful.
“I wonder if they should be so relaxed about this.”
“I do feel sorry for that friend. He has to shoulder too much alone.”
“At least you know that.”
It seemed they hadn’t entirely lost their sense of shame. Despite drinking tea, they appeared anxious in some way.
“To think he showed them thunder right there on the spot…”
“Risky, but it worked out. No need to go a long way around now.”
“You’re right. It has gotten risky.”
The cut-scene was warning Suhyuk. While the time had been shortened, the situation had become more dangerous.
“They will move immediately, right?”
“Indeed ■■■■■… well, if we don’t act.”
“That’s hard to believe.”
“But as of now, there’s no one else to think about.”
Odin nodded at Tyr’s words.
Even though he didn’t understand why those two couldn’t move, the atmosphere was quite serious.
Unfortunately, the identity of the person they were speculating about was filtered, so it was unclear.
-Who’s next to them though?
-A friend?
-Family?
-A secret lover perhaps?
The viewers, who didn’t recognize Odin, were filled with questions.
“That gentleman is Odin.”
-???
-Wow, really?
-Were they in that kind of relationship?
-LOL, why are you linking them suddenly?
While the viewers were joking around, Suhyuk started explaining the previous test.
“During the last test, I saved Thor. But apparently, someone set a trap for him.”
Just then, Odin rose from his seat.
“Now, they are looking for that person.”
“I’ll be going now. I can’t stay too long.”
“Alright.”
Tyr also stood up, following Odin.
The two who had been drinking tea together dispersed in different directions.
“Now, I’ll have to trust those two.”
With that, the cut-scene ended and the scenery returned. Suhyuk stood there alone, and the gods had all disappeared.
Left alone, Suhyuk muttered in disbelief.
“So why do you believe in me?”
* * *
Suhyuk moved straightaway to take the test.
Although he had to take the test alone, he needed one companion. Fortunately, he could get support through Brynhild.
And so Suhyuk selected his companion.
“Thanks to you, I get to see this sky again.”
Viola gazed up at the endlessly stretching sky of Valhalla.
The blue sky’s breeze tousled her blonde hair in strands. Letting her body embrace the refreshing wind, with no hint of humidity, Viola closed her eyes momentarily.
“I owe you more gratitude. How will I ever repay this favor….”
“To begin with, could you slow down a bit?”
Clinging tightly to Viola’s back, Suhyuk felt like he might puke any moment.
The two were flying on the Sky Horse.
Since Suhyuk couldn’t ride the Sky Horse by himself, he received Viola’s help, allowing him to ascend to the sky like this.
“Oh dear, is it too fast?”
“It’s making me a bit nauseous…”
The Sky Horse was fast.
But it wasn’t so fast that it was unbearable.
The problem was the excessive shaking and the movement that went on for too long.
-Vomit! Vomit!
-Let’s make a pancake spread.
– Throw up on Viola’s back and I’ll donate ten thousand points, LOL.
Viola, who had been checking Suhyuk’s condition, took the reins of the Sky Horse again.
Their pace gradually slowed. As the shaking reduced, Suhyuk’s condition finally stabilized.
“It was rougher than I expected. I’m confident in fast riding, though.”
“The Sky Horse isn’t just any mount.”
“Oh, then?”
“It requires communication and bonding. Divine beasts don’t just let anyone ride them.”
Divine beasts.
Come to think of it, even Heimdall had mentioned something similar.
“It won’t be easy. The Sky Horse is a sacred beast born with divinity, like us.”
He had thought it was just a flying horse with wings.
‘Communication and bonding…’
He still didn’t understand what that meant. But it was worth remembering. This trial involved finding and taming a Sky Horse that didn’t join any group.
If taming Sky Horses was not just about subduing them, it was necessary to start practicing communication with the Sky Horse.
“… Sky Horse?”
Just as Suhyuk awkwardly patted the Sky Horse’s back,
Kihihihihing-!
The Sky Horse spasmed and shot up into the sky.
“Uwaaa-!”
-LOL
-LOL
-LOL
* * *
The place they ascended to on the Sky Horse was another cloud that existed above the clouds.
Remarkably, the clouds here were solid enough to stand on with their feet. Suhyuk, who barely landed on the cloud, vomited dry heaves.
“Are you alright?”
“Yes… fortunately.”
He seriously wondered if he’d end up getting the ten thousand points donation. If that happened, he probably wouldn’t have been able to look Viola in the face.
Crunch-.
Right next to them, the Sky Horse was nibbling on a cloud. He found it curious how the sound of chewing on fruit could come from a cloud. Meeting Suhyuk’s eyes once, the Sky Horse then promptly turned its head away.
-Getting ignored
-Sexist horse?
-Roast it
With a surge of anger, Suhyuk yearned to roast the creature. He closed his eyes tightly to suppress the impulse.
‘Communication, communication, communication…’
Thinking of patience again, he repeated the word internally several times. After calming down, Suhyuk asked.
“Do Sky Horses live in places like this?”
“They live higher in the sky than any other creature. They eat and grow on clouds. They live, eat, and exist solely on pride.”
As she spoke, Viola stroked the Sky Horse’s head.
Unlike when Suhyuk had patted its back, the Sky Horse showed no resistance this time.
“Your mission is to find and tame a Sky Horse that doesn’t travel in a herd, right?”
“Yes.”
“It won’t be easy. If a Sky Horse doesn’t stay with the group, then it probably…”
Viola couldn’t finish her sentence.
A flock of Sky Horses spread their wings and flew above the clouds.
“There they are.”
Nearly a hundred Sky Horses, flying in line like well-trained soldiers.
“That’s quite a number.”
“It’s a magnificent sight, isn’t it?”
“Is the one traveling alone like an outcast?”
“Quite the opposite.”
Viola shook her head.
“It’s more like a king of the herd.”
“A king?”
“A creature so dominant that it doesn’t even fit into the role of a leader. All the Sky Horses fear it.”
The Sky Horse, who was leisurely eating a cloud, shuddered slightly at Viola’s explanation.
Apparently, it understood her words and was thinking of the Sky Horse she was referring to.
“It seems so.”
“It’s a terribly ferocious one. Most Valkyries don’t even dare to approach it.”
Even a regular Sky Horse was hard to manage, yet he had to tame such a beast. Taming a horse appeared to be more difficult than expected.
Overwhelmed by an impending sense of fatigue, Suhyuk looked up at the sky and sighed.
“I told you, it would be difficult.”
“Yes, it seems very hard. And this isn’t the only thing I need to think about…”
“Pardon?”
“I have another task to take care of.”
Suhyuk had two trials to complete.
One was the Wing of Thunder. The second one was “Those Who Seek the Thunder”.
This test was not conducted separately. Given that it was not separated and assigned simultaneously, the probability of it being conducted simultaneously was high.
“They must have targeted me.”
The one who had trapped Thor in the cutscene.
That was probably the “Those Who Seek the Thunder.”
It wasn’t easy to find out who he was. However, the opposite—to make him find himself—was very easy.
After all, he held the thunder that the seeker so desperately wanted.
“If there’s an opportunity, it’s now.”
A vast sky.
Here, no one would know.
“I can seize the thunder without anyone noticing.”
Tyr and Odin were using him to find the one who had trapped Thor.
It was unclear what taming the Sky Horse had to do with any of this, but given the test, there was no choice but to resolve it.
“But where do we find that guy?”
“No need to look.”
Viola shook her head and looked up.
“He’s not the type to run or hide.”
Fwoosh-.
At that moment, a shadow with an exceptional presence was cast.
The pressure was much greater than when a hundred Sky Horses appeared.
A Sky Horse, three to four times larger than the one Viola was riding, with horns protruding from its head, emerged from the clouds.
It looked more like a monster than a Sky Horse. Its appearance seemed to substantiate the rumors of it being the king of the pack, as the other Sky Horses quivered in its presence.
Wheeze-.
As the Sky Horse trembled and nuzzled into Viola’s embrace, the viewers went wild.
– What’s that…;
– That might not even be a horse
– At least, it’s definitely a male
Amidst all this, Suhyuk’s gaze was fixed on the Sky Horse that had made a grand entrance.
The creature, too, seemed aware of Suhyuk, exhaling hot air and raising its front legs.
Neigh-!
The surrounding clouds dispersed in a thin mist.
It was a clear message to get off its turf.
“…What do you expect me to do with that thing?”
“Communication and empathy. That’s the basics of taming a Sky Horse.”
“That’s tough.”
One could tell at a glance.
That monstrosity had enough power to appear as a boss in the Seventh Trial.
No, calling it a monster was inappropriate. The gods referred to it as a spirit beast (靈物).
He had only ever killed them, and now he had to tame one.
He had never attempted to communicate with a non-human creature before.
‘First….’
Step-.
Suhyuk slowly approached the creature.
Neigh-!
The closer he got, the more fiercely it roared. The menacingly raised front leg looked capable of crushing even steel.
“I don’t mean to harm you.”
Step-.
Step by step.
As he got closer to the Sky Horse.
“I just want to get along….”
Crash-!
Rip-.
The Sky Horse’s front leg came crashing down where Suhyuk’s head had been moments earlier.
The spot where Suhyuk had just stood was now empty.
For a moment, looking bewildered, the Sky Horse soon realized something heavy was on its back.
“Just trying to be friends, you know.”
– Looks more like a threat to be friends
– Seems like a beg rather than a threat?
– Poor Suhyuk
Though he had managed to climb onto its back, the problem lay in what to do next.
Not knowing what to do next, Suhyuk, for the first time since the stream began, sought help from the viewers.
“Does anyone have a tamer-related skill… Oh, no?”
Fwoosh-.
The Sky Horse’s wings spread wide.
In an instant, the sensation of his body being lifted into the air, and the speed at which he accelerated was incomparable to when he flew with Viola.
“Oh, no—! Aaaah!”
Wooosh-!
Thus, while riding on the back of the Sky Horse, Suhyuk began to circle Asgard.