Chapter 17 (1/2)

Dream. One of the phenomenons of the mind that occurs when consciousness is faint. A virtual world that could possibly show you what was real, or a glimpse of the unknown world I yearned for. Dreams were the tool that perfectly ill.u.s.trated the 'desires' of humans, And right now I was dreaming.

”Haak!”

Breathing raggedly, sweating all over, I experienced an explosive release. My spasming body quivered entirely as I felt violent ecstasy, but that small ball of fire soon revived more vigorous than before.

It was a snake-like woman. Once she sunk her fangs in, she would never let go.

For the past several days, we had intercoursed without rest. When the woman's tongue touched my body without fail I rose back up like a spring, and the woman's seductive cries would grow in volume. It was only when all energy was sucked out of me when I could lay my tired body to rest.

A dream. This was a dream. Coming together in a fiery exchange with a beautiful woman I'd never before seen in my life was possible precisely because it was a dream. That was most definitely it…it had to be.

'Did I have a wet dream or what?'

Right before I was about to open my eyes from that strange dream, I felt a strange sensation.

My lower parts felt damp.

This was a body full of young vigor after all. No matter how good I was at controlling l.u.s.t, the body was honest.

I quickly rolled up the blankets.

'It's blood.'

The bed was splattered all over with blood.

It appeared it wasn't a wet dream, but just whose blood was this? There was no one around, and no one lay on the bed but me.

After hastily doing the laundry and finis.h.i.+ng a shower, I thought over it carefully.

First of all, I couldn't quite remember…

'How did I come back home?'

My memories were blurry from the time I entered and exited 'Odin's Treasury', and even moreso for the time I came back home. What's more, my body felt light and heavy. Although all my small injuries were healed, and my mind felt brighter, but I felt drained of every bit of my energy as if my two b.a.l.l.s down there were hollowed…

I checked my cellphone, and saw piles upon piles of messages and missing calls, but what drew my eye was the numbers at the top of it: 30th of March.

'I did nothing but sleep for about 10 days.'

I had a pretty accurate sense of time if I may say so myself. It was roughly 20 days ago that I entered Odin's Treasury and spent 3 days there, so I had slept for almost 10 days. This was definitely not normal. And as I recalled the events up to that point, a certain name popped up.

'Jörmungandr!'

I clapped my hands in remembrance.

That's right. I was told my contract with Jörmungandr was completed, right after which I was bitten by the snake coiled around my right hand and lost consciousness. I supposed that the strange dream I had was related to that contract.

'The snake is still here though.'

The snake on my right hand hadn't moved from where it was before, not an inch. It felt more like an ornament than a living creature, but as I looked closely at it, its related information popped up.

요르문간드 – Jörmungandr

? Int +5

? Mag +5

? Form change influenced by ego

? King of all snakes

? Infinitely growing snake(Lv1, Growth – 24)

? The Contractor is free from all 'Curses of the night'.

『A mythological gigantic snake of Jörmungandr. It was once an existence large enough to coil itself around the world but due to an unknown it was weakened and locked away in 'Odin's Treasury'.』

An unimaginably rare and overpowered equipment that raised Magic Power and Intelligence by a whopping 5 each. Even in the past I had not once equipped an item of this level; the Cape of Extermination I had worn then did no more than raise Strength and Agility by 4 each. Not to mention that along with the total stat increase of 10, it raised the most important among stats: Magic Power.

'Unbelievable.'

It wasn't something that belonged in a level 3 treasury, that was for sure. The boost it gave was truly unbelievable.

A s.h.i.+ver ran down my spine.

The information on Jörmungandr was the same as before I lost my consciousness. No, it was the same, yet different.

'Its growth went up.'

The snake's growth had become 24. It should have been 0.

What? Had I fed it something?

Abruptly the dream came to mind, but I shook my head hard.

No way…

'Status window.'

Name: Hansung Oh

Occupation: Universal Man(天地人)

t.i.tles:

? Merciless Gnoll Slaughterer(Lv3, Con+4)

Stats:

Str 29 Agi 24 Con 26(22+4)

Int 25(20+5) Mag 44(39+5)

Potential(134+14/456)

Special Note: Potential has greatly increased due to the influence of an unknown power. Has completed a contract with Jörmungandr.

Skills: Mind's Eye(Lv9), Dominator(Lv9), Transfer(???)

[Before and After Comparison]

Str 29 Agi 25 Con 28 Int 15 Mag 16 Potential(109+4/456)

Str 29 Agi 24 Con 26 Int 25 Mag 44 Potential(134+14/456)

Ironically, my highest stat was Magic Power thanks to the 20 increase I received from clearing the Ancient One's trial. Considering that the most important and most difficult stat to raise was Magic Power, I couldn't have had a better start in this lifetime.

Also, it was clearly shown that I was contracted.

'So it wasn't that I'd dreamed the contract with Jörmungandr as well.'

Jörmungandr was, however, a mythical existence. I had never heard of contracting with an existence as such. There was a precedent of Saintess Syria contracting a pegasus, but that was nothing like a fearsome existence like Jörmungandr.

'It was told that Thor, G.o.d of Thunder, smashed Jörmungandr's head and killed it, but the poison it sprayed out upon death was so potent that even Thor lasted no more than seven steps before dying.'

Had I perhaps contracted the original from the myth?

But if I've contracted it, why does it merely stay coiled around my wrist?

More than anything, the Jörmungandr of myth was supposed to be dead; head smashed in by Thor who was the G.o.d of Thunder as well as the G.o.d of War. Although Thor also died…

'Well it's not like there aren't any equipment named after beings of myth…'

It would have been strange for it to be in a level 3 treasury if it was the real Jörmungandr. A wicked existence like Jörmungandr had to be in at least a level 9 treasury, or above. The piece of equipment I had most likely only had the same name, but was something else. It wasn't as if there weren't such equipment, and each and every one of these items did possess amazing abilities.

I sat on the chair in front of my computer and pressed its power b.u.t.ton.

'Mt Bukhan. I should try digging up things from there.'

In order to rekindle my vague memories, I searched 'Mt Bukhan' on the net for recent news within a month, and got hundreds of results.

There was so many…and a sensational t.i.tle hanged from each and every article.

「The truth behind the appearance of the monstrous creature on Mt Bukhan!?」

「Photoshop Controversy! Monster Appears on Mt Bukhan.」

「Take Care When Climbing Mt Bukhan!」

「Mountain Climber Attacked by Dog-headed Monster.」