Chapter 377. Thank you (1) (1/2)

After more than 1000 days of ceaseless repetition, the trial finally reached a new phase.

Black Seol Jihu began teaching Seol Jihu Spatial Abilities and a variety of other skills.

This didn’t mean that Seol Jihu stopped climbing.

Like Jang Maldong, Black Seol Jihu equated experience with training. He wanted Seol Jihu to learn as he continued his trial.

And Seol Jihu had no reason to refuse. When he reached the bottom of the second slope, he waited for the boulders to appear.

—Thousand-Ton-Pushing Strength is a technique based on tai chi.

Black Seol Jihu stood behind Seol Jihu and sent him a mental transmission.

—Have you heard of the expression ‘softness overcomes hardness’? The point of this expression is that even powerful strength cannot subdue softness.

—Think of inertia or a lever. Suppose someone is running at full speed towards you. Instead of facing him head-on, what do you think will happen if you move slightly to the side and trip him with your leg?

—Your opponent will lose his balance and fall. Now you have him down without even breaking a sweat.

—But in order for this to work, you need to be capable of identifying the size of your opponent’s strength, the direction of his movement, and his center of gravity in a split second and aim for the correct spot.

—It will be difficult, especially during a battle in which your life is at stake.

As the boulders neared, Black Seol Jihu stood closely behind Seol Jihu.

—Relax your body as much as you can and focus on my energy.

He then grabbed both of Seol Jihu’s wrists and pushed them forward, infusing them with his energy.

Seol Jihu’s palms brushed gently against the first boulder.

“!”

Seol Jihu flinched.

The familiar impact wasn’t there.

‘But why?’

The moment he touched the boulder, a stream of energy shot out from the center of his palm.

The mana quickly trickled down the surface of the boulder and landed exactly where the boulder met the ground.

As a result—

‘What happened?’

Even though his hands touched the boulder, he felt almost nothing.

If anything, he felt the sensation of pushing the heavy boulder aside.

In fact, the boulder had lost its equilibrium and was swinging from side to side as it rolled down the slope.

—Floral Substitution is a technique that utilizes this principle.

Black Seol Jihu’s mental transmission continued before Seol Jihu could even take a breath.

—It’s similar to what I said earlier. You either pull or push your opponent’s arm in the direction he’s currently headed. You’re adding your strength to his strength, to deal him a greater blow.

—What’s important is the flow. For example, when an opponent uses a skill, you should know how his energy moves in his circuit and how it is manifested outwardly. To penetrate into an enemy’s attacks, you need to know his flow inside out.

At that moment another boulder touched his hand.

Seol Jihu stopped thinking about everything else and focused only on the boulder.

This time, instead of resisting the weight, Seol Jihu accepted it. He then mixed his energy into the energy of the boulder so that it would naturally slide sideways.

—Pushing, sliding, and returning the weight. You need to know how to do all three in order to complete Grand Cosmic Shift.

—Focus first on reviving your senses. You did it once when you fought Twisted Kindness.

—I’m going to withdraw my mana soon. I’ll hold your arm for you. Try it with your own mana this time.

After repeating the same procedure a few more times, Black Seol Jihu withdrew his mana like he said he would.

He took a moment to observe Seol Jihu’s mana and then released him completely.

Seol Jihu was moving his arms on his own.

Every time his hands moved and his arms bent, the boulders changed their course and rolled down the slope like a flowing river.

Sometimes they shook or bounced, but Seol Jihu was still calm.

He was focused on maintaining the flow of mana that Black Seol Jihu had started for him.

[Miscellaneous Ability, Thousand-Ton-Pushing Strength (Lowest)’, has been created.]

So much so that he didn’t even realize a message window had appeared.

Of course, with his sight and hearing being sealed, he would never have known anyway.

Black Seol Jihu smiled.

*

Seol Jihu devoured Black Seol Jihu’s teachings like a starving person sitting at a table full of food.

It was almost hard to believe that Seol Jihu was not at all close to achieving this feat until recently.

He could easily pinpoint the exact moment when everything began to go well. It was when Seol Jihu first rose to a realm. The difference was incredible.

The techniques that Black Seol Jihu was teaching were all high-leveled that required quick, detailed, and accurate mana control.

Without the combination of Intuition and Perfect Harmony that accelerated his reflexes against mana, Seol Jihu wouldn’t have even dreamed of reaching this far.

Learning new techniques was fun.

Through the process of learning amazing skills that could only be seen in anime, he was awarded with an overwhelming sense of accomplishment.

He could feel that he was getting stronger every day.

Of course, that didn’t mean he was complacent.

Though he achieved quite a lot and the next step was very far, Seol Jihu didn’t even stop for a moment.

For example, his Intuition was already at Pinnacle-rank, but he still limited his sight, hearing, and sense of smell in order to bring it up to Special-rank.

Seol Jihu even sacrificed his sleep to study and practice new skills.

As a result, Baek Haeju’s attitude changed.

She used to try to talk to him no matter what, but nowadays she just watched him from afar. She came and left quietly, leaving only her bento boxes behind.

There was a reason for the change in her attitude.

“Thousand Thunder is an Awakening Skill. Each and every cell in your body must be awakened in order for you to maximize the potential of your body and mind.”

She could tell how dedicated Black Seol Jihu was about teaching.

“You said it’s similar to Flash Thunder, but it’s not a movement skill. What does that mean?”

And how passionate Seol Jihu was in learning.

“It means what it means. Flash Thunder only focuses on raising your speed, but Thousand Thunder is much more versatile. It not only increases your physical reflexes but also increases the power of all skills to the limit.”

“It kind of makes sense. So it’s like a buff…? Ah, but you said I have to link Thousand Thunder with Hell Severing.”

Again today, Baek Haeju put down a shopping bag near the two men, stood back, and watched them from afar.

She just wanted to see them eat before she left.

“Hell Severing is a skill that focuses on destruction. You condense the already condensed energy into an even smaller mass of energy and burst it open instantaneously. As for Thousand Thunder, you can think of it as a buff like you said.”

“Aha.”

“Before we begin, I want you to promise me something. Thousand Thunder is a skill I created myself. And when I was creating it, I didn’t prioritize safety.”

Black Seol Jihu continued.

“When you use Thousand Thunder, you’re essentially dividing your energy into a thousand streams. During the process of converting those streams into lightning, you condense the energy and force your body to ignite. The moment you cross the line, your body will explode and you’ll die. I had only raised it to Intermediate-rank. I could’ve raised it more, but I just didn’t bother.”

“A thousand streams… that’ll put a strain on the body.”

“It’s more than just a strain. You might as well think Thousand Thunder as a last-resort weapon you use in exchange for your life. It’s more dangerous for you because you have the Essence of Lightning. Remember, no higher than Intermediate-rank. Even if you feel like you can do more, just don’t.”

“Okay.”

“Good. Then I’ll begin the explanation…”

Black Seol Jihu paused and turned his gaze to the shopping bag. He pointed at it with his finger.

“Before we begin, how about we take care of that first?”

“Oh? So she came again. But why did she….”

“She’s probably gone or hiding somewhere. She’s like the snail bride.”[1]

The two sat together as usual and opened the lunch box.

Baek Haeju’s eyes relaxed and her nose reddened as she watched the two men chewing spinach.

That was before Black Seol Jihu bellowed out his dissatisfaction.

“What’s with these side dishes? Why are they all green?”

Blacky grumbled about the food.

At least that’s what Baek Haeju saw.

“What about them? They’re delicious. I like them.”

On the other hand, Snowy seemed content with the menu.

“I’m not saying they taste bad. I’m saying they’re all green. Don’t you think this is too much?”

“But there’s a wide variety to choose from. She used just the right amount of sesame oil for the spinach, and the vegetable pancake is crispy and good.”

“I want meat. MEAT. Hey, can you ask her to bring some meat next time she comes?”

“How can I? She’s already doing us a favor by bringing these here on a regular basis.”

“It’s not like we asked for them. And, does she think we’re rabbits or something? She’s always feeding us grass.”

Baek Haeju flinched.

Her eyes narrowed and she glared at Blacky as he complained.

Blacky was constantly glancing at the place where she was hiding. He definitely knew she was still here.

Unlike Snowy, who was always nice and gentle, Blacky could be mean sometimes.

“Hey, butler! Are you listening? If so, I demand you bring fried chicken next time! If you don’t bring us fried chicken, we’ll boycott lunch!”

Blacky publicly protested.

The rabbit butler cleared her throat and spun around quietly.

She snorted, but what choice did she have?

It was her duty to grant the rabbit’s wish.

*

When asked about the theory of relativity, Einstein answered:

‘Put your hand on a hot stove for a minute, and it seems like an hour. Sit with a pretty girl for an hour, and it seems like a minute. That's relativity.’

In the past, a second would be so painful that it would feel like a minute. Now, it was the opposite.

It was morning when he opened his eyes and daybreak when he fell asleep from fatigue.

His sense of time faded from spending every day substantially.

“I’m going to sleep for just a bit. I’m too tired…”

“How many hours are you going to sleep?”

“Four.”

“Mm… Actually, just take the whole day off.”

Lying atop the field of weeds, Seol Jihu stared at his alternate self with a renewed gaze.

When it came to training, Black Seol Jihu had always been strict, though it lessened slightly when Seol Jihu ascended to his own realm.

So why the sudden change?

Black Seol Jihu laid down on his back across from Seol Jihu so that their heads touched.

Putting his interlocked hands up, he rested his head comfortably and looked up at the sky.

The silent night sky that was sparkling with stars was incredibly beautiful.

After a moment of silence, Black Seol Jihu spoke.

“Let’s try it properly tomorrow.”

Seol Jihu’s slowly closing eyelids shot open.

Black Seol Jihu nibbled on a tuft of weed and continued.

“There’s still the third trial. It’s not like you’re going to be here for dozens of years.”

“….”

“I’ve taught you everything I can… so try using that to climb up. As I passed everything down, you should be able to score at least 50 points.”

Seol Jihu closed his eyes without saying anything.

For some reason, he felt it was a bit regrettable. He himself wondered why he felt this way, but drowsiness flooded in, and he soon fell asleep.

Then eventually, the next day dawned.

Perhaps because it had been a long time since he got such a good night’s sleep, he woke up feeling refreshed.

By the time the sun rose to the middle of the sky, Seol Jihu had finished his preparation and was pushing the boulder. Not to learn Black Seol Jihu’s techniques, but to pass the trial.

“Did you know?”

Black Seol Jihu sat over the first peak and said with a bright smile.

“Climbing the first peak is nothing to you now.”

It was as he said. In the past, he had barely stepped up to the top using small grooves he made on the ground. Although he wasn’t like Black Seol Jihu, who climbed up the peaks like taking a stroll, he had no problem climbing up with both hands.

“Your current score should be… about 80. Iya~ That’s a lot of improvement from 59.5.”

Black Seol Jihu spoke as he watched Seol Jihu who was climbing the second peak.

There was no reply. Seol Jihu did not restrict his senses today, and he was currently displaying extreme concentration.

Not long afterward, a group of rocks appeared on the second peak. As they rolled down with a crashing sound, Seol Jihu stopped in place.

He purposely closed his eyes.

He was more used to this. Now, he even felt strange seeing with his eyes.

As the senses picked up by Intuition drew a picture of the surroundings in his head, Seol Jihu immediately set into motion.

The boulder soared up to the sky. Seol Jihu had thrown it into the air.

Then, he reached out toward the rocks that were rolling down the crossroads.

“Oho.”

Black Seol Jihu exclaimed.