Chapter 82: Chapter 81: Nip it in the Bud, Part II (1/2)
Chapter 82: Chapter 81: Nip it in the Bud, Part II
Translator: HunterW
Editor: RED
”You're…” I had no idea what his name was. Well, maybe I did, but I didn't care who he was when I first saw him. I also had no idea why he was calling me ”master”.
”Do Sunghoon! My name is Do Sunghoon!”
”Uh huh…right.”
”Do you remember me?”
”Uh… from Hyungjae Loans, right?”
”Yes, that's right! I was the one who got captured by Oh Hyungjae and was killed by him multiple times. If it weren't for you, master, on that fateful day, who knows what would have happened to me… umm, by the way, I never got your name.”
”It's Lee Jiwon.”
”It's very great meeting you again, Master Lee.”
”Likewise.”
I did not expect to meet him here in Cairo, of all places. I thought I would never see him again after that day.
”What brings you all the way to Cairo, Master Lee?”
”Master…why are you calling me master?” Why was he calling me master, when this was our first time talking?
”That's because I decided to take you as a teacher of life and strength since that day!”
”Say what now?”
”I'll never forget what you did for me that day. I swore to myself that if I ever see you again, I'd make you my master and live as your apprentice!”
I was taken aback by his enthusiasm. He began telling me about how hard he looked for me, how he tried to copy my appearance, and about how he hunted relentlessly to get stronger. It was like a child bragging to their parents. He kept looking at me like he wanted me to tousle his hair and tell him good job, but… he looked older than me. There was no way I would do that to a middle-aged man with a beer belly.
”I…I see. So that's what happened...”
”That's right! That's why Master Lee is forever my master. Forever! To the end of days!”
”No… you don't have to go that far.”
”Please, there's no need to be so formal. Why would a master be respectful towards his student?”
”But our age…”
”Age doesn't matter between devas. All that matters is who is stronger!”
”Still…”
”Master, please! If you continue this way then I, Do Sunghoon, will not meet you ever again!”
That's want I wanted him to do. It was really weird to have someone be so forward with me. But it was nice to have someone to talk to after hunting on my own for a month, as weird as it was to have someone look at me like a dog to its owner. ”O…okay...”
”Thank you, master!
”By the way, what brings you all the way to Cairo? Most Koreans don't come all the way out here.” Egypt was way too far from Korea just for simple training. There were better and closer hunting grounds in Japan and China.
”Hmm…it is a secret, but I'll tell you because you asked, master. I'm currently a member of a group known as Fate.”
”Fate?” I had never heard of a group like that before.
”I doubt you've heard of it. Put simply, it's a group formed to fight against deities. Of course, we don't fight every single deity out there. We mainly target deities that bring harm to devas.”
”Then you're here for the Blood Prince.”
”Yes. The Blood Prince is Fate's greatest enemy. The number of devas and mortals he has killed just went over 20,000. He is also getting stronger at an alarming rate, much faster than anyone else. We believe that if we just let him be, there will come a time that we devas will have to live in fear under his shadow, and decided it was best to join forces with the Myth Guild. That was why I was dispatched here.”
”Do you think killing him once will make that much of a difference?”
”As you already know, the existence of deities is a complete con. Yes, there are only a few deities out there that have special skills and abilities like the Blood Prince. The rest of them have to buy skills like devas. Those special deities, including the Blood Prince, are known as the Seven Monarchs.”
”Right.” If all deities were as strong as the Blood Prince, all devas would become slaves to deities. That much was obvious.
”Of course, most deities are stronger since they get twice as many stat points when they level up. That alone makes them that much stronger than devas.”
I already knew all of this. In the past, many devas hated the existence of deities, including me. What made them better than the rest of us?
”However, they lose just as much upon death.”
”How so?”
”First off, we devas have to wait three hours before we can respawn. Deities, on the other hand, have to wait 3,000 hours or 125 days. Second, devas lose 2 points to each Stat, a total of 10 points; basically we lose 1 level when we die. Deities lose 30 levels each time they die; they lose 120 Stat points to each Stat.” Unrivaled devas had a similar death penalty; they lost the same amount of Stat points they gained from one level.
”Deities also can't use Penalty Recovery items like we can. They can't get back the 600 Stat points they lose from dying once. Also, we devas can use the Sea of Reset to start over, but if a deity used it…”
”What happens?”
”They become devas.”
”What…” It was my first time hearing all of this.
”You must not tell anyone this, but the leader of Fate is a deity.”
”!!!” I stared at Sunghoon in shock.
”According to the boss, deities and devas aren't supposed to be enemies, but there are a few deities that are misunderstanding the whole thing. The boss believes that we need to be working together to prepare for the future, but the Blood Prince is causing a lot of problems. That's why the boss decided to step in, to prevent a war between deities and devas.”
I didn't ask him about it, but Sunghoon kept telling me everything he knew. He was becoming more and more useful.
”Oh, look at the time. It's almost recruiting time so I'd best be going.”
”Oh, yeah. OK.”
”Oh, and take this too.” Sunghoon took something out of his inventory and handed it to me.
”Is… this a Comm Link?” People still used radios and phones. Large guilds even had their own transmission towers. But those things couldn't be used inside dungeons. The only way to communicate during long dungeon hunts was to use Comm Links. Comm Links allowed others to communicate with each other as long as their Comm Links were connected. They were also very expensive.
”Yes. This Comm Link can connect to five other Comm Links. This one already has mine connected to it. It's under #1.”
”It must have been expensive.”
Sunghoon gave a hearty laugh. ”I finally got to meet you again, master; I can't just let you go, now can I?”
I almost didn't want to take it, but Sunghoon did go through a lot to find me.