22 Episode 22 - The Second Relic, Part II (2/2)
Feeling the tingle, Kim Tae-hoon turned his gaze to the left and saw a Sabretooth Wolf flying at him like it had springs, with its huge jaws open and oversize fangs spread wide.
It seemed impossible for Kim Tae-hoon to avoid the attack of the Wolf, which had almost reached him.
He did not avoid it. Rather, he thrust his right fist at the mouth of the Wolf, the fist covered by iron Black Skin.
There was a crack as his fist broke the sabretooth of the Wolf. After punching through the roof of its mouth, his fist drove into its brain in a messy spray.
”Big brother, be careful!” Bang Hyun-wook's surprise warning reached him after Kim Tae-hoon's fist alone had killed a Sabretooth Wolf.
”You don't have to...” Bang Hyun-wook's surprised cry ended with a low murmur.
Of course, Kim Tae-hoon did not listen to the cry.
Kim Tae-hoon was alert while lifting his rifle again, and immediately after confirming that there was no sign of another Sabretooth Wolf, he planted all the bullets left in the magazine into the Werewolf's body.
At the end of the last shot, Kim Tae-hoon exchanged magazine and shouted.
”Start fighting! Exterminate the enemy!”
Kim Tae-hoon's energetic cry became a typhoon and shook the battlefield.
3.
[Werewolf's Crystal]
- Strength rank will increase when ingested.
- Health rank will increase when ingested.
- Defense rank skill will increase when ingested.
- Energy rank skill will increase when ingested.
- Werewolf's power [Howling] can be acquired when ingested.]
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”Howling ... are you going to shout 'Howl!' before you fight?” Bang Hyun-wook, who was checking the contents of the spoils obtained by killing the Werewolf through a smartphone photo, imagined Kim Tae-hoon howling out, and laughed.
But it was only he who was laughing about it.
The soldiers of the Mac Clan, who were gathered around the campfire near the dump truck, could not afford to laugh at the trembling that had not yet stopped for everyone, even Lieutenant Kim Soo-ji.
The Werewolf's fear was much more intense then they thought. When the cold weather was added to it, the effect was doubled.
”Are you all right?” Bang Hyun-wook threw a worried question to Jang Sung-hoon, who was sitting near him.
He shook his trembling head. ”No, are you all right?”
”I'm hot.”
”Hot?”
”The Energy is like chi, but once it's heated, it doesn't cool easily, and it still wriggles in my gut. I feel my guts wriggling, damn it.”
The two saw Kim Tae-hoon walking toward them. He had come back after searching for monsters around the bow museum.
All those who were around the fire rose from their seats at the appearance of Kim Tae-hoon.
”Jang Sung-hoon and Ahn Sun-mi.” Kim Tae-hoon called out to two of them who had stood up. The two named nodded.
There was no reason to question about it because it had already been agreed upon.
Whether it was a relic or not, it could be seen by taking a picture with a smartphone, but he had no skill to find hidden relics.
So it was natural to bring along Jang Sung-hoon, who had the ability, and Ahn Sun-mi, who had already found the first relic.
”Lieutenant Kim Soo-ji commands the Clan. Bang Hyun-wook, when I'm not here, you're the captain of the assault team.”
Instead of answering, Bang Hyun-wook made a clumsy salute.
Kim Tae-hoon looked at Bang Hyun-wook shortly and then headed back to the museum with Ahn Sun-mi and Jang Sung-hoon in tow.
4.
Bucheon Bow Museum...
Located next to Bucheon Stadium, there were various kinds of bows, arrows and quivers, and bow-related items displayed in full view. There was no light, so it was rather hard to see.
Cameras flashed all over the museum, a scene that would normally only scare a museum official. There was something really frightening about it now.
”Okay!”
A man in the dark broke the glass that stored the goods with a hammer. The sound of glass breaking was pretty loud.
”Just like the thieves said, the sound is really great. It's addictive.”
With those words, a hand appeared suddenly through the broken glass. It picked up one of the arrows on display.
”What did you find?”
”What is it?”
As one of them pulled out the goods, the two, a man and a woman, gathered beside the man.
Jang Sung-hoon showed them a smartphone instead of answering them.
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[Sun-sin's Arrow]
- Relic Grade: Grade 4
- Relic Value: Rare
- Relic Effect: The arrow has the power of a Great Admiral. The penetrating force of the arrow increases with Energy rank.]
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Grade 4, Rare ... they saw more amazing words than they expected.
However, it was not about the grade, value, or effect of the relic that Kim Tae-hoon and Ahn Sun-mi saw.
”Sun-sin's Arrow?”
”Wait a minute, if it's Sun-sin …”
Sun-sin! There was only one Great Admiral with this name in the history of the Republic of Korea.
”Does it mean Admiral Yi Sun-sin?”
Kim Tae-hoon did not answer Ahn Sun-mi's question. He couldn't. At this point, the answer was beyond his capacity.
'Yi Sun-sin ...'
”Is it possible that such a valuable relic is in this museum?” The answer came, of course, from Jang Sung-hoon.
Jang Sung-hoon looked at the arrow in his hand and said, ”It's probably true. Only such an arrow that Admiral Yi Sun-sin shot would be in the museum.”
Jang Sung-hoon continued to look at the arrow and arrowhead in the light of the smartphone.
”It's just common sense, asking who would take the arrow shot by an admiral of the Joseon Dynasty? As a great man like Admiral Yi Sun-sin would shoot, someone would pick it up and keep it as a family treasure or amulet, so that it will remain in shape after centuries.”
”No, I mean, such a treasure is in a little museum like this…”
Jang Sung-hoon gave a laugh at the word 'treasure'.
”This arrow cannot be a treasure, and if it is not an arrow made symbolically, it will be a consumable. There must be more than ten thousand arrows shot by Admiral Yi Sun-sin during his lifetime. The arrows are recyclable. However, there's no name tag and it's not a treasure. The value of a treasure in this world depends on who pays for it. The truth doesn't matter, but the story is different now.”
Jang Sung-hoon laughed.
”Look at this, the arrowhead that is flashing like it was made just now. The arrowhead during the Japanese Invasions of Imjin did not have any rust on it. This must be a clue that it turned into a relic. It's not just its ability that has changed, but its appearance. Otherwise, it's not going to be that good unless it was made of gold...”
At that moment, Jang Sung-hoon stopped talking. The smile on his lips was gone, too.
Kim Tae-hoon and Ahn Sun-mi cocked their heads at his appearance. At the same time, they waited patiently for Jang Sung-hoon to start talking.
”Wait.” It didn't take him long to recover. ”There is a place to go now. We have to go there, there!”
”I want you to sort out what you want to say, exactly where we are going, and why we should go.”
”There's a European Pottery Museum. Inside Bucheon Stadium, there's a European Pottery Museum… it is in there.”
”What is there?” Ahn Sun-mi urged him.
”A glass of champagne.”
”A glass of champagne?” Ahn Sun-mi repeated, and Kim Tae-hoon frowned.
In response to such a reaction, Jang Sung-hoon swallowed, and spoke the words echoing in his mind, ”A golden glass of champagne used by Emperor Napoleon!”
He swallowed again in the silence following his words.