Episode 67.
“Why is this here?”
“I don’t know…why in a place like this?”
What was placed in the middle of the underground warehouse was an altar that looked near-identical to the altar that appeared when a dungeon was cleared. It was only that.
“This isn’t a dungeon, is it?”
“Stop joking.”
“That’s what I’m saying…”
Perhaps the Sky Castle even brought the altar of God by locking monsters from all over the world in dungeons. Jung Si-woo stopped trying to understand the structure because such a problem wasn’t very important. More importantly…
“Does something happen if I make an offering?”
The question for him was, ‘What can be gained through this altar?’
“But this altar is the jurisdiction of the thunder god, isn’t it? There’s no way the thunder god will give us anything.”
“Hyeong-nim, there’s a phrase over here that I don’t recognize.”
Yong Se-ha called Jung Si-woo over. When he moved his eyes, he could see the phrase written on a corner of the altar. Although it was in a different language than the previous worlds he visited, Jung Si-woo could naturally read it. Neither Yong Se-ha nor Soo Ah-rin tackled it anymore.
“In the event of a showdown, only the child with direct touch can use it. It will do its part once and for all…”
“The end? That’s it?”
“The thunder god probably explained it to its followers? It’s not a manual, so it doesn’t explain everything.”
However, it was enough explanation for Jung Si-woo. There were three things that the phrase explains. From the beginning of the showdown, he could see that there was a fixed time to use the altar, and in the part of “Child with Direct Touch,” it could be guessed that a person with a lot of thunder power can use the altar. It would be appropriate if that person were blessed by such a god. Finally, doing its part once and for all meant that the altar was a disposable consumable.
“I don’t think there’s a need for an offering, and the effect is more of a strengthening of life than the creation of an object.”
“Then I understand why they were so desperate to protect this warehouse.”
Of course, there wouldn’t be much of God’s power on this altar. He saw the message “Small Temple” when I first entered this place. Perhaps there were altars like this in different temples, too.
“But it still seems ridiculously huge to me…”
“Oppa?”
Jung Si-woo couldn’t hear Soo Ah-rin’s voice as he sensed out the altar. The overwhelming spirit of it was clearly conveyed to Jung Si-woo. Perhaps if he had been more sensitive to mana, he would have been discouraged because he couldn’t overcome the momentum.
“…Whoa.”
But what should he do? The moment he found out that there was something he couldn’t reach even at the tip of his toes, Jung Si-woo had a big smile. It was a smile that seemed to be proud and joyful.
“One being can be this strong.”
“Does it even exist?”
“It exists. It’s clear. I can feel it.”
He mingled his words. For a moment, his grip was strengthened, but the altar didn’t move. He was actually very satisfied. Some would faint just by looking at the altar. Some may despair, and some may be in awe. It was a very limited response that a weak person could take with an unapproachable power in front of them. However, Jung Si-woo was different.
“Let’s aim to be stronger than this for now.”
“How?”
“I won’t think about that.”
With the power of the thunder god, which was clearly felt, Jung Si-woo set up a concrete goal to be strong. He felt his heartwarming because he had been fighting against enemies who were similar to or weak compared to him. He thought he would be able to run as far as he can.
“Good.”
“Oppa, I have a question since you’re so encouraged. What are you going to do with this altar?”
Of course, Jung Si-woo couldn’t use the altar because the thunder god didn’t bless him. But if he left it like this, it would only be a waste of time to destroy the altar. And more than anything, it was unclear whether he could destroy it with his current powers.
“I’ll use it.”
However, Jung Si-woo replied as if it was obvious. There was something he took out of his inventory; it was the rifle of the thunder god.
“Ah, ahh.”
“You’re still cool…”
According to the interface, the rifle was made from the body parts of the thunder god. If the altar demanded the touch of the thunder god, maybe it would accept a rifle made from the thunder god’s body? At that point, it would be able to gain the power of the altar, regardless of whether it was living or not.
“I thought about that earlier too, Oppa. But doesn’t that worry you?”
“I’m worried. I wasn’t going to take it out, but the power of the altar is a waste to let go of…Woah.”
Jung Si-woo stopped talking and exclaimed. He hadn’t even put the rifle on the altar yet, but it started to resonate by emitting blue light. The subject of the resonance was, of course, the temple itself. The temple was vibrating as if it were breathing in accordance with the light emitted by the rifle. It was a miracle that occurred by a chance that Jung Si-woo and the thunder god hadn’t expected.
“That’s a good reaction.”
Although it was sealed, perhaps the thunder god’s rifle was a higher-grade item than this temple? All the sacred forces in the atmosphere began to be absorbed into the rifle just as larger droplets absorb smaller ones.
“Uh, Oppa… there’s a violent sound coming from outside.”
Deeply sensing the power of their God, the monsters in the temple began to make a fuss. Thinking that perhaps God himself had descended, the elite monsters, who were originally staying deep inside the temple, were now rushing underground. Things were going to be interesting.
“The monsters came all the way here, Oppa! Come on, hurry up!
“Well, this is going to be a little bit more effective than I expected…is this enough, though?”
Even now, the rifle of the thunder god was drawing power by resonating with the temple. He expected the upward effect this would have if he went up to the altar, but come to think of it, the temple was a place that had to be destroyed anyway, so whatever happened here was fine as long as Jung Si-woo didn’t get hurt.
“Okay, just in case, I’ll use stone skin…just be prepared for now.”
“Hmm, they say that curiosity kills the cat.”
“But without curiosity, mankind would’ve fallen before that quote was born.”
Jung Si-woo was sincerely happy and placed his rifle on the altar. Whether Jung Si-woo’s guess was correct, the moment the altar sensed the rifle, it emitted a bright blue light around the rifle. And the resonance of the temple and rifle overlapped. The temple began to shake mercilessly with a dull vibrating sound. It was like it was going to fall apart!
[The rate of destruction: 29%]
“Yes, it’s fireeeee!
“You look so excited!”
Jung Si-woo had already come in and destroyed the underground walls, corridors, and most of the pillars. Further tremors occurred, and eventually, the huge pillar supporting the center of the temple couldn’t hold up!
[The rate of destruction: 31%]
[The rate of destruction: 33%]
[The rate of destruction: 39%]
“Good, critical hit!”
“As expected, you don’t clear your mission ordinarily!”
[The rate of destruction: 42%]
Jung Si-woo realized one new fact. It was fun to destroy it yourself, but it was also fun to mess up one wrong place and collapse it! There were weaknesses in living things and buildings. He had succeeded in targeting it now…by putting a rifle on the altar! The altar of the thunder god, Laia, worked wonders. The rifle began to rise and absorb all the power of the temple as well as the altar.
[Time Remaining – 20:00]
[I, Iiiiiiii! Why do you have that? I will never forgive you!]
[The thunder god is outraged and tried to descend! Among the surviving monsters, there is a random descent. The stronger the monster, the more devastating it is. You must either kill all monsters before that or return to Earth! Time remaining for the descent – 18:00]
“Uh, I never heard of anything like this.”
It’s so cool that God himself has descended! No, it’s not that. For Jung Si-woo, who had already tasted the intensity of the thunder god’s power, this wasn’t only a failure, but it was also a death sentence. At the same time, however, the phrase that came to mind blocked the possibility of escape. They had 20 minutes left until the artifact awakened, which meant they needed two more minutes after the descent. But they want him to leave and run away? That was ridiculous. So he had to kill all the monsters in the temple in 18 minutes, or…
[Keuwaaaaaaaa!]
[How dare you covet the power of the thunder god!]
[Kill him somehow! Kill him!]
Jung Si-woo very quietly concluded after weighing the monster’s power.
“As expected, this is impossible.”
“Oppa, you’re trying to calculate if you can fight against those monsters right now, aren’t you?”
“What are you talking about? That’s not it. There’s nothing to think about.”
“What?”
Since when did he establish such a normal way of thinking? Soo Ah-rin felt a little sorry for Jung Si-woo because she thought he was just a stage show until now. However, Jung Si-woo’s subsequent words removed her guilt.
“Of course we’ll fight, but I was thinking about which monster to bring down. The stronger they are to start, the stronger the monster will become. So I thought it would be great if the strongest elite monster in this dungeon descends…but I don’t think I can beat that yet.”
“…”
Yes, Jung Si-woo had always been a man beyond Soo Ah-rin’s imagination. He didn’t have the option of running away in the first place! Leaving Soo Ah-rin fascinated by her own surprise, Jung Si-woo prepared for battle, giving strength to the hammer in his grasp again.
“Then let’s pick out the elite monsters and kill them. Se-ha, I don’t have time, so you have to help me. Kill the ones that look strong, but not the elite monsters.”
“Okay, Hyeong-nim.”
Yong Se-ha returned to his true self and grabbed the charge lance. Yong Se-ha was also a warrior who was attacking the 26th level of the dungeon. Although he lost his strength in the process of retiring, he was reborn as a supporter of Jung Si-woo and regained his strength every time he leveled up. Although he was far below his previous level, his ability was restored to a comparable level.
Of course, it may be due to Yong Se-ha’s mental skills and the familiar skills he had built over the years while attacking the dungeons, but his level, which was reborn as a supporter, was set to the standard of Jung Si-woo, unlike the level of a regular player. Just as Jung Si-woo wasn’t an ordinary 88-level player, Yong Se-ha also had great stamina and mana that couldn’t be compared to an ordinary 88-level player!
‘I’m about to surpass my former self. Even more than that! It’s time for me to show you that I can do my best.’
Yong Se-ha charged ahead with a firm determination. Spreading his brilliant butterfly wings, he sprinted through the air, avoiding the falling debris!
“I’ll go first, Hyeong-nim!”
“You’re making the wingless man sad… I’m coming too!”
Jung Si-woo also ran out of the underground warehouse. The number of elite monsters in this temple was two! He didn’t have time to play around if he wanted to kill all of them!
“Ah-rin, keep that safe!”
“Uh, I’m…yes, I guess so.”
Soo Ah-rin was left alone in the middle of nowhere. She let out a big sigh as she looked down at the rifle of the thunder god, which shone on the altar and sucked up mana at a terrifying speed. Then she set up a sacred shield around herself.
It was the moment of the battle for survival, which every minute and second mattered.
