Chapter 232 Choi Yoon-seok (4)

He calmed down. Time was both medicine and poison; Elle must’ve imagined multiple times over the 500 years of waiting if anything might’ve changed if she knew Rick was the Destructive Monarch when she was still alive.

—I don’t know what it is, but let’s just run away, just like before. Just.. let’s do that. Please..?

Even if it didn’t change the twisted fate, even if she would experience more misfortune in her next life, perhaps, in that one life, wouldn’t he get to live with her with a smile? That was what he thought.

“..”

That was why he calmed. Ignorance was both poison and medicine. Elle was probably watching everything while Yoon-seok conducted this mission.

—..I did everything for you.

Rick said that, but.. was that really what Elle wanted? Probably not.

—What happened to Kanna?

—I don’t know, but they’re coming. Let’s hurry up and leave.

While being chased, they reached a village. The three years they spent there. Hadn’t Elle endured all that, recalling the ordinary days she spent in their cabin? Even if tragedy were repeated in her next life, she would’ve accepted it with a smile. It was only once, but she said it was a happy life. She said it was a good thing they’d left everything and ran away.

That was it.

—What I wished for was.. probably not this.

Unlike Rick, Elle didn’t want much. However, she was satisfied and eagerly hoped for it enough to accept her fate.

‘Will it be okay? I’m worried..’

Yoon-seok opened his mouth.

“Don’t worry.”

He wanted to tell Elle, who was watching over him alone in the cabin, not to worry.

“Because you’ll get to be happy.”

Yoon-seok would surely destroy the Tower and kill the Queen. And then this tedious, repeating tragedy would be over. Of course, he didn’t know what fate awaited her in her next life.. but someday, she would be able to enjoy the small happiness of the ordinary life she had always wanted.

“Can I do that..?”

“Yes. I’ll make sure of it.”

Yoon-seok was certain.

Elle put her hands to her chest, and she lowered her head in prayer. It was long before she spoke again.

“Who are you? Why are you saying that to me?”

It was natural for her to react like that. What he just said wasn’t just for the Elle in front of him, but also the real Elle who was watching.

“..”

While Yoon-seok fumbled for something to say, Elle shook her head.

“No, you don’t have to answer. I believe.”

Believe what?

“Someday, I’ll be happy.”

“Ah..”

“Come to think of it, even in Seheranbad and in the rifts; you moved as if you knew everything. Like you came from the future.”

In a broad sense, it wasn’t wrong.

“..Even if not, I somehow believe you when I hear your voice. So I want to believe. I’ll be happy someday.”

“..”

“So please leave now. Don’t you have something to finish up?”

Elle tried hard to speak cheerfully. She said she would believe Yoon-seok, but could she not cover her sorrow? Yoon-seok hesitated for a while before nodding.

‘I’m a little worried about her.. but nothing much will happen now.’

After one glance at the first admin standing by the Tower, Yoon-seok climbed the stairs he’d come down from earlier. Rick was dead, but the battle was not over yet. His colleagues and military forces, called destroyers, were fiercely battling. Of course, they were showing signs of defeat, but the battle completely tilted when Yoon-seok joined in.

And the moment when Cheon-ma sliced Disaster’s head off-

「You have won the final match.」

「All challengers have completed their tasks. An Engraving Manual (Rank A) will be paid collectively.」

「Destruction rate 21.29%.」

「You protected the cemetery with less than 25% damage. Reward increases significantly.」

At the end of the battle, victory shouts rang out.

“We won..!”

“Woahhhhhhh!”

Of course, not all the missions were over.

「Group mission (11/15).」

「You have successfully defeated the destructive army. Please restore the destroyed cemetery.」

They restored the destroyed cemetery. Small missions continued, such as informing leaders of each country of their victory, and as they followed one by one, they arrived at the last mission order.

「Group mission (15/15).」

「Participate in the festival and enjoy the peace you have achieved.」

In Yoon-seok’s perspective, it was a useless section, but he understood why they put this in. It must have been to intentionally impress the challengers who participated in this mission. Who was evil, and who was just?

‘Are they calling themselves justice..?’

Yoon-seok smiled as people clanked their drinks with each other. There was no justice in this world, only individual desire. Yoon-seok had now decided to be more honest with his desire.

「Success.」

「The final achievement rate is 87%.」

「Reward increases significantly.」

「30,000,000 MP will be paid.」

「Individual mission completion rate 100%.」

「Engraving Manual (Rank A) is given as a reward.」

「You have cleared the hidden challenge.」

「Acquired Random Box (Rank SS).」

The reward for this mission was 30 million MP. It was 1.5 million less than the 21st-floor mission, but considering the 90% contribution they made then, it was a very large amount. Above all, weren’t all the participating challengers getting the same amount this time?

—O-o-oppa! I didn’t misread it, right? We got 30 million points.

Fast progression. They decided to divide and conquer all dimensions instead of choosing only one, and they set a less than 25% destruction rate record during the battle. In addition, several more phrases were saying that the rewards increased miscellaneously while solving the mission. Nevertheless, did she not expect it?

—Awesome.. what is this free ride..?

Lee Su-yeon made a fuss.

—We can’t do missions anymore. Do you want to go to Exploration? I think I can do two more before the next duel. Let’s include unnie and sweep everything?

—..First, let’s take a break.

—Okay. You’re saying you need time to fix it, right? Call me when you’re done! You must! You can’t leave with only Cheon-ma, okay?

Was it just his imagination, or did the texts express that she would follow him wherever he went? Setting the thought aside, Yoon-seok smiled and checked the clock.

「Until the next duel, 599:41:08.」

There were about 25 days left before the duel. In other words, it meant that he spent a little over two weeks on this mission. Yoon-seok, somewhat disappointed, smacked his lips.

‘If the mission didn’t drag on, I would’ve made it back in one week..’

He felt sour.

‘Ah, is it alright if I don’t go?’

Come to think of it, Yoon-seok had yet to attend the reserve forces after being discharged last year.

‘Well, Ashton will take care of it.’

Yoon-seok smiled at the sudden thought. It would be funny for him to participate after receiving the notice. That’s right; why should he learn how to shoot guns and throw grenades? In this era where spacecraft shoot nuclear rays.

‘Come to think of it; it’s been less than a year...’

It didn’t feel real because time was mixed up in the Tower, but in fact, it had been less than a year since Yoon-seok became a challenger. Sometimes when he thought about that, he felt strange. It was all like a dream. Anyway, Yoon-seok decided to calm down and check the other rewards.

Drrrrrr.

Two items caught his eye when he opened the drawer at the bottom of the statue. They were a book and a box with a question mark on it. Yoon-seok first tried to scan the book.

*Engraving Manual (Rank A) – Randomly acquire a Rank A skill.

It was the same thing he got by chance when he went through the exploration trial before. Of course, what he got then was Rank B.

‘What will I get this time?’

The engraving manual was classified as a high-value item among rankers. If he opened this, he might even get a Unique Skill. When he used the engraving manual last time, Yoon-seok re-acquired b Non-verbal magic}.

「Acquired general skill Spiritual Beast Contract.」

He got a general skill this time. When he checked, it could tame a beast below a certain rank, although the criteria weren’t certain.

‘Oh, come to think of it, I think I have something similar..’

Yoon-seok reopened the information page to check the skill.

*Divine Beast Contract (Rank B+) – You can tame a beast below a certain rank.

It was a skill acquired through {Predation} in the past. To be honest, he didn’t even remember how he got it.

‘..When I first explored, did I get it from the Orc?’

He thought so. He remembered that he couldn’t synthesize it because of its distinct characteristics and just left it as it was.

‘But what’s the difference between Divine Beasts and Spiritual Beasts..?’

He had no way to confirm. However, the nuance was good either way. Divine Beasts and Spiritual Beasts? Didn’t they at least sound more useful than Asura, who liked to roll around in his pocket?

‘The synergy doesn’t look bad either. Should I synthesize it?’ historical

Was it because he saw Cheon-ma riding Yong-yong and fighting in the air? For some reason, he had such an urge.

“Sura, what do you think?”

It might look like a small change, but to synthesize the two skills, the rank had to match.

“Growl! Growl!”

“Does it feel good? Very much at that?”

“Growl! Growl!”

Fortunately, Asura voted in favor. Well, he might have said that out of joy because he could make friends, not his intuition..

‘Since I’m going to synthesize it, it’s better to fill in all three, right?’

Yoon-seok immediately used about 1.3 million MP to rank up to two skills. One was the Rank B Divine Beast Contract, and the other was Magic Enhancement (B-).

「Skill has been synthesized.」

「Acquired Soul Bond.」

Yoon-seok tilted his head as he checked the information.

*Soul Bond (Rank A) – Original skill of challenger Choi Yoon-seok. When used, a bond agreement is signed with the subject’s soul.

Remaining availability 1/1.

Soul Bond.. what kind of skill was this? It only had one available use, and the content was very confusing.

“It’s not a contract, but a bond? It doesn’t feel right.”

Still, he decided to use the skill on the right person if he got the chance. If there was something wrong with it, he could just get rid of it. At this point, Yoon-seok shifted his attention and picked up the box with a question mark on it.

*Random Box (Rank SS) – When the box is opened, up to three random pieces of equipment, skills, and special items from Rank SS can be obtained.

‘There’s a lot of randomness in this mission.’

Yoon-seok smiled. He was quite confident in his luck. To be honest, it was also thrilling to gamble like this. Yoon-seok licked his lips and put his hand on the box lid. And then-

「Lady of Liberation is calling you.」

「Would you like to accept?」

Elle’s invitation arrived.

‘I have to open the box, though..’

「Lady of Liberation is calling you.」

「Would you like to accept?」

Yoon-seok barely took his eyes off the random box, and he pressed yes. He had also grown a little from the days he spent months lifting dumbbells.

“You’re here.”

When he arrived at the cabin, Elle politely gathered her hands and bowed to Yoon-seok.

“..?”

Yoon-seok couldn’t understand what was happening. To be honest, he thought she would be depressed by now after watching the mission. However, there was no sign of that, and her appearance was completely different from before.

‘Huh..?’

In addition to her white court dress, her hood was off. Instead, she wore a five-colored silk cloth that a Chinese Empress might wear, and her hair was twisted up and fixed with a binyeo hairpin.

‘..Was it that shocking to her?’

Come to think of it; he heard that a woman who had undergone a major change would cut her hair short or something like that. Maybe Elle was the same.

“..You look good.”

Yoon-seok gulped and carefully praised Elle for now. Should he say that it was an appropriate harmony between the East and the West? Elle, who wore a gold eye patch, revealed her soft neckline and wore silk, projecting a more mysterious atmosphere than normal.

“Huhu.”

Elle smiled, slightly covering her mouth with a fluttering sleeve.

“You must have had a hard time, so let’s eat first.”

“Yes. Yes?”

“Why are you so flustered?”

“Oh, it’s nothing..”

Under Elle’s gaze, Yoon-seok took his seat. Dinner was served on the table.

‘Why is she talking like that? Is there something wrong with the translation system?’

It would be over if he asked her straight, but Yoon-seok couldn’t say anything. It wasn’t the atmosphere to ask such a question. But now, he couldn’t help but ask.

“Excuse me, Elle..”

“Yes?”

“Why are you using a new table?”

Elle tilted her head at Yoon-seok’s question.

“..?”

She was setting up a sitting table and putting separate food atop it.

“When I asked other admins, they said this is what they do in Korea.. that, gyeom, gyeom.. what was it?”

“Are you talking about a table for two?”

“Yes..”

Was she sulking? Suddenly, Elle’s usual tone returned. Thanks to this, Yoon-seok realized no problem with the translation system.

“..It’s an old-fashioned social custom that has almost completely disappeared. It’s where men and women dine separately.”

“Just men and women? That’s not what I was told?”

He didn’t know who told her, but that person must’ve thought Korea was still in the Joseon dynasty.

“Then, what did they tell you?”

Whatever it was, he would refute it with facts to protect Korea’s honor. But what was this?

“That’s.. they say you shouldn’t have a meal with your husband in Korea..?”

Yoon-seok’s brain stopped for a moment.

“H-husband..?”

“Yes.. that’s what happens when you’re loved.. isn’t it?”

Yoon-seok became a statue. Sensing his odd reaction, Elle continued innocently.

“..Can you say it again in front of me?”

“..?”

“That thing you said to me earlier..”

“The thing I said earlier?”

“I-I-I was a little surprised because it was so sudden, but I’m not saying I wasn’t happy..”

Elle blushed and covered her mouth shyly. Then, she carefully recited it with a small voice.

“Y-y-you said you will make me happy..”

It was only then that Yoon-seok knew where the misunderstanding was coming from.