Chapter 97

Chapter 98 Divine Ultimatum (2)

‘So this is how it’s supposed to be done....’

Beyond the four-meter wall was another challenger’s waiting room.

‘Is something going to come out if I keep breaking through in one direction..?’

He decided to let his curiosity be; now, he had to deal with something else. Yoon-seok looked at the woman who was living next door. Fluttering combat clothes, a sword on her waist, and Asian features. She must be from Moorim. The bed in the back was made of wood, and a stone was used as a pillow.

But was it just his imagination? She looked strangely familiar.

“Y, y, y, you..!”

As he was staring at her, she stared back warily at Yoon-seok. When he saw her reaction, he remembered.

‘Ah..’

She was the woman he met in the Great Battle. He didn’t know her name because they didn’t introduce themselves to each other, and she was bickering with Fahur, saying that she would stand in the captain position. Was it because he didn’t mind her at the time? Childish, a funny girl. Only this faint impression was left in his mind.

But maybe she was different.

“H, how did y-you.. No, but why? I, it’s me! I, I was humble! For real!”

She began to make excuses with a pale expression as if she had seen a ghost. It was only then that he remembered the last thing he said to her. He didn’t remember in detail, but he thought that he warned her to live humbly. It looked like she did live with that in mind..

“After that day, I didn’t pick a fight with anyone else! I was careful about what I said! Trust me!”

He didn’t come here on purpose, but she didn’t seem to think so in the current situation. First, Yoon-seok took out the Judgment Sword so that he could check if she had a judgment mark. The mark didn’t float above her head as it did then. Well, he knew that he couldn’t judge everyone with this, but..

But there was nothing that could be used to verify better than this. Did she misunderstand again?

“..!”

The woman stared at Yoon-seok with a mixed expression of resignation and determination. Yoon-seok, realizing what he had done, sheathed his sword and cleared up the misunderstanding.

“I didn’t come here to find you. It’s just that the wall broke during training.. it was just a coincidence.”

He relayed it honestly, but he wondered if it helped. Relief washed through her eyes, but only for a second. Not long after, she went bug-eyed.

“During training? How did you.. no, was the wall supposed to break?”

Maybe it was a logical question. Yoon-seok didn’t even know until he received {Divine Ultimatum} and tried it himself, but there was no need to let her know about that. Yoon-seok changed the subject.

“Anyway, I have caused you an inconvenience. I’m sorry.”

“What? I, it’s alright.”

Did she not expect him to apologize? Although it was a matter of course, she was flustered. Then she waved her hands and said it was okay. Yoon-seok wasn’t so stupid that he didn’t know she reacted that way because she was afraid of him.

“..”

Awkward silence. What was he supposed to say now? He asked himself, but there was no response, as he couldn’t come up with an answer. Meanwhile, she continued.

“..But will it be restored? This? No, it’ll work, right?”

Yoon-seok couldn’t answer. He didn’t know either.

‘This is a mess.’

A hole appeared in the waiting room, and not a small one either. It was big enough for a person to go back and forth without a hitch. If this remained, there would be many inconveniences in the future.

“..Let’s wait for now.”

“Oh, okay..”

That was the conclusion. In the meantime, Yoon-seok decided to ask after some things he was curious about.

“What floor are you on now?”

“..9th floor.”

If it was the 9th floor, that was when the clone appeared. Some time had passed since then, but she was still there? He wondered if that was normal..that wasn’t the point anyway.

‘I guess the waiting rooms aren’t packed by floor.’

Every time he got promoted, a phrase saying that he would move to a waiting room on the next floor always appeared, but maybe even if he ascended, the waiting room remained the same. Later, she carefully asked Yoon-seok about his floor, saying, “What about you?” and was very surprised when he answered honestly.

“You’re already on the 11th floor?”

If he hadn’t been on missions, exploration, and went back to Earth, he would’ve saved a lot of time. She wasn’t even teasing him, but it wasn’t necessary to use the word ‘already’ when he was only at that level.

“Well, you were that powerful back then....”

She understood, but was she envious? The woman nodded bitterly, and she asked another question as if she’d suddenly thought of something.

“But how did you succeed on the 9th floor? It’s already my third try if I take up the challenge again. It becomes stronger.. what should I do?”

Now that this happened, it seemed like she was using this opportunity to get information. But Yoon-seok was happy. He was the one who made a mistake and caused trouble, but he could make up for it. Still..

‘I don’t think this is going to help.’

He watched how his clone fought and imitated him, so he used that strategy to win the duel. It was simple to say, but if it were possible, she wouldn’t have asked this question. Maybe it worked on other floors, but this wasn’t a floor that a solution could be found from simple advice.

Just in case, Yoon-seok told her what his experience was during the duel, and she eagerly memorized everything he told her.

“If you can do it, I can do it.. it feels like I know what I should do. Thank you.”

Had there been a change of heart? Or did her anger problems naturally heal in front of someone powerful? He didn’t know, but she was humble and gentle, unlike his impression during their first meeting.

“It’s Namgoong Soso.”

“..?”

“I don’t know how long this will last, but at least you should know my name. Let’s introduce ourselves; I don’t care if it’s an alias.”

The woman named Namgoong Soso misunderstood. Yoon-seok was startled for a moment as soon as he heard the name, though it wasn’t because he didn’t want to introduce himself. It was just..

“..I’m Choi Yoon-seok. But you said Namgoong?”

He was bothered about her last name, Namgoong. Was it a common surname? Well, maybe. There are quite a few people who used the last name Namgoong in Korea.

“Yes, I could guess roughly after seeing you use a sword that day, but seeing that you recognize my sect, we must be from the same place. By the way, Choi.. Are you perhaps from the Yue Jin Choi Family?

Yoon-seok shook his head when she tried to reason and rationalize his response.

“No, I’m just surprised that I got involved with someone who uses the last name Namgoong. Is the family name Namgoong common in Moorim?”

“There’s no way it’s common! Uhm, is there? Anyway, seeing how you ask me that, it seems like I was barking up the wrong tree.”

Was the question itself an insult? She got worked up for a second, but then Namgoong Soso smiled awkwardly and continued.

Well, perfect timing. Yoon-seok asked again.

“Then do you know Namgoong Chul?”historical

“Chul.. I don’t think anyone uses that name anymore.. did you meet them here by any chance?”

“Yes, but he’s probably been here for a long time.”

“A long time?”

“Yes. About 500 years? It’s supposed to be around that time. Don’t you know?”

“Wait a minute, no matter if it’s someone from my hometown, but 500 years ago, I.. huh? Namgoong Chul?”

Namgoong Soso’s mouth became stiff. Then, she shuddered and shouted.

“Swordmaster Namgoong Chul!”

Yoon-seok felt like she was referring to another person of the same name. So he was going to tell her that, but she shook her head firmly.

“No! It’s him! I saw a record of him using that nickname when I was young. I mean, did you perhaps met that person here?”

He was sure that he was her ancestor, but calling him ‘that person?’ There seemed to be a story there, just as how his nickname has changed to Swordmaster. Yoon-seok replied that he met him on the 7th floor, where he appeared as an admin. As if his name carried some kind of weight, she freaked out.

“..Admin? So that means that lunatic was a challenger!”

“..I guess?”

“Wow! I didn’t know there was such a sad story! If the elders find out, they’ll be surprised!”

“..”

“No, wait! Did you defeat him then? I don’t think so? No matter how much you.. what? Did you win? That’s ridiculous!”

Did she decide that Yoon-seok wasn’t that dangerous while they spoke? Or was it simply that surprising? He wasn’t sure, but she became so energetic that she was now raising her voice. Namgoong Chul was bait. Yoon-seok wanted to ask about the Heavenly Devil or the Sword Saint Lee Hyun-hak.

But now, he decided not to.

‘Is it a Namgoong family trait to be talkative..?‘

Yoon-seok looked at the broken wall. There was no sign of any restoration, but he had to find a way.

“I’m going to go to the plaza to do some business.”

“Okay!”

Yoon-seok was speechless when he saw Namgoong Soso nodding with a smile. How could she look so happy when a few seconds ago she was so scared of him, looking as if she had seen the Devil?

‘I think all Moorim people are kind of weird.’

If someone heard Yoon-seok’s thoughts, they might have freaked out. Who was he calling weird?

「Go to the Union Plaza.」

Yoon-seok went to the plaza as if he were running away. It felt like he left a stranger in his house, but he wasn’t worried. There was nothing to steal anyway, and where would they run away if they stole something?

“You’re here.”

Ashton welcomed him as soon as he arrived. There were two teacups on the table, but whether they had been prepared in advance or he waited for quite a while, the tea was cold.

‘Was he counting the days on when I would return?’

Somehow he felt sorry. If he hadn’t checked his newly obtained skills, breaking the wall in the process and wasting time on one thing or another, he could’ve arrived on time. Well, Ashton didn’t seem to mind.

“So, did you get the item?”

“Yes, I was lucky.”

When Yoon-seok nodded, Ashton rejoiced as if it were his success. Later, Yoon-seok explained what had happened in the last exploration, and Ashton listened carefully, especially about the abyss, heaven, and the secret spaces.

“Although we can’t use your method.. you’ve given us this time will be of great help to other challengers. Thank you.”

He didn’t talk about how he broke the wall with {Divine Ultimatum} or meeting Namgoong Soso.

“So that’s enough of my talk, is everything all right there?”

When Yoon-seok asked, it was Ashton’s turn to tell him what happened on Earth. As he listened, nothing much appeared to have happened. However, as the number of cracks gradually increased alongside the scale, the damage was speeding up due to the invaders.

“It’s not to the extent that we need your help. Yoon-seok, please focus on getting stronger as you have done so far.”

Ashton said so as if Yoon-seok was his only hope. Then, it happened before he knew it. At first, he introduced himself as a representative of the American challengers, but should he say that he now looked at him with respect?

When he talked to Ashton, he felt as if he was looking at the challenger named Jang-Il, whom he met on the 6th floor. But he didn’t think on it much further.

‘I’m sure he’s just super aware that I have to stop the world from ending. It would have been the same if it weren’t me who was in this position.’

He just thought so and moved on. When they talked about everything regardless of the subject, whether it be the Earth or the Tower, Ashton mentioned the name he never expected him to ever say.

“Do you happen to know a female challenger from Moorim called the Heavenly Devil?”

She might be a mentor in Yoon-seok’s heart, but in the Tower, she was just a large obstacle that he had to overcome someday as a competitor.

“I heard she’s looking for a challenger, and I think that’s you.”

She was looking for him?