Chapter 181: A Method to Survive Through a Cataclysm
Whether it was dealing with the veil once more to send Yeo Seong-Gu to Seoul, or dealing with Odin to save their companions, they were all things that had to be done at the same time.
Gyeonggi-Do was under the domain of Odin. This meant that his eyes were all over the province. After all, that was how Odin’s ability worked. The Hunter had to have noticed that he had come to Gyeonggi-Do already.
‘But the location of this place hasn’t been discovered yet.’
That was why Won-Hwa and Hyeon-Mu had been able to find him and the others immediately after they had entered Gyeonggi-Do. They knew that Lee Jun-Kyeong would come to Gyeonggi-Do one day. In addition, Odin’s field of vision would catch him, so they waited every day in order to find him first. That way, they could bring him away first and make sure this place wasn’t found.
Sangun ruled over Mt. Cheonma and protected the people. He managed everything here quite systematically, which was completely different from what he had seen in Mt. Baekdu.
Moreover, Sangun actually looked human. Taking it a step further, Sangun looked like an old man who had gone through hell and high water. Lee Jun-Kyeong couldn’t even guess as to what the hell had happened to Sangun and the others in the time that they had been apart. The first reveal of this chapter happened through n(0/)vel(b)(j)(n).
“Everyone will begin their preparations,” Won-Hwa said, standing next to Lee Jun-Kyeong.
Mt. Cheonma was bustling with activity. Everyone had been preparing for the day that Lee Jun-Kyeong would come for them. It would be the day of their revenge.
“Our revenge..”
The Hunters of Mt. Cheonma were more intense than any other Hunters that Lee Jun-Kyeong had seen. With intense expressions, each exhaled an almost palpable bloodlust. Although the level of their strength wasn’t that high, their fighting spirit was one that had to be acknowledged.
“Mr. Lee..”
"I know. I will focus on recovering as much as possible.”
Lee Jun-Kyeong was the key to it all. Whether it was Sangun, Hyeon-Mu, or even Won-Hwa, none of them could beat Odin. The only person who could do so was Lee Jun-Kyeong.
“Mr. Jeong seems to be quite fired up as well,” Won-Hwa said as he looked over to a corner of the cave.
“Anger paralyzes the body!”
Jeong In-Chang was educating the residents, shouting quite loudly. He, with his body recovering in a blink of an eye, had been in charge of training the residents.
After a week, the rebellion would begin. They would take away the right to rule Gyeonggi-Do, and Jeong In-Chang wanted to help them reach that goal even if there was only a short period of time before they fought.
In addition, there were others as well.
“Can you.. can you try calling me Hyung?”
–I am not sure of my gender.
“Then..Oppa..?”[1]
Over in a different corner, two gloomy beings, Hyeon-Mu and Hel, were conversing.
“What the hell happened to Hyeon-Mu, by the way?” Lee Jun-Kyeong asked Won-Hwa, as he didn’t care how he found out. It didn’t matter if he asked directly, checked the status window, or investigated it himself.
He wanted to know how Hyeon-Mu had changed into his current form, which was similar to that of a human. However, Hyeon-Mu was currently relaxing and talking to Hel, so Lee Jun-Kyeong didn’t wish to interrupt their time just to talk to Hyeon-Mu about what he had gone through and weigh what had happened.
“Even Hyeon-Mu doesn’t know exactly. His appearance just changed after Fenrir was captured and taken away,” Won-Hwa said as he looked at Hyeon-Mu.
“Hyeon-Mu seems to have felt a sense of shame and a lack of strength for not having been able to protect Fenrir and Ungnyeo. He most likely was under great stress.”
“...”
“And in the midst of all of that, Hyeon-Mu suddenly changed. It was to the point that even he himself had been surprised.”
Hyeon-Mu hadn’t just simply changed his appearance.
In Lee Jun-Kyeong’s hazy memories, and even in the aura that he could feel emanating from his Familiar at this very moment, he could tell Hyeon-Mu had grown a lot. He could feel it.
Lee Jun-Kyeong slowly looked around the cave.
These people..even in the midst of the cataclysm, they had learned how to survive.’
Then, at that moment, a Hunter approached Lee Jun-Kyeong and lowered his head.
“Sangun has called for you.”
Lee Jun-Kyeong grinned as he remembered how the same thing had happened at Mt. Baekdu.
“I’ll be back,” he said, taking a step forward.
After all, Sangun, that brat, had called out to him.
***
Unlike Yeo Seong-Gu, who had met Sangun as soon as he had arrived, Lee Jun-Kyeong hadn’t met with him yet. By the time that Lee Jun-Kyeong had woken up from his treatment, Sangun had gone somewhere.
“Woohoo!!!”
.
Now that the departed Sangun had returned, the people started cheering. The entirety of Mt. Cheonma was the territory of Sangun, and even Odin wasn’t able to easily observe it, let alone invade it.
‘He probably doesn’t even know a place like this exists here.’
Lee Jun-Kyeong had been examining the unusual aura that spread out through Mt. Cheonma. It wasn’t mana or anything similar. Instead, it was rather an energy unique to the formation surrounding Mt. Cheonma, and it was a barrier that exuded an ominous aura as well.
“Sangun..”
It was so strange that Lee Jun-Kyeong had an intuition regarding the change in the Familiar. Mt. Cheonma was ringing as the people cheered as they waited for their savior guardian.
Thud.
Finally, someone entered the cave.
“...!”
Unlike the others who were cheering at the figure’s arrival, Lee Jun-Kyeong’s response was a frozen expression and wide eyes.
“That’s..”
That was Sangun? The figure was a half-man, half-beast, and too ambiguous to describe as a human or a beast. Furthermore, the energy he exuded was clear.
“Lee Jun-Kyeong.”
“Sangun.”
He felt like a monster. Lee Jun-Kyeong and Sangun faced each other, and the two, finally having met after a long time, held out their hands without saying a word.
“Woohoo!!!”
One was a guardian who protected the people, while the other was a savior who would save them from being oppressed. The people's cheers echoed through the cave.
“...”
“...”
However, when they met, neither’s expressions were very good. They looked at each other as if they were inspecting one another, trying to uncover something from each other’s appearance.
Rather than saying that he was a companion that Lee Jun-Kyeong had met after a long time, it seemed more like..more like meeting an enemy.
Sangun finished the handshake and then started unpacking the things that he was carrying on his back. Without pause, things were tumbling out of the massive bag he had on his shoulders.
It was food. Sangun went out every day to get food, which, living in a cave, the residents would inevitably lack.
“Please take your time and take what you need,” Sangun said in a low-pitched voice, leaving the food for the Hunters to handle as he came back to stand next to Lee Jun-Kyeong again.
“The things we have to talk about..”
“It seems there is quite a bit of it.”
The two walked out together as Won-Hwa looked over at them very suspiciously. After the changes to Sangun, Won-Hwa had long been wary of the Familiar.
***
Sangun's residence.
Lee Jun-Kyeong and Sangun were there, speaking.
“It’s quite different from your dwelling over at Mt. Baekdu, isn’t it?” said Lee Jun-Kyeong as he looked over Sangun’s residence.
At Mt. Baekdu, Sangun’s residence had been similar to that of a cave. It was a place where nothing existed and one could just walk around. However, it was completely different from where they currently stood.
“Almost as if..”
"You'd think I was human."
It wasn’t fancy, but there were still some decorations and a bed. But it was a completely different look from what he had seen before. Also, Sangun also had a completely different appearance.
“What happened?” Lee Jun-Kyeong said to Sangun.
Sangun quietly took out a teacup and handed it to the Hunter. It really was different.
'He looks like a real person,’ Lee Jun-Kyeong thought.
He shuddered a moment when he saw the sight of Sangun being hospitable again. Sangun took a step back and sat down, seemingly aware of Lee Jun-Kyeong’s reaction.
“Your question is related to my transformation, right?”
“Yes.”
“...”
Sangun sipped his tea with an incomprehensible smile, and when he put down the teacup, his smile was gone. Sangun looked over at Lee Jun-Kyeong. Without answering, his gaze just scanned the surroundings.
“...”
Finally, he responded to the silent Lee Jun-Kyeong, “The change didn’t just happen to me.”
He then continued, “The whole world has changed. You called it the cataclysm.”
“...”
“The cataclysm did the same to me.”
Sangun opened and closed his fists, examining the movement of his muscles.
“This wasn’t a change that had happened because I had wanted it.”