Chapter 64: Land of Ice Pt. 4

“Are you feeling a little more lucid?”

It was awkward for Lee Jun-Kyeong to be on the other side of the question, being the one to ask it instead of hearing it as always. Most of the time, he had been the person who had collapsed, and someone else had been the one to ask him if he was aware.

“W.. where are we..?”

However, things were different right now. Jeong In-Chang responded to him in a hazy voice, staring back at Lee Jun-Kyeong, who had been taking care of him.

“Where do you think we are? It’s the gate,” Lee Jun-Kyeong responded sarcastically and playfully. Jeong In-Chang immediately stood up. He could feel that his body was much lighter than normal.

"W.. what did you do to me?" Jeong in-Chang sputtered, “Can you not say things that could be easily misunderstood?”

Lee Jun-Kyeong responded by putting his hand on his forehead as he watched Jeong In-Chang fluster while groping his upper body.

“No, that’s..”

Jeong In-Chang was more focused on understanding the state of his body than paying attention to Lee Jun-Kyeong. He stood up and moved his body around and even kicked off the ground and ran for a bit.

“How did this..”

Jeong In-Chang’s forehead furrowed in disbelief, almost like a question mark.

“Did you pick up an elixir somewhere along the way?” he asked.

The fabled elixir. It was a legendary potion that was rumored to have been obtained by someone with a powerful Sponsor and was said to be able to bring the dead back to life.

“No, that’s not it.”

However, there was no way that something like that could have been given to Jeong In-Chang.

‘Does he even know how precious an elixir is?’

As if he didn’t care what Lee Jun-Kyeong’s thoughts were, rather than inspecting his own body, he looked around his surroundings as if he was searching for something.

“What are you looking for?” asked Lee Jun-Kyeong.

He responded despondently as if he had lost the world, “My sword.. I lost it..”

Jeong In-Chang had decided to swing his sword around after he had inspected his changed body, but there were no greatswords around him or in his inventory. Hence, he was looking around to find it.

He was now awake and was in the best physical condition—no, he was even better than that. The only issue was that his vision was a bit blurry because he had just regained consciousness. As his vision began to return, it was only then that he was able to find his sword.

“Keugah.. keugah..”

He saw an ogre that hadn’t stopped breathing yet, and his greatsword was piercing through its belly. The ogre was so gigantic that his greatsword seemed like an epee. Jeong In-Chang looked over at Lee Jun-Kyeong.

The other Hunter said dryly, “We’ve become too close for me to take the last hit away from you, Mr. Jeong.”

“Wow.” Jeong In-Chang was taken aback by Lee Jun-Kyeong’s remarks for a moment.

Lurch.

He then began to approach the ogre, his staggering body slowly straightening upright. The ogre was definitely dying, but it was strange that it hadn’t died yet. But, unlike Jeong In-Chang’s body, which seemed much better than it had been before, the ogre in front of him was the same, on the edge of death.

“Also..” Lee Jun-Kyeong’s voice came from behind his back. “It seems like it’s no longer a monster..”

As Jeong In-Chang listened to the incomprehensible words, he approached the ogre. The red-eyed ogre’s eyes turned to look back at him. Although they were still ferocious, there was no longer any hostility in them, no longer any madness.

Instead, even though it had been stabbed in the stomach by his sword, its eyes seemed gentle and warm.

He could feel it.

‘Did we form a bond?’

It was a ridiculous notion. Still, he thought for a moment about the words Lee Jun-Kyeong had said that he couldn’t understand.

‘To think he would say that it’s no longer a monster.’

"It must have been excruciating,” he finally said to the ogre, unable to figure out what else to say. Even as he stood there, thinking, the ogre gasped for breath as it suffered. Although the creature may not have been able to understand what he was saying, Jeong In-Chang spoke with the utmost sincerity. They had fought to kill each other, but in the process, they had developed a strange bond. It was to the point where he felt remorseful for leaving it in this state for so long.

‘Am I crazy?'

He was startled for a moment by the fact that he felt warmth towards a monster.

Clench.

Jeong In-Chang grasped the handle of the greatsword in his hand. He could feel a strength he had never felt before in his grasp. It was time to let go of the ogre that must have been suffering greatly. Pulling it out would put an end to its misery.

“Goodbye.”

He couldn’t put his finger on why he had these feelings, but it was clear that he had been able to grow thanks to the ogre. Regardless of how it came about, he was thankful for the monster. Jeong In-Chang finished his goodbyes and pulled out his greatsword.

Then, a voice rang out.

[You have saved the princess.]

“The.. princess?” he asked.

He really couldn’t understand the last notification, but he soon began to hear a stream of more incomprehensible statements.

[<Ogre Prince Siegfried> has designated the Ogre Mage as a princess.]

[<Ogre Prince Siegfried> heals the Ogre Mage.]

Jeong In-Chang couldn’t figure out what the hell was going on. He just stood there blankly as the notifications flew in.

Clap, clap, clap.

After the notifications finished, he could hear Lee Jun-Kyeong’s applause in the background. In the middle of the unbelievable sequence of circumstances, Jeong In-Chang’s next move was to speak to the ogre.

“You.. were, uh, are female?”

He spoke to the monster that was suddenly being enveloped in a blue light.

***

No one knew the exact identities or the purpose of the Sponsors. However, there were some guesses about their identities. These guesses stemmed from the titles they had given to the Incarnations they supported and the true names that they revealed.

‘Park Jae-Hyun is in a similar situation.’

Lee Jun-Kyeong had speculated that Park Jae-Hyun’s Sponsor was the God of Blacksmiths. Because of that, he had further speculated that the Sponsor was the progenitor of the Dvergr race.

The true name of a Sponsor referred to the Sponsor’s presumptive identity, and it would only appear after it made its incarnation into a Hero.

"<Ogre Prince Siegfried>..."

Jeong In-Chang repeated the name over and over again as if he had been possessed by something.

"The Ogre Prince.."

Soon, the word Siegfried had been omitted.

"Ogre..."

Soon after that, the word ogre had been omitted as well. Then, his eyes turned to a single bizarre doll sitting on his shoulder.

“Coo?”

It resembled the red-eyed ogre that he had fought with to the death, though it was wearing a red doll’s dress that didn’t at all match its appearance. He wondered what was so special about the princess..

“It’s a Familiar,” Lee Jun-Kyeong interrupted. It was because he couldn’t just watch the Hunter mutter about blankly, as if he was still in shock.

“A Familiar..?” Jeong In-Chang asked blankly.

As a kind of sponsorship gifted by a Sponsor, a Familiar was meant to support the Incarnation of the Sponsor and therefore held a corresponding power. However, in the original history, Lee Jun-Kyeong had never heard of Siegfried having a Familiar, or even the existence of a princess.

Although he couldn’t be completely sure, he inferred that it was most likely a Familiar.

‘If I look at it using the mana stream..’

The doll-like ogre that sat on Jeong In-Chang’s shoulder was bound to the Hunter with something that seemed like a thick cord, just like he and Hyeon-Mu.

“It’s similar to Hyeon-Mu,” Lee Jun-Kyeong said.

Jeong In-Chang blinked. "Ah..!"

“Congratulations once again. You’ve finally become a real hero and earned yourself a title, although the Familiar is a bit surprising."

"Keugho!"

The ogre raised its hands high as if it was annoyed by Lee Jun-Kyeong’s words. Maybe it was because of how it had shrunk or because of the dress it had been given, but at first glance, it looked cute to him.

‘Has something been put into my eyes?’

Though, the red eyes didn’t change.

‘To think the ogre mage has become a Familiar..’

There was another thing that was odd about Jeong In-Chang’s Familiar. It wasn’t that it had been called a princess or even that the Hunter had been sponsored, something that initially hadn’t existed. It was that the Familiar was something that Jeong In-Chang had fought and that he had been sponsored with a Familiar from a gate monster.

‘I mean, it’s not like it’s never happened before..’

But it wasn’t something that he knew in detail. So with that thought, he said to Jeong In-Chang, “You’ll have to protect it well.”

“Pardon?”

Lee Jun-Kyeong explained, “It said that it was a princess. If <The Prince on a White Horse> can't save a princess..."

At the sight of Lee Jun-Kyeong shrugging without finishing his sentence, Jeong In-Chang’s face grew even redder. He still couldn’t quite understand it.

"Have you decided on a name?" asked Lee Jun-Kyeong.

"Not yet,” Jeong In-Chang said, with an expression that said he had given up on everything.

“G.. ooongje.”

"What?" The initial posting of this chapter occurred via n(0))vel(b)(j)(n).

The ogre doll had opened its mouth all of a sudden. It spoke an awkward but clear human language.

“G.. ooongje.”

“G.. ooongje? Is that your name?”

It shook its head negatively at Jeong In-Chang’s words.

“G.. ooongje.”

“You can’t be.. are you saying that you’re a princess?”

The doll nodded, and the voices of the Sponsors rang out.

[<The Prince on a White Horse> smiles happily.]

[<The Sky of the Apocalypse> bursts into laughter at the ridiculous situation.]

As Siegfried had already heard its true name, the Sponsor had gone back to using the name <The Prince on a White Horse> again.

In the end, Jeong In-Chang shut his mouth and started to walk forward.

‘Hmm.’

Lee Jun-Kyeong was lost in thought. It was good that Jeong In-Chang had been bestowed a title, and it was good that he had obtained the ogre mage as a Familiar.

But, one thing bothered him.

‘Did he really survive against the ogre mage?’

If he exaggerated a little, the ogre mage had a level of strength comparable to that of Heracles. But, of course, it wasn’t really of the right tier to be compared to Heracles. Although the ogre mage was utterly dominated by madness, and it mainly attacked with obvious patterns, Jeong In-Chang shouldn’t have known about any of that.

Lee Jun-Kyeong was baffled by how the Hunter had survived.

Even if he had learned a lot from the battle with Heracles, it wouldn’t have been easy. Instead, Lee Jun-Kyeong decided that the exact details would have to be found later after he watched the Hunter for a while.

"By the way, how did you get here?" Jeong In-Chang asked.

"You really took your time with that one, didn’t you?” Lee Jun-Kyeong remarked. He continued in response to the question, “I had heard that it took you a day or two at the most to clear a gate, but you didn’t come out of the gate that you had currently been raiding even after three days. So I came here because I was worried.”

Of course, he also had some concerns because of the uniqueness of the ogre village.

“Mr.. Mr. Lee..” Jeong In-Chang said, feeling touched.

“Also, I had something that I wanted to talk about.”

“Oh.. what is it?”

Lee Jun-Kyeong pointed over at something. “Wouldn’t it be better to deal with that first and then talk?”

It was the boss of the ogre village, the twin-headed ogre.

“This was a gate you had planned to attack, so please see it through, Mr. Jeong.”

“All right.”

Jeong In-Chang took a step forward and started walking. He had wanted to end it himself anyway.

‘This..’

Whether it was regarding the changes to his body, or the power of a Hero running through his veins, Jeong In-Chang could clearly feel the Hero-Level strength he had gained by receiving a title. It was an explosive power that felt as if it was about to burst. He wondered to himself if he’d be able to face Heracles now with this new power.

But soon, he found himself shaking his head, dropping the notion. To think he would be that deluded. Although the power he had obtained at the moment was great, the image of Heracles running wild came up again in his mind.

At least for now, it wasn't enough

However, he had still gained strength and grew even further. In the future, he’d likely grow more!

Jeong In-Chang ran forward and swung his greatsword as if he had been afflicted with middle schooler syndrome.

'Is that..'

Lee Jun-Kyeong saw the blue flames emitting from Jeong In-Chang’s greatsword. He was struck by the sight.

‘A mana stream..?’

No, to be precise, it wasn’t exactly a mana stream. It was only a facet of the technique, one of the basic principles that was able to utilize a greater percentage of the mana one emitted, learned through a Hunter’s repeated training and repetition.

“So that’s what it was.”

He could see how Jeong In-Chang had survived the battle with the ogre mage. Although it was only one of the principles of the mana stream, with that alone, one would be able to use a much greater power to some extent.

However, Lee Jun-Kyeong was still confused as to how the Hunter had learned it.

‘Even if it's only a basic principle, it would still need an appropriate foundation of mana.’

Then, he discovered the reason.

Sparkle.

It was the red Dragon’s Bloodstone that was embedded in the Hunter’s greatsword.

‘If it’s that..’

Although he was beginning to piece together what had happened, Lee Jun-Kyeong shook his head and moved on. The important thing was Jeong In-Chang had survived, and even if his assumptions were correct, it wasn’t as if this was something that would harm the Hunter.

Rather, he thought that it might actually be beneficial instead.

“Ha-eup!”

Jeong In-Chang faced the twin-headed ogre with a shout, swinging his greatsword like a fish in water. However, this state only lasted for a short while.

“Gooongje!”

A loud shout echoed through the gates.

"Uh..?"

"Uh..?"

Both Lee Jun-Kyeong and Jeong In-Chang were left flabbergasted, and their mouths fell open in bewilderment at the sudden situation.

“Gooongje!”

It was that bastard that called itself a princess, Jeong In-Chang’s Familiar, that sat on his shoulder.

Tear!

All of a sudden, the princess grew taller and tore apart the twin-headed ogre.

“Gooongje!”

"It.." Lee Jun-Kyeong looked at the sight and spoke to himself. “...doesn’t look like it would need a prince..”

1. The word for a princess in Korean is ?? (Gong Ju). However, as the ogre can’t speak properly, it’s not saying the word correctly.

2. This may be more commonly known as Chunibyo, and is used to describe kids, usually in middle school, who have convinced themselves that they have some sort of secret power or knowledge and are the “chosen one.”