9. Intercontinental Conference (2)
The Unblessed who were in charge of the overall affairs of the Boreudo Empire. Among them, those with some access to the truth regarding the Summoned took it very seriously.
Even an empire had its limits when it came to doing as it pleased. Fortunately, the emperor did not ignore the life-or-death remonstrations of the Unblessed administrators, and after a month had passed, the intensity of the training had noticeably decreased, or so it was said.
As they say, a single good deed by a villain carried more impact than the continuous good deeds of a virtuous person.
The Summoned were satisfied with the incredibly comfortable training schedule that arrived after one month, and fortunately, it was said that the number did not decrease significantly after that.
“It was comfortable until just before the one-year mark.”
And finally, the fateful day arrived. The day they had predicted that the one-year training period would come to an end.
Everyone gathered on the training grounds just like on the first day, and unlike the beginning, the emperor appeared in a warm atmosphere, spoke words of special praise for them, and blessed the future of the Summoned and of Earth.
Fireworks created with magic adorned the ceiling of the training grounds, and the knights’ sword auras brightly illuminated the surroundings.
And then...
Of course, the Summoned did not return.
“Hey... what the hell. Why aren’t we going back?”
“Dunno. Ask the Doumi... Huk!”
The Summoned asked the Doumi and realized that the training period was not one year, and there was no way a transcendent being like the emperor would not hear their whispering voices.
The emperor, a man of loyalty, and the empire’s machos were furious.
“You vermin!”
The Earthlings’ vision went dark.
The irrational rage of the machos returned as a drastic increase in training intensity, and it was said that the heightened training intensity had not decreased even now, four years later.
Whether it was misfortune or fortune.
Having been deeply culturally indoctrinated by the Boreudo Empire’s macho ideology for that one year, the Summoned—save for an extreme minority—displayed an unbreakable camaraderie, and it was said that they had become the nation with the most Summoned remaining to this day.
“And I’m from the Magic Mountain, yet they make me learn martial arts by beating trees thousands of times a day?!”
And unfortunately, Han Hyeongho was one of the extreme minority who had not been tainted by macho ideology.
“I thought I could finally go home now... I was looking forward to it...”
Han Hyeongho had not even touched alcohol for four years. Trembling at the comfortable rest that had finally come, he drank with I Jeongjin through that entire night.
The next day.
“Hyung, are you going to be okay?”
“Urrrgh...”
“I’ll go out alone, so please rest here.”
“Ah, no... There are people I need to introduce you to...”
“They said even people who’ve mastered mana suffer from this alcohol, yet you drank so foolishly like that.”
“Groan...”
Forcing his body, which was suffering from a hangover, to rise, Han Hyeongho led I Jeongjin around and introduced him to the people staying in various sectors.
“The Ollokans have gained general knowledge through interacting with Earthlings, so they’re dividing and housing people by continent and by nation.”
Unbeknownst to I Jeongjin, he had reportedly been unconscious for over a day.
“I also received a general introduction yesterday, but when I heard you might wake up, I stayed here.”
Han Hyeongho guided him to the dining hall and informed him that there was a gathering of fellow Republic of Korea citizens after lunch.
At first, I Jeongjin gently expressed his refusal. His judgment was that it would do no good for political movements to begin already when the training period was not yet over.
Moreover, this place was the very heart of a secret organization to which the emperors of the three empires belonged.
“Hmm...”
But Han Hyeongho judged that this process was absolutely necessary. It was a conclusion reached during the discussion among the Summoned who had gathered yesterday at lunch.
‘There must be a reason they have gathered us in one place like this. Even if Summoned under Level 50 gathered and schemed, they wouldn’t amount to a single meal for that emperor we saw back then. In the end, they are judging us from a different perspective. When Summoned form groups, they want to see whether we use it as a driving force for growth, and whether Earthlings are worth investing over five years...’
Having somewhat understood I Jeongjin’s arduous training logs and the tangled state of his mind caused by them during yesterday’s drinking party, Han Hyeongho did not press the matter any further.
“But I think now is the only time we can gather and discuss like this. We meet every evening after dinner to discuss skills and future courses of action, so it wouldn’t be bad to attend if you’re interested.”
“Yes, I’ll think about it. Then I’ll go train in the Mana Breathing Technique. Since mana accumulates here to a frightening degree, I feel like I should spend all my spare time training in the Mana Breathing Technique or practicing.”
Giving a perfunctory reply to Han Hyeongho’s words, he headed toward the training hall assigned to the Summoned.
‘Every action of the Summoned would be reported to them without exception. If we’ve been gathered to discuss our treatment, yet we neglect our training and only engage in politicking, that clearly won’t end well.’
I Jeongjin judged thus.
Except for Han Hyeongho, who was staying in the same room, he did not meet any other Koreans during the week that passed, focusing solely on the Mana Breathing Technique.
* * *
‘Doumi. Give me the explanation for Byeolmuri again.’
[Byeolmuri (Lv 10, —, Rare): A Mana Breathing Technique not originating from the planet Olloka. It can achieve infinite development depending on the user’s disposition. However, there exist stages of training impossible to learn with human spiritual abilities. Through the system’s assistance, modification of Byeolmuri to suit the user, I Jeongjin, is possible, but the user’s capacity has not yet reached that level.]
“Huu...”
I Jeongjin gathered the grains of light circulating throughout his entire body into one point.
When he opened his palm and focused his mind, shallow iridescent grains surfaced.
However, neither the intensity of the light nor the diversity of colors reached a level he found satisfactory.
Byeolmuri was a greedy Mana Breathing Technique that missed nothing—not the energy of the planet, the user’s inherent life energy that handled mana, the stellar energy pouring down from the universe, and so on.
All existence held the potential to become a Transcendent. That was the logic Byeolmuri emphasized.
But lower races found it difficult to reach the height of ascension with just a single light, that is, a single possibility of transcendence. Therefore, they obtained every origin they could and bloomed and applied the transcendental possibilities within them one by one to elevate the potential of the ‘self.’
It collected without discarding even the mana that would be treated as ‘impurities’ to be discarded and refined in ordinary Mana Breathing Techniques. Energy was information, and mana was a higher energy. Byeolmuri, which perceived the accumulated information within each and every mana particle discarded as impurity and bloomed them, was certainly a training method too arduous for humans to learn.
‘So Byeolmuri had such a drawback.’
It had already been half a year since Byeolmuri reached Level 10. During that time, I Jeongjin had obtained various skills and expanded his knowledge as he researched methods to improve Byeolmuri.
He had been prepared for this, but it left a bitter taste. Yet he couldn’t just discard a Mana Breathing Technique he had trained for five years and learn a new one.
The Doumi had clearly stated that modifying Byeolmuri to suit I Jeongjin was possible. He did not doubt the Doumi’s words, having already experienced Ilseom evolving into Seomjeon.
Originally, a higher-tier Mana Breathing Technique like Byeolmuri was not something someone of I Jeongjin’s level could dare touch, but with the system’s help, he had been able to continue his efforts to find clues without giving up.
Now, there was truly only one piece left.
“A Divine Tree? This giant tree we’re staying in? If I stay here just one more month, I feel like I could see something, no matter what it is.”
And even that piece was slowly lifting its veil.
The problem was that although it was called one piece, the truth was that it was nearly impossible for a beginner in his fifth year since entering this new world to fill that piece.
“I don’t know. Let’s just study the rest.”
He would try it for now, and if it didn’t work, he would move on to something else. Having cleanly organized his thoughts, I Jeongjin stretched and left the training hall.
He walked down the cleanly organized corridor, looking around here and there out of curiosity.
A corridor decorated as lavishly as a luxury hotel. And dodecahedron-shaped jewels scattered from the ceiling, casting soft, luxurious light wide below.
“Hiding such technology so thoroughly while on the outside they ride horses everywhere and burn firewood to wash up... My compliments to the Ollokans.”
Distractedly sightseeing as he walked, he was startled to see people wandering about in medieval knight attire.
I Jeongjin approached one of the passing knights. By the crest engraved on the armor, he was unmistakably a noble of the Heram Empire.
[Seirun (Lv 149)]
“What is it, Earthling? Entry below here is forbidden.”
“Is there a library that we are permitted to enter? Since I’ve come all this way, I was thinking of studying during my spare time.”
The knight named Seirun displayed a satisfied expression at I Jeongjin’s words and guided him to a library he was permitted to browse.
“Wow...”
The mounts they had ridden in on had already been unusual, but the library Seirun guided him to was something else entirely. The place called a ‘library’ was filled not with bookshelves but with thin, semi-transparent glass panels.
In the three-story library, no books were visible; instead, hexagonal metal objects emitting blue light were neatly inserted into the glass panels. And below the metal, brief explanations were written in the Ollokan common tongue.
Watching I Jeongjin’s jaw drop in admiration, Seirun explained the library in detail.
“Unfortunately, copying and note-taking are impossible. And for research, start here... if you’re looking for basic magic formula texts, begin from this section...”
Seirun diligently explained about the library, then patted I Jeongjin on the back in encouragement.
“Do your best, Earthling. I do not wish for your world to perish either.”
As Seirun said this and tried to leave, I Jeongjin grabbed him.
“Hmm? What is it?”
“I...”
I Jeongjin hesitated, then spoke.
“How do I use... these to read?”
I Jeongjin took out one of the objects in the library and held it out to Seirun.
The ‘book’ Seirun had handed him was a blue-glowing metal piece similar in size to a USB device.
“...”
Seirun stared at I Jeongjin as if looking at a primitive being, then let out a deep sigh before explaining how to use the ‘book.’
“Ahem! Best of luck!”
“T-thank you...”
I Jeongjin was so embarrassed that steam might as well have risen from his face.
“Thank you very much!”
As if to forget his embarrassment, I Jeongjin bowed deeply once more. He read the ‘book’ Seirun had first handed him.
“A hologram, seriously...”
When he channeled a certain amount of mana into the metal plate called a ‘book,’ blue light emanated from a small jewel embedded in the center, drawing an image adjusted to his face height.
What he was studying were early-model combat weapons created by the Ollokans.
Since it required knowledge of at least high-intermediate level magic formulas, he could not reproduce them with his current knowledge, but he memorized them over and over with the thought that if he shared them with smart people back on Earth, something might come of it.
But...
“It’s too complicated!”
I Jeongjin, exhausted from memorizing magic formulas, slumped over his chair. Having only just mastered the basics of magic formulas, he struggled to even cram advanced formulas into his head, let alone understand them.
If one considered the magic formulas of the Ollokan continent, one could see how reckless his actions were.
The Ollokan magic system was composed of changes in straight lines and curves like a drawing. In the basic course, magic was reproduced through the changes created by the dynamic movement of mana. And as one moved into advanced fields, the number of geometric shapes to memorize increased astronomically.
Furthermore, one had to learn spatial mathematics and higher-dimensional mathematics to explain the changes caused by the momentum of mana and its collision methods. One plus one is two. But if a horizontal one and a vertical one meet, it’s zero. If they cross without meeting, it’s 2x, and the variables differ depending on their respective velocities and excited states...
Although he had learned the equivalent of two encyclopedia volumes’ worth of magic formulas and theory over two years of studying them, completing the intermediate course required at least ten times that amount.
To put very simply what he was attempting, it was akin to watching a space shuttle launch on Earth, memorizing it by rote, and then trying to reproduce the same feat on the planet Olloka by gut feeling alone, without any mathematical or physical knowledge.
For a mere spearman in his twenties with an intelligence stat to attempt such a thing, calling it reckless was practically a compliment.
“They say you travel by carriage? What? It takes half a year to get here? You insidious humans...”
Eventually, I Jeongjin gave up on memorizing magic formulas. He rummaged through the library and investigated the production principles of items that were impossible to refine through physical or chemical means, including magic metals.
And...
“Damn it! I don’t know! Why does making a single part require so many magic formulas like this?!”
He got annoyed after flipping through the hologram a few times.
“I can’t. I can’t... If tens of thousands came, there must be plenty smarter than me... They’ll figure it all out. People summoned to other dimensions besides Olloka will have researched their own planets’ magic and returned...”
He sighed, about to give up.
“...”
He focused on the hologram again.
Because he was afraid.
Of the massive wave of change that early Blessed would face, which he came to know the more he studied Olloka’s history. And of the battle against dimensional beings.
Unlike the very few Summoned like I Jeongjin, he worried about the majority who would spend their training period in the ‘standard space’ called Chaowon. He worried about a future where those who had learned only primitive ways of handling mana without any knowledge of magic would be marginalized. He worried about yet another conflict arising from that discrimination.
Seirun, who had guided him to the library, had said:
“Do your best, Earthling. I do not wish for your world to perish either.”
If Olloka’s ancestors, who had undergone a mere one-year training period, had experienced the shocking event of a 20% survival rate, what would happen to Earth, which had over five years?
I Jeongjin had endured each day thinking of that. Sometimes, he would wake up at dawn trembling and swing his spear through the night.
Sacrificing the present for the future was an unbearably heavy burden for a mere 25-year-old job-seeking young man.
A soft chime rang in his ears as he rested his elbows on the desk and covered his face with both hands.
*Ding~*
“The library browsing hours are over...”
Rubbing his eyes, I Jeongjin left the library.
The next day.
Han Hyeongho approached I Jeongjin, who was eating breakfast alone in the corner of the communal dining hall.
“Jeongjin-ah, are you going straight to the library?”
I Jeongjin, who had been admiring the food that was qualitatively different from that of the Carbon Territory, was not exactly pleased by his approach. By nature, he enjoyed eating alone, and he disliked having the pleasure of eating alone—a pleasure he could not feel in the Carbon Territory—disturbed.
“Yes, hyung. There is still much I haven’t seen. I don’t know how long the period will be, but since they called us here under the title of an Intercontinental Conference, there should be plenty of time.”
“Still...”
Han Hyeongho looked back disappointedly. I Jeongjin saw about thirty people gathered in the direction he was looking.
‘So those must be the Koreans...’
Suppressing the urge to frown, he answered Han Hyeongho with as even a face as possible.
“Hyung, you were educated in the imperial palace, so you could obtain whatever materials you wanted abundantly. I lived in a remote jungle corner, so I never knew when I’d get such advanced knowledge. I’m sorry.”
“Yeah... then it can’t be helped. Still, think it over seriously. Among us, there’s no other Summoned who obtained all three types like you—combat skills, magic formulas, and production skills. I really want to discuss that together.”
“Really? It wasn’t that difficult, though?”
As I Jeongjin stirred his fork indifferently, Han Hyeongho made an expression that said it made no sense.
“What do you mean? A spearman is a full-fledged combat class. I don’t know how you got magic formulas, but obtaining Magic Mastery and production skills is truly absurd.”
“For Magic Mastery, I just hung upside down, prepared boiling water below, and was dunked in it if I couldn’t cast 100 basic magic formulas within a set time. I repeated that for about three months, so I got it?”
“Huh... you even did that? Don’t tell me you got Alchemy and Smithing skills the same way?”
“Of course not.”
“Then...”
“I was placed in front of a furnace and hammered until my lungs were slightly burnt, then recovered, then dragged to the furnace and hammered until my skin festered. I repeated that for three months to obtain them.”
“...”
Han Hyeongho hung his head low and silently patted I Jeongjin’s shoulder.
“Alright. Anyway, think it over.”
“Yes, hyung. Take care.”
I Jeongjin saw him off.
Han Hyeongho, and the majority of Earthlings, judged that their futures would be determined by how usefully they spent the free time given to them without much restriction after five years of training.
I Jeongjin, and a minority of Earthlings, judged differently: that staying focused and unwavering, faithfully devoting themselves to training during the golden education period where a 10% growth rate correction was granted, was more important.
Neither of their judgments had a definitively right or wrong answer.
From a one-dimensional perspective, a single intelligent species could not dare oppose what the system demanded. Whether they liked it or not, they had to carry the Earthlings along until the training period ended.
Thus, the Ollokans had created this occasion to judge the Earthlings more multi-dimensionally, regardless of the method.
A world where science had developed without mana. A world where the law of gold was more important than the law of heaven. Earthlings whose ways of thinking were fundamentally different from theirs.
Those who had caused trouble from the early days of the training period were mostly weeded out over the five years, leaving only the cream of the crop. The leadership of the three empires wished to understand that cream of the crop more deeply.
Of course, the Summoned who did not know this fact were simply on edge.
‘Oh yeah? What are you glaring at me so angrily for?’
Some Koreans who had formed a group in the middle glared at him, but what did he care? If they bothered him when he returned to Earth, he could simply skewer them with his spear. That was what I Jeongjin thought.
Like it or not, I Jeongjin had been greatly assimilated into the Ollokan way of thinking.
After eating breakfast, I Jeongjin focused on Byeolmuri and then immediately holed himself up in the library.
As I Jeongjin was wrestling with magic formulas earnestly until evening, Seirun approached him.
“Ah! Yesterday...”
Seirun, having removed his knight’s armor, looked at the magic formula I Jeongjin was studying and clicked his tongue.
“You’re studying magic formulas that are too difficult. No matter how many benefits you receive from the system, ignoring the basics will stop your level-ups.”
Having said this, Seirun led I Jeongjin to a corner of the library.
“Seirun, there are Mana Manipulation Techniques scattered here too? Is it alright to leave them out like this?”
I Jeongjin walked around the library with Seirun, whom he had become fairly close to in a short time. Seirun smiled slightly at the Summoned who worried about everything.
“There’s no need to worry. Those are all records researched by the extreme few classes who knew about mana before the New Era. They hold no more value than mere records.”
Seirun took out one plate and channeled mana into it. In the hologram, a blue figure performed a fist technique, and red lines moved through the inside of the body in accordance with the motions. I Jeongjin realized that the movement of the red lines signified mana.
The movements of the mana were based on lower-dimensional logic to a degree incomparable with the imperial basic spear techniques he was learning. I Jeongjin watched it, desperately thinking of a word that wouldn’t offend Seirun.
“Quite... honest movements, aren’t they?”
That was the most consideration he could offer.
Seirun chuckled and accepted I Jeongjin’s consideration. He slowed the hologram’s movement to one-fourth its speed and explained each motion and the movement of mana.
“But strictly speaking, this is more efficient for the Unblessed to learn. We can invest in the Affinity stat to see the movement of mana intuitively, allowing us to obtain skills like Ilseom, but for the Unblessed, even that is difficult.”
Having said this, Seirun walked around the study and selected several dozen metal plates.
“Summoned I Jeongjin, you probably think that martial arts like the imperial basic spear techniques are the fundamentals of handling mana... but strictly speaking, these can be called the true basics. If you study them one by one, there will be much to gain. And they will be useful knowledge for the later generations of Unblessed in your world as well.”
“Hmm~”
I Jeongjin examined the plates indifferently. But he soon became completely absorbed in the simple yet profound movements of mana. The wisdom of ancestors who had tried to somehow express mana—a higher-dimensional energy that could not be conveyed through the five senses—was condensed into the several dozen plates Seirun had given him.
I Jeongjin focused on the movement paths of mana expressed by the hologram, even forgetting Seirun, who was staring at him intently from beside him. Seirun silently watched over I Jeongjin for a while, then left the library.
“Harder than you thought?”
Not knowing Seirun had left, I Jeongjin, who had been focusing on the plates, was surprised that the Mana Manipulation Techniques in the hologram contained simple yet profound logic.
*Ding~*
In the end, he focused on memorizing the plates Seirun had recommended until the library browsing hours ended.
I Jeongjin returned to his quarters, poured his energy into analyzing what he had memorized, and when morning came, he rushed to the library to look at the plates again and again.
Han Hyeongho, who stayed in the same room as him, struck up conversation about alliance whenever he had time to persuade I Jeongjin, but in the end, he could not break I Jeongjin’s stubbornness.
Thus, a week passed since the Intercontinental Conference began.
* * *
I Jeongjin thought.
‘Why am I suddenly so depressed and annoyed?’
He harbored doubts about his mental state, which was very different from a week ago.
Worrying, being pessimistic, and succumbing to fear.
‘Why is this happening...’
Even thinking blankly at the ceiling of the communal dining hall, the answer did not come easily.
Was he unable to adapt to the rapidly changing environment? No. If that made one depressed, he would have committed suicide five years ago.
Did he feel betrayed that the Ollokans hid their technology? That wasn’t it either. I Jeongjin vividly remembered the scene he had witnessed when he first unfolded the golden parchment.
‘Back then, a spaceship larger than dozens of apartment complexes combined fired a beam in space. The beam that grazed the giant dimensional being curved sideways and shattered an asteroid slightly smaller than the moon.’
Come to think of it, even aliens with such outstanding technology had ultimately failed to overcome the dimensional beings’ onslaught and perished; it was only natural that the Ollokans, who had sustained their civilization for 460 years, were stronger than those aliens.
The greater the Ollokans’ technology, the more knowledge he could learn during the training period. It was nothing but a gain for him, absolutely not a loss.
‘What could be the problem... Should I get advice from Elder Tolji when I return to the Carbon Territory?’
Ever since undergoing the torture-disguised-as-training two years ago, I Jeongjin had been calling Tolji ‘Elder.’
He was lost in deep thought.
So deep in thought that he forgot about the man picking a fight with him right in front of him.
Did his relaxed attitude rub the man the wrong way? The man standing before I Jeongjin grabbed his collar.
“Hey! Say something!”
[Bak Jonggwang (Lv 19, Indestructible)]
Han Hyeongho flusteredly tried to stop Bak Jonggwang.
“Jonggwang-hyungnim, please hold on. Jeongjin is thinking his own...”
“Is he the only one struggling?! We all got dragged here suddenly. Huh? Aren’t we supposed to think about this together? What makes him so special that he doesn’t show his face for a week?”
Bak Jonggwang. A man summoned to the Jjeuwellin Empire. A man who had barely reached Level 19 over five years.
‘Did I hit Level 20 by month 10? With the growth speed correction, Level 20 should be very easy to achieve... Though the problem is after 20.’
I Jeongjin’s level was 32. A growth speed of 12 levels over 4 years. Thus, Han Hyeongho, who was two levels higher, must have received even harsher training.
Although he was a mage, Han Hyeongho had received rough training in the Boreudo Empire for five years. If he wanted to, he had the strength to break Bak Jonggwang’s arm. However, he could do no more than that and was flusteredly trying to persuade Bak Jonggwang with words.
I Jeongjin was not pleased by that sight either.
Among the roughly four thousand Summoned remaining in the Boreudo Empire, Han Hyeongho was the only Korean. He was a man who had endured the unparalleled roughness of the Boreudo Empire’s training. There was a reason I Jeongjin found Han Hyeongho’s interference annoying but left him be.
Level was the trajectory of one’s life and the sum total of one’s efforts. Because of that, I Jeongjin respected Han Hyeongho. Han Hyeongho was not someone who deserved to be treated like that by a mere Level 19 Blessed.
“Hyung, did you insist on bringing me to the communal dining hall for this...?”
Buzz, buzz.
The Summoned in the dining hall watched the conflict between fellow Earthlings with interest.
“Hey... Jeongjin-ah! You too!”
Han Hyeongho was worried about the current situation. To be precise, he was worried not about I Jeongjin, but about Bak Jonggwang. Having been trained by the machos of the Boreudo Empire for five years, he knew all too well the meaning behind the look in I Jeongjin’s eyes.
It was the look in the eyes of Olloca’s war machines—those bearing the title of the Blessed—as they gazed upon the enemy.
“…….”
Lee Jeongjin stared at Bak Jonggwang with contempt. At the same time, he thought,
‘Why am I so annoyed and depressed?’
The start of their first clash was trivial.
Having followed Han Hyeongho into the communal cafeteria, Lee Jeongjin naturally parted ways with him, received his food, and headed for a corner. Then, as if it were only natural, he ate alone. Displeased by this, Bak Jonggwang threw a prickly greeting at Lee Jeongjin.
And Lee Jeongjin—the earthborn tongue trained by the Ollocans—did not take it lightly. Perhaps because his strangely gloomy mood had persisted, he displayed the skills he had honed over the past five years without holding back.
“The barbarians of Olloca value level over age, don’t they? Since it’s come to this, how about living as a nineteen-year-old? I’m the freshly graduated, lively Bak Jonggwang~ like this. Nice, it’s like rejuvenation.”
It was a simple jab. At least by Lee Jeongjin’s standards.
“I-Ik……!”
It was a devastating blow. By Bak Jonggwang’s standards.
From there, the two began to quarrel. Whenever Bak Jonggwang said a word, Lee Jeongjin retorted without fail, stoking the flames of the conflict.
Everyone has experienced it. The brief lull after a lengthy war of words. During that time, Lee Jeongjin explored his inner self to understand why he was so irritated, while Bak Jonggwang—interpreting it as disregard—could not contain his anger and grabbed Lee Jeongjin by the collar.
Then he lightly shoved Lee Jeongjin’s chest with a thud—!
That simple action caused the indestructible option applied between Lee Jeongjin and Bak Jonggwang to vanish.
And Lee Jeongjin automatically reacted to Bak Jonggwang’s provocation, which resembled combat. He raised his aura just as he had learned over five years.
“!!”
Bak Jonggwang reacted unconsciously to the aura Lee Jeongjin was emitting.
‘What kind of human is this……!’
Ignoring the goosebumps rising across his entire body, he acted on instinct. For all his worth, he too was a Summoner trained for five years in the Zwellin Empire. Bak Jonggwang, who had specialized in martial arts, threw a punch packed with mana at Lee Jeongjin’s jaw, just as he had been trained.
Swish. Thud—!
Lee Jeongjin lightly leaned back to avoid the opening blow, then subtly swung his leg to rattle Bak Jonggwang’s knee.
“Keuk……!”
Face reddening, Bak Jonggwang quickly corrected his posture and launched a full-fledged assault on Lee Jeongjin using the combat techniques he had mastered. Lee Jeongjin responded solely on the defensive.
He deflected Bak Jonggwang’s attacks—a blend of boxing and Muay Thai delivered with a mana-infused knife-hand—by turning them aside. Retreating exactly two and a half breaths per step, Lee Jeongjin gracefully deflected Bak Jonggwang’s assault.
In a way, the spaciousness of the communal cafeteria favored Bak Jonggwang. That is, it favored Bak Jonggwang, not Lee Jeongjin.
Had the cafeteria been narrow and Lee Jeongjin lacked room to retreat, the displeased man would clearly have launched a full-scale offensive, and Bak Jonggwang would have been fated to become decaying organic matter that had once been Blessed and human.
Han Hyeongho, watching the exchange between the two, shouted earnestly, not knowing what to do.
“Hey, Jeongjin! Please!”
Hearing Han Hyeongho’s cry, Bak Jonggwang’s pride was wounded. He was clearly the one with the advantage, so why were they trying to stop Lee Jeongjin?
‘Keung……!’
Bak Jonggwang forcibly raised his power, increasing the intensity of his mana.
The mana concentrated in their limbs grew stronger and stronger, and the sound of their clashes grew louder. The Earthlings watching from afar cheered and shouted at the dazzling fight between the two superhumans that made their eyes spin.
But Lee Jeongjin’s thoughts were different.
‘Boring. It’s boring and monotonous beyond compare.’
Lee Jeongjin was disappointed.
Only then did he understand why he had grown more depressed as time passed. He was disappointed in the other Summoners, in the other Earthlings.
Look at the people watching the two of them fight in the communal cafeteria. The majority were adults, but children and the elderly were visible as well. A boy who had just reached elementary school age, and an old man with wrinkles deeply etched into his face—they were all in this bizarre world.
The reason the Ollocans trained even them coldly and ruthlessly, without mercy, was because they knew the fear of destruction. It was because they had experienced fighting against endlessly swarming enemies with whom dialogue and negotiation were impossible.
Yet what about Bak Jonggwang, reddening his face and swinging his fists before his eyes? What about the adults who acted high and mighty simply because they were the majority?
“Keuhak!”
Lee Jeongjin swatted away Bak Jonggwang’s high kick with a smack! of his hand, as if chasing away a fly. He was pouring all his strength into restraining himself from cursing out the adult Summoners who watched this fight as if it were someone else’s problem from some distant world.
‘Sigh…….’
What about Koreun? Every day, he took soldiers and hunted monsters almost without rest. He had no leisure to enjoy the pleasures of human civilization.
What about Bereudo? Though he appeared on the outside to be a relaxed, romantic fat man, he went deep into the Salkir Jungle with Koreun and Tolji during the evenings when they were in their territory and hunted all night long. His son, Swain, divided his schedule by the minute for study and training, wasting his blooming youth like one who existed solely for that purpose.
Tolji, Marin, Jun, Hamon—regardless of age or gender, the Ollocans all knew that the shadow of death hung directly before them. And to avoid it, they had fought without cease.
Life was struggle itself. The absolute majority of non-Blessed, who did not know the truth about the dimensional species, also recognized this deep in their souls. Through the hundreds of millions of sacrifices that had continued for 460 years.
There were no heroes. No protagonists. Complaining about unfairness was useless. If one did not wish to be finely minced into the maws of monsters who could not be reasoned with, a life of training for self-reliance was the basic quality of an Ollocan.
‘I’ve become too lofty in my standards……’
Lee Jeongjin was afraid of returning to the mad world with these kinds of Earthlings, not Ollocans. That was why he had grown more depressed as time passed, refusing the communal cafeteria and eating alone in his quarters.
Pang! Paang!
At the noise of clashing crystallized mana filled with hostile intent, the Ollocans also entered the communal cafeteria to watch the two fight. Han Hyeongho approached those in knight’s attire and asked them to intervene, but they coldly refused his request.
‘They won’t stop it?’
Lee Jeongjin, bored with the fight, glanced at them.
[Voltan (Lv 69)]
When even the cafeteria cook had undergone his second job change, what was so great about showing off fighting skills before them?
Thud!
Finally, Lee Jeongjin’s back met the wall of the communal cafeteria as he retreated. Bak Jonggwang seized it as the perfect opportunity. He swung his elbow, targeting Lee Jeongjin’s temple.
‘Five times.’
That was the number of chances Bak Jonggwang had had to kill him barehanded from the moment he decided to drive his elbow down until he launched the attack.
Lee Jeongjin pondered for a moment, then created a mana blade on his knife-hand and gently brought it to Bak Jonggwang’s forearm.
Tkwa-k!
The sound of crystallized mana slicing through human flesh rang out.
“Kuaaack!”
Bak Jonggwang screamed, clutching his cleanly severed right forearm. The Summoners watching nearby also let out small groans, and Han Hyeongho—who appeared weak but had actually experienced combat no less than Lee Jeongjin—let out a small sigh.
‘To think he’s been trained by those barbarians for five years, yet he’s shrieking like that over losing an arm……’
As the saying goes, when you dislike one thing, you dislike everything about the other person; Lee Jeongjin came to detest Bak Jonggwang even more as he sat down wailing. He suppressed his strength and struck Bak Jonggwang’s neck bone.
Then he left the communal cafeteria.
“Enjoy the show?”
Fortunately, the knights watching the fight did not stop Lee Jeongjin. They skillfully retrieved Bak Jonggwang’s severed arm and recovered him.
* * *
‘I’m annoyed……’
Lee Jeongjin frowned while studying the board recommended by Seirun in the library. It angered him that Han Hyeongho, who was staying in the same quarters, was watching his cues as if he had done something wrong because of yesterday’s incident.
He pulled himself together and focused on the board again. But even that didn’t last ten minutes. Lee Jeongjin cut off the mana supplying the board and spoke in a low voice.
“Has the punishment been decided because of yesterday’s fight?”
Someone answered his muttering.
“Of course not. Getting an arm or two cut off while fighting when you’re young is something everyone goes through, isn’t it?”
It was Seirun, who had been standing behind Lee Jeongjin and quietly watching him.
“Not on Earth, it isn’t.”
“So this is Earth. Where is that soft lump of metal that moves slower than you run, emits needlessly complex and unpleasant smoke, and gives you a ride? I’d like to try one.”
“…….”
Lee Jeongjin pursed his lips.
Seirun smiled faintly, then activated the board and kindly pointed out the part where he thought Lee Jeongjin was stuck. Lee Jeongjin forgot his sharp retort from moments ago and became completely absorbed in the flow of mana expressed on the board.
Seirun, who had been watching this with interest, suddenly spoke.
“So that’s why Bereudo thinks well of you.”
“Huh? Ah! I’m sorry. I forgot for a moment…… Do you know Count Bereudo?”
“Needless to say. I was the one who helped him train when he was stuck on his third job advancement.”
Lee Jeongjin looked at him anew with fresh eyes.
‘Then that means he knew about me from the very first time we met?! These damn Ollocans……’
“Viscount Bereudo is……”
“You may call him Bereudo comfortably. I’ve heard everything about what you call him. Shall I tell you what you called him?”
Lee Jeongjin hesitated, but urged on by Seirun, he sighed and spoke.
“That his level and age have all gone to belly fat, that jungle fatso……”
“Puhahat!”
Hearing that, Seirun bent over and laughed heartily.
Embarrassed, Lee Jeongjin hung his head low.
After laughing for a long while, Seirun wiped away tears and patted Lee Jeongjin’s shoulder.
“Ah… I haven’t laughed like that in ages. That friend grew up without a penny to his name, so he has quite the appetite.”
“……”
“Anyway, I met Bereudo for a drink after a long time, and he praised you so much. He said that no matter how hard the training, you follow it diligently. Of course, he also said your cursing skills improve with fresh creativity every day.”
“Me?”
Lee Jeongjin found it hard to believe.
“I… I just ate the food Bereudo gave me like a parrot, that’s all……”
He half-meant it. Seirun gently but firmly denied this.
“Diligence is the greatest virtue. Especially for the Blessed, there is nothing more important than diligence.”
Seirun’s words were half right, half wrong. Talent was more important than anything else even for the Blessed. What was essential was a talent for spiritual mana, and for adapting to the system, beyond biological strength, recovery, memory, and so on. If that requirement was not met, even with the same training skill levels rose at different rates, and even when hunting together, level-up speeds differed.
But the reason why Seirun’s “diligence” was half true was that Summoners like Lee Jeongjin possessed a weapon that could surpass talent.
It was exactly the additional 10% growth rate correction.
Just one step. The growth rate correction willingly provided that one step that allowed one to surpass human limits that could not be provided anywhere else.
The growth rate correction, which allowed one to receive a whopping 10% more of the system’s benefits that grew the vessel of humanity itself, provided an advantage so great that it could turn the innate gold of evolved Homo sapiens into lumps of dung.
“Bereudo told me. That friend of his who curses so well has been very depressed lately. Don’t worry. You are doing very well.”
Having said that, Seirun gently patted Lee Jeongjin’s shoulder and left the library.
“……”
Watching Seirun leave, Lee Jeongjin regretted having dug his depression all the way to the ends of the earth. He stretched broadly and—
“Ah! I don’t care anymore!”
—shouted loudly.
“It’ll work out somehow! The humans of Olloca have survived just fine for 460 years, would Earth really be destroyed?! If not, so what! I can just live well on my own!”
Having shouted like that, Lee Jeongjin soon focused on the board Seirun had given him.
All night long. The next day too. And the day after that.
Continuing to eat in his quarters to avoid unnecessary clashes with others, he focused on the combat art created by primitive mana movements that could not even be turned into skills.
Two weeks passed since the intercontinental conference began.
* * *
‘Helper, is the evolution of Star Cluster truly possible at my level?’
[It is possible during the period when the user’s 10% growth rate correction is active.]
“Huu……”
At dawn. Lee Jeongjin, who had been immersed in the mana movements produced by Star Cluster without even eating breakfast, sighed and straightened his posture.
‘And you can’t tell me how long the training period will be?’
[That is correct.]
‘Did I stubbornly insist on learning Star Cluster for nothing?’
He slightly regretted it, but it was too late to change the mana breathing method he had been learning. In the end, Lee Jeongjin decided to focus on Star Cluster during the training period, even if it wouldn’t work out.
‘If I get reset after the training period, I can just learn something else. For now, let’s focus entirely on Star Cluster. I do feel like I’m gaining something while I’m in the sacred beast.’
As he straightened his posture and closed his eyes to focus on Star Cluster again, his senses detected someone opening the door. He cracked his eyes open slightly and looked at the person who entered.
“Jeongjin! The decision has been made!”
“What is?”
“The intercontinental conference!”
“H-haa……”
‘In just two weeks? What kind of intercontinental conference reaches a decision as quickly as frying beans in lightning?’
Judging by Han Hyeongho’s bright face, it seemed the decision had been made to allow the Summoners to continue staying on the planet Olloca. Lee Jeongjin asked to confirm.
“What did they say?”
“Of course, we stay as we are. We’ve gained a lot from the Summoners over five years, so rather than that, the conclusion was to use this period of severance as an opportunity to raise the skills of the Ollocans—that is, the Blessed.”
“O-oh, well… that’s good……”
But Lee Jeongjin was sadder that the potential for Star Cluster’s development, which he had barely found a clue to after leaving the sacred beast, was now slipping away.
“Then what about us… do we just go on like this? Surely not, right? We’ll gather and give speeches or something, right? And hold festivals and build camaraderie all night……?”
When Lee Jeongjin approached urgently, Han Hyeongho showed a troubled face. The information readable from his face was clear. Suppressing the anxiety he felt from Han Hyeongho’s awkward posture, Lee Jeongjin spoke.
“C’mon… no, right?”
As he awkwardly stood up to press Han Hyeongho.
Click.
“It’s over. Get out, you vermin.”
A giant over two meters tall naturally invaded their room. Seeing his appearance and tone, Han Hyeongho packed his things with an attitude of resignation.
Han Hyeongho, putting items into his inventory one by one with his head hung low, looked at Lee Jeongjin with a resentful face.
“That’s why I told you to meet others when you had the chance……”
“No… I……”
“Quiet.”
As Lee Jeongjin tried to say something, the giant grabbed him by the scruff of his neck as if moving a cat. He tried to resist in his own way, but before he knew it, caught by the mysterious movement in the giant’s nonchalant grip, he was grabbed by the scruff and thrown out the door.
Confused, he looked around the corridor and saw Summoners rolling about in the hallway, not just one or two in the same predicament.
‘So that’s a Blessed of the Bordo Empire?’
Han Hyeongho approached him as he sat dazedly outside the door and handed him a small note.
“Jeongjin! This is my address and phone number in Korea. You have to contact me when the training period ends!”
Having said that, Han Hyeongho made an expression like a prisoner walking to the gallows and followed the giant.
“What is this……”
Attendants began cleaning the room they had stayed in, leaving behind the dumbfounded Lee Jeongjin.