Chapter 103 (1/2)
Chapter 103 The Threads of Bonds Coether (5)
[Well done]
Gula spoke in a rare, upbeat voice
[Not only did you stop the Parasites' plan, but you also dealt their forces a considerable blow Even the Parasite Queen should have no choice but to falter because of that]
It sounded like she was praising him To confirentle touch stroking his hair Was it because it was the hand of a Goddess? He liked hoarm it was
[Well done You earned us a lot of time]
'Time?'
[Yes, this event will serve as a sturdy breakwater for when you fully jump into the flow of fate in the future]
He was happy to be praised but not so much with her riddles
'Goddess Gula, I htforward?'
[What do you mean?]
'Straightforward You always sees in a roundabout way'
'For example, the five Ws — hat, when, where, why If you could at least explain things this on't it be easier for both of us?'
His bold question stopped Gula's hand, and Seol Jihu felt a tapping on his head; al, 'What should I do with this child?'
[Didn't I tell you before? Revealing profound secrets would greatly affect the law of causality]
'Is it that important to not affect the law of causality?'
[Of course, it is You can bring about a desired effect by interfering with the cause But the law of causality is always impartial]
The gentle and consoling voice continued
[Even if you can make the scale tip on one side, the law of causality will always balance it back]
'Do youabout a favorable effect, the other side will be given a similar cause and effect?'
[That's right And if we are not careful, itwe have done until now]
'Then I guess, I can't pester you about that…'
Seol Jihu acquiesced quietly Gulaout
[It's not that I don't have things I want to say Thankfully there are so, be patient and focus on your growth Worrying toothe cart before the horse]
Seol Jihu's ears perked up after hearing that there was aeffect of the law of causality However, he didn't press for an explanation any further than he needed
Gula's serious tone ate the h his curiosity hadn't been satisfied, he decided toand finish what he came to do
The situation with his level was exactly as he expected it to be By participating in the rescue mission, he had amassed quite a bit of experience and merit His indirect involvement in the destruction of the laboratory and his subsequent survival against all odds gave hie amount of contribution points
It was so much that…
[In the name of Gula, I shall henceforth bestow Seol Jihu the title of Level 3 Mana Lancer! I expect great feats befitting the one-of-kind class from you!]
…He had experience points left over after he leveled up
'What?'
Seol Jihu quickly raised his head, his excite as a look of horror appeared on his face
[What's wrong?]
'T-The class name'
[It's Mana Lancer]
Seol Jihu's jaw dropped at Gula's firm answer, and then he quickly beca for a moment, he opened his eyes and muttered in his head, 'That's too harsh'
'What the heck is a Mana Lancer…'
[What do you mean?]
'I mean, don't you have cooler class names? I'm embarrassed to tell people my class name'
[You little brat]
Seol Jihu felthis head He quickly asked before he got smacked
'Gulni I want to ask'
[Speak]
'Would it be possible for you to awaken just one of the colors of the right side?'
[Not even remotely possible]
Just as he expected, Gula refused flatly Seol Jihu was rubbing his hands together with a pleading smile, but as soon as he heard Gula's answer, his expression turned cold
[Don't even dreaether and need to be awakened sie amount of contribution points]
Hearing this reply, Seol Jihu grumbled inwardly, 'You're a Goddess, so do you have to be so stingy? At the very least, can't you changesense sucks' He complained in all possible ways
[Impertinent!]
Thwack In the end, Gula smacked him
'Che!'
Seol Jihu rubbed his stea head and snorted
'Wait and see!'
He re that Luxuria, the Goddess of lust, was like a kind older sister, ould give you a warm embrace Furthermore, her voice was said to be sensual
Seol Jihu vowed to start going to Luxuria's te here
[Whew…]
While Gula sighed like she was disappointed, Seol Jihu confirmed the new abilities he could awaken Mana Spear could evolve into 'Mana Spear – Multiple', but he passed on it for now since he planned to learn this himself
There was also the 'Aura', which a power and the destructive power of his spear When he thought about how he learned this skill under Jang Maldong's training, a duh escaped his mouth Aura was a skill that could be learned at Level 3 and was extremely difficult to learn at Level 2
Old Man Maldong was only trying to help hi Maldong had overlooked was Seol Jihu's abnorh Rankers' He was able to learn Aura quickly with the help of Mana Circulation, which boasted a higher proficiency rank compared to his level, and the effect of Psychi's Tears
The old ht to behold
In any case, the reuely familiar
'Some sort of a movement technique…?'
He felt like he'd seen it before in martial arts novels, but that was it A worried look appeared on his face He was obviously thinking, 'Just how the heck am I supposed to learn this?'
[I see that you're worried]
'No, it's just…'
Seol Jihu shook his head, but upon realizing that Gula could read his hed feebly
[Fufu, you are worried over nothing]
'Worried over nothing?'
[You don't have to worry about what is to co as you don't choose to run away or do nothing After all, you've been weaving the threads of bonds one by one]
'Ah, here she goes again with her enigmatic riddles'
[The threads tied to you are trying to bind new bonds So just be patient and wait]
He had no clue what she meant by threads or bonds He also didn't like the word 'bind', since it sounded like he was forcing people But the ood one
Seol Jihu nodded his head He knew that talking back would only end up with hi smacked More ihts about Flash Step
Jang Maldong must have been exhausted, as he lay sprawled on the couch He had already met everyone he needed to, and wanted to head back But people kept visiting him nonstop
It wasn't that he disliked it In fact, he was rather grateful that they res needed to be in moderation
Plus, there werehim to come out of retirement and return to Paradise Also, it was a chore to have deep conversations
And that wasn't all If there was one topic he heard more than his retireht up the newbie, so ain, his interest was piqued
'Wait, as that guy's naain…? Ah, no!'
He didn't finish his thought He was retired He didn't want to involve himself any further
“I'll need to go back soon If I stay any longer than this…”
Jang Maldong picked up his tie and coat before anyone else could come to bother him But the heavens weren't so kind
Knock, knock Before he could even put on his tie, knocks rang out on the door Jang Maldong let out a groan before plopping down on the couch and pressing his temples
“…Come in, the door is open”
The door opened Who was it this ti narrowed his eyes and turned to the door, only to be surprised
“Is anyone here?”
An old voice rang out The visitor looked just as old as Jang Maldong The i had never seen before The old visitor looked at Jang Maldong and asked quietly
“Excusenamed Seol here?”
'Right, it was Seol… Wait, Earthling?'
People fros In the first place, the as coined to distinguish between Earthlings and Paradisians, so it was often used by Paradisians
“He seems to be out… Ah, come in”
“I see Excuseyou for a bit”
The old visitor walked in and sat down on the couch across fro Because the old visitor see spoke politely, “Would you like to drink some tea while you wait?”
The old visitor did the same
“No, I'”
“Does itor a Paradisian? Haha”
Jang Maldong chuckled before brewing two cups of tea and handing one to the old visitor
“T-Thank you”
“No problem That's a traditional Korean tea h it doesn't have any sugar in it”
The old visitor carefully took a sip before nodding his head
“It tastes wonderful!”
“I' some for you to take back home”
Seeing Jang Maldong roar with laughter, the old visitor was slightly taken aback It seemed like he didn't knohat to make of the unexpected treatment
After taking a few
“Pardonto find that young man?” He asked politely
As the old visitor was used to being treated as an NPC, he couldn't help but see Jang Maldong in a different light He quickly fixed his posture to look like a gentle his mouth
“I'e I cae”
“Excuse me?”
Jang Maldong was taken by surprise at the old visitor's unexpected reason for stopping by It was then Kiik The door creaked open Two pairs of eyes turned to the side si in dejectedly
“Huh?”
Seol Jihu e head as he let out a surprised voice
“Village head?”
Only then did the village head reveal a gentle smile
“It's been a while”
Seol Jihu and the village head conversed cordially for a long time The ativen how iven each other
After being relegated to a spectator, Jang Maldong carefully listened to their conversation
“You old bar you earned for our village Do you kno surprised I was hearing that?”
'What?'
Jang Maldong was listening with his chin on his hand when he heard what the village head said and raised his head
He earned what and used it how?
“I re that you wanted todebts on my shoulders, you see”
“That's quite the way of paying back your debts How did you reed easily”
“He was troubled at first, so I had to tell hi the rescue mission a success Ah, I also made sure to explain your circu bothered by him”
“Please! He already came to see me personally and indirectly asked if I would lend the royal family a hand”
“Huuh?”
“Well, don't worry about it too much He said he wouldn't mention my past, and I told him that I'd think about it”
Despite what he was saying, the village head see personally came to recruit him At that moment, Seol Jihu was suddenly re' others with bonds But he quickly forgot about it and congratulated the old man
The village head let out a dry cough That hen he saw Jang Maldong sitting there in a daze and went, “Ah” He realized he had gotten swept away by the at too much
“Ah, he is…”
When Seol Jihu tried to introduce hinificant villager”
“Jang Maldong?”
The village head showed signs of being startled
“Could you be Haramark's famous martial arts master…?”
“It's a false reputation”
The village head shook his head
“False reputation? I see that you're hu Paradisians, there are feho have not heard of the na”
After saying that, the village head held out his hand, “This insignificant villager is named Arbor Muto May I have the honor?”
“I'm embarrassed to take your hand”
“Don't be I know full well just how much you've done for Paradise until now Since even the Head of a ree knows about you, what more is there to say?”
Once the village head put it that way, Jang Maldong found it harder to refuse Seol Jihu watched the two old men shake hands and smiled in awe
'Old Man Maldong really is a!'
After shaking hands, the village head, no, Arbor Muto got up Jang Maldong followed him in a hurry
“Why don't you stay a little longer?”
“It's fine You see, the entire village has been quite busy preparing for the ration”
Jang Maldong couldn't say much once he heard this Arbor Muto looked back and forth between Jang Maldong and Seol Jihu before s happily
“I was thinking that this man was different… It seeeous eous disciple”
“N-No…”
“Then I must thank you as well You helped save the lives of hundreds of villagers”
Jang Maldong was flustered This oldHowever, Arbor Muto continued unfazed
“You have an excellent disciple I'm envious”
At that 's eyes opened wide He looked dazed as if he had just been struck in the head with a hammer
“I'll see you off”
“Please, don't I'll be uncomfortable if you do”
Arbor Muto walked towards the door before suddenly stopping
“Ah… there's actually one thing I forgot to mention Well, it's more of a request”
“Please, go ahead”
Arbor Muto ru out a folded piece of paper
“Have you heard of 'Big Boulder Stone' Mountain?”
Seol Jihu tilted his head He had no clue, but this was a place Jang Maldong was familiar with After all, this here countless ain, it was a place of nighto
Seol Jihu took the folded paper and asked
“What's this?”
“It's a map to my hideout in that mountain”
“Pardon?”
“What's there to be so surprised of?”
“…Just how many hideouts do you have?”
Arbor Muto paused for a , “Twenty-two?”
“The s tunnels to escape for when they need to”
After snickering like a child, he continued, “Anyways, it's close to Harae”
“What do you want me to do?”
“Nothing much There should be a feorn-down equip them to me”
“That sounds easy”
“It should be But, I recommend you to be careful It's been a while since anyone's visited that place, and because I built the hideout in a cave, I don't knohatin it now”
“Yes, I understand”
Seol Jihu nodded his head slowly
“When do you need them?”
“You can take your tio when you're bored and want a fresh breath of air”
“So it looks like I have tihtly
“Also…”
Arbor Muto made a furtive smile
“I plan on paying hat's inside the hideout Is that okay?”
“With what's inside the hideout?”
“Yes, there should be itereat, so I understand if you'd rather take money”
“No, that's fine with e head was a distinguished Mage back in the day
“Anyways, you can go when you have time” With that, Arbor Muto left the office
“What kind of person is he?” Jang Maldong finally snapped out of his daze and asked as soon as the door closed shut Seol Jihu hesitated as if he found it difficult to answer him
“He doesn't seee”
“How did you know?”