Chapter 10
Lee Hyun continued his relentless march.
While reflecting on the lessons he’d learned from Sun Wukong, he aimed to complete the dungeon exploration as quickly as possible.
‘If I delay too much, I don’t know what kind of nagging Jinwoo hyung will give me.’
There was nothing scarier than a doctor’s nagging.
[You have crossed over half of the desert. Entering a new area.]
[Progress: 62%]
Crack! Crackle!
A blue-and-white lightning flashed incessantly.
The output of the C-rank lightning power was now incomparable to when he first started. He could even hit distant targets now.
‘After releasing it…’
Thanks to that, several flashes of blue-and-white light flashed across the sky.
[You have slain a Fire-tailed Bat.]
[You have slain a Burning Bird.]
…
‘Absorb it.’
He attempted to control the lightning that had spread all around him.
Before, he would have just let it dissipate and tried to produce new lightning, but ever since he learned the concept of “Gyeong-Roe,” this felt too inefficient.
As a result, some of the lightning that had been released returned to him, increasing the intensity.
‘Release it again.’
Boom! Boom!
The lightning, now more powerful, surged with even greater force.
[You have wiped out a pack of Yellow Wolves.]
[You discovered and destroyed the nest of a Giant Venom Scorpion.]
[Your strength has increased by 1.]
…
[Your magic control level has improved. You are beginning to understand the concept of Gyeong-Roe.]
[Your intelligence has increased by 1.]
Applying the concept of Gyeong-Roe to his lightning was effective, and it used much less mana than before, which he liked, but there were still things to keep in mind.
‘It’s so difficult to recover energy once it’s been released into the outside world.’
To activate Dio-Wiss properly, control over his lightning was essential.
But once mana had been released, it was effectively out of his hands, making the recovery rate extremely poor.
‘I need another method. Even if it’s a shortcut, I need a way to handle lightning freely.’
Lee Hyun briefly glanced at Sun Wukong, who was grinning carelessly.
“Why? Do you have a question? Ask away.”
“Nothing, I’m fine.”
Lee Hyun shook his head nonchalantly.
This was not a problem that Sun Wukong could solve. It was a problem he needed to figure out himself.
Then a thought suddenly crossed his mind.
‘What if I maximize the limits of the Duwokshini’s breath and use it to activate Dio-Wiss?’
Crackling!
[The mastery of Duwokshini’s Breath (C) has increased.]
…
How much time had passed since then?
[You have crossed most of the desert. Entering the last area.]
[Progress: 81%]
When Lee Hyun entered the new area, he noticed that the nature of the wind in the desert had changed.
It had been hot before, but now it felt like it was stealing his breath away.
“The wind has gotten much hotter.”
“Yeah. It seems much fiercer. My stamina is continuously dropping.”
Lee Hyun squinted his eyes as he saw his already depleted stamina rapidly draining.
‘There’s something secret about this wind.’
No, it wasn’t just the wind.
There was definitely something strange about the underground water veins that had guided him up until now.
‘Wind, desert, water veins… Ah, I see. This is the desert of Huangfenggwei.’
As he connected the keywords, a location from Journey to the West immediately came to mind.
No, there was an enemy of Sun Wukong here.
Ding!
[The artifact “Hwaan Geumjeong” has gathered all clues and revealed the hidden aspect of the <Yellow Desert>!]
[The gateway to the “Huangfeng Ridge” located at the end of the desert has opened.]
[You have interpreted the myth of ■■■■■. You gain some karma.]
[Your rank has increased.]
‘I knew it.’
Lee Hyun’s eyes lit up.
This wasn’t just any desert.
It was vast, and the sand was so soft that it made it hard to notice, but in fact, it was a steep canyon region. In other words, it was a mountain.
‘The Three-Realms Divine Wind is blowing?’
However, what caught Lee Hyun’s attention the most was one particular part of the message.
“What? The wind really was weird, and now the path to Huangfeng Ridge is open?”
Sun Wukong was clearly disgusted.
“Hey, the owner of this place is pretty crafty, right? They probably knew you were coming and prepared for it, so be careful.”
“I’ll make preparations as well.”
“Do you think preparations will help? With your current skill, you’re probably no match for their claws.”
Sun Wukong grinned mischievously, clearly enjoying Lee Hyun’s reaction.
But,
“If this is the true owner of Huangfeng Ridge, I’d agree. But what’s at the end of this isn’t the real one, is it?”
“…Ugh, you’re no fun.”
“If it was really dangerous, I would’ve been struggling ever since entering the dungeon.”
It seemed like the difficulty of the instance dungeon chosen by Hwaan Geumjeong was based on “Lee Hyun’s current abilities.”
If that wasn’t the case, he would have died without any chance for recovery.
“Still, it’s better not to underestimate it. The Three-Realms Divine Wind isn’t an easy technique to deal with.”
Lee Hyun nodded silently.
Just because he could handle it didn’t mean it would be easy.
Moreover, Sun Wukong’s direct warning meant that the danger was real.
It was just then when Lee Hyun was about to say something.
[The artifact “Hwaan Geumjeong” detects danger!]
Boom!
Suddenly, Lee Hyun’s eyes flashed coldly, and he disappeared from his spot.
Then,
Bang!
Lee Hyun appeared a short distance away, slamming something into the ground.
“Wait! Stop! Stop!”
Just as he was about to swing his axe to decapitate the person who had been spying on him, a desperate Korean voice called out.
Lee Hyun froze his movement.
“P-please, don’t kill me! I wasn’t spying or trying to ambush you!”
Underneath a deeply shadowed helmet, a fragile-looking woman was revealed.
Human.
A Hunter.
“I know I should be cautious… but could you loosen these ropes a little?”
The woman, who introduced herself as “Kim Sejeong,” awkwardly smiled at the ropes tightly binding her wrists.
But,
Swish!
Lee Hyun didn’t answer; instead, he raised his axe.
“…No, never mind. I was being hasty. Do as you please.”
Kim Sejeong lowered her gaze slightly.
Lee Hyun’s expression was cold and emotionless, a result of training during his time as a hostage negotiator.
“C-could I have just a sip of water…?”
Thud.
“Thank you!”
Kim Sejeong quickly opened the water bottle Lee Hyun threw her way and drank desperately. She was clearly suffering from severe dehydration, even choking a little, but she didn’t spit out the water.
‘Great.’
Lee Hyun observed her behavior and called out to Sun Wukong.
“Why?”
‘Isn’t this an instance dungeon? Then why…?’
“Are you asking if there’s someone else here?”
“Yes.”
“I don’t know either.”
“…?”
Lee Hyun turned toward Sun Wukong, wondering if he was joking.
Sun Wukong shrugged his shoulders.
“It looks like someone else entered through an [Emergency Gate] created by an error. If not…”
At that moment, one side of Sun Wukong’s lips curled upward.
“Could it be someone hunting my myth?”
‘…!’
An unexpected insight.
“If you thought you were the only one who could monopolize my myth, you’d better rethink that. I was the great king of all demons, the Celestial Sage, who also ascended to the divine position through great asceticism. It wouldn’t be strange for others to be after my myth, would it?”
‘…’
“Even if they can’t come to the surface themselves, they could send apostles to look for my myths.”
Lee Hyun couldn’t help but nod.
It made sense when he thought about it. Back in White Burn, they had been pushing forward in the “Monkey Lair” without even forcibly increasing its difficulty, and perhaps they had figured out there was something more to Sun Wukong’s secrets.
‘So, could she also be after the Great Sage’s myth?’
“I don’t know. She doesn’t seem to have that scent, but she could be connected. Or maybe she just got caught up in it.”
Sun Wukong shrugged, but Lee Hyun suspected the former.
