BRDM 144

chapter 144

Old memories flashed through his mind.

His academy days, the summer training ground.

Under the scorching sun, they once had to keep running in full gear that weighed over 30 kilograms.

“Huff… huff…”

Everyone’s breath was caught in their throats.

If they were allowed to use mana, this would have been nothing.

But since mana use was forbidden, and they all had mana-detecting items strapped to their wrists, it was impossible to secretly use it.

The moment someone activated their mana circuits, the item would light up, and the entire unit’s running distance would be extended.

No one was foolish enough to become a traitor here.

Eventually, the first to stumble was Xu Changyou… or rather, Seo Chang-woo.

He excelled in hand-to-hand combat and weapon skills, but his stamina was terribly weak.

“Ugh, I’m dying here. Someone save me.”

As he wheezed and tugged at his backpack straps, someone rushed over to help him.

It was Moon Soo-chan.

“Ah… as expected of you, hyung! Love for comrades, love for the nation! You know I love you a lot, right!?”

“You’re ridiculous.”

Seo Chang-woo kept flashing him a thumbs-up in gratitude.

Moon Soo-chan chuckled and hoisted the pack onto his own back.

“Why are you carrying this? I’ve got more stamina than you, let me take it.”

Lee Hyun approached with a worried look, but Moon Soo-chan shook his head.

“It’s fine. I’m already carrying it. And besides, I’ve got better stamina.”

“What you’ve got isn’t stamina, it’s stubbornness.”

“What did you say, punk?”

“Anyway, just hand it over.”

“Fine, we’ll split it. I’ll carry it until that point, and then you take it from there.”

Lee Hyun only sighed and shook his head.

“You two are really like brothers.”

Watching from the side, Kim Min-jung laughed.

“To me, you both seem equally stubborn.”

Seo Chang-woo gave a dry laugh.

That day, the four of them, faces smeared with sweat and dust, supported each other as they crossed the finish.

They all collapsed to the ground, shoving one another aside, but inside their chests burned the same pride.

“As long as we’re together, we can endure any battlefield.”

That was what they once believed.

Lee Hyun caught his breath as he looked down.

The face of his old comrade, smiling through sweat, overlapped in his vision.

A friend he once trusted to guard his back.

A comrade he once believed would never fall as long as they were together.

“…If it was all going to end like this, then why… why did it have to be that way back then?”

Bitterness tightened in his throat, a hollow grief at seeing an old promise trampled.

But also, a sense of relief that an enmity spanning more than four years had finally ended.
And peace, knowing he had avenged his brother.

Contradictory emotions swirled and tangled until he shook his head to clear them.

It wasn’t all over yet.

He lifted his gaze.

The ring of light was nearly closed. But still in the sky, bound by the Ruyi Chains, the Heavenly Furnace struggled violently.

[The Jade Emperor rests his chin on his throne and gazes at you.]

At the same time—

Fsshhh…

What remained of Xu Changyou’s body crumbled into ash and was absorbed into the Ruyi Chains.

[The narrative of <The Snow Queen> retrieves its lost traces.]
[Recovered: ‘Holy Relic: Glass Sword’ and ‘Curse of Bitter Cold.’]
[Both relics merge into the ‘Frost Emblem,’ dramatically increasing proficiency.]
[Proficiency has reached its limit. The relic evolves.]
[Congratulations! The ‘Frost Emblem’ has ascended to the ‘Glacial Emblem.’]

[Glacial Emblem]
An insignia of power, born from the Snow Queen’s authority.

The ring of bitter cold within can create a frozen hell upon the mortal world.
The Glass Sword, condensed from that ring, now flows through your veins, ready to guard you at any time.

• Type: Holy Relic. Insignia.

• Origin: Fairy tale “The Snow Queen.”

[You can now wield stronger ice-attribute skills and authorities.]
[You can summon the Glass Sword, freely altering its form.]

…

[The narrative of <The Snow Queen> laughs with joy, at last able to reclaim her true self.]
[She seeks to reclaim the <Ice Palace> created here!]
[<Ice Palace> fully reclaimed. 4-star dungeon successfully recovered. Bonus reward granted.]
[As a bonus, the ‘Turn’ (傳) portion of narrative structure has been added!]
[The Snow Queen’s stature has risen.]

…

Rumble rumble…!!

The dungeon shook as if it would collapse.

Snowflakes and ice dust rained down from above.

[Dungeon core ownership has transferred. By the new master’s command, the corruption has been forcibly halted.]
[The forced rift is beginning to close.]

[Dungeon ‘Ice Palace’ is shutting down. All participants retreat to the safe zone.]

[10]
[9]
…

On one side appeared the dungeon-end messages.
On the other, event-completion messages.

[‘Sudden Event: Stop the Sealing Ritual’ cleared successfully.]
[大量의 ■■대■ karma obtained.]
[■■대■ ■■■ gradually escapes decline by restoring fragments of lost mythology.]
[Reward: Found the second broken character ‘공’ (gong).]
[■■대■ ■■공]

[New relic hint obtained: ‘Somersault Cloud.’ Check inventory.]

…

Countless messages filled the air, but Lee Hyun’s eyes stayed locked on only one—

The Jade Emperor’s.

It was only a system message, yet behind it radiated an overwhelming malice.

[The Jade Emperor senses the heightened stature of his old nemesis and twitches an eyebrow.]

And then—

Rumble, crash!

Flash! Crack!!

Heavenly thunder roared, shaking the skies.

The sound and heat dwarfed anything Lee Hyun’s summoned shades could unleash.

The air itself twisted, heavy and warped.

He felt as if someone was staring down from above the clouds.

And then—

[The Jade Emperor consumes a massive amount of causality to directly reveal his voice!]

The atmosphere twisted again, and a booming voice thundered—

『Vermin… all this time… you dare mock us…!?』

An overwhelming tide of thought crashed down, like a tidal wave.

So vast, so immense.

Just being exposed to it made Lee Hyun dizzy.

[Error!]
[Error!]

The dungeon shutdown messages, the event completion notices—all turned crimson and displayed nothing further.

[The system’s firewall nullifies most of the pressure on you!]

Thankfully, the safeguard between heaven and earth shielded his soul.

But even so, the raw hostility of that vast being was enough to suffocate any mortal.

…Tremble.

His fingertips shook.

Lee Hyun clasped his left hand with his right, squeezing tightly.

In that moment—

Whoosh!

Three… no, four presences rushed closer.

The Monkey King’s group.

The Jade Emperor’s sudden fury, so great it risked shaking society itself, had spurred them into action.

But—

『Do not worry about me. Stay back. I will handle this myself.』

Lee Hyun stopped them.

If Sun Wukong appeared here, it could ruin everything.

This confirms it. He’s anxious.

For a god to display emotion was rare.

It meant he was cornered.

The return of Sun Wukong terrified him that much.

So—

Lee Hyun met that gaze head-on.

The pressure was still crushing, but by drawing on the Golden Fillet he endured.

[The Golden Fillet’s mental barrier blocks all attempts at infiltration and brainwashing.]

Focusing, Lee Hyun could faintly read the surface of that massive tide of thought.

『From you… I sense revulsion… Great Sage Equal to Heaven… that accursed one’s taint… still remains…』

The voice seethed with fury.
But oddly, somewhere at the end, there was a faint ripple of amusement.

『Yet… intriguing… that blemish of history reappears… In the Jade Emperor’s name, the reason you must vanish… becomes ever clearer…』

Lee Hyun imagined those eyes, glimpsed briefly through the ring of light, shifting from indifference to rage.

“To vanish? I don’t know what you mean. Nor do I understand why the Great Sage is even mentioned here.”

He feigned ignorance. He had no intention of ever admitting anything.
Not when countless other gazes might also be watching.

“But I must say, something strikes me as strange.”

He smirked.

“For someone who claims to despise him so much… you still fear his name to this very day.”

A provocation.

For a moment, silence.

Then—

Crash!!

A thunderbolt far stronger than before struck.

Rumble…!

Even the thunderclaps boomed.

More violent than when the Jade Emperor first revealed his mind.
And yet, Lee Hyun felt it wasn’t rage this time—
but laughter.

Hahaha…

『Amusing… To dare speak so before me… In thousands of years… only you have done so… That shamelessness… that arrogance… all of it reminds me of that beast…』

Lee Hyun fancied he saw the Jade Emperor’s eyes curve into a smile above the clouds.

『Let us see… if you are worthy…』

The thunder filling the sky suddenly converged into a single point—
and then plummeted downward.

BOOM!!

A pillar of lightning speared down, tearing through the clouds to strike the earth.

Divine Punishment.

The very judgment <Heavenly Teachings> once tried to deliver to him.

Crackle!

Lee Hyun activated Cold-Blooded to protect his body, drew immense mana into the Glacial Emblem, and condensed it into his axe.

Remember it.

He focused every shred of his will to battle.

The last trial of the Five Elements Tower, when the Great Sage looked at me in his palm.

He forged that thought into a blade.

If I can contain that giant’s gaze within this—then I can cut even this…!!

The moment that eye arose in his mind—when he imagined capturing it in his Flame-Eye Golden Gaze—

[Enlightenment attained!]
[You have gained part of the Martial Lineage’s insights.]

Squeezing out every last drop of mana and stamina, he swung.

BOOM!!

The axe clashed against the pillar of divine lightning.

The pillar shook, threatening to shatter the weapon, but the axe held firm, unyielding.

Blood vessels bulged in his arms, neck, and eyes, bursting red as he forced it through.

And then—

KA-BOOM!!

The divine punishment faltered, shoved back, even as the axe shattered into fragments.

But Lee Hyun did not stop.
He drew the next axe, swung in the opposite arc.

Crash!
Bang!!

Then the third.

Each swing broke another Demon-Eater Fang, shards scattering.

Finally, when three in a row shattered—

Rumble—!!

The divine punishment collapsed as well, dispersing in every direction.

A searing blast wave scoured the sky and land alike.

The glaciers and ice fields vanished, vaporized into nothing.

…Whooo…

As the vacuum left behind drew air inward, a massive vortex formed.

“Haa… haa…”

Lee Hyun’s body was pale, his breath ragged, but his eyes stayed locked on the sky.

It wasn’t impatience that brought him here.

Through the divine punishment, he realized—

The Jade Emperor came to test me. To see what kind of man I am.

The Jade Emperor could be summed up in one phrase:

As fickle as the weather itself.

[Event triggered: Thunder Collector.]
[Congratulations! You have successfully comprehended and internalized ‘Myth: Master of All Things.’]
[You have awakened the Jade Emperor’s lightning attribute.]
[Successfully collected this lightning.]

[Lightning Collected (5/99):]

• Shade (Specter)

• Zeus (Dioios)

• Indra (Vajramudha)

• Lei Gong (Thunder God)

• Jade Emperor (Divine Punishment)

Szzzt, crackle…

On Lee Hyun’s shoulders, transparent bolts of lightning like that divine punishment danced and snapped.

『So, you do have some skill… enough to spout such insolence…』

The lingering thunder in the sky sounded almost like quiet laughter.

『Very well… I’ve changed my mind… Let’s see how far your little tricks can go… I’ll be watching…』

With that, the lightning split and the voice faded.

The crushing pressure dissipated.

Then—

Crack!

Fsshh—

The Heavenly Furnace, still bound in midair, finally shattered and was absorbed into the Ruyi Chains.

[The paused dungeon closure resumes.]

[6]
[5]

The Jade Emperor’s interference was over.

At last, Lee Hyun could breathe.

“You brat!”

The Monkey King appeared, face tense. Behind him followed the Bull Demon King and Sha Wujing.

On Sha Wujing’s back was a frail man, unconscious but still clutching a resilient soul.

“You managed to save him.”

“Yeah. Thanks to you. But what about you—”

[4]
[3]

Perhaps because he had finally seen Sun Wukong—
the tension drained from Lee Hyun’s body, and exhaustion flooded in.

“I’m… fine…”

He collapsed, and the Monkey King hurriedly caught him.

[2]
[1]

“The rest… I’ll leave… to you…”

He couldn’t even finish his last words before losing consciousness.

The Monkey King gave a dry chuckle.

“You’ve done well, kid.”

[0]

[Countdown complete.]
[Dungeon closing.]

The dungeon vanished in a shimmer of light.

The Monkey King tilted his head up, staring at the sky where traces of the Jade Emperor’s aura still lingered.

His gaze was complicated.