I Became the Successor of the Martial God 112

I Became the Successor of the Martial God

Chapter 112.  

And the next day.  

Yoon Song-ha visited the Seoul branch.  

“Ha, to think I’d live to see the day I’d join the Sword Saint’s family. Guess my time’s almost up……”  

“Why would you say such a thing?”  

“No, I thought I’d rot in the Golden Lion Guild for the rest of my life. It just… feels strange, that’s all.”  

It wasn’t entirely wrong.  

Who would’ve thought that Yoon Song-ha, of all people, would join the Sword Saint’s family?  

“So, do I just stay here from now on?”  

“Yes, from now on, you can operate here… Huh?”  

“Great, I like it here.”  

“You’re staying here?”  

There was something off about her words.  

When he pointed it out, Yoon Song-ha flinched, scratched her cheek awkwardly, and laughed.  

“Ahaha, I don’t have a place to stay right now. Do you have a dormitory or something here? Just until I find a decent place to live.”  

“How does someone who’s been a hunter for so long not even have their own house……?”  

“Right? Funny, huh.”  

Yoon Song-ha laughed heartily and patted Yoo Baek-jun’s shoulder. It was an attempt to hide her embarrassment.  

“Oh, right. Thanks for taking me in and handling all the annoying stuff. Is there anything you need from me?”  

“Need from you? Hmm… Skills?”  

“Skills?”  

Yoon Song-ha’s eyes widened.  

“Uh, I was wondering if there’s anything I could teach you. My constitution’s a bit unique, you see.”  

“A Dragon’s Heart.”  

“Right, my magical power’s overflowing endlessly.”  

Her innate ability was well-known.  

Yoon Song-ha pointed to where her heart was and smiled bitterly.  

“It builds up so much that I have to periodically release it. That’s why I do inefficient things too.”  

“Like this.”  

Just then, a fly buzzed through the air. Yoo Baek-jun held out his palm.  

Whoosh!  

Flames erupted through Elemental manifestation.  

The fire bloomed instantly. Yoon Song-ha, who had been watching absentmindedly, suddenly widened her eyes.  

“Huh?”  

Something felt familiar.  

The magical flow from earlier, the way the flames bloomed—all of it felt eerily familiar.  

Startled, Yoon Song-ha grabbed his shoulders tightly.  

“No, you…….”  

Well, of course she’d react that way.  

It was a skill she had developed herself.  

“How are you using that?”  

“Using what?”  

“What you just did! The Elemental Manifestation! That’s… a technique I developed. Don’t tell me you have the same constitution as me?”  

Flustered, Yoon Song-ha began inspecting Yoo Baek-jun’s body. 

Just as Han Seong-ah was about to intervene, Yoon Song-ha pulled her hands away.  

“No, you do have a lot of magical power, but it’s different from mine. Your heart’s normal.”  

“I figured.”  

“But how—no, why are you using such an inefficient technique?”  

It was a skill designed to make use of excess, rotting magic—the epitome of inefficiency.  

For Yoo Baek-jun, who didn’t possess the Dragon’s Heart, to be using it was nothing short of bizarre.  

‘Well, what else could I do? Back then, this was the only way to wield strong energy.’  

Even now, it was incredibly useful for generating Aura.  

That’s why he wanted to refine it further.  

Showing the skill to Yoon Song-ha like this, with such obvious theatrics, was all part of the plan.  

To trigger an event.  

“I’ve seen you use this skill before. At the time, I thought it was incredibly useful for me… so I tried copying it.”  

“You tried copying it? Hey, what kind of nonsense—”  

Yoon Song-ha let out a disbelieving laugh.  

Tried copying it? Was that even possible? To replicate someone else’s skill just by seeing it?  

Not to mention, the Elemental Manifestation Yoo Baek-jun had just used wasn’t something that could be dismissed as a simple imitation.  

‘The completion level is high.’  

It was slightly inferior to her own, but…  

Compared to her past self, it wasn’t far behind at all.  

“This is… unbelievable.”  

“I only mimicked it by sight, so there’s still a lot lacking. I’d like to learn from you.”  

“You’re a greedy one, aren’t you?”  

Yoon Song-ha clicked her tongue.  

A guy who could learn and use a skill just by seeing it now wanted formal instruction? 

Ridiculous.  

But she didn’t dislike it.  

“Fine, I’ll teach you. But—!”  

She raised a finger.  

“You already know the way you’re using it now is insanely inefficient, right?”  

“Yes, the magical waste is extreme.”  

Even with Yoo Baek-jun’s current state, the magic consumption was so severe that he couldn’t use it comfortably.  

“It’s because the skill was originally tailored for me. And you copied that… tsk tsk.”  

“Is there a way to fix it?”  

“We’ll have to modify it to suit you.”  

Yoo Baek-jun’s eyes gleamed. 

That was the answer he’d been hoping for.  

“And other Elements too……”  

“I can only use fire and ice elements right now.”  

“It’d be better if you could use at least two more. I’ll have to figure out a way.” Yoon Song-ha nodded. “Ah, this is great! I was getting bored anyway. While helping the old guys, I can work on refining it too. That’s fine, right? I can still go help them?”  

“Go ahead.”  

Old guys.  

She was referring to the guild formed by the veterans who had left the Golden Lion Guild.  

There was a lot to handle—taxes, paperwork, and other miscellaneous tasks. It seemed she planned to help them out.  

“Thank you! See you later!”  

Yoon Song-ha grinned and left.  

“…….”  

“…….”  

The moment she left, the room suddenly felt eerily quiet.  

Han Seong-ah seemed to feel the same.  

“Feels like a storm just passed through.”  

“Same here.”  

Yoo Baek-jun took out his phone.  

It was time to take care of something he’d been putting off.  

—Hello…….  

A voice came from the other end of the call.  

A weak voice—it was Peng So-young.  

“Hey, I’m in Seoul right now. Where are you?”  

—Me? I’m in Seoul. I’ve been waiting for you, so I haven’t gone anywhere… No, uh, ehem!  

Mid-sentence, she seemed to realize she’d said something embarrassing and abruptly made a strange noise.  

She was in Seoul? Perfect.  

“Let’s meet now. We’ve got things to do.”  

—Huh? Really? You’re not lying, are you? Am I dreaming or something?  

Yoo Baek-jun checked the calendar.  

Around this time, the gate should still be open. If they crossed over, they could cure Peng So-young’s Magical blockage.  

“We’ve got work to do……”  

He’d made a promise, so he had to keep it.  

Even if that weren’t the case, the Peng family was too useful to not maintain a good relationship with.  

Yoo Baek-jun stretched lazily.  

“No time to rest, no time at all.”  

* * *  

In Heroes Road, there are several gates that appear at specific times.  

If left alone, accidents would happen, or other characters would clear them.  

Many of them offer rare rewards.  

“C-c-c-cold, s-s-so c-cold……”  

The place Yoo Baek-jun was heading to was one such gate.  

A blizzard raged through the snowy plains of Seoraksan Mountain. As mentioned before, hidden opportunities lurked here, and the gate that had appeared this time was one of them.  

He walked through the forest with familiarity.  

“I-I’m s-so c-cold, s-so c-cold……”  

“Hey, your lips are turning blue.”  

“C-c-cold……”  

Peng So-young followed behind him.  

Unlike Yoo Baek-jun, who wore only the Black Ghost robe lightly, she was bundled up in heavy winter gear from head to toe.  

Yet, she was still shivering uncontrollably.  

“A-aren’t y-you c-cold?”  

“If I got cold this easily, I wouldn’t have survived here. I’ve lived here for quite a while.”  

“Ugh, uuuuh……”  

Her small frame trembling made her look pitiful.  

Yoo Baek-jun sighed and took off the Black Ghost robe.  

“Here. You wear it.”  

“T-thanks. But will this even… Huh?”  

Just as she was about to ask if wearing it would help, Peng So-young’s eyes widened.  

The moment she draped the robe over herself, the cold lessened significantly.  

“Wow, it’s warm… Wait.”  

Peng So-young stared at Yoo Baek-jun in shock.  

Under the robe, he was wearing only a thin martial arts uniform. Yet, he showed no signs of being cold.  

“You’re not cold? S-should I give it back?”  

“I’m fine, let’s go. We’re wasting time.”  

—Mrow!  

“Eek!”  

Seol-yeong suddenly popped out from the robe’s sleeve and climbed onto Yoo Baek-jun’s head.  

Peng So-young, seeing that, jumped in surprise.  

“Y-you scared me.”  

“Did you sleep well?”  

—Mrrooww.  

Seol-yeong answered with a yawn.  

After playing with the World Tree’s fairy all day yesterday, it had been dead asleep the entire day.  

‘Having a friend isn’t a bad thing.’  

Especially if that friend was on the level of the World Tree’s fairy.  

Yoo Baek-jun walked in silence.  

“I thought you forgot about me.”  

“Forgot what? That I promised to help you?”  

“Yeah. You didn’t reply… Ugh, now that I think about it, I’m sorry.” Peng So-young fiddled with her bob cut. Her face flushed with embarrassment. “W-was I being too annoying?”  

“No. Well, I get it. If anything, I’m sorry. I’ve had too much on my plate lately.”  

“That just makes me feel worse. Ugh……”  

Peng So-young sighed.  

Given how important this was to her, it was understandable that she’d been impatient. This was her chance to cure the Magical blockage that had plagued her for so long.  

“So, where are we going now?”  

“A cave.”  

“A cave?”  

Yoo Baek-jun raised a hand to stop Peng So-young, who was tilting her head in confusion.  

Ahead, the blizzard raged. Within it, something was watching them.  

Monsters.  

“Monsters!”  

“Stay here.”  

“Huh? Wait, I can—”  

Yoo Baek-jun handed Seol-yeong to Peng So-young, put on his gloves, and charged into the blizzard.  

Then came the sounds.  

Crunch, boom!  

—Guh, graaah!  

The sounds of bones breaking, flesh tearing, and the monsters’ horrific screams echoed.  

When the noises stopped, Yoo Baek-jun emerged from the blizzard, walking calmly.  

As if nothing had happened.  

“We’ll have to fight a few more times ahead.”  

“O-okay.”  

Peng So-young stared blankly at the blizzard.  

A moment later, the snowstorm cleared slightly, revealing what had happened inside.  

“……!”  

The corpses of monsters were visible.  

At least twenty of them. And they were strong enough to give Peng So-young trouble.  

‘He took them all down alone, in such a short time?’  

Peng So-young looked at Yoo Baek-jun.  

Compared to when they’d met at the meeting, the aura he gave off was different. Stronger.  

‘Me too……’  

Peng So-young tightened her grip on her clothes.  

This was no time to whine about the cold. She had to find a way to cure her Magical blockage here, no matter what.  

“Let’s go.”  

“Okay.”  

Yoo Baek-jun resumed walking. Before long, a forest came into view, and he glanced back.  

The empty snowfields.  

But it was easy to guess that those who were after him were hiding there, holding their breath.  

‘Probably the guys my brother sent, waiting to attack……’  

They wouldn’t attack immediately.  

What they wanted was for him to be exhausted. 

They’d strike when he exited the gate.  

‘Well, if I know it’s coming, it’s easy to prepare.’  

He had no intention of sitting still and taking it.