I Became the Successor of the Martial God
Chapter 23.
Strangely, there were an unusually large number of monsters along the path to the cave following the frozen stream.
If they didn’t keep moving while fighting the monsters, they would be stuck in place, unable to take a single step.
“Why are there so many monsters?!”
Jin Seo-yeon shouted, sounding fed up.
Literally, the monsters were surging in like waves. And their variety was terrifyingly diverse.
Was there a Gate nearby or something?
The thought crossed his mind to that extent.
“There’s no Gate!”
As if reading her thoughts, Yoo Baek-jun replied.
“Then what is it?!”
“The monsters in the area are being drawn here!”
“Drawn here?”
“Yeah! Because of the magical power!”
“……”
At those words, Jin Seo-yeon’s expression changed. From an annoyed look to one filled with interest.
Monsters have a habit of being drawn to magical power. It’s because they grow stronger by absorbing it.
‘For this many monsters to be drawn, there must be an enormous amount of pure magical power gathered here.’
Now she understood why Yoo Baek-jun had suggested coming here. A place with that much magical power was exactly what she wanted.
Taking a deep breath.
WHOOSH!
Yoo Baek-jun charged forward.
An Ice Troll blocked their path.
He plunged into its embrace and instantly unleashed a barrage of strikes.
Bam, bam, bam!
Endless fists crushed the troll’s flesh and shattered its bones.
—Ghhhaaak!
The finishing blow was an uppercut to the jaw.
Yoo Baek-jun immediately kicked the ground with all his might.
The dirt kicked up from the ground transformed into flames, engulfing the gathered enemies.
Whooosh!
Yoo Baek-jun leaped up right away and continued his assault with Gale kicks.
His Gale kicks mowed down the surrounding foes.
“Hmm.”
Jin Seo-yeon watched Yoo Baek-jun’s actions closely. Especially when he fought monsters.
Whooosh!
She didn’t know what kind of technique he was using, but he was fighting with flames wrapped around his fists.
She was clueless about martial arts, but she could tell Yoo Baek-jun’s skills were impressive.
‘Didn’t they say he had no talent?’
Jin Seo-yeon tilted her head in confusion.
The reason for the annulment of their engagement had been exactly that.
Yoo Moo-hak had personally visited her father, Jin Baek-cheon, and said so.
—He may be my own son, but the boy has no talent whatsoever. He’d only hold your daughter back, so it’s best to break off the engagement.
Those words still lingered in her mind.
Because it was something she had heard often.
Her father, too, had placed terrifying importance on talent.
Because of that, many people had been cast aside.
‘Yoo Moo-hak is a master of swordsmanship. If he said there’s no talent, then there really must be none.’
Those Jin Baek-cheon had deemed untalented and discarded had truly been so.
It was unlikely that Yoo Moo-hak, being similar, would make a mistake.
“……”
“What are you staring at?”
“Nothing, just curious. I still don’t understand why our engagement was called off.”
“You don’t know my father’s personality?”
“I do. That’s why it’s even more confusing.”
Jin Seo-yeon gave a bitter smile.
“Back then, you cried in front of me, saying you could never meet your father’s expectations.”
“R-really?”
“Yeah. At the time, I was in a similar situation. You and I would always vent our frustrations whenever we met.”
Hearing that, he now understood why Jin Seo-yeon treated him so kindly.
The Magic Tower was similar to the Sword Saint’s family.
Those who failed to meet expectations were cast aside, and the last one standing inherited the Magic Tower.
‘Jin Seo-yeon overcame that pressure and became the successor. In the original story, she did it alone.’
But in this round, what if she had shared that burden with Yoo Baek-jun, whom she had been close to as a child?
It wouldn’t be strange if they had grown closer.
“I overcame the pressure. I thought you wouldn’t be able to, but it seems I was wrong.”
“Uh, yeah.”
Since he didn’t know exactly what they had talked about in the past, he could only respond like this.
Jin Seo-yeon’s gaze was lost in reminiscence.
Seizing the moment, Yoo Baek-jun quickly advanced.
“Yeah, back then—”
“We’re here now.”
“Here? There’s nothing here.”
Jin Seo-yeon looked around.
It was a snowfield filled with monsters. The only difference was a tall cliff not far away.
A massive ice wall blocked the path ahead.
“You said there was something here…”
Right, there was nothing.
‘To the naked eye.’
But she was someone with extraordinary magical talent. That’s why she would sense it.
“…No, there’s something.”
Though nothing was visible, she could feel something—other than monsters—nearby.
But before figuring out what it was, they had to deal with the monsters gathered in this snowfield first.
Boom!
Crash!
Yoo Baek-jun and Jin Seo-yeon quickly disposed of and drove away the monsters gathered in the snowfield.
Yoo Baek-jun walked into the center of the monster corpses. There, ‘something’ had gathered.
“Ice Spirits.”
Though invisible to Jin Seo-yeon’s eyes, Yoo Baek-jun could see them.
Creatures shaped like round, jagged pieces of blue ice covered in spikes.
With circular eyes as their charming feature, these were the Ice Spirits dwelling in Seoraksan Mountain.
—Shiver, shiver…
—Tremble, tremble…
The Ice Spirits huddled together, trembling.
They looked somewhat cute, invoking pity, but they were not creatures to be sympathized with.
Because they were extremely dangerous.
‘They’re somewhat like fairies, but…’
Their role was different.
These creatures gathered the souls of creatures that died on Seoraksan Mountain and sent them to the spirit realm.
The problem was that they didn’t particularly like humans, so sometimes they’d send living humans away as well.
—A-are we alive…?
—Too many monsters… So scary…
—Did that human help us?
The Ice Spirits, belatedly regaining their senses, began circling around Yoo Baek-jun.
The surroundings grew noticeably colder.
—Friend? Friend…?
—No, he’s a human, dummy!
—But he feels like a friend…
The Ice Spirits tilted their heads.
They floated around each other, chatting among themselves.
Somehow, it felt like the buzzing of mosquitoes.
—Are you a friend? No? Friend?
—If not, let’s drive them away.
—Since it’s a human, we should drive them out! Bad guy!
—If they’re not friends, we should kill them. Send them to the spirit realm.
The atmosphere was uneasy.
If left alone, they seemed ready to attack. Yoo Baek-jun let out a sigh and raised the back of his hand.
—Hmm?
The previously empty back of his hand shimmered, and an ice-crystal-shaped mark appeared there.
Seeing this, the Ice Spirits calmed down.
—They are friends!
—Friends… human friends?
Though they were still noisy.
“You guys, why are you here?”
—Ah!
As Yoo Baek-jun, now annoyed, abruptly asked, the Ice Spirits suddenly perked up as if they had just remembered.
—Our home! It was taken!
—Strange people came and killed our friend! Black, huge, and scary-looking ones!
Even without asking, it was clear who they were talking about.
They were related to the first major event, operating as an organized group.
“Your friend died. So?”
—Sniff… Even though the body’s dead, the soul’s still there. But it’s filled with rage… it’s stuck in the cave, angry all the time.
He’s angry every day.
—Because of that, monsters have gathered too.
—He comes out periodically, slaughtering nearby monsters and collecting souls.
Yoo Baek-jun summarized the Ice Spirits story.
Humans came and killed Seol-ho, and his soul remained, unable to pass on.
Not only that, but due to the unjust death, his anger seems to have corrupted him.
—It was dangerous to stay, so we ran away.
—If only our friend had a body… Then we could guide him to the spirit realm somehow.
Hearing this, Yoo Baek-jun’s eyes lit up.
This was why he had bid on the Snow Tiger’s corpse at the auction.
He opened his backpack.
From it emerged the massive corpse of the Snow Tiger.
—Our friend!
The Ice Spirits clung to the Snow Tiger’s corpse and began wailing.
The problem was, as they cried, a blizzard mixed with icy winds began to rage.
Whoooosh!
“It’s freezing! What did you do?”
“What did I do? I just— Ah! Hey, stop!”
Even with his special gear, the cold was intense.
Jin Seo-yeon shivered.
“What on earth are you talking about? I can’t see anything. I can’t hear anything either!”
“I’ll ask them to show themselves to you, hang on.”
Yoo Baek-jun persuaded the Ice Spirits.
They seemed reluctant to reveal themselves to Jin Seo-yeon but eventually agreed.
“…They look weird.”
Whoooosh!
Most of the Ice Spirits were crying, but some directed their anger at Jin Seo-yeon.
The blizzard grew even fiercer.
“Hey! Don’t make them mad!”
“They look weird. Like bouncy balls.”
“Don’t piss them off, seriously!”
Yoo Baek-jun calmed the Ice Spirits down.
The now-calm Spirits circled the Snow Tiger’s corpse, weeping mournfully.
“They’re really grieving. Why are they like this?”
“If a friend you’ve been with for over a hundred years dies, it’s natural to grieve. Let’s wait for now.”
The two waited patiently.
After crying for a long time, the Ice Spirits finally settled down.
The raging blizzard also subsided.
“So, Seol-ho has become an evil spirit now?”
—Yes, he drove us out. Because of that wall, we can’t go back……
“You said having this corpse would help somehow.”
—Yes, evil spirits are all attached to their former bodies. With this, we can get in.
Jin Seo-yeon frowned.
“He’s not just going to let us in peacefully, is he? We’ll have to fight him.”
“Exactly. You catch on quick.”
“…….”
Her gaze turned cold.
“You……”
“I brought you here to use… ahem, well, you’ll see once we get there. It’s exactly the kind of place you’re looking for.”
“I hope so.”
Yoo Baek-jun hoisted Seol-ho’s corpse onto his back.
A treasure worth 30 billion—originally, it could have sold for over 50 billion.
Though it’s a treasure that will disappear once the event is cleared.
‘But it doesn’t matter. The event rewards are worth more than this anyway.’
The Ice Spirits circled around Yoo Baek-jun.
—Are you going?
—Will you help us?
—If you do, you’ll have to subdue Seol-ho, who’s become an evil spirit. Then we can resolve this.
Yoo Baek-jun nodded.
He had already prepared for this, bringing items from his family. With those, it should be manageable.
The two stood before the ice wall.
—Groooowl!
A terrifying roar echoed from beyond the wall.
The cave on the other side—so much magical power was concentrated there that the ground trembled.
Jin Seo-yeon sighed.
“This is going to be a hassle.”
Though annoyed, she could guess why Yoo Baek-jun had brought her here.
‘Magical power so intense it prickles the skin.’
It emanated from beyond the cave.
A frigid, bitterly cold magical power. An enormous amount of elemental magic could be gathered here.
‘Annoying, but worth doing.’
Yoo Baek-jun took a step forward.
Crackle!
The ice wall blocking the cave entrance crumbled with a thunderous noise, revealing the cave inside.
“Pretty.”
Jin Seo-yeon murmured in admiration.
Glowing blue ore, as clear as ice, was embedded everywhere, emitting a mysterious azure light.
But there was no time to appreciate its beauty.
“Pretty, but the stench is overwhelming.”
“Hmm, more like the smell of rotting corpses.”
—It’s further inside.
The cave interior wasn’t too complex.
In about ten minutes, they’d reach where Seol-ho’s evil spirit resided.
Yoo Baek-jun opened his pouch.
“Let’s take some buffs first.”
“…Buffs?”
There was much to do.
