Turns Out To Be a Genius Duelist
chapter-177

Chapter 177 Death God (4)

As time went by, he gradually calmed down. Come to think of it; it wasn’t such a big deal to encounter such an extreme confrontation. Even if Elle wasn’t the person Yoon-seok thought, it was better to pretend not to know and take advantage of what she could offer.

But, maybe because he felt betrayed, just like how Elle felt about Yoon-seok.

—Do you know how much I’ve done for you! And now you’re behaving like this!

That’s true. Elle did so much for Yoon-seok that he could confidently agree, which was why Yoon-seok believed in her. If she really couldn’t say anything due to the constraints that the Tower put forward, then what he just did would certainly be his mistake. But…

‘What if that’s not the case?’

There was no way to figure out the truth. What if the constraints didn’t exist, and that was an excuse to deceive him? Should he take that risk because he wanted to trust Elle? Even if her words that it was for his sake were sincere, it was the same. There was no guarantee that Elle’s desired results would be consistent with Yoon-seok’s.

He didn’t know anything yet.

‘…’

All those surrounding him, including the Tower and the Queen, seemed to be trying to take advantage of him. It felt the situation was going as someone intended, no matter what he chose. He felt like there was no one he could trust.

Yoon-seok couldn’t help the self-mocking smile around his lips. And it was then-

「Cheonma zl Zone invites you to the waiting room.」

「Would you like to accept it?」

Cheon-ma called Yoon-seok.

After a moment’s consideration, Yoon-seok accepted the invitation. Perhaps she also ended her mission at the same time. Also, he was a little curious about what rewards she received. He was confident that he wouldn’t make a mistake in front of her because his fluctuating emotions had calmed down. And, above all, he wanted to talk to someone.

“You’re here.”

“Yes.”

Cheon-ma welcomed Yoon-seok. She held the dragon’s egg from the mission and hugged it tightly to her chest. He felt bitter. How much trouble did they have to suffer because she killed the guardian dragon to get the dragon’s egg?

Yoon-seok took off his mask and sat facing her.

“You don’t look good. Did something bad happen to you?”

He thought he’d adjusted, but was it still insufficient? Cheon-ma noticed Yoon-seok’s dizzy mind at a glance. Well, although the direction she went with it was a little off.

“Were the rewards not good?”

As she asked, Cheon-ma hugged the egg even tighter. Even if that were the case, her expression made it clear she wouldn’t give him the egg. Yoon-seok shook his head with a smile.

“It’s not like that.”

He received over 30 million points. He had a hard time, but honestly, he was satisfied. But what he felt and the reward were two completely different stories. To change the subject, Yoon-seok asked Cheon-ma what her reward was.

“I didn’t get much. I was just given a small sum of money.”

He was just wondering because they fought the queen together, but she didn’t get anything special except the egg. Of course, the points weren’t that much either. Yoon-seok had taken over 90% of the contribution, but the rewards were also halved due to her penalty for killing the expedition leader.

But she was very satisfied with the mission.

“…Did you feel that?”

Suddenly, Cheon-ma flinched. Yoon-seok, growing nervous, stood at the ready, but-

“Just now, the Primordial Red Dragon moved! I can’t believe it’s so soon; maybe it’s a boy!”

“…”

“Now! It moved again! You should touch it, too!”

Cheon-ma grabbed Yoon-seok’s hand and put it over the shell of the egg. He felt something wriggling in the egg, so Yoon-seok tried injecting magic. He immediately felt a reply as if he was in a good mood. He stood as if in a trance, hand pressed against the egg’s smooth surface.

Then he realized that the current composition was very awkward.

“Oh…”

Only then did Yoon-seok pull away. This almost made them look like a husband and wife. However, was that shame only felt by Yoon-seok? Cheon-ma tilted her head as she looked at him.

“What’s wrong?”

“…It’s nothing.”

Yoon-seok sat back down and drank a cup of tea to relieve his burning throat. Cheon-ma suppressed her excitement and carefully placed the egg on the cushion next to her.

“So this is how it goes?”

“What do you mean?”

“Didn’t I ask why you don’t look so happy? But it wasn’t because of the reward, and I’m curious why.”

Changing the topic earlier didn’t work. Falling into despair, Yoon-seok thought about how to change the subject again.

‘Why don’t I want to tell her?’

He had no clue. Because he didn’t trust her? No, that wasn’t it. Yoon-seok had seen her after dying and coming back ten thousand times. At the moment he was dying, her expression was always one of intense anger and sorrow.

No, now Yoon-seok realized, had he ever talked about his feelings to anyone in his life? Come to think of it, there wasn’t anyone he could speak to about them.

“…”

Yoon-seok faced Cheon-ma’s eyes. She was leisurely drinking tea as she waited for Yoon-seok’s decision. Her consideration was heartwarming, but he supposed it was a matter of course. Although she looked younger than him, wasn’t she the absolute master with much more experience?

“Actually…”

He decided to confide in her and ask for advice. As long as he made up his mind, he had no reason to hesitate.

Yoon-seok talked about his previous life, Rick Gerssey. And after talking about the relationship between him and Elle, the current admin, he also explained the confrontation between the Tower and the Queen. Cheon-ma listened silently, and only after his explanation was completely over, did she open her mouth to respond.

“In other words, the Tower and the Queen tried to use you to kill each other. However, the person you trusted didn’t tell you anything. You were frustrated and angry because everyone was hiding things from you and only trying to manipulate you. Is this right?”

“Yes. Well, in summary, I guess so.”

Yoon-seok smiled bitterly. After explaining it like that, it didn’t sound like a big deal at all. At the same time, he was curious. What advice would she give after learning all of these circumstances?

To begin with, there was no advice.

“I see.”

It ended with a small nod and the question:

“Are you feeling better now?”

It was a funny thing to say, but he did. He didn’t find sympathy nor a proper solution, but he felt so much better. But, Yoon-seok was a little greedy. So he asked her.

“What would you do if you were in my situation?”

Cheon-ma replied without hesitation.

“If I were you, I wouldn’t think about which one was the real enemy.”

“…?”

“Tower or Queen. Why does it matter who the enemy or ally is? If it bothers you, just destroy both.”

Should he say that it was very Cheon-ma-like? It was a more cheerful answer than he imagined, but now he could see the right way to go.

“Then I’ll get going.”

“I’ll call you one more time after the duel.”

After the conversation, Yoon-seok returned to the waiting room. He felt like the fog covering his eyes was gone. No matter who his enemies and allies were, Yoon-seok would not move as they wanted him to in the future. Of course, he still had the most important thing to do left.

He had to be strong enough to move forward alone. Of course, it may still be impossible to do it alone. But when he expressed anxiety about it, Cheon-ma said this to him.

—Who told you that you were alone? If you want, I’ll help you.

Of course, he had to wonder why Cheon-ma was doing this. Because he was the Co-Sect Leader? Or because it was for her precious student? Or were they just empty words?

Regardless of the reason, thanks to this, he gained the strength to move forward.

‘Let’s do it.’

Yoon-seok approached the tablet and opened the store. Using MP, he bought a Rank A upgrade and poured it in his mouth. He already decided which skill to upgrade.

「Rank of Unique Skill {Death God} has been increased.」

Originally, he planned to upgrade {Predation} to Rank S., But he changed his mind after the mission. He couldn’t use {Death God}’s ability daily. However, it was an undeniable counter against the Queen. Until he learned the truth, Yoon-seok made the judgment that it was necessary to sharpen and refine his weapons as long as he decided to regard all of them as enemies.

「You’ve reached Rank S.」

「One of the four effects can be chosen.」

It was the same as when {Divine Ultimatum} reached Rank S. Options appeared like choosing the characteristics of normal skills. However, the difference was that the number of choices increased from three to four.

*Revival – Breathe life into creatures who died less than 30 minutes ago.

It was a similar ability to Salvation, one of Yoon-seok’s options for his unique power. However, though it reduced the revival time limit to 30 minutes, there was no waiting time for reuse. But he wouldn’t choose for the same reason why he didn’t choose Salvation then.

Yoon-seok shifted his eyes to the next.

*King of Hell – One time, death is given to one subject registered on the list.

The second King of Hell was fraudulent. If the name of someone was registered on the list, he could kill anything even if they were as strong as Cheon-ma. But, could he kill the being that made the Tower or the Queen with this? For some reason, he thought he couldn’t. Plus, it could only be used once.

‘I’ll keep this to the side for now.’

Next then.

*Asura King – Asura’s body receives the characteristics of Immortality, and all abilities rise by +12.

He was sorry to Asura, but this time it was a bummer. With this large buff, Asura could do his part, but he didn’t upgrade b Death God} just to receive this. Then how about the last one?

*Awakening – Slowly regain some of the memories of a forgotten life.

Reading through, he thought this was the one. Memories of a forgotten life. If he understood this part correctly, it meant his past life. Though it was just some of them, he might learn the secrets associated with his past life. It wasn’t the weapon he expected, but this would be a means of protecting himself to some extent.

「New abilities will be given to the Unique Skill {Death God}.」

After a little consideration, Yoon-seok made his decision. Aside from Revival and Asura King, it was a little disappointing that he couldn’t choose King of Hell he kept as an option, but… Rick Gerssey. He thought that obtaining information about this character would be much more helpful.

‘But why is there no change…?’

Yoon-seok, waiting for the change with his breath held, tilted his head. Did his interpretation of the ability go wrong? He thought it would proceed in a similar format to the indirect experience of his life he had seen before. However, there was still no change. Why?

While thinking about it, the world around him shifted.

‘Is it starting?’

It was dark and cloudy. Everything looked as if he were wearing cloudy magnifying glasses. Did he hit his head? Even the color had been leached from the world.

‘Where am I?’

Soon, he felt it. He was currently aware of himself in his previous life.

While hiding in the bushes, he sharpened all his senses to escape from an invisible enemy.

‘Am I aiming for someone? What’s happening now?’

He didn’t understand. He only felt it now, but the senses in his body were different. But while he was still sorting it out, the native of that body, instinctively judging it was time to strike, jumped high. Yoon-seok realized at that moment-

‘…?’

-this memory didn’t belong to Gerssey.

However, this doesn’t mean that the memories weren’t his past life. But, Rick Gerssey was not his only past life.

—Croak!

In his previous life, he was a frog. And one day, he was eaten by a bird.

—Croak-!

Was this how a person who had been scammed out of all his property felt? While he couldn’t even laugh-

Whoooosh-!

His eyes changed again.

‘This is…’

It was a memory from his next life.