Chapter 223
Suhyuk had undergone the procedure from Jinwoon for the last time.
It had been the final task before the upcoming trial.
*Ssss*—Steam rose from the exposed tattoo on his back, still hot.
Before the steam could fully dissipate, Suhyuk had already put his clothes back on. Jinwoon shook his head, as if dismayed by the sight.
“Doesn’t it hurt?”
“Isn’t it because you ensured it wouldn’t?”
“What’s there to like about it? I made it terribly painful.”
“Yes. It was indeed excruciating.”
Jinwoon’s procedure had been painful. No, it had been excruciating.
With meticulous precision, he cut the flesh with a knife, poured in a potion imbued with magic, then heated the inside with a red-hot iron rod.
Despite all this, the person undergoing the procedure had to remain mindful, ensuring the potion seeped into their body.
“Yet you manage to endure it so well.”
“I tend to manage pain pretty well naturally.”
Suhyuk replied as he fastened his shirt. Each time the fabric brushed against his wounds, it stung painfully.
As he finished dressing, Jinwoon asked, “Isn’t it that you must endure it?”
Suhyuk, who had turned his back to him, hesitated momentarily.
Un Hyang and Jinwoon had these moments. These moments when they would ask questions in such a manner.
Which Lee Suhyuk are you?
Especially people like Jinwoon, who knew him well, tempted him to respond each time.
Sir, it’s me.
“There are usually two kinds of people who can endure such pain. Either those who are extraordinarily greedy or those who need to endure the pain for something far more important.”
Not wanting to remain silent, Suhyuk jestingly replied, “You must not know my nickname. They call me ‘Money-Crazy.'”
“I know. That kid told me you’re obsessed with points.”
Suhyuk felt relieved for a moment.
“But it’s probably just a means.”
Finally, Suhyuk had to admit defeat, figuratively throwing up both hands.
Un Hyang and Jinwoon. Both detected a sense of incongruity in Suhyuk’s actions.
While contemplating an excuse, Suhyuk shook his head.
He couldn’t escape these two forever.
“Next time, I’ll tell you.”
With those words, Suhyuk finished dressing and walked out.
There was so much behind those words, and Jinwoon mulled them over as he gathered his tools.
“… What will you say?”
But the subject of his question had already left.
Jinwoon laughed bitterly.
“How rude, interrupting an elder’s question.”
He could chase after and ask again, but he didn’t.
If he waited, he would find out during their next meeting.
The reason Suhyuk was obsessed with points. The reason he endured the pain. The reason which was far greater than the pain itself.
* * *
└ Why is Lee Suhyuk not here yet?
└ This break feels way too long. LOL
└ Trying to challenge the victory tower at this pace is ridiculous. LOL
└ That is true
└ You think challenging the 8th floor is easy? LOL Stop being impatient
└ But… Suhyuk has captured my heart
└ Actually, I want to capture Suhyuk’s heart~ Bang bang~
On the way to the test site, Suhyuk read the comments on his channel through his player kit.
His last stream had been a brief update, just a few minutes long, about Un Hyang’s news. Since then, his channel had been on hiatus.
Considering the Counter-Fight content, this had been the longest stream hiatus he’d taken.
“Everyone’s been eagerly waiting, right?”
As they continued their walk, Un Hyang inquired. Suhyuk continued to read the comments as he answered.
“Yes. It seems so.”
“Even while the stream was paused, your subscriber count rose. Suhyuk-nim, you’re now a prominent large-scale streamer.”
It was no surprise that Suhyuk’s popularity was skyrocketing.
The name Lee Suhyuk, the lightning speed at which he became a ranker in the shortest time, and his remarkable performance in the Counter-Fight.
On top of that, his fight at the Divine Dragon Group drew all the attention.
“Then, it would be a pity for everyone!”
Suhyuk said.
“What do you mean?!”
Un Hyang asked, startled by Suhyuk’s words.
“If I suddenly stop streaming.”
“Do you want to stop streaming?!”
Un Hyang asked, her voice filled with concern.
“Not really.”
“Then what?”
“I mean, if it happens. Just in case.”
It could come to a point where he couldn’t stream regardless of his will.
Maybe sooner than he thought.
‘There are only fifteen days left.’
That was the time left until the day the Heavenly Demon had foretold.
Suhyuk counted each day carefully, worrying he might mistake the date and time.
He couldn’t afford to waste a single day. In just fifteen days, the fate of Hyomin and two others would be decided.
And on that day, if he were to die…
‘This stream might be my last.’
If he died, he’d die together with them. That was the resolve he had made.
No matter how important revenge was, it was a secondary priority. Just as Hyomin’s life was paramount to Shiwoo and Yerang, the lives of those three were far more important to him.
Of course, he wanted to continue streaming.
Though leveling up skills was his primary aim, Suhyuk had found satisfaction in streaming itself lately.
“Well, it can’t be helped. It’s your choice, Suhyuk-nim!”
Un Hyang said.
“Really? I thought you would be more disappointed.”
“Of course, I will be. I’d be out of a job as a manager.”
“Would you manage another streamer then?”
“If you quit, Suhyuk-nim, we’d probably both get fired.”
Is it that big of a deal? Suhyuk, puzzled by the notion, reassured Un Hyang.
“Don’t worry. I won’t quit.”
Then he noticed the unusual quietness.
Normally, someone would have shouted by now, “If I get fired, I’ll be penniless!”
“Cheon Ryang, is he going to try again?!”
Suhyuk asked.
“Yes, that’s what he said!”
Un Hyang responded.
Cheon Ryang had decided to challenge himself further.
Although he had been stuck on the 7th floor for a long time, he made up his mind to tackle the 8th-floor test again.
The testing fee was burdensome, but he was determined to manage it somehow.
“He’ll do well. Even though he complains, he has talent!”
Un Hyang said, believing in Cheon Ryang’s ability despite their constant bickering.
As Suhyuk watched Un Hyang and Cheon Ryang, he often imagined himself and his friends playing together.
And he thought once again.
‘I can’t live like this forever.’
Meeting Shiwoo, Yerang, and Hyomin, and eventually taking his revenge.
Would he still be streaming afterward? If so, what kind of stream should he do?
Whatever it might be, he was sure of one thing he’d eventually say,
‘Someday, I’ll reveal the truth.’
“Dear viewers, actually, I am Lee Suhyuk.”
He wondered what the reaction would be. It would undoubtedly create great content.
Such whimsical thoughts made him chuckle. He realized once more how much he had become a streamer.
Un Hyang, giving him a strange look, asked, “Are you feeling good or bad?”
“It’s not bad.”
There was nothing bad about it.
Finding out that Shiwoo and Yerang were alive, hearing news about Hyomin through Gyuseong.
He had anticipated a big fight someday.
It just came sooner than expected.
“Just feeling a bit tense.”
“That’s unlike you!”
Un Hyang remarked.
“Is it?”
Lee Suhyuk, who had been lost in thought for a moment, nodded his head.
Indeed. He wondered when he had ever truly felt nervous.
However, the upcoming fight was not about his own life or death.
He had already thought about his lost comrades once. It was a fight where their lives were at stake.
Moreover, perhaps the outcome of this trial could determine the victory or defeat of that battle.
Most importantly, the biggest reason for this tension was one thing.
‘It ends here.’
As Suhyuk moved forward, a gusty valley came into his view.
‘This is the place I had come to.’
The path leading to the trial ground.
There was a valley blocked by Hydra on that path.
A Guardian.
Those entities that blocked the path to the next level.
In his previous life, Suhyuk had been unable to take the trial, blocked by the Guardian, Hydra.
‘If I had stayed there, would I have lived?’
Suhyuk had been poisoned by Hydra’s venom.
The poison that seeped into his wound was potent. It was resistant to any treatment.
Although he endured and fought through sheer willpower, he wondered if he could have completely detoxified that poison.
‘Can I even call it a victory?’
History had recorded him as the victor.
Lee Suhyuk had succeeded in defeating the 8th-floor Guardian, Hydra.
But Suhyuk did not remember it as a victory.
It was neither a victory nor a defeat. Not even a draw.
As he brooded over that unsettling feeling, something massive caught Suhyuk’s eye between the valley.
“That is…?”
“Oh, right. Suhyuk-nim, it’s your first time seeing it, isn’t it?!”
Un Hyang responded, having seen it before.
“That is Hydra’s corpse that Lee Suhyuk defeated, the strongest Guardian.”
The corpse of Hydra stood in the valley.
Its enormous body filled the backdrop of the valley. Sharp fangs and lifeless eyes of the poison dragon.
Though it was a corpse, it hadn’t decayed or decomposed, retaining the appearance it had when it first fell.
“The first time I saw it, I thought it could suddenly come back to life and spew poison. It’s so lifelike, isn’t it?”
“Why is this here?”
It wasn’t strange that Hydra’s body hadn’t decayed yet.
Having fought it, he knew. Hydra’s tough scales and durable skin wouldn’t easily decompose over time.
But that very reason made its presence here even more puzzling.
‘How much is this thing worth?’
The corpse of a powerful monster is valuable. It can be used to make valuable items.
In that sense, Hydra’s body held astronomical value.
Despite that, to leave it untouched?
It was not common sense.
“I heard items could be made from its corpse… but that wasn’t done.”
“Why?”
“To remember that day.”
“You’ll be recorded as a hero even after you’re gone.”
Suddenly, Kim Ilsoo’s voice echoed in his mind.
“It was Guildmaster Kim Ilsoo’s decision. He said Lee Suhyuk should not be forgotten. That the defeat of Hydra wouldn’t have been possible without him.”
“We will remember him.”
The more he listened, the clearer Kim Ilsoo’s face and voice became.
To the extent that they even abandoned Hydra’s body!
You really were determined.
Looking at Hydra’s corpse, Suhyuk raised his head towards the sky.
‘You didn’t expect me to come back here. I didn’t either.’
He spoke inwardly towards the ceiling. The one above, higher than him, probably resided there.
‘So you were wrong, Ilsoo.’
Being here vividly reminded him. Like a time traveler, Suhyuk was transported back to that day.
The fight with Hydra. His comrades were betrayed and killed. The battle to protect the survivors.
The first death he experienced at the end of that desperate fight.
He now understood why he couldn’t remember that fight as a victory or defeat. Or anything at all.
‘You shouldn’t have recorded that day.’
For Suhyuk, that day’s fight had not yet ended and was still ongoing.