Chapter 232.1 – Tournament (32) Part 3

Editor: Yui

“Do you remember John Overton?” I ask Lee Hyung-jin.

He nods his head.

It was a few days ago, so of course you’ll remember.

“Did he cause any trouble on the stage?”

“On the tournament stage?”

“Yes, I did get a report from Jun-seok, but I was wondering if there was anything missing.”

Lee Hyung-jin ran into the portal with a weird look on his face.

After a while, we were moved from the middle of the square to a burning forest.

“What is this?”

Why is it burning?

I was thinking about going out again and sending a message, but then I see a figure walking through the fire.

* * * * * *

[Lee Ho-jae]

Kim Min-hyuk frowns at me as soon as I come.

I wanted to ask whether he came after making up his mind to nag today.

“Why are you ripping off the arm of a healthy American challenger? He was maintaining a good relationship with us, and was the only American kid here, so did you have to ruin that atmosphere?”

…I was right again, but when he snaps at me like this, I feel annoyed.

“What is it? What’s the matter? I’m sure there’s a good reason? There is one, right? ”

“There is a reason.”

“It should be a good reason. Enough to help us at the negotiating table.”

I’m sorry, but this probably won’t be of any help.

Why did I pull out John Overton’s left arm?

This forest-themed stage is the one I’ve been using as a training ground since the day I entered and left the tournament stage.

Since that day, I’ve been training to recall and use that amazing power of being able to control the flames, with my will.

I was so engrossed in training yesterday, that I completely ignored the burning trees and the poor squirrels.

Meanwhile, John Overton visited my training stage.

That lunatic came over to me, drunk as a fish.

Listening to his irritating drivels of “I’m going to die.” made me angry before I knew it.

So I grabbed his arm and yanked it out.

“Ah, how crazy.”

Kim Min-hyuk rubbed the bridge of his nose.

Now that it’s like this, I feel a little sorry.

“Please explain why…”

“For him.”

Kim Min-hyuk looked at me with an absurd look, but it’s true.

That’s all I could do for John, who was half-mad, crying like a baby.

Hell difficulty’s challengers are the ones who are most exposed to danger and death than anyone else.

This is for sure.

There is a huge difference in risk compared to other difficulty levels.

But that didn’t mean that Hell Difficulty challengers wouldn’t be scared or nervous while facing death and suffering.

Rather, other Hell Difficulty challengers, except for me, focus on avoiding attacks and respond sensitively to pain.

All of the Hell’s Difficulty Challengers who have survived so far have done it like this.

Of course, John Overton is one of these challengers.

In Hell Difficulty, when you can’t evade an attack once, or when you make a wrong judgment in a battle, you face a death crisis.

You can’t get through it without having a firm attitude.

As a result, Hell Difficulty Challengers tend to be extraordinarily self-conscious.

In addition, their long-time escape from danger and death makes them even more cowardly.

The longer they’re exposed to death, the more the fear of death accumulates in them.

In fact, there is no one who is not afraid of death, but Hell Difficulty Challengers should be able to overcome this fear.

It is impossible to clear the stage easily, avoiding all risks.

In the end, there will be a moment when you face danger and have to fight it head-on.

“…Why did you pull out his arm?”

“You’ve never had your arm pulled out, have you?”

Kim Min-hyuk nodded awkwardly at my words.

I knew it.

The sense of the arm being pulled out, especially the feeling of having the left arm being pulled out, is quite special.

When I lie in bed trying to force myself to sleep, I can’t help but think of this feeling.

“When my left arm was pulled out, the cross section got filled up with blood. When you feel the blood spewing out of your blood vessels, your senses awaken.”

“…Awaken?”

“I could feel my heart thumping against my chest, as my left arm throbbed, blood pouring out. It feels like…”

When was it that my left arm first got cut off?

It was probably on the sixth floor.

A skeleton knight had cut off my shoulder.

Unlike a regular skeleton soldier holding a rusty sword, this one had quite a sharp sword.

My shoulder was sliced off in one stroke.

I felt the sensation for the first time then.

“You can feel death most cleanly and calmly.”

“…That’s why you pulled John Overton’s arm out.”

“You’ll understand once you feel death.”

“What?”

“There’s nothing more I could do. Nothing would work better, other than fixing his rotten state of mind.”

Kim Min-hyuk continued to say something with a tired look, but I was able to get his approval by saying that I would solve the problem myself if I took it to the U.S.

Kim Min-hyuk may have nagged me in the first place in the hope that I would clean up my own shit.

“What’s that?”

For some reason, Lee Hyung-jin, who came with Kim Min-hyuk, had a ball in his hand. It’s something I have never seen before.

Lee Hyung-jin hid the ball behind him, jumping in surprise.

“Oh, nothing.”

Lee Hyung-jin put the ball back in his inventory, saying so.

I think he was going to give it to me.

I shouldn’t have asked.

* * * * * *

While I and Kim Min-hyuk were talking, Lee Hyung-jin asked if it was okay to look around for a while.

I have no problems, so I say yes.

He’ll see nothing but cut, broken and burned trees anyway.

Ah. If he goes deeper, he may find many animal carcasses.

“Here. Taming scroll and ring. You can write your name on the contract and agree with each other.”

Kim Min-hyuk hands over a scroll and a ring.

Certainly, the scroll contains the detailed provisions of the necessary orders and contracts.

Kim Min-hyuk didn’t tell, but I could read as much.

Is it over if I wear the ring after finishing the contract?

It seems simple.

“Kea-ek!”

The frog, who’s quiet next to me, cries out.

The frog must want to sign a contract too, after seeing me.

“You follow very well, frog. I’ve heard about it, but it’s amazing to see it in person.”

“Yes, it’s a female.”

I answer lightly, but Kim Min-hyuk’s response is strange.

As if embarrassed, he holds his breath quickly and stammers.

“What, what, what does that mean?”

What do I mean?

I decide to explain before there’s a bigger misunderstanding.

“My face is usually favoured by amphibians and reptiles.”

It’s a face that could easily be liked by similar humans with frog or lizard heads.

If you ask me what kind of face it is, I can’t explain.

I don’t know why they like it either because I’m neither a reptile or an amphibian.

“Oh, my God. I see now. You have a wide defense range.”

I chat with Kim Min-hyuk for a moment.

“Oh, and I think we need to look out more for repairing the holy sword. It’s not hard to fix the weapon itself, but since it’s a holy sword, the task’s a bit tricky.”

Kim Min-hyuk explains.

“But it’s not like there’s no way out. If it doesn’t work, you can ask the managers later.”

I’m relieved by Kim Min-hyuk’s words.

It seems that the same is true for Ahbooboo.

Ahbooboo flew around frantically.

I want to get him to quit because his constant flying is annoying, but I couldn’t say anything since I, too am excited.

“The sword is so cute.”

“Hah, cute. If you hear him fucking talk, you’ll never say that again.”

“What’s he saying?”

Kim Min-hyuk asks curiously.

I thought I’d explain, but I shut up.

I didn’t want to harm my mental health by telling him.

“Lastly, the gods I spoke to you about. You said it isn’t good to be too involved with the gods.” Kim Min-hyuk says, scratching the back of his head.

“Yes.”

“I’d like to ask which god would be best associated with.”

Kim Min-hyuk says, “It’s a question that I’ve heard a lot from hard-difficulty challengers.”

Certainly, the degree of the apostle, the attention, and the skill reward is a positive factor.

Which god would be the most beneficial?

I can’t tell him about a god I don’t know of, so I answer only from the gods I’ve had experiences with.

“God of Duel and God of Nature.”

I further explain in detail to Kim Min-hyuk, who asks why.

“There’s a clear desire for the challenger, and the god he follows, needs to help him fulfil his desire. It’s not particularly bad to hope, and above all, the skills and power involved will be beneficial to the challenger.”

The gods that could be of help are the gods of duel and the gods of nature.

“God of adventure? I had the most opinions about him.”

I’m sure you have a lot of opinions.

He looks the most generous.

But he was the most formidable.

“You’d better rule him out as much as possible. The god of adventure loves to achieve something against adversity, so you may think it will help, but the process of enduring adversity will be a problem.”

[The God of Adventure is disappointed.]

“The interrelationship with others will also be a problem. The most unusual thing about the god of adventure is that he has deep relationships with humans and understands them. It’s quite unique considering the way the gods usually treat humans.”

“Isn’t that a good thing?”

“Not necessarily. God of adventure values the process, not the results. He isn’t a god who tolerates a relatively wrong process for the right result. He doesn’t ignore the people victimized, but rather wants to get closer to them and feel the anguish, all for the sake of understanding them.”

“Hmm…”

It seemed like the explanation didn’t really satisfy Kim Min-hyuk.

“To explain it in a bad way, he’s a god who wants to walk on thorns both physically and mentally. Don’t be fooled by him. It’s better to just skip the god of adventure.”

[The God of Adventure is disappointed.]

Why do you feel disappointed?

For other challengers, the god of adventure is the worst.

[The God of Adventure is perplexed.]

“Oh, and if there’s a challenger associated with the God of Hope, tell him to stop interacting right away. It’s a terrible thing.”

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