Beyond - 5
In the middle of the street on the ninth floor.
A delicious aroma wafted from a street stall with a fabric roof.
[Earth's Specialty!]
[Kim YuWon also ate it! Deliciously spicy!]
At the street stall, while preparing intensely red tteokbokki (spicy rice cake), Jooyeon shouted:
"Come and eat tteokbokki! We also have fritters!"
"It's Earth's specialty! Kim YuWon's favorite food! Probably..."
Seongchan let out a sigh, leaving the sentence unfinished.
"How long do we have to keep doing this?"
"Don't we need to pay back the tuition we borrowed?"
"That's true, but..."
"Lately, we've spread the word, and the number of customers has increased. If we earn a bit more, we'll soon be able to pay the next tuition."
The tuition to challenge the tenth floor is expensive.
It costs several times more than the other floors.
Because they failed the last Trial, the two were earning points working as street vendors.
"Climbing a single floor is so difficult..."
It's not easy for a normal Player to climb the Tower without the sponsorship of a Guild.
Setting aside passing the Trial, most of the time, they couldn't even afford the tuition.
If one could pass the Trial in one go, they could manage with the Trial reward, but there weren't many Players like that.
"YuWon must be fine. He probably paid the tuition right away."
Seongchan recalled the Tutorial Trial.
The marble collection Trial.
Back then, YuWon collected over a thousand marbles and sold them for 100 points each.
With just the points he earned at that time, he exceeded 100,000, so he probably didn't have to worry about the tuition.
"Would tuition have been a problem for YuWon? Even back then, if he wanted, he would have received sponsorships from Great Guilds one after another."
"When will we climb?"
"No matter how long it takes."
Squeezing the ladle stirring the tteokbokki, Jooyeon, her, lit up her eyes.
"I will definitely climb."
"You're really amazing."
Seongchan sighed.
Ninth floor.
They had been struggling for over ten years after entering the Tower and had barely reached the ninth floor.
That speed was average.
The problem was that it was absolutely impossible to become a Ranker with average performance.
Seongchan raised his head and muttered:
"What is YuWon doing?"
Jooyeon was trying to climb the Tower, and Seongchan was climbing the Tower with her.
More than half of this was due to YuWon's influence. Their meeting was brief, but his figure was dazzling.
With the desire to be like him, and to be strong enough to lead the Players on the lower floors, Jooyeon and Seongchan were climbing the Tower.
"Surely he's doing something great even now."
Recently, most of the rumors circulating in the Tower began and ended with Kim YuWon.
Because of that, even without doing anything, his actions were commendable.
"Will we be able to climb?"
"We just have to work hard in our own way. If we continue like this, definitely..."
Crunch-.
It was then...
A customer entered the quiet street stall.
"Welcome-."
Jooyeon's expression, about to greet, turned pale.
Black hair like theirs, something uncommon in the Tower.
A young man with an aquiline nose and black eyes.
'YuWon?'
'Why is this guy here?'
Clearly, until a moment ago, they thought he would be doing something great, but suddenly he came to eat tteokbokki.
Did they come looking for us?
Even with that thought, YuWon's expression was also one of surprise.
"You guys..."
The gazes of YuWon, who had entered the street stall, and the two people met.
"Here? In this street stall?"
Behind YuWon, Son OhGong, with his long white hair, entered as well.
Murmuring while chewing something in his mouth.
'The Great Sage, Heaven's Equal?'
'I'm crazy-.'
Jooyeon and Seongchan's faces turned pale.
They were decent Players climbing the Tower too. Of course, they knew about famous Rankers, and among them was information about Son OhGong.
But for Son OhGong, after YuWon, to also visit their stall...
Seongchan started hiccupping from the surprise.
"Oh, it smells good. The food from your world is delicious... Why are you like that?"
"They're acquaintances."
"Who? These guys?"
Son OhGong's gaze alternated between Jooyeon and Seongchan.
When Son OhGong tilted his head to look at them more closely, Jooyeon and Seongchan's legs trembled.
"Hmm-."
Son OhGong tilted his head.
"They seem weak..."
Son OhGong was a being who judged all people by their strength.
In his eyes, Jooyeon and Seongchan were no different from the goblins that swarmed the streets.
Of course...
YuWon's value standards were different from Son OhGong's.
"Have you decided to climb?"
Jooyeon and Seongchan nodded.
"Yes."
"We have to climb. Somehow."
The corners of YuWon's lips rose at the expression of the two.
It was a brief encounter, but they seemed to be doing better than he thought.
"Good. Since you've decided to climb, do it well. I'll cheer you on."
"T-Thank you. But..."
Jooyeon scratched her cheek and spoke uncomfortably.
"We keep climbing without stopping, but..."
"...?"
-----------------
The street stall closed its doors.
Son OhGong, with red sauce on his lips, listened to the story of the two alongside YuWon.
And then...
"But why are you still on the ninth floor? It's been over 10 years."
At Son OhGong's direct question, Jooyeon lowered her head.
"We just... don't have the capability yet."
"Y-Yes, but at least we're average. More or less."
At Seongchan's added explanation, Son OhGong tilted his head.
"Average?"
"Well."
YuWon didn't know either. There were always only talented players around him.
If a very small number of Players became Rankers, then among them, an even smaller number of Rankers obtained the title of High Rank.
Even among the High Ranks, there were only exceptional individuals like Son OhGong or Hercules around YuWon.
That is to say...
He had no idea about the level of normal Players.
"Well. It usually takes over 100 years to become a Ranker."
That too, of course, was for Players talented enough to become Rankers.
Being among abnormal beings, he had never thought about how difficult it was for normal Players to climb.
"Are these guys from your story? The one about the marble story?"
In the midst of various conversations, YuWon had told Son OhGong about the Tutorial.
In the process, YuWon mentioned Jooyeon and Seongchang's story, and Son OhGong seemed to recall it.
"In their own way, they've done something great too."
Collecting marbles was a crucial trial to catch Surtra.
In the Tutorial where points were crucial, YuWon needed to earn at least a hundred thousand points.
Otherwise, he would have to give up on capturing Surtra.
And Jooyeon and Seongchan were willing to help YuWon collect more marbles.
So, swallowing the food filling his mouth, Son OhGong asked,
"Can't they climb because you guys are weak? Isn't that it? Should I train you guys?"
"W-well, that's true, but..."
"We're sorry..."
Jooyeon and Seongchan's eyes wavered.
Training with The Great Sage, Heaven's Equal?
That could be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
But thinking about it, it was the training of the Great Sage, Heaven's Equal.
The process wouldn't be easy.
No, it might be even more dangerous than taking a Trial risking their lives.
While the two hesitated with that sense of crisis,
"Hey, don't refuse it. Okay?"
Son OhGong stepped in between them, smiling and wrapping his arms around their shoulders.
The two laughed awkwardly.
YuWon sighed watching Son OhGong's behavior.
'It seems like he's enjoying himself.'
As long as he's having fun, that's all that matters.
That was Son OhGong.
"What fools are here!"
Son OhGong, who had flown to an open space on the Flying Nimbus, threw the Ru Yi Bang he held in his hand to the ground and grumbled.
Jooyeon and Seongchan, each with a sword and a hammer in hand, clasped their hands and lowered their heads.
"Like this, like this, like this? Don't you get it?"
"Do you get it, Monkey?"
YuWon covered his face with a hand at Son OhGong's explanation.
This stupid Monkey had no talent for teaching. He thought he would at least be good at teaching things related to fighting, but not even that.
No.
Strictly speaking, Son OhGong's teaching wasn't entirely terrible.
Depending on who heard it, those words could be a great revelation.
'If it were people like Lee Seong-Yoon, they would have understood...'
The problem was that it wasn't Lee Seong-Yoon but Jooyeon and Seongchan.
Very normal Players who hadn't been able to pass the ninth floor in over 10 years.
In other words, they weren't receiving education up to their needs.
"Look, look! Like this, like this..."
"Move aside, Monkey."
In the end, YuWon pushed Son OhGong's face to the side and stepped forward.
"You'll learn to use the sword and hammer later. There are experts in the Murim World who are better at teaching."
The tenth-floor trial is directed by the Murim World.
The goal of the Trial was to learn the martial arts of each sect and use them to fight.
Therefore, teaching the use of swords or hammers at this moment was inefficient.
"It takes a long time to master a weapon. And you don't have such great talent to learn it in the blink of an eye."
"My heart hurts a bit."
"It's because it's the truth. You have to start by accepting it."
Facing YuWon's words, Jooyeon nodded with a embarrassed expression.
Though it hurt her pride, it was better to be spoken to honestly.
"When is the next Trial?"
"In five days..."
"Five days? And you've been trading there?"
"I was short on money for the Trial fee."
A tight schedule.
YuWon shook his head without hesitation.
"No, this time you pass. It's not worth throwing money away trying it now. Take a break and prepare well during the remaining time."
It was true.
It was a problem Jooyeon and Seongchan also vaguely knew.
So, they had no choice but to nod at YuWon's words.
However, the problem was they didn't know how to prepare even if they were given time.
"So, what do we have to learn?"
"It's not learning; it's correcting what's wrong."
"Correcting?"
"When you fought with this Monkey a while ago, your hands hesitated."
YuWon grabbed Son OhGong's cheek and stretched it as he spoke.
"Don't tell me you really think you can kill this guy."
"O-of course not."
"Then it's a habit. It comes from the fear of killing."
Setting aside Son OhGong's immortality, with their current skills, the two couldn't even pierce the skin of a higher floor player.
However, even in the brief fight with Son OhGong, Jooyeon and Seongchan showed hesitation in their hands.
There were two reasons for this.
The fear of killing and the bad habit derived from it.
"Killing is bad. That's what you've been taught, and that's how you've lived. You two have lived longer on Earth than here in the Tower, and your influence is greater there too."
Originally, Jooyeon and Seongchan should have died in the Tutorial.
Two people who hesitate to kill and fear fighting.
The only reason they had entered the Tower and kept ascending was because of the variable that was himself.
"I guess it's tolerable for you guys to live with that mentality."
"T-then, what do we do?"
"There are two things to correct."
YuWon folded one of his two fingers.
"First, don't hesitate. In the Trials, think that everyone except you is an enemy."
Jooyeon and Seongchan nodded.
It wouldn't be easy, but to YuWon, this problem of the two didn't seem so bad.
'They have talent.'
It's ridiculous to think they had this problem for over 10 years.
However, the fact that they had come this far with this problem meant that they had at least the minimum talent.
"And second. This is the most important."
YuWon sighed as he folded his remaining finger.
"Change your weapons."
Jooyeon and Seongchan.
In YuWon's eyes, they were nothing more than a clumsy duo.
Tags:
LWTG (Novel)