Song Ha-Eun exclaimed in awe as the party entered the gate into an enormous underwater tunnel.
Kwon Oh-Jin looked around, amazed. “It’s really pretty on the inside.”
The ceiling was made of a translucent, glass-like material, providing an unobstructed view of the breathtaking sea above, where exotic, never-before-seen fish swam freely.
“It's like we’re inside a massive aquarium,” Song Ha-Eun remarked.
An aquarium might have looked exactly if it were magnified a hundred or thousand times in size.
Riarc lowered himself and sniffed the ground. “It seems like there aren’t any monsters nearby.”
“There are a lot of Awakeners near the entrance,” Kwon Oh-Jin remarked.
Song Ha-Eun asked, “The monsters are probably deeper inside, right?"
Kwon Oh-Jin aimed to gather enough Starstones to complete the Black Heaven's quest, not leisurely tour the gate’s interior.
“Then let's go further in,” Vega said, gracefully landing on his head as if it was her designated seat. She gripped his curly hair like reins with both hands.
“I shall make it a comfortable ride, my goddess.”
“Haha. This is a pretty cozy seat,” Vega replied, chuckling softly and patting his forehead.
The party ventured deeper into the world behind the gate, taking in the surreal sights along the way. The further they ventured, the fewer people they encountered, perhaps due to the high difficulty level of the gate.
Soon, a bizarre cry rang out, accompanied by heavy stomps reverberating through the ground.
From the far end of the tunnel appeared what looked like three massive fish, roughly two meters tall. Only its head was like a fish, and everything below the neck looked like a human.
“It's a monster called Murloc.”
“Thank god. I would have never dreamt of a merman again,” Song Ha-Eun said, grimacing at the Murloc.
The Murlocs had large muscles, like a bodybuilder who had severely overdosed on steroids. Its fish-like head with such a muscular physique made it look even more grotesque.
“That’ll be a great source of protein if we roast it,” Song Ha-Eun said with a smirk as she summoned flames in her hands.
Kwon Oh-Jin called out, “Ha-Eun, wait.”
“I want to try and take it on myself first.”
He was curious to see how well he could challenge a five-star monster in his current state. The demonic beast that appeared in Sokcho was exactly a five-star. I wonder how much I’ve grown since then.
His desire to find out burned strong.
“Okay.” Song Ha-Eun extinguished her flames and stepped back.
Kwon Oh-Jin infused his steel rod with mana, causing it to transform.
He tightly gripped the crescent silver spear. There are three of them, and the one in the middle is the largest.Let’s start with that one.
He slammed his spear forcefully onto the ground.
Using the spear like a pole vault, he launched himself into the air.
The Murlocs quickly avoided the spot where he would land and surrounded him from different directions as he neared the ground.
The upgraded wire shooter launched the wire at a faster speed than before, which coiled tightly around a Murloc’s neck.
Fierce blue lightning traveled along the wire and struck the Murloc.
It writhed in pain, but the lightning wasn’t enough to kill the five-star monster.
“But there's nothing else to it,” Kwon Oh-Jin uttered, channeling mana into the shooter.
Along with the sound of the motor, the wire tightened with immense force, pulling the Murloc toward him before he cleanly cut it in half with his spear.
The other two monsters were startled momentarily, then charged toward him.
Their sheer power and speed appeared to tear the air itself, but these monsters couldn't pose a real threat to him.
“This is a bit disappointing.”
He raised his spear above his head and spun it like a propeller.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
Blue flames flared at the tip of his spear.
As the Murlocs neared him, he grabbed the base of the spear and swung it wide.
As though his spear had grown longer for a moment, both Murlocs were cut in half, their torsos separating from their lower bodies.
A gush of red blood and organs spilled out.
Kwon Oh-Jin let out a small laugh and shrugged. That took about five seconds, huh?
He had expected it wouldn’t be difficult, but he hadn’t thought it would be this underwhelming.
Song Ha-Eun walked up to him, her mouth agape in disbelief. “Holy crap... Seriously? Are you sure you’re a five-star Awakener? How’d you get this strong in just two months...?”
Kwon Oh-Jin's strength at present was like night and day compared to what he had mustered during the Sokcho battle. She knew he was strong for his star level, but this was just absurd to her. “At this point, you could probably take on a six-star... no, even a seven-star.”
“I told you, I beat a seven-star just the other day.”
“Oh, right.” She scratched the back of her neck and pouted. “Still, it’s a bit annoying. You’ve almost caught up to me in just half a year since your awakening.”
“Pfft! I doubt I’m there yet. You’ve only just fully recovered now, haven’t you?”
“Ha! Of course, I’d still win in a one-on-one!”
Her words weren’t empty bravado. Song Ha-Eun had been in the upper echelons of seven-star Awakeners in the past and now possessed the new powers of the Dragon Eye. Now that she had fully recovered, Kwon Oh-Jin knew he couldn’t take her on without using Exceed or getting Vega's blessing.
Song Ha-Eun grinned mischievously. “And...”
She reached behind her head and removed the eyepatch covering her left eye.
“I haven’t been just sitting around doing nothing, you know.”
She lightly flicked her fingers.
In an instant, chains of fire materialized and lashed at the corner of the tunnel.
Two Murlocs were dragged out from hiding, bound by the chains.
Although these ones were smaller, they were covered in lethal spiked barbs.
“Looks like there are assassin types too,” Song Ha-Eun remarked.
She slowly inspected the two Murlocs bound in her fiery chains. Purple venom dripped from the sharpened tips of their barbs, like a pufferfish using its defense mode.
With another snap of her fingers, the flaming chains engulfed the Murlocs.
Their pained groans rang out before they were reduced to ash.
Kwon Oh-Jin’s eyes widened in surprise. “How did you know they were there?”
“Well...” Song Ha-Eun smirked and gently caressed the area around her grotesque left eye. “Since this is a gift from a certain somebody, I should make good use of it and see everything there is to see.”
... What the hell? he thought. Why does Ha-Eun look so cute all of a sudden?
Vega cleared her throat awkwardly. “Indeed, five-star monsters don’t seem to pose much of a threat anymore.”
Kwon Oh-Jin nodded and began collecting the Starstones. True to the rumors, each monster held two blue Starstones.
With all the demonic beasts running rampant lately, it's almost nice to see blue ones after so long. Does this mean this abnormal gate isn't due to the power of the Black Stars?
Every place where demonic beasts had appeared had been influenced by the power of the Black Stars so far, but the blue Starstones here indicated that these weren’t demonic beasts. It was highly likely that the abnormalities in this gate were caused by something else.
I’ll look into it later, he resolved. For now, it was time to enjoy the unexpected boost event.
“Grrr, I didn’t expect this gate to have such weaklings." Riarc snorted in disappointment. "How boring.”
“Weaklings, huh? Guess monsters of this level aren’t any trouble for you even with your power restricted,” Kwon Oh-Jin said.
“Of course! What do you take me for?!” Riarc loudly retorted.
“Hahaha! Then let’s take this chance to see just how much strength you can use with the restriction,” Kwon Oh-Jin said, turning to Vega and Riarc.
“Oh? Are you saying you want to see how much of a help I can be?” Vega asked.
“Well, it is important to know how strong everyone in your party is.”
“Haha, it’s rather rude to want to test a Celestial's might...” Vega said, floating into the air, “but I’m also curious about it.”
Kwon Oh-Jin led the party deeper into the undersea tunnel, where the cries of more Murlocs echoed.
“There are four of them this time,” he muttered.
“None of them are assassin types,” Song Ha-Eun added.
He glanced back at Vega and Riarc.
“Grr! Just sit back and watch, human!”
“I shall demonstrate my power as a Celestial.”
They charged toward the Murlocs.
The silver wolf dashed across the tunnel walls as if he were on flat ground, weaving between the Murlocs.
“How dare you act so insolently in my presence?” Vega said.
Blue lightning slithered across the floor like a serpent and coiled around the Murlocs.
In the blink of an eye, the lightning climbed their forms, surging into the gills on their necks.
The Murlocs collapsed to the ground, trembling violently.
"Woah." Kwon Oh-Jin couldn’t help but marvel at her flawless control of lightning no matter how many times he witnessed it, but his awe didn’t last long. As he continued observing the battle, he clicked his tongue in disappointment.
The output's way too low.
Under the restriction, Vega’s lightning barely reached a two or three-star level of power. Her incredible control allowed her to subdue the Murlocs, but the output was far from sufficient to deliver a decisive blow.
The same goes for Riarc.
Riarc seemed to be compensating for his drastically weakened power and speed with sheer skill, but he barely managed to keep up.
Looks like I won’t be able to get carried. Luckily, I had no intention of relying on them in the first place.
Riarc growled in frustration. “This is annoying!”
Without the restriction, he could reduce these monsters to ashes with just a simple burst of lightning. He was maddened that he was now forced to move around and fight at full capacity.
“Ha. For all that big talk, you’re not really all that great.”
“W-What did you just say?”
“Haha. Looks like I have no choice but to help," Song Ha-Eun said, joining the fight.
“I don’t need your help!”
Vega sighed deeply and perched herself on Kwon Oh-Jin’s shoulder. “I’m already exhausted.”
“You did well, Vega.”
She lowered her head in disappointment. “I can’t be much help to you .”
“That’s actually better.”
“If I relied too much on you, I’d get complacent. This is perfect.”
“Haha, are you trying to console me?” Vega said with a faint smile, gently patting his forehead. “You truly are a remarkable child. I can see why I had a... special relationship with you in my past life.”
Vega whispered the last part quietly so Song Ha-Eun wouldn’t hear. Perhaps embarrassed by her own words, she reached out and tugged on his ears.
“Uh, well...” He felt a little awkward since he had never actually had such a relationship with her. Still, he smiled at her. “I told you before that it’s fine if you can't recall those feelings. Even if you don’t remember, I remember all of it. Every happy and sad memory we had.”
Just as the world didn't disappear when one closed their eyes, the emotions of past lives didn't fade into nothingness.
Vega’s eyes wavered. “Oh, my child...”
This should do, he thought. It was about time to wrap things up.
“Pfft! Let’s get going now. I don’t want Ha-Eun to overhear.”
The battle had already ended.
“Grab the Startones and let’s head deeper inside,” Song Ha-Eun urged.
“Grr! Next time, I’ll fight on my own!”
As they continued into the gate, they saw three Murloc corpses riddled with holes lying on the ground.
Next to them was Jerry Kim, the young man with bright orange hair they had spotted earlier by the entrance.
“Whew, handling three at once is a bit rough!”
Taking a break, he sipped on a potion while a small orb floated around him. He then turned toward them.
“Hm? You’re...” His expression shifted rapidly before settling into a wide grin. “Thunder Wolf! You’re the Thunder Wolf, right?”
Kwon Oh-Jin didn’t really like the nickname, but he had grown somewhat used to it by now.
“Hahaha! I can’t believe I’m meeting the Thunder Wolf here of all places! I’m a huge fan!” Jerry Kim extended his hand. “Well... this could be fate. Any chance you’d like to be a guest on my stream?”
He smiled, pointing at the floating orb with his thumb.
“... What?” Kwon Oh-Jin raised an eyebrow.