Go Hyeon-woo slowly looked around.
Until just moments ago, he had been sitting cross-legged in the training room, but when he opened his eyes, he found himself in a place resembling a royal palace or a temple.
So this is the place Kim hyung was talking about…….
The ★Kim Ho Land★ of dreams and hopes.
Go Hyeon-woo wholeheartedly agreed with that description.
After all, he would soon be able to achieve at least a small part of what he desired.
However, the task he entrusted to me is no less important.
Apparently, even Kim Ho, the one who had sent the invitation, did not fully understand this place, so they needed to conduct experiments whenever the opportunity arose.
As part of that, Go Hyeon-woo had placed [Wind God] and [Martial Soul] on his knees before sitting cross-legged.
Yet at some point, they had ended up in his hands.
That confirms one thing.
He couldn’t open his inventory, but it seemed possible to “bring items in” with him.
Thanks to that, he should be able to conduct the next experiment as well.
But first, I should meet them.
Kim hyung’s longtime acquaintances and great seniors far above himself.
Before long, Go Hyeon-woo stood before a massive door.
A deep rumble sounded from beyond it, and the door slowly began to open.
Rrrrrumble……
A moment later, an enormous great hall unfolded before Go Hyeon-woo’s eyes.
Countless silhouettes stood arrayed within.
For an instant, Go Hyeon-woo felt an oppressive pressure bearing down on his entire body.
There are so many masters here.
But that pressure quickly transformed into overwhelming excitement.
It was as though he had stepped into a treasure vault overflowing with gold and jewels.
If I could receive instruction from any one of them.
For him, it would be an extraordinary stroke of fortune.
And so, the moment Go Hyeon-woo entered the great hall, he respectfully offered his greetings.
“This unworthy junior pays his respects to his esteemed seniors.”
– ……
No answer came.
Even so, he somehow got the sense that they were pleased, or perhaps intrigued.
Before long, the silhouettes moved aside to the left and right, opening a path for him, and Go Hyeon-woo slowly began walking forward.
By the time he reached the middle of the great hall, someone stepped out from among the crowd.
A man clad in robes as black as pitch.
Demonic energy streamed from his entire body along with an overwhelmingly domineering aura.
His characteristics were so distinctive that Go Hyeon-woo could guess his identity at a glance.
The Heavenly Demon.
Or at the very least, he was undoubtedly one of the supreme masters of the Demonic Cult.
But this is somewhat puzzling.
According to Kim Ho, the one who “comes out to greet” a guest tends to share certain similarities with them.
So why, out of all the countless martial artists here, had the Heavenly Demon appeared?
He soon found his answer.
Whoooosh—
A gentle breeze swept through the hall, where not a breath of wind had been blowing, and the man’s robes began to flutter.
Their dispositions might have been different, but their martial arts were remarkably similar.
When Go Hyeon-woo tried to offer his respects once more, the black-robed man casually waved a hand.
– ……
A gesture indicating that there was no need for empty formalities.
So Go Hyeon-woo got straight to the point and proceeded with the second experiment.
He held out [Martial Soul].
“I was asked to give this to you.”
Could an item be loaned or transferred to one of the inhabitants of ★Kim Ho Land★?
Even from its name alone, Martial Soul appeared to be closely connected to the martial artist class, and it had already demonstrated its ability to enhance Wind God.
The person Go Hyeon-woo would meet was not only certain to be a martial artist but would also have reached the very upper limits of S-rank, so there was a strong chance they would receive a similar benefit.
If that allowed them to transcend their current limits, they would be able to guide the group much more easily when the time eventually came for them to challenge EX-rank.
– ……
Before long, the Heavenly Demon’s gaze settled on [Martial Soul].
Not only that, but everyone else in the hall seemed to be showing immense interest as well.
After all, even for them, it probably wasn’t often that they got to see an EX-rank item.
Some time passed.
Then, just as he had when they first exchanged greetings, the Heavenly Demon waved a hand.
He seemed to have withdrawn his interest just as cleanly.
……Does that mean it can’t be transferred?
Go Hyeon-woo felt deeply disappointed.
Kim Ho would likely be disappointed when he heard the news as well.
Of course, since this had only ever been an experiment, he wouldn’t blame Go Hyeon-woo for it.
Then the best course would be to take what I can gain from this.
It was time to begin the spar with a powerful opponent, the original purpose of the invitation.
The Heavenly Demon drew a pitch-black sword.
Whooooosh—
The wind swirling through the hall seemed to grow fiercer.
Go Hyeon-woo likewise reached for the sword at his waist, but just then,
Kiiiiing—!
Without warning, Wind God let out a sharp metallic cry.
……Why now?
Go Hyeon-woo looked down at it with uncharacteristic surprise, only for another metallic cry to ring out as though urging him on.
Kiiiiiiing—!
It was almost as if the sword were saying, “Forget that worthless blade and use me.”
I was told to bring it in just in case, but…….
The third experiment was to see whether he could use Wind God here, just as he had in the Black Death Dungeon.
Of course, Go Hyeon-woo himself hadn’t expected much from it.
Nor did he have any intention of going against Wind God’s will.
Did I not make a vow?
He had sworn not to recklessly draw it until the day he proved himself worthy.
His bond of trust with Wind God was no less important than his bond of trust with Kim Ho.
Kiiing—!
Even so, the sword continued to ring, so Go Hyeon-woo silently posed a tentative question.
Are you saying you’ll allow it just this once?
Whoooosh—
Instead of another metallic cry, a gentle breeze wrapped around him.
That was more than enough to take as an affirmative answer.
Of course, even with Wind God’s permission, he would still be breaking the vow he had made to himself.
But I am hardly in a position to refuse.
He needed to grow stronger as quickly as possible and become Kim Ho’s sword.
If that was what it took, setting aside his pride for a little while was nothing.
Go Hyeon-woo grasped the hilt and spoke a few words inwardly.
Then I shall be counting on you.
And slowly drew Wind God from its sheath.
The instant he did, a violent storm erupted.
Whoooooosh—!
Its sheer force seemed a step above even that of the Heavenly Demon.
However, Go Hyeon-woo was not yet capable of handling Wind God’s power, so just as in the Black Death Dungeon he was experiencing tremendous backlash.
But it is more bearable than it was then.
Proof that he had grown that much stronger.
With great effort, he moved the sword and held it toward the man across from him in a respectful salute.
“Senior, I ask for your instruction.”
– ……
The Heavenly Demon lowered his sword loosely, seemingly intrigued.
In the next instant, demonic energy erupted from his body, and countless waves of sword energy came crashing down like a storm.
At the same time, Go Hyeon-woo swung Wind God and charged forward to meet him head-on.
Rumbleee—!
***
I looked down at Go Hyeon-woo, who was sitting cross-legged.
This is taking longer than I expected.
In all likelihood, that meant the battle was dragging on.
He would be learning plenty in the meantime, so it was a good sign.
And so I continued standing guard over him as I waited.
Then the training room door slid open, and Han So-mi walked in.
“I’m heeere! ……Huh?”
Her eyes widened, apparently not expecting me to be there.
As usual, she looked ready to bombard me with questions after her customary “Hiii, hiiii!” but before she could, I brought an index finger to my lips.
“……Shh.”
Then I pointed at Go Hyeon-woo, and Han So-mi likewise went “Shh!” and zipped her lips shut.
Still, she apparently had no idea what was going on, because she shot me a look that screamed, “What is it? What is it?? What is it???” about twenty times.
Apparently, someone could be noisy without saying a single word.
Anyway, I lowered my voice as much as possible and explained.
“I used [Invitation].”
“Oooh! So right now?”
“He’s off to Kim Ho Land.”
And probably getting the crap beaten out of him by an S-rank senior right about now.
Han So-mi tilted her head and asked another question.
“When’s he coming back?”
“Shouldn’t be much longer.”
“Really?”
Then she squatted down in front of Go Hyeon-woo and stared intently at his face.
At that exact moment, his eyes snapped open.
“……Hmm.”
“Ah! You scared me!”
“You are the one who startled me. When did you arrive?”
“Just now!”
Go Hyeon-woo then got to his feet.
I asked him,
“How was it?”
“It was an exceedingly fruitful experience. I find myself grateful to Kim hyung once again.”
“Sounds like you learned a lot.”
“Indeed. I shall tell you everything.”
He then proceeded to recount everything that had happened in the inner world.
Including the experiments I had specifically asked him to conduct.
You can bring items inside, but only their owner can use them.
That was more or less what I had expected.
If you could give items to them, then it stood to reason that you could receive items from them as well.
It would be no different from tearing down the walls of the inner world, so there was no way it could be easy.
It was probably close to impossible, and even if it could be done, there would likely be extremely difficult conditions to fulfill.
That was something we could continue experimenting with whenever we got the chance.
When Go Hyeon-woo mentioned that the one who had come out to greet him was none other than the Heavenly Demon, rather than some other martial artist, Han So-mi’s eyes widened.
“Huh? Why the Heavenly Demon?”
“The nature of the martial arts we practice seemed similar. His martial art involved controlling the wind…or more precisely, controlling its flow.”
I had raised the guy myself, so there was no way I wouldn’t know.
I casually added,
“It was probably the Heavenly Demon Bloodwind Sword Art.”
“The Heavenly Demon Bloodwind Sword Art……!”
“It definitely has some similarities. If you ever get the chance, you should go see it for yourself.”
“By ‘go see it’…… do you mean the Blood Cult?”
“That’s possible too, but it’d be way too dangerous.”
I pointed downward with a finger.
At that, Go Hyeon-woo raised an exclamation mark above his head.
“……I see. Come to think of it, I have cleared dungeons related to the Demonic Cult with Kim hyung before.”
“You can see the Heavenly Demon there too.”
“When the time comes, call upon me whenever you wish.”
What Go Hyeon-woo said next was equally unexpected.
“So you used Wind God. No wonder the fight took so long.”
“I was surprised by that myself.”
Perhaps it was because he had encountered such a formidable opponent, or perhaps Wind God itself wanted to help Go Hyeon-woo grow.
Either way, it seemed to have temporarily allowed him to wield it.
Considering its power was enough to practically toy with the B+ hidden boss White Snake, it seemed he had managed to hold his own against the Heavenly Demon for quite some time as well.
I looked him up and down.
“You look pretty fine for someone who did all that.”
“I do not feel any internal injuries either.”
Back in the Black Death Dungeon he had nearly ended up half-dead, to the point that I had to cast [Retrocovery] on him.
Against the Heavenly Demon, he should have suffered far worse.
Yet he didn’t have so much as a scratch, inside or out.
Come to think of it, Seo Ye-in was perfectly fine after using her ultimate move too.
Normally, she would have turned into an Unlucky Sloth for about a week, but she had remained a Lucky Charm.
Which meant they could push themselves harder in the inner world.
It seemed like a good idea to take that into account when making plans from now on.
As I entertained such sinister ideas, Go Hyeon-woo spoke up.
“I intend to attempt it again now.”
“Attempt what?”
“Inheriting the divine artifact.”
After wielding Wind God several times and gaining further insights from sparring with powerful opponents, he seemed to have grown more confident.
I had also saved the cooldown on [Retrocovery] and [Enchantment], so I had no particular reason to stop him.
I readily nodded my head,
“Go for it. Want us to leave?”
“There should be no issue with doing it here.”
Go Hyeon-woo added that whether he succeeded or failed, it would be over quickly anyway.
He then placed Wind God on the opposite side of the training room and backed well away from it.
Next, he invoked the principle of telekinesis and drew the blade slightly from its sheath.
Kiiiiing—!
A sharp metallic cry rang out as fierce winds began to rage.
Go Hyeon-woo immediately stepped forward.
The difference from before was that he looked far more at ease.
Rumbleeee—!
As the distance narrowed, waves of sword energy came hurtling through the wind.
Even so, Go Hyeon-woo continued forward as leisurely as though he were out for a stroll, casually waving a hand.
Before, he had needed to use a separate technique to neutralize each individual wave of sword energy. Now, despite moving his hand far less frequently and much more slowly, the sword energy scattered on its own.
Rumbleeeeee—!
Before long, Go Hyeon-woo had almost reached Wind God.
As he slowly reached out his hand, Han So-mi watched with bated breath and said,
“Is it working? Is it working? Did he do it?”
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