Legend of Legend – Chapter 5

Posted on June 16, 2016

< Legend of Legend(LOL)-Awaken(1) >

Awaken

Lee-joonhyuk went to the hospital emergency room, and he was able to return home after receiving 30 stitches to his wounded leg. This was the biggest wound he had received in his life.

Lee-joonhyuk got off the subway, and he started heading home. From force of habit, he checked the convenience store. As he looked in, Lee-joonhyuk’s eyes widened slightly.
It was, because Shin-soyun, who only works in the morning, was manning the counter. Lee-joonhyuk went inside with happiness in his heart.

“Welcome.”

Shin-soyun’s eyes became round as she reflexively bowed her head.

“Are you ok?”

Lee-joonhyuk had rolled up his blood-soaked pants, and his leg was wound with bandages. At a glance, the wound looked serious, so Shin-soyun had no choice, but to ask in concern.

Lee-joonhyuk spoke as he scratched his head.

“I rode a bus today, and it got into an accident.”

Shin-soyun came out from behind the counter, and she queried as she looked him up and down.

“Are you coming back from the hospital?”

“Yes. The insurance is taking care of everything, so I can use the hospital as much as I want.”

“Still, I’m glad you are fine, and that you aren’t severely injured.”

“It feels good since you are worried about me.”

Shin-soyun’s face turned slightly red, and she returned to the counter. Lee-joonhyuk secretly smiled as he picked two cans of beer from the fridge.
He chose shrimp chips for a side dish. When he put the items on the counter, Shin-soyun frowned a little bit.

“You are going to drink alcohol?”

“I failed to stick my interview.”

Shin-soyun stepped out from the counter, and she put the beers back into the refrigerator. Then she brought back a can of cider. Shin-soyun charged the shrimp chips, then she put it in a bag with the cider.

“Since you are injured, you probably took some antibiotics yet you are trying to drink alcohol? Just drink the cider. It is carbonated like the beer, so it should be fine.”

Shin-soyun was worried about him, so she packed the cider for him. Lee-joonhyuk couldn’t tell her a beer wasn’t just another carbonated drink.

“Then charge the cider too.”

“Think of it as a consoling beverage as you drink it.”

Lee-joonhyuk scratched his head at those words, then he slightly bowed his head.

“Thank you. I’ll leave now.”

As Lee-joonhyuk was about to leave with the bag, Shin-soyool called after him.

“Please wait.”

When Lee-joonhyuk turned back, Shin-soyool smiled as her cheeks dimpled.

“Cheer up. Next time, you’ll definitely stick.”

Lee-joonhwan smiled brightly at those words. He had thought everything had gone wrong today, but his heart became warm at her encouragement.

“Thank you. If I stick next time, I’ll buy you a banana milk, and a triangle kimbab.” (TLN: onigiri)

“I’ll looked forward to it.”

Lee-joonhyuk left the convenience store in a happy mood. He limped toward his rented room. When he opened the door to his rented room, he felt a coldness inside his room.

“Whew.”

He let out a long sigh then he went inside his room. He turned on the light. It was an uninviting room. He had organized it in the morning, so it was still clean. Lee-joonhyuk smirked as he changed his cloth. The insurance covered the wounds he received, but the insurance didn’t cover the ripped cloths. Lee-joonhyuk wore a t-shirt and shorts for comfort then he sat on the floor of his room. He opened the cider’s tab, then he turned on the television.

At that moment, the news was on. Moreover, the news was showing Lee-joonhyuk rescuing the grandpa from the bus accident.

“Ppoo.” (TLN: sfx spitting out cider)

He had rescued the grandpas, but he hadn’t expect it to be on the news. He guessed it was one of the bigger accidents that happened today.

Soon, the people who were being interviewed was shown. One of the people being interviewed was Park-chulho.

“Lee-hoonhyuk. Are you seeing this?”

He wondered what that man would say. Park-chulho spoke as he gave a thumbs up.

“You were splendid.”

Somehow, he felt a bit embarrassed so he scratched his head. He pulled out a tissue, and he bent over to wipe the cider off his body. Then suddenly the world turned dark.

Boom.

He heard a faint sound, but Lee-joonhyuk couldn’t open his eyes when a bright light washed over him. Even though his eyes were closed, the light seared into his retina. It felt like his eyes were burning.

“Ahhhhhhhk!”

While screaming, Lee-joonhyuk finally lost the connection to his consciousness.

How long has it been?

Lee-joonhyuk didn’t feel the light that seemed to burn his retina, so he covered his eyes with his hands. Then he slowly opened his eyes, and he peeked through his splayed fingers. Then he checked his surrounding.

“What is this?”

It was a strange space. When he raised his body, Lee-joonhyuk saw a dome shaped room that was slightly bigger than his own. The room was awash with a soft white light. As he looked around the room, Lee-joonhyuk touched his body.

“Huh?”

Lee-joonhyuk was wearing an armor he had never seen before. It was an armor one might see in a fantasy movie. When he heard the armor clank, he stood up in shock.

Moreover, he found out one more surprising fact.

“My wounds are all healed?”

The wound on his leg had healed. Lee-joonhyuk rolled his leg around a few time then he spoke.

“What happened?”

While he was tilting his head in confusion, he heard a low voice in his ears. The voice was very alluring, but the content of her speech was shocking

-Congratulations on being summoned to the Canyon of Death.

“Canyon of Death?”

He raised his head, and he tried to see where the voice was coming from. Suddenly, a sword and a shield showed up in front Lee-joonhyuk.

-Please use the middle exit to depart.

Lee-joonhyuk was taken aback by the situation. First, he decided to carry the sword, and shield to protect himself. The moment he passed through the middle exit, he heard a different voice.

-Minion No. 00110230. Embark.

Then he could see many people spread out in front of him wearing the same cloths as him. They were all in the same situation, and they all looked around as if they didn’t understand the current situation.

“What is happening here?”

Lee-joonhyuk tried to question the other people. However, a large man showed himself in front of them, and their eyes landed on him. He lost his chance to question the others. The giant of a man was 2.5 meters tall, and he slowly raised his hand in front of them.

“From here on out, the right side has to follow me.”

The large man pointed toward his right, and there were around 50 people there. The large man didn’t speak any more words, and he turned around. Lee-joonhyuk wasn’t included in this group.

At that moment, a man with a scar on his face stepped forward, and yelled at him.

“Where is this place? Also, who the fuck are you to tell me to follow or not!”

The 2.5 meter tall muscular man jumped over the heads of the people, and he kicked the head of the man, who questioned him.

Kwa-jeek.

The head blew up as if a watermelon was being broken. It was a surreal sight. However, the metallic smell of blood pushed against their noses, so they knew this was real.

The large man slowly stood up. Then he looked around his surrounding. The 2.5 meter tall man was in front of him, and he was looking down at them.   Lee-joonhyuk realized something when their eyes met.

This man’s eyes. It wasn’t the eyes of a man who had only killed one or two people. His eyes were shining with madness, so his body automatically became tense.

“We don’t have any time left. You should also follow me.”

The last person pointed out by the large man was Lee-joonhyuk. Lee-joonhyuk’s body stiffened. The large man had nothing else to say. He turned around, then he started walking.

Lee-joonhyuk swallowed dryly, and he followed after him. He held the shield and sword in his hand, but he strong feeling that he would be ripped to shred if the large man got his hands on him.

The large man walked in front, and about 50 people walked behind him without saying anything. The place they headed towards to was a large door that reached the height of 5 meters.

When they left through the door, they saw a sight they had never seen in their lifetime.
They could see a castle wall from the middle ages. On top of the castle wall, archers had been dispatched. Lee-joonhyuk slowly realized he had no idea where this place was.

From his side, someone whispered to Lee-joonhyuk.

“Are you a Korean?”

Lee-joonhyuk turned his head, and he saw a man around his late 30s. The man was anxious as he turned around to speak to Lee-joonhyuk.

“Yes. Are you also Korean?”

“Yes. Do you know where this is?”

Lee-joonhyuk looked up towards the sky as he walked. The purple colored sky was most definitely abnormal.

“I’m not sure. I’m having some doubts that this might not be a dream.”

“A dream? When that man was killed, I saw his brain get stepped on. I’m sure this is the reality.”

Lee-joonhyuk looked at the speaker. The man said he saw the dead person’s brain being stepped on, so maybe this man’s mental state was suspicious. Lee-joonhyuk wondered if this man should be avoided.

At that moment, the large man walking in front of the group arrived in front of the castle gate then he turned around. He took in the sight of the 50 people, then he spoke.

“Don’t lag behind. Those who lag behind will die.”

Those words didn’t sound like a joke. Lee-joonhyuk trembled slightly then he put strength into the hand grasping the shield. The shield was very light compared to its size.

When the large man turned around, the castle door opened. Outside the castle gate, they saw a long road. On either side, there were trees over 20 meters tall lined next to the road. There was no end in sight to the long road .

The large man started to run lightly on his feet as he started to pace his stride.
The man, who had spoken to him, seemed to be nervous. He didn’t speak any further, and he started to run.

As they ran after the large man, the first straggler formed after one hour. A black man tripped over a jagged stone, and he wasn’t able to get up. When Lee-joonhyuk saw this, he hesitated.

Currently, he hadn’t reached his limit, but he couldn’t leave behind the straggler. If one dropped out, then one would die.

He took a look at the large man, but he was still running as if he didn’t care what was happening. The large man maintained his speed.

Lee-joonhyuk approached the black man, and he helped him by holding his arm.

“Are you ok?”

The black man shook his head at Lee-joonhyuk’s question, and he slowly tried to stand up. However, his leg started to limp.

“Shit!”

At a glance, his ankle seemed to be causing some discomfort. As Lee-joonhyuk helped the man, he saw the group had already distanced themselves. It was a situation where they didn’t know where the destination was located at. It wasn’t a good decision to fall back from the group, but he couldn’t just leave behind an injured person.

“Be strong.”

The black man stole a glance at Lee-joonhyuk. He turned his gaze towards the front then he spoke in a low voice.

“Thank you.”

Lee-joonhyuk felt the large man glance at him, while running in the far distance. However, it was just that. He continued to run forward. The group steadily drifted away, and they disappeared from his sight.

Lee-joonhyuk should have been thankful that he had moved away from the man swept up in madness, but when he looked at the long shadow of the forest on both side, he couldn’t erase the creepy feeling.

“Whew. I don’t know where this place is, but I’m not going to just die like this.”

Lee-joonhyuk put strength in the arm that was supporting the black man, and he forcibly walked on.