Chapter 131
I closed the library room’s door and came down to the lower floor .
At the lower floor’s living room, there were Yong Yong and the clone bastard . They were gathered at the table eating fruit pie .
Yong Yong had his mouth full of the pie and chewing . I picked him up and sat at the chair that he was sitting .
I had Yong Yong sit at my lap .
It seemed the fruit pie was delicious . Even as I was placing him on my lap, he only focused on chewing on the pie .
“Any progress?”
I nodded .
There was .
I was now certain that the method I had been trying so far does not stand any chance anymore .
The Tutorial’s stage was no different than individual dimensional isolation barriers .
The biggest characteristic of the stages was that the passage was only one way past .
One could move on to the next floor through the portal that opened by the system . Other than this, no other direction of movement was possible .
The tournament and the day of the great harmony were exceptions . However, I am not yet able to interfere with those .
Lately, there had not been any events, so I was also lacking in examples .
So, the method I had been trying lately was breaking open a path between the 60th Floor’s stage and other stages .
Even if I don’t make a connecting pathway out of the Tutorial, if I could just break open a path to the 90th Floor or 99th Floor, I can clear the floors right away .
After I tried my idea, I failed .
“How bad is it?”
“It is impenetrable even if a god came to try breaking it . ”
“… This is worse than I thought . Could it be a product of joint efforts by many gods?”
“It could also be the work of a god who specializes in dimensions . ”
Anyway, with my current abilities, I think it would be difficult to break open a new pathway inside the stage .
Uuuuaaaaa .
The project I had been pushing for turned out to be a dead end . I feel like I’m losing strength and enthusiasm .
I tossed a gigantic jawbreaker candy inside my mouth .
“Daddy, I want one too . ”
Yong Yong saw me eating the candy . He opened his mouth and said ‘ah~’ .
I also put in a jawbreaker in his mouth .
Yong Yong rolled the candy around in his mouth . He then picked up the pie again .
He held the candy on the edge of his rear teeth and continued to chew on the pie with his front teeth .
If he swallows the pie and the candy goes with it, then the candy will get stuck in his neck .
Well, it probably won’t matter .
“What’s next?”
“Um… I’m not sure . ”
I had not thought about what I would do if this idea failed .
Actually, I had always been thinking about other possibilities, but nothing useful came to my mind .
I was running out of ideas .
“I have no leads . I don’t have anything that could work as a medium either . In the end, it means I need a completely unique idea that I never thought of . I need creativity . Creativity . ”
I mumbled on by myself like that, and the clone bastard sighed and turned his gaze to a book .
Yong Yong was energetically eating the candy and pie . I brushed his head once and opened the newspaper .
Yong Yong was sitting on my lap . So, I had the paper floating above my head so I could read it .
What caught my eyes was…
The biggest topic in the newspaper was about Lee Yeun-hye clearing the 17th Floor .
I already knew about this very well, so I have no need to read it in detail .
As for items on the auction, nothing is catching my eyes…
As for stories about what’s happening in the outside world…
[Kim Min-hyuk, the former second in command of the Order of Vigilance, is in a conflict with Korean Government?]
What’s this about?
The headline really caught my eyes . I hurriedly checked the details in the article .
According to the article, Kim Min-hyuk established a new clan and had been gathering Korean Awakened warriors who were scattered across the globe . Having realized Kim Min-hyuk’s work, the Korean Government expressed their discomfort with his actions .
I sent a message to Park Jung-ah so I can learn a bit more about this article .
[Park Jung-ah, 90th Floor: That seems to be the case . ]
[LHA, 60th Floor: Try explaining it further . ]
[Park Jung-ah, 90th Floor: From what I’ve heard, the number of S rank and above Awakened warriors in the newly established clan exceed the number of such warriors who belong to the government . I’m sure the government feels uncomfortable about this . I heard Kim Min-hyuk is even planning on gathering up Awakened warriors who are foreign nationals . ]
Korea has produced the most number of highest rated Awakened warriors . However, the Korean Government retained the least number of such warriors in comparison to all other nations .
I’m sure this is rubbing them the wrong way .
The Awakened warriors were no ordinary super humans .
They had financial power and connections . Not only that, each warrior was sometimes viewed as a symbol, a rallying point of the people .
Some became celebrities in the entertainment industry . Some became dealers who moved the prices of lands and houses . [2]
The Awakened warriors defeated monsters and influenced a nation’s defensive capability as well .
Their presence also directly affected the pride of a nation along with foreign affairs and even currency exchange rates .
The Awakened warriors were incredible strategic resources . Literally, they were beyond the norm .
The Korean government was facing the reality of not being able to keep their Awakened warriors from a foreign country’s capital power . Instead of forcing the warriors to stay, Korean Government chose to let them go overseas under a few conditions and maintaining their Korean nationality .
In that situation, the fact that the highest rated Awakened warriors who didn’t even have Korean citizenship were gathering inside the country was definitely an unstable movement for the country .
I have never been outside, so I don’t know the situation exactly, but…
[Park Jung-ah, 90th Floor: In middle of all this, saying bad stuff to the government or getting tangled up with reassignments… Well, I think there are lot going on . During the last round, there was a message from the government . ]
[Lee Ho-jae, 60th Floor: To us? What did it say?]
[Park Jung-ah, 90th Floor: Well, you know . The message asked us to stop Kim Min-hyuk . I gave a rough response, saying how are we supposed to stop someone outside when we are inside the Tutorial . ]
That was true .
We are trapped here . How are we supposed to stop Kim Min-hyuk?
Also, even if we were outside, we wouldn’t be stopping Kim Min-hyuk .
To the outside, Park Jung-ah and I are known to be the leaders of the Order . However, practically speaking, Kim Min-hyuk was the one who led most of the Order’s projects .
Park Jung-ah and I were closer to just being the faces of the Order for the purpose of public relations .
The conversation started with Kim Min-hyuk’s story . However, it soon led to useless banter .
The pointless chatter between Park Jung-ah and I continued on and on until the clone bastard next to me expressedly directed his discomfort towards me .
[Park Jung-ah, 90th Floor: How’s the newbie doing? I heard that she made it past the 17th Floor . ]
[Lee Ho-jae, 60th Floor: She is continuing well . It would be great if she could keep up the current pace and get up here . I wish she could hurry, but…]
Now, the topic had moved to Lee Yeon-hye . She became the most popular person in the Tutorial lately .
The 17th Floor was my biggest concern, and she managed to get past it . Now, she was sailing through smoothly .
Even at the 18th Floor, thanks to the information I gave her beforehand, she was able to clear it without facing any danger .
Ah, that makes me think about the 18th Floor again .
I glanced at the clone bastard next to me and stopped thinking about it .
Our mental connection was off . However, even with that, we could still vaguely detect each other's’ thoughts .
I want to avoid the clone bastard finding about my thoughts regarding the 18th Floor .
The clone bastard was not someone who was completely different from me, although I couldn’t say he was exactly the same as me either .
To be specific, it wasn’t that the clone bastard and I shared everything together in identical ways . He was a collection of some parts of myself .
He was made based on the thoughts, experiences and memories I gained since entering the Tutorial .
He was not like myself who had memories of my life before the life inside the Tutorial . All memories he had were from inside the Tutorial, and his entire life was what he has lived so far at the 60th Floor . To him, the memories of the 18th Floor is a critical trauma .
He still had not overcome the memories . It looked like he just had been forgetful of it .
[Park Jung-ah, 90th Floor: How much longer would it take for the newbie to get to the 60th Floor?]
I am not sure? I really don’t know about that .
If I had the specs she had, I would be able to get here in a flash .
However, Lee Yeon-hye has been progressing so slowly .
Also, since the 20th Floor, I had been getting past the stages rather fast, so I don’t have much information about them .
Of course, I have information I obtained through the manager . However, they are not as good as the information I obtained through actual experiences .
As for how long it would take for Lee Yeon-hye to get to the 60th Floor, I really am not sure .
[Lee Ho-jae, 60th Floor: I’m sure she will do well on her own . What is important is not the time it takes . It is not dying . ]
She made it past the 17th Floor, but it was not like all obstacles that posed threats to her life were gone .
There are numerous dangerous stages left .
I chattered away with Park Jung-ah for a while again and then concluded the conversation .
Even after the conversation ended, I thought about Lee Yeon-hye for a while .
Since the 17th Floor, the number of messages from Lee Yeon-hye have decreased noticeably .
As for letters, they didn’t come at all .
Lee Yeon-hye said she heard information about me from Kiri Kiri .
I’m sure this falls to the category of private information . I wonder how she heard it .
She mentioned gods, so I think she was given a proposal that was not related to me and heard about me in the process .
I can be certain about one thing . Kiri Kiri kept her promise with me .
However, apart from that issue, the information that Lee Yeon-hye heard from Kiri Kiri was dangerous .
She now knew that I had been trying all sorts of things to leave Tutorial . She also learned that I had been making small bits of progresses .
From Lee Yeon-hye’s perspective, if I am to clear the 60th Floor by myself, then she will be stuck there by herself . It could not be helped that she would be sensitive about this .
She could feel disappointed in me . She could feel upset .
“Km . Km . Uuuuhuuuum . Uhm!”
I was organizing my thoughts, but the clone bastard faked a cough next to me .
What is he up to?
His lungs and breathing won’t have any problem even if he hibernated in a chemical-infested, biologically dangerous and radioactive training room .
“Uuuhuuuhm! That… . Km! I have something to say…”
The intro was unnecessarily long .
“Km… that… How should I say this . ”
Watching him like this, I am reminded that the clone bastard and I are completely different entities .
He was based on my past, but is it because the personality’s growth has been different since his birth?
He had completely different philosophies and personality .
“I also want a n… I want to have a name too!”
With the same face as mine, he was blushing and closing his eyes as he shouted that . Watching him do that overcame me with emotion inside somehow .
However, regardless of what I was feeling inside, the clone bastard’s little wish was very understandable .
“Why a name all of the sudden?”
“I can’t be called a clone forever . It is not like I’m an ordinary clone . ”
That’s true .
To be precise, he was not a clone or mental formation .
He was closer to a new life form born from genetic engineering .
“It did not matter when I was just with you, but I don’t want to be called uncle clone by Yong Yong forever . ”
It seemed he had been agonizing over this for some time .
Having heard his name, Yong Yong raised his head up . I looked at him .
Since Yong Yong was born, the clone had recognized the concept of another person . At the same time, he developed a desire to make a distinction of his own existence . I think that’s how it can be explained .
Also, I think the novels he had been reading lately influenced him as well .
I guess I will really have to make a name for him .
“Which name do you like?”
It is not like he is a newborn baby . I think it would be best to give him the name he wants .
The problem was the clone bastard’s answer…
“Hooch Nedval . ”
What a sight to behold .
What nonsense is this?
[TL: Hooch Nedval is one of the main characters of Dragon Raja, a Korean fantasy novel that was mentioned before . The clone had read the whole thing . ]
“What! It’s a great name . ”
“In that case, let’s go with Ho-chi . The Ho part is a tradition . Lee Ho-chi . That’s a great name . ”
Having heard my suggestion, the clone bastard’s face turned red . Yong Yong started to laugh . It seemed Yong Yong found the sound of the name to be funny .
Yong Yong, is his name that funny?
It is similar to your daddy’s name?
The clone bastard huffed and puffed for a moment . He then took off .
Looks like he is angry .
Still, Hooch Nedval was just not right .
Yong Yong was still smiling . I hugged him tightly .
“Yong Yong, it seems your uncle wants to have a name too . What kind of name should we give him?”
“Uncle’s name?”
“Yes . It looks like your uncle doesn’t know how to make one for himself . I think your daddy will have to help him . ”
I feared that the clone might come up with a name like Frodo Baggins if we didn’t make one for him .
Yong Yong’s eyes suddenly sparkled . He grabbed my sleeve and said,
“Daddy! In that case, I want to make a name for my uncle!”
Huh?
“Yong Yong, you will?”
“Yes! Yong Yong will!”
I think this idea is making me feel anxious in its own way .
I get the feeling that whatnot-etcetera the fourth or something like that will result from this .
Still, I think it will be better than leaving it to the clone bastard .
I wrapped it up that way and put my hand toward the fruit pie that was still left on the table .
When I almost finished the pie, I could feel the clone bastard’s movement .
His movement was not toward here . He was headed to the portal .
Soon, his presence disappeared near the portal .
I think this rascal must be really pissed .
All by himself, the clone bastard went to the 61th Floor stage .
Maybe he is thinking about asking the old man or the granny about names .
It probably won’t matter . Well…
It is not like he is a child .
* * *
“Daddy, why isn’t uncle coming back?”
The clone bastard had not returned for three weeks .
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