「13 challengers chose the selected difficulty level. Please complete the mission successfully with them.」
「The mission will end after failing three times, and rewards will increase depending on the group and individual performance.」
「Special challenges will be activated.」
「The level of participating challengers is too high.」
「Excluding individual missions, the quality of group missions will increase by 100%.」
It was different from the last mission. There was no set date, only a goal. In addition, the mission would be terminated if they failed three times in the process of reaching their goal.
“Su-yeon, do you know anything about this? We have to find out where we are…”
Yoon-seok lowered his voice. But, Lee Su-yeon’s reply was cold.
“Oppa, why are you trying to deceive me?”
“…”
“This is so weird. Are you his father or what?”
Lee Su-yeon usually mixed honorifics and informal speech daily. Even so, her unique way of speaking was never offensive but friendly. However, now every word she spoke was filled with sheer annoyance. He didn’t know why she was angry, but he was sweating bullets.
“…Father, are you sick? You are dripping in sweat!”
Yong-yong looked up with innocent eyes and handed an embroidered handkerchief to Yoon-seok, who grew as still as a stone statue. As soon as he tried to take it, someone snatched it away.
Cheon-ma.
“A servant must be honest and keep to themselves, yet you can’t even grasp that concept and made him suffer.”
Cheon-ma, who approached at an insanely fast speed to snatch the handkerchief, said so as she wiped off Yoon-seok’s forehead.
Crack.
He heard something break not far from him. Yoon-seok’s head creaked toward the source of the sound.
“S-s-s-servant…? I’m oppa’s…?”
Lee Su-yeon’s hands shook with anger. She looked pitiful from a side view, but Cheon-ma did not know mercy.
“How dare you call the lord oppa, so rude….”
“R-rude…?”
Cheon-ma soon turned to Yong-yong and clicked her tongue.
“Yong-yong, what were you doing? You should be polite when you are with your parents. Did I raise you like that?”
They’d been together in the waiting room until just now, so why was she scolding him like he’d done something wrong? Yoon-seok couldn’t guess why, but Yong-yong followed the order without question like a well-trained soldier.
The effect was incredible.
“Son is here to greet Mother.”
“Mo-ther…? Then his mother is…”
Lee Su-yeon pointed at Cheon-ma and Yoon-seok with a dumbfounded expression. Rather than expressing displeasure at her rudeness, Cheon-ma straightened her shoulders proudly and raised the corners of her lips. That was a victorious smile.
“…I-I see.”
“The man already has a family, so stop calling him with such a frivolous title and call him Lord.”
“L-ord…”
Did she completely lose her mind? Lee Su-yeon couldn’t even refute and muttered what Cheon-ma told her to. Only then did Yoon-seok come to his senses. He could no longer let the misunderstanding grow out of hand.
-Yong-yong is not my child.
“He’s not the lord’s son…?”
Lee Su-yeon looked like she was under severe hypnosis as she spoke to herself. He had to wake her up.
—…She picked up an egg on the 21st-floor mission, and it came out of it. At the time, I kept filling the egg with magic, and maybe because of that, the child treated me like a father.
Yoon-seok explained the situation using Communication. Then, Lee Su-yeon’s blank eyes slowly regained their focus. It looked like half her soul had returned. A fishy smile rose to Lee Soo-yeon’s mouth.
“The heck? So you’re just playing house? What about me?”
“…?”
Yoon-seok doubted his ears. He was just trying to explain the situation and help her get into the right mind, but what was that sarcastic tone? Lee Su-yeon had no intention of letting this end even if her opponent was Cheon-ma.
“…P-playing house? W-w-what are you muttering about!”
“I mean, am I wrong? He’s not your real son, and yet he calls you mama and papa, isn’t that playing house?”
“You! We are his parents!”
“If you insist.”
Yoon-seok had trained to manage each of his senses consciously, but he doubted his ears and eyes now. He worried Cheon-ma would draw her sword and slice her head off right away. Contrary to expectation, Cheon-ma was standing still and shaking.
‘Is this supposed to be normal?’
“W-w-why are you saying such a bizarre thing? Yong-yong was born as our child by intertwining the principle of love!”
“The principle of love?”
Lee Su-yeon and Yoon-seok tilted their heads at the same time. It was the first time even Yoon-seok, who learned numerous principles to master martial arts, had heard of it.
—What does that mean? Do you know?
—No, I don’t know either…
Yoon-seok answered Lee Su-yeon honestly. Lee Su-yeon turned to Cheon-ma without being cowed by her dignified presence.
“Principle of love. What’s that?”
Cheon-ma smiled. It was an arrogant smile as if to ask, ‘you don’t even know that?’
“A bookkeeper of my sect, Demon Mind, told me.”
Was there someone like that in the cult? They hadn’t met yet but seeing how Cheon-ma thought so highly of him; he must be important.
“A child arises when the inner energy of love is intertwined.”
“…?”
“In that sense, it’s unfair to call it playing house. Although we have not formed a relationship as a couple, Yong-yong is undeniably our child born from our love integrating.”
“…Mother!”
After realizing the secret of his birth and his parents’ love for him, Yong-yong’s eyes began to sparkle. Yoon-seok felt dizzy. Yong-yong, who was less than a month old, was taught the wrong things about sex. Of course, that wasn’t as important right now.
“…”
“…”
Yoon-seok and Lee Su-yeon looked at each other, wondering who should go first. Their eyes said it all. Did she say that? Meeting each other’s eyes wasn’t a dream; it happened.
‘This is too much…’
Even Elle, who thought they could have a child just by holding hands, was better. But what, a child was born when their energies combine? He understood they had to lie, but there should be a limit.
If that Demon Mind fellow fell in front of him, he would strangle him.
“Ah, uh, um… excuse me, unnie?”
“How dare you call me unnie! It’s profanity!”
“Anyway, can we go over there and talk?”
“That’s what I wanted!”
At Lee Su-yeon’s request, Cheon-ma followed, walking dignifiedly like a general marching out to fight the enemy’s general one-on-one. Yoon-seok gave up thinking and watched from the sidelines.
“So, did you choose your grave to be here?”
“Do you know how babies are born?”
“…How can you ask that after hearing me explain? Hurry up and take out your weapons!”
“The heck, so it’s true?”
“T-true…?”
“Listen carefully. I don’t know what that crazy bastard Demon Mind told you, but that’s not how a child is born.”
“…Hmph. No matter what you say, do you think I will doubt his loyalty?”
This was the downside of providing misinformation. If they believed it without a doubt, they wouldn’t listen. But, Lee Su-yeon, an expert in this field, knew. If belief were the problem, she would find the flaws and create doubt.
“You said it was inner energy that applies the principle of love. That’s why I’m asking. Do Moorim farmers and fishermen have inner energy?”
“A place called Firewater Dragon Oak hones martial arts that use water as weapons…”
“No, I mean normal people.”
“…I-I heard most of them don’t.”
“Then, do they not have children?”
“…N-no! More than half of my cult are from the countryside.”
Was it something she never thought about? Cheon-ma was growing flustered by Lee Su-yeon’s logic. However, just as Cheon-ma showed no mercy earlier, Lee Su-yeon did not give her time to process her confusion.
“T-that’s, it’s definitely because they had naturally discovered the principle of love and their underlying energy reacted that a child is born!”
“That’s not how children are born.”
“B-but that’s what Demon Mind told me… then, you tell me! How is a child born?”
Cheon-ma raised her voice. At some point, the other challengers gathered around to watch. Yoon-seok felt embarrassed, but Lee Su-yeon wore a wolfish smile.
“Unnie, lend me your ear.”
Lee Su-yeon whispered in Cheon-ma’s ear. She must’ve used some kind of skill, as Yoon-seok couldn’t hear Lee Su-yeon’s voice. But not Cheon-ma. She screamed and freaked out while she explained.
“What, groin? It gets hard?”
“H-h-how… t-that’s blasphemous!”
“Devil! Your mind must be full of devils! How is that possible!”
“Oh! You made a mistake! Look, you heard it from someone else. You never saw it in person…”
“What? Video? What-”
“T-t-t-this o-o-o-outrageous…!”
When they first learned the Earth’s round, was this how the church priests reacted? At some point, Cheon-ma became quiet and slowly turned red.
“I-is that the harmony of yin and yang? …T-then what have I been…”
Lee Su-yeon must have explained it well. Yoon-seok breathed out a sigh of relief. And at that moment, a phrase popped up before his eyes.
「Lady of Liberation is calling you.」
「Would you like to accept?」
「Lady of Liberation is calling you.」
「Would you like to accept?」
「Lady of Liberation is calling you.」
「Would you like to accept?」
It was a call from Elle. They had an implicit rule that she wouldn’t call him when he was in a trial or another dimension, so why all of a sudden? Yoon-seok, thinking about the reason, felt his heart stop.
‘…No way, did Elle hear what Su-yeon was saying?’
If that was the case… he could imagine Elle’s panicked expression. Therefore, Yoon-seok rejected it.
“…”
He felt his head was about to explode.
The score was 1:1. Even though they gave each other a mental breakdown, in the end, the final win was Lee Soo-yeon’s.
“Ah, I feel refreshed.”
Soon after, Lee Su-yeon stretched and walked back to Yoon-seok. Even then, Cheon-ma followed Lee Su-yeon like a zombie.
“How about it, unnie? Don’t you feel refreshed?”
“I-I feel hot, let alone refreshed. It’s not like my Yang energy was rising, so what’s happening…”
“Oh, my. You’re so wicked.”
Lee Su-yeon smiled at the confused Cheon-ma. Yoon-seok, scared of Lee Su-yeon, took a step back.
“Thanks to you, I enjoyed watching. But if the brief is over, time’s almost up. Shall we get ready?”
The challengers who were watching approached Yoon-seok. Only then did Yoon-seok read the phrase that appeared at the start.
「00:00:49 until the next mission starts.」
Their starting point was in a vast, empty field.
‘Maybe the time was given so we could warm up.’
Yoon-seok felt he could see through the Tower’s intention, but the time had already passed, and it was about to start. For some reason, he felt shame. Aside from the shocking things that happened, they had wasted time in the mission trial.
“Oh, we’ve checked with each other already, so there’s nothing to feel guilty about. Besides, judging from the magic you guys radiate, I don’t think we need to worry too much.”
“…”
“Also, it was a rare sight. I don’t know what blessings you have accumulated in your past life, but I’m jealous.”
Judging from the aura they radiated, they didn’t seem so bad.
“Anyway, let’s introduce ourselves. I’m Zackal.”
“I’m Choi Yoon-seok.”
Yoon-seok shook hands with the man named Zackal. At that moment, the mission began, and the blue sky above them cracked.
「Group mission (1/15).」
「The war of destruction has entered a dimensional rift threatening the Tower. Challengers should join hands to block their forces and close the crack. Gather as much information as you can about them.」
「If you fail, there will be major restrictions on your next mission.」
Yoon-seok smirked. The mission hadn’t even begun, yet he felt more exhausted than he had during the Queen’s March.
‘…Whatever comes out, I hope it comes out quickly, and this ends soon.’
Looking at Lee Su-yeon and Cheon-ma, Yoon Seok sighed.
“…”
For some reason, he had a strong feeling there was still plenty of chaos yet to come.
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