Max Talent Player

The red eye staring at Hyukjin from afar disappeared with a glint, and Hyukjin’s eyes turned red. They resembled the eyes of the Red Demon, Ahn Seohye. He fell into a trance.

It wasn’t a Will Incantation. This incantation was not driven by his conscious will, but by his instincts responding to the situation.

“Oh great Promise, terrifying in thy vastness.”

“I make my vow to the Keeper of the Commandments.”

“My and my mother’s house have committed crime and done evil.”

“For failing to uphold the laws and rules.”

“The ancient vow hath ordered me thus:”

“Fulfill the entreaty of those who rejoice in revering the prayer of promise and the name of the oath.”

It was a new kind of incantation. Hyukjin wasn’t conscious of it, but instead of being an incantation that was uttered to himself, the words seemed to be directed at a listener. It was fundamentally a little different from previous incantations.

From his lips emerged a voice that did not belong to him.

[On this day, raise me up.]

[And I shall be beholden ‘fore all promise.]

Hyukjin’s red eyes gleamed, and red energy enveloped his body.

‘It feels… comfortable.’

His body was still getting sucked along, but it was no longer painful. The pressure squeezing him had also disappeared. His body was on the verge of breaking, but he was okay.

‘I think… I just did an incantation.’

He couldn’t remember. He had uttered it unconsciously. But he did know one thing.

‘It was different from the incantations I’ve done so far.’

In any case, the incantation was successful, and the overwhelming mana that had nearly consumed him melted away in his body.

‘It feels like I’ve become one with the mana.’

He felt one with everything around him.

[Awakening a hidden authority of the temporary trait ‘Endless Sky Physique’.]

[The authority of the temporary trait ‘Endless Sky Physique’ is engraved in the Player’s body.]

[Generating the innate ability ‘Assimilation’.]

[Assimilation]

Assimilation is the process of taking outside knowledge and making it your own. The Assimilation that is the hidden authority of the Endless Sky Physique has the trait of assimilating mana. It makes the body one with the surrounding mana.

Duration: 5 minutes

Cooldown: 24 hours

Hyukjin reeled in shock.

‘Assimilation?’

It was a skill he knew.

‘That’s… the ability the Demon King used when he slaughtered the magicians.’

Assimilation was a fatal ability for magicians. In the infamous Great Battle of Shanghai, the Demon King had slaughtered thousands of magicians surrounding him.

‘Come to think of it, the Great Battle of Shanghai is in exactly one year from today.’

Since it was January 23, 2019 today, it had already been half a year since the Tutorial Field appeared.

This was written in his notes:

–Great Battle of Shanghai. January 23, 2020. Battle between 3,000 magicians and the Demon King. Of the 3,000 magicians, 2,800 died, 180 became comatose, and 20 went missing. The Demon King’s first official battle.

3,000 people were essentially wiped out. Afterwards, the ‘Demon King Army’ came to be, and the Demon King became known all across the world.

–The innate ability the Demon King used that day was ‘Assimilation’.

The Demon King himself said it was Assimilation—he uttered the skill name aloud. It was an ability that allowed you to breathe the mana around you, even the savage mana of the Endless Sky. It would render the spells of magicians absolutely useless.

‘Did I… get the Demon King’s ability?’

Somehow, he felt uneasy.

‘That jerk.’

Kang Sun-il was very punchable, but with each encounter, the rewards Hyukjin could gain as long as he could survive were second to none. By coming here, Hyukjin temporarily gained the Endless Sky Physique, as well as the ability hidden within that trait.

‘He stole the treasure of the whalekin, but I got an innate ability in exchange.’

Hyukjin had the suspicion it wasn’t a fair trade.

‘Huh?’

His surroundings began to distort, and then Hyukjin’s body was flung in the opposite direction he’d been getting sucked towards.

‘There’s no sense of pressure.’

It almost felt like time was being rewound. Hyukjin’s body moved like a video being played backwards.

* * *

According to what Isabel said, the mana hole disappeared on its own after spitting him out.

“Husband. Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.”

“I am deeply sorry for failing to protect you,” mumbled Naphthan remorsefully.

“You should be.” Hyukjin didn’t let the opportunity slip. The whalekin were a race that greatly valued vows, yet they had failed to uphold their promise. “But what’s done is done.”

“...”

“However, don’t you think you need to pay the price for failing to keep your promise?”

Naphthan nodded. He thought for a moment. “Is my daughter still not an acceptable offer?”

“Well, it’s as you can see.”

Hyukjin glanced at the woman in the pure white robe standing next to him. Even from the side, Isabel was pretty. To be perfectly honest, he wanted to grab her hand right then and there.

Naphthan said seriously, “I do not know what I can do to apologize to the Sword Pactee.”

Hyukjin had a vague feeling that he would come back to the Endless Sky at some point.

“If I ever return to the Endless Sky…”

So what he asked for was an IOU.

“...help me. With double the effort to make up for failing to help me today.”

“Understood. I, and all the whalekin, swear to help you.”

“Even if what I ask of you hurts someone.”

“...” Naphthan brooded in silence for a long moment, then responded, “We love peace. We do not engage in fights that aim to harm rather than protect. But I promise to use our breath for the Sword Pactee.”

Hyukjin nodded.

‘Excellent.’

He had the feeling he had gotten everything there was to get in the Endless Sky. The Demon King disappeared after a short, but intense meeting, and Hyukjin himself gained a new ability, Assimilation.

* * *

* * *

“How does one return to a regular field from here?”

Naphthan scratched his head. “I’m not sure.”

“You don’t know how to go back?”

“I’m afraid I don’t.”

Hyukjin turned to Isabel. “What about you, Isabel?”

“...”

“Isabel? What’re you doing?”

Isabel appeared to be deep in thought.

“Husband.”

“Yeah?”

“Who did you meet in the mana hole?”

“What do you mean, who did I meet?”

“Don’t try to fool me. You met someone.”

“You won’t know him. We call him the Demon King, but I don’t know his true identity.”

“Demon King? Someone has been given such an absurd name?”

“Well, I’m just calling him that for convenience.”

Now that she mentioned it, he didn’t know who first attributed the title. One day, the Demon King was simply the Demon King and had the name ‘Kang Sun-il’.

“Do you know about the Demon King?”

“I don’t. However…” Isabel put a hand on Hyukjin’s chest and closed her eyes. “It’s astonishing that I can feel his stigmata so clearly even when he simply brushed past you.”

“What kind of stigmata is it?”

“Just a little of his scent rubbed off on you, but I feel a massive presence.”

“So c’mon, what kind of stigmata is that, exactly?”

“Even if I tell you, you won’t understand.” Isabel’s expression darkened. “And I feel it. A deep, terrible rage. How can there be such an intense rage? Just who in the world is he?”

“Rage?”

“I can feel rage, but also compassion. I can’t be sure; the scent is too thin. But there are truly a great many stigmata scents mixed together.” Isabel was silent for a long moment of contemplation. “I don’t know who he is, but he called you to the mana hole, right?”

“Yeah.”

“He must have begun planning this 500 years ago. He circumvented the settings by using these too-kind-for-their-own-good whalekin.”

As expected of Isabel, she puzzled everything out.

“Did he get his hands on the treasure of the whalekin by twisting the settings?”

“Yeah. Though he pretty much stole it from me.”

Isabel frowned, her face flushing with slight anger.

“I’ll be sure to get it back for you later.”

Hyukjin heard what was left unsaid. You dare to steal something of my husband’s? I won’t let you off. The words were only implied, but he still found them quite reassuring. It was amazing she could inspire such a sense of reliability when the opponent was the Demon King. If there was one thing he had done right, it was this contract marriage.

“Oh, right! Husband. I can’t send you to any random place, but I can teleport you to the place where the Sky Gate first opened.”

“How?”

“Of course, with warp ma—”

Isabel froze, the word dying in her throat. Hyukjin caught on.

‘Ah. Warp magic.’

But Isabel the ‘sword’ had the unique setting of absolutely despising the use of magic, so he smoothed things over for her.

“As I thought, you can move through space with your ability as a sword.”

“Th-That’s right. That’s exactly it. Remember when you made a path using a sword technique before? It’s like that.”

The two appeared unrelated, but that didn’t seem to matter to Isabel. Faulty logic aside, it convinced Isabel, so that was a relief.

“Well then, goodbye,” said Naphthan. “The whalekin shall await the pactee in the Endless Sky.”

Natalie waved in farewell. “Bye bye! See you later, young Oppa.”

A round portal appeared in front of Hyukjin. It was a special gate leading to another place.

[Warp Gate]

A warp gate connected to the ‘Sky Gate’ of the Tutorial Building D-Tower’s 2nd Floor in the Korean server.

Usage restriction: Sword Pactee

Isabel was truly an amazing wife. Who would’ve thought she would be capable of such a perfect spell? Just why in the world was she a sword?

“Anyway, Husband.”

Isabel took Hyukjin’s hand.

‘Huh?’

Hyukjin could not refuse—Isabel’s powerful grip whirled him around, bringing them face to face. The next moment, the world went dark around him.

‘Magic?’

For the slightest moment, his vision was blocked, and it was like he was in another space.

“That wasn’t a kiss earlier. Right?”

It was more like first aid given out of necessity for the formation of his second heart. But Natalie had called it a kiss, and Isabel seemed hung up on it.

“I can’t acknowledge that as a kiss.”

Isabel pulled Hyukjin closer. With the overwhelming difference in strength between them, Hyukjin was unable to resist, though he never once considered resisting to begin with.

Isabel’s lips met Hyukjin. There was a quiet smooching sound, and then Isabel vanished, going into Hyukjin’s Inventory in sword form.

‘That…’

The roles seemed a bit reversed, but he didn’t hate the feeling.

‘...was nice?’

The warmth of her lips lingered on his. The moment her face had neared his, he saw her eyelashes trembling. Isabel hadn’t shown it, but she was nervous.

‘How cute.’

Hyukjin lightly rubbed his lips. He definitely hadn’t dreamt it—that kiss was real. Happiness shot through him.

[Passing through the Sky Gate.]

Going through the Warp Gate was neither dizzying nor nauseating. His means of return was far smoother than the Sky Gate he had opened through the System. That was just how perfect Isabel’s magic was.

[Entering the Tutorial Building 2nd Floor.]

‘Hrm? What’s this?’

He arrived at the 2nd floor of the D-Tower, where an amusing situation was lying in wait.