Max Talent Player

Hyukjin used the foot technique for the instantaneous, swift movement that the former Sword Empress used.

‘It’s hot.’

For a moment, he almost dropped Sunhwa. It felt like the flames were eating him alive, like he had jumped into a blazing blast furnace. Intense fear of being burned into nothingness and the thought of melting away if he stayed for a moment longer in those flames assailed him.

[You have been exposed to intense heat energy.]

[The durability of Pygmy’s Ring has begun to rapidly fall.]

[Mandra’s Cuirass has been destroyed.]

The cuirass with fire resistance was destroyed. Not just Hyukjin’s, but also the one Sunhwa was wearing crumbled apart, never to be repaired again.

[The intense heat energy has begun to affect the Player’s body.]

Hyukjin sucked in ragged breaths.

[Pygmy’s Ring has been destroyed.]

A whopping rare-grade item was destroyed. Although they were in the flames for a very short moment, the ring was obliterated. Even so, they somehow barely made it.

“Are you… okay?”

Sunhwa nodded. Hyukjin put her down onto the ground. Both of them looked terrible. The ends of their hair were singed off, and they had scorch marks all over. The only relief was that at least the scorch marks covered their bare bodies.

“Open the Item Shop and buy something to put on. It’s fine if it’s cheap.”

“…”

Whether it was because of the heat exuded by the Ravine of Fire, or because she was embarrassed, Sunhwa’s face was as red as a tomato. Hyukjin turned around and dodged her eyes out of pointless embarrassment.

“Sorry.”

She was at a very sensitive age, and all of her clothes had been unintentionally burnt up. Hyukjin also bought beginner leather clothing from the Item Shop and put them on. Wearing them posed no inconvenience—one click, and they were automatically put on his body, almost like a game.

‘I did see this sort of thing often on Youtube…’

During a raid, a Player’s clothes were often the first to take the fall instead of their body. That was why some Rankers put on an inner layer of clothes with a focus on extremely high durability regardless of their defense in order to avoid being exposed. Tanks were especially prone to doing so.

‘For me, well… It’s alright.’

Hyukjin didn’t see Sunhwa as a woman. In his eyes, only mentally ill people like Seo Joohwan would see Sunhwa as a woman. So he wasn’t all that concerned by the fact that he inadvertently flashed his naked body. He was simply a little concerned that he had made all her clothes burn up when she was at a very sensitive age.

‘She needs to get used to situations like this, too.’

If Sunhwa was going to walk the path of a tank, this sort of thing would happen.

After a moment, Sunhwa spoke up.

“No, if not for oppa, I would have burned to death over there.”

It wasn’t that she was completely unabashed. Hyukjin might be a person she trusted and relied on, but it was still embarrassing and awkward. However, her relief at having gone through those flames mostly intact was greater than her embarrassment.

“Yeah.”

Hyukjin didn’t say much, either. To be more precise, he couldn’t. It was because the notices had continued even before he bought new clothes and put them on.

‘That’s right.’ Earlier, when he instantly accelerated to an incredible speed using Flash Step, he’d heard a notice.

He hadn’t heard it properly because the heat was so suffocating and intense, but when he thought back to it, he was able to remember the notice.

[The intense heat energy has begun to affect the Player’s body.]

It didn’t boil down to simply ‘affecting’ his body.

[You have succeeded in going through the ‘Ravine of Fire’.]

[All those who go through the ‘Ravine of Fire’ are granted a title.]

[You have been granted the title ‘Person of Fire’.]

‘Person of Fire’?

[Person of Fire]

A title that increases one’s fire affinity and resistance a considerable amount.

1. +5 fire affinity
2. +5 fire resistance
3. +10% additional damage when using a fire attribute attack
4. -10% damage taken from a fire attribute attack

Hyukjin got a sense for what kind of title ‘Person of Fire’ was.

Ten years later, one of the Flame Lord Choi Sung-gu’s titles was ‘Immortal Vulcan’.

This ‘Person of Fire’ title would probably become ‘Immortal Vulcan’ after a few evolutions.

‘Sung-gu must have gotten this title here, too.’

Actually, it was a title only Sung-gu was supposed to get. After all, if things had gone according to the Giant of the Sunset’s plans, we would have been long reduced to ashes in the Ravine of Fire.

“Oppa, I got a title, too.”

“I know. You got Person of Fire, right?”

“Yes.”

Sunhwa looked really happy that she got a title.

“Happy?”

Sunhwa nodded. “To be honest, I was really scared earlier.”

“Of what?”

“I thought the flames would swallow me alive.”

“Your body’s sturdier than mine. Even I was fine, so it goes without saying that you’d be fine.”

That was a certainty. I had the help of ‘Pygmy’s Ring’. Sunhwa had gone through without that, wearing only Mandra’s Cuirass.

“My brain knows that, but I don’t think my heart is able to accept it yet.”

Hyukjin chuckled. That was only natural. Sunhwa was keeping up with him, but she was still undoubtedly a beginner Player. Only two months had passed since the Cataclysm.

‘I’ve done all I can now.’

All that was left was to wait. They had to wait until Choi Sung-gu, the one under the Giant of the Sunset’s protection, cleared the dungeon.

“We’re gonna stay right here.”

“Here?”

Hyukjin whispered to Sunhwa in a voice so quiet that Senia wouldn’t be able to hear. “Because the Giant of the Sunset might try to kill us again if he discovers we’re still alive.”

The sole monopolizer of this dungeon’s treasures had to be Choi Sung-gu. That was the reason this dungeon existed. That’s why he had asked Senia to pause her stream. Sunhwa nodded in understanding.

‘Choi Sung-gu will definitely clear this dungeon.’

He just didn’t know how much time Sung-gu would need. In any case, Sung-gu would be able to do it. Hyukjin decided not to worry about it.

* * *

We crossed the Ravine of Fire and earned the ‘Person of Fire’ title. I tried to stay as relaxed as possible—nothing good would come from being impatient here. Sunhwa seemed very tense, so I chatted with her to try to ease her nerves.

“What do you wanna do when we get out?”

“Mm.” As she hummed in contemplation, Sunhwa looked like she had let go of the nerves you couldn’t help but feel in a dungeon. I could feel it through Eye of Perception.

“I want to eat.”

“Eat? What do you wanna eat?”

“Mm.”

Sunhwa thought seriously for a long while again. To this 14-year-old middle school student, the question of what she would eat was apparently a very serious matter.

“Tonkatsu! I wanna eat tonkatsu!”

“Ah, tonkatsu.”

Sunhwa’s expression brightened as she exclaimed, as if she were a little happier by simply thinking about tonkatsu.

“Yeah. Tonkatsu’s tasty.” Then, she asked, “If I go with you, can I eat it without getting in trouble?”

“In trouble? Why?”

After hearing what she had to say, I was taken aback. Sunhwa said she had gotten an allowance at the orphanage. Of course, it wasn’t much. She’d gotten a really tiny amount from the education program in order to get a sense of economics.

She told me she had patiently saved up penny by penny before going to a nearby snack stand.

“A poor brat like you wants to eat tonkatsu? No chance in hell,” some grandpa said, punishing her and making her really scared, even though the tonkatsu at the snack stand had only cost six bucks.

My heart ached. I could see my former self in her.

“Let’s go eat tonkatsu.”

Back before I returned to this year, I had mumbled something while laying on my bed after realizing once again that life was not easy.

“The world sure is a bitch.”

Afterwards, I fell asleep. Similar to how the world had seemed so cruel to me, it might have been a scary place for Sunhwa. I thought once again that I didn’t want to live like that ever again.

Time passed. It wasn’t a short amount of time, something around six hours. I was fine, but Sunhwa endured the time with a patience that didn’t suit her fourteen years of age, and at long last, the dungeon was cleared.

[The ‘Shot Table Dungeon’ has been cleared.]

[Distributing the ‘Shot Table Dungeon’ clear rewards.]

Naturally, the lion’s share of the rewards would go to Sung-gu. Sunhwa and I would get a set portion, but I didn’t expect much.

[150 Coins acquired.]

[EXP acquired.]

My level also went up.

[Level increased.]

[Current level: 27]

[‘1/3 Map Fragment’ acquired.]

* * *

We left the Shot Table Dungeon. There weren’t policemen waiting on the other side like with the Seoul Station Dungeon.

I heard a voice.

“Thank fucking god!” It was a naked man. “You’re alive!”

He pulled me into his arms. It had happened so suddenly that I hadn’t been able to dodge.

“Put some… clothes on, will you?”

“You’re alive. It took so long that I worried you might have died!” Tears poured out of Sung-gu’s eyes. “You did well. You did really well to live. If you two had died, I was planning on just ending it.”

“…”

Eye of Perception told me he was serious.

“Thank you for surviving!”

State: Gratitude / Relief / Joy

He had truly been worried for us. Senia’s stream was off, but Sung-gu’s currently invisible Streamer was apparently still streaming. I heard some notices.

[The ‘Giant of the Sunset’ is astonished.]

[The ‘Whispering Devil’ is happy.]

[The ‘Barrier of Blue Light’ has begun to pay attention to you.]

A new Guardian who had revealed their name in the channel of Sung-gu’s Streamer began to take note of me. It wasn’t a name I remembered. They didn’t seem to be a very famous Guardian, but I was still happy. This was how a Player got their name out.

‘He must have already known as soon as the map was split into three parts. That we were alive.’

But the Giant could only be astonished after confirming it for himself.

‘Biased asshole.’

If the Courageous Lion King was a courage-lover, then the Giant of the Sunset was a jerk who loved playing favorites. While I was thinking that, Sung-gu extended a ‘magic tome’ to me.

“Here. Take it.”

“…What?”

“When I got the Essence of Flame, I said so, didn’t I? That I would give you the next item.”

Looking at his expression, which seemed to be loudly proclaiming, ‘I’m a guy who always keeps his promises!’ I couldn’t help but laugh in amazement.

“That’s why you want to give this to me?”

“Of course.”

I was able to click the magic tome’s name.

[Vulcan Body Tome]

The Vulcan Body Tome. Even in the world ten years from now, this magic tome was so rare it had only been found ten times. Every single person who acquired this tome became one of the top Rankers in the world, and Choi Sung-gu was among them.

“A promise is a promise!”

Sung-gu puffed out his chest, looking proud of the very fact that he was giving this to me. It seemed he thought that this was what a person should naturally do.

“…”

I deliberated for a moment. Should I take it, or not? 

‘If I take it…’

The Flame Lord would probably disappear from this world. The changes Choi Sung-gu formerly brought about would never happen.

‘I don’t fear changing the future.’

I didn’t fear that in itself. There was a problem that was more pressing than that.

[The ‘Giant of the Sunset’ is watching you.]

[The ‘Giant of the Sunset’ is monitoring you.]

A certain biased asshole was watching me, and not in the good sense. This Guardian had tried to block any Player other than Choi Sung-gu from getting rewards. So what would happen if I continued to defy his will and accepted that magic tome?

‘He’ll probably go into Senia’s channel and try to kill me, no matter how.’

Simply put, I would be put on a Guardian’s hit list, one strong enough to raise the future Flame Lord. Getting on the wrong side of a Guardian that powerful could make life very hairy.

‘Annoying bastard.’

I already had a courage-lover to deal with, and now this biased asshole. One day, I would definitely make these two pay, no matter what I had to do.

‘Instead of taking that right away…’

I decided to draw a slightly bigger picture and future. Instead of going for a small profit now, I would wait to reap a bigger profit a little further down the line. Because as long as I had the ‘1/3 Map Fragment’, it was possible to change the person in the driver’s seat from the Giant of the Sunset to me.

“Sung-gu. Allow me to make a proposal.”

Alright then, shall we draw?