Japan (4)

“Can I come out?”

While I was looking at the question window for any changes, Kirkiri’s face appeared on the hologram.

I allowed her.

“Tada-an!” Kirikiri popped out as usual. I had become used to it since she kept appearing in the same manner.

“What are you doing?”

“I need to ask you something.”

I could predict her question. More likely than not, her question was about the chaos happening in Japan.

“Why is Yong-yong so strong?”

Kirikiri’s question was a little unexpected. She seemed to be more curious about Yong-yong rather than the mess in Japan.

Why was Yong-yong so strong?

What kind of question was that? Yong-yong was always strong.

From the moment he was born, I nurtured him: from his diet to his living environment and language, I taught him everything myself.

Fortunately, unlike Hochi, Yong-yong had a burning desire to rise or win. I enjoyed teaching him, and he had exceptional talent. I was unsure if the talent was due to his characteristics as a dragon or whether Yong-yong himself was a prodigy. But if not either of those, then it was thanks to my superior teachings.

It was challenging to figure out if he was strong because I raised him as my son or strong because I taught him. At the age of two, his powers were on par with Hochi’s, and soon, Yong-yong even surpassed him.

The 61st floor followers were hard to compare to Yong-yong, and the Old Man and Grandma were far superior.

By the age of five or six, as I made the 60th floor independent of the Tutorial, I made him a room independent of my area. Considering that Yong-yong’s room was not just a ‘room,’ but a massive space the size of a dimension, it was hard to guess how fast he’d continue to grow.

Of course, Yong-yong’s growth was completely different due to how the time flowed in that dimension. But even considering that, it was surprisingly fast.

“Yong-yong was always strong.”

“Uh… is he stronger than you?”

What is she talking about?

I flicked Kirikiri’s forehead.

“Ahhh!” Kirikiri rolled on the floor, holding her forehead.

“What a crybaby.”

“I’m not a crybaby. It hurts!”

I had hit her intending to inflict pain, but I hadn’t expected her to get this hurt. The area on her forehead had turned red, which came as a surprise.

It was interesting.

How many more hits can I get in until she notices?

“Heng, Ho-jae hit me,” Kirikiri mumbled with tears in her eyes.

Rather than being sorry at the sight of her, I got annoyed.

“Don’t call me that.”

(T/N: She pronounced his name like: Hou-woo jae-aeee)

“Heng, my heart.”

At this moment, I seriously thought about hitting her again. Unfortunately, I decided to save it for next time.

It would be complicated if Kirikiri found out that I was hitting her not as a joke but as an experiment.

I changed the subject. “But why are you suddenly asking about Yong-yong?”

“Why, all of a sudden? That’s because Yong-yong is beating up three Rulers over there.” Kirikiri told me that Yong-yong was not just fighting, but that he was unilaterally crushing the Rulers.

Fortunately, Yong-yong seemed to be doing well. I was relieved. I wanted to do well on my own, but my anxieties had been holding me back.

“They look stronger compared to the Ruler Ho-jae fought in Antarctica. Are you sure Yong-yong isn’t stronger?”

Now was the chance. I flicked Kirikiri’s defenseless forehead.

“Agh!”

I felt a righteous feeling. She let out another cry.

“Wuuu… Ho-jae keeps hitting me.”

“You deserved it,” Seregia, who happened to be inside the temple, said.

Kirikiri, who was making a sad face, shouted at Seregia, “Seregia is always so mean!”

Seregia shrugged and took a chocolate pie out of her pocket. I wondered where she had come from, and it seemed like she went to the flat and brought snacks.

Seregia tore the wrapping paper of the chocolate pie and gave it to Kirikiri.

And…

“Do you want one?”

Her speech became informal. It was a significant change of attitude. Far from being offended, Kirikiri reached out her hand excitedly.

“Give it to me!”

“No.”

Seregia took a bite of the chocolate pie in her hand, passed Kirikiri, and sat down in the corner. Kirikiri sat on the floor blankly and looked at Seregia, whose mouth moved to chew.

Kirkiri shouted again, “You’re so mean!”

* * *

Thanks to Seregia, who had diverted Kirkiri’s attention, I could complete the experiment without any doubt, but I decided to stop the experiment there. It was dangerous in many ways to keep pushing Kirikiri.

Instead, I decided to ask Kirikiri one question.

“Yes, yes, what is it?”

Perhaps thanks to taking away a snack from Seregia and giving it to Kirikiri, Kirikiri’s face was in full bloom. It was good because she was very simple.

“There’s a god who needs information.”

“Some rookies cannot be told much information.”

“God of Remorse.”

Kirikiri replied, “The God of Remorse can only be given a limited amount of information.”

Information restrictions were said to be at stake.

“What kind of information restriction is that?”

I was no longer a challenger of the Tutorial, but I still had to restrict myself in giving away information? I didn’t need such information restrictions.

“It’s the same information restriction you had on the 60th floor.”

Damn it.

Again, restricting information through triggers was not a system for the Awakened of the Tutorial.

“What was the trigger?”

“Remorse.”

I didn’t want to think about it.

Kirikiri looked at me, clicking her tongue, and said, “It’s because of the source from the 35th floor, right?”

Right.

On the 35th floor, the God of Remorse presented me with a source, and as a result, I was disadvantaged in the Hundred Gods Temple.

The source was not very helpful to me at the time, but it helped me quickly get used to the power of source and faith.

It was used to hide information from Lee Yeon-hee on the 60th floor.

“I recommend you not to care. The God of Remorse must have given you the source for some strange reason you didn’t expect.”

“I wonder what that strange reason was.”

“I don’t know much about that.”

I felt uncomfortable. If you get help for no reason from others, you would feel uncomfortable, especially if it included sacrifice.

I was also anxious.

“As I explained before, the God of Remorse is someone who always regrets. He’s the god who always makes mistakes. Maybe one of the many regrets was what gave you the source.”

I could have just thought that and let it pass.

It was a stroke of luck. I thought so.

The problem was the status of the God of Remorse.

I heard that he always caused trouble and made mistakes, which made me think that he was nothing more than a stupid god. However, he had gained divinity, and he had maintained his status. Above all, the God of Remorse was related to time.

When some gods tried to break through the 60th floor through force, the God of Remorse made it the furthest.

I couldn’t just let it go.

“I’m sorry, but there’s nothing else I can tell you. Perhaps it would be faster to meet the God of Remorse and ask him in person.”

* * *

Once again, the light flashed. Flashes spread out in all directions. Hochi, who had seen it from afar, clicked his tongue.

“This guy… what a madman.” Hochi couldn’t help but swear.

Lee Joon-suk’s ability was a power that he couldn’t try to control. He was just a tad bit away from being a real nutcase.

Hochi had made a prediction when Lee Joon-suk asked to protect people or ask for help. Lee Joon-suk’s ability seemed to be specialized in wide-area attacks. Hochi’s guess was not wrong.

Lee Joon-suk’s attacks were all wide-area attacks. But there was a problem; the attack affected not only allies but also Lee Joon-suk himself.

“That crazy guy.”

Hochi used his power on Lee Joon-suk, who was far away, while repeatedly swearing.

“Life sharing.”

Now, it was challenging to assist Lee Joon-suk with simple healing skills. Lee Joon-suk was using his abilities recklessly as if he were going to die here.

“How much had he stacked up?”

Frustration

That is the state Lee Joon-suk was in.

Once he began to use his abilities, Lee Joon-suk was completely blinded.

Hochi was able to fully predict what Lee Joon-suk would have done to get that ability.

Of course, he grew up in the Tutorial where he could be healed. However, it was impossible to grow to this level and get out with a normal mindset.

It was possible only when he was as crazy as Lee Ho-jae. That meant he had to reach a level of stupidity that shouldn’t be acceptable. So Hochi could understand.

After a rough experience, he got this kind of power, but he couldn’t even use it properly.

He was so frustrated. However, if he used it carelessly, the surrounding area and people would be burned to ashes, and Lee Joon-suk himself would also be in danger.

Once used, everything around him would fly away, so no one could help him.

-Gwaaah….!

The giant tentacle monster was still breathing. The water in the lake had evaporated, and ashes were the only thing that remained in place of the surrounding forest. All the monsters and the plants that had popped out of the forest were gone. But the monster was still holding out, swinging his tentacles at Lee Joon-suk.

The monster looked almost pathetic. Hochi felt sorry seeing Lee Joon-suk barely escape the tentacles. Frankly speaking, Hochi was rooting for the monster.

He wanted Lee Joon-suk to get beaten and knocked out by the monster. The monster was strong, so they could have waited until Yong-yong came, but Lee Joon-suk was attacking the monster without rest.

Every time Lee Joon-suk attacked, Hochi had to protect him, and it became a bother.

-Yaaargh!

Then, the monster’s body split wide open. It seemed like blood was going to shoot up, but it didn’t.

Lee Joon-suk flew away quickly to the monster’s open wound.

“Hey! Lee Joon-suk, this is good! Finish it quickly!” Hochi changed his position as soon as the monster was fatally wounded and cheered for Lee Joon-suk.

Lee Joon-suk dug deep into the monster’s body through the monster’s open wound and then used his blinding power again.

“…Wow, he genuinely is a madman.”

This time, the blazing light did not spread out in all directions. It stayed entirely in the monster’s body, ending the monster.

The problem was that Lee Joon-suk himself was on the monster’s body.

Hochi quickly teleported Lee Joon-suk to him. Lee Joon-suk had such a questionable appearance that Hochi didn’t know if he was looking at a human or charcoal soot.

“Oh, he’s alive..”

“…Thank you, Hyung.”

Meanwhile, Lee Joon-suk expressed his gratitude. Hochi took out a bottle of potion from the subspace and fed it to Lee Joon-suk.

He was tired of using his abilities.

Lee Joon-suk again thanked him and asked Hochi, “Where is this potion from?”

Hochi answered as if it were nothing.

“Ho-jae had piled up many of these in his subspace, so don’t mind it.”

“Yes..? Potions are only there in the Tutorial.”

“Oh, that. Ho-jae can use the subspace regardless of the Tutorial.”

Lee Joon-suk looked like he didn’t understand. Lee Joon-suk, who had been confused for a while, asked Hochi again. “…Is my item in that space, too? I gave Ho-jae Hyung all my items when I left.”

“It probably is. Maybe if you look it up.”

“Really? If you have that item… all I need is that item!”

Lee Joon-suk repeatedly said that he could use his abilities without risk using this item, looking a little distracted.

‘I would have given you it earlier. I didn’t know.’

Why didn’t Ho-jae give it to him before?

He looked so excited, and he was going crazy.

When Hochi was thinking so, the space widened, and one person walked out. It was Lee Ho-jae.

Hochi looked back at Lee Ho-jae and asked why he hadn’t given Lee Joon-suk the item in advance.

“I forgot.”

So confident. That was a good excuse.

“Huh? That’s a necklace I’ve never seen before.” Hochi commented when he saw something hanging around Lee Ho-jae’s neck.

Lee Ho-jae just shrugged.

“I think I’ve seen it somewhere.”

A round ball-shaped ornament at the end of the necklace. It was something that persisted in Hochi’s memory.

“What the hell did you do?”

Lee Ho-jae said, looking around the destroyed area.

“You still can’t control your abilities? That’s too bad.”

Then he gave Lee Joon-suk a slap. Lee Joon-suk, who had just been excited, bowed his head with an apologetic look as if he had committed a crime.

“You’ve been in the Tutorial for years, and you—”

“Hey.” Hochi cut off Lee Ho-jae.

“What?”

Hochi thought again for a bit when he saw Lee Ho-jae looking at him.

But this time, he was sure.

“You aren’t Ho-Jae… who are you?”

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