Han Dae Sung Returned From Hell - Chapter 30
# 30
030
The mountain behind Daldongne in Sanggye-dong was not a good environment for hiking, to say the least.
The sloping mountain path was steep and rugged, and the untrimmed forest was extremely rough.
A bone-chillingly cold early morning.
Daeseong
was climbing up that rough mountain path.
His hands were empty, without even a branch to use as a walking stick, and he even had a large backpack on his back.
Nevertheless, not a single drop of sweat fell on Daesung’s face as he climbed the steep path.
He had a history of wandering through even more difficult terrain for over 80 years.
In less than an hour, Daesung reached the summit shrouded in dim dawn fog.
Daesung, standing on a flat mountaintop, gazed down at the scenery of the moon village spread out in the distance.
‘There won’t be any hikers. It wasn’t originally built to be able to climb the mountain.’
In other words, it means that no one will come and no one will catch your eye.
Daesung planned to stay here for a few days.
In the meantime, I prepared all the water and food I needed in a thick backpack.
The situation was explained to the family with the help of Seong Chan-ho.
For the time being, I made an excuse like I was going on a trip with Seong Chan-ho, who was on leave from work.
Of course, it was a lie, and Seong Chan-ho, who first received a call from Daesung asking him to guess, had no choice but to ask.
-why. What. What happened suddenly?
-I’m going to go diving for a while. If you say you and I went on a trip, my mom will understand, so just keep in mind.
-No man. So, why do you go diving?
-Because of the licensing exam.
-Are you going to do some kind of lung training?
-uh.
Since it means staying in a mountain valley and preparing for an exam, the expression ‘closed pipe training’ is not wrong at all.
-I’ll throw it all away.
When the resolute answer came back, Seong Chan-ho cursed at him, calling him a poisonous bastard, but then quickly admitted that he understood.
In this way, Daesung was able to spend time alone comfortably without being disturbed.
‘Ten days until the licensing exam.’
If ‘passing’ was my goal, I wouldn’t have gone this far.
However, now that the goal is to go beyond ‘passing’ and be ‘1st place’, you have to give your all.
Daesung himself is aware that he is strong.
However, being strong does not mean that you can let down your guard.
흉포한 범도 방심하면 개새끼에게 물릴 때가 있는 법이니.
‘We have confirmed in advance how the exam, which is conducted twice a year, will be conducted.’
This is through the videos uploaded on the association’s website, the files sent by Seong Chan-ho, and the test takers’ notes.
This is the part that Daesung paid attention to in the materials.
‘Before starting, equip the weapons and armor provided by the association.’
It is said that the performance of the Auror weapons and armor given to applicants is not very good.
Disposable equipment that can never be used in real life and is specialized only for testing purposes.
‘If the performance of the equipment deteriorates, you can overcome it with physical strength. But…’
Yu Bi Mu Hwan.
Since he wanted 100% flawless achievement, it was necessary to replace the poor conditions with something else from now on.
It wouldn’t be a bad idea to put in this much effort rather than sit still for the ten days leading up to the exam.
‘First, there is one thing to check.’
Daesung picked up a piece of tree branch that had fallen nearby that had a relatively smooth angle.
He then took out the dagger of judgment from his subspace pocket and looked at it alternately with the tree branch he was holding in his other hand.
“Hmm…”
The equipment of hell implemented in reality was not revealed on the outside.
That part was proven through the protection of evil insects that I obtained through a quest not long ago.
Instead of the appearance becoming transparent, only the performance becomes ‘load’ and ‘overwrite’.
then.
‘Is it possible to overwrite weapons that are not armor?’
What Daesung wanted to check from now on was to bring the Dagger of Judgment, an item from hell, onto the tree branch.
First, he recognized the tree branch he was holding as a ‘weapon’.
Then
‘Load.’
At that moment, the voice of the system came into Daesung’s head.
[Would you like to load the dagger of judgment into the weapon recognized by the Absolute?]
Load.
It was a term commonly mentioned when retrieving game data.
Because Daesung played a lot of video games before falling into hell, he was able to vaguely remember that fact thanks to the effectiveness of the memory chip.
“okay.” The moment
Daesung
nodded, he felt the grip in his left hand disappear.
When I looked back, I saw that the referee’s dagger that I was holding in my left hand had suddenly evaporated.
Instead, the sensation of my right hand holding the tree branch changed.
A smooth texture, as if holding the handle of a dagger rather than a tree branch with a rough surface.
And the weight has become lighter.
Sigh –
Daesung rolled up his sleeves and gently pressed down on his skin with the blunt edge of a tree branch.
Then a thin wound appeared, as if he had been cut by a dagger.
“Weapons are also possible.”
Satisfied with the referee’s dagger disguised as a tree branch, Daesung released the road load.
A dagger appeared again in his empty left hand, and Daesung stored it away in subspace.
It was also possible to override the performance of weapons with other items.
If this is possible, half the work is done.
From now on, all that remains is to find a weapon to hide its appearance.
‘A great sword of fire.’
This is a different type of greatsword favored by King Yeom, who ruled the Far East region of Hell.
Daeseong, who killed King Yeom, threw away the straight sword of the Yongcheol Knight that accompanied him on his long journey and took his beloved sword.
The Fire Flower Greatsword that cut out the heart of the Demon God can be said to be the last companion and end to 80 years of hell.
‘I make this happen.’
It is a weapon that is simply too good and too good to be used for testing on Earth.
I’ll say it again, Daesung never intended to do anything half-heartedly.
“Pantheon.”
Grumble-!
A gray stone gate engulfed in flames appeared in the air, burning away even the hazy fog.
Daesung walked towards the cold light pouring in through the wide open stone gate.
***
Not only awakened people with a license can belong to a clan.
Occasionally, if an awakened person with a high rating appears in the association, the clan will try to recruit that awakened person to their team in advance.
The clan’s influence does not come from somewhere else.
The more high-level and strong members there are, the higher the clan’s name value.
Therefore, in most small to medium-sized clans, the sales team is working hard to discover new talent.
And usually, I judged them to be from B level and sent them love calls in advance.
“Jincheol, are you ready?”
[Yes, hyung.]
And here is a promising awakened person who was recently rated A.
Jeong Jin-cheol.
“Check your heart rate. “It’s stable.”
“I think we can start right now, Captain.”
Researchers wearing white coats checked Jeong Jin-cheol’s physical condition displayed on the monitor and reported.
Lee Seok-woo, the leader of the < Red Ma > clan, looked beyond the glass window at Jeong Jin-cheol, who was trapped in an isolation room measuring about 10 pyeong.
The upper, middle, and lower parts of Jeong Jin-cheol, who was lying on a steel bed, were each covered with strong restraints.
A situation where you can’t even move. It wouldn’t be strange if someone saw it and thought it was torture.
However, the expression on Jeong Jin-cheol’s face while he was incarcerated was not like that at all.
Rather, he was trembling with excitement, his mouth twisting a lot.
[Please start quickly, bro. You know that I’ve been waiting for this day.]
“You know. So, I understand how you feel, but wouldn’t it be better to be prepared to some extent because it will cause pain comparable to labor pains?”
[I already made this determination when I joined here.]
Jeong Jin-cheol’s joyous voice came out through the speaker connected to the isolation room.
Seokwoo Lee smiled and praised himself internally.
After all, I have eyes to see.
Just-
Lee Seok-woo snapped his fingers and the researchers nodded.
They soon began manipulating complex mechanical equipment.
Jiing –
Steel lids slowly rose on both sides of the steel bed where Jeong Jin-cheol was lying.
As the
iron shield wrapped around Jeong Jin-cheol’s body, the bed suddenly took on the shape of a large incubator.
“Start infusion.”
The moment one of the researchers spoke, a blue liquid filled the incubator.
As the clear liquid slowly began to encroach on his body starting from his toes, Jeong Jin-cheol let out a shaky breath out of his respirator mask
.
“Injection rate 20%.”
“Check your heart rate. “It’s stable.”
There was a change in Jeong Jin-cheol’s radiation on the main monitor.
The pure white bones that appeared on the screen slowly changed color to bright red.
At the same time, Jeong Jin-cheol inside the incubator began to struggle and spit out bubbles.
Bugle-! Bugle-!
Seokwoo Lee was cold.
“continue.”
“Injection rate 50%… 70%….”
The experiment was carried out steadily.
Fusion ampoule.
It is a special serum that is exclusive to the < Red Demon > Clan and is not approved by the Association.
Seok-Woo Lee had no doubt that this would bring prosperity to the clan, and part of that fruition was about to be realized right before his eyes.
“Injection rate exceeds 80%.”
“My heart rate is becoming unstable!”
“Captain, we have exceeded the acceptable range, so why quit at this point?”
The pulse shown on the electrocardiogram was tapering off, like that of a person whose heart is about to stop.
However, Lee Seok-woo didn’t care.
“continue.”
“But if I keep going like this, I might die-”
“It’s okay, I won’t die.”
When Lee Seok-woo said this with a round smile, the researchers who sent the warning were at a loss for words.
“If he was going to die just because his bones were wet, I wouldn’t have brought him here.”
“….”
“Jincheol seems to be in a very bad mood. Wouldn’t it be okay if we did this?”
Click- Lee Seok-
woo touched a speaker device compatible with the isolation room.
Then, a magnificent classical music rang out in the isolation room.
Beethoven’s 9th Symphony, 4th movement.
The tenor’s high, loud singing voice mingled with Jeong Jin-cheol’s screams running wild in the incubator.
Ugh-!
“Main injection rate 90%…. 91%….”
Beep- Beep-
The mechanical sound of an electrocardiogram that sends an urgent signal, the scream of a man who is out of breath, and a classic.
All of this created a dissonant sound that scratched his ears, but Lee Seok-woo’s mind was infinitely calm.
yet.
Beep.
The lines on the electrocardiogram that had drawn curves became perfectly straight lines.
“State injection rate 100%.”
“Hour heart rate was 0. Dead.”
The incubator, which was shaking every time he struggled like crazy, became quiet.
Jeong Jin-cheol below the surface was so peacefully closing his eyes.
The researchers, who decided that the experiment had failed, let go of the tension and sighed quietly.
Among them, only Lee Seok-woo persistently stared at the incubator on the other side of the glass window.
It was then.
thud-!
Beep –
The incubator shakes once.
At the same time, a small curve appeared on the electrocardiogram.
“what…!”
“no way!”
The researchers who were trying to clean up the equipment were wide-eyed at this strange incident.
Lee Seok-woo laughed once more.
As if I knew it would happen.
“wake up.”
thud-!
Beep-
“You can do it. wake up.”
The tone was kind, like a parent comforting a newborn baby taking its first steps.
At that time, the 4th movement of No. 9 was entering the calm before the storm just before the chorus.
thud-! thud-!
Every time the shield on top of the incubator moved loudly, the pulse got stronger.
It was then.
bang-!
The chorus begins.
The shield of the incubator, which was tightly closed, flew off and,
wow!
Eventually, water burst out from inside the incubator as if a torpedo had exploded, and white foam rose.
“This…”
“Oh my god.”
“100% injection rate…?”
Some of the shocked researchers inadvertently set off the flagship.
This is the sight of Jeong Jin-cheol breaking out of the incubator.
[Pruning- geek- ugh-! [Gwaaagh-!!]
What came out of a mouth full of teeth was closer to the roar of an animal than a human voice.
Jeong Jin-cheol’s blood vessels stretched out like a network all over his body and were colored blue. Even the blood vessels in his eyes.
“haha.”
Seokwoo Lee was satisfied.
How could you not be satisfied with the best results you can get?
“I’m looking forward to the next 10 days.”
***
[The location ‘Yeom King’s territory’ recorded on page 337 has been recreated.]
[Yeom King’s territory has been sealed by a celestial being.]
The space became distorted and a world covered in fire appeared.
Chik –
Hot heat rose from the ground that touched the soles of my feet.
A fever swept through the air that would have dried the blood and bones of any ordinary person in an instant, but Daesung just remained calm.
The discomfort index only increased due to the scorching temperature.
“I never thought I would come to a place like this again.”
What was really difficult in the fight at that time was not King Yeom, but the extreme heat.
Daesung flopped down and took out a pack of cigarettes from his sweatpants pocket.
And as soon as I put one of them in my mouth.
[Quest has arrived.]
—–
Item Implementation Quest-1 (In Progress)
‘337p Flame Great Sword’
Difficulty: High
Contents: Exterminate Orchiel’s servants patrolling the Flame King’s land and collect the soul stones.
Time limit: 2 hours
Target: Soulstone 0 / 1000
Reward: Achievement points + 500pt
Materialization: Flame Greatsword + 50%
—–
The edge of the horizon, covered in a shimmering haze, shook.
Thump thump thump!
Soon, a dense group of Orkiel’s servants could be seen advancing, stepping on the land of fire.
< Orchiel's Seed >
Race: Beast
「These are soldiers tamed by Orkiel, the fifth apostle of Heaven.」
It looked like a werewolf with white fur wearing silver armor.
Daesung clicked the tip of his tongue as they flashed their molars as if they were about to pounce at any moment.
“You should give me time to smoke.”
This was a serious problem for Daesung, who was already addicted to nicotine.
Of course, there is no way they will kindly wait for smoking time.
But Daesung felt like he had to smoke this somehow to relieve his anger.
“Summon 33 command soldiers.”
He stretched out his hand and summoned the spirits from the soul cell.
All 33 animals.
Wow-!
The army of the dead rose up with black smoke and vomited their thoughts.
Daesung just twitched his fingers with a cigarette in his mouth.
As if that alone was enough for them to understand the command, the command soldiers ran vigorously across the land of fire.
bang-!
Krak-!
Yes,
the black dead and the white squires clashed, but of course the latter was overwhelming in both number and strength.
The command soldiers were unilaterally put on the defensive, but they had to fight hard since they received orders from the monarch.
Chik-!
Daesung caught the sparks fluttering on the ground, lit a cigarette, and enjoyed the smoking time he had longed for.
Phew –
I didn’t expect much from the command soldiers.
Just
“Hold on yourselves until this is all smoked.”