From Today, I'm a Player

Chapter 61: Land of Ice.

“Ow…”

A handsome boy, about the age of a middle schooler, was rubbing the back of his head. Park Jae-Hyun stood there, glaring at Lee Jun-Kyeong while nursing his injury.

The smith snapped, “Wait, did you really hit me?”

The perpetrator smirked. “All I did was claim my reward.”

“That’s what I’m saying! What kind of reward is this?” Park Jae-Hyun shrieked.

“Didn’t you tell me to tell you whatever reward I wanted?”

Lee Jun-Kyeong didn’t lose any ground. Park Jae-Hyun glared at him even harder with his eyes blazing.

He complained, “Still! Who in their right mind claims their reward in advance?”

“Don’t you take down payments?” Lee Jun-Kyeong refuted.

“How is this the same as a down payment… AHHHH!” Park Jae-Hyun shouted. Finally unable to hold it in, he picked up his hammer.

“Just because I keep letting things slide, you—!!!”

He was so aggrieved from being hit in the back of the head that he even started to shed tears.

“Are you seriously acting like this just because I tapped you on the back of your head a little?” Lee Jun-Kyeong asked mockingly.

In all honesty, it wasn’t just an ordinary slap on the back of the head.

[Mana Stream has leveled up.]

Lee Jun-Kyeong had been trying to acclimate to his mana stream and grow to the level of using it anytime and anywhere. He had used it when he had slapped Park Jae-Hyun on the back of the head, and succeeded in only causing a lot of pain without leaving any aftereffects.

‘I was originally only going to hit him once…’

However, since it was a down payment, he decided that he would have to get a balance as well.

“Hey! You bastard! Just see what happens if you can’t find Yu-Jin!” Park Jae-Hyun yelled, threatening him.

Lee Jun-Kyeong smiled slyly in return. “But I’ve already found her.”

“W… what…?” sputtered the smith.

Seeing Park Jae-Hyun’s bewildered expression made Lee Jun-Kyeong’s stuffy feeling disappear. He had thought about messing with the smith a little more, but had decided against it when he saw the sincere and mature expression on the blacksmith’s face.

‘To think this little brat could make an expression like that.’

He remarked, “Didn’t you ask me to find her? I found her, Park Yu-Jin, Park Jae-Hyun’s younger sister.”

“So then… are you… right now… Are you messing with me?!” the smith shrieked.

In the end, Park Jae-Hyun couldn’t hold it in anymore and ran at Lee Jun-Kyeong, hammer in hand. Of course, Lee Jun-Kyeong simply avoided the charging smith and hit him on the back of the head again.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!”

[Mana Stream has leveled up.]

Of course, he didn’t forget to use his mana stream.

[Your understanding of mana infusion has increased.]

Moreover, he had attempted to use the method that Park Jae-Hyun had used earlier while he was smelting the iron with his hammer to make a weapon. Park Jae-Hyun was now crouched on the ground while rubbing the back of his head.

Lee Jun-Kyeong smirked. “I’ve received the payment.”

The smith wailed, “You… you bastard!”

“Ms. Park is in England."

Park Jae-Hyun, who was about to rush over again, suddenly froze.

Lee Jun-Kyeong continued, “She was in Alchemy Street, a street where various alchemists hide themselves.”

“W… what…”

“She seemed to worry about you quite a bit, Mr. Park.”

The smith’s expression shifted dozens of times while Lee Jun-Kyeong explained. He clearly wasn’t sure if he should or shouldn’t believe it. He wasn’t sure if he should be happy or worried.

“Ms. Park seems to be doing well for now."

"Are… you being serious?” Park Jae-Hyun asked in disbelief.

Lee Jun-Kyeong slapped his own chest. “Of course. You can trust it as the words of the Underdog, the man who beat Heracles.”

The smith didn’t react at all to Lee Jun-Kyeong’s playful teasing.

“England…”

All he could think about was the fact that Park Yu-Jin was in England. Eventually, as if he had made up his mind, Park Jae-Hyun asked a question, "Is the flight to England expensive?”

***

Lee Jun-Kyeong had thought it would be problematic if the blacksmith went to England. England was not only the territory of Olympus, but it also had the Round Table. If Park Jae-Hyun ended up going to England, then there was a chance that he would end up involved in some complicated situations.

Lee Jun-Kyeong had to convince him to stay.

“I have a hunch that she will return to Korea.?And, even if she refuses to come back, it’s not like you can interfere. You aren’t even on speaking terms, right? Shouldn’t someone stay behind here just in case?”

Park Jae-Hyun eventually agreed to stay after copious amounts of cursing. Only then was the smith able to pay attention to the changes in Muspel’s Spear.

“Just leave Muspel’s Spear with me. I’m not too sure about what kind of changes it has undergone…”

He then pointed at the sky and continually gestured.

‘It says that it’s not a bad thing.”

[<The Sky of the Apocalypse> frowns slightly and agrees with the statement.]

Park Jae-Hyun was referring to the words of his Sponsor, the God of Blacksmiths. Although it was risky to take a Sponsor’s remarks at face value, because of the reaction of his own Sponsor, <The Sky of the Apocalypse>, Lee Jun-Kyeong had returned home.

Of course, he didn’t return without another task.

“By the way, you know that red ore that you plastered on the Spear? Bring me some if you can get your hands on it again.”

“It’ll be dangerous.”

“Just be really nice about it.”

Lee Jun-Kyeong thought it’d be great if she came back soon. In fact, he was anticipating Park Yu-Jin’s return almost as much as Park Jae-Hyun. She was a blacksmith who was almost as talented as Park Jae-Hyun. Although her smithing skills were slightly lacking comparatively, her true talents lay elsewhere.

‘She’s skilled in all aspects of forging armor.’

She even had an understanding of battle.

If one considered Park Jae-Hyun as someone who was all-in on forging, then she was someone who could be regarded as an all-rounder. So when the two of them got together, they had more synergy than anyone else.

‘Between the two of them, a true armor will be born. I need a shield as well.’

During the continual raids, Lee Jun-Kyeong was constantly made aware of the importance of a proper shield. Although Muspel’s Spear was an incredible weapon, his other equipment was unsightly by comparison.

He couldn’t wait for her to come as he was raring to use a shield as a weapon. Still, regardless of the outcome, he assumed that the issue regarding his weapon would be handled soon.

“Is it the body next?” he mumbled.

He was referring to the black beads; he had to deal with them. However, his body was full of mana and the black beads were too peculiar, so he couldn’t go to a regular hospital. As for Asgard, he intended to hide as much information about himself as possible.

‘I can’t accept any aid from Asgard.’

“Hmm…”

As far as diagnosis and treatment were concerned, Lee Jun-Kyeong was utterly uneducated. Even with his wide range of knowledge, the actual medical portion required professional skills or ability. This meant that he would have to get help from someone.

Still, there was one other method. There was a possibility that the illness could also be solved if he was able to master mana stream. However, it wasn’t something he would be able to worry about currently.

He considered for a moment about getting help from Seong-Gu, but he soon shook his head. Even if he got help from Seong-Gu Hyung, it would at most amount to that woman in Asgard.

In the end, it meant that he had no other choice but to deal with it alone. Since it concerned medicine, there were only a few places he had in mind.

‘Would it be China, Europe, or Egypt?’

He already coincidentally had ties with both Europe and Egypt. Unfortunately, his ties with Europe were negative, and he wasn’t sure whether Egypt regarded him positively. All that was left was…

China.

"Whew..."

Lee Jun-Kyeong let out a sigh and began to walk.

***

“No,” Yeo Seong-Gu said in a determined manner. Furthermore, he didn’t just stop there. “To think you’d want to visit China. Even Europe would be better. Athena still has one more favor that she has to grant with the agreement we had made…”

Lee Jun-Kyeong retorted, “Do you really think that Asgard would stand by and just watch as you use that request for me? I told you: I don’t want Asgard to know.”

In the end, Lee Jun-Kyeong had been left with no choice but to ask Yeo Seong-Gu for help. Of course, it wasn’t for help with diagnosis or treatment. Instead, it was for him to build a bridge so that he could travel to China. He thought that it would be possible for Yeo Seong-Gu, who had the power of Bifrost.

“China is still off the table.”

As he had expected, Yeo Seong-Gu was just as adamant as before.

“Do you not know what sort of situation China is in right now?” Yeo Seong-Gu asked, his expression betraying his bewilderment. He had convinced himself that Lee Jun-Kyeong was only stating his desire to travel to China because he wasn’t aware of the current situation the country was in.

"I know,” Lee Jun-Kyeong responded.

The bald man frowned. “You know, and you still want to go to China?”

Lee Jun-Kyeong shrugged helplessly. “There’s nothing else I can do.”

Europe was off the table because of Olympus, and the Nile was in shambles.

“They also say that the two Hunters, Inebu and Numek, are under immense pressure right now,” Lee Jun-Kyeong noted.

Even though Inebu had been given Osiris’ Eyes, he had overstepped his place for someone who had barely been one of the commanders. Just having the item wasn’t enough for him to decide to participate in the Round Table Council without permission, and he had even gone as far as to refuse to return when ordered.

‘To think he would refuse while holding Osiris’ Eyes, an Item of the Gods.’

That was a crime where even being executed wouldn’t have been enough of a punishment for a secret organization. It was a situation that could have easily been misunderstood as an act of betrayal.

“It’ll quiet down soon enough,” responded Yeo Seong-Gu.

Fortunately enough, Numek and Inebu were under immense pressure and anger, but it seemed unlikely that they would lose their lives. Inebu’s backing was more reliable than Lee Jun-Kyeong had anticipated. He had considered going to the Nile, but it was too difficult to guarantee his safety.

‘I can’t go considering the position the two who invited me are in.’

Like Asgard, Nile was another den of demons. It was a secret organization with a profound background and had countless enormous powers lurking about. But, more importantly, he didn’t have much information about them either.

Lee Jun-Kyeong had decided to take a safe path using the information he had on the future in combination with the information from the book of the demon king. He was sure it would be much more dangerous than he was anticipating if he had chosen the route he had no knowledge of. In the original history, the Nile had been mostly quiet, like the Round Table.

‘When was that, again…?’

But, history most likely wouldn’t have been able to remember everything about them.

Yeo Seong-Gu asked, “So, you’re insisting on going to China?”

Lee Jun-Kyeong nodded. “For now, at least.”

If things didn’t work out there, then there was a chance he would have to look for another reliable Healer.

"Then you should already know that it's changed a lot,” warned Yeo Seong-Gu.

It could be said that the whole planet had suffered from the advent of the Gates and Hunters. Still, among the various countries, there were some that had received more benefits than disadvantages, and some that had undergone hell. The country that was thought to have benefited the most was South Korea.

‘Our country.’

Although the advent of the Gates had killed a significant number of people and caused immense confusion, in Korea, many strong Hunters had been born. They had enough strength to create a secret organization strong enough to stand on the world stage, ‘Asgard.’ Korea’s original strength as a country was not bad, but it had transformed into a Hunter-Powerful country, strong enough to compete for the top spot in the world. On the other hand, the country most affected by the gates was China, the place he had chosen to go.

“China,” Yeo Seong-Gu continued. “...is a kingdom.”

China had initially been a communist country, but it had shifted due to the advent of the gate. It had become a kingdom, and at this point, it had turned into a kingdom of monsters.

The bald man cautioned, "You’re about to enter a Kingdom of Monsters. It’s a place where we haven’t even been able to tally the damages yet, and the Hunters on the front line don’t even survive one day before they die.”

Because it was a Kingdom of Monsters, Korea also was under tremendous pressure. North Korea had long been destroyed in a flood of monsters, and that flood had flowed into South Korea. Of course, South Korea had used powerful Hunters to defeat them.

“You’re only thinking like this because you haven’t seen the endless tide of monsters. No matter how strong a Hunter is, there isn’t anything you can do in front of an attack of that size.”

There were as many monsters as China had people, which had initially boasted the world’s most significant population. Hence, there was too great of a risk for the secret organizations that hadn’t yet revealed all their power to make a move.

Most importantly, there was one more thing.

“There…” Yeo Seong-Gu said, swallowing his saliva. “Things could be even worse than you imagine.”

There was something else that was hidden. Out of all the gates that had appeared in China, in the end, there were some that couldn’t be cleared, even until the end. Eventually, they burst, causing an outpour of monsters to rampage forth. As a result, both Hunters and regular people died, creating a vicious cycle of gate breaks and monster attacks, further worsening the situation until things couldn’t be handled. Eventually, tens of thousands of gate breaks had occurred, forming the Kingdom of Monsters.

China no longer existed.

“Hyung,” Lee Jun-Kyeong called out in a calm voice. “Did you think about what I had told you?”

Yeo Seong-Gu frowned. “The great change you talked about? Something about a cataclysm…”

It was the cataclysm. Lee Jun-Kyeong had explained about the huge changes and the cataclysm to Yeo Seong-Gu. But, of course, he hadn’t explained all the details. He had just implied that there was going to be a great change, and that the World and Korea would suffer the same damages again as when the gates had first occurred.

Now, the time had arrived for him to tell his hyung the details. No matter what he thought about it, Lee Jun-Kyeong knew that China was somewhere he had to go. So while he had to go because of his need to find a healer, he had been planning to go there anyway eventually.

"China is the center of the cataclysm."