Max Talent Player

[You have scored an achievement.]

The reward for a level 39, beginner period Player hunting not just one Steel Wyvern, but exterminating an entire flock, was given in the form of a choice.

[You may choose the title ‘Wyvern Slayer’.]

[Wyvern Slayer]

A title given to a Player who hunted at least 30 wyverns in a normally near-impossible situation.

• +20% damage to all dragon subspecies

• ‘Fear’ effect on all dragon subspecies

• Can open the hidden field in the ‘Sky of Freedom’, ‘Wyvern Nest’.

When Hyukjin first came here, he guessed this place had a shore, or something like it. That “shore” was the Wyvern Nest. It was a hidden field that would very likely give him some kind of hidden reward.

He checked the other choice.

[You may choose the quest item ‘Trace of the Chungmugong’.]

Chungmugong, or Lord of Loyal Valor, is a title given posthumously to those who achieved great military merit for the country. This item carries the energy of a ‘war diary’, and it will presumably lead one to a trace of the Chungmugong.

• Upon fulfilling a special condition, triggers the quest ‘Trace of the Chungmugong’.

The item itself had little reward value, but it would lead to something else. The item was required in order to trigger the next quest.

Hyukjin thought for a moment.

‘What should I choose?’

The first was a title that would give him a type advantage over all dragon subspecies. Hyukjin had already strongly experienced the power of titles.

‘Waterdrakes are probably a dragon subspecies.’

If so, the title would be very potent in the Endless Sky. Moreover, he could activate a hidden field on the way up. The reward was plusses all around.

Senia asked, “Will you make a choice?”

“I need to, yeah.”

“Which reward will you choose?”

The Guardians must be curious.

“Since waterdrakes are a dragon subspecies, choosing Wyvern Slayer will help me quite a lot in the Endless Sky.”

“...”

Senia remained silent, as if to say she wouldn’t offer any hints or try to influence the Player.

“So I…” He would subvert the Guardians’ expectations. “...choose number 2.”

“Number 2 will not be of any help in clearing the current field.”

“I know that, too.”

He made his decision, so now he had to support it with a reasonable explanation that would satisfy the Guardians.

“I’m guessing the Endless Sky is a place with mana of significantly greater quantity and purity.”

Natalie nodded emphatically next to him. He also heard her mumbling to herself that there was a lot of delicious mana there.

“So Isabel will be far more powerful there than she is here.”

“If the Endless Sky is as Player Kim Hyukjin predicts, that is true.”

“Then even without the help of a title…” Hyukjin reached to take hold of Isabel’s arm, then gently tugged her forward. She obliged, coming to stand next to him with feigned helplessness. “As a Sword Pactee, I’ll certainly be able to face them. Since I have Isabel by my side.”

He turned to Isabel. “Right, Isabel?”

“...”

“Waterdrakes can’t do anything to a Sword Pactee. They’ll be stronger than me, of course, but they’re weaker than my bride.”

Once again, Hyukjin felt fortified by Isabel’s presence. She wasn’t answering, but she felt so very dependable.

Isabel finally responded.

“I hate playing the clown for those blasted Guardians, but I’ll help you. I don’t want my husband to die.”

Hyukjin snuck a glance at Senia. Her wings weren’t trembling, meaning she wasn’t alarmed. That confirmed his suspicion.

‘Just like how I’m sometimes prevented from hearing things, the Guardians can’t hear Isabel’s voice.’

It was like Hyukjin getting the ‘---’ treatment.

‘This is even better.’

The Guardians didn’t seem to know what Isabel was saying.

‘In other words, Isabel’s existence itself is special enough for the System to conceal what she’s saying.’

That just made her seem even more dependable. At first, he didn’t know what to make of this bride business, but now, he was exceedingly happy with that choice.

“I choose Trace of the Chungmugong.”

[Distributing the quest item ‘Trace of the Chungmugong’.]

An item appeared in his Inventory, and with that, his to-do list gained another line.

* * *

* * *

Natalie trembled. The fact that Hyukjin was in a Sword’s Pact with Isabel was shocking enough, but the more they talked, the more she wanted to look inside his head.

“But c’mon, are you really serious?” She continued animatedly like the young whalekin she was. “In my 250 years of life, I’ve never met anyone as crazy as you.”

“Natalie. You mustn’t be careless with what you say to the Sword Pactee.”

“But Dad! You’re shocked too, aren’t you?” She repeated Hyukjin’s suggestion, completely bewildered. “He wants to be swallowed by you. What’s he gonna do if he gets digested?”

“I’m not mana,” Hyukjin assured.

Whalekin subsisted off mana, and Kim Hyukjin wasn’t mana.

“But still! How are you even gonna get out?”

“I think I can come out through the blowhole when you spout clouds, just like you did earlier, Natalie.”

Of the various ways to reach the Endless Sky, Hyukjin decided to use the ‘hide in Naphthan’s belly’ method.

“There are still a few skybirds left, and the whalekin will need to devote every bit of their energy to swimming. You won’t have the leisure to pay attention to me. And Isabel’s asleep.”

Isabel said she was going back to sleep to reserve her strength, though she didn’t tell him exactly why.

“That’s why I thought this was the safest way.”

There was no safer place than Naphthan’s stomach. Naphthan nodded.

“Though it is a method I never considered… It is indeed the safest way. I’m surprised you came up with it.”

“What do you think? Will it work?”

“I believe so, yes, but since it’s never been done before, I am hard-pressed to give you a guarantee.”

It was probably possible. Hyukjin nodded.

“That’s enough. It’s far more dangerous for me to try getting up there while clinging to one of your backs anyway.”

He would have to protect himself from Steel Wyverns. He would be far safer in Naphthan’s stomach.

[The ‘Nameless Observer’ observes.]

[The ‘Courageous Lion King’ is bored.]

[The ‘True Master of the Heavenly Demonic Mountain’ ridicules your cowardly scheme.]

[The ‘Whispering Devil’ is amused.]

Hyukjin waited for a certain Guardian.

‘Come out, will you?’

And to his relief, the Guardian answered his wish.

[The ‘Barrier of Blue Light’ likes your defensive strategy.]

Now, he was sure. A protection-lover like the Barrier of Blue Light giving their stamp of approval meant this was a safe play.

Naphthan opened his mouth wide in his white whale form.

Whoooooosh–!

Clouds were sucked in, and with them, Hyukjin. He entered the body of Naphthan, the whalekin, and landed in a place he guessed was the stomach. Around him were finely squirming muscles. As expected of the whalekin’s massive size, Naphthan’s stomach was expansive enough to be called a field in its own right.

‘This is the inside of a whalekin’s stomach.’

When he first entered the Sky of Freedom, he never expected something like this. He imagined this was entertaining content for the Guardians as well.

‘Would’ve been fun if they counted this as a field and had something else happen here.’

Unfortunately, nothing like that happened. He heard a voice.

We will now start swimming.

The whalekin set off. They began to swim up through the sky towards their homeland, the Endless Sky.

* * *

Naphthan’s stomach was quite comfortable. Nothing particularly dangerous occurred, and the slight warmth and coziness even made him feel a bit sleepy.

Hyukjin calmly organized his thoughts.

‘Will I be able to meet the Demon King at the Endless Sky?’

He said he would be waiting at the Endless Sky, but would Hyukjin really be able to meet him there? Hyukjin also mused that it might be better to not meet the Demon King, if possible. After all, the Demon King was the scariest opponent Hyukjin currently had.

‘But also, I strangely want to meet him.’

Illogical as it was, a part of him was scared but didn’t want to run away. Because every time he met the Demon King, Hyukjin gained something or grew stronger. And technically, the Endless Sky was an arrangement of the Demon King.

‘What a fascinating feeling.’

He tried recalling the Demon King’s face.

‘As expected, I can’t remember it.’

Now that he had Cognitive Dissonance Dispel, it might be possible to see the Demon King’s face.

Quite a long time passed.

“Senia. How long has it been?”

“4 days and 22 hours.”

Hyukjin had sat here undisturbed for almost 5 days. All he could feel was that the whalekin were still swimming.

‘It does seem like Naphthan is tired.’

Maybe because he was inside the whalekin’s body, he could somewhat sense Naphthan’s condition. Naphthan no longer periodically spoke to him as he had in the beginning.

Haah– Haah–

Instead, Hyukjin heard only rough breathing. If the Steel Wyverns hadn’t been exterminated, this journey may have been impossible.

More time passed, and when Hyukjin had been in Naphthan’s stomach for 1 week, he heard the whalekin’s weak voice.

We have almost reached the Endless Sky.

Hyukjin got up and started moving towards the blowhole. He had already figured out its rough location.

“When we’ve reached the Endless Sky in earnest, and when you have fully secured your safety, release a spout. I’ll come out through the blowhole,” said Hyukjin.

Reaching the Endless Sky wasn’t the end. 500 years ago, when the whalekin left, there were ‘waterdrakes’ here. How had they changed in all this time?

Understood. I will do so.

And then, some time later—

I think it is safe. We see no waterdrakes.

But then, it was like the floodgates opened. Something came flooding in like a tsunami through the esophagus into the stomach, where Hyukjin was. It wasn’t visible to the eye, but Hyukjin’s Eye of Perception captured it in perfect clarity.

‘Shit.’

He knew what it was.

‘Mana.’

It was mana, but not just any mana. It was overly pure mana, and in excessive quantity. Just touching it was dangerous. It might be the perfect food for the whalekin, but not for Hyukjin.

He used Flash Step.

“Stop inhaling mana,” he called out. But the mana continued rushing in. From the looks of it, this wasn’t something Naphthan could control.

The Endless Sky.

This environment itself was too dangerous for Hyukjin. He ran.

‘If I go out…’

He would be exposed to even more mana than here. The current situation was more dangerous than a radioactive meltdown. If he hadn’t gone up in a whalekin’s stomach, his body would have disintegrated upon arrival, proving that he had indeed, by some lucky coincidence, landed upon the safest method.

‘To the whalekin, it’s heaven. To me, it’s hell.’

For Hyukjin, the Endless Sky was essentially a hellish ocean filled with hydrochloric acid instead of water. He fled with every ounce of his strength from the tidal wave of mana nipping at his back.

His back began to sting, the portent of a light burn. And he felt it. He would be consumed by this mana. Eye of Perception showed him the future, just as it had in the Tutorial Field.

He saw a future where he was swallowed by the mana and his body disintegrated.

‘No.’

He hadn’t clawed his way here to perish in vain. This place was a part of the Demon King’s arrangements. Would the Demon King have arranged and told him about this place so he could die here? No.

‘It’s not that I didn’t expect this.’

To be precise, he hadn’t expected this crisis specifically, but he had imagined the worst-case scenario.

‘There is a way.’

A way to survive this horrifying mana.