Chapter 101 – EPISODE 101 – KARAVAL (1)
Terms used in this chapter:
Jon-mot – Korean slang that is used when insulting someone as ‘very ugly.’ It’s actually an abbreviation of ‘존나 못생겼다’ which means ‘f*cking ugly’ or ‘you look so ugly.’ However, it could also mean as ‘you’re not good enough.’
Pavlov and cla.s.sical conditioning – a behavior theory by Ivan Pavlov which proposed that a condition stimulus makes an organism react to something because it is a.s.sociated with something else. A popular example is Pavlov’s experiment of a dog salivating when it hears the sound of a bell because it was ‘conditioned’ to be fed while a bell is ringing at the same time.
Outboxer009 met Yellow Storm again after Kang Jin-ho began actively playing Legend of Heroes 2 in earnest a month after that ‘incident.’
‘I finally found her.’
T/N: Outboxer009 actually has no idea of Yellow Storm’s real s.e.x, and the Korean words do not use a he or she p.r.o.noun when referring to Yellow Storm. However, since Yellow Storm’s character is Cordelia who is a female, I will be using female p.r.o.nouns for reading convenience.
In fact, he had been tracking her since the incident a month ago, so it was more like he finally faced her rather than found her.
Yellow Storm had not logged into Legend of Heroes 2 for nearly a week.
‘Is she a student? No, she must be a student.’
Moreover, she must be an elementary school student.
Perhaps she wasn’t able to log in because of the exam week.
Regardless, what was important was that Yellow Storm had logged in again and the fact that Outboxer009 was now stronger than Yellow Storm.
‘One month.’
Over the past month, Outboxer009 had invested all of his abilities into Legend of Heroes 2.
He crammed the game settings in his head, he bought the game’s virtual currency using real-life money, and except for his sleeping time, he immersed himself in Legend of Heroes 2 for 24 hours a day.
He himself honestly found it stupid and a huge waste of human resources, but he still did it.
He really wanted to do it.
‘How strange.’
When he thought about it with his hand on his chest, he was certainly a good person, but that didn’t mean he had a good personality.
He was the type to hold a grudge.
But it was little different this time.
He had never been so absorbed in something like this just because of one insult he heard that was said in pa.s.sing.
‘Amazing.’
Yellow Storm.
You should be proud of it.
There had been only three people in the last decade who had made me so immersed just for a particular day.
Outboxer thought in his mind that his former colleagues would have frowned and clicked their tongues if they heard what he was doing, but he pushed that aside and looked ahead of him again.
He smiled at the situation he expected.
“Aaah!”
Yellow Storm fell from the onslaught of the unique monster which Outboxer009 had lured.
[Help! Help!]
Outboxer009 smiled as he saw the Help message pop up before he moved forward.
Using scrolls and poisoned daggers that he prepared in advance, he defeated the boss monster that Yellow Storm had fought halfway before he turned around in a cool manner.
And he met eyes with Yellow Storm.
In the game, Yellow Storm had died and became a corpse, but it was clear that she was looking at him judging from the fact that a help window popped out.
‘She doesn’t recognize me.’
It was a bit disappointing but that didn’t matter. Outboxer009 took out the Resurrection Feather as if to resurrect her.
He then said to Yellow Storm as he put back the feathers in his inventory to make her feel frustrated.
“You’re bad at games.”
Tuk-
It was the sound of something breaking.
Of course, he didn’t actually hear it. But Outboxer009 could tell.
The various messages that immediately popped up from Yellow Storm’s corpse proved it.
[The use of abusive language is subject to sanctions.]
[The use of abusive language is subject to sanctions.]
[The use of abusive language is subject to sanctions.]
“See you next time, jon-mot.”
Why does it feel so good doing this?
Outboxer009 laughed out loud and turned around. Several messages popped up from behind Outboxer’s back.
[The use of abusive language is subject to sanctions.]
[The use of abusive language is subject to sanctions.]
[The use of abusive language is subject to sanctions.]
[Hey, you eeevil baastard!]
“Yes, sure. You’re f*cking bad at games.”
Outboxer009 waved his hand and left without looking back, and Yellow Storm struggled as she continued to yell over and over again.
She was absolutely not beautiful, and truly had a nasty mouth.
But it was the first meeting of the two that Yellow Storm remembered.
***
And at the present.
As he breathed in the fresh morning air, Jude looked down at the asleep Cordelia.
The morning sun had risen and almost everyone around them had woken up and was preparing to leave. Despite all of that, she alone was still traveling in the world of dreams.
As Cordelia talked in her sleep and babbled like a baby, Jude quietly watched Cordelia before he faintly smiled and drew his face closer.
He slightly shook her shoulder and gently said.
“My princess, you should get up soon.”
Cordelia responded to his gentle voice.
It had already been more than two months since she traveled with Jude.
She had heard Jude’s voice every morning to the point that it was like Pavlov and the dog drooling at the sound of the bell, so when she heard the sound of him calling her ‘my princess,’ she naturally called him ‘Daddy.’
“Mmnnn… Daddy… I don’t want to… I’m going to sleep more… Cordelia want to sleep more…”
Cordelia was usually bad in waking up early so she didn’t open her eyes and just murmured.
Jude shook Cordelia’s shoulder again and said.
“Don’t say that, my princess should get up now, okay? It’s morning, morning.”
“Unnnnn…”
Cordelia grunted again and instead of covering herself with a blanket, she feebly moved her arms forward and continued to talk while still half-asleep in dreamland.
“Unnnn… Daddy, please… Carry me on your back so I could sleep more… Cordelia will become a kangaroo…”
That was it.
If it was the usual, Jude would have pampered and let Cordelia continue sleeping on his back so she could have more time to sleep, but it was different this time.
She instantly became sober and opened her eyes.
‘A gaze?!’
A sharp and stabbing gaze that came flying from behind her.
Cordelia’s instincts crazily rang like a bell, and due to that, Cordelia finally came to her senses and saw.
“My… Prin-cess? Da~ddy? Kangaroo?”
There was a blonde beauty whose arms were on her hips as she coldly stared at Cordelia.
Cordelia herself loved that person dearly, but at the same time, that person was her older sister.
Not as her mother but as her older sister.
“Eets nott!”
With an odd scream, Cordelia jumped up from her spot and Adelia’s eyebrows twitched as she returned what Cordelia had done to her yesterday.
“Hehehe, hehehe.”
So that’s what you normally call each other.
You completely call him daddy.
You are very used to being called a princess.
You seem to be carried often enough on his back that you even ask him that while sleeping, huh?
“Hehehe, hehehe.”
Cordelia struggled at Adelia’s lukewarm gaze and eventually covered her face with both hands.
“N-no. I mean… That…”
The sight of a beautiful girl, who was red down to her neck and crouching on the bed as she was at a loss on what to do, caught everyone’s attention as they stopped what they were doing and looked at Cordelia.
And Cordelia’s unrivalled cuteness naturally intensified.
“Hmm.”
And one more person.
Like everyone around him, Gaël was getting ready to leave but he looked towards the two sisters and warmly said without hiding his feelings.
“Cute.”
“Adorable.”
Jude agreed with a happy smile, and the brothers simultaneously opened their mouths again.
“Lady Adelia.”
“Cordelia.”
The brothers looked at each other.
Jude spoke first.
“No, brother. In that scene right now…that, Lady Adelia’s cute point is…”
He was so embarra.s.sed that he unconsciously spoke in detail.
And Gaël calmly replied as if proving that he was ten years older than the other.
“Don’t you think she’s cute when she teases her younger sister? I’ve been thinking about it for a long time, but Lady Adelia really resembles Count Chase.”
“You’re right.”
Jude had no choice but to agree without saying anything this time.
“Anyway, isn’t it about time for you to help her?”
“You’re right.”
Jude grinned and quickly approached Cordelia who was struggling and searching a solution by herself instead of actively sending a help message.
And half an hour later.
Standing in the middle of the ranks of the Great Storm tribe as they moved towards Gentle Snow Breeze’s basin, Jude glanced at his side.
To avoid standing out in the gathering of the various tribes, Cordelia wore the traditional clothes of the Great Storm tribe as she walked while sulking.
‘How mysterious.’
Her rabbit ears were drooping as if to reflect her emotions. Of course, her rabbit tail too.
“Hey, Cordelia.”
“Why.”
At her curt reply, Jude drew his face closer and whispered.
“Do your legs hurt? Should I carry on my back?”
Cordelia would normally have said okay at his piggyback offer, but it was different this time. She frowned and said as she slapped Jude’s upper arm.
“Go away, you demon.”
Wouldn’t everyone look at her if she got carried on his back?
Especially Adelia.
“Hey, aren’t you doing this on purpose?”
“Huh? What?”
“Stop pretending to be ignorant. You deliberately called me princess when you woke me up earlier, right?”
Because Jude was the only one in the world who knew best on how she would react.
Wasn’t he intentionally making her feel troubled?
“Heeey, what kind of person do you see me as?”
“A scammer and an evil b*stard? A beast? A thief?”
“No, even if I was like that in the past, haven’t you been increasingly saying whatever you want as time goes on?”
“But you admitted that you were like that in the past.”
“Hey, Lady Cordelia?”
“I don’t know. Anyway, I was troubled because of you.”
“Umm… I’m sorry about that. Would you like a piggyback ride as an apology?”
“No, you demon. Stop tempting a good lamb into your evil ways.”
She could feel Adelia’s sharp gaze on her back even until now.
If Adelia just took one more step forward, Cordelia would be able to hear her saying ‘hehehe, hehehe’ at that moment.
“Well…it can’t be helped then.”
Jude shrugged and Cordelia said as her shoulders fell.
“Ugeueu… it was comfortable when it was just the two of us.”
About a third of their traveling time had Cordelia being carried on Jude’s back or comfortably seated on a sled pulled by Jude.
“You’re right, I liked it when it was just the two of us.”
The naïve Cordelia nodded at Jude’s words.
And a little ahead of those two, Red Wind was riding a big wagon as she hugged Violent Avalanche and said.
“Violent Avalanche.”
“Yes, Red Wind.”
“Can I do well?”
With the help of Jude and Cordelia, she was able to become friends with the Phoenix, a powerful ancient spirit.
Of course, the reborn Phoenix was just like a baby, so it was not yet able to use its power like in its prime, but a Phoenix was still a Phoenix.
Compared to Red Wind’s normal strength, she had become three times – no, at least five times stronger than before.
‘Unnie taught me a lot of things.’
Cordelia was vastly knowledgeable about spirits despite being a wizard.
She gave detailed instructions on how Red Wind should fight and how to fight together with the Phoenix while fully understanding each other’s thoughts and intentions, which was unexpectedly perfect for her.
‘Oppa helped me a lot too.’
She wondered where he learned it, but Jude almost perfectly reproduced the combat method of Sun Song, her opponent in Karaval.
Red Wind had obviously not directly met Sun Song, so it was unclear whether the combat method Jude demonstrated was exactly the same as Sun Song’s combat method, but Red Wind trusted Jude.
Since Jude said it was true, it must be true.
‘His big brother also helped.’
It was only one day, but Gaël also helped her.
Jude was smaller than Sun Song, so even if he fully reproduced Sun Song’s combat method, there would inevitably be some missing parts, but Gaël made up for that lacking parts.
‘They’re really amazing.’
How could they easily imitate other people’s combat method like that?
Gaël reproduced Sun Song’s combat method almost as perfectly as Jude, and Red Wind was able to acquire a more realistic sense of battle.
And now.
Red Wind felt anxious.
It was unavoidable.
The fate of the wild land was literally at stake in this Karaval.
Red Wind was a young girl.
Her experience was lacking enough to the point that the only thing she had been responsible so far was caring for the horses they raised at home.
For her, Karaval was too big of a burden.
No matter how hard she trained, she felt like her whole body was overwhelmed by fear every time she opened her eyes in the morning.
‘What if I don’t win?’
If she lost.
Then the Blade Song tribe would become the head of the Eastern Alliance.
Obviously, the Great Storm tribe would not suddenly be annihilated if the Blade Song tribe became the leader of the alliance.
It was a gathering of the east to liberate the west that was occupied by the demon followers.
Whether she won or lost, the Great Storm tribe and Blade Song tribe were allies, not enemies.
But even so.
“Red Wind.”
“Yes, Violent Avalanche.”
“Don’t worry. It’s going to be fine.”
“Really…?”
“Yes, trust me. And them too.”
“Unnie and oppa?”
“Yes, didn’t they train you? I hate to admit it, but they are incredible people. I understand why the Golden Dragon King recognized those two as guardians even though they were not from the wild lands.”
If Jude and Cordelia had not come, Violent Avalanche itself would have been corrupted with its sanctuary and became a monster.
Gentle Snow Breeze would have also become a crazy monster, and the Raptor Canyon would have become the land of demons.
Blue Whisker’s sacred place would have been taken away by the demon followers too.
The two had stopped all of that.
Therefore, Violent Avalanche couldn’t help but admit the two’s contributions.
“Even if you don’t believe in yourself…you can trust those two, right?”
“Yes, I trust them.”
Because the two had saved her from the auction house themselves.
“It’s a temporary measure. After all, you have to believe in yourself. But if you find it hard right now…trust those two then. And don’t you know those two well either? If your skills weren’t enough, they would have somehow pestered you excessively even now.”
“That’s true.”
The two were really strict when she was training.
A girlish smile spread over Red Wind’s face while Violent Avalanche happily smiled and spoke.
“It’s your first time going to Gentle Snow Breeze’s land, right?”
“Yes, it’s my first time.”
“Then you’ll see something wonderful. There’s a wide field in front of the basin. The waves of the green fields as it sway and follow the wind are truly spectacular.”
“Uwaa, really?”
“For real.”
A fresh green field that is not covered by snow.
It was not far now.
She would see it soon.
However.
“What is this?”
Why can’t I see it?
Why are there widespread signs of a fire everywhere? Where did the field go? Why do I keep thinking of my collapsed rocky mountain?
What happened?
What ha-
“No way.”
Violent Avalanche’s head turned. Red Wind also looked at the same place as the wild G.o.d.
And a flinch.
Cordelia instinctively felt the gazes of the two and flinched.
It was impossible for her, but she still tried to avoid Violent Avalanche and Red Wind’s gazes.
[Can you come here for a minute?]
She heard Violent Avalanche’s voice in her head, and Cordelia pulled Jude’s arm.
“Tsk, it can’t be helped.”
Jude took the lead as if hiding Cordelia as he faced Violent Avalanche, but the wild G.o.d stared at Cordelia instead of Jude.
The wild G.o.d sent a glance to Cordelia, who was kinder, more honest, and more innocent than Jude, as it asked for an explanation.
“Uh…that is…”
“That is.”
“That is, the field…”
“The field?”
“Th-that, there was, there was not.”
What is she talking about?
Instead of continuing to speak more, she pulled Jude’s arm hard, and Jude gave his own explanation again.
***
“They are the G.o.ds of destruction, the G.o.ds of destruction.”
When Violent Avalanche heartfully said that, the ranks of the Great Storm tribe completely stopped moving.
Because they have reached the entrance to Gentle Snow Breeze’s basin.
“We welcome the Great Storm tribe!”
People gathered from all over the place as Fine Snow and Clear Snow, the great shamans of the Gentle Snow Breeze tribe, shouted together.
Most of them were from the Gentle Snow Breeze tribe who gathered to welcome them, but some of them were the heads of other tribes who came from far away for this Karaval.
“Violent Avalanche, my older brother.”
“Gentle Snow Breeze, it’s been a while.”
Violent Avalanche jumped off the wagon and ran towards Gentle Snow Breeze on all fours, and Gentle Snow Breeze tightly hugged the bear cub in her arms.
“You’ve become so cute.”
“It somehow happened.”
“But you’re still my older brother. I feel rea.s.sured with you here. Thank you for coming.”
Gentle Snow Breeze smiled before releasing Violent Avalanche from her arms. She then faced Red Gale, the chieftain of the Great Storm tribe.
“Red Gale greets Gentle Snow Breeze.”
“Nice to meet you, Red Wind and the Great Storm tribe. I welcome your visit here.”
The friendly att.i.tude of Gentle Snow Breeze deeply moved not only Red Gale but also the entire Great Storm tribe.
Though in the form of a little girl, she was clearly a wild G.o.d, someone who transcended humans and a target of worship for those living in the wild lands.
“Then, let’s get inside first. Take a rest from the fatigue of your journey.”
It was the moment when Gentle Snow Breeze said that.
Violent Avalanche suddenly turned around, and so did Cordelia, whose senses were the best amongst all the people here.
They hadn’t seen it yet.
They didn’t hear a sound.
But after a while.
They heard footsteps.
The vibrations from a distance shook the ground, and the sound of a big horn came with the wind.
“The Blade Song.”
A tribe of belligerent warriors who repeatedly fought against the Northern Jackdaws.
And the person who lead them.
It was no exaggeration to say that he, the chieftain of the Blade Song tribe, was the strongest warrior in the east at a time when Red Gale was sick.
“Nine Blades.”
And his son, Sun Song, a partic.i.p.ant of the Karaval.
They advanced forward with several large and colorful flags. As they loudly sang and played drums, they approached the entrance of the basin.
One day left until the beginning of the Karaval.