The World after the Fall

h.e.l.lo Im new. If I accidently translated some terms differently than the previous translator, please help me out in the comments section.

A sharp aura overwhelmed his whole body.  For the first time, Jae Hwan felt his life in danger.

‘Strong!’

And Chung Heo’s sword moved. Fast and smooth, with great strength behind it. An enormous energy that could sweep away the whole drill hall was being radiated from it. And soon, with the sound of swords clas.h.i.+ng, came a giant shockwave that caused the warriors to flee in terror and the whole palace to quake and tremor.

Jae Hwan was pushed back seven steps, and the arm that clashed swords with Chung Heo was slightly numb. On the other hand, Chung Heo had stumbled three steps backwards, and was standing in the middle of the drill hall.

“Hahahahahah!”

He looked overjoyed.

“See! Didn’t I tell you it was impossible!”

“.....”

“For a youngster you are quite skilled. I was worried that I might kill you.”

Although Chung Heo looked surprised that Jae Hwan was not injured in some way, the one who was truly astonished was Jae Hwan. He had to accept that this old man was strong.

What Jae Hwan had just used was ‘normal thrust’. But despite it he had been pushed back this far. He asked,

“What"s the name of that technique? It was quite strong.”

“It’s special slash.”

Chung Heo smugly put his hands on his waist and emphasized on the word ‘special’. He had the att.i.tude of someone who was a.s.sured of his victory.

“Your skill also seemed somewhat useful. What’s the name?”

“Normal thrust.”

Chung Heo’s eyes twitched.

“Normal huh. Such an arrogant name! That kind of name makes one think that you have something stronger up your sleeves!”

“I do.”

Chung Heo chuckled as if he had not heard.

“I will specially rename you youngster"s skill. From now on, that technique is ‘special thrust’. So fro-”

“I said I do.”

Chung Heo squinted his eyes.

“Hmm? What are you keep prattling about? Do what?”

“I do have a stronger technique.”

Jae Hwan fixed his grip on the sword. It was something he had never used in ‘Chaos’ yet, and the sudden stillness caused s.h.i.+vers down Chung Heo’s back. Something was off. It was not on the level of a wind pressure that could generally be felt from a strong warrior.

“What in the…”

One sees what one knows.
And Chung Heo knew this power.

The Ten Arks of Chaos?
No.
The Four Castle Lord of Chaos?
No. 
Then what,

‘Deceased!’ 

Yes. It was similar to the power of a deceased. However that was nothing strange. A deceased and an awakened were both outside of this world’s roots, and so the power they use must have similar properties.

The problem was not the type of power. It was the intensity of it.

Chung Heo was reminded of a time long ago. An expedition into the

Chaos’s sole ruler.
The calamity that puts ruin to all.

Of course the young man if front of him could not be compared to something like the King of Chaos. But even so, Chung Heo was recalled of the fear he felt from the King when he saw Jae Hwan.

Is it truly possible to cut that?

His body trembled.
How would a human be capable of cutting that?
He opened his mouth, unable to overcome the terror.

“S, stop!! Wait!”

He could see the aftermath of this dreadful strike clearly in his head. A pandemonium of death, and the shadow of a king, standing at the center.

“Wait a minute!”

If that strike materialized, there would not be a palace by tomorrow. Not only the palace, but half the fort. It might not even stop at that….

“You must not use that!”

Jae Hwan did not take his hand off the hilt. Chung Heo clung to him desperately.

“I, I lost you d.a.m.n psycho!”

Jae Hwan relaxed his arms only after those words. Chung Heo panted in relief.

“Haa, haa, just what kind of insane….”

He just couldn"t understand. He wanted to believe that what he just saw was a mistake.  A guy who had only been using thrust for 30 years. Utilizing such power? Chung Heo could not believe it.

.

.

Few minutes later.
Jae Hwan opened his mouth when Chung Hwa seemed to have calmed down a bit.

“Old man. I won. Do you admit it?”

“No I don"t.”

“Why?”

“You tricked me.”

Trick? Jae Hwan stared at him.

“You told me you have lived for 50 years.”

“Yeah. I lived for 50 years.”

“And that you have been using thrust for 30 years.”

“Yeah.”

Chung Heo glared at Jae Hwan and shouted,

“Stop bulls.h.i.+ting me!! You must have lived for at least 2 thousand years!”

“You should know fully well that I didn"t.”

Chung Heo grinded his teeth. It was true. There was no way he wouldn"t know a person who lived for over 2 millennium this powerful. Chung Heo mumbled,

“How many times did he even use thrust in that 30 years. Just what nonsense….”

Jae Hwan promptly answered as if he knew what the question was going to be.

“About 10 billion.”

“Bulls.h.i.+t!”

It was mathematically impossible. Even if he had used thrust for 30 years without sleep every second, it wouldn"t add up to 1 billion. But 10 billion?

“Just how did you achieve 10 billion in 30 years?”

“I worked hard.”

“f.u.c.k! Nonsense!”

Chung Heo started to calculate in his head.

‘2…. 2…..?’

It"s been awhile since he used his brain. It wasn"t going well. Eventually he had to call over a warrior standing nearby with his mouth open to make him calculate for him.

“I, I finished!”

“So?”

“In order to thrust 10 billion times in 30 years one has to thrust 11 times in 1 second 24/7!”

The warrior reported with a face that was asking why he had to do this. Chung Heo retorted,

“So it"s impossible even with 10 thrusts per 1 second?”

“Yes, it"s impossible.”

“Do you think it is possible for a human to live 30 years thrusting 11 times every second without even a moment of rest?”

“It"s impossible. Not only would he go mad but it"s physically impossible.”

Chung Heo looked at Jae Hwan smugly.

“See? It"s not possible!”

Eventually Jae Hwan opened his mouth,

“Old man.”

“What!”

“You can slash 10 times in a second.”

“Of course I can!”
“Then you can also do 10 billion.”

“That"s not the problem!”

“If you try you can.”

“No!”

Seeing the two bickering, the warrior wondered who was more annoyingly obstinate.

“Old man, I can thrust not 10, but 100 times a second.”

“As I said that’s not the prob-”

“Even thousand.” 

“...what nonsense are you suddenly spouting? How can someone thrust a thousand time in a single second?”

“Why do you think that you can only thrust with a sword?”

As soon as he heard that, something clicked in Chung Heo’s head, which turned to sudden disbelief.

“Wait, you mean….”

Ever since he had first met Jae Hwan, he had felt a strange aura emanating from him. Something like tiny needles being emitted in every direction, like a porcupine. Chung Heo mistakenly had a.s.sumed that it had something to do with his nature, or skill. But when he closely observed that ‘aura’, it turned out to be a collection of densely packed, elaborately created, miniature needles. 
Chung Heo approached it and mindlessly touched it like a person possessed. 

Blood flowed out.

Chung Heo finally understood. 
That it was neither a form of a fighting spirit, nor an aura.
It was a real ‘thrust’.

Evolved from an ‘idea of a thrust’ itself, into a physical materialization of a thrust. A man - through countless ‘thrusts’ - who became the ‘thrust’ itself.

“What…. You youngster…”

This world’s hideous antagonist. 
The man’s 10 billion thrusts were the fruition of his abhorrence for this world. Even now, he had been thrusting at the world, countlessly, again and again, in despis.e.m.e.nt.

Jae Hwan spoke,

“I told you. 10 billion.”

A sudden vertigo swept over Chung Heo and he collapsed on the floor. He couldn"t believe it. How can someone like this possible be sane…?

‘Wait… if I think about it, this guy…’

But Chung Heo lost consciousness, on the verge of figuring something out.

Chung Heo woke up a moment later.

‘Not even a hint of respect for his elders.’

The eyes that was. .h.i.t by the sheath was painful. But Chung Heo still persisted.

“I didn"t loose. The duel doesn"t end until one of us dies.”

“.....”

Jae Hwan silently stared at Chung Heo. He was an old man who had been using slash for 1000 years. He seemed shocked that his slash was overpowered.

“If there is one thing I realized during my life,”

“...?”

“Its that, after all, the victor is the one who survived.”

“.... old man you’re already dead.”

“If you are still living after a thousand years, I"ll admit my defeat.”

Jae Hwan wordlessly pulled out a piece of paper. Chung Heo’s face distorted. That paper was actually an oath written before the duel.

-keke, it"s boring with just a normal duel, let"s make a bet.

Chung Heo had said.

The contract was something invented by the Nightmares. When signed, one had to follow by it, or risk his soul getting destroyed. It was called a ‘soul contract’. It worked directly with the soul, and not the interface system, so even for Jae Hwan who completely escaped the system, it was a dangerous item.

The following terms were written:

‘The loser must grant three wishes of the winner made within a week of the contract.’

Chung Heo had in mind to educate the brat properly through this contract. But for it to backfire…

Nevertheless Chung Heo felt like a genie as he asked,

“.... What is your first wish?”

“Answer these questions truthfully.”

“Sure, okay.”

The light that poured out of the contract got absorbed into Jae Hwan and the Neglected Cut Medical Saint. The first oath had started. Jae Hwan asked,

“What is a ‘Master Tower’?”
“A‘ Master Tower’  …” 

Chung Heo’s eyes became sharp.

“You know what a Nightmare tower is, right?”

“Yes.”

Not a single person in this world didn"t know what a ‘Nightmare Tower’ is: the start of their calamity that brought them here. In this world there are an existences known as a ‘Nightmare’, and those ‘Nightmares’ create ‘Nightmare Towers’.  Nightmare Tower, the name couldn"t be more fitting; It was nothing more and nothing less than a nightmare for all.

“There is a ranking for the towers. From S to F.  Depending on whether a normal Craftsman made it, or an apprentice, the ranking is a.s.signed.”

An apprentice and a Craftsman. He had heard from Meikal, that nightmares are races that set as their life’s goal as making the ‘one perfect Nightmare Tower’. All towers were judged by >, which was the guild of all Nightmares, and given a rank by meticulously considering the product’s overall performance.

“Most of the Nightmares dream of making a tower over A rank. They are considered a ‘Master Craftsman’ if they ever make an A rank tower, and can not only live like a king the rest of their lives, but never have to worry about provisions just by renting the tower to a ‘Cultivator’ in the  >.”

It seemed like even Nightmares who are called the lords of the Great lands have to worry about their food. It was a laughable thing.

“However, amongst the Nightmares there are a few who are not interested in creating a Nightmare Tower based to produce strong ‘products’.”

“Why?” 

“Because they have already created an S cla.s.s Nightmare Tower when they were an ‘Apprentice’.

Meikal had also said so. Talent existed among Nightmares as well. There are those that have risen to the Master craftsman early due to that talent.

“They are called the ‘Master’.”

The Nightmares’ apex. The thirteen ‘Masters’.

“So the Master Tower are towers created by those Masters?”

“No. it"s not necessarily called the Master Tower because a Master made them. Within those, there are Masters who made the towers with no intention to cultivate, called ‘Special Tower’. Only the ‘Special Tower’ is considered a Master Tower.”

“Why did they make those towers?”

“Who knows. No one knows. The Masters are only interested in exploring the ‘truth of this world’.

Truth of this world… 

Jae Hwan fell in a deep thought. Chung Heo continued.

“The sure thing is, that one, in the Great lands, there are a few ‘Master Tower’s, and second, that those who have cleared the Master Tower are called Awakened, and posses transcendent power.

“I take it that you are from that Master Tower.”

“That is so.”

Chung Heo grinned, as if clearing the Master Tower was something of a tour de force.

“I come from the fourth tower of the Master Melville. The tower named Moby d.i.c.k.”

Something akin to a shadow pa.s.sed in Chung Heo’s eyes. Were there memories of the tower that he stilled  remembered to this age?

“In the first floor, a giant white sperm whale would appear at random and eliminate the people. Although it might be laughable now, he was something like the devil himself to me at that time. Countless talented warrior died…. And it was a miracle that i cleared that tower.”

It seemed that a tower did not have just one shape.

“Aren"t you also from a Master tower? Who was the creator? Melville? Horjhe? Or Skalji?”

Chung Heo listed the names of a few Masters. Jae Hwan opened his mouth.

“Myullock. I think his name was.”

Jae Hwan recalled the moment when he had first appraised the Nightmare Tower as an ‘item’. It was clearly written,

-t.i.tled ‘Fortress of Regret’. The second creation of the nightmare maker Nightmare「Myullock」. The summoned people are put into the dream produced by the Nightmare.

“Myullock?”

Chung Heo’s expression changed.

“Hooo. For there to be a person who cleared Myullock’s tower…”

Jae Hwan hesitated on the word ‘clear’. He was not sure if that could be called ‘clearing’.

“You know of Myullock?”

“Of course.”

Chung Heo paused for a second, and said with a heavy tone of voice.

“I… have met him in the