Chapter 66: Land of Ice Pt. 6

Lee Jun-Kyeong looked over at the person who had called out to him.

‘I can’t sense him?approaching?us.’

He was perplexed. He could clearly hear a voice, but he couldn’t feel the owner’s presence.

‘My mana stream should be active, but…’

Lee Jun-Kyeong had been continuously using the mana stream ever since he had learned it. There weren’t many people who could approach him while he was in this state without being noticed.

The person introduced himself, "I am from Asgard."

"Wow…"

Jeong In-Chang’s mouth gaped as he glanced over to the side. It wasn’t an overreaction, either. The person in front of them, the one who was hiding their presence, the one who called him by his nickname, was so attractive that it was mind-blowing.

“He’s so handsome…”

Their mouths inadvertently dropped to the floor.

“Pardon?”

The man was taken aback for a moment by Jeong In-Chang’s meaningless comment. He immediately frowned and said, “I’ve heard quite a bit about you. And you said this was Jeong In-Chang, right?”

"Ah…"

Jeong In-Chang’s mouth dropped open even further as if he felt touched by the fact that he had been recognized.

“It seems you’ve obtained the power of a Hero.”

However, Jeong In-Chang’s open mouth soon shut; the man had somehow known he had obtained the power of a Hero.

Furthermore, there was something different.

Jeong In-Chang could feel it, too, that the person in front of them wasn’t an ordinary existence.

“Gooongje…”

As if it was trying to warn him, the princess hanging from Jeong In-Chang’s shoulder made a sound.

“It’s nice to meet you."

Lee Jun-Kyeong had stepped forward to fix the annoying situation. He reached his hand out towards the man who was so beautiful that it was as if he was shining.

“They call me the Underdog, Lee Jun-Kyeong.”

The man smiled slightly. “Oh, look at my manners. My name is Oh Hyeong-Seok.”

He immediately grabbed Lee Jun-Kyeong's hand and continued to introduce himself, “I have the title of Baldur.”

***

“I’ve come to fulfill the request you gave Asgard, asking for support. But that’s all.”

“Ah.” Lee Jun-Kyeong sighed slightly.

‘There’s no way.’

To think that they would send Baldur of all people. This was something unexpected. Baldur was a promising talent even within Asgard, so even Lee Jun-Kyeong was aware of his existence. Although he wouldn’t be one of the Twelve Members of Eden after it got founded, he was still a Hero who had the same level of strength as them.

Furthermore, he was also famous as someone who didn’t discriminate against ordinary people. Therefore, he was praised by both Hunters and ordinary people for his excellent character.

“Is there something you’re uncomfortable with…?” the man asked.

The only thing making him uncomfortable was the man in front of him, as the only thing that people knew about him was the single side that he had portrayed.

He belatedly shook his head. “No, it’s nothing. But, by chance, is the support you’re speaking of traveling to China with us, Mr. Oh?” Lee Jun-Kyeong asked cautiously. Although he was definitely someone who would be of great help while they were in China, his request for support didn’t mean he had been asking for a Hunter.

What Lee Jun-Kyeong had wanted was items, not another Hunter. He didn’t need an extra set of eyes, even if that set wasn’t sent to be a watchdog. So there was no way that there would be anything good resulting from Baldur’s participation with them.

The man responded, “No, that’s not it.”

It was a relief. He wasn’t coming with them.

“The item that was supposed to be given to you as support is quite valuable, so I came to hand it over myself. You could…” He continued speaking with a smile like a sun, “You could think of it as a vacation. It hasn’t been that long since I’ve been able to return back to Korea. As you may already know… Asgard is always so busy…”

“Ah, yes, that makes sense,” Lee Jun-Kyeong responded as if he was uninterested.

Thud. Thud.

However, his heart was racing inside his chest. He tried to control his heartbeat as much as possible in order to deceive the sensitive Baldur.

“Well, should we move to a different location first?” Baldur asked in a calm tone, as if he either didn’t notice or he didn’t care.

“Couldn’t you just give it to me right now?” Lee Jun-Kyeong said as if he was trying to sound him out. His heart was racing as he had already guessed what he was about to be given, but he didn’t want to reveal to Baldur that he already knew of its existence.

“As this item is a little special—Oh, and you can leave first, Mr. Jeong.”

Jeong In-Chang blinked. “Pardon?”

Baldur replied blandly, “This isn’t an item open to outsiders of Asgard. In this situation, for you…”

Flinch.

Jeong In-Chang trembled slightly at the sudden goosebumps that appeared on his body.

“It’s actually already unprecedented for you to know any information about Asgard.”

Baldur exposed a little bit of bloodlust, and Jeong In-Chang reacted even after obtaining the power of a Hero. Having read the room, he soon replied with a stiff expression on his face, “All right.”

‘It looks like I’m still a long way off.’

Jeong In-Chang had definitely felt the power that could make his body tremble with only an aura. For a moment, he had thought about contending with Heracles after obtaining the power of a Hero, but he had soon realized that it still felt like an impossible task.

It was the same with the existence in front of him.

‘Perhaps…’

The man in front of him was so strong to the extent that he thought that the man might be stronger than Heracles. He had heard a little bit about Asgard from Lee Jun-Kyeong, and every time he learned a bit more about them, his body would be filled with goosebumps.

‘Honestly, how many people are there that have this sort of power…’

Once again, he was terrified by the fact that there were even more such beings than he had initially thought.

“Is there something you’re uncomfortable with?” the man asked again like a machine.

“It’s nothing."

Jeong In-Chang began to leave first. Before long, Baldur placed a hand on Lee Jun-Kyeong’s shoulder as he watched Siegfried leave.

“Shall we leave as well?”

Lee Jun-Kyeong ironically thought to himself.

“Welcome to Asgard.”

Again, he found himself in Asgard.

***

"You’re here?"

“You’ve arrived earlier than expected."

There were people who welcomed Lee Jun-Kyeong, Yeo Seong-Gu, and Jeong In-Chang.

Lee Jun-Kyeong thought that it looked as if the two had gotten a little closer. They had met occasionally because of Lee Jun-Kyeong, and they seemed to have become quite comfortable with each other.

Yeo Seong-Gu asked, “Did you visit Asgard?”

“Yes.”

“And you received the item, right?”

“...By chance, were you the one who made the specific request, Hyung?” Lee Jun-Kyeong asked.

He had gone to Asgard with Baldur, and when he had received the item, it was just what he had expected. More importantly, it was something that was necessary.

The bald man shook his head. “No. All I did was tell them not to send you a Hunter in support.”

“And they listened to that?”

Yeo Seong-Gu chuckled. “No, did you really think they would?”

There was no way that Odin would have granted Yeo Seong-Gu’s suspicious request without a good reason of his own.

“To be honest, there’s not much else they could provide you with other than that.

“...?”

Yeo Seong-Gu laughed at Lee Jun-Kyeong's suspicious expression. His sudden laugh disconcerted Jeong In-Chang and Lee Jun-Kyeong.

“Are there really things that you don’t know? I just laughed because it was funny.”

“There are…a lot of things I don’t know, Hyung,” Lee Jun-Kyeong said.

“I thought there wasn’t?”

"Gooongje."

Jeong In-Chang had to leave to feed the princess, who was complaining about being hungry, while Lee Jun-Kyeong and Yeo Seong-Gu remained behind.

As things were still in the midst of being prepared, they had some time to kill.

“What do you mean by that?” Lee Jun-Kyeong asked.

Yeo Seong-Gu said, “It’s just like you said that there would be a cataclysm.”

“There’s no way. Did you tell that to Asgard?”

A small leak of information like that could bring about a significant change, so he asked Yeo Seong-Gu over and over again.

‘As expected…’

He wondered if it was a mistake for him to share the secrets.

𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

‘No… this much should be fine.’

As various concerns raced through Lee Jun-Kyeong’s mind, he was soon interrupted by Yeo Seong-Gu talking again.

“What do you see me as? That’s not it. Rather, it seems like the

signs

you mentioned have started to appear.”

“Seriously… already?” Lee Jun-Kyeong exclaimed.

Yeo Seong-Gu shrugged slightly. “Yeah. Well, it's not as if it all could be the same as the things you knew. It looks like a few things have been found in the countryside. Odin took it seriously and called back the Heroes who had left on expeditions.”

Lee Jun-Kyeong finally understood what was going on.

'So that was why Baldur...'

It was incomprehensible that someone as senior as he would have come to pick him up. Lee Jun-Kyeong had thought that he had just come to see who the new member was because the other man had some time to kill after having returned to Korea between assignments.

"Have you met Baldur?"

Lee Jun-Kyeong nodded.

"What did you think?"

He frowned slightly. "He seemed a little too strong?"

“Is that something you

know,?

or is it something you’re

guessing

?”

Lee Jun-Kyeong replied with a smile at the hidden meaning behind Yeo Seong-Gu’s words, "Both.”

“I’m glad I’m not the only one you know about.”

Yeo Seong-Gu was clearly focused on something else as his response sounded absentminded.

As he still hadn’t received the answer to his question, Lee Jun-Kyeong urged him for an answer, “Then, what’s the reason that they gave me that particular item?”

“We don’t have the Hunter manpower to help you when you go to China, but that doesn’t mean we would send any dog or cow in their place, and if it’s an item…”

His eyes scanned Muspel’s Spear that Lee Jun-Kyeong had hanging on his back.

"I don't know if your weapon was made by a blacksmith or gifted to you by a Sponsor, but it’s not as if we could give you something better than that right now,” he said as he looked over at Lee Jun-Kyeong as if he had finished what he had been focusing on.

“But still, as it's the first time Asgard is supporting you, we had to give you something that was appropriate. There’s nothing else as good as that. They should have explained it to you, so you know how it works, right?”

Lee Jun-Kyeong smirked. “I already knew how it worked from before.”

“As expected. You also wanted it too.”

"Yes."

Yeo Seong-Gu smiled and continued, “Use it when you’re in an emergency.”

Lee Jun-Kyeong turned around and said, “This isn’t meant to be used on me.”

“What?” Yeo Seong-Gu asked.

Lee Jun-Kyeong smiled slightly even though he knew the other man couldn’t see him and responded, "I’ll use Idunn's Apple on someone else."

***

Lee Jun-Kyeong felt as though his choice to go to China wasn’t a mistake.

‘To think the signs are already appearing.’

It was clear that something was starting to change, and the best way to find out what was changing was to go to the place where the most change would be taking place.

‘I’m getting a little nervous.’

The fact that the signs were appearing this early meant that China could be completely different from the China that he had hoped for. Therefore, the risk would be even greater than he had expected, so Lee Jun-Kyeong was naturally nervous.

"It is an honor to meet you like this."

Lee Jun-Kyeong was now becoming a celebrity, and many people greeted him along the way. He talked and shook hands with each of them one by one. While not all of them had Hero-Level powers, they were all true heroes.

"It's a snow orc!"

"Damn it… It's already been three hours..."

This was the battlefront, and these Hunters guarded the front lines. A front line had been formed in Pyeongyang, the capital of the fallen North Korea. Monsters were pouring out from China, which had become the Kingdom of Monsters. Occasionally, they would cross the border to North Korea, and these very Hunters of the front lines would deal with those monsters.

Flicker.

“If it’s just this much, this can be easily handled.”

A barrier of fire suddenly appeared, and the snow orcs that ran through it screamed horribly. Lee Jun-Kyeong was currently helping those on the front lines.

“Thank you!"

The level of the Hunters who guarded the front lines wasn’t all that high. Most of them were abandoned Hunters with no backing as they had subpar abilities.

Their Sponsors were modest, there was no guild to raise them, and their need for money was urgent. They could make far more money in the front line than raiding the gates they could barely clear. Still, the mortality rate here was far more serious than within the gates, as there were no Heroes who wished to be stuck on a front like this.

“Are you really… planning on heading over there?” someone asked. Lee Jun-Kyeong nodded in response. He could see the exhaustion on the faces of everyone around him. Lee Jun-Kyeong passed them and continued to head toward the front line alongside Jeong In-Chang and Yeo Seong-Gu.

"It's here."

Finally, they had reached a huge wall blocked off by blue veils. They faced the wall. As if this was the first time he had actually seen it, Yeo Seong-Gu said quietly, “How grave, I was curious because I couldn’t reach it with the Bifrost…”

Even the space traversing Bifrost wasn’t able to enter into China. Therefore, even though he had been busy, Yeo Seong-Gu had traveled all the way with the duo to the entrance.

“What is this…?” Jeong In-Chang also asked with a trembling voice, as if he couldn’t believe the scene in front of him. The only person who knew the answer was Lee Jun-Kyeong.

“It’s gatezation. The entire massive territory of China has turned into a gate.”

1. The term for apple and apology is the same in Korean, and while mythologically, Idunn had an apple, we may switch to apology based on future chapters.

2. The word for veil here is a military tent formation used during the Warring Era to cordon off areas or form blockades. Its primary usage was to denote if there were any invasions through any tears in the colorful fabric.