Chapter 68: Land of Ice Pt. 8

Whoosh.

Strong winds accompanied by a frozen blizzard engulfed them. The cold alone was overwhelming enough, but that, added on with the other factors, forced them to take a break after time passed.

“Let’s take a break.”

“

Gasp, gasp…

”

As Jeong In-Chang nodded and heaved for air, steam from his breath came out and froze into a tiny icicle that fell to the ground.

“Bullsh…”

Whether he had realized it or not, Jeong In-Chang flopped to the ground as his swearing increased in severity. He had a hunch that he might have actually froze to death if he hadn’t maintained a layer of mana around his body. He had to continue to maintain a layer of mana to resist the cold and wind, but the extreme consumption of his stamina and mana was beginning to take a toll on him.

“Hyeon-Mu,” Lee Jun-Kyeong called out as he briefly looked over at Jeong In-Chang.

Rattle.

Soon, skeletons appeared, accompanied by the clatter of bones.

“...!”

Jeong In-Chang’s eyes widened in surprise when he saw them rise and appear out of nowhere.

He asked, “Is that really Hyeon-Mu?”

Lee Jun-Kyeong wondered if it was the first time the Hunter had seen Hyeon-Mu after it had grown. He tilted his head and answered, “Yes."

"Ah…"

Lee Jun-Kyeong gave an order to the skeleton, "Dig some ground."

–I have received your order.

Hyeon-Mu and his skeleton troop were undead. Their bones had been frozen solid, so it would be difficult for them to fight. However, they had a strong resistance to cold, so it was still possible for them to dig the ground or do miscellaneous labor.

𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

The skeletons began to dig under Hyeon-Mu’s command, and little by little, a space large enough for them to hide their bodies was being created.

“By the way,” Jeong In-Chang said, his voice again reminiscent of a certain TV program.

‘If you start your sentence like that…’

Lee Jun-Kyeong tried not to answer him as Jeong-In Chang continued to say useless things, but apparently, he had finally remembered it from before.

“About the last time, when I passed out in the ogre village… Hyeon-Mu was definitely there…”

“And?” Lee Jun-Kyeong asked.

“At that time… considering it had a body like that, it could have given me a potion with its hand… Why…”

Scritch.

Hyeon-Mu, who had been digging the ground, flinched for a moment.

Whoosh.

A strong wind blew again, and everyone shut their mouths except for the princess. She was staring at Hyeon-Mu, and her eyes had turned bright red for a moment.

“Gooongje…”

“How much further do we have to go?” asked Jeong In-Chang.

Hyeon-Mu had dug a hole, and the party had hidden themselves within the ground as they warmed their bodies with Reign of Fire. After seemingly becoming a little more alive from the warmth, Jeong In-Chang started asking questions again.

“On foot…”

They were bound to battle with monsters along the way, and there were sure to have been various geographical changes in the landscape. Considering that mainland China itself was extremely vast, “About… a month…?” Lee Jun-Kyeong replied.

Even if they ran the entire distance using their powers as Hunters, it would take them a month. Naturally, since they had to run while maintaining a layer of mana to prevent frostbite, it was more than likely that it would take even longer.

“It’s unlikely that we could get there any faster,” Lee Jun-Kyeong continued.

“...”

Jeong In-Chang shut his mouth, but Lee Jun-Kyeong hadn’t finished talking.

“On foot, that is.”

“...?”

“There’s no way we could waste our time like that.”

Jeong In-Chang blinked. “Then…?”

They were currently in the place where North Korea used to be. Occasionally, they could see broken-down cars lying about, but these cars had literally broken down into pieces and wouldn’t start in the cold. So their method of finding a ride would have to be a bit different from conventional standards.

“We have to go find something to ride. Our first destination…”

Lee Jun-Kyeong pointed at something with his finger, a mountain that stood tall even within the blizzard.

“...is Mt. Baekdu.”

For now, they had to first find something to ride.

***

The road to Mt. Baekdu was also as difficult as the rest of their journey. Firstly, there was the wreckage of the collapsed buildings and fissures caused by the cracked ice.

“

Roar!

”

Furthermore, because of the monsters that were traveling south without knowing what lay in wait, the group’s steps had been slowed. The monsters themselves were strong, but they weren’t strong enough to block their advance.

“

Roar…

”

Eventually, they all fell down and became corpses. However, a massive amount of stamina was consumed, and continuing to battle in the cold was faring to be more difficult than they had thought. Jeong In-Chang was becoming exhausted even though he had obtained the strength of a Hero.

It wasn’t that he was weak.

‘The nature that had become a gate…’

It was just that everything around them was freezing. Still, now and again, Lee Jun-Kyeong warmed their bodies using Reign of Fire.

“Goongje!”

Furthermore, after having collected as many ice troll hides as they desired, the princess had also begun to participate in the battles. Although they moved slowly, they were soon getting faster.

"It's Mt. Baekdu."

Finally, they had arrived at their destination. Jeong In-Chang ate jerky as he stared at the mountain. This meat was made from the bodies of the trolls and orcs. They had plenty of food in the inventory, but it wasn’t food meant for them. Therefore, Lee Jun-Kyeong hunted monsters instead. At first, Jeong In-Chang was disgusted by the feeling of eating monster flesh.

“Wait, but this is so delicious!”

But by this point, he was eating the jerky as if it was incredibly delicious.

Lee Jun-Kyeong interjected, “It’s because orcs taste the same as pigs.”

Jeong In-Chang paused his chewing. “...it sounds like you eat them pretty regularly.”

“No, that’s not it,” Lee Jun-Kyeong replied with a smile.

“Also, thinking about it…” Jeong In-Chang’s eyes looked toward Hyeon-Mu and its skeleton unit for a moment, which was making a shelter for the two of them. “Can’t Hyeon-Mu do the butchery? Its troops also use swords as well…”

“...”

“W…Wait! You wouldn’t have made me do it on purpose, would you?”

Lee Jun-Kyeong kicked off the ground, ignoring his partner’s protests.

“I’ll go on watch.”

"Mr. Lee Jun-Kyeong!"

He could hear Jeong In-Chang’s angry voice from behind him, but soon, the voice faded away as the distance between them increased.

“

Whew…

”

Lee Jun-Kyeong shook his head for a moment and exhaled, a warm breath emitting from his mouth. Unlike Jeong In-Chang, Lee Jun-Kyeong’s clothes were light. He had a strong resistance to temperatures, and he was able to withstand the cold even without activating Reign of Fire.

“

Haa…

”

In addition, red steam exuded alongside his breath. It was the mana stream, he was still circulating it even at this moment.

‘It looks like this application is difficult.’

He was in the middle of researching various applications of the mana stream.

[The proficiency of the mana stream has increased.]

He heard a notification ring out. As he already knew various different methods to make use of the mana stream, his training was rapidly increasing his proficiency.

Shhhh.

He mixed fire energy into the mana stream and was thereby able to ward off the cold emanating from the ground he stepped on while searching for signs of life.

‘Is it because it’s Mt. Baekdu…’

There might have been some truth to the story that Mt. Baedu had been a magical mountain from the very beginning, but even though gatezation was in progress, the mountain didn’t lose its appearance. Of course, it had become a snowy mountain rather than a snow-tipped one, but it still wasn’t a place that monsters could easily access.

It was because there was something that protected the mountain.

“Hmm.”

Lee Jun-Kyeong closed his eyes and began to spread out his mana. Thanks to the increased mana in the gate, his senses had risen even more. He had stretched out his mana like a spider’s web and focused more while operating the mana stream as if he was trying to find something.

After a while, he opened his eyes.

"Is it this way…”

He had guessed the direction where that punk was supposed to be. It was the only thing that the huge mana that seemed to cover the entire mountain could come from. Lee Jun-Kyeong stared at the origin of where he felt the energy for a moment.

“...”

Although there was nothing there, it felt as though he was staring into the eyes of a beast.

***

“Is this what we’re riding?” Jeong In-Chang asked.

Although Jeong In-Chang had come to the base of Mt. Baekdu, he had begun to feel doubtful as they had stayed stagnant without climbing for several days.

"For now,” Lee Jun-Kyeong replied.

"…”

Jeong In-Chang had seen for a moment what Lee Jun-Kyeong had brought back.

“They’re deer,” Jeong In-Chang remarked.

“That’s correct.”

“Moreover…”

The deer that Lee Jun-Kyeong had brought back after saying he was going on reconnaissance were no ordinary deer. They were deer that had changed under the influence of mana.

“Are they elk? Is this what you would call them?”

They were incredibly large deer.

Lee Jun-Kyeong rolled his eyes. “Do you even know what an elk is? Well… although they’re different, you can think of them as similar to one.”

The giant deer were as big as the ice trolls they had continuously hunted up until now.

Purr.

Although they seemed so strong that even a snow orc would be fatally wounded if it got hit by their horns, they appeared remarkably gentle under Lee Jun-Kyeong’s touch.

“You even know how to tame monsters? Wait, were you a tamer all this time?” Jeong In-Chang said a little excitedly as though he thought he had discovered another one of Lee Jun-Kyeong’s secrets.

“No.” However, Lee Jun-Kyeong’s answer was merciless. “It’s not taming, nor is this a monster.”

“But… I’ve never seen something like this before,” Jeong In-Chang said, confused.

“Well… uhh…”

Lee Jun-Kyeong spoke after thinking for a long time. He needed a good explanation.

"It's an animal that you can think of that has undergone monsterfication. Still, that said, it's not really a monster either.”

"What…?"

Lee Jun-Kyeong clarified as he got on top of one of the creatures, “These creatures can wield a little bit of mana. Weren’t humans reborn into Hunters just through their ability to wield mana? You can just think of them as something similar.”

Purr.

The giant deer shook its head as if it was in a good mood; it even sounded slightly mysterious to Jeong In-Chang.

“Because they have the ability to use mana, there are ways to tame them,” Lee Jun-Kyeong continued as he began to move the deer.

“Um…”

Seeing that, Jeong In-Chang’s eyes began to twinkle. Everyone had a dream of riding on the back of a mysterious animal.

“Could this be considered my white horse…” he muttered excitedly.

This was especially true for Jeong In-Chang, who was someone who had as a Sponsor. His greed and desire for a steed surged, and he tried to mount the back of another deer that Lee Jun-Kyeong had brought.

Bang!

The only result was the sound of a drum exploding.

“

Ugh!

”

A blow had hit Jeong In-Chang due to his carelessness. The deer that he had been trying to climb on had knocked him over. It refused his touch, striking him firmly with its front hooves.

“You little!” he sputtered.

As if it reminded him of Oggy, Jeong In-Chang started tussling with the deer.

He could have killed it immediately if he had wanted to, but his purpose hadn’t been to hunt the deer. He needed it as a steed. After wrestling with it for quite some time, Jeong In-Chang finally began to beg, “Damn it. Is it really too much to let me ride you just once?”

The deer shook its head in dislike.

“Try manipulating your mana while you stroke its neck.”

“My mana?”

Lee Jun-Kyeong had given him a tip. However, as Jeong In-Chang didn’t know much about the mana stream, it wasn’t easy for Lee Jun-Kyeong to explain the process to him.

“Umm… like when you wield your greatsword… no…”

Suddenly, as if he had thought of a proper way to explain it, Lee Jun-Kyeong stated, “Think of it as a greatsword. Then you’ll be able to ride it.”

It would be possible because Jeong In-Chang had been unconsciously learning one of the basic principles of the mana stream. Eventually, Jeong In-Chang began to shout excitedly, “Whoa!”

Finally, he had gotten on the deer’s back. The deer still shook its head as if it was annoyed, but it seemed as though it had acquiesced to Jeong In-Chang’s desire to ride.

‘That’s not right…’

However, Lee Jun-Kyeong saw it, he knew that Jeong In-Chang hadn’t been successful in getting the deer to submit to him.

‘How useful that little doll is.’

It was the princess in Jeong In-Chang’s arms; it had subdued the deer by exuding bloodlust and a little madness.

Seemingly knowing nothing, Jeong In-Chang was in a good mood and rode wildly on the back of the deer.

“From now on, please call me Jeong Snow!” Things had progressed to the point where he was speaking incomprehensible nonsense.

However, Lee Jun-Kyeong’s expression became extremely serious, and noticing the change, Jeong In-Chang’s expression hardened in return.

Soon after, Lee Jun-Kyeong stated, “We’ll be hunting from this point on.”

“Hunting?”

“Yes.”

Lee Jun-Kyeong's eyes looked over toward the top of Mt. Baekdu.

"We will catch the owner of this mountain."

1. Baekdu literally means White Head, or white-tipped, and Mt. Baekdu is a very historical and mythological site to both Korea and China. In Korean Mythology, Mt. Baekdu is the birthplace of Korea’s god-king and founder, Dangun, the grandson of Heaven.

2. This is a reference to Game of Thrones. It’s funny, though, because he’s essentially now, Last name, No last name.