Chương 48: 462
[Chapter 130]
[Cutting to the Chase (5)]
The one chosen by the mirror will someday become a hero who drives away the darkness of the world.
When On Taeyang first heard those words, he imagined himself becoming such a hero, like other students.
It's heavier than I thought.
If I keep taking magic hits like this, I'll collapse first.
But that imagination soon disappeared after seeing other students participate in the game and crumble miserably.
Instead, he who never neglected efforts to train himself came to think he could train himself through the game.
He changed his mind to purely enjoy the game.
"...Kuk...!"
The game was actually helpful.
It was like high-difficulty training he couldn't experience normally.
On Taeyang realized what he lacked while passing through the storm of traps.
Taeyang continued running while avoiding light beams flying from 2 o'clock and 8 o'clock directions.
Why... can't I do this?
His senses become sharper.
His field of vision widens.
He gets used to avoiding traps.
Before he knew it, he could afford to compare his strength with others.
And he realized.
That his strength was far weaker compared to them.
Mok Minho was predicting the next attack even before an attack came.
Choi Eunhyuk avoided even more attacks than this without a single scratch...
He keeps comparing himself.
He becomes greedy to be like them.
As he tries to imitate their effortlessness but fails to show that effortlessness himself, impatience rears its head.
Then he makes mistakes repeatedly.
One mistake wasn't a big deal, but as mistakes repeated two, three times, it lowered his judgment.
Nevertheless, he somehow broke through the traps and ran towards the stone Buddha.
The head is even bigger than before...
On Taeyang finally standing before the stone Buddha.
He clicked his tongue facing the stone Buddha that had grown large enough to look down on him.
But the game wasn't over yet.
On Taeyang repeated those words to himself as he flowed internal mana into the stone Buddha.
For a moment, the stone Buddha's head that accepted his internal mana gradually shrank.
On Taeyang felt relieved.
It's working. If it shrinks just a bit more like this, it'll be smaller than when Choi Eunhyuk...
"...Huh?"
But in the end.
The stone Buddha that seemed to be shrinking stopped changing at some point.
"W-Why is it stopping here?"
On Taeyang was flustered.
He flows his internal mana.
But this time, the stone Buddha's head started enlarging in reverse.
Startled, On Taeyang withdrew his internal mana from the stone Buddha and blindly tried to pull out the mirror.
But it was already too late by then.
No matter how hard he tried, the string connecting the mirror wouldn't come off the stone Buddha's head.
"Damn it..."
He fails to overcome the obstacle.
Finally, he lets go of the string.
He spat as if venting his anger and turned away from the stone Buddha.
"..."
Although he gained a hint for growth, somehow he felt like he gained nothing.
Rather, it feels like he's reached his limit.
He came up to the lake surface without raising his head, as if the gazes were directed at him.
"Tae, Taeyang. What a shame. If only it had shrunk a little more..."
"...Forget it. It's just an artificially created legend anyway. You don't become a hero by obtaining something like that."
His confidence in himself crumbles.
He deflects as if making excuses.
Not realizing his stubbornness is filling the crumbled space.
Lastly—
"—Looks like Eunha is participating too?"
"He won't make it either. Even if he does, do you think he'll become a hero like in the legend?"
Unlike himself.
He disparages No Eunha, who repeatedly gains attention and succeeds.
☆
What does he want from On Taeyang?
Eunha pondered the thought that suddenly occurred to him as he went down the path created by the lake splitting in half.
""""...""""
Countless gazes poured down.
But Eunha didn't care what they might be thinking.
Right now, he wasn't even paying attention to the fact that he was participating in the game.
As he advanced to the bottom of the lake leaving footprints in the wet soil, all he thought about was what had just happened moments ago.
Unlike his previous life, On Taeyang wasn't chosen by the mirror.
Why did such a result come about?
Is it because of skill?
Does this result mean On Taeyang's skill didn't meet the artifact's standards, unlike in his previous life?
According to the future he knew.
On Taeyang would have been chosen by the artifact and proven his worth to the people gathered here.
But contrary to the predicted future, he only proved his lacking skills.
"Why on earth..."
What changed the future?
Eunha mulled over the future that didn't go as planned and became distorted.
At this rate, he can't use the hero <Braver> On Taeyang as a sword to protect Ha Baekryeon.
Then his thoughts returned to the starting point.
What exactly is he wanting from On Taeyang?
On Taeyang has the power of <Brave> and heroic aspects that people of the world would admire.
He turns the thought over and over.
The answer he derived was that On Taeyang's achievements in his previous life were worthy of anyone's praise.
Just as Galaxy Group did in his previous life, it's good for packaging as Ha Baekryeon's achievements in this life.
But... in this life, On Taeyang lacks the aspect of a hero.
Eunha stopped walking.
His reflection is visible in the distant Cheoksa Danyo Jomun Mirror.
At that moment, the mirror flashed brightly.
The game has begun.
He takes a step forward.
Suddenly the ground sinks.
Eunha takes his next step to escape the mire.
As he slowly pulls his foot out of the mire, at that moment, various branches of magic fall from above.
He's different from the On Taeyang I'm thinking of.
Our personalities don't match, and he's weak.
It could be different. If only the results are good, it won't be difficult to make On Taeyang into <Braver>.
He swings the black thorn tree.
He cuts the light beams.
In that instant, he defends against magic coming from the opposite side by drawing the scabbard at his waist.
Only the minimum.
He searches for an efficient route while enhancing physical abilities with internal mana.
The moment he takes a few steps, binding magic suddenly springs from the ground and clings to his ankles.
Eunha wasn't flustered even by the magic that captured his ankles.
In that state, he directly faces the onslaught of magic.
Then he raises his sword high above his head and strikes down hard, changing the trajectory of the magic by creating a sword pressure.
He breaks the binding magic.
He intentionally triggers traps.
He creates an efficient route by choosing to break through head-on instead of avoiding.
But is there really a need to do that?
Is there a need to expend effort to make someone who doesn't match my personality and isn't strong into a hero?
Doubt sprouted in a corner of his heart.
Eunha asked himself while avoiding flying magic.
Is what he wants from him now the power of the Gift <Brave>, or the heroism of <Braver>.
If he had to choose one of the two, it would obviously be the former.
What he most desperately wants from On Taeyang is the power originating from the Gift <Brave> that can defeat the 2nd-rank monster Maegu.
There's absolutely no reason to strive to make On Taeyang, who falls far short of his expectations and has a completely different disposition, into <Braver>.
It's a very inefficient act.
In this life—
—There's no need for a hero called <Braver>.
It's a world desperately in need of heroes.
But that hero doesn't need to be <Braver>.
Eunha finally resolved the worry that had been coiled in his heart until now.
He cut off the reason to be obsessed with On Taeyang.
"—If there's no hero, I'll create one."
A feeling of his vision clearing.
Eunha felt his way of thinking broadening.
The moment he gave up on the existence of <Braver>, countless possibilities revealed themselves.
Eunha watched the onslaught of magic with eyes full of conviction.
He cuts what can't be avoided.
He changes the flow of what can't be cut.
If there's no path, he creates one.
If he's led into a trap, he overturns the situation.
Eunha, who had been running on the muddy ground, now gradually slowed his pace as he emerged from the storm of traps.
"..."
Before he knew it, he arrived in front of the stone Buddha.
Eunha looked at the statue whose head had immediately swollen enormously as soon as the game started.
It was the same in his previous life.
Back then too, the stone Buddha had greatly swollen its head as if rejecting him.
"...Is it the same this time too."
He places his hand on the stone Buddha's cheek.
As expected.
The stone Buddha's head was still maintaining that state.
There was no sign of it shrinking.
Rather, it seemed to have swollen its head to the limit after receiving his internal mana.
The Cheoksa Danyo Jomun Mirror did not recognize him as its owner, just like in his previous life.
In my class... Does this mean there's no owner of the Cheoksa Danyo Jomun Mirror?
The game was already over.
Nevertheless, Eunha still couldn't move from that spot.
He couldn't turn back like this.
So Eunha just stood there desolately, staring at the stone Buddha for a long time.
Why isn't he coming out? Is he embarrassed?
No Eunha is no different. Serves him right!
Ha, I came for nothing. I thought maybe No Eunha could become the owner and attended the party, but it ended up like this.
Even the hidden dragon the industry is paying attention to is helpless before that mirror!
Acting all high and mighty when he's not much different from us...
Hey! Staying there is even more embarrassing, you know? Come out quickly!
It's noisy up there.
The upper class students who had been displeased with him were mocking him.
Their voices could be heard intermittently amidst the sound of the split lake falling like a waterfall.
Nevertheless, Eunha didn't pay attention to their ridicule.
He just closes his eyes, picturing the future.
...The Cheoksa Danyo Jomun Mirror was an artifact that became material for creating the nation-saving sword in my previous life.
But the fact that On Taeyang wasn't recognized as the mirror's owner means the nation-saving sword can't be created in this life.
That can't happen.
<Braver> isn't necessary.
But the Gift that creates <Braver> and his connections are necessary.
Of course, the bronze mirror right in front of me too.
If the game ends here, the Cheoksa Danyo Jomun Mirror might not come out into the world in this life.
"That can't happen..."
As if mocking himself.
Eunha glared at the mirror swaying in the wind, hanging from the stone Buddha's neck, and pondered.
It didn't take long to reach a conclusion.
Cutting the Gordian knot.
If there's a knot that absolutely can't be untied no matter what—
—Just cut it.
Eunha drew the black thorn tree.
He infuses internal mana into the blade.
"..."
A sword simply infused with mana, without any magic cast on it.
He scattered the mana smoothly coating the black blade without hesitation.
He drew a horizontal line.
""""...""""
So smoothly that one wouldn't even know the sword had cut.
He cleanly severs the stone Buddha's neck.
Soon the stone Buddha's head becomes misaligned and falls, unable to withstand its weight.
"How dare an artifact..."
How dare it try to interfere with the future he's envisioning.
Eunha reached out towards the beheaded stone Buddha.
It was an easy task to remove the mirror from the stone statue left with only a neck and no head.
"Ha..."
He couldn't help but laugh seeing the artifact dangling right before his eyes.
To think it would fall into his hands so simply.
In his previous life, was he thinking this mere mirror was a proof of heroism?
It's nothing more than an artifact after all.
I was a fool for being obsessed with the image of <Braver>.
Eunha couldn't stop the laughter that finally burst out as he ran his hand through his hair.
He burst into laughter.
Eventually, Eunha raised the bronze mirror in his hand towards the lake surface.
He intended to show the people looking down at him from up there.
That the bronze mirror is nothing more than an empty symbol.
So don't believe in such nonsense legends.
It's not artifacts that create heroes.
It's because people of the world yearn for heroes, so they are created.
The world was destroyed once.
People yearning for hope desire heroes to realize it.
In a world where heroes are no longer born.
Then we just need to create them.
Just as the hero <Braver> was created from such wishes in the previous life.
From now on, be attached to <Brave>, but don't be obsessed with <Braver>.
Eunha infused mana into the Cheoksa Danyo Jomun Mirror.
The artifact flashed dazzling light towards the sky several times, as if resisting.
Each time, the night sky brightened.
Under the night sky lighting up like a lamp, the remnants of magic scattered by the artifact soon fall like snow.
Whether debuff or buff.
It's magic that nullifies all buffs.
""""...""""
Light still flashing from the mirror.
Light soaring as if piercing the night sky makes the scattered mana sparkle.
It's a blue, brightly shining world.
"So what if I'm not recognized as the owner. It's just a material artifact anyway."
Looking up at the blue shining night.
Eunha, holding up the mirror with both hands, crushed the legend passed down over long years.
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