chapter 77
Executive Director Jung now carried himself as though he were some absolute ruler.
[Myth, Master of the Sinister Wind, commands the dead to sortie once again!]
[The Great Lord of Wind delegates part of his authority to the newly appointed apostle.]
Fwoooosh—
With an earthquake rumbling beneath them, corpse soldiers began rising from the ground one by one.
But their color was far more ashen than the ones faced just moments ago.
「Ahh… no… I don’t want this…」
「Please… let us rest…」
These were hunters who had been slain in the underground lab, or those who had perished in the explosion—yet here they were, summoned once again, strengthened after swallowing Jung’s sulfur flames.
[The Sulfur Legion has been summoned!]
[A sudden event has occurred. Survive the clutches of the Great Lord of Wind!]
“Form defensive ranks!!”
The hunters braced themselves, their faces taut with tension.
Boom! Crash!
Rumble—
Clashes broke out everywhere.
“Do you see? This is the difference between the living and the dead.”
Jung laughed as he deflected the relentless slashes of the Four Calamities Sword with his flames.
Ssshhk!
Though the sword carried the energy of pure yang, tearing away at the sulfur flames each time it struck—
Wiiiiing!
Fwoooosh!
[The Gingoa spins. It draws more yin energy from the underworld and feeds the sulfur fire.]
The halo spun faster and faster, boosting the flames’ ferocity. Each time it did, the Sulfur Legion grew stronger, and the hunters’ pressure mounted.
Even when destroyed, the legionaries rose again—
[Sulfur fire has been supplied. The Sulfur Soldiers regenerate.]
“They rise endlessly. You are pitiful, you mortals—when you tire and die, that is the end. But we are granted new chances again and again.”
His sunken eyes now brimmed with abyssal darkness.
“So surrender, and enter the world of the dead—”
“How laughable, shouting without even knowing what happens to your soul.”
Lee Hyun cut him off.
Jung scowled. “What?”
“You don’t actually think a god just handed you that power for free, do you?”
A cold sneer tugged at Lee Hyun’s lips.
“Besides, the Great Lord of Wind wasn’t even your original inheritance.”
“What are you trying to say?”
“They call it self-immolation sacrifice.”
Only then did Jung realize Hyun’s eyes weren’t on him—but a little higher.
At the halo.
“You’re just burning away your soul as an offering, borrowing the Lord’s power.”
Or rather, even further beyond—
At the Great Lord of Wind.
[The Great Lord of Wind expresses displeasure at a mortal daring to gaze upon his face unbidden.]
“Have you never wondered, necromancer, what happens when your soul is burned down to nothing?”
[Relic: Golden Eyes of Fire traces the flow of yin energy and sulfur fire from the underworld.]
[The halo is confirmed as the medium. The opponent’s pineal gland is excessively damaged, beyond recovery.]
[Marking the location.]
Through the Fire-Golden Eyes, Hyun grasped the Great Lord’s intent.
「He only wants to prod you. To see whether I or Wukong manifest.」
「Kekeke. Even with the Fire-Golden Eyes, he won’t be sure. My apostle’s legacy isn’t fully ‘Great Sage Equal to Heaven’ nor ‘Golden Arhat’.」
Sun Wukong sneered.
「So the bastard wants to test me? Even the King of the Underworld never dared treat me so lightly.」
This was why Hyun had resolved to take the halo as quickly as possible.
「The halo is a conduit to the heavens. Sever the passage, and—」
‘The halo’s function will stop. Got it.’
Thus, he pulled out the second earring from his inventory.
Clink!
[Self-immolation of Ji-gwi]
The goblin Ji-gwi, madly in love, burned his own body as an offering. His fire can cause wildfires—or ward off calamities.
Whatever target he chooses to burn can never escape his wrath.
-
Type: Relic. Earring.
-
Origin: Folktale Suijeon
If Cheoyong was the goblin who drove away plague demons, Ji-gwi was the goblin who spewed and devoured fire.
The moment Hyun infused mana into it, the earring blazed crimson.
[<Snow Queen> sees the legacy that once tormented her and bites her lip.]
[<Sahun> is startled by a legend that feels both similar and different.]
In an instant, red flames swept over Hyun’s body.
Fwoooosh!
[New legacy acquired.]
[Fire attribute greatly increased.]
[Willpower increased.]
[Fury of the Ogrefire surges greatly.]
…
And then—
When the flames subsided, a full Dokgak-gwi set adorned him.
[You equipped Dokgak-gwi’s Cloak.]
[You equipped Dokgak-gwi’s Tiger-patterned Garment.]
…
[You begin embodying the goblin’s legacy!]
[Strength temporarily +25.]
[Agility temporarily +21.]
…
[Stats adjusted. Skills and abilities expanded.]
[Relics fully awakened.]
The crimson blaze shifted into bluish-white lightning, burning even fiercer.
Flash!
[Legacy, Goblin Dance Arena, has ascended into Day Goblin Dance Arena.]
[The Day Goblin awakens!]
Crackle!
Around Hyun—now clad in jet-black armor—an aura storm raged.
Bluish-white lightning contrasted his dark armor.
The sulfur flames rushing toward him were swept away completely.
At last—
The Day Goblin of legend had awakened.
* * *
A storm of immense presence.
“……!?”
Im Wonyoung froze mid-battle, staring in shock.
“Se-senior!!”
Kim Minjeong gasped, covering her mouth, recalling a sight not seen since Gangneung four years ago.
“Black armor…?”
“And that lightning… wait, I’ve seen this before…”
“The Ice Palace! The video from the Ice Palace!”
“Right! That was Jet! …Wait—Hunter Jang was Jet!?”
Hunters of both A-team and Z-team recalled the videos that once shook the world.
Though Jet’s face had never been shown for security reasons, everyone remembered the strange figure clad in black armor and blue-white lightning.
Now, they finally saw Hyun overlapped with that memory.
“So… that’s why everything makes sense! How he survived the monkey’s den, how he grew so strong so quickly… Haha! So that’s it!”
Manager So roared with laughter as the long-held mystery unraveled.
[Day Goblin]
Ordinary goblins were thought to appear only at night. A goblin that roamed in daylight was seen as ominous, uncanny—an outcast.
Thus, when people claimed to have seen a goblin by day, they said they were “bewitched by goblins,” imagining them as beings of taboo and strangeness.
“If you see a goblin under the midday sun, it is a harbinger that something great is about to happen.”
-
Origin: Folktale Jochiwon Market
“I hadn’t planned to use this until I had fully restored my abilities…”
But Hyun’s heat now was incomparable to before.
Wherever his feet touched, the ground steamed and sizzled.
Ssshhhk!
“But there’s no choice now.”
“You think putting on armor changes anything?”
Jung thrust out his hand.
[Myth, Master of the Sinister Wind, unleashes a tsunami of sulfur fire!]
[The Great Lord of Wind scowls at a legacy daring to defy his shadow.]
Fwoooosh!
Sulfur fire surged toward Hyun—
Crackle.
『Team Leader Im, fall back.』
Im Wonyoung jumped in surprise at Hyun’s voice suddenly coming through her comms, but wasted no time. She leapt onto Jangsanbeom’s back and retreated.
At that very instant—
A blinding bolt of lightning split the sky.
[The Ogrefire’s Wrath erupts!]
KABOOOOM!!
A colossal axe fell from the heavens, splitting the fiery wave in half.
Lightning crashed down, ripping the sulfur flames apart, smothering them completely.
“……!”
“……!”
“……!!”
[<Snow Queen> frowns at the lightning that once severed her arm.]
It was a disaster made manifest.
The once overwhelming sulfur fire was extinguished in an instant.
[Myth, Master of the Sinister Wind, pours in more yin energy!]
Wiiiiing!!
Sensing a follow-up attack, Jung drove the halo’s spin to maximum.
But from his shadow, Hyun surged forth with blistering winds.
The Ogrefire’s Footsteps.
The Berserk Bull Rush.
CRASH!!
“Not so fast!!”
Jung condensed grey mist into a hand-blade and parried the axe.
He didn’t budge an inch—mocking that even with the Day Goblin awakened, Hyun still could not overcome him.
But—
Hyun pressed on.
Whsssh! Whsssh!
He swung the axe in a furious dance—
like a goblin in full revelry.
Flash! BOOM!
[Thunderbolts rain down!]
[Firestorms cascade!]
BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!
Slaaash! Crack!
Each strike severed something unseen.
Each bolt made it feel as though cords were snapping.
‘…What is this!?’
The longer they clashed, the more Jung realized—the flames weren’t being replenished.
As though someone was cutting off the flow.
‘No way!?’
Only then did Jung notice Hyun’s glowing eyes—tracking the precise channels where the yin energy streamed.
He wasn’t just seeing the Great Lord.
He was reading the flow of divine power itself.
‘…He’s severing the conduits! That’s why the fire’s weakening. What kind of eyes are those!?’
[The Great Lord of Wind doubts the mortal’s eyes.]
Worse—Jung felt hunger gnawing at him.
His body, drying out.
His mana—running dry.
Hyun’s earlier words rang in his ears: You’re just burning yourself away.
‘No… I am…!’
For the first time since awakening as an apostle, fear rippled through his heart.
CRASH-CRASH-CRASH!
Lightning and sulfur flames tangled violently, explosions rocking the field.
Then—
Fwaat!
Hyun suddenly released his axe mid-clash, shoving his hand deep toward the halo.
Jung smirked.
Perfect chance—he would drive sulfur fire through Hyun’s back.
But—
Thunk!
“…Khh!”
A blade burst through his abdomen—the Four Calamities Sword.
“You shouldn’t get careless, Executive Jung.”
“……!!”
Im Wonyoung had darted in, striking from close range.
Other Jangsanbeom and spear-wielding spirits struck as well.
Stab! Stab!
[The sword’s yang energy disrupts the flow of yin.]
In that moment of hesitation—Hyun seized the halo.
CRACK.
The halo shook violently, on the verge of shattering.
[The Great Lord demands to know your true identity!]
[He insists you must be tied to Sun Wukong, so why don’t you use that legacy—]
Messages bombarded Hyun’s sight—
but he ignored them.
There was no need to answer.
[The Ruyi Jingu Bang attempts contact with the halo.]
Crunch!
CLAAAANG!!
Hyun clenched harder.
The staff resonated with the halo.
Sun Wukong’s divine power surged inside, erasing all traces of the Great Lord.
The spinning—stopped.
Ding! Ding!
[Connection between halo and Great Lord forcibly severed.]
[The Great Lord is ejected with penalties.]
[The Great Lord can no longer observe you.]
[Congratulations! You have acquired the Halo (Gingoa).]
Ssshhhhh—
Steam hissed from the overheated halo.
Through the Fire-Golden Eyes, Hyun’s gaze brimmed with triumph.
