Minhyuk choked on a mouthful of blood after Valen slashed his chest with his sword.
[Your HP has dropped below 92%.]
With just one attack, Valen shaved off 8% of Minhyuk’s HP. That was shocking, considering that Minhyuk was one of the top rankers of Athenae. What if Valen had used an attack skill? Or a linked attack? That much power meant that he could easily kill Minhyuk in just a few short seconds.
However, Minhyuk’s confusion was far stronger than his fear of the damage inflicted upon him.
“Why…” Minhyuk mumbled, staggering back as he looked at Valen in disbelief.
Upon looking closely at Valen, Minhyuk realized that Valen looked different. He seemed much younger, his eyes were extremely fierce, and the gentleness that Minhyuk was so used to seeing was nowhere to be found.
“You’re Great Demon Gorac’s subordinate.”
The words that the younger version of Valen uttered helped Minhyuk infer as to what kind of situation he was currently in.
‘He’s Instructor but much younger…’
That was right. The person standing in front of Minhyuk was obviously Instructor Valen, when he was younger. From what Minhyuk had heard, Sword God Valen inherited Gremory’s power, took over it and became a Continental God. Furthermore, he was at his strongest during that time.
‘That time was when I was at my strongest. My divine powers have been gradually decreasing since that time. However, I can safely say that I have not brought shame upon the name Sword God.’
Minhyuk mulled over the words that Valen had told him before.
Find the original at bit.ly/3iBfjkV.
Then, Valen said, “How dare you descend to this world to harm humans?!”
Fwoosh—
Valen pointed his sword at Minhyuk’s neck. It was another clue that helped Minhyuk guess what was currently happening.
‘It seems like the current Instructor Valen only has memories of the past now. On top of that, Instructor only sees me as the Great Demon Gorac’s subordinate.’
Then, Minhyuk turned to look at the sword that was behind the young Valen. If everything that he guessed was right, the ‘real’ Valen should still be sleeping in that sword. However, even after figuring that out, there was still a deep pain in his chest.
‘What should I do at this gate?’
The moment he entered the gate, Minhyuk heard the notification about the possibility of acquiring the ‘Sword that Contains the Sword God’s Will’. This meant that there was also a chance that the Sword God that was slumbering in that sword would disappear completely once Minhyuk defeated the young version of Instructor Valen in front of him.
‘We are able to meet somehow, yet we can’t even greet each other properly.’
For the first time, Minhyuk felt how cruel Athenae and Joy Co. Ltd. was. After all, the game had turned Minhyuk into Great Demon Gorac’s subordinate in Sword God Valen’s eyes.
“Go to hell,” Valen spat out, frost evident in his voice. He was only holding a sword in his hand, but the momentum and energy that was flowing out of his body was enough to make Minhyuk breathless.
Bang, bang!
“…!”
Valen just swung his sword lightly, but the impact that Minhyuk received was very powerful.
“Keuaaaaaaaaaack!”
[Your HP has dropped below 69%!]
Minhyuk immediately suffered a huge drop in his HP. Sword God Valen in his prime was definitely a man that never wasted his time with words.
“Ho. You’re quite tough, huh?” Valen murmured, interest flashing in his eyes as he sent consecutive attacks toward Minhyuk. Every move of Valen’s sword was fierce, relentless, swift, and packed with heavy power.
Boooooom—
Valen followed Minhyuk’s every movement, and swung his sword to attack his flank. The attack was so fast that Minhyuk was barely able to twist away from the blade. In the midst of spinning away, Minhyuk tried to use the recoil to cast his skill ‘Sword of Frenzy’. However, he came to a halt. He hated the idea of thrusting a sword through Valen’s chest.
At the same time, it was also scary. If Minhyuk killed him here, there was the possibility that the lingering will slumbering in the sword would disappear completely. In other words, Valen would die a true death.
Stab—
Seeing Minhyuk hesitate, Valen easily stabbed through the right side of his chest.
“In, Instructor.”
“…I don’t know who or what you’re talking about,” Valen frowned, doubt flashing in his eyes. Minhyuk’s expression turned desolate and sad. His tears were about to burst out at any moment.
Spurt—
Valen pulled the sword out of Minhyuk’s chest roughly, causing him to stagger back. In response, Minhyuk hurriedly took out a bar of chocolate and placed everything in his mouth.
Sizzle—
His HP recovered by 36% in an instant, his wounds recovering completely.
“As expected of Gorac’s subordinate, you’re using quite an eccentric technique,” Valen said, his expression cold. He looked like he never had much sympathy nor mercy for others.
“Instructor? Are you trying to mislead me by calling me with those weird words? I’ll definitely kill you before you even notice it.”
At that moment, Minhyuk felt the air around him begin to vibrate.
‘Is this true divine power?’
Spear God Ben was not yet a complete God. On top of that, the Instructor Valen that Minhyuk knew was someone that had lost most of his divine power already. The Valen that he was facing now was in his prime. He had enough power to make the air around him vibrate fiercely just with his momentum alone.
Then, Valen said, “Divine Sword.”
“…!”
Minhyuk felt a huge sense of crisis. He had already personally seen and experienced Valen’s Divine Sword. In fact, he was only able to cut down the gigantic figure of God of Snakes Elizabeth with that sword.
Then, Valen spat out, “Hundred Swords.”
At that moment, a wave of hundred sword blades appeared right in front of Minhyuk.
[Hundreds of swords stretch out and form an overwhelmingly large wave.]
[If you get caught up in the wave, you will receive 7,000% attack damage per second.]
Slash, slash, slash, slash, slash, slash—
The wave created from sword blades devoured everything that it passed through. At the same time, Minhyuk’s ‘Overlord’s Mana’ continued to increase rapidly after recognizing the powerful enemy in front of him. Amidst the wave of swords, a flame appeared and covered Minhyuk’s sword.
“Overlord’s Technique.”
Shwaaaaaaaaaaa—
Although Minhyuk used the skill when the Overlord’s Mana was still increasing, the power that it exerted was still enormous.
Booooooooom!
‘Crazy…!’
The two forces collided, but the wave of swords was still stronger. It completely overpowered Minhyuk’s flames and struck his body.
“Ughhh!”
Minhyuk hurriedly gulped some potions to recover his HP. The Divine Sword: Hundred Swords was an unstoppable and unavoidable power. The skill ripped Minhyuk’s body to the point that it looked like some ragged cloth.
Valen unleashed an onslaught of attacks toward Minhyuk. However, Minhyuk was still able to hold out, barely enduring by using all kinds of skills, or evading Valen’s attack as much as he could. Still, as time went by, Minhyuk began to feel desperate.
“Ugh!” Minhyuk groaned as he flew back after being kicked in the abdomen. He then stood up quickly. Despite sustaining a stab on his flank, Minhyuk withdrew and did not even think about staging a counterattack.
Using Like the Wind, a skill that could allow him to narrow or widen the distance between him and his opponent, he tried to get as far away as possible from Valen.
“…What a baffling rascal.”
Then…
Shwaaaaaaaaaa—
Valen hit Minhyuk’s hand, which forced the boy to lose his grip on his sword. In the end, he was unable to stand up. Even his head had started to grow heavy. At the same time, sadness and despair began to overcome his body. His mind raced, thinking about how he should go about dealing with this gate.
‘Maybe I should not awaken Instructor Valen?’
Then, in Minhyuk’s blurred vision, the sword where the real Valen was slumbering began to tremble and shake. Well, to be exact, it was not shaking. It just looked like it was vibrating in Minhyuk’s eyes. Perhaps it was because of the severe pain that he was suffering from, Minhyuk began to hallucinate about having the normal Valen beside him.
[The Slumbering Sword God is telling you to fight to the best of your abilities.]
[The Slumbering Sword God is telling you to hold your sword.]
[The Slumbering Sword God is telling you to do your best.]
“…I know.”
From the words that he heard in his hallucination, Minhyuk slowly started to get up. He wiped the blood that was dripping down his head as he grabbed his sword tightly.
Shwaaaaaaaaaaa—
At the same time, Valen leapt up and tried to deliver the final blow to Minhyuk. But before he could even do so, a transparent barrier appeared around Minhyuk.
“Let’s Have a Meal.”
Minhyuk began to speak softly and gently, “Instructor, do you remember?”
When he met Valen for the first time and had a meal with him, Valen said to him, who was about to step out of the shabby house, ‘Grow stronger. Later, when you have grown strong enough to cross swords with me, let’s have a spar.’
Minhyuk intended to keep that promise, “I will show you how strong I have become now.”
What Minhyuk did inside the Let’s Have a Meal barrier was to create a high grade dish. Once he created a dish, he used ‘Overlapping Delight’ and received its effects which allowed him to grow several times stronger than usual.
“I will definitely defeat you, Instructor.”
At that moment, fierce determination flashed in Minhyuk’s eyes.
***
The most beautiful and saddest gate was a cause of concern even for the operators of Joy Co. Ltd. Various teams and departments began to gather in the Special Players Management Team to witness this moment.
Then, someone asked, “Who would win between Valen, who is in his prime, and the current Food God if they fought with all their might?”
“It should be Valen,” a man’s voice rang from behind the person that asked. The voice belonged to none other than President Kang Taehoon.
Food God Minhyuk might have made plenty of achievements, but was enough for them to be convinced that he would be able to win against Valen in his prime?
“Valen was a God. The most outstanding and the strongest out of all the Continental Gods. Back in his heyday, he was considered as the continent’s guardian, the guardian that even demons could not win against.”
“Ah…”
What was Valen’s level back when he was still living? It was estimated to be at around Level 640. How about in his prime? It was estimated to be at around Level 800, perhaps even higher.
Even President Kang Taehoon actually could not measure the exact level of Valen’s powers. It was because Valen’s powers were not dependent on his level alone. After all, he was in possession of the best swordsmanship, a swordsmanship that was befitting his title of Sword God.
“As expected of a God…” One of the Customer Center Team’s staff muttered.
But then, Team Leader Park Minggyu said, “However, Food God Minhyuk is not a combat class player.”
The Sword God was a combat class while the Food God was a non-combat class.
“We won’t know who has the advantage between the two once he uses the Food God’s power.”
The Customer Center staff asked after thinking about something, “But what kind of reward will he receive if he wins against Instructor Valen?”
President Kang Taehoon remained silent, opting not to answer that question. Of course, he knew a bit about what kind of rewards Minhyuk would get if he wins.
‘The Divine Sword.’
As Valen grew older, it became almost impossible for him to wield the ‘Divine Sword’. That was also one of the reasons why he chose to live the rest of his life as an instructor. But after borrowing Minhyuk’s power, he was able to use the Divine Sword’s First Chapter. Therefore, Minhyuk might just possibly become the owner of the greatest swordsmanship, the Divine Sword.
Meanwhile, the busy Story Team Leader finally arrived.
“Team Leader, this story is just too sad.”
“Yes, it’s sad. But if it was not Player Minhyuk that arrived there then it wouldn’t be sad, you know?”
That was right. For other players, cutting down Valen would just be something rewarding.
Then, Employee Lee Minhwa said, “But it’s very heartbreaking for Player Minhyuk. After all, the current Instructor Valen does not have any of the memories that they spent together.”
“Huh? What do you mean by that?” The Story Team Leader frowned, “Valen might have returned to his younger body, the body that is at its prime, but he has retained his complete memory.”
“…!”
“…!”
“…!”
Everyone present was not stupid, and they immediately understood the words of the Story Team Leader. Valen was acting for Minhyuk’s sake.
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