Chapter 89: A New Hero 1
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Friday evening, 7:58 p.m.
Junhyuk had his TV on and was lying on the bed. It could be his last time doing that. In case he died on the Dimensional Battlefield, he had a will written. He hadn't thought about it when he was penniless, but now that he had more than ten million in his bank account, he thought he should get one done.
Junhyuk didn't have any immediate family he had to support yet, so he left one million to Sarang and everything else to his parents.
He could die, and Sarang could survive, so he wanted her to have money to train to continue to survive in the Dimensional Battlefield.
Still, he wanted to come back alive.
Junhyuk inserted the Beast King White Tiger's Canine on his ear and held the earring given by Eunseo in his hand. He thought of her, and a smile crept across his lips. Then, he placed her earring on his pillow.
He also put the Dark Night Cloak on and moved the Pure Golden Knight Elder's rings from the chain around his neck to his fingers. It was 7:59 p.m.
Soon, he would have to leave for the Dimensional Battlefield.
A message popped on his phone. It was from Sarang's number.
[We will meet soon.]
Junhyuk laughed and replied:
[Yes, we'll meet soon.]
Junhyuk lay on his bed comfortably. Soon, he would be covered by the bright light, so he waited, but nothing changed. He gave it a minute longer than normal, but after waiting for a while, everything stayed the same.
He opened his eyes. It was 8:03 p.m.
Junhyuk was supposed to have left for the Dimensional Battlefield at eight o'clock, but the time had passed.
"I'm sure they said it was after four weeks?!"
Then, his telephone rang. He knew it was Sarang's number, so he answered it, and she whispered nervously:
"Big brother, what's happened?"
Junhyuk decided to take a guess at the situation.
"We've advanced, so the summoning time has changed. Let's wait for a couple of hours to see if they'll summon us."
"OK. Understood. I'll just go to sleep. They might summon me in my sleep."
Junhyuk thought she lead a comfortable life and laughed.
"Do it. Meet you later."
"Right. Meet you later."
Sarang hung up the phone, and Junhyuk stared at the TV. The news was on, and it was about the metal series.
After the collaboration's demonstration, people had ordered a hundred thousand metal models. The worldwide order numbers were small, but they were still first time orders.
After the first orders were fulfilled, people would speak nicely of the metal series. The metal series didn't have any side effects, and it enabled disabled people to lead normal lives. It cost about the same price as buying a new car, but people with some money saved up wanted to buy one even if it meant going beyond their means.
Junhyuk lay on his bed. Those could be their last couple of hours in Korea, but Sarang wanted to sleep.
"She is an interesting girl."
He decided to close his eyes. They didn't sleep on the Dimensional Battlefield. It was all about the soul, and they didn't eat either. They were anxious the whole time. Sarang was right in getting some sleep.
He hadn't slept more than three hours each day because of training, so Junhyuk closed his eyes and waited to fall asleep. He thought he was getting there when the bright light covered his vision. He didn't sleep; he was summoned instead. The light disappeared, and he saw a number on the corner of the room.
It said: 32,240G.
The last time he had checked, he had 2,240G. He was sure of that, so he didn't know where the extra thirty thousand gold came from. He had to have earned it during the dragon hunt and the three-time annihilation of the enemy heroes. Still, it was a lot of money.
Junhyuk inspected his earring. If he sold it, it would net him thirty thousand gold, so he would have sixty thousand gold. He felt like a wealthy person.
Junhyuk took off the expert armor and was left naked, only wearing his cloak. He was alone, but it felt weird, so he summoned Bebe's Black Armor. He still had the Dark Night Cloak on and, for safety, he pulled out his swords.
He sheathed the swords around his waist and heard a soft, low voice:
[Welcome. You are being summoned to the Valley of Death.]
"I didn't want to come back," he complained.
He regulated his breathing, and his head felt clear and lucid.
[You may exit using the main entrance.]
Junhyuk headed toward the entrance and heard further instructions.
[You've activated two powers and became an expert. You may reincarnate one time as an expert.]
"I'll stay alive this time as well."
After advancing to this level, he would encounter stronger heroes and risk his life.
Junhyuk stood in front of the entrance.
[Expert 01 deployed.]
He walked out to a sea of minions talking to each other. No one was making a scene. Suddenly, he heard a familiar voice.
"Big brother!"
He turned to look and saw Sarang. She walked over and grabbed his hands. He laughed a little and pressed down on her forehead.
"It took two extra hours, but we came together."
"Right," she said and looked around. "Where is big-sister Vera?"
"Since when is she your big sister?"
"She told me to call her that!"
Junhyuk was left speechless. Then, the door opened, and a person walked inside. Artlan greeted the both of them.
"How are you?"
Junhyuk considered the Dimensional Battlefield a place where he had to risk his life, but Artlan thought of it as a picnic. He seemed to be doing well.
"How are you?"
"I'm fine. I know we'll meet stronger enemies, so I'm excited."
"Do you know anything about them?"
"No," Artlan said curtly.
"You two, follow me."
"What about Vera?"
"Vera left to go buff monster hunting already."
"Then, where are we going?"
Artlan smiled.
"You'll come with me to check out our new enemies," he said.
"Will we have support?"
"Yes. After they are done hunting, they will join us."
This could be dangerous. Everybody was hunting buff monsters, so the allies might not get there in time, and if the enemies showed up, they would die.
Artlan was not worried.
"If there is danger, run," he said.
"I can run away."
Artlan looked at them seriously.
"We will meet very strong opponents. If there is nothing we can do, you two should survive," he said.
As he said that, Junhyuk relaxed a little. He was very confident about running away.
Artlan took fifty minions and headed out. They followed him calmly, taking a long, straight road headed to a watchtower. They wouldn't encounter any monsters on the way, but where they were headed, they would soon meet new heroes.
Artlan was happy and took easy, light steps, and the minions followed him while talking among themselves. Ordinarily, Artlan would get angry, and Junhyuk thought the minions were too relaxed.
"Wait! Focus on me!"
After Junhyuk spoke, everyone looked at him. The language pill allowed one to converse with others in different languages. He talked, and everyone understood regardless of the languages they spoke. The pill cost a hundred gold, and that was a good price.
Junhyuk was speaking to them the same way heroes talked to minions.
"This is the Dimensional Battlefield. If you want to survive, focus on your defense," he said calmly.
The minions would fight minions. When they fought heroes, they would get killed, so there was no point in talking about it. After the explanation, they raised their shields.
"Then, we'll speed up."
While explaining, their speed had gone down. Artlan was leading and, like always, he didn't care about the minions, so Junhyuk led the minions and followed Artlan.
Artlan looked at him.
"You are all about minions!"
"They will make a big difference."
Artlan laughed and saw a watchtower far away and sped up. The group followed him. They got to the watchtower, and the enemy minions were already there.
Junhyuk checked them out.
"Are they riflemen?"
He hadn't expected that the minions could be different. They wore armor and carried rifles. His side was carrying shields and swords, and they were carrying rifles.
Artlan was not worried.
"Minions are stronger than you think. They can shield themselves from their attacks."
Junhyuk looked at the minions, and they are dumbfounded. He looked over a the riflemen again and saw that the rifles had bayonets, and that they were ready for close combat as well. It was a big task for the minions to go against them.
Then, Junhyuk looked over at the enemy hero. He was ten feet tall, wearing goggles and seemed very strong. He was wearing a leather jacket, and Junhyuk could see his muscles bulging through it.
The most impressive part was his mechanical arm, which started at his elbow. The arm was large enough to cover Artlan's upper body. It won't only hurt, it will kill you.
"Is that a mechanical arm?" Sarang asked, and Junhyuk nodded heavily.
The man was smoking a cigar.
"He's a bit steampunky," Junhyuk whispered.
"Steampunky?"
Junhyuk couldn't explain what he had meant.
"In cartoons, in a highly developed societies..."
Sarang looked at him strangely.
"Big Brother, you like cartoons?!"
"Most men watch cartoons as grown ups."
Junhyuk wanted to focus on the enemy. From the enemy's watchtower to the allied watchtower, there were about 165 feet. Even for heroes, that was too far of a distance to exchange blows.
The man wearing the goggles opened his mechanical fist, placed his cigar on it and exhaled deeply.
"We will meet often. Let me introduce myself. I'm Bater," he said.
"I'm Artlan," he replied curtly.
Bater laughed and inhaled his cigar.
Artlan frowned. He would be fighting him, but he was just sitting there smoking his cigar. Artlan was getting angry, and Bater cracked his neck lightly.
"You got an expert and a novice. That's big!"
"What about you?"
"I could have someone, but I have no use for them."
Artlan stepped forward with a smile.
"Let me see if your strength is as strong as your mouth."
Bater looked at him.
"Are you OK?"
Artlan pulled out his sabers and signaled for Bater with his chin.
"Come here," Artlan said, and Bater's eyebrows twitched. His pride had been hurt.
"You earned your beating."