"This way, please, Madam Norma."
Yoo Jinho led the guests into the living room. Adam White, Norma Selner, and Thomas Andre entered Suho's house in sequence. Thomas Andre leisurely looked around the living room and grinned.
"Quite a cozy house."
With those words, Thomas Andre's large hand effortlessly lifted the wheelchair Norma Selner was in, gently carrying it over the threshold. Such tremendous strength, as if he was just picking up a pair of wooden chopsticks with his fingers. However, Norma Selner, seated in the wheelchair, simply looked ahead as if accustomed to such occurrences. With her deep, pearl-like eyes, she observed everyone gathered in this house. But Adam White, next to her, felt a cold sweat trickle down his spine.
'The individuals gathered in this place right now…'
Outwardly, this was clearly an ordinary family home, perfectly fitting Thomas Andre's description of 'cozy'. However, if one truly knew each of its members, this place was no different from humanity's strongest combat fortress, where nuclear bombs, ready to detonate at any moment, were gathered.
Sung Il-Hwan.
The veteran warrior who had suddenly appeared one day. A (presumed) National-Level Hunter who fights with two daggers. His combat prowess was said to be comparable even to China's Liu Zhigang.
Cha Hae-In.
The undisputed National-Level Hunter who flies on a black dragon, bringing thunder and lightning wherever she goes. Alias, 'Empress of Lightning.'
Yoo Jinho.
Creator of the game 'Solo Leveling: Ragnarok.' CEO of Ahjin Soft, who distributed the awakening system known as the Tower of Trials to all of humanity. Alias, 'The Upgrader.'
And finally…
"Hunter Sung Suho."
Breaking the brief silence, Norma Selner politely greeted Suho. In fluent Korean.
"I finally have the pleasure of meeting you. My name is Norma Selner."
"You know me?"
"Of course, I do. I was the one who cheered for your safe birth more than anyone."
Norma Selner answered Suho's question, reminiscing about a distant memory. Twenty-odd years ago. No, much further back than that. The dizzying future she had glimpsed through her abilities. The most dangerous moment in this universe's history, and yet a miracle of a moment more radiant than any other. But, time flowed… And Norma Selner, now facing the grown Suho before her, spoke gravely.
"…If you hadn't been born safely that day, this world as we know it now would have been very, very… different."
"…"
Though the words of the prophet were without context, Suho's expression hardened.
– Do you know? While giving birth to you, how much Holy water of Live do you think Cha Hae-In consumed?
Perhaps if he hadn't met the Shadow of the World Tree, he wouldn't have understood the meaning of those words at all.
"I am quite a skilled prophet, you see."
Norma Selner, seated in her wheelchair, calmly introduced herself to everyone surrounding her. It was a kind of consideration. There were many here who already knew her. But there were also ordinary people like Park Kyung-hye or Sung Jinah who didn't know her at all.
"Thanks to that, I could see things others couldn't. Such as about you, Sung Suho, and your father."
So she had sincerely prayed and cheered. For Sung Jinwoo's life to be filled with happiness. And… for his son to be born safely.
"It's a little late, but I sincerely thank you. Thank you for being born safely… I really appreciate it."
Norma Sellner bowed politely to express her gratitude.
"Thank you so much for giving birth to a healthy child, Lady Cha Hae-In."
"…"
Suho was left speechless at the sight of her addressing his mother with such sincerity.
Gulp.
Amidst this, Adam White was realizing anew just how important the individuals he was standing among were. For Norma Selner to speak of someone in such a way. And perhaps thanks to his experience connecting to the Tower of Trials, albeit very briefly due to his busy work schedule, or perhaps thanks to directly facing those gathered here today, memories of Sung Jinwoo were gradually surfacing in Adam White's mind. Suppressing his confused thoughts, he whispered to Thomas Andre in a small voice.
"Excuse me, perhaps this isn't a conversation I should be a part of?"
"Don't worry. You're qualified too. I don't know the reason, but Sung Jinwoo was quite fond of you. Was it because, hmm, you were good at translating…? No, was it just because you have a good personality?"
"…"
"Haha, what does it matter?"
Thomas Andre patted Adam White's shoulder with the relaxed demeanor befitting the first user of the Tower of Trials. Of course, that didn't alleviate Adam White's tension. After a brief but heavy silence, Yoo Jinho, glancing around, tried to lighten the mood with a forced cough.
"You are… born to be loved… Ahem, sorry."
"…"
"…"
Ah, a failure. In the even more solemn atmosphere, Suho's gaze suddenly fell on Norma Selner's wheelchair.
"Did you injure your leg?"
"No. It is merely ordinary aging. My muscles have weakened due to my age, you see. In fact, being a prophet is quite a sedentary profession."
At Norma Selner's response, delivered while smiling with a light joke at the end, Suho's gaze shifted elsewhere. There was someone else here as old as Norma Selner. Sung Il-Hwan and Park Kyung-hye. But unlike the frail Norma Selner, those two, though showing signs of age, were still healthy. In fact, Sung Il-Hwan, aside from his age, was in a precarious state where his body could be torn apart by dimensional rifts at any moment due to the numerous Starpieces embedded in him. Despite that, he looked incredibly healthy compared to Norma Selner. It was a great relief from Suho's perspective, and he thought he knew the secret to that health.
'…I've gathered all the ingredients, shall I try making it soon.'
[Item: Holy Water of Life]
[Acquisition Difficulty: S]
[Type: Consumable]
[A mysterious potion that cures all illnesses with strong magical power.]
[Its full effect is manifested only when the entire bottle is used.]
The Holy Water of Life he had intended to make for Sung Il-Hwan all this time. There were three ingredients required for its creation. But Suho had not merely gathered the ingredients; he had found the very source of those ingredients, enough to use them lavishly without regret.
[Holy Water of Life]
[Craftable]
[Ingredients]
[Purified Demon King's Blood (1/1)]
[Fragment of the World Tree (1/1)]
[Spring water of the Echo Forest (1/1)]
Now that all the ingredients were gathered, it was time to try making it. Among these ingredients, the 'Purified Demon King's Blood' was Esil's Blood Crystal. The Fragment of the World Tree was also a given, since he had found the World Tree itself. And the Spring water of the Echo Forest was continuously being transported from Sirka's homeland even at this moment. Suho could now extract the ingredients for the Holy Water of Life as much as Esil's blood permitted, as much as he could squeeze out the Blood Crystals from her.
However, from the moment he found the World Tree until now, a series of major incidents, including the recent class change quest, had erupted one after another, leaving no time to craft the Holy Water of Life. Even Sung Il-Hwan, who actually needed to drink the Holy Water of Life, had been busy running around here and there, engaging in battles. Additionally, Sung Il-Hwan himself had said he wanted to train a little more using the power of the Starpieces for the time being, so it had been postponed day by day until now.
"Grandfather."
For Suho, who had become the 'Guardian of the World Tree, Monarch of Transcendence,' crafting the Holy Water of Life no longer even required the system's assistance. This was now the realm of authority.
"Yes."
When Suho suddenly turned to him, Sung Il-Hwan immediately understood and nodded. The time had finally come. He had postponed it, using his training as an excuse, but in truth, he was slowly reaching his limit. Especially while fending off the Apostles of Conquest recently, he had been desperately suppressing the cracks in his body from widening to a dangerous point. But the gains from pushing himself so hard were also great. Sung Il-Hwan's vessel had grown beyond comparison to before, exceeding its limits.
'But… pushing him any harder than this would be truly dangerous.'
As Sung Il-Hwan nodded, Suho opened his inventory without hesitation.
[Do you want to craft Item: 'Holy Water of Life'?]
"Craft."
At that single word, the three ingredients stored in his inventory began to mix together above Suho's hands.
[Crafting Item: 'Holy Water of Life'.]
[10, 9, 8....]
[The 'Success Rate of Crafting' and 'Number of Resulting Items' vary depending on the crafter's Intelligence stat.]
[7, 6, 5....]
There was no need to listen to the countdown. The system was emphasizing the importance of Suho's Intelligence stat, but it didn't matter. Suho already understood the principle of crafting the Holy Water of Life perfectly.
'Blood Crystal.'
Blood, which is both power and life, the purified blood of demons, highly refined and compressed. The origin of this power likely stemmed from the desire and yearning of the residents of the void and the dregs of the afterlife to become 'living beings.' And…
'Fragment of the World Tree.'
A fragment of the great tree whose leaves alone possessed such potent life force that they were used as ingredients for healing potions. The power dwelling within it was a life force so strong and great that it could even cause dead souls departed to the Sea of the Afterlife to be reborn. And…
'Spring water of the Echo Forest.'
The lives of countless elves, raised by spirits for long ages. The purifying power, a convergence of the aspirations and hopes of pure elves who had fled to the end and survived, to avoid having their bodies and souls devoured by those maddened spirits and Elvenwoods. That powerful purifying force cleansed the potent toxicity ingrained in the Demon King's blood. And it mixed the differing energies of the World Tree Fragment and the Demon King's Blood into one.
Then....
Flash!
[Crafting Complete!]
[Crafting Successful!]
[Obtained Item: 'Holy Water of Life' x10]
Before he knew it, the Holy Water of Life sloshed in Suho's hand. A full ten of them. And even then, plenty of ingredients still remained. Suho handed one of them to Sung Il-Hwan. And he placed another in Norma Selner's hand. It was a gift for the old prophet who had prayed for his father's happiness for so very long.
"Th-this is…?"
While Norma Selner was flustered upon receiving the Holy Water of Life, Sung Il-Hwan accepted it without hesitation and drank it. At that moment…
Fwaaaaaaah—!
A dazzling light erupted from his body, which had been covered in countless dimensional cracks and seemed about to shatter. Simultaneously, all the spiderweb-like cracks healed. And the numerous Starpieces embedded in his body all melted down, beginning to merge into one. And within that dazzling aura of light, Sung Il-Hwan's hand snatched the unified, purified divine power.
Flash—
At that moment. Like blessed rain falling on a drought-stricken land riddled with cracks. The fruits of Sung Il-Hwan's self-imposed hardships finally materialized.
"Hmm?"
Thomas Andre, watching the scene from behind with his arms crossed, raised an eyebrow slightly. As if greatly intrigued. Having secretly hunted down numerous Outer God cultists with the US government, he recognized the 'type' of power emanating from Sung Il-Hwan at a glance. So how could he not smile?
"Hehe. The Outer Gods would be furious if they saw. For an apostle who doesn't serve them to be born…"
Not just a High Priest level, but Apostle-level. Sung Il-Hwan's eyes, having absorbed all that divine power as his own after the Holy Water of Life purified the Starpieces, shone mystically.
* * *
Meanwhile, at that very moment. In the depths of the North Pole. An emergency bell suddenly rang in the secret base that Yuri Orlov had hidden under dozens of layers of S-rank barriers.
"The Prime Minister's order has come down!"
"Execute Project 'Unwithering Spring'!"
Beep beep beep beep beep—
Amidst the blaring alarms within the base, Director Petrov swiftly issued instructions to the control room staff. Tension was palpable on his face.
"All devices to maximum output! Increase Essence Stone supply by 300 percent!"
Across from the control room, visible beyond reinforced glass, was a giant circular hall. At its center sat a circular structure of enormous size. A massive hole existed in the center of this device, called the 'Void Gate.' Beyond that hole, a darkness that seemed to suck in even light. No… a gate to a star-studded universe unfolded.
"Director, mana levels have reached a dangerous point!"
A technician shouted. However, Petrov ignored him and continued his commands.
"Then double the injection rate of the Starpieces!"
"But at this rate, the barrier…"
"It's fine! It's the Prime Minister's order!"
Gooooooooo—
Just then, energy extracted from Elvenwood was being sucked into the Void Gate. With that, the entire secret base began to vibrate as if an earthquake had struck the area. Watching the scene, two technicians swallowed dryly as they looked at the tremendous energy raging beyond the Void Gate.
"That… is becoming something completely different from when we first built it."
"Right. At first, it was just a small dimensional crack…"
Alexei, the technician who had personally built that device, was breaking out in a cold sweat.
"Ever since the Prime Minister started adding more magic circles and inputting more materials… that thing started getting stranger and stranger."
His colleague, Ivan, nodded with an uneasy expression.
"Yeah, it feels strange looking at it. It's like…"
"Like someone from that side is watching us too."
"…Right. It's like a two-way passage. As much as we look at it, it feels like they're looking back at us from that side."
Beep beep beep beep—
The ominous warning sound repeated faster and faster. Simultaneously, the Void Gate in the center of the circular hall began to grow brighter. What was initially a pale gray gradually turned into a brighter white. An intense light, like looking directly at the sun, flashed.
Petrov, sweating profusely, observed this entire situation coolly. He didn't know exactly what Prime Minister Orlov was planning. No one knew. All they knew was that this Void Gate was no simple passage.