Chapter 371 – Thanatos (1)
“Why did you forget that? You sent him.”
Hochi said, with a double candlewick in his eyes.
(T/N: ‘to have double candlewick in one’s eyes’ means to glare with anger. You know, when characters get super angry, their eyes light up with literal fire. Like so.)
I had nothing to say.
“Even if you forgot about other people, you should have remembered him.”
This was a very unusual experience.
I’ve never been scolded by Hochi.
I don’t know if it’s just anger or resentment.
“Hey, don’t think about anything else. I’m talking to you.”
“Yong-yong, Uncle is scolding Dad.”
I tried to ask for help from Yong-yong sitting on my lap, but Yong-yong looked at me and Hochi and just smiled.
Contrary to my wishes, Yong-yong did not take my side.
Yong-yong had a stricter side than expected in judging my wrongs.
“Hey! Focus on what I’m saying!”
Hochi screamed.
“No, how can I remember all that. I’ve had a lot of work to do these days.”
“You’re a god! How can a god forget about it?
What do you think a god is capable of?
It’s unfair.
A person’s memory is very strange.
Obviously, I became a god and had a memory beyond the normal range.
I could remember each and every single dish served at my first birthday party.
If I tried to remember.
Conversely, if I don’t think about remembering it, it’s just buried in my memory.
“What will you do about Jun-seok?”
Hochi asked in an unpleasant voice.
He’s more angry than I thought.
When they went to Japan together in the past, it seems that they got closer to each other than I thought.
“I’ll go. Is it Thanatos or Tadatos? We have to go and bring him to Earth before the war breaks out.”
“Yes, go right now while only the words have been spoken. Just in case.”
Hochi decided to start right away.
I was the opposite.
“Give me one day, no half a day. I’ll leave after half a day.”
“Why? Do you have anything to prepare?”
“Hmm. The item I decided to give him.”
I decided to make it for him next time, but I haven’t even touched it yet.
It had to be made in a hurry in half a day.
“... Yes, make it fast and go. It might be dangerous because it’s a war zone, you irresponsible bastard.”
* * *
Inside a dark abandoned building.
There was a man looking over a cracked window like a spider web and applying a potion to the wound on his shoulder.
It was Lee Jun-seok.
“Ah.......”
He was groaning a little because of the pain.
Lee Jun-seok, who applied the potion, wore a coat roughly.
There was no need to bandage or tighten the affected area.
Lee Jun-seok’s natural healing power was at the level of self-healing to where he could ignore wounds even if a hole was drilled into his internal organs.
Applying a potion to speed up healing, and taking a break for a while was enough.
“Sigh.”
He sighed.
In fact, he was more cold and hungry than pained from the injury he felt on his shoulder.
And the fact that there was no way to overcome this cramped situation made Lee Jun-seok even more distressed.
Sunlight began to appear through the window.
He couldn’t see the sun when he tried to go to the city center full of skyscrapers, but he could see that morning was coming.
Like this, another day began.
According to Lee Jun-seok’s standards, the day has ended again.
Lee Jun-seok, who is in the position of a fugitive, was able to move only after the sun fell.
That wasn’t easy for him, but it was better than moving in broad daylight.
On the planetary system of Thanatos, which was more developed than Earth, he could not attempt to assassinate enemies in bright daylight with a wanted criminal status.
Even ordinary people across the country and on the streets recognized him.
Specifying the target of the assassination, and even wandering around to obtain information about the target had to be done at the risk of his life.
The assassination itself was also very difficult, but it took a really long period to plan one assassination.
At this rate, he wasn’t sure how many months or years it would take to complete the mission.
It was questionable whether he would be able to successfully complete his mission in the first place.
He tried to sleep in his sleeping bag, sighing once more in his tight heart.
Bang!
At that time, an explosion occurred in front of the main entrance of the abandoned building.
Lee Jun-seok, who was lying in his sleeping bag, got up again and looked at the situation.
In his senses, no animals such as wild cats were detected, let alone people approaching the abandoned building.
Pazizik!
However, in front of the front door of the abandoned building, the trap he had installed was triggered, and it was pouring lightning on someone.
The person’s figure, seen through the dazzling sparks, stood still in the midst of the lightning strike.
No matter how much he looked at it, the person wasn’t affected by the surprise lightning.
Considering the power of the lightning that turned ordinary humans into human-sized chunks of charcoal at once, it was a truly unrealistic sight.
Lee Jun-seok was convinced that his enemies had found the location of his hideout and attacked him.
“Heeeeeeeyy.”
Standing in the middle of the trap, the man caught in the blitz, even opened his mouth and tried to speak to him.
“Itttttssssssmmmmeeeeeee.”
It was a word that Lee Jun-seok could not understand.
Lee Jun-seok prepared for an attack before the enemy who appeared out of nowhere escaped from the trap.
“Ah, aaaaaa. Thiiiissss. Leeeee, shi.”
Along with the man’s yelling, a loud bang rang and the trap collapsed.
Just before Lee Jun-seok had finished preparing to attack, he had to stop his movements.
It was because the man’s face, who appeared in the lightning spark, belonged to someone he knew.
“Shit. You got all these different traps.”
“... Hojae-hyung?”
When Lee Ho-jae appeared at an unexpected point in time, Lee Jun-seok approached him confused.
* * *
“Hyung, what are you doing here?”
Asked Lee Jun-seok.
How should I answer here?
“I’m worried about you. It seems like the work is taking longer than I expected, so I came here.”
“Hyung.......”
It’s a lie.
Now, I don’t feel guilty about lying now.
My conscience was too strong for that.
Lee Jun-seok looked at me with his moist eyes, as if he was moved.
He’s become more sensitive than before.
I understood.
Originally, rolling alone in a place like this without something to rely on, it is a great mental comfort when you meet someone who treats you well.
Especially since Lee Jun-seok before this was sitting comfortably on Earth, so he must have been under greater pressure than in the Tutorial.
Following Lee Jun-seok’s guidance, I entered the abandoned building.
It looked like an old abandoned factory.
It was bad, but I could see Lee Jun-seok had used it as a base for a long time. The traces of cleaning all over the place were visible.
“Don’t mind the explosion earlier. I have a barrier so that no sound can be heard outside.”
“Ah, that’s fortunate. I was worried about having to move my hideout.”
Lee Jun-seok laughed a little as if he was relieved.
I said I had a barrier, but he’s still speaking his words softly.
It may be a temporary habit caused by hiding for too long.
I asked Lee Jun-seok about the progress of the quest.
As I remember, Lee Jun-seok showed confidence in the quest of the God of Death.
He even talked about it as if he had already gone through this place on the Tutorial’s hard difficulty.
This was also a reason for sending Lee Jun-seok alone to another world without much thought.
However, contrary to expectations, Lee Jun-seok had not been able to clear the quest for a long time.
Even looking at this abandoned building and his slightly limping movement, he seemed to be struggling.
“You said you’ve been here once in the Tutorial.”
“Yes. I did.......”
“And you said you caught a ghost or something.”
“Yeah.......”
Lee Jun-seok replied without energy.
“I’ve caught them before. The situation has changed a lot between then and now.”
“Then and now?”
“Yes, about 3,000 years.......”
Lee Jun-seok briefly explained the difference.
“I mean, those who used to carry swords and shields now shoot laser guns.”
“Yeah. Well, putting it simply it’s like that.”
According to Lee Jun-seok’s explanation, the technology of this place called Thanatos seems to be considerable.
The level of advancing into the satellite system of another planet and building a space colony was a level far beyond that of Earth.
“Besides, the social position of the ghosts has changed so much. They are no longer called ghosts.”
The quest explained that there were ghosts and irregulars in Thanatos against the will of the God of Death.
“In the past, they were treated as monsters and hunted by ordinary humans, but now they have become social leaders.”
That would be a bit of a problem.
As civilization advances, the power of the social leaders becomes proportionately stronger.
Of course, there are also means to check that power, but usually those with such means also belong to the social leadership.
“What exactly is that ghost?”
“They’re immortal.”
“Immortal?”
“Yes, it literally doesn’t die. They die when attacked, but they don’t naturally die because they don’t have a lifespan.”
What, that’s cheating.
Is it like a vampire?
“No, it doesn’t matter if they wander in the sun. They don’t even drink blood. It’s just like an ordinary person. The only difference is that their skin becomes translucent and requires magical surgery.”
The risk is too small.
Being transparent is a really meaningless risk.
You just need to wear clothes underneath.
When the skin on the face becomes a little translucent, it is not a disadvantage compared to eternal life, although it may look disgusting.
The need for magical surgery was not a disadvantage, but rather an advantage.
“Surgery will be expensive, right?”
“Yes, so only people with a lot of money can do it.”
Of course, everyone who can get surgery is getting it.
Those in power will be those in power for the rest of their life, and only the workers under them will die and be born again and again.
It’s the worst social structure.
It was understandable that Lee Jun-seok was not using much power.
Those in power here will wield powers closer to gods than kings.
Immortality.
The God of Death deserves to be hated.
Humans who overcome death appear in the realm of the god that symbolizes death.
No matter how much I thought about it, it wasn’t normal.
It must have been the skill of a god who wants to keep the God of Death in check or covets this realm.
“Is that so?”
“Of course. It makes no sense that eternal life is possible in the first place.”
It was impossible without the involvement of divine power.
Even those who have gone through the Tutorial get older as they age.
Their aging rate is only slightly lower than that of the general public.
But those who have the same body as ordinary people, having their life expectancy extended to near eternal life?
It was impossible without divine power.
It was said that this happened even before the technological prowess of this world developed, so I was even more certain.
When I heard that Thanatos became a place for a war between the Hundred Gods Temple and the Pantheon, I thought it was just an excuse for the Hundred Gods Temple to start a war.
But now that I see it, it is really a place where a conflict could happen.
I don’t know what kind of god it is, but it was too blatantly outspoken in its quarrel with the God of Death.
[As if prepared for war.]
The God of Hope, who had been quiet for a while, said abruptly.
What, all of a sudden.
[I have something to say.]
What.
Did any new information come out from the Hundred Gods Temple?
[Let me go.]
At those sudden words, I had to stumble for a moment.
What?
[Let me go.]
What if I let you go?
[I want to go back to my sanctuary and hide for a while.]
As far as I know, there is no sanctuary for the God of Hope.
Of course there was, but I destroyed everything.
[I just need to rebuild it.]
I ignored those words.
Whether reconstruction was possible or impossible, it was none of my business.
The God of Hope was held by me for the obvious use of providing information.
I’m also worried about what kind of accidents he would cause if I let him go free that would make the situation more complicated.
The God of Hope’s hope was not in consideration.
The God of Hope, who was denied his request, remained silent.
This is a little weird.
Whether it’s interrogation or torture, I thought I should talk to him in depth later.
* * *
“Is everything alright on Earth? Are you all doing well?”
Lee Jun-seok asked.
I had to think about it for a while.
There was something special.
While Lee Jun-seok was not present, I thought about how to explain that the Pantheon invaded Earth and it was chaotic, but somehow we blocked it well.
And I gave up.
“Uh, nothing much.”
I decided to let him ask Kim Min-hyuk or Hochi for an explanation later.
My conscience began to itch.
I took out what I had prepared to ease my conscience.
“What is it?”
“An item. I said I’d make it for you before.”
In fact, the reason Lee Jun-seok was sent here was because of this item.
Because I had disposed of the items Lee Jun-seok used in the Tutorial, I issued him a new item.
And it was bothersome to get it right away, so I sent him here to get some time.
“This.......”
It was a gauntlet that I handed to Lee Jun-seok.
“Originally, I was going to make a bracelet, but these days, gauntlets seem to be the trend.”
“Wow, that’s perfect.”
Lee Jun-seok, who wore the gauntlet on his hand, said.
“What is the effect?”
“I prepared that too.”
I flicked my finger and opened a message window in front of Lee Jun-seok.
[Gauntlet]
*Physical Damage Immunity
*Magical Damage Resistance
*User Protection Effect
*User Lightning Immunity
*Lightning Damage Amplification
*Magical Power Recovery Increased
*Gauntlet made by Lee Ho-jae.
It has been made with great care for a long time, and has perfect performance without any flaws.
As expected, the item needs such an intuitive explanation.
“When you press on an item, the exact number is also displayed.”
“Hyung...... .”
Lee Jun-seok looked at me with a face full of gratitude and joy as if he was moved to tears.
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