During the time he was waiting for Henova to complete Gygesâ Eyes, he traced back to where his brother had been, trying to live the life his brother had lived. Not only that, he also practiced metallurgy in order to repair his brotherâs pocket watch.
And he had one more reason to stay in Outer District.
To work out a strategy to speedrun through the lower floors.
âJeong-woo cleared the first ten floors within 10 days.â
The reason why Arthia had drawn the playersâ attention from all over The Tower.
It was because they had passed through the so called âBeginner Zoneâ floors 10 days after finishing the tutorial, which was equivalent to clearing one floor a day for ten days.
It was an unprecedented record which had become a turning point in the thousands of years of The Towerâs history.
Thanks to this, Jeong-woo and his team, Arthia, were able to prove themselves as one of the most influential clans in The Tower.
And the record they set left an indelible mark that has never been broken even after the dissolution of Arthia.
But of course, what Yeon-woo wanted to gain through breaking this record was neither honor nor glory.
âJeong-woo was given Hadesâ Key after setting that record.â
Hadesâ key, the second key to opening Olympusâ Treasury.
It was a hidden piece, given only to those who quickly passed through the Beginner Zone.
Just like how Zeusâ Key was given only to the players who had topped the tutorial, The Tower was once again demanding players to accomplish an excruciatingly difficult task.
Only after getting Hadesâ Key, I belatedly became aware of both the existence of Olympusâ Treasury and the way to acquire Zeusâ Key. Then, I felt a bit regretful because if I had tried a little harder, I could have ranked first and gotten Zeusâ Key. Fortunately, I got a chance to enter Olympusâ Treasury later on, but if I had been able to get in a little earlierâŚ.
The only way to acquire Hadesâ Key was to break the previous record, which meant he had to pass through those 10 floors in less than 10 days.
Though it would be challenging, he didnât think it would be too difficult.
All the skills and experiences he had gained during the tutorial would serve of great help.
And above all, he would have Gygesâ Eye added to his power.
All of a sudden, a faint smile crossed Yeon-wooâs lips.
âCome to think of it, isnât this also a competition between me and Jeong-woo?â
The burning desire to beat his brother started to gather rapidly in his mind.
His pride as an older brother didnât allow him to lose against Jeong-woo.
Yeon-woo raised his head and looked out the window.
Far away in the distance, there stood The Tower with its head poking through the cloudy sky.
* Â * Â *
âHaa⌠Those bastards! I havenât had a single peaceful day after that idiot started coming here.â
In the smithy, after Yeon-woo and the siblings had left, Henova was grumbling as he furiously puffed at his pipe.
His smithy had been a peaceful place for the past few years. But in a matter of a few days, too many things had happened all at once.
And then, there were those three kids.
No matter how many times he yelled at them to be quiet, they never listened.
How did he end up tangled with those kids?
This was all because of that kid with the white mask.
âHold on a second⌠whatâs his name again?â
While trying to recall Yeon-wooâs name, Henova soon realized that he had been calling him âkidâ, âidiotâ or âbastardâ, but he had never called him by his name, or even asked him his name.
Then he began to feel sorry for what he had done to him.
At the same time, he felt thankful to Yeon-woo.
âNo. No. Look at how stressed I am because of that little rascal!â
As he mumbled to himself, Henova walked over to the place where Yeon-woo always sat.
In the place where the hammer had been making loud noises, the molten metal radiated intense heat, and the furnace spewed out scorching fire until just a few minutes ago. The images of Yeon-woo silently hammering a piece of metal, Phanteâ noisy chattering next to him, and Edora quietly reading her book lingered there.
He felt as though the images were going to come alive at any moment.
Moreover, the images kept overlapping with another scene from his memory.
âHey pops! Come take a look at this! Isnât this awesome?â
âWait a second, you used that skill, didnât you? You promised not to use any skill!â
âNope. I didnât use it. You donât even have proof.â
âHow can it come out like that without using your skill!â
âYou got proof? Huh?â
âYou asshole!â
âHey, guys. Can you please stop yelling? Iâm reading here.â
âGo somewhere else if you want to read!â
âTsk. This is why people call you dumb.â
¡¡¡
The noisy, messy, hectic, and chaotic scene that he remembered.
In the past, there were kids who had visited his smithy every so often like it was their hideout.
Henova tried shouting at them, kicking their butts, cursing at them and several other methods to kick them out of his smithy, but they didnât care for what he said.
But it was a sight that was never going to happen ever again.
A wisp of white smoke spew out accompanied by a deep sigh, rising up to fill up the ceiling of the smithy.
âI guess I did get old.â
Henova shook his head with a bitter smile.
âHmph. Those bastardsâŚ.â
It was probably better to call it a day here.
If he kept hammering like this, he could ruin the artifact
âLetâs see here⌠Hmm, it seems like Iâm almost done with this artifact. Has it been a month already? Haha, time flies so fast.â
Time seemed to have passed faster than usual .
The due date for when Henova had promised to complete the artifact was already reaching the end.
âWell, even if Iâm late, itâs all his fault.â
With that thought in mind, Henova was about to put out the fire of the furnace and stand up from his seat.
Just then,
*Creeeak*
âExcuse me.â
The door suddenly opened.
âSorry, but the shopâs closed. Come back tomorrow if youâŚ.â
Henova first spoke to the sudden visitor without looking, and when he turned his head, his face stiffened.
Standing in front of the door, there was a man he had sworn to never see again.
A man from his old memories.
âItâs been a long time, master.â
The man gave a slight grin at Henova.
* Â *Â Â *
Under the night sky covered by a bright moon and twinkling stars, Yeon-woo once again went to the cafe his brother used to often visit and drank his hazelnut coffee at the terrace.
Over the fence, laid a magnificent night view brimming with sparkles of colorful lights.
It was such an exuberant view that one could never grow tired of, but right now, Yeon-wooâs attention was engaged in something other than the view.
[The information cannot be accessed.]
[Appraisal failed]
[The information cannot be accessed.]
¡¡¡
[Appraisal succeeded]
[???âs ??? Pocket Watch]
???. ??????.
âIt worked.â
Yeon-woo nodded after examining his pocket watch with Draconic Eyes.
It seemed like the attainment of metallurgy-related skills had finally allowed him to view its information.
But of course, even if it was open, there was not much he could read.
âI still have a long way to go.â
But just as the idiom âWell begun is half doneâ said, now that he had it open, the only thing remaining was to gain more knowledge and skills to enhance Draconic Eyes.
The moment he was smiling at his achievement,
âWhat are you doing here aloneâŚ?â
Yeon-woo heard a voice from behind.
He quickly put his pocket watch back into his pocket.
In the meantime, Phante and Edora came and sat next to Yeon-woo.
As if he still wasnât used to using honorifics, Phanteâs end of the sentence was spoken unclearly.
Edora smiled and spoke after a sip of her coffee.
âCain âOraboniâ isnât like you, Phante âOppaâ. He was probably mapping out the strategy to climb up The Tower. Isnât that right?â
(TN: Oppa is a Korean term used by females when referring to males older than them. Oraboni is a more polite way of saying Oppa.)
She said with a broad smile.
But unlike her smile,
ââŚ?â
Yeon-woo was showing a puzzled face as if he had heard something wrong.
âOraboniii?!?â
And Phante looked disgusted at the sound of his sisterâs kittenish voice he had never heard in his life.
But Edora kept her smile on her face and continued.
âIf you are hyung to my brother Phante, you are also oraboni to me. Or is there any other term you want me to call you?â
Phante blew his top at Edoraâs response.
âNot fair! Then call me oraboni too!â
âWhy would I?â
Edora lightly snorted at Phante.
It was a distinctly different attitude compared to the one she had when talking to Yeon-woo.
Phante was struck dumb and stared at Edora in bewilderment, but Edora simply ignored his look.
Yeon-woo also burst out laughing at their conversation.
These two were players he had only come across by chance.
Yeon-woo thought they would leave him after Phante had fought with him, but the two still remained in the Outer District and followed him around.
At first, he just ignored them. But as he spent more time with them, he started to find them cute, just like having little brother and sister.
Especially whenever they start bickering, he also saw someone else in them.
Yeon-woo and his brother.
Kahn and Doyle.
âSiblings are just the same no matter where.â
And the moment Yeon-woo broke into a pleased smile,
âBy the way, hyung.â
Yeon-woo came to his senses at Phanteâs calling.
He had a strange look on his face.
âIâve been feeling this since this morning,â
He then glanced down the terrace.
His eyes turned ferocious just like the ones he showed when they first met in the tutorial.
âWhy are you leaving these tails alone? They really tick me off.â
The âtailsâ that Phante was talking about. It was the players that were spying on Yeon-woo.
They themselves might believe nobody had noticed them, but what they didnât know was that they were being watched from the moment they started following him.
However, Yeon-woo didnât bother chasing them away. Rather, he roamed more freely around the street trying to let them know where he was.
But Phante couldnât understand the meaning of Yeon-wooâs actions.
If he were in his shoes, he would have definitely taken measures.
Yeon-woo also took a look down the building.
âLet them be.â
âWhat? ButâŚ.â
ââŚ.â
âAll right, all right. Geez, you donât have to give me that look.â
Phante griped with a pout.
Yeon-woo ignored him and lifted his coffee cup to his lips.
He also found it quite annoying to be followed by those players. So he also tried to shake them off the first time he noticed their pursuit.
But even if he got away for a moment, they soon kept up with him and started to follow him again, just like leeches.
If so, it was better to just let them be.
âI donât want to cause any disturbance here either.â
Yeon-woo had no desire to shed blood in the place full of his brotherâs memories.
At that moment, Yeon-woo noticed people starting to flock in front of the cafe building they were in.
The players that had been spying on Yeon-woo also began to move busily, as if they had found something.
âHuh? Whatâs going on?â
Phante, too, had noticed a presence coming up the stairs, and turned his gaze to the entrance of the terrace.
At the door, there was a neatly dressed man with a smile.
Phante, on the other hand, creased his brows. He was displeased at the sight of someone approaching them without authorization.
That was why he deliberately spread rumors saying that the siblings of the One-horned Tribe had rented the cafe building for a while in an effort to prevent people from entering the cafe.
But as if the man didnât care about the rumors at all, he walked past Phante and Edora and stood in front of Yeon-woo.
Then, he asked in a polite manner.
âExcuse me sir, but are you the Cain?â
âYes, but who are you?â
Yeon-woo asked, and the man cracked a broad smile.
âNice to see you, Cain. Iâm Rahaam from the clan Red Zephyr. Iâd like to invite you to our clan Red Zephyr.â
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