After Ten Millennia in Hell

Chapter 459 - Surpassing the Wall (1)

Kim Si-Hun’s world went white. His breathing turned erratic and his head was burning up.

‘Hyung?’

He wanted to call Oh Kang-Woo but his voice was not coming out. His vision was blurring and his legs lost their strength.

‘Why... why, why, why?’

Si-Hun continued to ask himself in his head.

“Thanks... for staying as my little brother.”

Kang-Woo’s words that had saved him swirled around his head. Those words had been what linked the two of them; it was proof of the fact that they were more than sworn brothers.

‘But... why?’

Why was Kang-Woo saying that to Kim Tae-Hyun? It was as if Kang-Woo no longer needed Si-Hun.

‘No, that’s impossible. After all that we’ve been through together.’

They had decimated the Demon Cult and battled Satan, the Four Heavenly Kings, and even the Constellations of Evil together. They had fought frantically across countless battlefields to protect the world from the clutches of evil. So why was someone who had gotten stronger only because he was lucky, taking Si-Hun’s spot as Kang-Woo’s little brother?

Si-Hun gritted his teeth. A blazing emotion welled up from within him.

‘What’s... the difference?’

Si-Hun thought about the difference between him and Tae-Hyun. Why was Kang-Woo paying more attention to Tae-Hyun than Si-Hun?

He did not take long to figure out the answer.

‘Deific Essence.’

That was the only thing that Tae-Hyun had that Si-Hun did not, and what was needed most in these dire times.

‘It’s because of Deific Essence.’

Kang-Woo had sacrificed everything to save the world. He understood how dependable one who possessed Deific Essence was when the world was in crisis.

‘That’s why he accepted Tae-Hyun as his little brother.’

If that were not the case, Kang-Woo would not pay this much attention to Tae-Hyun.

“Haha,” Si-Hun laughed dryly.

The answer that he had come to was disheartening.

‘Hyung-nim had no choice either.’

Kang-Woo had reluctantly been babying Tae-Hyun and answering his childish needs because he needed to do whatever it took to have him as an ally for the sake of the world.

‘Yeah, that has to be it.’

Nothing else would explain Kang-Woo’s behavior. Si-Hun gritted his teeth and walked away from the meeting room where Kang-Woo was sitting.

“Deific Essence,” Si-Hun muttered.

He needed Deific Essence to make Kang-Woo look his way again and to stay as his little brother.

"I'm sorry for giving birth to you."

He heard the cursed words he had long since forgotten, which had shackled his life for years.

“I need... Deific Essence.”

Si-Hun staggered down the hallway.

***

Kang-Woo slowly closed his eyes in the silent meeting room.

‘This should be enough.’

Si-Hun needed a unique form of stimulation to surpass the wall he had reached. He needed something that would reawaken his past trauma.

‘It isn’t only his talent that allowed Si-Hun to power up in moments of danger.’

The trauma that shackled him was what drove his awakening.

‘It might not be anything much for other people, but...’

Si-Hun’s trauma and his desire to be acknowledged by the most precious people in his life were out of the ordinary for most people. However, for Si-Hun, who had been abandoned by his father, harassed by his older brother, and whose life itself had been denied by the most important person in his life, it was more important than anything.

‘He’ll desire salvation once again. He’ll work frantically to be acknowledged once again.’

Kang-Woo remained silent. He sighed and put his hand on his forehead. “... Maybe I should’ve used another way.”

Regret belatedly swept over him. Although Kang-Woo had done it to help Si-Hun awaken Deific Essence, he also thought that it was a little excessive.

‘No, this isn’t simply an issue of Deific Essence.’

It was easy for Kang-Woo to give Si-Hun Deific Essence; he just needed to make Si-Hun his incarnation. Just like how Layla was able to use a portion of Gaia’s Deific Essence, Si-Hun would be able to use a portion of Kang-Woo’s Deific Essence as well.

‘But that’s meaningless.’

Kang-Woo would’ve made Si-Hun his incarnation if Si-Hun himself had no chance of acquiring Deific Essence on his own, but it was more than possible for Si-Hun to acquire it on his own. No, it was a wonder why Si-Hun had still not managed to.

‘He needs some sort of decisive trigger.’

Si-Hun needed something that would allow him to surpass the wall blocking his growth.

‘Si-Hun can do it.’

If it was the Si-Hun that Kang-Woo knew, he would easily be able to surpass his limits and acquire Deific Essence.

‘And when that happens,’

Si-Hun would surely spread his wings and grow to astronomical heights.

“Deific Essence that one awakens on their own is completely different from regular Deific Essence.”

Deific Essence was a fraudulent power, but there was a massive difference between those who were born with Deific Essence without any cost and those who acquired Deific Essence on their own.

‘If I make Si-Hun my incarnation and just give him Deific Essence, his growth would stop then and there.’

He would be reduced to someone with borrowed power despite having the potential to become a god on their own.

“I can’t let that happen.”

Kang-Woo narrowed his eyes. Although he felt bad for bringing back Si-Hun’s trauma, he had no other choice. Abnormal phenomena within Gates were growing; it had even reached a point where an unknown item that Tae-Hyun was wearing appeared from within it. Si-Hun needed Deific Essence as soon as possible.

‘As for the others...’

Kang-Woo thought about his other party members but shook his head.

‘Let's focus on Si-Hun first. He needs just the right amount of stimulation.’

Since Si-Hun had once fallen because Kang-Woo had pushed him too far, Kang-Woo needed to dial it back a little.

‘I shouldn’t push him any more than I already have.’

He needed to tell Balrog and Layla to watch what they said to Si-Hun since those two met Si-Hun the most often.

‘Once I make Si-Hun put his all into training...’

Kang-Woo would then appear to make some sort of tearjerking performance.

“As for my lines... Who gives a shit about Deific Essence?! Even without that... you’re my precious little brother! Yeah, let’s go with that.”

Kang-Woo was already cringing from the thought but it couldn’t be helped.

‘Si-Hun likes this sort of thing.’

Considering what he had done to Si-Hun, he was more than willing to blurt out cringeworthy lines; after all, Kang-Woo was ultimately the one who made Si-Hun’s trauma resurface.

“That aside.”

Kang-Woo looked down at his muted smartphone on the table. It was filled with messages from Tae-Hyun.

‘Why is this kid so loyal to me?’

Kang-Woo did not dislike it, but he felt that it was a bit too excessive.

‘To make a comparison, it’s like one of those extremely devoted idol fans.’

Tae-Hyun felt like someone who couldn’t hold back his joy of being able to work together with his idol.

“Ngh.”

Whatever the case, Tae-Hyun was exhausting to deal with.

“Well, it can’t be helped.”

Kang-Woo needed to stay with Tae-Hyun until he figured out exactly what the Eye of Nostrian that Tae-Hyun had obtained was.

Kang-Woo closed his eyes as he thought about Si-Hun and Tae-Hyun. He once again felt like he had flowers (stamens) in each hand.

‘Fuck.’

He clenched his fists and shook his head.

“Darling... Darling...”

Kang-Woo’s sorrowful voice filled the meeting room.

***

“Huff, huff,” Si-Hun panted heavily.

The training room had become a mess. Si-Hun took a staggering step.

“Heavenly Dragon...”

He squeezed out what little remained of his Qi and raised his sword made with blue sword energy. However, the formless sword made with sword energy dissipated into thin air.

“Haaa, haaa,” Si-Hun panted as he watched his sword vanishing. “Kurgh.”

His knees buckled from the exhaustion of pulling out too much Qi.

“No...”

He couldn’t collapse here. He put strength into his buckling knees and forcibly stood back up.

‘It's not enough.’

Si-Hun raised his hands again as he bit his lip. A faint blue light gathered into the shape of a sword.

‘To earn Deific Essence...’

He needed Deific Essence to stay as Kang-Woo’s little brother.

“Fuuu...”

Si-Hun took a deep breath in; a small amount of Qi within nature entered him through his breath.

‘I need to acquire Mind’s Sword before I can earn Deific Essence.’

He had a feeling that it was the final gateway that he needed to pass through to acquire Deific Essence.

‘A sword of the mind, huh?’

It was a common stage in martial arts. Si-Hun had read hundreds of books about its theory that he had borrowed from Tan Wuchen.

“I have no idea.”

However, he couldn’t even begin to grasp what a sword of the mind was. Si-Hun, who had been growing without any barriers thanks to his extraordinary talent, was having a hard time manifesting an extremely vague concept.

“Haaa.”

Si-Hun clenched his hair and turned around. His knees buckled once again.

Si-Hun frowned aggressively.

“Huh? Si-Hun?”

Tae-Hyun entered the training room as Si-Hun was about to move his trembling hands.

Si-Hun glared at Tae-Hyun in silence.

“Mm. It looks like you’re training until quite late.”

“Yes.”

“Haha. That’s the Sword Dragon for you. I should learn a thing or two from you.”

Tae-Hyun smiled brightly at Si-Hun but it carried a tiny amount of ridicule as well.

Si-Hun turned around in silence.

“Anyway, have you seen Kang-Woo hyung?”

Si-Hun tilted his head in wonder, maintaining his frown. “Weren’t you with him today?”

“No. We were planning on meeting, but... he seemed pretty busy.”

Si-Hun remained silent.

‘Did something come up along the way?’

Si-Hun smiled unbeknownst to himself from the fact that Tae-Hyun and Kang-Woo were not able to meet up. Noticing that, Tae-Hyun glared at Si-Hun in anger.

“Come to think of it... I heard from Kang-Woo hyung that the reason why you weren’t able to beat me back then was because of the thing called Deific Essence.”

“...”

“Haha. I also heard that the only Players in Guardians who have Deific Essence are me and Kang-Woo hyung.” Tae-Hyun continued leisurely, “It seems... hyung and I go well with each other, don’t you think?”

“...”

Si-Hun frowned aggressively.