From Today, I'm a Player

Chapter 116: Warning Pt. 5

“Why does that lightning rodhead of Olympus have that sword?”

Lightning rodhead.

Lee Jun-Kyeong knew that there would only be a few people who would refer to Zeus in that manner.

He realized Arthur’s true strength yet again.

Although he was currently in the form of a child, if he showed his true self, he was someone of incredible strength that could fight evenly against the head of any of the secret organizations.

"I don't know,” Lee Jun-Kyeong said with a shrug.

“By the way, why do you keep talking informally?" Arthur said, his ax-shaped eyes opening as he stared at the Hunter.

“You’re speaking informally as well,” Lee Jun-Kyeong rebutted.

Just because they were speaking in English didn’t mean that there was no distinction between polite and rude forms of conversing. There was definitely a manner to speak politely, and Arthur had been continuously speaking down to him.

All Lee Jun-Kyeong was doing was paying Arthur back the same way he was giving out.

“Is there a problem?” he asked.

“....”

Arthur looked at Lee Jun-Kyeong with a complicated gaze.

“Then what, what do you plan to do about Excalibur?” he asked.

By this point, Zeus had Excalibur in his possession. As Lee Jun-Kyeong didn’t know where he had gotten it from, he wasn’t able to tell them in advance. But he was sure that Zeus had it by now.

“Why are you asking me that?” Lee Jun-Kyeong immediately said. “I told you where it is, so you should go get it yourself.”

Arthur grumbled, “What? But the promise…”

“I found you an Excalibur that was enough to deal with your curse. I don’t owe you anything. Rather, it’s the two of you who are in debt to me.”

Merlin wasn’t present for this conversation—she was presiding over a Council in order to inform the Round Table that the curse had been temporarily lifted and to further discuss the retrieval of Excalibur.

“There’s no way that lightning rodhead would give it to us through negotiations…” Arthur grumbled.

“He might if you ask nicely enough,” Lee Jun-Kyeong said.

Arthur yelped, “What?”

“Are you curious?” said Lee Jun-Kyeong, teasing him.

Although Arthur seemed like a reckless simpleton, he was still also a knight.

No, he was actually the King of Knights.

Lee Jun-Kyeong was sure that he wouldn’t thrust a sword at him, as he had worked so hard.

“If you’re really curious, then let me hit you once. The back of your head seems really enticing.”

<The Sky of the Apocalypse> immediately reacted in a way that left him speechless.

[<The Sky of the Apocalypse> laughs out loud.]

[<The Sky of the Apocalypse> has increased your stats as a reward for the pleasure it was given.]

‘What the…’

Lee Jun-Kyeong wondered for a moment if <The Sky of the Apocalypse> wanted a clown for a Sponsee.

“Merlin will handle the rest of it. Because she’s a smart girl, you know,” Lee Jun-Kyeong finished. He was finally done teasing Arthur.

“...I will admit to that.”

Arthur had acknowledged the statement. It was an unexpected development, but it meant that Merlin was trusted by everyone.

“So, what do we have to do for you?” Arthur said, finally coming to the point.

As Lee Jun-Kyeong had said that they were to settle the debt now, that obviously meant that the Hunter had wanted something.

Moreover, Arthur aside, Merlin would at least try to complete whatever Jun-Kyeong had wanted, even if she had to exhaust herself for it.

Thus, Lee Jun-Kyeong had decided.

“I’ll continue once Merlin arrives.”

It was good to talk when everyone involved was gathered.

The knight in front of him held incredible strength, but he knew that if he kept talking to Arthur, whose brain was a little lacking, all that would happen would be that he would hurt his jaw as he would have to explain it once again later.

However, before anyone noticed, the woman in question appeared in the air.

“If that's the case, let’s hear it right now.”

***

"All I want is…”

Lee Jun-Kyeong continued to speak in front of Merlin as Arthur.

“For you to survive.”

“...?”

“What?”

As expected, Merlin and Arthur didn’t easily understand what he was saying.

He would have to provide an additional explanation.

“And for you to continue business while believing what I tell you. For now, I’ll just say we’ve settled one of the debts with those two things,” he said.

“You have two requests, but why do they only count for one debt?” asked Arthur.

Lee Jun-Kyeong retorted, “Do I really have to say guaranteeing your own survival really counts as one of the debts?”

Arthur shut his mouth.

Merlin interceded, “Okay. We’ll do just that. However, if that’s what you wish, then it seems we’ll have to at least hear what you have to say, Mr. Underdog.”

As expected, she really was a smart woman.

Although it was already known Mage-Type Hunters had extremely good intelligence potential, it was natural that the woman in front of him was smart as there weren’t very many great wizards on the level of Merlin.

“Soon, there will be…” Lee Jun-Kyeong said, his demeanor changing completely.

“Something big is about to happen.”

“Something big?” Arthur asked.

Lee Jun-Kyeong nodded.

“Didn’t you summon the Knights of the Round Table for that too? Because you all could feel it?”

Just like the other organizations, the Round Table would send its elite troops, the Knights of the Round Table, to other countries. After all, experiencing growth as they traveled around the world was more beneficial for elite troops.

Moreover, the financial power that the Round Table could use had also come from their expeditions. However, the Knights of the Round Table were now gathered within the Round Table.

‘Lancelot, Gawain, Galahad.’

From what Lee Jun-Kyeong had seen, three of them were already here. Therefore, something was going on.

“Didn’t you also feel as though the special gates were unusual?” Lee Jun-Kyeong asked Merlin, reverting to using honorifics again.

“...”

Arthur’s jaw snapped shut while Merlin nodded.

“As expected…”

She continued, “My judgment wasn’t wrong. The mana density across England had been strangely increasing. We had determined that the special gates are the cause.”

“That’s right,” Lee Jun-Kyeong responded, naturally accepting the offered baton. "More special gates will be created in the future."

“Is that the danger you were talking about? For us to survive beyond that?” Merlin asked.

Lee Jun-Kyeong shook his head.

“No,” he said firmly.

“It’s when all the special gates disappear that you have to be prepared for.”

Merlin and Arthur bit their lips with their eyes full of thought.

***

Lee Jun-Kyeong decided to stay within the Round Table for a few more days.

Firstly, Merlin said that she wanted to give him a present and asked for him to wait.

Secondly.

‘I don’t trust you.’

It was Arthur. Because of that damned kid.

It was because of the fake Excalibur he had given them. Even though Lee Jun-Kyeong had told them it was fake, the boy had said that he was worried that its effects would be worse than he had thought, and so he had made him stay.

“I told you, I can’t trust you.”

But, thinking about it now that he was being forced to do this, Lee Jun-Kyeong didn’t think that had been the only reason Arthur had made him stay.

Lee Jun-Kyeong was currently floating in the middle of the lake with Arthur.

It was a hidden training hall.

The hall was a secret and mysterious place used by the Knights of the Round Table, completely unlike the palace where Lee Jun-Kyeong and Lancelot had faced off.

“It’s a place I use sometimes when I’m training alone, as there are only a few people who know I exist in the Round Table.”

Arthur's presence in the Round Table was a secret, most likely because of Merlin.

Within England, the perception of Mage-Type Hunters was not good. Moreover, the problem became even more serious if that Mage-Type Hunter was a woman.

‘They call them witches, right?’

They would call any female Mage-Type Hunters witches, despising and looking down on them.

When the Round Table had first formed, it was said that there had been an uproar because their head was Merlin.

If the Table knew that Merlin, the female Mage-Type Hunter, was possessed by a curse and was bound to Arthur, then the uproar would grow.

Wanting to avoid that, Arthur would have to hide his presence.

His name.

His fate.

“Well, I can respect that at least,” Lee Jun-Kyeong said as he saw how much the boy had sacrificed.

“What are you blabbering about?” Arthur said as he picked his ears.

In his hand was the fake Excalibur he had been given by Lee Jun-Kyeong.

"Let's go for a round. You said you wanted to hit me,” he continued.

In response to the boy’s provocation, Lee Jun-Kyeong drew Muspel’s Spear.

“I’d be happy to.”

This was what Lee Jun-Kyeong had wanted.

‘It’s a good opportunity to gauge my level.’

He had accepted the duel with Lancelot for that very same reason.

Although his levels hadn’t gone up considerably, Lee Jun-Kyeong had still grown considerably in China.

He had obtained many things and was in the midst of learning from them. Therefore, he wasn’t able to tell how far he had come at this point.

I can guess to a certain degree, but haven’t been able to tell for sure.’

Therefore, the confrontation with Arthur would be a great opportunity.

Moreover, there was something else about the man stuck as a boy.

“Have you ever fought against lightning rodhead?” Lee Jun-Kyeong asked.

“What? Kekeke. You know you’d probably die if you say that?”

"Answer me."

Arthur’s expression hardened. It was a serious expression that wasn’t often seen.

“Yeah, I’ve fought with him.”

“How nice,” Lee Jun-Kyeong said blandly.

Once he spoke, that signaled the beginning. Lee Jun-Kyeong kicked off the transparent surface of the lake and shot forward at Arthur.

There was only one thing that would increase one’s winning chances when the weak fought against the strong.

‘The first to move is the first to win.’

It was to gain the upper hand, so obtaining the first move could get him many things.

However.

Clang!

“How slow.”

This was still a saying that could only apply when there was a certain degree of disparity.

The gap between Arthur and Lee Jun-Kyeong was such that the first move wasn’t important. Although the boy had simply swung the fake Excalibur to block Muspel’s spear, Lee Jun-Kyeong had been sent flying from the force behind the blow.

Shhh.

On the boy’s sword was a swirl of mana.

“And that is?”

"If you're curious, come hit me just once,” Arthur said while picking his ears.

Flicker.

Lee Jun-Kyeong set off a blaze.

The confrontation with the boy wasn’t just a simple test of skill.

He would be comparing his strength with Arthur’s. He would have to use everything he had.

“Oh.”

Seeing the superheated flames emitting from Lee Jun-Kyeong piqued Arthur’s interest.

The veil around the lake suddenly rose and stabilized the space around them. Apparently, Merlin was being considerate, working to prevent Lee Jun-Kyeong’s and Arthur’s fight from damaging the region around them.

Lee Jun-Kyeong threw himself forward without replying, even faster than before.

In the presence of fire, Lee Jun-Kyeong was able to gain more strength than usual.

[Muspel’s Spear converts the strength of the fire into stats.]

[The blaze is aiding you under the influence of the Monarch of Fire.]

Clang!

Alongside the voice that rang in his ear, Lee Jun-Kyeong clashed with Arthur once again.

Arthur’s fake Excalibur and Lee Jun-Kyeong’s Muspel’s Spear collided.

“...!”

Lee Jun-Kyeong’s face was flustered.

“Is this how you do it?” the boy asked

Lee Jun-Kyeong’s body stood frozen in the air, and Muspel’s Spear had frozen alongside his body as well.

“Not quite.”

As Arthur swung his sword, Lee Jun-Kyeong was sent flying away once again. He flew into the veil around the lake raised by Merlin and crashed.

Straightening his knees and standing up, Lee Jun-Kyeong was irritated.

‘That bloody brat.’

The bastard really was ridiculous.

The skill that Arthur had shown was similar to the one that Lee Jun-Kyeong had used on Lancelot.

‘However, you just did it by using pure, brute force…’

Lee Jun-Kyeong had stopped Lancelot by using his mana stream to break the flow of Lancelot’s mana. It was a move that required a high degree of concentration and skill.

However, the skill that Arthur had just used on him was just simply using overwhelming force to stop his movement.

It was just an incredible amount of mana, a degree that neither a Hunter nor an ordinary Hero could even fathom.

“Do you not have anything else?” Arthur pointed his sword and said to Lee Jun-Kyeong.

‘I really want to hit him.’

Lee Jun-Kyeong longed for it.

He just wanted to hit that mannerless little brat at least once.

The light in his eyes changed, and the aura around him shifted as well.

“Your mana has changed…?”

Arthur had also noticed Lee Jun-Kyeong’s transformation.

“You’d better change your sword,” Lee Jun-Kyeong said, a haze beginning to rise from his body. “If you don’t want to be cursed again.”

Lee Jun-Kyeong, who had been in Arthur’s line of sight, suddenly disappeared.

Clang!

It was a loud crash of steel.

Arthur had instinctively swung his sword, and where he had aimed was Muspel’s Spear.

As the two collided, Arthur tried to force Lee Jun-Kyeong to freeze in the same way as before.

Creak.

“How did you?” the boy gasped.

However, Lee Jun-Kyeong was different from before.

As he rejected Arthur’s overwhelming mana, he was putting a scratch on Excalibur.

There was a dark red haze.

“It’s absorbing the mana…?”

As Arthur was shocked, Lee Jun-Kyeong's power exploded again.

Boom!

[The weak dragon heart is exuding mana.]

At the same time.

"Hyeon-Mu!" Lee Jun-Kyeong cried out.

As he had said earlier, this wasn’t a simple contest of skills. This was combat meant to beat his opponent so he could gauge his level.

Gurgle, gurgle.

The lake began to seethe.

1. Another four-word acrostic idiom.