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Side Story Chapter 19: Temple of Truth (2)

He had no idea whether or not people referred to him as that but it didn’t matter.

"What…?"

"The manly face! The thick eyebrows! The intense lightning crackling on your arms! You’re the legend who can strike lightning even under clear skies, right?!"

"A-Ahem," Tae-Ho coughed and scratched the back of his head. "I mean, well… I guess you aren’t an uneducated bumpkin."

’Look at this dude smiling. You’ve never been called the God of Thunder, have you?’

"Wow! I knew it!! I-It’s an honor to meet the God of Thunder in this place!!"

"Y-You are too noisy, child," said Tae-Ho as he turned his head, sounding much less wary than before.

Kang-Woo smiled.

’Yeah, we may be from different worlds but humans are all the same. Suck up to them once and they let it get over their heads. I’m practically a pro at sucking up to people after all the time I sucked that son of a bitch Bael’s ass. I betrayed him later, though.’

In any case, Kang-Woo could more or less tell if a person liked flattery or not just from their eyes.

"Were you also teleported here by the golden lion?" asked the woman named Eun-Hee, her calm voice matching her intellectual-in-glasses look.

"Correct. We were dragged here by the Wikiholic," Tae-Soo answered.

"Wikiholic…?"

Eun-Hee tilted her head in confusion, likely because the monster was not known as the Wikiholic in their world. Kang-Woo subtly stepped on Tae-Soo’s foot as if telling him to shut his mouth.

He then answered, "I named it the Wikiholic because it only asks questions you would normally see on tests."

"Ohh, come to think of it, the monster only asks things you would see on Namuwiki," remarked Eun-Hee, smiling as if finding the name entertaining.

Kang-Woo’s eyes narrowed.

’So they have Namuwiki in their world too.’

He then realized that the otherworldly beings were also speaking in Korean.

’In that case…’

Kang-Woo decided to test something.

"To think such a weird monster existed on Earth… I still get terrified just thinking about it," he said as he shook.

Eun-Hee nodded with a heavy expression. "Yeah. Where in the world did a monster like that even come from…? I’ve never heard of a monster like that even on the upper floors of the Tower."

’Just as I thought, there’s an Earth in their world too.’

If that were not the case, Eun-Hee wouldn’t have so naturally responded to Kang-Woo’s remark.

’The Earth we live in and theirs are the same but different.’

Kang-Woo could understand better what Kim Si-Hun meant about the outer worlds being in a different universe than their Earth. The two Earths were similar in environment but different in some decisive factors. It was as if characters from different comics or novels met.

’She mentioned a Tower earlier.’

Kang-Woo recalled an anime he had seen with Echidna about people stuck in a game, climbing a tower to get out. He had a feeling that a tower of a similar nature might exist in their world.

’But it’s not important info at the moment.’

Kang-Woo shook his head, quelling his piquing curiosity. He wanted to know more about the Tower she mentioned but it was not the time for that. Getting out of this unknown temple took priority.

"Hmm. We seem to be in the same boat, so how about we team up?" said Tae-Soo, who had been listening despite being unable to follow the conversation.

"Hah, team up?" Tae-Ho chuckled. "What would I team up with a muscle pig and a child for—"

"Tae-Ho."

Tae-Ho stopped talking once Eun-Hee glared at him.

"Hmph." Tae-Ho clicked his tongue in dissatisfaction and said, "We’ll leave you behind if you fall behind. Got it?"

He glared at Tae-Soo and turned around. Kang-Woo looked back and forth at Tae-Ho and Eun-Hee and smiled.

’Aha, I see how it is.’

Kang-Woo didn’t know how Eun-Hee felt but Tae-Ho seemed to care deeply about Eun-Hee’s opinion. He then turned back to Tae-Ho, who was getting further away, and noticed the slender man named Jung Hyun-Soo approaching Tae-Ho in pallor and whispering.

’Authority of Listening.’

Kang-Woo used one of a few Authorities he could still use among the majority he couldn’t due to his body reconstruction. Their conversation echoed clearly into his ears.

"T-Tae-Ho hyung! Why are we taking unnecessary baggage with us?!"

"Shut up, dammit."

"I-If we end up coming across that monster at this rate…"

"Worst-case scenario, we can just throw them to the monster as bait and run away. That muscle pig looks slow from just a glance, and need I even mention the brat?"

"Ngh. That’s true, but…"

Kang-Woo saw Hyun-Soo glaring in his direction as he trembled. Kang-Woo cackled inside his head.

’Man, you cute little sons of bitches. You sure are thinking of something rather cute.’

"Hmm. How should I deal with this…?"

Kang-Woo smiled as he stared at the whispering men.

"Deal with what, hyung-nim?" asked Tae-Soo standing next to him as he tilted his head in confusion.

Kang-Woo shook his head. "Nothing."

He turned his head away from Tae-Soo and smiled nastily.

***

With that, the five-man party advanced toward the temple far away.

"Dammit… again?"

They saw more torn corpses as they passed the maze-like trees.

Tae-Ho frowned fiercely and said, "Let’s take a different route."

He turned, getting anxious from seeing the corpses. Just then, they heard the echoing growls of a beast.

Grrrrrrr.

"E-Eek!!" Hyun-Soo, who was standing right next to Tae-Ho, screamed. "I-It’s here!"

He pointed in the direction of the growl with his trembling hand. There was a large monkey about two meters tall standing there. The monkey with red eyes and gold fur roared ferociously at Tae-Ho.

"GRAAAAAAAHHH!"

"Gaaaaaaahhh! T-Tae-Ho!!"

"Shut up and cast a spell!!" shouted Tae-Ho at the screaming Hyun-Soo.

Crackle—!!

Blue lightning wrapped his arms. Unlike the others stricken with fear, Kang-Woo calmly examined the giant monkey.

’A lion, werewolves, and now a monkey. Is this Animal Kingdom[1]? Just from the looks of it, it doesn’t seem like it won’t attack no matter what like the Wikiholic.’

It was obvious just from the torn corpses.

’In that case.’

Kang-Woo smiled. He had nothing to fear as long as the enemy would attack him. The moment he was attacked and his body was destroyed, the Demonic Sea would feel threatened.

’Once that happens, the monkey will be the one to drop dead.’

It would be devoured by the overflowing Demonic Sea, and Kang-Woo would grow in respect to how much the Demonic Sea felt threatened.

’No, not yet.’

Kang-Woo shook his head as he was about to approach the ferociously roaring monkey.

’I can’t expose information just to kill a small fry like that.’

He could guess that the master of this temple was Akart. If they could see everything that happened in this garden, Kang-Woo needed to avoid using attacks that involved the Demonic Sea.

’They might figure out my weakness.’

Kang-Woo did not want anyone to find out his current fatal weakness, which was that he was powerless if he was restrained without damage to his body.

’For now,’ Kang-Woo turned to look at Kim Tae-Ho with lightning wrapping his arms. ’Let’s see how strong this seven-star apostle is.’

He cackled in his head with his eyes shining.

"Haaaaahh!!"

Crackle—!!

Tae-Ho charged forward and extended his arms out, shooting the blue lightning at the giant monkey.

"Growl—!"

The golden monkey dodged at extraordinary speed and jumped to land softly on top of one of the maze-like trees.

"Graaaaaaaaaaahhh!"

"Shit!"

The monkey bared its fangs and leaped down at Tae-Ho, interlocking its fingers to swing its fists down at him. Tae-Ho raised his right fist.

"Lightning Storm!" he cast.

A massive lightning storm surged from his fist and enveloped the golden monkey. The storm burned the monkey to a crisp as its agonized screeches filled the garden.

’Dayum. Our little Pikachu is pretty strong.’

Kang-Woo was impressed by Tae-Ho who overpowered the monkey; it was understandable why he had treated Kang-Woo and Tae-Soo as bumpkins for not knowing who he was.

"Kang-Woo hyung-nim! I will assist th—"

"No, just a second." Kang-Woo grabbed Tae-Soo’s arm as he was about to charge at the monkey. "Let’s see how strong they are."

He then examined the three outer world people as they fought against the golden monkey, from a distance.

"Urgh!"

"Watch out, Tae-Ho!"

Hyun-Soo and Eun-Hee joined the battle. Hyun-Soo extended his arm to fire a ball of lightning, and a barrier of light wrapped Tae-Ho once Eun-Hee shone with white light.

’Jung Hyun-Soo looks like a ranged mage, and… that woman is probably a healer.’

Eun-Hee did not heal but Kang-Woo had a feeling she was a healer because she formed a barrier. Kang-Woo clicked his tongue in disappointment as he watched their battle.

’They’re not worth much compared to Kim Tae-Ho.’

Tae-Ho was quite strong even from Kang-Woo’s standards but the other two were average.

"Lightning Surge!"

Blue lightning surged upward and burned the golden monkey. The monkey fell from the tree and staggered, unable to maintain its balance.

"Haaa, haaa," Tae-Ho panted heavily.

He wrapped his arms with lightning again as he stared at the monkey. Kang-Woo wondered if the battle would end with Tae-Ho doing all the work, but it was not over yet.

"Grrrrrrr!!"

"Graaaaahh!!"

"F-Fuck."

There was more than one golden monkey; five of them surrounded the party, likely here after hearing the first monkey’s roars.

"Wh-What should we do, Tae-Ho hyung?!"

"Shut up! I’m thinking!" Tae-Ho bit his lip anxiously. "It’s too soon to use that…"

He clenched and relaxed his fists repeatedly, his expression full of hesitation. He did not think for long. He glanced back at Kang-Woo and Tae-Soo; after making up his mind, he grabbed Eun-Hee’s arm.

"Run!!"

"W-Wait, Tae-Ho!"

"Shit! We have no time to waste!!" Tae-Ho shouted impatiently.

Eun-Hee stared at Kang-Woo hesitantly, seemingly troubled by the idea of leaving a little boy behind to die. Seeing her eyes full of hesitation, Kang-Woo slowly walked toward her.

’Alright, I’ve decided on what to do.’

Kang-Woo slightly lowered his head and smiled.

"N-Noona…"

’My weenie feels weird— whoops, wrong line.’

"I-I’m… sniff! S-So scared… Waaaaahhh!!"

He grabbed Eun-Hee’s arm and burst into tears, his expression filled with terror.

1. Animal Kingdom is a Korean animal documentary program. ☜