Chapter 49

The deepest corner of the north gate field was a place where even the most renowned warriors in Beloong City did not dare to approach.

A terrifying existence lived in this place. Even violent monsters like Hellgoats ran from this place.

Having arrived at Sarantis’ area, Vulcan took a deep breath.

“Phewa…”

It wasn’t that he was scared of Sarantis.

It was obvious this monster was weaker than Ho-Gyeong or Bellon.

Because of that, it was going to be hard for Vulcan to get nervous in the first place.

Vulcan was just excited a little because he was only a step away from achieving what he wants.

Vulcan organized his mind and called Sarantis.

“Come out you bastard!”

KUOOOOO.

KUGUGUGUGU.

It was a roar. It was louder than several tens of beasts combined. Along with the roar, a gigantic lifeform appeared through the ground.

The landscape was completely flat until now, but now, there was a small mountain added to the scenery.

Vulcan thought the following.

‘Although I called for it like that, it really did show up.’

When Rogweed explained it all to Vulcan before, Vulcan didn’t believe it, but Sarantis really did appear when Vulcan called for it using those exact words.

Vulcan was speechless.

Vulcan used magic to sweep away the dust clouds.

He did it because he was curious about how Sarantis looked like. This was going to be the last monster he was going to hunt before leaving Asgard. He wanted to see it.

As soon as the dust clouds were swept away, unfortunately, Vulcan regretted his decision.

Its body looked like a lump of random human flesh.

It was a strange one. It had several hundred teeth, and it had tentacles and human legs and arms stuck here and there at random.

The body’s middle portion was the best.

It had a gigantic mouth that was overflowing with blood. It looked as if it was cut wide open with a blade.

When the mouth opened, there were several hundred eyeballs inside.

[Sarantis, the King of Beloong City]

[520Lv]

“Ugh… Ugh…”

At an instant, all of those eyeballs focused their gazes to Vulcan. Right after that, the eyeballs started to burst, and small insect like things were born out of the popped eyeballs.

Having watched this far, Vulcan could not take it anymore.

“Ugh! It’s disgusting!”

Using all of his power to manage his mana, Vulcan generated several hundred Lightning spears.

The Lightning spears were launched at Sarantis. The barrage was like a machine gun fire.

In light of continuous bombardment, a very powerful attack far beyond what’s expected from anyone from Act 1, Sarantis was not able to get a handle of the situation.

KUUUUUHHHH.

There were several thousands of tentacles on its body, and there were also unidentified monsters being poured out from its mouth. Those things did their best, but their best was useless.

Vulcan didn’t leave any gap in his attacks. He continuously launched Lightning spears and Hellfires. He also cast the Firefield on the ground. In light of their combined power, Sarantis ended up losing its life.

[Your experience points went up.]

[Level up!]

[Main Quest – Defeat Sarantis, the Act 1’s Boss Monster. Success!]

[Reward – Please tell me your wish.]

“Hugh…. Hugh…”

Vulcan used excess amount of mana in a very short period of time. He had a difficult time breathing.

‘There was no need to waste so much mana.’

Because it was a disgusting sight, it was too difficult for Vulcan to watch anymore. Vulcan was quite agitated during the start of the battle.

By the time Vulcan’s breathing became normal, Sarantis’ dead body was gone. An item appeared in its place, and the item was exuding bright light.

“Oh, I guess it gave a skillbook because it was the final boss.”

A skillbook had a very low chance of being dropped after slaying a monster. Vulcan felt great to see one.

Although it was going to be useless when he goes back to Earth, it still felt great.

Vulcan bent over to pick up the skillbook and read it.

[Legendary skill – Lightning Dragon Step]

[Level Limit: 450]

Step technique. It enables the user to move fast like a lightning. Just like a lightning dragon that is short tempered and hates losing, the technique is advantageous during attacks.

Traveling speed increased 15% when attacking.

Traveling speed increased 5% when evading.

“Oh, it’s a really nice skill.”

‘Why couldn’t this show up when I really needed it?’

Vulcan complained inside, but it wasn’t like he was going to just abandon it either.

For the moment, Vulcan was like a child trying out a new toy. He tried out the Lightning Dragon Step. While he was in middle of this, a white blur appeared out of thin air.

It looked semi-transparent like a person’s spirit. It looked like something out of a TV show or movie.

There was an old man that looked like he came out of a fairy tale. The old man was staring down at Vulcan.

“Let’s see… Are you the one who will be making a wish… What the?”

The old man gave off the impression of a mountain spirit. The old man looked at Vulcan with his eyes narrowed.

“What the? Aren’t you too strong to be in Act 1? Wait? Perhaps not? It looks like you are somewhat weak if I looked at just your physical abilities. Oh my… I may not be good at other things, but I’m good at figuring out one’s strength. Still, you are a curious case.”

The mountain spirit mumbled, still wondering about Vulcan’s strength and abilities. Watching the old man, Vulcan thought,

‘Is it because I didn’t level up much due to the SYSTEM?’

Vulcan’s true height far exceeded Act 1’s standard. However, Vulcan was lacking in experience points. Because of this, Vulcan had not leveled up much. It looked like the old man was confused because of this difference in Vulcan’s level and strength.

Vulcan checked to see if the SYSTEM’s scan ability worked on the mountain spirit.

[Act 1 Manager. God Spirit Baek Ja-gyeong]

[770Lv]

‘It does work.’

Baek Ja-gyeong still looked confused. Vulcan said to Baek Ja-gyeong,

“Excuse me. May I tell you my wish?”

“What? Ah, yes. That’s why I was summoned. It’s been a while since I was summoned last time. Gosh.”

Baek Ja-gyeong excused himself for a moment, and he continued with a stern face.

“Before you tell me your wish, I’ll tell you a few warnings. I can’t just grant you anything you want. First, a wish related to time will not work. A wish like ‘turn the time back to when I was a child,’ or ‘send me back to the past’ will not work. Even gods can’t make those kinds of wishes come true. If you want a time related wish, you will need to clear Act 2 or higher.”

Listening to the rapid-fire explanation coming from the old man, Vulcan sighed in disappointment.

“Also, you can’t ask me to kill a god or a demon lord. I don’t have abilities for that. Moreover, it is forbidden to make a wish about having someone killed. Finally, you can’t ask me to grant you a hundred wishes or something like that. It’s obvious. You understand that, right?”

“…”

“And one more thing. If you choose to go to the Enlightened World or Act 2, you can still make a wish. So, you don’t have to worry about losing the opportunity to make a wish. If you want to go to the Enlightened World or Act 2, you can go. Is there anything else you are curious about?”

Vulcan raised his hand up like a polite student and asked.

“Excuse me. You said a wish related to time will not work… If you could take me back 10 years… No, if you could take me back 5 years in the world I originally came from…”

“No. I can transport you through space, but transporting you through time like that is not something I can do. It will take the highest god to grant you that wish. It will have to be a wish after clearing Act 2 at least.”

Vulcan raised his hands and grabbed his head.

Although he knew all along that it won’t work, now that all hope for the time travel was gone, he didn’t feel great.

It had been 10 years since Vulcan started to live in these strange worlds.

Of course, 10 years was not going to sever his family ties, but still, it was going to be difficult for Vulcan to just go back to life like nothing had happened when 10 years have gone by.

Vulcan was agonizing over this. Watching Vulcan acting like this, Baek Ja-gyeong said,

“By any chance, is your wish going to be about wanting to go back to your original world?”

“… Yes. It’s just that I have been in this world for so long. That’s making me worried about my families.”

“Hm. In that case, wait for a moment.”

Baek Ja-gyeong brought out a crystal orb from his sleeve and asked Vulcan.

“What’s the name of the world you use to live in?”

“It’s called Earth.”

“Earth… Earth… By any chance, were you in other worlds besides Earth and Asgard?”

“Ah, yes. I was in a place called Rubel Continent as well.”

“Hm… Wait for a moment.”

With Vulcan standing there with a dumbfounded face, Baek Ja-gyeong operated the crystal orb.

He fiddled with the orb like someone typing on a keyboard. After fiddling with the orb for a while, the old man said with a brightened face,

“This is good. The time ratio is very advantageous for you.”

“Pardon?”

“How long have you spent in the Rubel Continent and Asgard?”

“It’s about five years each.”

“Five years… That would be… Wait, did you just say five years?”

In disbelief, Baek Ja-gyeong asked with a look on his face.

“In Asgard… You spent only five years?”

“Yes.”

Vulcan asked nonchalantly.

With everything Baek Ja-gyeong said before this, Vulcan was being filled with expectations again about something good, but Baek Ja-gyeong was going off the tangent. Vulcan was getting annoyed.

However, to the old man, this was more important.

“Oh my… By any chance, instead of being a human, are you a demi-god?”

The old man carefully observed Vulcan.

“Well, you are not a demi-god. I don’t sense the holy aura that’s distinct to demi-gods.”

“Can you please tell me what you were about to say about the time ratio?”

“Ah, right. Sorry. It’s just that I was really surprised.”

Baek Ja-gyeong apologized promptly and continued.

“Starting with the bottom line, only two years have passed in Earth.”

“Pardon?”

“The time passes at a different rate in each dimension. Asgard and Rubel Continent have similar rate. On the other hand, Earth’s time is slower than those dimensions. Approximately, five years in Asgard is about one year in Earth. It seems like you were worried that your families might have died, but it looks like you have no reason to worry so much. It’s been only two years.”

Vulcan cheered as soon as Baek Ja-gyeong finished his explanation.

With this, the thing he was so concerned about, the passage of time, was resolved. It would’ve been odd if Vulcan didn’t cheer.

Out of joy, Vulcan shook his body for a moment. Afterwards, Vulcan thanked the old man,

“Thank you for telling me such information.”

“Well, you would have learned about it anyway when you arrived there, so there is no need to thank me.”

Baek Ja-gyeong responded as if it was no big deal. He asked Vulcan,

“So, is your wish going to be about transporting you through dimensions and sending you to a place called Earth?”

“That’s right. If possible, it would be even better if you could please send me to a place called South Korea.”

“Hm. It won’t be hard. However, it’s too bad. You are a talent that cleared Act 1 in just five years. With a talent like that, you might be able to become the first human ever to obtain the godhood…”

“…”

“Well. Godly spirit or god, regardless of what it is, if you don’t want it, it cannot be helped. I understand. I’ll grant your wish.”

Baek Ja-gyeong recited an unknown spell for about ten seconds.

Lights of various colors exuded from his right hand. When Baek Ja-gyeong pointed at Vulcan’s head with his hand, the stream of light entered Vulcan’s head from the top.

“You certainly will have a business to come back… When you change your mind, come back to this place.”

Having finished his last words, Baek Ja-gyeong became smokes and disappeared.

Vulcan was now alone. He checked the notification window.

[Legendary Skill – Cross-dimensional Teleportation]

[Level Limit: None]

*You can teleport to dimensions you have been before. Cooling time: One year.

“… Instead of a one-way ticket, he gave me a round trip ticket.”

Vulcan thought Baek Ja-gyeong must be also hoping Vulcan would go to Act 2.

Regardless, it was not a big concern. In fact, it was actually better.

Vulcan could go back to Earth now. That fact remained the same. Considering the time ratio between Earth and Asgard, Vulcan figured he could afford to visit Asgard once in a while even if the cooling time was one year in his time.

‘I should come to visit either Mr. Jake or big bro.”

Vulcan activated the Cross-dimensional Teleportation.

Energy of golden light exuded from the top of his head. After about a minute had passed, the aura surrounded his entire body and made Vulcan look like a golden statue.

‘I’m finally going home. It was tough.’

Vulcan was more excited than a kid on the day before a fieldtrip. With that feeling in his chest, Vulcan smiled.

PIC!

With a sound of a fuse breaking, Vulcan, who was shining with blindingly bright light, disappeared without a trace.

The place was empty as if there was nothing there in the first place.

Lonely wind blowing across the field took the place instead.

Like that, Vulcan completely disappeared from Beloong City.

***

There were empty tables.

It was a place where an emerald colored crystal pillar shined with its mystic light.

There were two people sitting inside the Beloong City’s pub.

Of the two, Filder said with a serious voice,

“I thought it would take 100 years at least…”

“…”

The other one didn’t say a word.

His eyes were filled with a bit of sorrow, but the eyes were not lifeless.

Filder continued,

“Did… something happen?”

“Yes. Filder, could you give me a bottle of beer?”

Filder brought him beer.

Without a word, Vulcan drank the entire bottle at once. He looked like he was drinking it out of frustration. Vulcan put the bottle down on the table.

“It’s been five years. Actually, I wanted to come here sooner.”

“For what reason?”

Filder looked at Vulcan. Filder looked worried.

Toward Filder, Vulcan said with a dry tone.

“The Earth has come to an end.”