“Waaahhhhhhhh!”

The audience was silent for a moment before cheers erupted. The audience outside was surprised, while inside the waiting room, some people were shocked because they hadn't expected Reinhardt to be hit. However, some people nodded while saying they knew it.

“Kuhaha! He kept his promise!” Park Muyeol looked at the screen and laughed. Next to him, Mido and Kim Hyeonu nodded like they expected it. They knew the ident.i.ty of the masked man from the beginning, so they weren't surprised. It was just that they were truly impressed seeing this spectacular kick in person.

“Kuoooh. That kick...”

Mido gave a thumbs up while speaking in a thick voice that could come from an old man. Kim Hyeonu's face was blank with surprise when he saw the kick that had only been seen in the videos.

“Wow, how does he kick like that? It is really amazing.”

Park Muyeol saw Mido's curious expression and laughed. He wanted to say that this person was her grandfather. However, Chuntaek's request forced him to endure it. He just couldn't do anything about his twitching mouth. He laughed at the current situation.

'That Chuntaek is funny. By the way, he is still good at kicking. He won't die. It is the same as the old days. He truly is the legless bird.'

A bird without legs—Legless Bird. Choi Chuntaek was called this in his 20s. The nickname was given due to his gorgeous aerial kicks that made him seem like a legless bird pecking the target. Of course, years pa.s.sed and his body had grown old. However, now his body had recovered back to that time. All of this was possible because the current place was a virtual world.

Park Muyeol rubbed the gooseb.u.mps on his arms and looked full of joy. He inwardly thought that he wanted to go back to those days. 'To do that, I have to go beyond Hutton.'

On the other side, Hutton was looking at the screen with an interested expression. Hutton was a more difficult opponent than Park Muyeol had expected. He might have the same power as Park Muyeol, but his level and stats were higher. Park Muyeol knew that he would have to throw everything possible in order to fill that gap.

'I need to have a long conversation with the wooden sword.'

He headed to a corner of the waiting room. He immediately sat cross-legged, placed the wooden sword on his knees, and started meditating. It was a habit he always had before an important fight. How much time pa.s.sed?

[A constellation who likes sticks has accepted your request for a conversation.]

* * *

The fallen Reinhardt rubbed his chin and raised his upper body.

“Um, this hurts quite a bit. Hahaha!”

I didn't know what was so good. Reinhardt just sat down and laughed with his head tilted back. His health hadn't decreased as much as expected.

“Fortunately, I increased my fire resistance because of Minotaur. Otherwise, I would've been really hurt. Hahahaha!” The heartily laughing Reinhardt suddenly stopped laughing and stared at me. He smirked and declared, “I hadn't expected you to be the man from that time. I was really surprised.”

Reinhard got up on one knee and his expression became serious.

“It has been a while.”

“......”

I silently stared at him. Now that he knew my ident.i.ty, he seemed to be a pretty tactless fellow. The silence flowed while I quietly pulled out Alexus' Fork Spoon. He subsequently told me, “I've seen the technique that you used in a Korean YouTuber's broadcast. Yes, now I remember. The mask is a bit different, but the movements and kicks are the same. Additionally, those blazing feet and the spear in your hand... no. Um, did I see it wrong?”

I let out a sigh. This person must truly be an idiot. He didn't know despite giving a hint like this. “It has been a while, Reinhardt.” 

“Oh, I wasn't mistaken. Haha. Well, it will be very fun if you're my opponent. At that time, I had wanted to fight you, but you disappeared. I was really disappointed.”

Reinhardt smiled and raised the s.h.i.+eld attached to the gauntlet. Blue magic power enveloped him and the size of the s.h.i.+eld grew slightly. This was also familiar to me. Perhaps he was able to freely adjust his s.h.i.+eld. The problem was that the s.h.i.+eld wasn't normal.

“Now, let's try again!”

Reinhardt ran toward me with his s.h.i.+eld in front of him. I immediately summoned Solar and stabbed the fork spoon into its mouth. The fork spoon grew and soon became a spear. Then I threw it at Reinhardt's s.h.i.+eld. There was the sound of metal hitting something with the same strength. The feeling of the spear and s.h.i.+eld trembling was transmitted vividly, even though they were quite far away. The message that appeared in front of me was expected.

[The durability of Alexus's Fork Spear has fallen.]

“Umm? The s.h.i.+eld's durability decreased. What is this spear?” Reinhardt had doubts and stopped his charge to question it. 

However, I didn't have the obligation to answer. I fired a cobweb, recovered the spear, put it into my inventory, and thought about it. It seemed I couldn't use the fork spear. Then my only choice was to beat him up. I took advantage of this gap in his vigilance to launch a surprise attack. I flew forward in the air and released a series of continuous kicks at high speed.

Reinhardt smiled like it didn't matter and blocked with the s.h.i.+eld. We exchange dozens of blows in this state.

“Kuahaha! Good! Show me more! This isn't enough!”

The summoned Solar poured out the Sun's Curse and Sun Ball from the rear, but Reinhardt never stopped. It wasn't a lie when he said he had equipment with fire resistance. If so, using Sun Road wouldn't mean much. I quickly widened the distance from him.

“What? It is over already? I haven't even started yet. Bring it on!”

“......”

It was really frustrating. I could throw the wind blade I learnt from Kerenos, but Reinhardt's s.h.i.+eld technique was so good it seemed like it would be easily blocked. My wind was still too unstable to deal great damage. If so, there was only one way.

“Hah. Then it can't be helped.”

It might be bragging to say it now, but if I wanted to beat this person, I had to reveal everything here. I wanted to use this on Mido first, but it couldn't be helped.

[Solomon's Ring is preparing Eyes of Judgment.]

The ring on my left hand started to glow blue.

[The ring has observed the user 'Reinhardt.']

[Reinhardt's favorite person of the opposite s.e.x is the user 'Reina.']

“Huh? What is it this time? Hahaha. I'm looking forward to it.” Reinhardt laughed with a look of antic.i.p.ation.

I approached him. “You like Reina.”

“Eh? How do you know that?”

“I have my ways.”

[You have ruled the target as a 'couple.']

[All the target's stats have been reduced by 20%.]

The blue aura from the ring swung around Reinhardt's body like a la.s.so. He looked perplexed by the sudden situation. “W-What? Why all of a sudden...”

I still had one more thing remaining.

[The constellation skill: Black Night Wolves Summoning has been triggered.]

The ground vibrated as a black fog appeared. Familiar shapes started to rise from the ground. It was the piece of hope that Romelana had left me. The black night wolves revealed their cold teeth.

* * *

On the other hand, Park Muyeol was feeling strange. He had just closed his eyes for a moment, but there was now no noise around him. Maybe he was too focused? Park Muyeol questioned it and slowly opened his eyes. Then he became fl.u.s.tered. “W-What?”

There was darkness all around him. The fl.u.s.tered Park Muyeol stood up. He s.h.i.+fted his gaze down toward the fluffy texture he felt from the ground.

“Clouds?”

Miraculously, he was standing in the midst of clouds. However, it didn't make sense in his head. He was previously in the Colosseum waiting room. Why was he now in this place? He made guesses in his head, but there were no answers.

“Kidnapping this Park Muyeol to the sky...”

Then there was a voice that seemed to be responding to his murmur.

[Haha. You are still a funny human being.]

Park Muyeol raised his head at the voice. “What is it this time?”

He didn't know when it happened, but his ebony wooden sword was floating in the air. There was a golden aura around it that gave off a gentle energy. At first glance, Park Muyeol felt that it was unusual. Then another voice was heard.

[I am now speaking through your wooden stick.]

At the same time, the subdued golden color radiated a brighter glow and created a familiar shape. It was what he saw the other day. A handsome man wearing a lion skin. Park Muyeol knew who this was. Chuntaek had told him.

“Hercules.”

[Hoh. You know my ident.i.ty.]

Hercules had a smile on his face. How would this strange human react when he showed himself? Park Muyeol spoke with a grumpy expression, “What did you bring me here for, pervert?”

[Hahaha! You are truly interesting. You have such guts even after seeing me, Hercules. Hahahahaha!]

Park Muyeol didn't like this person who laughed arrogantly in front of him. It was a pain since this person suddenly appeared and disturbed him while he was preparing for the Colosseum match.

“You. Get lost if you have nothing to say. I'm busy. Busy.”

Then he once again sat down and meditated. All of a sudden, his head was. .h.i.t! Simultaneously, there was severe pain. He opened his eyes and saw that he had been hit by Hercules. Park Muyeol's brow furrowed. “Eeeeek! How dare this rotten guy do this when you know who I am?!”

[Sit down. I have something to say.]

Hercules placed a hand on Park Muyeol's shoulder and forced him to stay sitting down. The power was like a mountain and Park Muyeol was helpless. It was as Chuntaek told him. This was a man with enormous strength. It seemed Park Muyeol wouldn't be able to leave until he heard the story.

He calmed his anger and took deep breaths. “Then tell me, you troublemaking b.a.s.t.a.r.d.”

Hercules smiled and sat down on the other side. Now this old man was ready to listen to him. Hercules took a big breath for a long story. He didn't know where to start from so he decided to just speak.

[I will explain why I showed up here. Listen carefully. First…]

In the dream-like s.p.a.ce, an old man's story bag started to open.