Whooosh.

Seo Jun-Ho closed his eyes and felt the mountain breeze blowing all over his body.

'…It's different.'

He could feel that something had changed inside him. However, the effect of the body transformation on the magic circuit wasn’t comparable to the opening of the Conception Governing Vessel.

‘I was a lake water.’

It was a clean lake with a clear view of the lakebed, which gave the illusion it was clean. But now, he knew that the silt at the bottom of the lake could make the water muddy.

‘It's different now.’

It was a spotless, clean body of water. No matter how much he observed it, he couldn’t feel any waste inside. The scars of glory, which had covered his entire body, had cleanly disappeared. His skin had become clear without any blemishes, and his hair, which had become strong to the roots, grew all the way down to his waist.

“Hmm."

It was a feeling of being reborn. The Thunder God asked Seo Jun-Ho, who exhaled fresh air.

"Whut thuh… Did ya undergo a body transformation or somethin’?"

"Hmm? How did you know?”

"Damn…" the Thunder God muttered unconsciously.

The Thunder God said it as a joke when he saw Seo Jun-Ho’s long hair, but to think that he had actually done it…

'Was that kind of level actually possible?’

The reason why the Thunder God knew about body transformation was simple. The Heavenly Demon warned the Thunder God that he would achieve that level himself and come for him.

[Body Transformation]

Grade: S

Contents: Title given to the first Player to undergo body transformation.

Effect: No waste accumulates in the body. All senses have become sensitive.

It was a new title that Seo Jun-Ho had just gained. With this, he now had five titles.

"…First, wash up."

"Thank you."

Seo Jun-Ho didn’t reject the offer, and he went over to the well to wash up. He was slightly surprised when he splashed water on his body.

‘With my new body, has the effectiveness of my skills also increased?’

His Cold Tolerance was still grade B. Before the body transformation, it was a little chilly to wash with water by the well, but now, he was completely fine.

“…”

The Thunder God looked at Seo Jun-Ho standing at the starting point and asked, "Ya ready?"

"Yes."

"As I've said before...”

"If you are not satisfied with this test, I will practice for another month."

It was a voice full of confidence, with no doubt at all. The Thunder God looked at him calmly and turned his head.

"Geon-Woo, watch carefully."

The Thunder God spoke to Baek Geon-Woo, his disciple who was standing far away. Baek Geon-Woo nodded in a hurry, but he couldn’t understand his master’s words.

‘I already know that Mr. Seo Jun-Ho's skills are great...’

Still, the Thunder God had never been someone to talk nonsense. With a determined heart, Baek Geon-Woo looked at the battlefield.

Tap, tap.

All ready, the Thunder God tapped the ground with his cane.

"Come."

The test, 'Grave of Thunderbolts' began. However, Seo Jun-Ho’s movements were quite different from before.

'…What’s this.'

Until now, Seo Jun-Ho had always sprinted as soon as the start signal was given.

‘He’s not… unguarded.’

But now, he was walking slowly as if running was distracting.

‘Well, then first...’

He decided to take a look at Seo Jun-Ho’s skills.

Tok.

The Thunder God dropped a thunderbolt.

‘It's coming.’

The moment he noticed the flash in the sky, Seo Jun-Ho's eyes shone.

‘I can see it. I can see it really well.’

In the past, he could barely catch the end of the thunderbolt with his eyes, but now, it was clearly visible. As soon as Seo Jun-Ho sensed the thunderbolt, he raised his hand and emitted the energy of frost.

Crackle!

The power to freeze was now coming out naturally. At the same time, the thunderbolt significantly slowed. Now, it was flying at the speed of a bullet.

'This is doable.’

Seo Jun-Ho easily avoided the falling thunderbolt, and his eyes were still focused on the skies.

‘Focus, focus.’

The power to freeze devoured an enormous amount of concentration. As such, Seo Jun-Ho completely gave up on running. He also gave up on strengthening his body with Overclocking.

'This test, I’ll pass it by walking.’

He wasn’t being conceited because he had undergone a body transformation. He simply judged that this method had the highest success rate.

"Hmm." The Thunder God nodded softly.

‘As expected, talented people really learn fast. He did a good job practicin’.’

It was commendable. The Thunder God was so proud that he wanted to give Seo Jun-Ho a pat on the head and give him a prize. Of course, the prize he was talking about wasn't letting him pass the test for free.

‘It's the other way around.’

He was going to let out difficult and irregular attacks so that Seo Jun-Ho could gain various experiences. That was the prize that the Thunder God was going to give him.

Rumble!

“…!”

Seo Jun-Ho's eyes suddenly trembled. Putting his head down in a hurry, he reached forward and launched himself sideways. His face was distorted as he skillfully rolled on the ground.

‘...This is a first.’

It really was the first time. The thunderbolt came not from the ‘sky’ but from the ‘floor.’

‘I thought thunderbolts only fell from the sky?’

The answer had already come out. The Thunder God could produce thunderbolts in places other than the sky. When Seo Jun-Ho realized that fact, the man titled the Thunder God looked as big as a giant. Didn’t that mean that, so far, the Thunder God had been dealing with Seo Jun-Ho using just one honest pattern?

‘It's not just that. We’re also fighting, psychologically.’

What if the Thunder God was the enemy? Seo Jun-Ho could have died, as he was only focused on the sky.

'Besides...'

Since a thunderbolt could soar from the ground, would it be impossible for it to appear from other places? Seo Jun-Ho imagined a thunderbolt being created at the back of his head.

Shudder.

Thinking about it, a chill ran down his spine.

"Keke." The Thunder God laughed lightly as he looked at Seo Jun-Ho's flustered face. "It’ll be chaotic, but... it'll be fun."

That was when the Thunder God’s indiscriminate attacks began.

Rumble! Rumble!

Whenever he heard thunder, Seo Jun-Ho’s nerves would tighten.

'What are these attacks…?!’

Attacks came at him from every direction. Both Seo Jun-Ho's body and eyes were busy.

‘This isn’t something I can handle just by worrying about the front, right, and left.’

It was common for thunderbolts to fall from overhead or rise from the ground. However, Seo Jun-Ho was even more confused when thunderbolts came from directions he had never even imagined. For example, when a thunderbolt made next to his head was fired.

‘Wait, come to think of it, I got to seventy-nine meters last time...’

Glancing back, he saw that he had only walked thirty meters so far. Despite that, the thunderbolts attacking him had already become much more vicious. This meant one thing.

‘Wow.’

This meant that the Thunder God had greatly raised the difficulty compared to last time. Seo Jun-Ho glared at the old man sitting on the rock for a moment.

"Kukuku. Don't look at meh; look behind ya. There's a thunderbolt.”

“…”

Seo Jun-Ho was determined to pass the exam without fail today. His eyes ignited with burning determination.

***

"…Wow."

Baek Geon-Woo, who had been watching the situation from the beginning to the end, opened his mouth without realizing it. He felt like he was witnessing a battle between gods, and he didn’t even dare to intervene.

‘Seeing Master fighting so sincerely is amazing, but Mr. Seo Jun-Ho fighting back equally is also no joke.’

How the hell could a person do that? He was genuinely surprised. It wasn’t simply because Seo Jun-Ho's skills were excellent.

‘People are animals with diverse thoughts and feelings.’

People often acted up when faced with unfair treatment, and people would want to show off upon knowing they were superior. Moreover, people would also want to wield power upon gaining strength. In other words, it was difficult to live while suppressing such primitive desires.

‘But Mr. Seo Jun-Ho… is different.’

He was treated unfairly, but he neither fought back nor showed off. Rather than using strength to persecute others, he first thought of protecting everyone with that strength. Baek Geon-Woo had always had this feeling since the Kobold Hunting Competition.

‘He's like a hero in a story.’

A man gentle on the outside but hard inside was the Seo Jun-Ho whom Baek Geon-Woo had seen.

‘…’

Baek Geon-Woo suddenly looked at his palm. There were calluses from not having skipped a single day of training. These calluses were the evidence of the time and effort he had put in over the past sixteen years.

‘I don't have that talent.’

At first, he resented the world. There were times when he had cried all day because he was sad that he had no talent.

‘...It was a luxury.’

Complaining was a luxury to the talentless. Realizing that fact, Baek Geon-Woo made an effort to grind during the time he wanted to resent the world. He didn't intend to give up. He wanted to find the fiend who had killed his family and get revenge.

‘I tried.’

He tried like crazy. On rainy days, snowy days, and hot days that made him not want to go outside. He tightened his shoelaces, went outside to train, and hunted monsters.

‘…’

Long after that, he once again had another epiphany. It was that effort and results were not directly proportional. For things people understood after seeing them once, he would only get the hang of them after seeing them three or four times.

‘Indeed.’

Baek Geon-Woo nodded slowly. He realized perfectly what his master was trying to say to him.

‘Was that what he meant by telling me to watch?’

His eyes turned to Seo Jun-Ho again. His view was filled with the man walking forward and resisting the thunderbolts.

'I see. Those are the people I'm going to face in the future.’

They weren’t the small fries he had met so far. In the future, if he lived as the disciple of the Thunder God, they were the lumps of talent he would have to face, even if he hated it. His master had been trying to ask him whether he was okay with that or not.

"Hmm."

Baek Geon-Woo asked himself a question: am I prepared to face people with more talent than that?

'…I am a stronger person than I thought.’

He had an indomitable mind that would not be swayed by any impulse.

Baek Geon-Woo was surprised by his own heart, which remained placid even in the face of Seo Jun-Ho's talent. At the same time, he had also found the answer to the Thunder God’s question.

‘No matter how great the talent I will face in the future, I will not be defeated.’

The Thunder God sitting on the rock glanced at him and smiled. It seemed his disciple had found the last piece of the puzzle he was lacking.

‘Hmm, I'm training you to this extent, so I need to get something back, too.’

The Thunder God was surprisingly a man who held his profits and losses with importance.

***

It had already been thirty minutes since Seo Jun-Ho started the test. In the meantime, he had only crossed the 50-meter mark.

"Ya walk well. Then how about this?"

The murmuring Thunder God changed his attack pattern once again.

Ruuummmble!

A thunderbolt struck.

‘This time, it’s overhead…’

The moment Seo Jun-Ho reached out and tried to use the power to freeze—

Rumble! Rumble!

The thunderbolt turned twice in the air and easily avoided the Frost energy.

‘What?!’

It was too late to avoid it.

Craaackle!

Seo Jun-Ho instantly created an ice wall and covered his body perfectly.

Booooom!

The thunderbolt struck the ice wall and shattered it, scattering ice crystals into the air. At that moment, the back of Seo Jun-Ho’s head tingled.

‘Behind!’

Seo Jun-Ho turned around and built a wall of ice in the back.

Booom!

When he saw the ice wall collapsing like a sand castle, the alarm in his head rang loudly.

‘Damn, I can't use the power to freeze if he keeps turning the direction like that.’

So far, the reason why he was able to use the power to freeze against the thunderbolts was simple. It was because the trajectory of the thunderbolts was easy to gauge. Therefore, even the relatively slow Frost energy could slow down the thunderbolt. But now, the thunderbolts were turning madly like a living creature.

"Ugh!"

Seo Jun-Ho's legs stopped all of a sudden. He didn't even have the mind to keep walking forward. He had no way to block all the thunderbolts wriggling toward him from every direction.

‘How do I use the power to freeze against enemies who can move faster than the Frost energy itself?’

Seo Jun-Ho fell into a serious dilemma over the problem the Thunder God had thrown at him. It was then when the Frost Queen watching from behind clicked her tongue.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk… The Frost energy is not the Watchguard of Darkness. Do not think about targeting each and every individual thing."

"What?"

“Winter winds do not blow, aiming only at your body. You are only standing in front of the winter winds, but even then, are you not cold?”

What kind of nonsense was she talking about? The moment Seo Jun-Ho's face was about to get distorted, he muttered, “Oh? Come to think of it, that's true."

"I do not like most things about you, but there is one thing I like—you are quick on the uptake."

“Quiet..."

As he replied sourly, a vast amount of magic gathered around him.