There was a huge crowd gathered near the tree that had been struck by lightning.

“Please let my son get into the academy this year…”

“Please don’t let my new business fail…

“Please let my missing cat Yumi get home safe!”

They were praying.

Seo Jun-Ho had no idea, but the people in Frontier considered places that had been struck by lightning to be good luck.

“...Please let my foolish children get along.” The old man that had offered him water also closed his eyes and prayed.

At that point, Seo Jun-Ho realized what was going on.

‘I see. They treat this place similar to how people on Earth treat meteors.’ 

He became curious about something and turned to the old man. “Why isn’t anyone approaching the tree?”

“It is common law to keep a distance to preserve the site for the next people who come to pray.”

A common law. In other words, a constitutional law.

“...Amazing,” Seo Jun-Ho whispered, amazed. It was amazing how all these people were being so considerate to people they didn’t even know.

“Well, don’t be too impressed. There are all kinds of people out there,” the old man grumbled. “Though there are many people who are considerate of each other, there are thieves who secretly cut off parts of the tree to sell it.”

“...That makes sense.” Seo Jun-Ho smiled bitterly and opened up Community.

Click. 

He took a picture of the people praying toward the burnt-black tree. This one picture was enough as a remnant of the thunderbolt.

“Then, sir, I’ll get going,” he said.

“Hm? Already? You’re not going to make a wish?”

“It has already been granted.” Soon enough, he would have a small party with his awakened comrades.

Seo Jun-Ho bowed once more to the old man and left.

***

Four days passed before Seo Jun-Ho met Baek Geon-Woo on the road. The latter didn’t seem to be in great shape, but his mental state seemed to be sharp. Seo Jun-Ho was the first to see and the first to greet him.

“...Oh, Mr. Jun-Ho.” The fact that his opponent was already on his way back could only mean one thing. Baek Geon-Woo laughed awkwardly and merely congratulated him. “As expected, I can’t beat you. Congratulations.”

“Not at all.” Seo Jun-Ho wasn’t trying to be modest or humble. He was actually a little surprised.

‘He’s already here?’ 

There were things that Baek Geon-Woo couldn’t beat him in with simple effort, willpower, and stamina. Seo Jun-Ho had Overclocking, while Baek Geon-Woo had nothing of the sort.

‘In the beginning, I ran for five days straight without sleeping…’

And he had only beat him by four days?

As Seo Jun-Ho stared at him, Baek Geon-Woo collapsed onto the ground, sitting. “Could you spare me a bit of your time? I have something to tell you.”

“...Of course.”

Baek Geon-Woo let out rough breaths as he gulped down water. He stared at his hands as he spoke, “I was born with an inherently low amount of magic power.”

Seo Jun-Ho had known that from the moment they first met. He had less magic than even the average Player.

“You probably knew, Mr. Jun-Ho.”

“I won’t deny it.”

“Then, you will probably be wondering at this point. You used magic energy to get here, so how is the difference between us so small…”

Seo Jun-Ho flinched. Both the Thunder God and Baek Geon-Woo could read people’s thoughts so easily.

‘Why? Have I not been able to keep a straight face?’

Baek Geon-Woo laughed feebly as he saw the shock on Jun-Ho’s face. “You do not have to be so serious about it. I merely thought from your perspective.”

“...This may come off as rude, but I won’t deny that either. I ran as fast as I could for five days without rest.”

“Mm. And how much of a difference did that make?”

“After I obtained the remnants of the thunderbolt, I ran for two more days.”

“I see.” Baek Geon-Woo nodded slowly before he spoke, “You passed the thunderbolt test.”

“Yes.”

“I also passed it.”

“I heard that you were the first one to do so…”

“However, my method wasn’t as impressive as yours, Mr. Jun-Ho.” He sneered at himself. “Has Master ever told you about my skill?”

“No,” he said.

“My skill is called Full Predator.[1] It’s a B-grade skill.”

“B-grade?!” Seo Jun-Ho exclaimed. Even though he knew it was rude, he couldn’t help but be surprised. Most Players with a B-rank skill could stand above the rest.

“Yes, the rank is pretty high, so I had high expectations at first. I thought that I would quickly be able to get strong and avenge my family,” he explained.

“May I ask what kind of effect it has?”

“It is a skill that allows me to absorb and use someone else’s skill, but only once.”

“That’s such a… That’s an incredible skill, isn’t it?” Based on what he was hearing, it was like a cheat. It meant that Baek Geon-Woo could get any skill he wanted.

“...Yes. But the skill lives up to its name.”

Full Predator. A predator with a full stomach did not hunt or eat. All it did was close its eyes and sleep.

“It took ten years simply for it to awaken,” Baek Geon-Woo said. He had sensed when the predator opened its eyes and began to search for suitable prey. “Back then, I decided not to eat anything.” He only had one chance, so he didn’t want to waste it.

“Wait, then…”

“Yes. As you may have guessed, I risked my life to climb the Wailing Mountains back then. That was already five years ago.” Without anything else to lean on, the only thing that Baek Geon-Woo had trained in those past ten years was his body. “I almost died a few times while coming up here, but I eventually made it.”

“Then did you absorb the Thunder God’s…”

“I failed.”

The Thunder God’s skill was publicly known to be S-grade. Full Predator hadn’t been strong enough to digest it.

“So, I thought that everything was over…” Baek Geon-Woo closed his eyes. “But Master began to cry. He said that he had finally found the apple tree.”

“The apple tree?” Jun-Ho asked.

“Yes. Master had been looking for a successor to give everything he had to.”

Seo Jun-Ho blinked. It wasn’t unheard of for Players to leave successors, such as the Guild Masters of big Guilds or the founders of a unique fighting style.

‘But Players with elemental skills…’

They couldn’t have successors. Elemental abilities were not something that could simply be taught and learned.

“Why did the Thunder God…”

“I do not know if you know this, but Master is not in a good state at the moment,” he said, meeting Seo Jun-Ho’s eyes. “Five years ago, right before I climbed the Wailing Mountains, Master sustained a major injury.”

“...From the Heavenly Demon?”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

They didn’t know which demon’s blood the Heavenly Demon had drunk, but its unique abilities had started to eat away at the Thunder God.

“Back then, Master had two whole elixirs.”

As the strongest Player in the world, he had worked hard his whole life to retrieve the priceless panaceas. But instead of taking them, he went to seek out a close friend.

“After asking the Sage of the Observatory Tower, he learned of two possible solutions.”

The first was to drink both elixirs. However, it did not guarantee a full recovery. The other option was to not drink them. In this case, he could plan his future with certainty.

“Did he…”

“Master said it was an easy choice. He said it would obviously be better to bet on the option with a higher probability of success.” After all, he was betting on his life. Not many people would have been able to make the choice with such composure.

“And then, I appeared before him.”

Baek Geon-Woo might be the only Player in the world that could inherit his thunder energy.

“I took Master’s test. The thunderbolt test.” Full Predator had been unable to digest all of the Thunder God’s thunder energy. But every time Baek Geon-Woo was struck, the energy had started to build up, little by little.

“It took 742 days to pass the test alone.” He had only been able to pass after he had built up thunder resistance and Full Predator leveled up to A-grade.

“...Your willpower is amazing.”

“Because the only things I can train are my willpower and stamina.”

No matter how hard someone tried, something like talent couldn’t be obtained with simple effort.

“Then, right now…”

“I am absorbing thunder energy from Master every night,” Baek Geon-Woo answered.

“You can endure that?”

“I cannot. My veins and muscles would rip apart every time, and I would collapse.”

The elixirs were then used to heal those injuries. They had made hundreds of bottles by diluting the elixirs with water.

“...” Seo Jun-Ho was lost in thought for a second before he spoke, “...Then how much time does the Thunder God have left?” He asked.

“I don’t know either, but he plans to go down to Earth to recuperate once he’s done handing off all the thunder energy he has to me. After that, he won’t live any longer than ten years.”

“Ten years, you say.”

That much was a relief. The Thunder God’s mere existence was a pillar that motivated players to persevere.

Baek Geon-Woo grinned. “Did you know that Master seems really happy these days?”

“These days?” Seo Jun-Ho countered bitterly. His only memories of the Thunder God were his taunts and scoldings.

“He even told me this—he thought that he was the only one who had planted an apple tree. He didn’t expect that another one had actually grown naturally.”

“...He overestimates me.”

“No, I don’t think he does.” Baek Geon-Woo looked at Seo Jun-Ho with sparkling eyes. “Mr. Jun-Ho, you give more hope to people than you think,” he assured, squeezing his hands into fists. “Though I am slow, I will follow you diligently. I want to become a hero who protects people and gives them hope, just like you.”

“...”

Seo Jun-Ho closed his eyes. It had been a while since he had met someone so pure-hearted, and he couldn’t help but feel ashamed.

‘Still…This isn’t bad.’

Warm sunlight shone on the two men sitting by the road.

***

“Hm, you’re here.” The Thunder God seemed indifferent when he saw Seo Jun-Ho arrive first.

“...I won the bet.”

“I know.” He approached Seo Jun-Ho and thoroughly inspected his muscles with his hands. “How does your body feel?”

“...Um.”

Seo Jun-Ho’s eyes widened as he realized something.

‘It feels natural.’ 

The stiff feeling he felt after going through the body transformation had disappeared without a trace. This was only possible because his mind, body, and magic energy had been pushed to their limits.

“Did you plan this from the…”

“Ya fell for it pretty easily ‘cause ya have so much pride. Son, ya need ta work on that temper of yers.”

As Seo Jun-Ho watched the Thunder God laugh, he got the feeling that he had been played.

“...Then what were you planning to do if I lost?” He asked.

“Ya, lose? Don’t be stupid.” He snorted. “Y’re like one of those watchamacallits—those strong ones…”

“High Rankers?”

“Ah, yeah. They wouldn’t be able to handle ya in your current form. Though I dunno ‘bout those Nine Heaven brats…” he muttered the last part, then shrugged. “I know how strong y’re and how strong Geon-Woo is. Did ya think I won’t be able to calculate that much?”

“Geez… You should’ve just told it to me straight…”

“But that’s no fun…”

The Thunder God had been planning to teach him other things once they were done with the stamina training. In other words, it didn’t matter whether he won or lost.

The Thunder God watched Jun-Ho’s dejected expression for a while before saying, “Son, do ya know what a simultaneous display is?”

“Simultaneous display?” Seo Jun-Ho nodded.

It was a term used in games such as Go and Chess, where a high-ranked player played against multiple less skilled players simultaneously.

“From now on, y’ll come at me with yer full strength. Once Geon-Woo comes, y’ll fight me together.”

“...So we’ll be fighting for real. Until when will we do this?”

The Thunder God grinned at his question. “Until the day ya go down the mountain.”

“That’s quite a long time.”

“Long? A month will probably pass in the blink of an eye.”

And the Thunder God was correct.

Seo Jun-Ho’s planned training period of one month passed in no time at all.

1. ’Full’ as in its stomach is full. There is no hanja, so it could also be read as ‘Full Glutton.’ ☜