BXBX NOVEL Chapter 59
59 Gourmet Day
Ko Byeong-gap stared at the store window with a slightly dissatisfied gaze. It was the ‘soul’ line of merchandise that had caught his attention.
‘Trovatin? Hashumland? Karamos?’
A bunch of people’s souls were being sold for 700,000 crystals each. The annotations were quite intriguing.
[Soul of Trovatin]
-Price: 700,000 Crystals
-Description: The spirit of Trovatin, the first knight among the 12 heroes of Ashvilam. When used, his abilities when he was still alive can be obtained.
‘I’m going to get the abilities he had when he was still alive?’
That was the part that Byeong-gap focused on.
His hand moved as if it were possessed by something, and his index finger stopped just before closing the window.
‘Do I know what this is?’
He was hesitant to purchase it.
There was no guarantee that this soul would help him overcome their situation. He didn’t know if it was worth a dime or two, and it cost 700,000 crystals. 700,000 crystals!
‘…Crazy. I’m still worried about money in this situation?’
Byeong-gap was getting fed up with his miserly temperament.
‘I’m stupid. If we die, it’s over. What am I talking about?’
His index finger reached for the shop window. Soon, a hologram appeared asking if he was sure about his purchase, and he accepted without hesitation.
700,000 crystals were deducted from his inventory and something popped up in the air. It was a luminous body that looked a bit like a Goblin.
‘Is this a soul?’
It was round and about the size of a fist, emitting a subtle blue light on its own.
It looked great as a children’s toy, but it didn’t really seem reliable.
‘What about it makes it worth 700,000 crystals…? I don’t know. You should be worthy as you are expensive! By the way, how do you use it?’
He looked around Trovatin’s soul and couldn’t come up with an intuitive way to use it like potions or dumplings.
[Join the soul crystal with your heart.]
“Oh, that’s sweet of you. Thank you.”
Byeong-gap followed the instructions of the hologram. He took the soul in his hands and brought it to his heart. For some reason, his heart was pounding.
[Would you like to assimilate with the soul of Trovatin?]
‘Yeah.’
[The assimilation is starting. 1%, 2%, 3%…]
[Error! The spirit and body are not suitable for receiving the soul. The assimilation rate will decrease.]
[Your body strength has not reached the threshold. The assimilation rate will decrease.]
[Assimilation complete with the Soul of Trovatin. Assimilation rate: 53.21%]
“Ugh!”
He noticed that something had happened to his body. To be more specific, it felt like ‘someone other than him’ was inside his body. His sight suddenly went dark and he suffocated. His head throbbed like it was going to explode, and his heart went berserk like a mad cat.
“Haaaah!”
An afterimage brushed past his eyes.
It was the memory of a man named Trovatin.
—Push!
—There’s no place for us to go back! We’re gonna bury our bones on this battlefield!
—For Ashvilam! Here’s to Landreal!
‘What the hell is this…?’
Thousands of war horses were running in the vast grasslands while knights riding on those horses brandished giant swords.
Trovatin was in the lead.
The scene was so vivid that he felt like he was on the battlefield himself.
“I… What was that?”
Korean and Ashvilam’s languages alternated.
There was no time to worry about this, but it was confusing. Byeong-gap thought he was going to forget who he was.
“Ugh!”
“Fuck!”
“Stop it!”
His own memories and Trovatin’s memories mingled together, messing with his head. All kinds of sounds and delusions tormented him. He wanted to pull out his brain if he could.
‘Who am I? Who am I?! What am I? Am I alive? What was I doing?’
‘Ashvilam… I have to go back to Ashvilam. I have to go back to Ashvilam. I have to go and protect Landreal.’
Byeong-gap mumbled like he was possessed and got up. He opened the gate to Ashvilam, but the moment he stepped inside, he suddenly came to his senses.
‘No, I’m… I’m Ko Byeong-gap. I’m not a ghost!’
He picked up a stone near his feet and started hitting his head like crazy.
Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam!
Blood gushed down from his torn forehead. Byeong-gap did not stop until the stone had turned into powder.
“Haha… Fuck.”
The afterimage that had disturbed his eyes and ears a while ago went away. His mind had also cleared up.
Byeong-gap spat out whatever came to mind to assure himself.
“Mom. Gobung. Kiriyan. Dorma. Ea. Doran. And the little ones. Seon-kyung noona.”
He pulled his sword out of the air and held it in his hand.
“And you, son of a bitch. You’re dead.”
Byeong-gap kicked the floor, splitting the air with a flash of light.
***
“Stop it, you monster.”
Byeong-gap stared at the Balrog like death, then looked down.
“Hah… Hah…”
Jeong Seon-kyung was a wreck. Every bone in her body seemed to be broken. How badly did it beat her…
If he didn’t take action soon, she would run out of breath.
“Krrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!”
The Balrog lightly ignored his warning and attacked. Byeong-gap’s temples twitched.
He drew his sword without even looking at the Balrog. A golden afterimage remained where the sword had passed.
“Cuaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!”
He swung a blow with a formidable wind. The Balrog’s arms were cut off without difficulty.
Without missing a beat, Byeong-gap did a round kick and collided with the monster.
“Choop!”
The Balrog flew more than a hundred meters back.
He plunged his sword into the ground and a golden energy swirled and formed a protective shield around them. It was the unique skill of ‘Trovatin, the heart of the corps.’
“Bottle…”
“Don’t force yourself to talk.”
Byeong-gap bought a lot of dumplings from the Ancient Shop. Jeong Seon-kyung’s eyes widened slightly when she saw the mysterious window floating in the air.
‘Can she even chew this?’
After thinking about it for a while, he poured the dumplings into her mouth. She chewed gently, mixing it well with her saliva, and he gave her another one.
“Stay put.”
“Ugh!”
“Eat! Eat to live!”
“Ahh…”
In the end, Jeong Seon-kyung took the dumplings and ate them. Her expression, which had been distorted by pain, gradually softened.
Boom!
At that moment, the protective shield trembled. The Balrog, who had just returned, was hitting it with its horns.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
“You idiot. You’re here to kill me?”
It would have been annoying if he had run away, but it all worked out.
Byeong-gap gently laid Jeong Seon-kyung down on the ground.
“Hey, Ko Byeong-gap… You…”
“That’s enough, don’t say anything now.”
He spoke softly and stood up.
“Hey, Ko Byeong-gap!”
“I know this is a strange situation, but first, we have to put out the fire.”
“Come on, wait a minute! Hang on!”
“There’s nothing to worry about. I don’t really know, but I don’t think I’m going to lose to that monster.”
“No, no, no, no, no, no!”
Jeong Seon-kyung called out for Byeong-gap eagerly. He turned his body around, ignoring her persuasions.
Then she shouted with all her heart.
“Hey, you damn child! If you have a cigarette, give me one!”
“…What?”
“What kind of bullshit are you talking about? Do you have a cigarette? Give me a box if you have one.”
Jeong Seon-kyung looked for a cigarette as she was bleeding.
Byeong-gap stammered unknowingly. Did he have cigarettes? He didn’t think so.
“There you are.”
He found a crumpled pack of cigarettes in his pants pocket. Luckily, one of them was still intact. The lighter was still working as well. He lit a cigarette and placed it on Jeong Seon-kyung’s mouth.
She looked like she would die without inhaling cigarette smoke.
“Sigh, I’m going to live now. I was scared I’d die if I didn’t smoke this.”
“…….”
“Go now.”
“Huh?”
“Go ahead and kill that monster.”
“…Yeah.”
Byeong-gap stood up again. Jeong Seon-kyung smiled faintly and spoke to his back.
“Don’t die, Ko Byeong-gap.”
“I won’t die.”
He grabbed his sword. Golden energy gathered around him and the shield was lifted.
“Krrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!”
A great amount of heat gathered in the mouth of the Balrog. The overflowing flames seemed ready to explode at any moment.
“What a big, distracted man playing with fire!”
He put strength in his sword. Golden energy swirled around him, creating a storm.
At that moment, the Balrog blew out a pillar of fire. Byeong-gap calmly swung his sword and struck it back.
A storm of flames and swords collided.
“Aaaaaah!”
The flames were extinguished helplessly. It was simply no match. The Balrog was beaten by the sword and fell apart, pouring out blood and flesh.
‘He’s already a wreck. Let’s get it over with in one shot.’
Byeong-gap vowed to do that and gathered his strength again. This time, he intended to use a technique he had gleaned from Trovatin’s memory.
‘My body moves by itself.’
It was a different feeling than when he imprinted the textbooks. To compare the two, the textbooks were like an open book test, and this was a cheat sheet.
The blade was loaded with golden energy. It took shape on its own and created a cone-shaped spear, a giant weapon measuring three meters long. It was a weapon that Trovatin loved to use in his lifetime.
“Crrr…”
The Balrog raised its ragged body, but Byeong-gap had no intention of giving it more time. His tightly swollen legs slammed the ground; he crossed the field like a ray of light.
The secret art of the Mandara Knights.
The third form of the eight martial arts.
“Crush.”
Ko Byeong-gap became a spear.
The Balrog tried to avoid him as if it sensed the danger. However, the space around it distorted and caught it in its place.
The Balrog was a cornered mouse. Byeong-gap mercilessly stabbed it in the heart.
The huge spear penetrated its flesh, but that was not all. The energy emitted from the spear raged like a storm and devoured its flesh from the inside.
Crushing it. It was literally grinding the insides of the Balrog.
“Krrrrrr!!!!!!”
The Balrog fell off with a scream of death.
Its end was so futile.
‘It’s over.’
Dark clouds were clearing up in the sky, and it was not long before a strong stream of light poured in.
***
“Oh, my God. Oh, my God. Argh!”
“Hey! Calm down! What is it!?”
“Please! Please stop—Ah!!!”
Byeong-gap let out a deadly scream. He tried to put up with it, but he couldn’t. He was bleeding from every pore on his face. His limbs twisted uncontrollably, and his body contorted.
The members of Group C, including Jeong Seon-kyung, could not do anything.
‘God damn it!’
Byeong-gap sighed inside.
The suffering began about ten minutes ago.
After the battle, he had gathered his fallen team members to heal them. Fortunately, all of them were hidden, and they somehow survived by eating the dumplings. He was also able to restore Boo Young-geon’s severed arm.
The problem came after that.
[The assimilation rate is low, so you can’t hold Trovatin’s soul.]
[The assimilation will be revoked.]
[Trovatin’s soul has been destroyed.]
Suddenly, a hologram appeared saying that the soul of Trovatin had disappeared.
As soon as the power wrapped around his body disappeared, Byeong-gap suffered a tremendous rebound. A terrible pain hit his whole body as if he had been thrown into a hydraulic press. The deathly aftereffects had been going on for more than ten minutes, but it showed no signs of dissipating.
“Hey! Don’t just scream. Eat this, too!”
Jeong Seon-kyung grabbed the remaining dumplings and stomped her feet. Byeong-gap could barely open his mouth to ask for food.
She understood him and fed him the dumplings.
“Uhhhhhh!”
Even after eating the dumplings, the pain showed no signs of going away. Tears of blood continued to trickle down his face.
Byeong-gap was in so much pain that he even cried like a child.
“He can’t go, not like this. We need to get him to headquarters! Can you all move?”
Boo Young-geon looked around the group and asked.
“I can move.”
“Me too.”
“I don’t have a problem either.”
“Alright.”
All of them had been seriously injured, and the dumplings couldn’t cure them completely. But it was enough for them to walk or run.
“Let’s go.”
Group C diligently kicked their feet.
Byeong-gap groaned on Boo Young-geon’s back before passing out.
Group C walked and ran continuously. They moved for a long time without taking a break. Then, as the sun was going down, they ran into another group, who then provided support.
With their help, Group C was able to reach the headquarters.
Byeong-gap, who had passed out, remained unconscious most of the time. He would sometimes regain consciousness, but he struggled with the pain and would faint again.
It was a day or so after the end of the first expedition before he fully woke up.