Second Life Ranker

“Additionally, if I disappear, the top ranking on the tenth floor will go to Yeon-woo. He’ll then be able to gain more faith.”

Everything Edora said made perfect logical sense. Currently, the tenth floor was the only one where Yeon-woo did not hold the first rank. On the tenth floor, The Realm of Void, where one had to blindly walk through a series of doors to find an exit, Edora had taken first place. She accomplished the feat through her skill, Insight. Hence, Edora was arguing that her sacrifice would allow Yeon-woo to consolidate all the first ranks on the lower floors.

Since Yeon-woo already held the overall rank one spot, Edora’s contribution would make a very minor difference at best, but even that little bit may have a big impact in Yeon-woo’s battle against Allforone.

Moreover, if Edora were to join Yeon-woo’s shadow, she could possibly hand over all the data she possessed regarding the yang sword to Yeon-woo. Starting with Insight, which was the fundamental basis for the yang sword, if Yeon-woo could get all the things that Edora had gathered and organized regarding the yang sword, Yeon-woo may be able to complete the Bright Tai Chi Pangu Sword.

Even if Yeon-woo could not manifest the yang sword himself, Edora, as Yeon-woo’s familiar, could attempt to accommodate Yeon-woo’s deficiencies in the yang sword to create the Bright Tai Chi Pangu Sword. 

“Even if I die, I’ll be able to reappear next to Yeon-woo through his Summon of the Dead skill. There’s nothing to lose.” Edora looked at Phante with a determined look.

“Don’t be silly.” Phante immediately dismissed Edora’s suggestion as if it was not worth considering. Phante looked serious. “You’re asking me to sacrifice my own sister? Did you suffer a gunshot wound to your head while I wasn’t looking?”

“Be objective and rational. Before considering yourself my blood brother, you’re the king of our tribe. In order to avenge our father…!”

“No. It’s because I’m the king of our tribe that I must consider my bloodline. What kind of tribe can properly function if one can’t even protect one’s own family? If you’re going to continue spewing nonsense like sacrificing yourself for a greater cause, I’m going to ask the Head Elder to imprison you until everything blows over.”

“…”

“Dang, you usually act as though you’re so smart, but in severe situations you act like you have a few screws loose in your head.” Phante completely ignored Edora. It seemed that he did not want to hear anything further from Edora.

Edora bit her lower lip. It wasn’t that she was looking forward to dying. She felt that it was the only thing she could do to help Yeon-woo out. ‘If only I could transfer my knowledge of the yang sword within that egg to Yeon-woo…’

While Edora was deep in thought… 

“So, the gist of what you’re saying is that you want to transfer some information into that strange ‘egg’, right?”

Edora and Phante heard a low voice from behind them. It was a voice that they had been fond of hearing in the past but no longer. They turned their heads reflexively to see Nocturne standing with an expressionless face.

***

[The spring of time is winding incredibly slowly!]

While the time in the outside world slowed down, Yeon-woo’s thought process accelerated. Watching Allforone prepare for a new offensive attack, Yeon-woo also discussed with Kronos to try and find a new strategy to counter Allforone.

『You’re not going to say something silly like devouring my daughter-in-law, right?』 Kronos’ voice reverberated in Yeon-woo’s mind.

‘Father.’

『What?』 

‘Have you gone senile?’

『Hmpf! There’s nothing that a bastard son like you won’t say to your own father!』 

‘If you’re fine, you know I wouldn’t seriously consider something like that.’

Of course, Yeon-woo had considered adding Edora as one of his familiars. To belong to Yeon-woo’s shadow meant that everything contained within one’s soul would become subordinate to him. In other words, it meant that there was a way Yeon-woo could forcibly combine the yang and yin sword. However, Yeon-woo immediately discarded the thought when it arose. ‘I don’t want to see anyone sacrifice themselves anymore.’

Yeon-woo had just reunited with his father and brother, both of whom sacrificed themselves for the greater good. Yeon-woo did not want to go through another painful period of loss and mourning. At the time when his father and brother sacrificed themselves, there did not seem to be any other alternative as Yeon-woo had been too weak. However, that was not the case now. If Yeon-woo had to sacrifice someone now, he may lose his mind. 

『Yeah, you were always mentally weak at certain times.』 Kronos smirked. At the same time, he was relieved.

Usually, after being intoxicated by a rush of seemingly overwhelming power, anyone, whether god or demon, would gradually become a monster that would lose control over his or her emotions and rationale.

Most gods were like that. Kronos had acted the same way during his days as the King of Gods. He had forgotten all his youthful resolve and became a mindless being that was always greedy for more power. However, Yeon-woo never lost his heart and humanity as a human being. It was the slightest of differences in mindset. Kronos was grateful for this aspect of his son and loved him for it.

『Still, knowing your insidious personality and temper, I’m pretty sure you’ve already come up with some shady tactic to deal with Allforone. So, what is it?』 

‘An insidious personality and temper…’ Yeon-woo wondered how this image of him had been engraved in his father’s mind, but Yeon-woo decided to answer his father seriously without fooling around. ‘Using you, father.’

『Me?』 

‘Yes.’

『So, you believe in my legends.』 Kronos was able to read Yeon-woo’s thoughts at once. Reincarnating countless times on Earth for nearly ten thousand years, Kronos had learned and acquired the achievements after living the lives of numerous heroes. Thus, he possessed a firm foundation.

Kronos was more than qualified to learn the yang sword. If Yeon-woo could not learn the yang sword himself, the next best alternative was for his father to learn it.

Moreover, Yeon-woo had the option of unity with Kronos. In that case, his yin sword and his father’s yang sword would intertwine with each other, allowing Yeon-woo to bring out the Bright Tai Chi Pangu Sword.

『However, martial arts is a completely different field than what I pictured it as.』 Kronos looked a little embarrassed. It wasn’t that he did want to learn the One-horned Tribe’s prized martial sword art, rather, Kronos understood it would not be easy for him to learn the yang sword. Martial arts were a completely different realm from what he was used to. Furthermore, the One-horned Tribe was not classified as a high-status species without reason. In fact, Kronos had been astonished that Yeon-woo, unable to get what he wanted through manipulating existing martial arts, easily created his own martial arts path.

『I don’t know anything about martial arts. Moreover, you’re asking me to learn something that is classified as something immensely difficult to learn in the first place… In such a short period of time… Isn’t this asking for the impossible?』 In essence, Kronos was asking how Yeon-woo expected him to learn something that even the Martial King was unable to realize and in such a short amount of time. Moreover, there were physical traits and characteristics that had to be taken into consideration.

‘No. It’s possible.’ Yeon-woo was adamant.

『Huh? Hmpf! You little brat, you always act disrespectfully towards your father, yet you deeply admire and respect me enough to trust that I’d learn this form of martial arts easily… If it was that easy, I would have already…!』 

‘Have you already forgotten that I’m the person who rebuilt your legends?’

『You… Wait… Perhaps?』 

‘I’ve already instilled in you the qualifications to learn the yang sword.’

『…!』 Kronos unconsciously laughed out loud, wondering what the hell Yeon-woo did to his body without his knowledge.

But, in a way, what Yeon-woo did was probably something to be expected. Yeon-woo already had a deep understanding of the yin sword to the extent that he rearranged his own spirit when establishing a new yin sword-based soul. Then, when creating Scythe, Yeon-woo probably utilized some of the methods and concepts he learned when creating his yin sword.

Kronos could not help but chuckle about whether he should call himself a yang spirit or yang sword.『Even if you’ve imbued in me some of the unique characteristics of my daughter-in-law’s family, it’s a completely different story in recreating something perfectly in their likeness, right?』 Even if the foundation for the yang sword was present, he thought it was a completely different story to actually produce the yang sword.

‘You do not need to realize the entirety of the yang sword.’

『Then?』 

‘It should be fine if you can actualize the yang sword just once, no?’

『Just once? Hmpf! Well…that may be possible… Just once…』 

Yeon-woo was not expecting Kronos to entirely convert to the yang sword but utilize and apply its properties once. If it was just a momentary utilization, Kronos could possibly manage it. Furthermore, Kronos had a vast resource of experiences that he had accumulated through his many previous lives to rely on.

『But how are you planning to transfer the yang sword teachings and principles to me?』 

‘I have an idea.’

『Hmm?』 At Yeon-woo’s words, Kronos could not help but tilt his head in confusion.

***

If you’re going to remain a loser, just remain that way. But if you want to remain as Master’s disciple, stand up and move.

Nocturne received such a message in a letter one day while living like a helpless recluse with the Ice King and Twice. The letter did not denote the sender or the recipient, and whoever left the letter had left it at Nocturne’s bedside.

In the back of his mind, Nocturne had the eerie thought that if his opponent had made up his mind, he could have been killed easily… Thus, once Nocturne saw the letter, he immediately realized who had left the message. ‘It’s Yeon-woo.’

However, Nocturne did not understand why Yeon-woo would leave him a message. For Yeon-woo, Nocturne was probably nothing more than a mortal enemy who Yeon-woo would not hesitate to rip into pieces. Nocturne was probably pegged as the bastard who took Yeon-woo’s precious Master away… 

Despite not understanding why Yeon-woo would do this, Nocturne did not bother to question Yeon-woo’s motives. He just got up from his seat and moved as if he had to.

The Ice King and Twice could not figure out why Nocturne suddenly changed. Just a moment before, Nocturne acted as if he would die at any moment. Regardless, the Ice King and Twice cheered and welcomed Nocturne’s changed demeanor.

Nocturne grabbed his sword and put it into its sheath. Once he heard from the Ice King that an Allforone raid had begun on the seventy-seventh floor, Nocturne immediately started moving. That was how he got to this place.

“Grandpa, maybe we…” Twice whispered.

“Um, yes. So, it seems he was searching for his eternal resting place.”

The Ice King and Twice, who had followed behind Nocturne, cringed after receiving the bloody gazes of the One-horned Tribe. Although the Ice King and Twice were high-rankers, they still found terrifying things…terrifying. In particular, Phante, who was said to be the new king of the tribe, seemed determined to tear them apart at any moment.

“Why the hell did you come here? Did you come to stick your neck out to have your head chopped off?” Phante shouted towards Nocturne.

Regardless of what others said…Nocturne scanned the tribe members. He looked towards Edora, who exuded a killing intent and stared back with calm eyes. He said, “I was also once trained by Master to learn the Bright Tai Chi Pangu Sword, so I know the rough prerequisites and rules on how to use it. However, at that time, I did not complete Insight, so I wasn’t able to fully complete the yang sword. Moreover, the exact pathway is something that only you know of, right?”

Phante jumped between the two while screaming his head off. “How dare you say such words after being kicked out of the tribe! If you refer to your ex-Master one more time, I’ll rip your…”

“Brother.”

“Yeah, Edora. Is your heart racing at the opportunity as well? Come on, let’s rip this guy apart…”

“Shut up.”

“…Huh?”

“I can’t understand what he’s saying, so shut up.”

“…” Phante could not help but shut his mouth at Edora’s cruel words. He wanted to retort back, but nothing escaped from his throat as he looked at Edora’s icy gaze.

Edora did not pay any further attention to Phante as she focused on Nocturne. “So, what do you want?” 

“The pathway, tell me.”

“And after that?”

“As I said, I’m going to transfer it inside that egg.”

“Is that even possible…!”

“It’s possible. I’m going to engrave the idea on the inside of a sword mark. For anyone aware enough, they’ll recognize the mark and the message that lies within right away."

“…”

“I’m neither a yin spirit nor a sun-endowed descendant. Even if I learn the pathway, I cannot use it. So even if you entrust the pathway information with me, it won’t hurt, right?”

<God Eyes>

As a psychic medium, Edora opened her learned eyes wide and scrutinized Nocturne. Every time Edora asked a question, a truthful response would come back from Nocturne.

「Is it possible for me to hand you the pathway?」 

- True. 

「You can’t use it anyway, right?」 

- True. 

「Do you have any ulterior motives?」 

- None. 

「There’s nothing for you to benefit from coming here, so why have you come here?」 

- Unknown. 

Nocturne was obviously not lying when he responded. He himself did not know why he appeared here, but he felt he could be of help.

“Fine. Let’s try your idea. However, if you try anything stupid towards Yeon-woo…!”

“I’m already hated by so many people, do you really think I’d come all the way here to do something stupid and get killed?” Nocturne smiled bitterly as he looked at the elders and other tribe members who had already surrounded him.

At that moment, Edora licked her lips.