From Today, I'm a Player

Chapter 196: Emotion Pt. 6

Thunderbolt and Gungnir clashed in a shocking explosion, and a spear of flame penetrated between them. Following the sudden collision, a huge explosion followed. In the midst of it all, Lee Jun-Kyeong stood, completely unharmed.

“How…”

The web of lightning still flowed with a terrifying current while the green light continued to travel in streams around Lee Jun-Kyeong, but he stood proudly as if unaffected by anything.

“How…”

Flicker.

When Lee Jun-Kyeong clenched his fist, flames around him flared into existence and soon disappeared, taking the web of lighting and green aura away with it.

“...”

Zeus and Odin looked at him at the same time. They had clashed after both had met with the person that Odin called that being. Now meeting Lee Jun-Kyeong, the emotions they were feeling were quite odd.

“How infuriating.”

“...”

To think, on top of his appearance, his power would have grown to this extent.

“Underdog.”

“Underdog…”

Odin and Zeus spoke to Lee Jun-Kyeong simultaneously, almost as if they had forgotten that they had been fighting each other.

“What is your purpose?” they asked at the same time, both having the same thoughts at this moment.

Because Lee Jun-Kyeong had intervened, Zeus had missed the opportunity to kill Odin, while Odin had been able to live thanks to his actions.

.

‘That bastard saved me.’

Zeus' Thunderbolt was powerful, and it wasn’t at a level that Odin could have survived against with his hastily cast Gungnir. Odin had almost tasted death at that moment, but he had been saved by Lee Jun-Kyeong.

‘Does he still think that I’m a part of Asgard…’

He tried to figure out the reason in his own way, but he soon just laughed instead. Odin instead thought about the one who knew Lee Jun-Kyeong’s identity even more so than he, who knew the Hunter better than anyone else here.

‘The one who knows the future.’

No, he had to correct his thought.

‘The one from the future.’

That being knew everything about what he would do, or what he would even think from this point on. He was someone that Odin had to be the most vigilant about and fear the most.

‘That being…’

A person whose appearance was synonymous with fear came to Odin’s mind. Lee Jun-Kyeong caught both of their eyes and looked at them both, alternating between the two.

“...”

‘So that’s Zeus…’

It was the first time that he had seen Zeus in person. He was a little different from what he had imagined–no, a little different from what he knew. The Zeus that Lee Jun-Kyeong knew looked much older.

Zeus was the chief of the giant Hunter organization that would rule the future world, Eden.

"Zeus."

“Do you know me?”

“What, are you pretending to be humble?” Lee Jun-Kyeong sarcastically replied, as if there was anyone who didn’t know who Zeus was. Even if he forgot about the future, there wouldn’t be a single person who didn’t know Zeus in the present age.

“Your tone is a little rude, but I’ll let it go, I guess. So, why did you stop me? If your reason isn’t enough to convince me…”

A blue current of electricity crackled in Zeus’s hand.

“You’ll have to pay the price.”

The Hunter was clearly smiling, but the chill in his eyes was enough to give Lee Jun-Kyeong goosebumps. Lee Jun-Kyeong looked over at Zeus for a moment and then nodded.

“As for Muninn…it had an Authority over memory, right?” he asked Odin.

“So, did you decide not to use honorifics anymore?” Odin responded.

“Answer the question.”

Although Odin had no need to answer Lee Jun-Kyeong’s question, he needed to buy time.

‘I have to drag this out.’

He needed time to gather enough strength to get out of this crisis, and Lee Jun-Kyeong was giving him the time that he needed.

“That’s right.”

“And it can’t manipulate someone’s memories.”

“Are you trying to ask why I showed you that specific memory?” Odin asked, a deep smile spreading across his lips.

“It was because that being wanted me to.” Before Lee Jun-Kyeong was able to ask what that meant, Odin interrupted him, “Don’t think about asking anything about that being. Don’t you already know that there is something strange about all of this? Also…”

Odin avoided Lee Jun-Kyeong’s and Zeus’ gazes and clenched his fists.

“He has no intention of hiding himself any longer, anyway.”

The void began to ripple, time and space distorting behind him.

“Soon, you will be able to meet him soon. And I will be with him…”

Odin’s smile deepened. At the same time, time and space shook like a typhoon.

WOOSH!

“To see the end of the world.”

At this very moment, Asgard had appeared behind Odin’s back. It was Odin’s territory, the symbol of the secret organization that ruled Korea.

“The Golden City… Asgard…” one of the Heroes of Olympus said as they watched the radiance that appeared.

Odin’s intuition had been correct. There wouldn’t have been an opening he could have broken through even if he had gathered all of his strength. That was why he had just poured everything he had into creating an opening instead. He had summoned his territory, and within that territory, he would be virtually invincible.

“Thank you. For buying me time.”

Moreover, they wouldn’t be able to track where he would flee to if he used his territory to run.

As Odin expressed his gratitude to Lee Jun-Kyeong, space began to distort once again.

“You must think I’m an idiot.”

The torrenting rain had stopped all of a sudden before anyone had realized, and now, light and darkness were coexisting together.

Asgard’s brilliance and a gigantic Citadel from the Heavens descended before them, blurrily coming into existence.

“Olympus…!”

Zeus had known that Odin had been waiting for something to happen, but he had ignored it all in order to bring about an end to Odin more clearly.

Because Odin had been summoning Asgard, there was nothing Odin could do to stop him from summoning Olympus.

“...!”

However, Lee Jun-Kyeong was different.

“What…!”

A spear appeared in Lee Jun-Kyeong’s hand, clearly aimed at Olympus.

Zeus was flustered, but because he was still summoning Olympus, he wasn’t able to use his hands to stop him. Though, that didn’t mean that the Heroes of Olympus were also preoccupied.

“Stop the Underdog!”

They all gathered and ran toward Lee Jun-Kyeong.

ROAR!

However, a wall of flame burned before them like the flames of hell, completely stopping the other Heroes from approaching. They could see it. It was burning the very mana in the air.

‘It would burn a Hunter’s vitality.’

They knew that if they tried to cross the barrier before them, the only thing waiting for them on the other side would be death.

Flicker!

However, there was still someone who pierced through the flames and ran toward Lee Jun-Kyeong despite the danger.

“Athena…!”

Her head and face were scorched by the flames, but her beauty never changed. Even though the flames of Muspel clung to her and burned her, she stared forward at Lee Jun-Kyeong resolutely.

“...”

Asgard and Olympus were appearing simultaneously. When Asgard fully materialized, Odin would be able to flee. However, when Olympus materialized, Odin would die.

"Weren't you against Odin?" Athena venomously said to Lee Jun-Kyeong. Her thorny words were spat at the Hunter.

However, Lee Jun-Kyeong responded as he slowly placed one foot back and the other forward, settling into a stance.

“You see, someone made me a request.”

“...”

As if she didn’t want to hear anything else, Athena thrust forward with her spear.

Clang!

The spear pierced forward violently, but Lee Jun-Kyeong just cut through it without any effort.

Zzzt!

Then, he held Muspel’s Spear aloft and hurled it forward. A spear of flame pierced through the sky and collided with Olympus, causing a ripple to take place over the Citadel’s surface.

BOOM!

***

“You better be prepared to take responsibility for your actions…” a chilly voice spat from behind him. “Underdog.”

His name had even been called. Zeus was speaking to him. Lee Jun-Kyeong was surrounded by the Heroes of Olympus.

‘It looks like Zeus really prepared everything in order to catch Odin.’

If he hadn't stepped forward, then Odin would surely have died here today. However, Odin had lived. Moreover, not by anyone else, but by his own hands.

‘How ironic.’

“There’s something I want to ask you before anything else happens,” Zeus said, speaking like a reaper.

Although he had seen Lee Jun-Kyeong’s mighty power, he still seemed to feel as though he was an executioner who could easily still sentence Lee Jun-Kyeong to death.

"You're probably asking why I saved Odin."

The gray-haired Zeus was someone that Lee Jun-Kyeong knew was dangerous as he was someone who had the world in his palm. However, the Zeus of right now was different. Although he was still full of charisma and dignity, this Zeus was clearly still standing only on level with him.

They stood equally. Furthermore, their companions were equal too.

“Mr. Lee!”

“What’s going on over here?!”

The Heroes of Olympus quickly also surrounded Jeong In-Chang and Won-Hwa, who had come running at the commotion. The Heroes of Olympus radiated with killing intent.

“...! What is going…!”

However, unlike Won-Hwa, who was flustered by their momentum, Jeong In-Chang lifted up Gram and plunged it into the ground, almost as if it was natural.

BOOM!

Behind him, the Princess, Hyeon-Mu and Hel soon followed.

“Ungnyeo…”

Even Ungnyeo was standing together with them. Lee Jun-Kyeong glanced over, but Fenrir’s figure was nowhere to be seen. In the strange confrontation, Lee Jun-Kyeong spoke in a tone equal to that of Zeus.

“Because I had to do a favor for someone I care about.”

“Because of a request from someone you care about...you’re saying that you’d let someone who is a danger to the entire world go just for something like that?”

“Exactly.”

The immediate answer, with no hesitation, made Zeus flash a smile.

“Because he has to die at the hands of someone I care about.”

“…”

There was silence. It was a heavy silence that made it difficult for anyone to open their mouth easily.

“You really put the entire world in danger for just that reason,” Zeus said, breaking the silence. “Fine. I heard your reason. So…”

A sword appeared in his hand. But the moment Lee Jun-Kyeong saw it, he felt his heart race. At the same time, his pupils dilated as bloodlust exploded from his body.

"You…you dog bastard…” Lee Jun-Kyeong swore at Zeus. “How did you get that sword…!”

The reason Lee Jun-Kyeong was so angry was that the sword in Zeus’ hand was very familiar to Lee Jun-Kyeong.

“What did you do to the Round Table…?!”

No, to be more accurate, it was because the sword was the fake Excalibur that Lee Jun-Kyeong had made and given to Arthur. But Zeus had appeared in Korea with that very same Excalibur in hand.

ROAR!

At that moment, Lee Jun-Kyeong’s spear began to spew fire.

“Listen to the end,” Zeus calmly said in response to Muspel’s flames. “I just picked this up.”

"What…?”

“I mean that I just picked up something that had been left on the floor.”

“What bullshit are you…”

Lee Jun-Kyeong struggled to say anything from how infuriated he was.

“After I gave him something, he seemed to just throw this away. So, I picked it up.”

It was only then that Lee Jun-Kyeong had caught on.

Why had Zeus taken out the sword? It wasn’t to alarm him or attack him.

‘This bastard is trying to mess with me.’

No, it was only to mess with him.

To think Zeus would say that he had just picked up the fake Excalibur that Lee Jun-Kyeong had given to Arthur. If Lee Jun-Kyeong had only known about that part, he may have worried about them even more.

“Then did you give them the real one that you had?”

“As expected, you really do know everything.”

“…”

But Lee Jun-Kyeong knew that Zeus had the real one. If that was the case, then that sword over there, it was proof.

“The Round Table asked me to deliver it to you. To let you know they will meet you soon.”

The Round Table had joined hands with Zeus and Olympus and was their ally.

‘So their purposes are the same, then…’

It served as evidence from the Round Table. Only after realizing that did Lee Jun-Kyeong put out the flames. The situation had changed quite a bit.

Although Zeus was demanding some sort of reparations for having been forced to lose Odin, there was still an unknown smile on his face.

“To think, after having come all this way to give you a present, you went and saved Odin. Should I take back the gifts or what?”

Lee Jun-Kyeong could never have thought that Zeus’ personality would have been so irritating. Looking over at the figure that made his blood boil, Lee Jun-Kyeong wondered if, when he had aimed for the Territory, Olympus, if he should have just aimed for Zeus instead. However, he knew that the Hunter didn’t lie.

"Long time no see."

“Looks like we have met again.”

He could hear familiar voices.

"Heracles…! Odysseus!"

They were the sound of friends they had built relationships with in Europe. Moreover, he could hear a stiff female voice too.

“I’m here, too.”

“Ms. Park…”

Park Yu-Jin, the younger sibling of Park Jae-Hyun, a godly blacksmith, was also a godly blacksmith in her own right.

She, who had gone to Olympus, stood to the left of Heracles.

“Well, since I’ve shown you my presents, I guess I should introduce you to Santa.”

Zeus took a step forward and held out his hand. Offering an empty hand, it was clear that he wanted to shake hands in greeting.

“My name is Kim Ki-Gyu,” he said clearly.

"Let’s talk about the cost later."