Ranker Who Lives Twice

After the very difficult process of naming was finished, he stepped out from the bustling crowd and moved to an empty area nearby.

Once he checked that no one was around using his Extrasensory Perception, he summoned Nemesis.

Nemesis slowly came to appearance along with dark fog.

A body like the Akasha’s Snake, but the head of a Mythical Beast for sure. He was already bigger than Chirpy.

Before, he had been about 5 meters long, but now, it was closer to 7.

Who would believe that he had been hatched less than a year ago?

‘Well, he still has a long way to go compared to the dragon god.’

He thought of the dragon god he saw in the Monkey King’s Palace and met Nemesis’s eyes.

[You seem different seeing you like this, master.]

Nemesis didn’t hesitate saying the word ‘master’ anymore.

“Because I have to grow as much as you guys grow.”

[Good. I don’t know about other things, but I like your mindset.]

Yeon-woo grinned.

Nemesis narrowed his eyes.

[So. Why’d you call me?]

“You should know.”

[Hm.]

“You didn’t say anything. How you were reborn. How ancient dragon Kalatus is still living. But I didn’t ask.”

Yeon-woo thought Nemesis needed to have some time to think, so he waited.

But now, he seemed to be somewhat better now. He seemed to have accepted the life Demonic Dragon Nemesis.

“I hope you can tell me now.”

After some silence, Nemesis slowly opened his mouth.

[The reason why I was reborn…..actually, I don’t know if you can call this being reborn. Since I have all my memories. But I died, and am living again. So I guess it is rebirth. It’s not too different from the method that the Legendary Beasts use.]

Nemesis two eyes sunk deeply.

[I roamed around nothingness all this time. There, I waited and waited for Jeong-woo to come back for me.]

Nothingness.

The dimension that was known to flow between worlds. And they said anything that went inside there disappeared without a trace.

But he still had his consciousness after all this time?

“How did you think of waiting for him?”

[Because Kalatus said so.]

“What?”

It was unexpected.

Yeon-woo’s eyes slightly widened.

[Isn’t that weird? From what I know, Kalatus closed his eyes after giving everything he had to Jeong-woo. Also, he even gave me his precious Dragon Heart. We kept his promise, and we even saw him return to mana.]

Returning to mana was the expression for when a Draconic species met death.

Since they were blessed with mana when they were hatched, they returned to mana after death.

That meant ancient dragon Kalatus had definitely died.

[But when I was surrounded by Cheongwado people without avenging Jeong-woo, I heard Kalatus’s voice. To wait.]

Nemesis still remembered what Kalatus said that day.

-Wait. That child…..will come back soon.

Come back.

Nemesis just believed those words and waited. He roamed around nothingness by himself for a long time.

Sometimes, he was overwhelmed with the want to disappear because endless patience was so painful, but every time, he heard Kalatus’s voice.

And he had entered the world again from the call of the same soul as Jeong-woo. When he woke up, he thought he was seeing Jeong-woo.

But it wasn’t.

“So that’s how it was.”

Yeon-woo was deep in thought for a moment.

So what resurrected Nemesis was the ancient dragon Kalatus. Yeon-woo heard his voice when his dragon body was being awakened, so he knew for sure that he was still living somewhere.

Also, there was something else he grasped.

‘Is Kalatus the reason for…..Jeong-woo being back at Earth?’

The reason why Yeon-woo came to Korea from Africa was because his brother was found. He had his ID card in his wallet, and in his pockets were pictures and the pocket watch.

After he entered the Tower, he was sometimes curious.

Just who sent his brother to Earth?

The place he closed his eyes was in the House of the old Arthia clan. It definitely wasn’t Earth.

So that meant there was someone who retrieved his brother.

But he didn’t know who that someone was.

There wasn’t anyone he could point out from the diary, and people like Henova and Galliard didn’t know the location of the Clan House.

But if it was the ancient dragon Kalatus.

All his questions were answered.

And most of all, Kalatus had said he would wait.

Until he came to find him.

Yeon-woo asked Nemesis.

“Where would Kalatus be?”

[Probably where his deathbed was.]

“Where is that?”

Nemesis answered in a low voice.

[50th floor. The Dragon Temple.]

“Of course…..”

The Dragon Temple on the 50th floor was the place that split rankers and semi rankers. It was the stage that was called a ‘wall.’

But it had another meaning to Yeon-woo.

It was where his brother had closed his eyes. That was the only place where the portal to transport to the Clan House of Arthia was.

So Yeon-woo had to get to the 50th floor no matter what, and he was working hard to do that.

But a trace of the ancient dragon Kalatus might be there?

‘Definitely. Since Jeong-woo set up the location of the Clan House on the 50th floor longing for Kalatus.’

It was known that the Clan House of Arthia was destroyed, when it was actually separated into subspace.

“So I have to get there…..but I’m not in the situation to right now.”

Even though Yeon-woo had the martial power of a ranker, he was still giving his all on each floor.

You could only do a trial once. The amount of rewards you got depended on how good you did. Getting two numbering skills on the 20th floor was proof of that.

Of course, it was possible to come back and do the stage. Like the Sadhu. But that was just individual training, you didn’t get any rewards for it.

What Yeon-woo needed was an astronomical amount of Karma and the rewards that came with it.

‘And I need to fill the hall of fame with my name.’

Unlike the beginner’s section until the 10th floor, he was taking his time now.

But if Kalatus was waiting for him, and his last traces disappeared because he was too slow, it would be disastrous.

However.

[No. You don’t have to worry about that.]

Nemesis shook his big head.

“Why?”

[Whatever you do, he’ll be sleeping. It’s similar to hibernation, but he can wait until you arrive there.]

“How do you know that?”

[Did you forget?]

Nemesis lightly snorted and spoke.

[That I’m the alter ego, as well as the apostle of Kalatus?]

***

Yeon-woo decided on maintaining the speed he was with subjugating floors.

If he made a mistake because he was in a rush, he might do something that couldn’t be turned back.

Getting stronger, and raising the awakening of the dragon body to the 8th step was the most important.

After his questions about Kalatus were answered, he went to go see his teacher, the Martial King.

“Sword Energy? Huh. You seem like a person now.”

He was the same as ever. He could tell how Yeon-woo had changed with just one look.

Sword Energy. In the terms of the One-horned tribe, it meant Aura Blade.

The eyes of Phante and Edora, who were behind him, turned shocked. Knowing Aura meant that you were at a master level.

This was because they were only just learning Aura now themselves, although they had trained their martial art since they were young.

Phante sighed again, as if asking ‘again?’ and Edora’s eyes shined.

“Also. Mm.”

He rubbed his chin and looked Yeon-woo up and down. Then, he grinned widely.

“I guess you got something else too, huh?”

Yeon-woo was really speechless now.

[Kyah! Isn’t this basically like a clairvoyant? I only heard about the Martial King, but I didn’t imagine he was like this. Really.]

[The teacher who made Sword God…..]

Even Shanon and Hanryeong let out exclamations of respect. They seemed to be seeing something Yeon-woo couldn’t.

‘Does he really have the ability to see all things?’

Yeon-woo couldn’t even dream of hiding things any longer. So he sighed, but he thought that this was actually for the better.

He wanted to discuss what he had been through while he was at it already. He felt like he knew the Devil Army’s motive for collecting the Ruyi Bang, but there were still a few things he didn’t get.

Why wasn’t the Devil Army there when he left the dungeon? If their target was the piece of the Ruyi Bang, they should have sealed off the exit.

But wouldn’t the Martial King be able to grasp something?

And Kindred had acted like he knew the Martial King.

So he tried to ask for some advice.

“Don’t.”

He grinned.

“You do your thing, and I’ll do mine. Trust is important, but you declared independence. And you only come when you don’t know something.”

He definitely was a clairvoyant.

But Yeon-woo nodded, because he could see his teacher was being benevolent. And he also thought this. That the Martial King was definitely similar to the Monkey King.

So he pushed his thoughts about the Monkey King away. Since he was going to look for the pieces of the Ruyi Bang, he would meet the Devil Army anyway. He could see the reason then.

The Martial King crossed his arms and changed the topic.

“Anyways, so it’s the 21st floor now?”

Phante and Edora turned to look at Yeon-woo again. They had just finished the trial of the11th floor, and he was already so far ahead.

Then, they remembered what the trial of the 21st floor was.

“Yes, sir.”

The Martial King grinned.

“Then you’ll see me soon, huh?”