Lee Jun-Kyeong clasped his hands with Hua Tuo again. He looked over at the old man with a look of slight anticipation.
"Hmm."
However, the old man was just in a hurry to leave as if he felt burdened by Lee Jun-Kyeong’s gaze.
“If you don’t feel well later, then come find me. I’ll take another look then,” he said.
“...”
However, Lee Jun-Kyeong’s expression was not good.
‘It’s like this again.’
The old man hadn’t noticed anything again.
This time, Lee Jun-Kyeong had even intentionally reversed his mana's flow on purpose using his mana stream. Anyone sensitive to mana should have been able to notice the strangeness within his body.
However, the old man they called Hua Tuo didn’t notice it.
Moreover, Lee Jun-Kyeong had even sent mana into the old man’s body through the handshake to test if it was that the old man was just hiding his ability.
‘Damn it.’
The Hua Tuo in front of him wasn’t the same person he had been looking for. The old man hadn’t noticed that Lee Jun-Kyeong had inspected his body with mana. Furthermore, Lee Jun-Kyeong could tell that he was just an average Hunter.
‘Is the information…’
Was it wrong?
That could have been it. Whether it was the Book of the Demon King or information from history, they could have been wrong.
“Huh?”
As Lee Jun-Kyeong was lost in thought, bewildered by the chance that the information had been wrong, he started to notice something strange.
As he greeted the residents one after the other and shook their hands, he felt that something was off.
‘Most of these residents have the same traces of mana.’
He could feel the same traces of mana emitting from most of the residents he shook hands with. The fact that he could feel such intense mana from these people, even after some time seemed to pass, could only mean one thing.
‘I found him.’
The owner of the traces of mana he felt now must have been the one he was looking for.
There really was someone named Hua Tuo. It was just that the one he had met before wasn’t the real one.
“Then, please take care of me,” he greeted the residents.
***
“So… you’re asking how many giants there are?”
As they hadn’t been contacted about what they should do as a warrior of the giants yet, from the next day on, Lee Jun-Kyeong wandered around the village in order to collect information.
"Yes."
"Well… maybe about a thousand or so?"
"Hey, what do you mean a thousand? There must be more than ten thousand of them!"
"Really?"
“Of course! It only looks that little because they're massive, and they all look the same. I’m telling you, there are tons of them!”
The reason he was trying to determine the number of giants was to understand what had changed as compared to the number that was written in the original history.
Whether it was a thousand or even ten thousand, there were definitely fewer of them now.
Lee Jun-Kyeong then asked another question, “Then… who exactly are these beings they call the Nar?”
He knew that they were considered traitors and that they were warped or corrupted for some reason.
However, that was all he knew.
“The Nar?” The villager that Lee Jun-Kyeong had asked his question to looked around, startled, and put a finger to his lips. “You have to be quiet about that. I’m telling you, the giants go crazy even at the slightest mention of the Nar…!
"So…"
“That’s better.”
Fortunately, the surviving residents had been in Utgard for a very long time and therefore had quite a bit of information.
The villager began, “Originally, there were a lot of giants in Utgard. Maybe around twice as much as there are now? Or maybe even three times as many.”
Lee Jun-Kyeong's eyes lit up as he listened to the story.
“Then those giants…” he asked.
The villager continued, “Well, I mean, what was it again… I can’t remember his name. However, the Nar had their own leader. He had taken a group of giants away, and they are who are called the Nar.”
“As for the rest of them…?” Lee Jun-Kyeong probed.
“They died.”
The villagers looked at each other and nodded.
“Some of them died in the fight between those giants…” one chimed in.
Another added, “Yeah. And didn’t they say there was some sort of epidemic that circulated in the beginning, too?”
"That’s right, that’s right."
It was the first time Lee Jun-Kyeong had ever heard of an epidemic.
“All I heard was that the giants were struggling to adapt to our land and that some had contracted a disease and died. All that remains in Utgard is whoever survived.”
“Oh dear, that’s right. This used to be our land…”
“Think about how you’re still alive. As for the rest…”
It seemed as though the residents had recalled bad memories as they spoke, as their reactions began to differ. Their stories seemingly turned down different paths.
Then, the mood began to shift as the residents started to question Lee Jun-Kyeong.
“How are things on the outside?
It was clear that they had many things they wanted to ask him.
“Aren’t there some among you that came from the outside?” he asked in response.
They responded quietly.
“I mean, there were some.”
“...!”
Thud. Thud. Thud.
Lee Jun-Kyeong’s heart started beating violently. Before he had arrived, there had been other foreigners.
‘In China…’
He wondered who would have been able to come to this place as the secret organizations had banned any expeditions to China in fear of sacrificing Heroes.
It was possible that there were still a few people who didn’t value their lives and had ventured into China, but there were only a few who could survive in this land of extreme cold and despair.
'Perhaps…'
Furthermore, there was another reason why Lee Jun-Kyeong was so surprised that his heart was pounding.
That reason was…
‘The Demon King.’
…the Demon King was said to have entered China and visited the city of giants.
However, the exact whereabouts of the Demon King had been unknown at this point in time. Lee Jun-Kyeong realized that this could be a massive clue in determining if the Demon King still existed after he had returned to the past.
Someone said, “There was someone, but he simply left.”
“Pardon?” he asked.
“But this isn’t someone who we saw in person. The giants just said that they had found an intruder similar to us. But, he just left without doing anything.”
"…"
Apparently, none of the residents had ever seen a visitor.
Lee Jun-Kyeong realized that he needed to ask the giants to get more information regarding this issue.
Although he had a mountain full of things to say, the task in front of him was also important.
“I’ll begin explaining the circumstances of the outside.”
***
"Whew…" Lee Jun-Kyeong sighed.
It had already been several days since they had entered the human residential area, and within that time, he had obtained various clues and stories about the giants.
‘Hua Tuo.’
Even a clue related to Hua Tuo.
However, the man the clue led to hadn’t returned to his residence for several days.
‘Most likely, that man is similar to you and your friend. What was it again? That’s right. He was the one who stopped the giants’ plague. That’s why he gets called to the palace often and takes so long to come back.’
Lee Jun-Kyeong thought to himself if he had known that this would have been the case, then he would have stayed in the royal palace.
While he stood, regretting his decisions, he consoled himself that he had at least uncovered a lot of important details.
There was quite a lot of information from the Chinese living in Utgard, and most of it was of excellent quality.
Things about the giants, the nars, even stories about Utgard and the various Frost Giant tribes were all information he got.
At this point, it was time for him to search for information from the giants.
“Hohoho! And who do we have here?”
Thjazi.
The giant smiled and waved over to Lee Jun-Kyeong, whom he hadn’t seen for quite some time. The size of his hand was so large that the wind blew around like a typhoon from its slight movement.
“They said that you set the royal gardens on fire?” Thjazi asked. He was in a great mood as if he was the one to have ruined the royal garden himself.
“Fine, fine. Let’s talk amicably for now.”
However, when Lee Jun-Kyeong didn't respond to him, Thjazi moved on to their main topic.
“First of all, I’m grateful that you’ve decided to help us even though we are of different races. Whether it's the dwarves or the Vanir, those bastards absolutely hate us giants,” Thjazi said with sincerity.
He reached out to Lee Jun-Kyeong, seeming to indicate for the Hunter to climb up onto his hand.
“Grr.”
Fenrir didn’t seem to like the prospect, but following Lee Jun-Kyeong’s guidance, the two climbed onto Thjazi’s palm.
‘Looking at it from up close, he really seems even bigger.’
Even from afar, they looked like colossal giants, but looking at it up close, the giant really was enormous.
“Today, you’ll have to go outside,” the giant said.
“Outside?”
“Yes, to the place where you came from.”
Lee Jun-Kyeong’s expression stiffened after hearing Thjazi’s comment.
“No, no, that’s not it!”
Thjazi realized his mistake and shook his head hard enough to send spit flying.
That saliva, as if by fate, ended up splashing onto Fenrir’s face and body.
“Growl!”
Lee Jun-Kyeong was barely able to calm Fenrir, who was about to run rampant due to the spit.
“Not outside outside, but outside of Utgard.”
Behind Thjazi, many giants were seen moving out, and they were all armed.
"The attacks of the Nars are becoming more frequent."
It was clear that they were preparing for a fight.
“Do you think we can view some of the skills that burned the royal garden down?” teased Thjazi.
Lee Jun-Kyeong simply nodded in response.
***
It was his first job after becoming a mercenary warrior for Utgard.
Lee Jun-Kyeong moved with Thjazi, while Jeong In-Chang moved with the other giant warriors.
‘We will be catching the Nar.’
Lee Jun-Kyeong would be hunting the Nars that had attacked with Thjazi, while Jeong In-Chang was tasked with securing food by hunting the nearby monsters.
'Well, this isn't bad either.'
This place was a barren land filled with only ice. The only thing here that they could use as a food source were the monsters, and the monsters nearby made for a great food source.
Just like that, Lee Jun-Kyeong headed forth to the battlefield.
“Fenrir, you can run wild today.”
Fenrir had been asleep for a while, but now seemed bored after having woken up. Lee Jun-Kyeong felt as though he had gotten similar in familiarity with the wolf as he had with Jeong In-Chang, having been taught how to speak alongside them, spending quite some time together.
“Grr.”
Although the wolf snorted as if he was irritated, he acted as though he had read Lee Jun-Kyeong’s thoughts. The wolf definitely preferred moving his body rather than thinking and moving.
"It's coming soon."
Tremble!
The ice drakes that the giants were riding on stopped.
‘Now we can see them.’
Eventually, they could see another group of giants, arriving in a similar manner from before, riding ice drakes from afar. They were a little different from Thjazi’s group, however.
These giants wore black beast fur, which was unlike Thjazi and the others, who wore white beast fur.
'Is that a particular color of the Nar?'
Distinguishing between groups by color was a standard method that could be seen everywhere.
Furthermore, Lee Jun-Kyeong could see Thjazi’s agitated face.
“...”
“Growl.”
In that time, even Fenrir had also finished preparing for battle. Lee Jun-Kyeong stood similarly prepared while waiting for the coming battle.
The battle with the Nar.
‘It’s my first time fighting a real giant.'
Disregarding the fights against the lesser giants who had been exiled from among the Nar, it was his first battle with an actual giant.
These were giants who had intelligence and could use skills.
This would be a battle against powerful beings.
Steam began to emit from Lee Jun-Kyeong. He had begun circulating Monarch of Fire.
“Wait a moment.”
But then, Thjazi raised his hand and stopped the group.
"…"
Lee Jun-Kyeong didn’t know the history behind it, but the faces of the other giants around him all wore strained expressions.
It looked like they were all feeling strong, conflicted emotions.
'Love and hate?'
They seemed to all have similar emotions: empathy, guilt, and even longing.
Lee Jun-Kyeong wondered if it was because they were of the same race. Were they sad that they would have to aim at each other with their swords?
Lee Jun-Kyeong tried to empathize with the same emotions they were feeling.
Then, the ground trembled.
Boom. Boom.
The Nar didn’t just have the ice drakes. There were also giant wolves with black fur. At first glance, Lee Jun-Kyeong had thought that they seemed similar to Fenrir.
‘White fangs.’
However, upon closer inspection, they were on a completely different level from Fenrir.
A giant approached, escorted by the white fangs.
“Thjazi…”
It called out to Thjazi.
Thjazi walked out slowly by himself in response.
Their parties tried to follow the two, but they both raised their hands and stopped them.
Eventually.
"…"
"…"
The two black and white contrasting giants met on the icy land.
The giant in black called out to Thjazi again, “Thjazi…”
In response, a bitter voice echoed along the frozen earth, and Thjazi called out to the black-clad giant, “Thrymr.”
1. Keeping with the Norse mythology theme that East Asia seems to have in this story, the Vanir are a race of Earth Deities in Norse mythos. Often compared to the Chthonian deities in Greek mythos, the Vanir became subordinate to the Aesir after a great war.
2. Thymr is the King of the Jotnar, the frost giants in Norse Mythos.
Lee Jun-Kyeong clasped his hands with Hua Tuo again. He looked over at the old man with a look of slight anticipation.
"Hmm."
However, the old man was just in a hurry to leave as if he felt burdened by Lee Jun-Kyeong’s gaze.
“If you don’t feel well later, then come find me. I’ll take another look then,” he said.
“...”
However, Lee Jun-Kyeong’s expression was not good.
‘It’s like this again.’
The old man hadn’t noticed anything again.
This time, Lee Jun-Kyeong had even intentionally reversed his mana's flow on purpose using his mana stream. Anyone sensitive to mana should have been able to notice the strangeness within his body.
However, the old man they called Hua Tuo didn’t notice it.
Moreover, Lee Jun-Kyeong had even sent mana into the old man’s body through the handshake to test if it was that the old man was just hiding his ability.
‘Damn it.’
The Hua Tuo in front of him wasn’t the same person he had been looking for. The old man hadn’t noticed that Lee Jun-Kyeong had inspected his body with mana. Furthermore, Lee Jun-Kyeong could tell that he was just an average Hunter.
‘Is the information…’
Was it wrong?
That could have been it. Whether it was the Book of the Demon King or information from history, they could have been wrong.
“Huh?”
As Lee Jun-Kyeong was lost in thought, bewildered by the chance that the information had been wrong, he started to notice something strange.
As he greeted the residents one after the other and shook their hands, he felt that something was off.
‘Most of these residents have the same traces of mana.’
He could feel the same traces of mana emitting from most of the residents he shook hands with. The fact that he could feel such intense mana from these people, even after some time seemed to pass, could only mean one thing.
‘I found him.’
The owner of the traces of mana he felt now must have been the one he was looking for.
There really was someone named Hua Tuo. It was just that the one he had met before wasn’t the real one.
“Then, please take care of me,” he greeted the residents.
***
“So… you’re asking how many giants there are?”
As they hadn’t been contacted about what they should do as a warrior of the giants yet, from the next day on, Lee Jun-Kyeong wandered around the village in order to collect information.
"Yes."
"Well… maybe about a thousand or so?"
"Hey, what do you mean a thousand? There must be more than ten thousand of them!"
"Really?"
“Of course! It only looks that little because they're massive, and they all look the same. I’m telling you, there are tons of them!”
The reason he was trying to determine the number of giants was to understand what had changed as compared to the number that was written in the original history.
Whether it was a thousand or even ten thousand, there were definitely fewer of them now.
Lee Jun-Kyeong then asked another question, “Then… who exactly are these beings they call the Nar?”
He knew that they were considered traitors and that they were warped or corrupted for some reason.
However, that was all he knew.
“The Nar?” The villager that Lee Jun-Kyeong had asked his question to looked around, startled, and put a finger to his lips. “You have to be quiet about that. I’m telling you, the giants go crazy even at the slightest mention of the Nar…!
"So…"
“That’s better.”
Fortunately, the surviving residents had been in Utgard for a very long time and therefore had quite a bit of information.
The villager began, “Originally, there were a lot of giants in Utgard. Maybe around twice as much as there are now? Or maybe even three times as many.”
Lee Jun-Kyeong's eyes lit up as he listened to the story.
“Then those giants…” he asked.
The villager continued, “Well, I mean, what was it again… I can’t remember his name. However, the Nar had their own leader. He had taken a group of giants away, and they are who are called the Nar.”
“As for the rest of them…?” Lee Jun-Kyeong probed.
“They died.”
The villagers looked at each other and nodded.
“Some of them died in the fight between those giants…” one chimed in.
Another added, “Yeah. And didn’t they say there was some sort of epidemic that circulated in the beginning, too?”
"That’s right, that’s right."
It was the first time Lee Jun-Kyeong had ever heard of an epidemic.
“All I heard was that the giants were struggling to adapt to our land and that some had contracted a disease and died. All that remains in Utgard is whoever survived.”
“Oh dear, that’s right. This used to be our land…”
“Think about how you’re still alive. As for the rest…”
It seemed as though the residents had recalled bad memories as they spoke, as their reactions began to differ. Their stories seemingly turned down different paths.
Then, the mood began to shift as the residents started to question Lee Jun-Kyeong.
“How are things on the outside?
It was clear that they had many things they wanted to ask him.
“Aren’t there some among you that came from the outside?” he asked in response.
They responded quietly.
“I mean, there were some.”
“...!”
Thud. Thud. Thud.
Lee Jun-Kyeong’s heart started beating violently. Before he had arrived, there had been other foreigners.
‘In China…’
He wondered who would have been able to come to this place as the secret organizations had banned any expeditions to China in fear of sacrificing Heroes.
It was possible that there were still a few people who didn’t value their lives and had ventured into China, but there were only a few who could survive in this land of extreme cold and despair.
'Perhaps…'
Furthermore, there was another reason why Lee Jun-Kyeong was so surprised that his heart was pounding.
That reason was…
‘The Demon King.’
…the Demon King was said to have entered China and visited the city of giants.
However, the exact whereabouts of the Demon King had been unknown at this point in time. Lee Jun-Kyeong realized that this could be a massive clue in determining if the Demon King still existed after he had returned to the past.
Someone said, “There was someone, but he simply left.”
“Pardon?” he asked.
“But this isn’t someone who we saw in person. The giants just said that they had found an intruder similar to us. But, he just left without doing anything.”
"…"
Apparently, none of the residents had ever seen a visitor.
Lee Jun-Kyeong realized that he needed to ask the giants to get more information regarding this issue.
Although he had a mountain full of things to say, the task in front of him was also important.
“I’ll begin explaining the circumstances of the outside.”
***
"Whew…" Lee Jun-Kyeong sighed.
It had already been several days since they had entered the human residential area, and within that time, he had obtained various clues and stories about the giants.
‘Hua Tuo.’
Even a clue related to Hua Tuo.
However, the man the clue led to hadn’t returned to his residence for several days.
‘Most likely, that man is similar to you and your friend. What was it again? That’s right. He was the one who stopped the giants’ plague. That’s why he gets called to the palace often and takes so long to come back.’
Lee Jun-Kyeong thought to himself if he had known that this would have been the case, then he would have stayed in the royal palace.
While he stood, regretting his decisions, he consoled himself that he had at least uncovered a lot of important details.
There was quite a lot of information from the Chinese living in Utgard, and most of it was of excellent quality.
Things about the giants, the nars, even stories about Utgard and the various Frost Giant tribes were all information he got.
At this point, it was time for him to search for information from the giants.
“Hohoho! And who do we have here?”
Thjazi.
The giant smiled and waved over to Lee Jun-Kyeong, whom he hadn’t seen for quite some time. The size of his hand was so large that the wind blew around like a typhoon from its slight movement.
“They said that you set the royal gardens on fire?” Thjazi asked. He was in a great mood as if he was the one to have ruined the royal garden himself.
“Fine, fine. Let’s talk amicably for now.”
However, when Lee Jun-Kyeong didn't respond to him, Thjazi moved on to their main topic.
“First of all, I’m grateful that you’ve decided to help us even though we are of different races. Whether it's the dwarves or the Vanir, those bastards absolutely hate us giants,” Thjazi said with sincerity.
He reached out to Lee Jun-Kyeong, seeming to indicate for the Hunter to climb up onto his hand.
“Grr.”
Fenrir didn’t seem to like the prospect, but following Lee Jun-Kyeong’s guidance, the two climbed onto Thjazi’s palm.
‘Looking at it from up close, he really seems even bigger.’
Even from afar, they looked like colossal giants, but looking at it up close, the giant really was enormous.
“Today, you’ll have to go outside,” the giant said.
“Outside?”
“Yes, to the place where you came from.”
Lee Jun-Kyeong’s expression stiffened after hearing Thjazi’s comment.
“No, no, that’s not it!”
Thjazi realized his mistake and shook his head hard enough to send spit flying.
That saliva, as if by fate, ended up splashing onto Fenrir’s face and body.
“Growl!”
Lee Jun-Kyeong was barely able to calm Fenrir, who was about to run rampant due to the spit.
“Not outside outside, but outside of Utgard.”
Behind Thjazi, many giants were seen moving out, and they were all armed.
"The attacks of the Nars are becoming more frequent."
It was clear that they were preparing for a fight.
“Do you think we can view some of the skills that burned the royal garden down?” teased Thjazi.
Lee Jun-Kyeong simply nodded in response.
***
It was his first job after becoming a mercenary warrior for Utgard.
Lee Jun-Kyeong moved with Thjazi, while Jeong In-Chang moved with the other giant warriors.
‘We will be catching the Nar.’
Lee Jun-Kyeong would be hunting the Nars that had attacked with Thjazi, while Jeong In-Chang was tasked with securing food by hunting the nearby monsters.
'Well, this isn't bad either.'
This place was a barren land filled with only ice. The only thing here that they could use as a food source were the monsters, and the monsters nearby made for a great food source.
Just like that, Lee Jun-Kyeong headed forth to the battlefield.
“Fenrir, you can run wild today.”
Fenrir had been asleep for a while, but now seemed bored after having woken up. Lee Jun-Kyeong felt as though he had gotten similar in familiarity with the wolf as he had with Jeong In-Chang, having been taught how to speak alongside them, spending quite some time together.
“Grr.”
Although the wolf snorted as if he was irritated, he acted as though he had read Lee Jun-Kyeong’s thoughts. The wolf definitely preferred moving his body rather than thinking and moving.
"It's coming soon."
Tremble!
The ice drakes that the giants were riding on stopped.
‘Now we can see them.’
Eventually, they could see another group of giants, arriving in a similar manner from before, riding ice drakes from afar. They were a little different from Thjazi’s group, however.
These giants wore black beast fur, which was unlike Thjazi and the others, who wore white beast fur.
'Is that a particular color of the Nar?'
Distinguishing between groups by color was a standard method that could be seen everywhere.
Furthermore, Lee Jun-Kyeong could see Thjazi’s agitated face.
“...”
“Growl.”
In that time, even Fenrir had also finished preparing for battle. Lee Jun-Kyeong stood similarly prepared while waiting for the coming battle.
The battle with the Nar.
‘It’s my first time fighting a real giant.'
Disregarding the fights against the lesser giants who had been exiled from among the Nar, it was his first battle with an actual giant.
These were giants who had intelligence and could use skills.
This would be a battle against powerful beings.
Steam began to emit from Lee Jun-Kyeong. He had begun circulating Monarch of Fire.
“Wait a moment.”
But then, Thjazi raised his hand and stopped the group.
"…"
Lee Jun-Kyeong didn’t know the history behind it, but the faces of the other giants around him all wore strained expressions.
It looked like they were all feeling strong, conflicted emotions.
'Love and hate?'
They seemed to all have similar emotions: empathy, guilt, and even longing.
Lee Jun-Kyeong wondered if it was because they were of the same race. Were they sad that they would have to aim at each other with their swords?
Lee Jun-Kyeong tried to empathize with the same emotions they were feeling.
Then, the ground trembled.
Boom. Boom.
The Nar didn’t just have the ice drakes. There were also giant wolves with black fur. At first glance, Lee Jun-Kyeong had thought that they seemed similar to Fenrir.
‘White fangs.’
However, upon closer inspection, they were on a completely different level from Fenrir.
A giant approached, escorted by the white fangs.
“Thjazi…”
It called out to Thjazi.
Thjazi walked out slowly by himself in response.
Their parties tried to follow the two, but they both raised their hands and stopped them.
Eventually.
"…"
"…"
The two black and white contrasting giants met on the icy land.
The giant in black called out to Thjazi again, “Thjazi…”
In response, a bitter voice echoed along the frozen earth, and Thjazi called out to the black-clad giant, “Thrymr.”
1. Keeping with the Norse mythology theme that East Asia seems to have in this story, the Vanir are a race of Earth Deities in Norse mythos. Often compared to the Chthonian deities in Greek mythos, the Vanir became subordinate to the Aesir after a great war.
2. Thymr is the King of the Jotnar, the frost giants in Norse Mythos.
