Chapter 96

When the golden lights combined into one and entered the sculpture, it began vibrating softly.

Bzzz…

The vibrations were so soft that only a player could sense them; since Min-Su didn’t have heightened senses, he didn’t notice it. Gi-Gyu patted the boy’s head and continued to watch the sculpture.

[Grant was successful.]

Gi-Gyu’s face brightened after hearing the system announcement. He had used Grant two times, Bi and Old Man Hwang, and got desirable results both times. But what happened next confused him.

[You’ve successfully created a guardian.]

[Please designate the guardian area.]

“Huh?” Gi-Gyu murmured when he heard the system announcements. It was his first time hearing the term, so he was surprised. Old Man Hwang’s sculpture refused to budge; instead, a giant map appeared in front of his eyes.

“Wow!” Gi-Gyu exclaimed at the impressive sight. It was the map of the area his house was in.

“Is this a Mana Map?” he murmured out loud. Mana Map was a skill some support category players possessed. By spreading their magic in their surroundings, they could form a map, so Gi-Gyu suspected the map before him was something similar.

[Designating a small guardian area would increase defense level.]

[Designating a large guardian area would decrease defense level.]

Gi-Gyu nodded in understanding after hearing the system’s kind reminder. “I guess I can’t designate the gate as the guardian area.”

Needless to say, the guardian area was the area a guardian was assigned to protect.

“I have no plans to move anyway, so this should be fine,” Gi-Gyu decided. He had already planned some things for his home and the surrounding area, so he was happy to stay in his current home. That was also why he had renovated the basement as his training area.

At first, Gi-Gyu thought about assigning Brunheart’s gate as the guardian area, but he changed his mind. Raising his hand, he announced, “Our house. Perimeter 500 meters.”

[The guardian area has been set.]

After Gi-Gyu selected the area on the map, he heard the system’s confirmation.

[The guardian is being awakened.]

After the last announcement, Old Man Hwang’s statue lit up in multicolored lights. They weren’t simply colors—they were shades of human pigmentation.

“Uwaaah!” Min-Su exclaimed without making any comment. Gi-Gyu did the same as he watched the amazing scene unfold. Incredulously, Old Man Hwang’s sculpture soon transformed into the real Old Man Hwang.

Opening his eyes, the elderly man stammered, “Y-you are…?”

“Are you Old Man Hwang, Sir?” Gi-Gyu asked cautiously, his voice trembling. The being before him was a mix-mash of Ego fragments, so there was no way of telling if it was the same Old Man Hwang. Also, it was Gi-Gyu’s first time syncing with a human Ego, so he had no idea what the final result was supposed to look like.

“I…I am…” Old Man Hwang studied his hands in dismay as he replied. Then, he slowly looked toward the boy and murmured, “Min-Su…?”

“G-Grandpa?”

The elderly man and the boy stared at each other.

***

“Thank you… Thank you so much. I had no idea this was possible.” Old Man Hwang showed his gratitude; Gi-Gyu replied, “The chances of this working weren’t high, but we lucked out.”

Gi-Gyu continued, “Originally, I wanted to do something like this much later, but…”

Watching the asleep Min-Su in Old Man Hwang’s arms, Gi-Gyu commented, “Just as you said, Min-Su is extremely talented. It was all thanks to Min-Su that I could make this attempt.”

“I can’t thank you enough, Young Man,” Old Man Hwang murmured as he looked down at his grandson.

Except for his younger look, Old Man Hwan’s stone form looked every bit like the old blacksmith. Despite being a stone sculpture, he looked as human as the next guy; no one could deny it was the same blacksmith who died not too long ago.

Lou warned Gi-Gyu,

-You better hide this. No one can know that you can do this.

‘I know.’

What Gi-Gyu had just done now was essentially resurrection. He had revived a dead person perfectly… Well, it actually wasn’t a perfect resurrection, but it was close enough. Pandemonium would erupt in the world if others discovered that he could grant a dead person’s memories and abilities to a new body.

But, there was one problem.

‘I don’t think I can repeat this,’ Gi-Gyu thought, disappointed. Looking at the worn Nine lying in a corner, Gi-Gyu realized he couldn’t use Grant like this again. Something died or was exhausted inside Nine when it absorbed Old Man Hwang’s fragment from Lou.

-I believe resurrecting a human by egofication requires the use of life force.

When Lou commented, Gi-Gyu asked silently, ‘Life force?’

-All holy swords hold life force; from the looks of it, resurrecting a human consumes this force. It’s different from how the monsters and demons regenerate.

Gi-Gyu also believed that something was consumed when he resurrected Old Man Hwang. Consequently, he couldn’t repeat this feat unless he had a holy sword or a life force source.

‘Maybe it won’t be possible to help Hwang Chae-Il after all.’

Gi-Gyu looked back and forth between Old Man Hwang and Min-Su. He wondered if he should break the news that he couldn’t reunite their family anytime soon.

Studying Nine with his sharp blacksmith’s eyes, Old Man Hwang asked, “So is this a holy sword?”

“It’s now an evil sword, but it was once a holy sword.” When Gi-Gyu replied, the elderly man muttered, “I can see that the sword is no longer alive.”

Old Man Hwang contemplated and asked, “May I use it?” He asked to use it as a blacksmith, not a swordsman.

“Of course, but be very careful with it. For now, Nine obeys me, but I don’t know how it will react if you try to use it,” warned Gi-Gyu.

“Haha.” Old Man Hwang laughed and replied, “There is no need for you to worry. Can’t you feel it? I now belong to you as well.”

Old Man Hwang looked a little bitter, but in a cool, accepting voice, he added, “Since this sword also belongs to you, it shouldn’t be a problem.”

Gi-Gyu nodded and stated, “But still, please remember to be careful. By the way, there is something more important we must discuss.”

“What is it?”

“We need to decide where you’ll live,” Gi-Gyu explained. Now that Old Man Hwang had returned, he couldn’t just stay with Gi-Gyu‘s family since it would be awkward for all. Thankfully, Gi-Gyu had been planning for this day and offered his plan.

***

Clang, clang, clang!

Loud construction noise from the plot next to Gi-Gyu’s house rang throughout the neighborhood.

Gi-Gyu’s mother said with interest, “I guess we’re getting a new neighbor.”

The area near Bukhan River where Gi-Gyu lived was nice, yet Gi-Gyu‘s family didn’t have any neighbors. They lived in a detached home; there were many other houses nearby, but all of them were empty.

When Yoo-Jung saw Gi-Gyu smile mysteriously, she asked, “Oppa, why are you making that face?”

The truth was, Gi-Gyu had purchased all the land and the houses around his home. Since he now had more money than he could ever spend, he easily bought the entire neighborhood. He had been planning this for a long time, and he was happy that everything was going well. Of course, his family had no idea Gi-Gyu owned everything around their house.

Gi-Gyu hired a construction company and asked them to quickly build a livable dwelling. They completed his request in just four days. This was what Old Man Hwang had asked from Gi-Gyu.

‘Old Man Hwang said he’ll take care of the details himself,’ Gi-Gyu thought as he remembered the twinkle in the elderly man’s eyes. The blacksmith was excited to be building his home the way he wanted.

‘It’s understandable since he was stuck in that tiny workshop before.’ There had to be a good reason why Old Man Hwang stayed in that small workshop; now that the elderly man was back, Gi-Gyu was eager to hear the reason.

Gi-Gyu looked out the window and saw the newly-built three-story building next door.

Ding-dong!

Their doorbell seldom came into use, so Su-Jin wondered, “Who could that be?”

Both Gi-Gyu and his mother looked at the intercom screen. When Gi-Gyu saw the familiar face, he smiled brightly. Meanwhile, his mother seemed confused as she murmured, “Hmm?”

Still smiling, Gi-Gyu announced, “I better go out to greet him.”

Confused, Yoo-Jung asked, “Why? Who is it? Is it Tae-Shik oppa? Or did Soo-Jung unnie come back?”

Gi-Gyu turned off the intercom screen and opened the door. Min-Su ran inside and yelled, “Noona[1]!”

“Min-Su?! What’s going on? Did you move next door?” When Yoo-Jung asked, Gi-Gyu crossed his arms casually and explained, “Yeah. I contacted Min-Su’s grandfather, and they moved into our neighborhood.”

“Noona! Hyung!” Min-Su dashed toward Yoo-Jung and Gi-Gyu.

‘His memories must’ve returned.’ Gi-Gyu thought in relief. After Old Man Hwang returned, much of Min-Su’s memories returned. Thanks to that, he recognized Old Man Hwang as his grandfather and Gi-Gyu as “Hyung.” Unfortunately, Min-Su still didn’t remember his father.

“Hyung! Hyung! I can visit you often, right?”

“Of course.” Gi-Gyu liked how Min-Su treated him more familiarly and patted the boy’s head. Then, Old Man Hwang walked in with Su-Jin. Gi-Gyu’s mother announced, “Hahaha. This gentleman brought us rice cakes.”

Gi-Gyu saw a plate of sirutteok[2] in his mother’s hand. Nowadays, rice cakes as gifts were a rarity, but Old Man Hwang was an old-fashioned man. Suddenly, the elderly man winked at Gi-Gyu, surprising him.

‘I had no idea there was this side to Old Man Hwang.’ Gi-Gyu had only seen the blacksmith’s blunt and rough side until now. Perhaps the resurrection changed the elderly man in many ways.

Old Man Hwang thanked Su-Jin, “I wanted to show my appreciation to you for taking care of my Min-Su while I was away.”

“Not at all. Min-Su is such a polite and bright young man. I was so impressed. Min-Su used to call Gi-Gyu his dad, and I’ve wished Min-Su was really my grandson ever since,” Su-Jin replied with a kind smile.

While Su-Jin and Old Man Hwang chatted, Min-Su and Yoo-Jung went outside to play with Bi. Watching them having a good time, Gi-Gyu thought, ‘I’m definitely not wasting the time given to me.’

It might seem like he was wasting his grace period, but he was actually building a foundation that would make him much stronger.

Gi-Gyu’s family knew that Old Man Hwang and Gi-Gyu had a special relationship.

“I would like to talk with Gi-Gyu privately if that’s okay.” When the blacksmith asked politely, Su-Jin replied, “Of course.”

Then, Old Man Hwang and Gi-Gyu headed downstairs to the basement. When they were out of everyone’s earshot, Gi-Gyu announced, “When Baal returns, I will connect this basement to your home, Sir.”

“Thank you.” Suddenly, Old Man Hwang grabbed Gi-Gyu’s hand and explained, “I am still stuck being a guardian, but my life is much more relaxed now compared to before.”

“Stuck being a guardian?” When Gi-Gyu asked, the elderly man found a seat for himself and replied, “I suppose I haven’t told you why I stayed in that tiny workshop. It’s because I was assigned to protect something there.”

“…!” Finally, the mystery of Old Man Hwang’s workshop was about to be revealed. He had his suspensions ever since he heard the system announcement while using Grant. He now understood Old Man Hwang’s abilities as a blacksmith and as a guardian. But Gi-Gyu knew it would be beneficial to hear the details directly from the blacksmith.

Old Man Hwang explained, “After I met my wife in the other world, we had Chae-Il. When we returned to earth, my wife stole something from her people. Ah! Don’t worry.” He grinned before continuing, “What she took rightfully belonged to her—her inheritance. Still, we were exiled from that place.”

Old Man Hwang’s sneaky smile definitely came across as strange, but the story was so interesting that Gi-Gyu didn’t say anything. Instead, he asked, “What was it that she took?”

The inheritance Old Man Hwang’s wife stole was probably what he had to protect inside the cramped workshop. Gi-Gyu was curious about what it was.

Suddenly, a tense expression appeared on Old Man Hwang’s face. The playful demeanor disappeared, and the blacksmith looked very serious as he replied, “Paimon is the greatest blacksmith. All blacksmiths worship him as their god.”

Old Man Hwang’s stubborn side, which Gi-Gyu was used to, returned in full force. The elderly man added, “I was protecting the Paimon’s legacy,” with a loud gulp.

1. Noona is a term used by a younger brother or a younger male to address an older sister or an older female. ☜

2. Sirutteok is a type of rice cake. ☜