Chapter 123 - 42. Changing and Unchanging (1) 2017.08.12.

Chapter 123 - 42. Changing and Unchanging (1) 2017.08.12.
"How many times is it?"
"What are you talking about?"
"Then, let me ask again."
"......."
"How many times left?" 115, 114, 113, ......
The time for selection was racing towards the end, but my thoughts suddenly stopped. 'Got it!?'
Although I couldn’t see it, I was sure my face had stiffened. I could feel every hair bristling on my skin. It felt ticklish just washing my face.
"What is it?"
Ala Bongdae’s eyes curved into a crescent as he questioned my hesitation.
"I am God Dung." "......."
"You, you’ve been dodging around with games and play, but by now, you must know, right? The duel with the Eternal Faceless Lord and Yong Goja, and many more if we start listing them, but anyway, all the paths you've taken and the questions you've asked, they weren’t predictions. They were certainties."
Caught red-handed. Maybe what comes around goes around? After all, I came to him for answers to every problem that fell to me; perhaps this is a justified outcome.
"Not much time left, is there?"
Yes, not much left. It had passed 100. I answered promptly, as there was no longer any reason to delay. "This is the eighth time, and including this, three times left." "That must have been tough."

I thought he would probe more...... but as usual, he was different. Whether he was extraordinary, outstanding, peculiar, or dubious.
"What about the others?" "You are a fool." "What, dude?" Ala Bongdae giggled.
"I just said it. I am not a fool to just randomly blurt out such things." "......."
"Anyway, according to you, you won’t even remember this next time. Isn’t such talk meaningless?"
Indeed, God Dung was right.
From the next time, I wouldn’t even ask him about the Eternal Faceless Lord, proceeding as I've already heard and experienced.
'If his memory resets, everything goes back to the beginning.'
Back to when no one knew.
In that sense, maybe it's even more fortunate. I can ask questions more freely now.
"From next time, I'll tell you from the beginning."
Ala Bongdae's face changed oddly.
It was the first time. Even when we first met, when he was being attacked by the Daepyeongwi gang, this was the first time his face, which always had a smile, lost its laughter.
Despite asking him countless questions over many times, this wasn't a question, and yet, it seemed harder than any before. As if the world would end if left unsolved.
"It's not possible. Absolutely not."
Ala Bongdae shook his head vehemently, as rigid as his expression.

"I still don't know."
"What don’t you know?"
Ala Bongdae looked at me quietly and then said.
"Do you remember the face of Cheonma?"
Was that even part of our conversation?
Maybe I added that while talking about dreams and games.
How could I not remember it?
Well, I tried to recall Cheonma again.
I don’t really remember well. It’s like a faint afterimage, seen but not seen.
In fact, around Cheonma, there was always a strange cloud-like phenomenon due to his Cheonma Shingong (Heavenly Demon Divine Art). And the only clear look I had was in the moment of dying.
But what does that have to do with anything?
I looked up at Ala Bongdae with eyes full of questions.
"It might be you."
"What are you talking about?"
"Cheonma. You might be Cheonma."
...What is he saying? Ala Bongdae is Cheonma?
"From now on, keep it a secret. If you have questions, ask as much as possible this time." Surprised by his unexpected response, my mind blanked out even more than before. "Secrets are best when they remain secrets. That's the nature of a secret."
My mind turned cold and white as if someone had laid snow inside my head.

"Until it’s certain."
Ala Bongdae's face, which had thrown a snow bomb into my mind, returned to his usual grin as if nothing had happened. "That aside."
That aside? What does he mean by that!
...I wanted to say that, but I waited for Ala Bongdae’s next words.
The time was really running out now.
"You can't just choose anything. There are only three choices and three opportunities. When you said to choose anything earlier, it was because you thought you had enough chances. Try them all and continue with the best one."
But?
"It might seem like you can try all, but what if you fail them all? What will you do next? It's over. At least four chances should remain so you can try all three and then from the fourth onwards, go with the best profession."
This guy.
He threw a snow bomb into my mind and now he's pouring rain to wash it all away.
"So, what should I choose?"
"Your question is wrong. You should ask what to exclude." 20, 19, 18, .......
"There's no time, Mom!"
"I am timing it. Isn't it 17 now?"
"How do you know that?"
"I heard you mumbling earlier. 515, 514, 513, and so on." You figured it out just from that?

...He's really something else. At that moment, Ala Bongdae continued speaking. "Just avoid one, and you can choose anything." "Then what should I avoid?"
I asked immediately, and Ala Bongdae answered just as quickly. "The Knight-Errant."
Without a pause, Ala Bongdae removed one of the three options laid in front of me. 10, 9, 8, .......
The countdown reached the 10s.
I didn’t ask why. There was no leisure for such thoughts.
With a smile, Ala Bongdae added his last words.
"The rest is up to your intuition. In fact, that has surpassed everything so far. Not my judgment, but yours."
Yeah, thanks a lot, you jerk. Really helpful advice for choosing. I picked one of the remaining two options, hoping it was the right answer.
Click.
And then,
Woo-woong―. The heavens poured down on me again, no, continuously. Ding, ding, ding, .......
●●●
It seems we've reached the threshold of winter.

Even though evening was approaching, a faint sunlight still flickered through the camp.
Thanks to that, a relaxed atmosphere had spread throughout the entire Southern Army.
Not that the tension had loosened or the discipline had slackened.
The hardships and troubles of the war seemed to be coming to an end, reaching its final destination.
Although more scout information needs to be gathered, most soldiers believed that the turmoil caused by the enemy was finally coming to an end.
That's why they were now scattered here and there, leisurely having their dinner. The Murim Alliance reinforcements seemed to share the same mood.
The students of the Murim University were sitting around in a circle in the middle of the tents, chatting and eating.
Only Sagwihae remained isolated like a lone island in front of Dan Yuseong's tent.
Cheon Soso had been staring at the curtain of the tent for an hour, then picked up a military ration.
"The talk is dragging on."
"Yeah, really. What kind of conversation takes this long?"
Ki Daemong chewed on the ration and tilted his head.
Lying beside the two, Jang Gihu glanced at the tent and then threw a ration into his mouth while lying down.
"What are they talking about? That brat’s actions have always been abnormal. Just let it be... cough, water!"
"Right, even if Yong Chorang was a thorn in his eye, challenging him to a duel now is a bit... excessive, isn’t it?"
Jang Gihu, who had stuck a water bottle in his mouth, gulped down the water, clearing the stuck ration, then giggled and picked a crumb off Ki Daemong's cheek.

"Sha, you should remove a thorn when it's stuck. Otherwise, you’ll end up like Yong Goja with an eye infection. Haha." "Ah, can you really get that?" "Eye infection? Oh, eye Goja. Oho, Daemong, that’s clever. You’re even making puns now?"

Despite the continuing cheap jokes of the two, Cheon Soso couldn't take her eyes off the tent.
The original oddball.
Just as Jang Gihu had said, Dan Yuseong was always strange yet exceptional. But still...
‘He's changed too much in just a few days.’
It was hard to believe he had become so much stronger in just a few days, and more, more... What should I say?
He seemed in a hurry.
Pop―.
That was when it happened.
Was it a delusion?
“Wait a minute.”
“Why?”
“Didn't it just seem to get darker for a moment?”
“Hey, Lady Cheon. It's naturally dark in the evening. Isn’t that right, Daemong?”
“Uh, yes.”
Despite the words of Jang Gihu and Ki Daemong, it was hard for Cheon Soso to shake off the feeling that something unusual was happening. She looked up at the sky again.
‘It’s clear.’
There was a subtle shift in the atmosphere's color. “See, something is definitely strange.”

Jang Gihu and Ki Daemong eventually followed her gaze to the sky. After a while, Jang Gihu squinted his eyes and said,
“Certainly, there's something odd about the situation. What's it like, Daemong?” “Ha, the sky seems to be blinking.” “Exactly, that's what I'm talking about.”
Blinking. Cheon Soso felt that this description was truly fitting. The repetition of brightening and darkening.
Not just them, but others like Namgung Geum also stopped eating and looked up.
What was this strange phenomenon? What could be the cause? Was it a precursor to some event?
However, only Cheon Soso pondered where its origin might be.
Eventually, her eyes fixed on one spot in the sky.
At that moment, a single streak of rainbow appeared there.
A round rainbow with a thick black border.
“What's that? Can rainbows be round?”
“...Indeed.”
“I've never seen a circular rainbow before.”
Regardless of people's astonishment, Cheon Soso's eyes gradually fell below the rainbow.
Descending and descending, the endpoint was right above their heads.
More precisely, it was above the tent where Dan Yuseong, Ala Bongdae, and Juju were. ●●●
Ding―. [Class Change Complete]

You have successfully completed the class change.
Class change rewards are given.
You have learned [Instant Activation Martial Art: Qi Wound (氣傷人)].
[Instant Activation Martial Art: Qi Wound (氣傷人)]
Lv.1: Proficiency 0%
A technique that overlays Qi on weapons or the body to increase destructive power. It significantly increases attack power, but requires a lot of internal energy to materialize Qi.
The effect of Qi discharge slightly increases the attack range. Power Increase: 10% (1/10) Internal Power Consumption per Minute: 1 Year of Energy
Ding―.
[Class Change Complete]
You have.......
...... learned [Conditional Activation Martial Art: Continuous Slash (連斬)].
[Conditional Activation Martial Art: Continuous Slash (連斬)]
Lv.1: Proficiency: 0%
Humans become more frenzied the more blood they see. Especially those with a strong desire for slaughter, like demons, tend to exhibit this tendency more prominently.
When activated, duration: 5 minutes
· Successful 5 consecutive slashes increase all stats by 5% (5/100). (Lv. 1 Activation) ※The count of kills must be maintained before the effect of Continuous Slash ends to continue the count. Ding―.

[Class Change Complete]
You have.......
...... learned [Instant Activation Martial Art: Hidden Submersion Art (隱潛術)].
[Instant Activation Martial Art: Hidden Submersion Art (隱潛術)]
Lv.1: Proficiency 0%
A demonic practitioner can be mobilized for assassination missions anytime. A prerequisite for successful assassination is the ability to hide and move secretly.
When cast, it disturbs the enemy's sight.
Duration/Cooldown: 5/20 (minutes)
Internal Power Consumption per Use: 10% (1/10) of Maximum Internal Power
※The method of disturbance evolves with Lv.
Ding―.
[Class Change Complete]
You have.......
...... learned [Permanent Activation Martial Art: Eye Technique (眼法)].
[Permanent Activation Martial Art: Eye Technique (眼法)]
Lv.1: Proficiency 0%
For a warrior who always crosses the line of death, dynamic vision is incomparably crucial. This is even more true in demonic methods that emphasize real combat experience.
Status: Human Eye Ding―.
[Class Change Complete]

You have.......
[Permanent Activation Martial Art: Qi Conducting Technique (運氣行功)] reset/deleted, replaced with [Permanent Activation Martial Art: Demonic Technique (魔功)].
[Permanent Activation Martial Art: Demonic Technique (魔功)]
Lv.1: Proficiency 0%
The way demonic practitioners accumulate Qi is entirely different from that of the righteous path. Although the achievement is incomparably faster, it always accompanies various side effects.
Status: Sitting Meditation (座功), Demonic (魔) Attribute
※Side effects are randomly activated each time Demonic Technique is used.
‘What in the world!?’
There seemed to be no end.
Just one class change, but the rewards poured down in an overwhelming flow.
“Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!”
At this moment, the feeling of fullness overwhelmed me, making me forget Miyamoto Mamoru, Cheon Ma, and even the Millennium Face-Eater.
Ding―.
The feeling continued to swirl.
[Class Change Basic Set] is being stored in the [Warehouse]. [Demonic Axe]
Attribute: Demonic (魔)
Required Profession: Demonic Lineage
Required Lv.: 70

Ability: Unopened [Demonic Blood Wind] Attribute: Demonic (魔) Required Profession: Demonic Lineage Required Lv.: 70 Special Ability: Unopened [Demonic Blood Robe] Attribute: Demonic (魔) Required Profession: Demonic Lineage Required Lv.: 70 Special Ability: Unopened [Demonic Gauntlet]
Attribute: Demonic (魔)
Required Profession: Demonic Lineage
Required Lv.: 70
Special Ability: Unopened
[Class Change Basic Set] storage completed. You have completed all the first-class change selections. But at the moment when I received everything, my feelings were, Woo-woong―.
It wasn't the feeling of fullness...ᄆ.

“You must have chosen the Demonic class.”
Ala Bongdae said.
“Seeing the demonic energy flowing through your body, it's obvious.”