Mush.
The god of suffering and penance. The person who wants something after hardships, goes to the Mountain of Mush. It was up to the freedom of trainee for what penalty he or she wanted. Some didn't take any penalties, while some did.
But the result was the same. With or without penalty, Mush brought hardships to the trainees and the trainees would suffer through them.
There were 3 ends.
Give up and leave.
Win and take the reward.
Fail to survive and die.
Every day was hell.
Sungmin opened his eyes. His body was heavy. He had slept a long time... but his mind was heavy as well. It made a sense of tiredness. Sungmin's heaviness was pertaining to his mind as well.
"F*ck."
His curses were getting better. If he didn't curse, he felt that his terrible state wouldn't get better. As a hardship, he thought that Mush would give the hardships.
But no, didn't the priest say to Sungmin before coming here? They will give nothing, no food, no drinks, no shelter.
That is true. Surviving on this mountain itself was a hardship. It was... cruelty. Too cold at night and too hot during the day. He did get the cape from Jack, but it did nothing to help him from the cruel hot and cold of the mountain.
Sungmin wrinkled his face and opened his pocket. He still had enough bread and water. But he couldn't survive with just that.
Sungmin was going to live on this mountain for 2 more years. The trainees took hardships and suffered. The reward that Mush gave increased by how much time they stayed.
He had heard about the mountain many times before, but he had never actually been there. He thought there was no reason to. It was hard enough surviving as a mercenary, and living itself was a hardship.
There was a simple reason why he came. There was no reason to go to Behengeru, and there wasn't a place where he could easily train. If he wanted to, he could have stayed in Jack's inn for another 2 years.
But if he did, there wasn't really hope that he would gain something.
It was a gamble. He didn't know what he would get from this mountain. There were no rumors in his past life. He heard of people who went in, but he didn't remember the people who came out.
'It's up to me.'
It was different from the opportunities that he was looking for. The Mountain of Mush wasn't something that could be gotten easily. Hardships must be suffered in order for the reward.
He picked up the bread.
It was a feast when compared to death.
He attempted to practice his spear techniques with his heavy body. He tried to practice the basics of ran, na, and zhe, and the steps of the High Heavens. But his body and spear were heavy. He would have to use his inner strength to keep up.
So he became tired easily.
I'm tired.
Sungmin breathed hard. Maybe he picked the wrong penalties, he thought, but it was too late.
After a week.
He still wasn't used to the food. He thought that he would get used to it after a week, but he was stupid.
"Stupid Mush."
He didn't know that bad taste would have so many categories. Every time he ate, he retched. Every time he drank, he retched.
'I need more nutrients.;
It was obvious as he had lived on this mountain with just bread and water. His food was slowly running out. He needed to hunt. Sungmin attempted to carry his heavy body to hunt.
He failed.
It wasn't because of his heavy body. The monsters here were fast and strong, fitting to the name of hardships. When he failed twice,
Tap.
A rock fell close to Sungmin. Sungmin who was on the ground resting turned to look at where the rock came from.
A white-haired woman was looking at Sungmin. She shook his right hand a few times and came close to Sungmin. Sungmin looked at the spear next to him and stood up.
No one in this mountain could hard each other. That was a rule.
The girl attempted to speak. But he couldn't hear anything. Sungmin tilted his head and the girl sighed. She pulled out the branches that were near her waist.
[I came to help you because you looked terrible.]
The girl wrote the letters on the ground. It was a language that he had never seen before, but he realized what it meant. They were the common Eria language. Every otherworlder knew these letters when they were summoned.
"Can you not speak?"
[Speech, that is not a penalty.]
She quickly added.
[I saw you for a few days, you're doing to die like this.]
"...I'm going to die?"
[Food without balance. Your body is heavy. That is your penalty?]
"...Yes."
[Your body has become weak because of your lack of good balance. Your body is heavy. You're going to fail at hunting. So you die.]
"So you want to help me?"
[Yes.]
The girl said and let down the branches. She scratched the back of her head and looked around. Then.
Her body disappeared. Surprised, Sungmin tried to find her and turned his head to locate her. Pwk! A sound occurred.
A deer that Sungmin had tried to catch for days was lying on the ground dead. The girl dusted off her hand and lifted the deer.
'A master...'
Sungmin's face turned pale. The girl let down the body of the deer next to Sungmin.
"...what do you want?"
Sungmin asked. To that, the girl tilted her head.
"Don't you want something? That's why you're helping me?"
Sungmin said again. To that, the girl blinked and laughed. Well, her face was laughing, but there was no sound. Her voice was blocked.
[There is nothing I want.]
The girl wrote down.
[I just helped you because you were struggling. That is all. It's not that hard for me anyway.]
"...Just goodwill?"
[Goodwill? It's not goodwill but the kindness of my heart. I'm kind.]
The girl wrote and smiled.
[It's nothing to be said. It's easy to catch a monster to me. I'm fast.]
That wasn't just it.
Sungmin was close to first-rate. That Sungmin wasn't even able to catch up with her movements. The deer... was far away. She moved there so quickly and killed the deer. It meant that the girl was a great master.
[i live near here. I see you a lot. If my neighbors die, I feel bad. So I'm helping you.]
"...And in the future?"
[If you need me to. This stuff. But you should try to do this yourself.]
The girl advised. Sungmin nodded her head with a surprised face. Not goodwill but out of the kindness of the heart. Helping just because she was a kind person. Something like that was never seen by Sungmin.
"...What's your name?"
[Baek Sogo]
She wrote down her name. That name. His face paled.
He knew the name.
Silent Flare. Baek Sogo.
It was a martial artist that spread her name around during his 13 years.
But when he died, she wasn't even alive.
From now in 8 years, she would die.
Small Pegasus Wijihoyun would kill her.
3 weeks have passed since he met Sogo. it's been a month since he arrived at this mountain.
Sungmin gave attention to the trainee that was also living on this mountain. As Sogo said, she was a nice person that came out of nowhere to help Sungmin. It was definitely like her nickname, Silent Flare.
[Your penalty isn't good.]
She wrote down on the ground.
[Suffering is hard. To take away the pleasure of eating. That's one of the worst penalties.]
"Yours seems very easy."
[Not true. I'm used to it, but it's still annoying having to write on the ground.]
She made an annoyed face. Even so, it had to be better than what Sungmin was suffering now.
[Is hunting still hard?]
"My body is too heavy..."
[Your speed technique's level is too low. You have a good deal of inner strength, but ... how about attempting to improve your speed technique first?]
She advised him. Sungmin was thinking about that as well. He nodded his head.
"Is there no one else other than me and you on this mountain?"
[No way.]
She shook her head.
[The longest one stayed for 1 year. Do you know? Penalties add up as you stay longer. One was added to me when I reached half a year.]
"...Is it your left arm?"
Sungmin looked at her left arm. In the 3 weeks he has known her, she had never used her left arm once.
[Right. I lost any feeling I had in my left arm. There's no strength in it anymore.]
She smiled bitterly.
[It's not a good one thinking about the long term. If I continue like this, only my right arm will get stronger so the balance doesn't fit.]
"...The others?"
[They are all taking their own penalties. To be honest, there's no one like you who took 2 penalties when beginning the journey. It's that much harder. But you'll gain more out of it later.]
She wrote and erased repeatedly.
[You're curious about the other trainees?]
"Well... yes."
[Then I'll introduce you.]
Sogo nodded her head and wrote. She wanted to show everything. She put her branch on her waist and started to walk. Sungmin dragged his heavy body and followed.
"Can't you teach me a speed technique?"
To that, Sogo turned her head. She looked dumbfounded and quickly wrote on the ground.
[Even if I am a nice person, I can't give away my food supply.]
Of course, Sungmin thought.
He only tried. But it was still a shame.