Chapter 68
Overwhelming heat.
Every breath felt as if it were burning Hong Man-gi's lungs and organs.
Hong Man-gi, Lee Yu-han, and the spirit of Cha Gang-il had finally reached the Primordial Furnace.
"My god...."
Lee Yu-han lost his words at the sight before him.
The Primordial Furnace was an overwhelming and primal place.
At the distant center stood a massive furnace.
Inside it, red and blue flames twisted together as they burned fiercely.
Huge anvils and hammers surrounded the furnace.
Unknown runes were carved into the walls, giving off faint light.
'Haa....'
Hong Man-gi released a short breath.
Then Cha Gang-il's spirit whispered.
'This is the place where I risked everything, and where I lost everything.'
Hong Man-gi nodded toward Lee Yu-han.
"Let's begin."
He approached the massive anvil before the furnace.
Then he took the Heart of Chaos from his inventory and carefully placed it on the anvil.
Cha Gang-il's voice crossed Hong Man-gi's mind.
'Young man, from this point forward, you must concentrate completely.'
Like a master passing a secret technique to a disciple, Cha Gang-il's knowledge and experience began flowing into Hong Man-gi.
'First, draw out the furnace's flame. Synchronize the mana within your body with the furnace. Do not try to dominate it. Think of yourself only as creating a path for it.'
"Understood."
Hong Man-gi closed his eyes and stretched both hands toward the furnace.
Blue mana flowed from the body of the now B-rank Hunter.
It carefully touched the chaotic fire burning inside the furnace.
Then,
[Whoooosh!]
The flames reacted to Hong Man-gi's mana.
"It... looks like a snake?"
A thin stream of flame slowly stretched outward.
The flame wrapped itself around the Heart of Chaos resting on the anvil.
'Good! You passed the first stage. Now add the first material you obtained, the Flame Lizard's Tear!'
"Yes."
Hong Man-gi took out a small glass bottle.
He dropped the red liquid onto the Heart of Chaos wrapped in flames.
[Hissssss!]
Red steam rose the instant the tear touched the Heart.
The Heart of Chaos began beating more violently.
Its dark red surface slowly became clear, taking on the shine of transparent steel.
'Next is the Little Giant's Breath! When the flame reaches its highest temperature, put it in without hesitation!'
"Understood."
Hong Man-gi threw the Little Giant's Breath into the fire.
It was a small, solid crystal.
The crystal instantly melted and began seeping into the Heart of Chaos.
[Fwoooosh.]
Then,
the moment all the materials merged into one,
the Heart of Chaos began releasing brilliant white light.
'Now comes the final stage, young man! Lift that hammer! Strike not with the strength of your body, but with the will of your soul! Keep the rhythm steady! Do not let it break!'
Hong Man-gi grabbed the enormous hammer with both hands and clenched his teeth.
Following the rhythm guided by Cha Gang-il's spirit, he swung his first strike toward the glowing mass of steel.
[CLAAAAANG!]
A clear, majestic sound echoed through the entire cavern.
Then,
"Ugh...!"
A tremendous burst of mana suddenly exploded.
'D... damn it!'
Cha Gang-il's voice trembled.
This was the uncontrollable power of chaos that even an A-rank alchemist like Cha Gang-il had failed to endure.
The same power that had taken his life.
[BOOOOOOM!]
A gigantic whirlpool of mana erupted from the Primordial Furnace and crashed into Hong Man-gi like a storm.
'No! Not again...!'
Cha Gang-il cried out in despair.
"K... ugh!"
The pressure felt as though the hand of a giant was crushing his entire body.
Hong Man-gi began writhing in pain.
"K... Kuaaaaagh!"
The storm of mana was far beyond what even a B-rank Hunter could endure.
The pain continued.
"U... uaaaaaagh!"
It felt like hundreds of millions of burning needles were piercing every blood vessel in his body.
Blue and red mana spread beneath his skin like veins, causing his body to swell as though it might burst at any moment.
His vision began turning white.
"K... kuhgh!"
His muscles spasmed uncontrollably.
Every bone in his body screamed as though being pulled out of alignment.
Lee Yu-han watched in horror.
"HUNTEEEER!!!!"
Lee Yu-han screamed and tried to approach.
But a barrier created by the mana storm blocked him completely.
Cha Gang-il's voice desperately echoed in Hong Man-gi's ears.
'Give up, young man! Don't try to accept that power! Your soul itself will shatter! Stop now! Forget about me, let's leave while you still can!'
Hong Man-gi could barely hear him.
He could barely feel anything.
His consciousness had already begun to lose itself within an ocean of pain.
His body had reached its limit.
His soul was on the verge of being torn apart by the violent mana flooding inside him.
"K... kuhhk...."
Blood began flowing from his eyes and nose.
This was the limit.
His body,
the fragile vessel unable to endure the mana rampage,
was beginning to crack.
'Damn it... is this the end...?'
Deep within the pain,
Hong Man-gi's consciousness began fading.
His body felt ready to burst.
His soul felt moments away from shattering.
He could feel the shadow of death tightening around his throat.
Cha Gang-il's desperate voice.
Lee Yu-han's anguished screams.
Everything became distant.
Then,
in that hopeless moment,
a completely unexpected sensation flashed through his mind.
[Sizzle.]
'Wh... what is that feeling? What sound is that?'
Thick pork belly sizzling deliciously on a hot pan.
[Bubble, bubble.]
'It... it was good. Right. It was good.'
A stone pot of rich doenjang stew warming as it boiled.
[Tap, tap, tap.]
The rhythmic sound of a knife striking a cutting board.
'This is....'
Hong Man-gi realized something.
Within his fading consciousness, he quietly thought,
'That's right... this is just like the worst possible ingredient. Like the horrible smell of the Hellfire Boar Belloc gave me. Like the sharp ammonia smell of fermented skate that sent Edward Kang into panic....'
'Wild power that refuses to be controlled.'
His mind suddenly became clear.
'I need to understand it. That's right. Understanding is the answer. The foundation of cooking is understanding the ingredient.'
'You don't force it down or change it against its nature. You understand what the ingredient truly is and create a path where its characteristics can flow together in harmony.'
'That's what I learned in that tiny food cart kitchen while making final meals for countless spirits.'
Alchemy and cooking were not truly different.
'Baek Jong-su's cooking notes... every ingredient has an ideal way to be handled.'
The wisdom left behind by survival expert Baek Jong-su returned to his mind.
'I only tried to suppress it. I only tried to change it. But that was never the foundation of cooking.'
'Understand it. Understand the true characteristics of this material, then create the path that allows its power to flow in the most harmonious way.'
'That's how my cooking began.'
'Right... don't resist it. Think of my body as a giant cooking pot. And the mana raging inside it... treat that mana as another ingredient.'
"K... ughhh...."
Hong Man-gi began feeling the mana flowing through his body.
Its temperature.
Its texture.
Its direction.
'But it's too hot... At this rate, everything will burn away.'
As he struggled with the last of his strength, the firm figure of Han Young-mi appeared in his memories.
The woman who had used her own body as a shield to protect her companions.
Her final will.
[Skill Activated: Will of the Frontline, Final Wall]
A translucent blue barrier appeared around Hong Man-gi.
Her skill became an internal dam, holding back the mana trying to explode from within him.
The moment the barrier formed, the pressure that had been tearing his body apart began to calm as if it had been a lie.
'I have to endure... I have to!'
He needed a powerful will capable of controlling it.
[Passive Activated: Park Si-hun's Fighting Spirit]
An indomitable fighting spirit that grew stronger as his HP decreased.
Hong Man-gi converted physical pain into mental strength.
The agony tearing through his body pushed his concentration to its absolute limit instead.
His eyes regained focus.
'Now... I need to make a path.'
He was a chef.
A conductor who did not throw away overflowing ingredients, but adjusted each flavor until they harmonized.
'Think of my mana circuits as enormous rivers. Right now they're overflowing in every direction and destroying everything.'
'But I just need to create new channels. Open new waterways. Build banks. Change the current.'
'Flexible like Sama Cheon's shadow. Don't block the river, ride with its flow and guide its direction.'
'Protect the circuits like Jung Yong-bin's guardian power, strengthen them so they don't burst.'
'And like Oh Dal-su's Drunken Fist, find the clearest calm inside the middle of chaos.'
'Sama Cheon, Baek Jong-su, Oh Dal-su, Seo Ji-a, Jung Yong-bin, Kim Gi-jeong, Park Si-hun, Han Young-mi... and Cha Gang-il.'
'What they left me wasn't just skills.'
'Their lives. Their wills. All of them are alive inside me now.'
'If I bring all of these powers together and perform my own orchestra...?'
Thoughts erupted one after another.
Then,
"This is my cooking!"
Hong Man-gi began controlling the mana flow in his own way.
Instead of forcibly suppressing the overflowing energy, he guided it naturally into the arm holding the hammer.
Then into the glowing mass of steel resting on the anvil.
[Fwoooooosh.]
Hong Man-gi's body became a living passage connecting the Primordial Furnace to the legendary weapon.
"Haa... haa...."
He lifted the hammer again.
His expression now carried tremendous confidence and strength.
'Here I go!'
[CLAAAAAAAAANG!]
Hong Man-gi's hammer struck the glowing steel once more.
A deafening roar split the air.
The shape of the weapon slowly began to appear.
