Chapter 176: The World Of The Arrogant Giant (2)


    You, you!


    I have something to ask.


    This piece of shit!


    The flying giant returned, grinding his teeth.


    Tiny human! You are dead!


    They charged at him. Taesan clicked his tongue; it seemed he would have to knock them all down to get an answer.


    As he clenched his fist, a huge sound echoed in the distance.


    It was the sound of horse hooves, apanied by the shing of iron armor. The faces of the charging giants turned pale.


    Damn it. Its the knights!


    Lets run away!


    Bu-but, brother!


    Their gaze shifted to the fallen giant, but only for a moment. The giant they called brother nodded.


    Leave him!


    Yes!


    They fled in a hurry.


    Taesan calmly waited for the sound of the horse hooves to draw closer, and soon the source of the sound appeared.


    It was a giant wearing medieval armor, like in the movies. From his neat appearance and well-maintained armor, he seemed to be a high-ranking giant.


    Did those guys abandon their brother?


    The armored giant looked puzzled at the fallen giant, then his gaze settled on Taesan.


    Taesan waved his hand.


    Hello?


    The giant looked at Taesan with confusion.


    A human? How does a being like you exist in our world?


    Lucky he recognizes me.


    It seemed there was no need for a lengthy exnation. The giant looked back and forth between Taesan and the fallen giant.


    Did you bring him down?


    Taesan nodded. The perplexed giant smiled.


    Impressive.


    Lord!


    Soon, with the sound of shing iron, dozens of soldiers arrived from the direction the giant hade from.


    Are you alright?


    Im fine.


    The giant they called the lord clicked his tongue.


    Tie him up. And be careful not to step on him.


    What?


    The soldiers gazes turned to Taesan and the fallen giant.


    Whats that?


    Why is it so small?


    They murmured among themselves, bound the fallen giant with ropes, and dragged him away.


    The mounted giant spoke.


    Thank you. These pests have been quite a headache.


    Annoying guys, huh?


    They were thieves who robbed people passing by. Their skills werent great, but they were adept at running away, which had be a nuisance. It worked out well.


    The giantughed heartily and extended his hand.


    What is your name?


    Kang Taesan.


    Thats an unusual name. I am Umberak. It may not be much in return for the trouble youve taken on my behalf, but how about visiting my territory? Ill receive you grandly.


    Okay.


    Taesan epted.


    Taesan needed to find the king of the giants here. To do that, he first required information about what this ce was, and what he had to do to achieve his goals.


    The giant before him, Umberak, appeared to be of a considerably high rank. There was a good chance he possessed the information Taesan sought.


    When Taesan agreed, Umberakughed contentedly.


    A precious guest. I should throw a festival.


    Pleased, he soon adopted an ambiguous smile.


    But how to


    The size difference between them was too vast. A giants casual step covered more ground than a humans full sprint. Moreover, he was on a horse, making the speed difference even more pronounced.


    Its okay, dont worry.


    Taesan stamped his foot and climbed onto the back of the horse, securing his position. Umberak watched in admiration as Taesan reached a height ten times his own in an instant.


    Impressive. No need to worry, then.


    Umberak kicked the horses side. With a neigh, the horse started running towards the distant territory.


    The horses speed was incredibly fast. It was slower than Taesans full sprint, but Lee Taeyeon or Kang Jun-hyeok could never catch up.


    A race that could rival the transcendents.


    After riding for several minutes, they arrived at the territory. It resembled a medieval city from the movies.


    Open the gates! Your lord has returned!


    Soon, the gates opened. Soldiers hurried to their positions.


    You have arrived!


    Let everyone rejoice!


    Umberak smiled broadly.


    Finally caught the pesky ck plunderer!


    The soldiers erupted in cheers, and the lord raised his fist.


    Today is a festival! Let the residents know!


    The soldiers responded briefly and dispersed.


    Taesan followed Umberak into a huge room andy down to rest. The bed was the size of a small hill.


    Lying there, Taesan closed his eyes for a rest, but that night, Umberak entered the room.


    The festival is about to start. Will you join us?


    Taesan got up.


    They were in a giant vige.


    At its center, numerous giants gathered, chatting andughing. In the middle, a bonfire roared, with all sorts of food and drinks being passed around.


    And there was the ck plunderer, tied to a pir.


    Throw stones! The thief who stole our property!


    The giants threw pebbles. To them, just pebbles, but to Taesan, they were like falling rocks. The pelted giant screamed.


    Dont throw!


    Everyone, look here!


    Umberak shouted loudly, and all eyes turned to him as he pointed at Taesan.


    This small being is the one who subdued the ck plunderer!


    Whats that?


    Is that a human?


    So small. I might identally step on him.


    They murmured among themselves. Their reaction was natural. It was impossible for them to calmly ept a beingpletely different from themselves.


    But their bewilderment was short-lived.


    In less than five minutes, they resumed chatting and offered food to Taesan.


    How do we feed someone so small?


    Chef! Make a special dish for him!


    As he epted their offerings, Taesan realized something.


    This was a world of giants, and he was a human.


    That made him an outsider. And in any world, outsiders were usually shunned.


    History on Earth proved this. People were discriminated against for having a different skin color, let alone being from a different species. So Taesan had expected it would be difficult to gather information.


    But it wasnt.


    The giants weed him without showing any fear.


    Their boldness and confidence were evident.


    Despite his status as an outsider, they did not regard him as a threat. To them, he was merely a guest.


    Umberak, who was enjoying the festival, approached withughter.


    Are you having fun?


    Sort of.


    Taesan put some food in his mouth. It was a tiny dish, crudely prepared by a drunk chef, but it was the first time in a while that he had enjoyed such a meal.


    Thats good. Weve never hosted such a small human before, so I wasnt sure what to do.


    Umberak took arge gulp from his enormous cup.


    So, let me ask. What brings you to our world?


    Umberaks expression turned serious.


    I wee you, but as a lord, I have to inquire for the sake of ournd. Its been nearly five hundred years since a human visited our world, as far as Im aware.


    For magic.


    Taesan saw no reason to hide his purpose, so he responded candidly.


    The god of magic sent me to spread magic throughout your world and to make his name known.


    The god of magic?


    Umberak appeared intrigued and stroked his chin thoughtfully.


    Magic Its been ages since Ist heard of it, not since the ancient texts I read in my youth.


    It seemed that magic had indeed be apletely forgotten power in thisnd, just as the god of magic had imed.


    To establish that here


    Umberaks expression was ambiguous as he contemted.


    Thats impossible.


    Why?


    We have no use for magic.


    His words conveyed unwavering certainty.


    Furthermore, such matters would require the attention of our king. But Ick the authority to make such arrangements.


    How can I meet the king?


    Its difficult.


    Umberak gave a bitter smirk.


    Even I cannot see the king without a legitimate reason, much less an outsider like you.


    The situation was as expected. It would be impossible for an outsider, especially one not even of the same species, to easily gain an audience with the king of another race. He would need some notable aplishment or something of equal significance.


    Of course, as an outsider, you might meet someone rted to the king, but its unlikely youll meet the king himself. However, if there is any possibility


    Umberak paused, lost in thought before he continued.


    We are giants. We revere strength and worship the strong. If you can prove your own strength, it might be possible.


    Proving strength.


    That was the problem.


    As Taesan mulled over this, Umberak interrupted his thoughts.


    Did youe from thebyrinth?


    You know about it?


    Its well-known even to us. A ce where talented and exceptional beings from different worlds gather. But none of us go there.


    Umberaks voice remained even as he spoke.


    Because we are naturally strong. We have no need to venture into thebyrinth to grow stronger. The same applies to magic. Strong as we are, we find no use for such things.


    Boooooom.


    As Umberak finished speaking, a horn sounded.


    The reveling giants halted their festivities, a fiery look igniting in their eyes.


    Theyvee today too.


    Umberak grinned and stood up.


    Want to see?


    Taesan nodded.


    An unsettling power emanated from the outskirts of the city, a power Taesan had encountered several times before.


    Theyvee this far.


    These are the beings invading our world. Repulsive and worthless creatures.


    Umberak bared his teeth in disgust.


    Everyone, stand up! Our enemy has arrived!


    With a rallying cry, Umberak charged forward, the other giants at his heels.


    Once the giants had all moved out, Taesan set off in pursuit.


    He sprinted, his feet kicking off the walls of the buildings, as he made his way toward the source of the sinister power. Before the giants stood a rift. A purple rift shimmered atop arge mound, and as it tore open, monsters began to emerge.


    Krrrrr.


    Vile, dense creatures spilled forth.


    A system window popped up before Taesan.


    [Monster 182851 has appeared.]


    A monster with a six-digit number, indicative of the lower ranks.


    Several C-grade monsters materialized.


    The monsters that had trampled Earth appeared in the giants world as well. But this wasnt particrly surprising.


    The Demon God had said it: The High Gods have trampled countless worlds, more than 250, in fact.


    Earth was not the first world they destroyed. They had shattered many worlds and nned to destroy more. It wasnt odd that the giants world was among them.


    Everyone!


    Umberakughed boisterously.


    Let the battle begin!


    The giants roared and charged at the monsters.


    The monsters began their attack.


    The monsters were asrge as the giants, rivaling their size. This wasnt surprising since Taesan had seen such sizes on Earth before.


    What was astonishing was the strength of the giants.


    C-grade monsters were something that yers who had cleared Normal Mode could defeat.


    They were weakpared to Hard Mode but not absolutely so.


    If they had possessed such power before thebyrinth appeared, they could have overturned a nation alone.


    Haaaa!


    Umberak swung his sword with a shout, and the struck C-grade monster staggered.


    The monster counterattacked, swinging a giant tentacle at Umberak. He scoffed and swung his fist.


    The tentacle was sent flying.


    Umberak plunged his sword into the monsters body.


    It wasnt just Umberak who was active.


    The giants, previously enjoying the festival in their everyday clothes, also swung fists and clubs, bringing down C-grade monsters.


    They didnt subdue them as easily as Umberak did, but bybining their strength, they defeated them.


    With that power, they could probably defeat B-grade monsters. The giants were as strong as they imed.


    Taesan watched from a distance.


    Umberak, having defeated thest monster, shouted with a relieved face.


    We have won! Lets all raise a toast to victory!


    They resumed their festival. By the time it ended, it was quitete. Taesan returned to his room andy down on the huge bed.


    Looking up at the ceiling, he said,


    A race that could rival the Transcendents. They dont seem like it, though.