Rebirth: King to Superstar

The system's sudden outburst caught him completely off guard. The system was usually completely quiet and only talked a very few times over the last 2 months. But every time it did, it was something helpful. So he wondered what made the system outburst on a decision regarding a simple hike. Regardless of the reason, he just nodded before walking out. The reason for his trust? The system was simply never wrong about its decision until now. 

He didn't forget to take his bag of food and water with him, too. He walked up to the receptionist once again and asked.

"How long does it take to hike to the top of the mountains on the normal route and are there any places to eat at the top?" He wanted some basic information before he started going up. He also wanted to know if there were places to eat at the top as it was almost time for lunch and if there weren't any places at the top, he might as well just eat his lunch before starting up.

The lady gave him a small smile before replying, "It would take 2 to 2 and a half hours for people to walk up the mountain. There are a few places on the way to the top if you are interested, like the caves and gardens. There will be signs along the way to those places too. And yes, there are places at the top for you to eat. There is a restaurant at the halfway point and there is one at the top. The one at the halfway point is maintained by us and the one at the top is a famous noodle place owned by a family." 

Joon-won thanked her before he walked out of the lodge and walked towards the normal path, which was where his bus stopped before. He noticed a few people going up while some were also coming down. Most of the people were couples or groups of friends, and he rarely found a single person walking up. Joon-won just shrugged and started walking up the path with his headphones on.

As he walked up he just continued to look around, enjoying the scenery. It felt refreshing to try something new. Even in his past life he never needed to walk up mountains when there were magical beasts that could fly. So before he became the king and was still pretty poor, they would just hire the cheapest beast for their group to travel long distances and after he became the king, he had a specific mage who specialized in space magic to teleport him anywhere he wanted. So this was his first time actually climbing a mountain. 

The path to the top of the mountain was made of both stairs and a walking path. Some places had stairs while the others had a path to walk on. He also heard a few people talking about the hard path which was only made up of stairs. Walking would generally give them a bit of relaxation compared to continuously climbing stairs. 

Joon-won also thought it was a good choice that he decided to come to the mountains. He was able to get his fitness done while having the pleasure to relax and enjoy the scenery. After walking for 45 minutes, he decided to take a little break and just sat on one of the benches at the side. He just continued to look at the various people walking up and drank some water. If he had done this without his daily fitness training, then he might have been completely washed.

After 5 minutes, he stood up and continued to walk up the path. It didn't take him long to reach the halfway point and noticed the restaurant the receptionist below told him about. After a minute, he decided to have a little early lunch before continuing to walk but stopped once again when he heard the system.

[Don't go and eat now. Just continue forward. You can't waste any more time. Just continue up and you can eat at that noodle shop that girl told you about earlier. Just trust me and continue forward. As I said, you would regret it if you don't.]

Joon-won had an awkward face after hearing that. He couldn't get what the system was going on about. The system was never this persistent until then. It always gave him the right to choose whether he would follow its suggestions or not. But this time it is completely insisting that he should continue walking without giving him much of a choice with the words 'It would be the BIGGEST Regret of your life.' no man would want to take that gamble. 

"At least tell me what's going on here. You aren't this persistent at all. Give me a clue at least about what's going on." But the system always just refused to respond to his words. He could just look at the restaurant before turning back and walking up the path once again. He checked the time and saw it was almost 12, too. 

Taking a deep breath, he just continued to walk up the path. From the halfway point, he could feel the path had become a bit harder to walk on to as it became a bit more inclined. He just simply continued to walk up hoping whatever was up there was completely worth it. He swore if it wasn't the number of curses that would come out of his mouth could make people's ears bleed. 

After another 1 hour of heavy climbing, Joon-won could finally see the top of the mountain. The trees also weren't that many anymore, and he had a nice view from the place he was to. Seeing the view, a small smile formed on his face, and felt the climb was worth it. 

[You think I made you walk all that for this tiny view? Don't kid yourself. Just continue to the top.] This made him feel a bit frustrated, but he just continued to the top in hopes that whatever it was, it would be better than the view he was getting. 

As he got to the top and was only a few stairs away from it, his phone rang. It was Min-Seok and after noticing the time was almost 1; he knew they were calling because the results were about to come out. 

He answered the call and saw Yun-hee's face. 

[Woah, where are you? Dad told me you were going on a hike. It looks like you really are. Oh my god, you are so high up, I can see the clouds in the background too.]

"Yes, I came to the Jade mountains after a few people recommended it to me. It's honestly fantastic too. It's worth the 2-hour hike up the mountain. Wait a minute, I'm almost at the top." And continued to climb a little faster until he reached the place. The top was a huge flat surface and he could see the noodle shop the receptionist said to him earlier at the other side. 

"Ah, I'm finally here. Look at the view." He switched to the back camera and showed the view he was seeing to her." It was breathtaking for him. He took a deep breath and felt it was the cleanest air he took in after coming to the modern world. 

[Woah, that looks so good. Dad comes here. Joon-won made ut to the top of the mountains. Here look at the view.] She turned to the side and shouted towards Min-Seok. 

After a while, Min-Seok came onto the screen. He looked at the view and also exclaimed.

[The view is really good Joon-won.] 

He switched back the camera and nodded before he asked Yun-hee.

"Yes, it is. Anyway, Yun-hee, how are you now?" 

Yun-hee just leaned back and replied, "I'm completely fine. You should be more worried about the old man. He wasn't this tense even for your results a year back."

Joon-won nodded and before he could say anything, the system interrupted.

[Alright, now stop with the chit chat. Continue toward the noodle shop. Weren't you crying that you were hungry? Now go to the shop.]

Joon-won just turned around and continued to walk towards the shop while he was talking with them both too. As he walked in, he heard a female voice welcome him into the store, which made him stop right in his tracks with a horrified face.

He looked up and what he saw made him drop the phone in his hand as he continued to stare at the lady behind the counter with his eyes wide open. All the color on his face was completely drained and his body shook. The dropped phone made quite a bit of sound, which caught a few people's attention, and he also heard Yun-hee and Min-Seok's worried voices on the phone.

Tears rolled down his face as he spoke with a broken voice, "Zen Quin? Is that you?"