Vol 4 Chapter 18
After hearing Je-hwan's answer, Seo-hwan continued signing documents for a while, making scratching sounds with his pen. Finally, he finished the last page and looked up. His inscrutable eyes reflected through his glasses.
"Alright. Then, since this is an official situation now, I should properly instruct you again."
"..."
"I think you already know that the core of that game lies in the supercomputer THE MIST. I only want satisfactory results. The president feels the same way. We don't have time to experience failure. I hope I won't be disappointed in you. Think carefully about the Circuit Eye matter."
Before he finished speaking, Jin Je-hwan turned around, opened the door, and left. Jin Seo-hwan's eyes flashed sharply behind his glasses as he watched Je-hwan's retreating figure.
***
"Kap. You were really amazing! That arrogant high school kid was no match for you, I'm telling you! Really, really. When on earth did you practice so much?"
At Kran's excited voice, Kapros let out a long, low breath imperceptibly. All three of them had finished their first-round matches and had managed to shake off Rob, who kept trying to follow them.
Un-o and Kapros's matches took place without much time difference. Some voices of bewilderment and jeers poured from part of the audience when Un-o came out holding an unusually large bow, but Un-o stood calmly with the bow slung over his shoulder. Then, as soon as the start message appeared, he countered his opponent's persistent attacks, which were aimed at not giving him distance to shoot, with the dagger strapped to his leg. Suddenly, he retreated to create distance, and then, at a speed almost invisible to the eye, he nocked an arrow and pierced the opponent's head.
It was one shot. Un-o's opponent died instantly, and the entire colosseum was in an uproar over the terrifying speed that demonstrated a literal one-shot, one-kill. Kran, who had been praying with his hands tightly clasped, hoping Un-o's words would be wrong, collapsed on the spot.
However, unlike Un-o who had finished cleanly, Kapros, who was next in line, barely managed to win after quite a long fight.
The first thing Kapros felt as he came out of the waiting room following the guide was the tremendous energy of the audience. He had expected there to be a difference between being inside and standing here now, but actually standing there, he felt as if an overwhelming pressure much greater than he had imagined was pressing down on him from above. Seeing his opponent standing far away, he slowly walked towards him. His opponent, with his hand on his scabbard, looked at Kapros and sneered.
"What's this, is your concept gloominess?"
"..."
Kapros quietly placed his right hand on the scabbard on his left side without responding. As Kapros maintained his silence, his opponent seemed to lose interest and closed his mouth, scanning Kapros sharply. Since the opponent was also carrying an ordinary longsword like Kapros, there was no room to gauge his combat style by his weapon. Kapros first tried pushing mana into his hand without drawing the sword.
- Hum...
As if the mana had been well pushed in even inside the scabbard, soon Kapros felt the scabbard touching his leg tremble very slightly.
At that moment, a green message appeared above his head.
[ Start! ]
"Haaah!"
As soon as the word dropped, his opponent drew his sword at a terrifying speed and charged. For a moment, a conflict arose in Kapros's mind. The consciousness that reflexively tried to draw the sword he had been accustomed to for a long time and the consciousness that hesitated to draw due to fear of the sword after the accident were in fierce opposition for a very short time.
Clang!
In the end, as the blade flew in close, instinct won. As Kapros quickly drew his sword to block, he saw the wavering blade, barely visible to the eye, standing firm against a force that would have pushed him back considerably under normal circumstances.
"Wooooah!"
Shouts rained down from above. The opponent's strength, which Kapros had initially thought he wouldn't be able to withstand for long, was gradually becoming bearable. Was this due to the effect of increased physical strength, one of the passive skills of Ma-Rakian swordsmanship?
As Kapros took a quiet deep breath while matching strength, he felt the consciousness that had been hesitating to use the sword being pushed back slightly. After grappling with both hands on the sword, Kapros suddenly let it slide, causing his opponent to step sideways. As Kapros also stepped in the opposite direction, they instantly entered a state of circling each other in confrontation.
However, this standoff was one of the disadvantages for Kapros. It was clear that the longer it dragged on, the higher the possibility of Kapros losing as his stamina and strength decreased. Kapros gauged the distance and then rushed in first, launching a preemptive attack. This was primarily to gauge his opponent's level in the early stages.
Clang! Clang clang! Clang!
"Ugh..."
Kapros saw his opponent, who had been matching him well for a few exchanges, faintly groan through his teeth as the exchanges continued. Kapros also felt his stamina being consumed quite quickly, but it seemed he was in a better situation than his opponent. The fundamental source providing strength for Kapros's swordsmanship now was his mana. But unlike his stamina, which was being consumed with every movement, he still had much more mana left.
"Haha..."
Kapros laughed and gripped his sword tightly with fingers that kept trying to hesitate, pushing in even more mana.
Woong!
As he pushed in a much larger amount of mana than he had ever tried before, the blade instantly began to visibly distort. He saw his opponent's eyes widen in surprise.
"Wh-what? What is this? It's not even sword energy..."
"It seems I won't be able to fight for too long."
Responding in informal speech since his opponent had done so, Kapros attempted a downward strike that had been engraved in his body and mind through long repetition. Sliding from top to bottom, but with power.
Crash!
"Ugh?!"
With a feeling as if something small had exploded, Kapros felt his opponent's balance falter. A downward strike is one of the most powerful attacks that even someone lacking in strength can use effectively. This is because it can add the power of gravity to one's original strength, and for Kapros now, there was no other technique that could attack the opponent more strongly than this. Kapros didn't spare his opponent, who had grimaced as if his hands had received a great shock, and continued to press on.
Crash! Crash! Clang! Clang!
"Ugh, th-this..."
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Jin Soram, the top-ranked hunter representing South Korea's Rift Phenomenon Management Headquarters, is stronger than anyone else and lazier than anyone else. As soon as he arrives at the office, he buries himself under a blanket and falls asleep. When he goes out on a mission, he causes accidents and returns to the office, often shirking his duties.
"Do you know how it feels to play a game that's already messed up? ...Anyway, the next round will come, so this time, I'm just going to play it recklessly."
In fact, his true identity is someone who has regressed through three lives, trying to save the world from the Great Rift but failing each time. After repeating a life where he couldn't sleep peacefully even for a day, he became completely exhausted before this life even began.
"I know. You worked hard, Jin Soram."
And then there's Han Tae-un, the man who saved Soram and died in all three previous lives. As he did in every life, he comes to Soram's side once again. The Great Rift is approaching soon. It's impossible to resolve it in this life without any preparation. Soram vows to save Tae-un in this life and die himself. At least, he won't let Tae-un save a failure like himself again.
"For now, until then, let's sleep..."
As Soram sluggishly lives his life waiting for that moment, a gradual change occurs in his heart.
'I thought this was a messed-up round... but I want to live a little longer here.'
Leonardo Blaine, the true war hero of the Raina Logia Empire and the commander of the Armsilver 11th Squad, is dishonorably discharged for disobeying orders during the final battle that could have led the Empire to victory in the territorial war. People criticize and point fingers at him, and after being released on parole from prison, he disappears without a trace.
Three years later, his name has been forgotten by the world. The Council has been persistently pursuing him, but he has proven difficult to capture. Frustrated by this, Hugo Agrizendro, the commander of the Council's army, decides to personally apprehend him.
"Since when have you been watching me?"
Leonardo was calculative and astute, so it wouldn't be surprising if he had been observing Hugo for some time now. However, Leonardo's answer was something that even Hugo had not anticipated.
"From the very beginning."
Graduate student Yi-han finds himself reborn in another world as the youngest child of a mage family.
– I’m never attending school, ever again!
‘What do you wish to achieve in life?’
‘I wish to play around and live comforta-‘
‘You must be aware of your talent. Now go attend Einroguard!’
‘Patriarch!’
My future would be guaranteed once I graduate. For my future!
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