CHAPTER 101

“The winner is First Year Class B, Kang Jae-Hyeok!”

“It’s finally over. That was so boring, I’m going back... ”

“Hey, Kang Jae-Hyeok! No matter how much you want to win, this is too sneaky!”

“Booooo!”

On his fifth duel assessment, Jae-Hyeok had battled a tank and only defended, purely dodging and blocking until his opponent collapsed from exhaustion.

He demonstrated the essence of tanking while dueling a tank.

It looked great at first glance, but it was a boring fight.

The first-year students booed as a group. This time, even the students of Class B couldn’t defend Jae-Hyeok.

On the other hand, the second-year students showed great interest.

“He has a meticulous personality. He deserves to win five matches in a row against Class A.”

“Yes. He has the patience to endure until he sees a clear opportunity for victory and the stamina to back it up. He is the type who will achieve great things.”

“If we can recruit even one kid like that, our club will have a solid future foundation.”

Many second-year students were watching the first-year duel assessments today. The sight of them was a reminder that the club recruitment period was swiftly approaching.

Seniors wanted talented freshmen, and they naturally took notice of Jae-Hyeok.

Of course, not all clubs coveted Jae-Hyeok.

“What a surprise. Those with dirty blood play dirty tricks.”

In particular, Noble was the most hostile to Jae-Hyeok. They looked at Jae-Hyeok with eyes full of disgust and contempt.

“His father and siblings were the problem. He didn’t do anything wrong, right? Isn’t it too harsh to talk about dirty blood when it’s a kid who doesn’t know anything about the world?”

“Hmph. Titles are inherited because the country and people trust in the nobles’ lineage—they believe nobles of this era will live up to their predecessors and so give them reasonable treatment. But what about the descendant of a foolish aristocrat? What will he live up to? Why give him trust?”

The Noble members continued to scoff and retort, shutting down the students who argued that South Korea had no guilty-by-association system.

All the while, they dropped comments like, ‘The problem is that commoners are ignorant’, or, ‘It’s hopeless to argue with them’.

Many students found their attitude unpleasant. However, no one confronted them. They feared offending the social circle of aristocrats. Those from Noble claimed they would lead South Korea’s future, and no one wanted to risk being targeted later on.

Moreover, as one of the major clubs, Noble’s reach and power inside Lion’s Castle were strong. It would be foolish to oppose them.

The Noble members had been looking at Jae-Hyeok with contempt as he left the stage. Now, their expressions suddenly brightened.

“He finally came out.”

Shinra Kyeong, heir of South Korea’s top family, took to the stage.

Everything about the Shinras’ heir was beautiful, and his long and brilliant silver hair seemed to drive away the shadow of the Kang family that had polluted the stage moments ago.

“What a cute junior. Prove that you deserve to be the future of Noble.”

Thankfully, academic, regional, and blood ties were all important. If the Noble members had met Shinra Kyeong in society, they would’ve treated him politely. But this was Lion’s Castle, and they were his seniors.

To be able to speak casually about Shinra Kyeong... the pleasure they felt was immense.

“Waaaaah!”

The training ground shook.

Many students were thrilled to see Shinra Kyeong summon lightning attribute mana and overwhelm his opponent without drawing his sword.

“Crazy. Is that a first-year student?”

“What does the school year matter to the son of a prestigious family? He must’ve grown up attacking gates and chugging elixirs.”

“Regardless of that, he’s a National Treasure candidate. Since his ducal family’s Bloodline Skill has awakened, even many active players aren’t a match for him.”

Even the second-year students were overwhelmed by Shinra Kyeong’s ability.

Of course, with the exception of the top players.

That lightning... can I cut it?

I was hoping to learn about the Shinra family’s swordsmanship. It’s a shame his opponent was too weak.Will he show his full abilities when fighting me?

The top second-year students had a strong competitive spirit, so much so that they hoped Shinra Kyeong would form a team so they could fight him in the team competition.

“Hahaha!”

Meanwhile, Noble was in a festive mood.

They were convinced Noble would rule Lion’s Castle the moment they recruited Shinra Kyeong. Most importantly, this was an opportunity to make a connection with a future National Treasure.

They had to recruit him no matter what.

Having made their decision, the Noble members moved quickly. They went down and followed Shinra Kyeong when he stepped off the stage.

“Hey! Kyeong!”

“Kyeong?”

Oh Ja-Ha stared at them in bewilderment as they rushed over.

“You dare to call the young master’s name so carelessly? Are you crazy?”

“Yes, they’re crazy.”

For once, Oh Ja-Du agreed with her twin brother. The behavior of the Noble members was always so absurd.

The members of Noble laughed.

“We are from Noble. Like your master, we are noblemen, and since we are seniors at school, isn’t it better to call each other by our first names?”

The aristocracy was generally respected at school. Moreover, there were many OBs[1] with a high social status in Noble, so among the students, the status of Noble was as great as the Student Council.

However, Shinra Kyeong and his group didn’t blink.

“You’re crazy. If you are aristocrats, then you should know to be polite to the young master. Unless your parents passed away, all of your statuses are lower than that of the young master’s.”

“Doesn’t academic seniority also matter? We just wanted to express our friendliness— ”

The Noble members tried to calm the atmosphere. However, Shinra Kyeong cut them off.

“Just get to the point.”

The boy’s blue eyes gave off an icy chill, causing the intimidated Noble members to automatically become polite.

One of them stepped forward. “We hope that the young master will join Noble and raise the honor of the aristocrats... ”

“Is there value in a group’s honor if it’s been elevated by relying on a single person?”

“......?”

The incomprehensible question puzzled the Noble members.

Shinra Kyeong recalled Duke Kang Dae-Guk. He was a person who’d defended the territory and honor of a nation with overwhelming force. During his time, South Korea had been so powerful that even China and Japan hadn’t been able to pressure them carelessly.

However, now that he was gone...

“Fame is meaningful only when it is earned. Come back once you’ve proven your worth. Then I will accept you.”

“What... ”

“Excuse me?”

The Noble members stared at Shinra Kyeong like he was a madman. “We were scouting you, yet you speak as if it’s the other way around. Forget it. How can a person be so arrogant?”

After saying their piece, the Noble members swiftly left. It was clear that any further discussion would be pointless.

Oh Ja-Ha laughed.

“Young Master, it seems they underestimated you. Due to Kang Jae-Hyeok, people have been misunderstanding your personality for a while now.”

“That’s right, all because the young master was kind to Kang Jae-Hyeok. The young master even visited him personally to settle that matter with Oh Ja-Du.”

Shinra Kyeong didn’t deny their words. He had indeed respected Kang Jae-Hyeok and treated him with kindness. However, that was all in the past.

Kang Jae-Hyeok failed to meet his expectations. In fact, he was so disappointing that it was hard to believe he was the Yaksha’s son.

“Enough about these useless things.”

Shinra Kyeong and his group soon departed for the restricted areas, as usual.

***

-Hoh, you’ve noticeably improved?

Jae-Hyeok’s ceremonial drill was much more powerful and energetic.

He’d reached level 45 after slaughtering the ogre and orc mages, and his increased stats greatly helped him when performing the drill.

Jae-Hyeok’s heart was full.

“Yes. I’m satisfied with my progress.”

As he became more proficient in the Kang family’s ceremonial drill, he understood the martial arts contained within a bit better, and he felt stronger with his every insight as he understood and embodied the wisdom of his ancestors.

After appreciating the excellent ceremonial drill, the lion statue was in a good mood and praised him.

-The more I look at you, the more I’m reminded of Theodore in his human days.I thought such a genius would never reappear, but you showed up.

Jae-Hyeok came every night to share the events of his day with the lion statue, and before long, the lion statue had grown attached, expressing its feelings honestly and treating Jae-Hyeok almost like a friend.

Jae-Hyeok asked, “By the way, does Shinra Kyeong keep coming to visit these days?”

-No.That boy no longer comes often.

“I’m glad.”

Jae-Hyeok relaxed. There was no worse development than Shinra Kyeong learning the identity of the lion statue and competing with him to complete its quest.

He was feeling relieved when the lion statue added,

-But lately, there has been an unfamiliar smell.

“Smell?”

-It's the smell of a beast, and the stench is overpowering, which suggests it’s a carnivorous beast.

“Oh... wait, you’re able to smell?”

-Do you think my nose is for decoration?

“Well, you are a statue... sorry. I didn’t mean to make fun of you.”

Jae-Hyeok began thinking about the group of orcs staying in the nearby forest. Top monsters would often roam around to find and devour monsters like them.

***

“Our score keeps going up? How surprising. I thought it was just a short-term bump. Those Noble bastards must be sweating.”

On the Club Earnings Ranking, the Shooting Club’s numbers continued to climb.

They were currently in second place.

Although the gap between them and the first-place Swordsmanship Club remained overwhelming and wasn’t narrowing at all, the Shooting Club was gradually widening the gap with third place.

It was thanks to the Gugang Hotel, OceanShipping, and Jaegyeong Pharmaceuticals singling out the Shooting Club and steadily sending commissions their way. They even paid very generous commission fees.

These were all Jae-Hyeok’s achievements—the Shooting Club benefited from his friendship with Cho Seong-Hyeon and his holding the leash on the Gugang Hotel and Ocean Shipping.

I never thought the role of manager could be so important.

Roh Jun-Yeop clicked his tongue. He compared it to the time when he was the manager of the Shooting Club and reflected deeply.

Lately, he had been struck by thunderbolts every day, but after seeing how the Shooting Club was flourishing, he found it within himself to shake off his grudge against Jae-Hyeok and change his mindset.

That’s right. It’s my fault that I keep getting struck by thunderbolts.I can’t avoid what should be avoided. This isn’t something I should blame him for.

Enthused by their club ranking, Roh Jun-Yeop spun on his heel and hurried toward the shooting range.

Yet the moment he turned down an alley, unidentified students appeared all around him.

“Where are you going in such a hurry?”

“Shooting Club manager, Roh Jun-Yeop. You’ll be staying with us for a while.”

“Uh, I’m not...!”

I’m not the manager!

Before Roh Jun-Yeop could confess, he was swiftly gagged and tied before being dragged off to who knows where.

1. TL Note: OB=Old Boys, referring to alumni or former members of an organization ☜