CHAPTER 115

“W-we surrender!”

“We won’t get as many points if you surrender, you bastard! Just die!” Baek Do-Jin shouted.

“W-wait! Don’t kill them! Wake up, Senior Do-Jin!”

A team’s strength depended on the harmony of its members, and the second-year students had already been working with their team members for close to a year. Thus, losing one or two teammates wasn’t simply a matter of losing twenty-five or fifty percent of their strength but much more.

Jae-Hyeok had already incapacitated many of the second-year students after triggering Traces of Thunder Tribulation and provoking a thunderbolt, so the second-year teams’ battle prowess had plummeted by more than half. Moreover, these second-year teams were low-ranked, with a rating score of less than 1,200, so the remaining students were completely overwhelmed by Do-Jin, Da-Hee, and Hae-Rin.

In fact, the second-year students' fighting spirit had already died the moment Jae-Hyeok had summoned lightning from the sky and wiped out half their numbers.

Were these the abilities a freshman should have?

It was hard for the second-year students to believe it even after seeing it with their own eyes.

Players who specialized in one attribute were common. However, the lightning attribute was rare. And those who could handle lightning to this extent were rare even among the active players. In South Korea, it should only be the people of the Shinra family who could do so.

I heard that the Kang family made their living with just their sword. One of the second-year students staggered unsteadily after being struck on the head by Do-Jin’s arcane greatsword. Just before collapsing, he barely managed to ask Jae-Hyeok a question. “You... are you actually the illegitimate son of the Shinra family?”

Do-Jin stepped up before Jae-Hyeok could respond. “How many melodramas has this bastard watched? Do you just sit around watching TV with your grandma all day? So filial.” Clicking his tongue, Do-Jin struck him on the head once again.

“Do-Jin... so... annoying... ” The student with two lumps on his head collapsed.

“It’s over.”

Four second-year teams, a total of sixteen members—not a single one of them was still standing. Some were charred and unconscious, others were covered in wounds and incapacitated.

“I-it is over.” Da-Hee groaned and collapsed on the ground.

Hae-Rin leaned against a street lamp and was also covered in sweat.

“Hahat! We won! We won sixteen against four!” The dark circles under Do-Jin’s eyes were incredibly thick. He looked like someone who would faint any moment.

Jae-Hyeok gave each of them a potion.

“Calm down and take a break. You should save some energy for the special training.”

“?”

“?”

Da-Hee, Hae-Rin, and Do-Jin went from feeling hot and sweaty to cold. A moment ago, their tired faces had been filled with pride and joy. Now, their expressions stiffened.

“What! After all this hardship, you still want us to train?”

“B-but actual combat can replace training!”

Do-Jin and Da-Hee immediately protested, but it was useless. Jae-Hyeok wondered out loud, “Hmm. Who told you to go through this trouble? I don’t recall telling you to fight?”

“You attacked first!” Do-Jin argued—only to fall silent the next moment. He noticed Hae-Rin running in the distance, having slinked away while the three of them were arguing.

-Everyone except for first place will receive two special training sessions.

Do-Jin remembered Jae-Hyeok's words, and his anger peaked.

“Park Hae-Rin! You lousy bastard! Kyaaaack!”

“Hiik!”

Do-Jin’s eyes rolled, and he let out a beastly roar.

Do-Jin frequently spoke nonsense. But occasionally, if provoked enough, he would also make sounds like a wild beast. This was one of those times.

Hae-Rin turned pale. Seeing Do-Jin charge after her at high speed, she realized that a second-year was a second-year for a reason and increased her speed to the maximum.

“Bah!”

Do-Jin snorted like a wild boar and used Flash Steps.

That’s right.

Blinded by anger, Do-Jin’s concept of moderation was the first thing to disappear as he tried to overtake Hae-Rin using Flash Steps. However, Flash Steps required extreme focus and precision to execute properly—using it while enraged was nothing short of suicide.

After Do-Jin activated Flash Steps, rather than appear beside Hae-Rin, he appeared on a roof a hundred meters ahead of Hae-Rin, bounced off like a rubber ball, spun wildly through the air, and finally slammed onto a park bench.

“Wow.”

Hae-Rin’s big eyes sparkled like someone watching a circus. The way Do-Jin bounced around before landing on the bench looked like a cartoon.

After they approached, Jae-Hyeok remarked, “He looks like he’s lying in a coffin.”

Jae-Hyeok wasn’t wrong.

Hae-Rin felt a little guilty at the sight of Do-Jin lying flat with both hands on his chest, trembling with only the whites of his eyes visible. She retrieved a potion.

“Don’t you know that Senior Do-Jin’s head is harder than a rock?” Da-Hee said while looking over Hae-Rin’s shoulder.

Hae-Rin thought what she said made sense and decided to take back her hand. Before she could—

“I’m not dead yet!”

Do-Jin, who was thought to have fainted, screamed and jumped up while grabbing Hae-Rin’s wrist. His red eyes and the blood flowing freely from his head made him look more ferocious than even Gu Suk-Jeong yesterday.

“Monster!” Hae-Rin screamed and reflexively punched.

“Cough! Dammit! Are you really trying to turn me into a corpse!?”

Do-Jin rubbed his chest angrily and then fought back without hesitation. Like a mad dog, he didn’t care at all that the girl in front of him was a teammate and junior. He brought out his arcane greatsword and swung hard.

Hae-Rin gritted her teeth, drew her sword, and counterattacked.

No more words were spoken. That was a common feature of the people Jae-Hyeok liked: they acted decisively instead of talking endlessly.

“Um, you aren’t going to stop them?” Da-Hee wondered.

“Don’t you guys always spar?”

“Yeah, but this isn’t sparring; it’s fighting!”

“Same thing. To be honest, even when you spar, you tend to get angry and let your emotions take over when things don’t go as planned. Or am I wrong?”

Da-Hee shut her mouth. He was right.

She quietly watched the duel between the two as it escalated. Eventually, she asked, “Is what happened today really okay? You didn’t want rumors to spread that you can use lightning. However, it happened in Noble, and then it happened again today... I think there are too many witnesses.”

“Well, it can’t be helped.”

Normal players hid their Skills as much as possible; the more trump cards they had, the better. Jae-Hyeok had also hoped that his ability to trigger thunderbolts would remain hidden.

Still, what could he do?

He sighed. If only there were fewer people who made me angry.

In any case, some people only became good after a beating. They had forced him to reveal his strength.

In fact, others knowing of his power with lightning probably wouldn’t be a big problem. And if it’s already exposed, it’s better to make full use of it.

Jae-Hyeok predicted that the more famous his thunder-tribulation thunderbolt became, the more convenient things would be—he would be thankful if his enemies were wary of the thunderbolt and neglected his real weapons, such as his sword-drawing technique or Iyarugt.

Besides, it isn’t a technique that can be countered just because they know about it.

Traces of Thunder Tribulation targeted the wearer. As a result, when he triggered a thunderbolt, how Jae-Hyeok reacted would completely differ from his opponents' expectations. So it would be difficult for them to respond.

Of course, the pressure that Jae-Hyeok faced was also enormous. Any of his Skills could trigger a thunderbolt that targeted him, and he had to be prepared to direct it at others. It was like walking a tightrope with his life on the line. Ordinary people wouldn’t dare try it. However, Jae-Hyeok was in a position where he couldn’t afford to complain. He was an aristocrat and the son of the Yaksha. In order to achieve revenge and rebuild the Kang family, he had to wield even this double-edged weapon. Since he needed strength to achieve his goals, there was no need to make any excuses.

Jae-Hyeok stared at Do-Jin. Do-Jin had to prepare for death every time he used Flash Steps. Jae-Hyeok felt that with Do-Jin by his side, he couldn’t talk about fear or burdens.

You are also my flame.

Hope, revenge, duty... the flames that tempered Jae-Hyeok burned fiercely all around him.

***

The shooting range.

“What? You received challenge requests from four teams at once? Is that why they’re in such a state?”

The members of the Shooting Club looked with concern at Do-Jin and Hae-Rin, whose faces were battered and bruised.

“For a moment, I thought Do-Jin, that beast, had actually hit Hae-Rin.”

“No way, unless he’s a real son of a bitch... even he wouldn’t beat his teammate and junior to that extent.”

“......”

Do-Jin gradually shrank back even more.

Hae-Rin also couldn’t lift her head. She had fought with the determination to kill... no, to beat her senior senseless. She wasn’t exactly proud of her actions either.

However, the one with the darkest expression among Jae-Hyeok’s group was Da-Hee.

“I-I can’t believe it... !”

Because of her serious conversation with Jae-Hyeok, she had completely forgotten about the race and watched with concern as Do-Jin and Hae-Rin fought.

Da-Hee had still been watching their backs when they hobbled into the Shooting Club side by side.

Meanwhile, Jae-Hyeok had been as carefree as always, talking and walking leisurely with Da-Hee with his hands behind his back. But when they stepped into the Shooting Club, he remarked, “Do-Jin and Park Hae-Rin tied for first place.”

Da-Hee had been staring at Jae-Hyeok since.

“D-did you intentionally distract me? Jae-Hyeok, did you mess with me?!”

“You’re the one who started the conversation first?”

“I was worried about you! A scam! This is a scam!”

“Why is she acting like this?” Roh Jun-Yeop asked as he watched Da-Hee stomp her feet while looking like she was about to cry. Then he said, “Actually, I don’t care. Kang Jae-Hyeok, you’re really something. It’s only mandatory to accept two challenge requests a day, but you actually fought four teams in a row? Isn’t it counterproductive to push your team too hard?”

“We didn’t face four in a row, but all at once...” Do-Jin tried to argue, but he was ignored.

Roh Jun-Yeop wasn’t broad-minded enough to respond to every piece of nonsense that came out of Do-Jin’s mouth.

“Twice a day?” Jae-Hyeok had an intrigued look on his face. “Huh, I didn’t know that.”

“Really? The Student Council should’ve briefed you about the rules. They’re such lazy bastards.”

“Hmmm... ”

The corners of Jae-Hyeok’s mouth twitched slightly as he recalled Ban Hee-Yeol’s sly face.