There was a genius knight known since childhood. His name was Hyeon Woo-seok. He was the younger brother of the transcendent “Hyeon Joong-gil,” known as the Sword Master, and the youngest son of “Hyeon Joong-seob,” who practically runs the Ilseom Guild.
No matter how talented one is, how can someone who doesn’t love the sword become a great swordsman? Fortunately, since he was young, he enjoyed playing with swords. While other kids were acting out their adolescent angst, he started handling real swords.
By the time he turned eighteen, he had received permission to enter this place known as the “Limited Area.” “This will be the last day of my disgrace…” He stared blankly at the strangers entering the space filled with his memories and sweat.
They were a rare group of only women, and among them were some familiar faces. “Baek Ah-rin, Lee Yeon-hee, and Ham Eun-young…” This morning, he took some time to reflect on the past few weeks. And he realized something: he had gotten himself into trouble while not in his right mind.
“I’ve brought shame to Ilseom…” Not engaging in a fair fight and resorting to hiring people was his first embarrassment. Inviting them to this special space called the “Limited Area” was his second.
And the physical enhancers, “Killbard,” that he distributed to the five children participating today? That was his third embarrassment. “Now that I’ve come this far, I have no choice but to go through with it. I promised.”
Just today—only today. He planned to use the excuse of a promise to surrender himself to irrationality. Suddenly, he recalled what his lover, trapped in prison, once said, “I’ll kill them. I will definitely kill them with my own hands… So that in the distant future, I can go out and take my revenge, just cripple a few places for me. Okay? We were good together, right? We loved each other? I’m giving up everything and making this last request. Please… babe, will you grant my wish?”
Hyeon Woo-seok was shocked by the transformation of Heo Min-sol, which was now filled with malice, but he couldn’t bring himself to refuse her request. Yet, things had only gotten more tangled. The companion of Baek Ah-rin—the shadow he had sent to gather information on Ham Eun-young and the transcendent Park Heung-ja, known as the “Wave of Battle,” had lost contact.
Surely something must have happened. However, just from the message sent before losing contact, he could tell that the transcendent Park Heung-ja had employed some trick.
His anger had dulled his reasoning, and he dispatched untrained personnel from the shadow organization to conduct reconnaissance. But he never imagined their tailing would be discovered so quickly. They were agents who had trained in the shadow organization for over a year, albeit imperfectly. How could this happen?
Was there a creature among the summoned beasts that exhibited extraordinary senses? He couldn’t grasp it and soon felt despair. Yet, someone cautiously approached him, suggesting that if he continued to assign surveillance agents to harass them, they might eventually reach out first.
It was hard to believe the advice came from someone known as an instructor of Ilseom—so cowardly it was ridiculous. While he was pondering whether to resort to such methods, the instructor who had not yet left suggested another approach.
A 5 vs 5 duel format, where the winning side gets what they want. Upon hearing the proposal, Hyeon Woo-seok scoffed, thinking Baek Ah-rin would never accept such terms from someone who knew the situation here so well.
However, life can sometimes be like a drama, with timing hitting just right. They received a call from the Vision Guild, and surprisingly, they were the ones who requested a duel first. They even added that the location and method could be proposed by Ilseom.
Upon receiving that news, Hyeon Woo-seok couldn’t help but wonder if perhaps there was some foresight in the instructor beside him, who now wore a confident expression. Although it was a suggestion that could wound his pride, it was undoubtedly an opportunity.
“I can at least acknowledge that they came this far.” Awakening from his thoughts, he took an indifferent step towards the foolish ones who willingly walked into the tiger’s den. “Heo Min-sol, and all of you. Starting today, I will strip everything from you. And I will again dedicate myself to restoring the guild’s tarnished honor with my own hands. I can do this.”
After all, this was a world governed by strength. He had no doubt he would become the strongest, convincing himself that today would merely be a trivial growing pain in the grand scheme of things.
As Hyeon Woo-seok walked carefully while keeping his true feelings hidden, ironically, his presence was enough to captivate the hearts of the women present.
At that moment, Noh Ha-yoon, pointing at Hyeon Woo-seok, said, “Hyeon Woo-seok… he looks just like he did on screen. He looks normal, so why is he causing such a commotion?”
Noh Ha-yoon glared at him, wrinkling her brow as if she found him utterly unappealing. “Right? But the real deal is incredibly good-looking. Those family genes must be something… Uh-oh! Do you have any more black bags? I feel like I’m going to puke again.”
Joo-ah’s sudden gagging while complimenting Hyeon Woo-seok’s looks turned the surrounding area into a sea of laughter. – Just as I heard… – I’m glad I pushed through to come.
The female hunters from the Vision Guild who were there together with them were also fixated on Hyeon Woo-seok, clearly entranced by his charm. It made Noh Ha-yoon smirk inwardly as she watched the women tidy their clothes in hopes of catching his attention.
“How did Heo Min-sol charm such a handsome guy? I don’t get it.” “Is she the leader of the Do, or does she have some skill like what I saw yesterday in Haseirin?” The fact that she was able to make him fall that deeply in love to create this absurd competition was truly a mystery.
“Is that what you call handsome…? How strange…” Apparently, Lee Yeon-hee didn’t find Hyeon Woo-seok’s appearance that remarkable. Seeing her tilt her head, Joo-ah was astonished. “Whoa… Yeon-hee, your standards are high.”
“Oh, no. It’s not that—” “The next S-rank hunter is really different. With that face, I think I could support myself!” “Of course, Yeon-hee’s tastes are unique.”
“Really?” “Nope. Just kidding.”
At that moment, Ah-rin and Noh Ha-yoon joined in to tease Yeon-hee. ‘If there’s anyone with unique tastes, you’d definitely be number one in the world.’ The memory of what Noh Ha-yoon did under the tent was still vivid, but it wasn’t funny at all.
“It’s nice to meet you. I’m Hyeon Woo-seok.” The genius swordsman of the Ilseom Guild, Hyeon Woo-seok, who stirred up our mood just by his presence, was the one to greet us first.
‘He seems more composed than I expected…’ Despite wanting to make us fall apart, he was quite good at managing his expression.
In response to Hyeon Woo-seok’s greeting, the strongest among our group, A-rank hunter Jang Yu-chan stepped forward to shake his hand. ‘For now, Yu-chan holds the advantage. It won’t be long before that changes, though.’
Even with Hyeon Woo-seok still remaining at A-rank, Yu-chan’s momentum was clearly stronger, allowing me to breathe a little easier. Yu-chan gripped Hyeon Woo-seok’s hand firmly and engaged in a brief strength contest.
The result? Hyeon Woo-seok withdrew his hand first, admitting defeat.
“Heh… Hyeon Instructor. Personally, I hope today’s duel ends quickly. It’s not an important match deserving of dragging out, right?”
“It seems quite a few have come given that criteria… Regardless, you don’t need to worry about time.” Hyeon Woo-seok brushed off Jang Yu-chan’s small provocation lightly, but Yu-chan pressed on.
“Since you drew us into this space in the first place, if the time drags on, it would be quite embarrassing, wouldn’t it? By the way, does the Sword Master know about this duel?”
“………”
As Hyeon Joong-gil’s name came up, Hyeon Woo-seok’s face darkened suddenly. But it wasn’t solely out of fear of Hyeon Joong-gil.
“I hope he doesn’t know that he values honor so much. I have a slight acquaintance with him, so when I meet him next, I’ll have to watch my words. If he finds out his nephew is making such a cute move, he might get unintentionally angry and not want to talk to me. Hahaha—”
“………”
‘Whoa— that guy is skilled at reading people.’ It seemed like the person sent from Vision was well-prepared, and behind that smile lay a sharp edge.
“……Let’s head inside for now.” Hyeon Woo-seok’s brows twitched momentarily, but he seemed to know that continuing the conversation would only lead to defeat, so he relinquished his stance and walked inside.
Following him, we entered an expansive training arena, the floor completely painted black. Already, five hunters stood there, quietly watching us as we entered.
‘… Who are those guys? They seem much stronger than Ah-rin!’ A woman and two men standing beside her were particularly striking.
The woman with her head bowed was shorter than 160 cm, emanating an extremely dark aura. Upon seeing those three, I was convinced.
‘So they were the hidden talents of the shadow organization.’
If they had researched our strength in advance and accounted for the support from the Vision Guild, they must have known that this space’s constraints would not be sufficient to overpower us, yet the atmosphere in Ilseom was eerily calm.
And it was likely due to that mysterious drug I had heard about yesterday.
“Eh? I’ve never seen those people before.”
It was clear from Ah-rin’s puzzled reaction that the intel Mi-yeon shared yesterday was spot on.
‘Ilseom is undervalued in comparison to its abilities. They are quietly preparing to change that public perception through the shadow organization—avoiding the public eye by not even registering formally with the association…’
It seemed utterly pathetic.
What was all the fuss about being recognized in our country? It was incredibly childish.
In any case, I quickly relayed information about the three strong individuals to my comrades.
“Are you saying to fight them as if they’re B-rank? They’re barely on par with Rakan, if even that?”
“Il-wol… is that even possible? Those people have barely been at C-rank for three months. I checked everything!”
“The energy I perceive doesn’t seem special to me… so they’re this dangerous?”
Of course, since they were skilled enough to hide their strength, it was no wonder we didn’t sense anything.
‘In the end, I’ll just have to perform well myself. I never planned on passing the baton to anyone else anyway.’
At that moment, Hyeon Woo-seok approached us.
“Hello.”
Ah-rin politely greeted him, bowing, but Hyeon Woo-seok abruptly got to the point without acknowledging her.
“Do you think I overstepped my bounds?”
“……….”
“A woman I thought I would marry lost her limbs and came out of a dungeon. Now we are people who may never meet again, but I made promises with her, so I cannot stop. Therefore, you all should ease my anger a bit.”
Though he spoke politely, his words were utterly ridiculous to us.
“Do you even know what that Heo Min-sol did—”
“I know everything. And yet, I found it enjoyable. Unlike me, she was honest about her desires. She was a person who only cared about herself. I vaguely sensed it—I thought to myself, ‘This person… isn’t a good person.'”
Hyeon Woo-seok rambled on, close to self-justification, then turned to Baek Ah-rin with an apology.
“I’m not in my right mind right now, but I still feel the need to apologize on behalf of Min-sol. I’m sorry. Please forget all the unpleasant memories from Ilseom starting today.”
“……….”
Ah-rin avoided answering, and Hyeon Woo-seok turned around as if he had said enough and was ready to leave.
‘Is he crazy…?’
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