Crispy, crispy—
Well—
“Delicious!”
Joo-ah and Ah-rin prepared popcorn and enjoyed watching the match while discussing who would come up against the final challenger.
“Of course, that red light year guy will come up.”
“But this opponent has some serious aura.”
Just as Ah-rin said, the one who came up against Hwa-ryeon was quite formidable.
He was Park Jin-gon’s disciple, and it was someone I had never seen before.
“Hmm… Was there such a guy? I can’t remember.”
Since it was before I joined the guild, it’s not strange not to recognize someone… but, it’s not that important.
“If I think about it, I’ll probably run into them soon since joining the guild would have been at least half a year earlier.”
I was always curious about what would happen if I met the original me living in this world.
They say when doppelgangers meet, one side dies, but surely I won’t be erased or anything, right?
It’s better to resolve such unsettling questions quickly.
For some reason, I keep forgetting to search for this world’s me.
I tell myself it’s because unexpected things keep happening, but perhaps I’m just scared.
Beeee—
As the battle between Hwa-ryeon and the man named ‘Go Hyuk’ began, such distractions flew far away.
A man named ‘Go Hyuk.’
He excelled in close combat and was a warrior proficient in various weapons.
In a one-on-one battle between a sorcerer and close combat warrior of the same level, it’s usually the warrior with good health and agility who has the advantage.
“Hahaha!! You bug-like kid!!”
Forget about match-ups; this match started with Hwa-ryeon in a one-sided attack mode.
– Kreeeeeeek…!!
Once reaching the semifinals, Hwa-ryeon’s skill usage became more diverse.
From the beginning, she summoned skills I had never seen before.
Swish—Bang─!
“Oh… wow… Is she summoning a whip? No, what is that enormous hand?”
A gigantic arm wildly swung a flaming whip.
It was heavy enough to be believed as a giant’s arm, and suddenly her firepower was terrifying.
– Oh no…! Damn it!
‘Go Hyuk’ couldn’t avoid the flaming whip swung by the giant’s arm, so he went into full defense mode.
The whip, thick as Go Hyuk’s forearm, swept past his shield repeatedly.
– Whoosh- Whoosh-
If that whip had swung just a bit more, the contest could have been decided early.
‘That, too, can be considered a summoning type… though it only lasts for 5 seconds.’
However, the burning giant arm soon disappeared, and Hwa-ryeon’s magic power noticeably decreased.
“Hahaha! As expected, she’s strong in real combat! She succeeded right away!”
‘Seeing her so pleased, it must be a skill with low success rates under normal conditions. It seems she only showed it as a performance… she overdid it with a skill she can’t even properly manage. Hwa-ryeon.’
But she still retained the initiative.
If her magic hits, her magic power will recharge, which would be exhilarating from the attacker’s standpoint.
“She’s going to get beaten down at this rate.”
“I think it’ll be the same ending as that Shin Hee-won person’s match.”
It was likely that both the spectators and Hwa-ryeon herself thought so.
Her lips were already lifted high, and she was enjoying alternating reactions between us and the executives in a relaxed manner.
“This isn’t the time to be laid-back.”
I sensed something unusual earlier, so I was expecting a different outcome.
“Hwa-ryeon is going to lose…”
The scent of an evolved creature was becoming stronger around Go Hyuk.
I didn’t know if he had drunk it before the match, but the dark aura swirling around his body was rapidly enhancing his physical activity.
“Huh? What’s going on?”
It seemed Hwa-ryon also sensed something was off for the first time.
However, she probably didn’t feel the gravity of the situation yet, so she only increased the intensity of her attacks. Meanwhile, Go Hyuk slowly rose and began to bulk up.
– Ooooo! Is that the bloodline of a wolf?
– Indeed, I can feel the aura of a werewolf.
‘Hmm…’
Unlike what I felt, other spectators judged that Go Hyuk’s aura escalating was due to the strength of his bloodline.
‘So, the bloodline of a wolf…’
I had heard stories about that.
A hunter who survived being bitten by a werewolf variant in a high-level dungeon gained incredible strength.
It seemed that Go Hyuk was probably related to the hero of that story.
Glancing at Park Jin-gon’s expression, as expected, he wore a satisfied smile.
The power of an unknown bloodline.
There’s no better way to indicate strength than to say it’s elevated by an evolved creature.
‘What a crafty kid… But how did he get evolved creature? It seems more refined than what I’ve seen before. Could he have a connection with the leader of the Do?’
I turned my attention back to the battle, holding onto my suspicions.
Go Hyuk, who moved ahead of Hwa-ryeon for the first time, delivered a crushing blow.
Boom!!
“Ugh?!”
Eventually, he forced Hwa-ryon to activate her defense skill.
A fire shield that looked to be 3 meters tall manifested in front of Hwa-ryeon and blocked Go Hyuk’s punch.
‘Giant’s arm… fire shield. Good. I’ll remember that.’
Watching Hwa-ryeon fight made me feel as if I could duplicate what she did, so I focused as if studying.
“Seriously, this is ridiculous. Was the werewolf bloodline really true? Why was he so quiet until now? Did he have a second awakening late? Does he still have strength left to struggle?”
“I don’t think he was one to boast. Hwa-ryeon, if you can still fight, shut up and come at me.”
“Hah? You crazy bastard.”
As Hwa-ryeon went wild and lifted herself into the air, she unleashed the power she had been holding back.
Then a massive pillar of flame surged to the ceiling, and her eyes and hair turned bright red, becoming the incarnation of fire itself.
‘Hmm… that form looks familiar.’
Anyway, as Hwa-ryeon prepared to use the power of the fire god ‘Rivisenax,’ Go Hyuk remained unfazed.
“Hwa-ryeon, what are you doing? Just attack already.”
Although Hwa-ryeon was a bad person, I found myself rooting for her since she was better than someone using evolved creatures.
Unfortunately, Hwa-ryeon’s power began to rise even more slowly than the aura of the evolved creature saturating Go Hyuk’s body.
Go Hyuk was reaching a level that he should have achieved only after at least six months of hard work and experience.
It seemed he was now at that level.
‘Evolved creatures… scary. It seems the performance is far superior to the ‘Killbard’ made in Ilseom. I don’t know about the side effects, though.’
Soon after, the stadium was filled with the sound of explosions.
Hwa-ryeon’s aura, infused with the flames of ‘Rivisenax,’ astonished everyone watching, but Go Hyuk stood firm, matching her attack head-on, shocking all.
Swooo—
After a fierce battle.
The smoke billowed like a massive fire had erupted, and from within it stood someone tall in the arena.
– Go, Go Hyuk beat Hwa-ryeon?!
– No way!! Amazing!! He won against Hwa-ryeon!!
– Hahaha! That trashy girl got what she deserved!
– Finally lost!! Spit!
Go Hyuk remained calm throughout the match, but after choking Hwa-ryeon out, he went crazy and started beating her as if she were a dog on a summer day.
The A-rank hunter serving as the referee could have stopped the match immediately, but for some reason, they let it go for a while.
Ultimately, Hwa-ryeon ended up looking like a rag, her face unrecognizable from swelling. It seemed she had lost a few teeth too.
Most spectators found it delightful to watch, but high-ranking executives were filled with doubts.
No matter how much it was about bloodlines, this was an abnormal surge.
– Park Jin-gon… What did you pull?
Kang Yeon-su, resting her chin on her hand, slightly turned her head and asked Park Jin-gon.
– ……
Park Jin-gon shrugged his shoulders, looking completely clueless.
“You, you bastard Park Jin-gon! You did something amazing!”
As Kang Yeon-su hinted, the doubt transformed into conviction, and Seok Ryu-hwa unleashed a tremendous flame aura.
It seemed Seok Ryu-hwa, who thought Park Jin-gon had done something, snapped because Kang Yeon-su hit the nail on the head.
With an overwhelming firestorm powerful enough to dwarf Hwa-ryeon, other executives nearby frantically fled the scene.
– Whoa, whoa—calm down!
Kang Yeon-su slowly reached for Seok Ryu-hwa.
Soon, the energy of the flames subsided as if nothing had happened.
“Wow… She’s definitely leveled up.”
When facing the Great Beast, she probably wasn’t at that level yet, but Kang Yeon-su surely seemed to have ascended.
Experiencing humiliation from being beaten by the Great Beast in front of people seemed to have served as a valuable experience for her.
While Yeon-su managed to suppress Seok Ryu-hwa’s rampage, Park Jin-gon had no choice but to react to her willingness to battle to the death.
– If you’re coming at me like that, I have no choice but to unleash my spear.
Park Jin-gon had already drawn his spear from the space and assumed a piercing stance.
Whooooosh—
His spear was a unique weapon with ‘complete affinity,’ regarded as one of the superior unique weapons among those currently existing.
It was because of that weapon that even S-rank hunters didn’t dare to treat him lightly.
With both top executives effectively colliding, the training ground froze in an eerie silence.
Joo-ah and Ah-rin, who had been happily watching the match, were now clinging to my side, trembling in fear.
Yeon-hee shot me a look, but I remained still, feeling a bit unfair.
“Yeon-su, why are you provoking a fight?”
In truth, Kang Yeon-su couldn’t have been unaware of Park Jin-gon’s actions beforehand.
She might not have thought of the existence of evolved creatures, but she knew something was being prepared as she had warned us.
Still, her acting like this means she believed she could overcome and gain the upper hand.
With a face visibly displeased, Yeon-su turned to me and lightly winked while sticking out her tongue.
So, you’ll handle this, right?
That was the expression she wore.
“She’s such an interesting person.”
Reflecting on memories from my past life, I’ve come to see her this way from the beginning.
As Hwa-ryeon regained consciousness while coughing up blood, she was helped by guild members and moved off to a far corner.
Hwa-ryeon’s trembling fists reminded me of Noh Ha-yoon, who had been defeated and fallen in Ilseom.
The sheer humiliation and rage she felt resonated strongly.
I genuinely questioned if Seok Ryu-hwa could properly control Hwa-ryeon in her current state.
After all, the final match opponent was unexpectedly set as Go Hyuk, Park Jin-gon’s disciple.
Go Hyuk appeared to have expended quite a bit of stamina during this match, but seeing the rapid stabilization of his magic flow, he might emerge even stronger when facing us.
*
An hour later.
As expected, Go Hyuk not only fully recovered but also showed up with a bulked-up physique.
He even appeared with knuckles on both hands that hadn’t been worn during previous matches.
They looked like they were of considerable quality.
Certainly, there would be plenty of options like increased attack power and elemental defenses attached.
“It seems he’s more of a martial artist like Yeon-su. All disciples of Park Jin-gon used spears or rods, didn’t they?”
That meant he had only recently been recruited.
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