[···?!!]
As Ko Hyuk entered a certain range, the castle slammed its fist into the ground.
Suddenly, hundreds of perfectly square rocks quickly assembled from the air, building a wall that blocked Ko Hyuk’s advance well ahead of him.
“Eieeeek!! Kraa!!”
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Ko Hyuk swung his fists at the walls, but seeing the walls only crumble slightly, he wore a ridiculous expression.
‘There’s no way you could break that, let alone me.’
It’s the power of a special summoned creature specialized solely for protection.
That guy on drugs isn’t someone you can mess with.
I charged toward the dazed Ko Hyuk and thrust my fist mightily.
“······?!”
I could see Ko Hyuk’s gaze, which was fixed on Yeon-hee, turning to the left.
Despite my best effort to approach quickly, just the fact that he reacted was surprising.
However, it was not enough to block my attack.
Kwaaaang────!!
My fist landed precisely on his temple, driving his head into the ground and creating a massive crater that released a shockwave.
Thud thud thud—
‘That’s a special punch infused with tons of magic power.’
Considering he’s such a tough guy, I figured he wouldn’t die from this, so I used a bit of strength for the first time in a while.
Zziing—
The sound of my fist ringing was quite intense.
“···?.”
For some reason, Ko Hyuk, who was slammed into the ground, was completely motionless. The development was different from what I expected.
‘He’s not spazzing out or twitching with his head ripped off? This really is an upgraded version.’
I felt a bit disappointed.
If I catch this guy, I could definitely gather the ‘Fragment of Corrupted Life Potion’…
While I was thinking that, I heard a sound from behind, “Waaah—.”
– Uh… that, that shockwave was no joke.
– That’s an incredible impact. How much magic power did he pack in? No, can it really be that monsters can control their punch like that by infusing magic power?
– They’re called summoned creatures. They’re definitely different from dungeon monsters.
– Ko Hyuk!! Why are you sprawled out after fighting so well? Did you run out of stamina?
– No way… Just a moment ago, he was overwhelming three monster-like summoned creatures. There’s no way he’d be knocked out by one punch.
– Get up!! Ko Hyuk, what are you doing!!
Somehow, maybe because they were colleagues who had lunch together, or maybe because they were moved by the sight of him blocking so many summoned creatures alone, the White Knight Guild members watching all shouted for Ko Hyuk to get up.
But when they saw Ko Hyuk’s face half-buried in the broken ground and utterly still, a heavy silence settled in the area as they began to realize the reality of the situation.
The A-rank Hunter who was judging glanced at Cha Mu-yeol and then raised the flag in his left hand.
[··· Lee Yeon-hee wins!]
Cha Mu-yeol, who announced Yeon-hee’s victory over Ko Hyuk without even taking a breath, then said she would represent the White Knight Guild in the Guild Against Guild Championship.
Only then did the crowd erupt in astonished cheers.
– No way?! Did she really knock Ko Hyuk down in one hit?
– Wow… is that guy in full armor really a skeleton soldier? What kind of punch has that kind of destructive power…?
– The point she hit must have been a vital spot. Otherwise, it doesn’t make sense.
– It was the temple, dude. If you can’t even see that, how serious is it?
– He must have been out of stamina. His magic aura is still strong, but stamina is a different matter.
– I’m shocked. This makes the vice guild leader’s chances of seizing power even more likely…
– Jo Gi-man hasn’t even left the office lately, and the way he seems indifferent to this tournament makes you wonder if he’s already planning to hand over authority to the vice guild leader.
– Maybe… has that already been discussed? I guess I’d better position myself well…
– Let’s not get ahead of ourselves just because someone won.
Even though there was still a long time until the next representative election, the wind was slowly blowing in a direction favorable to Yeon-su.
Though it was no more than a gentle breeze, it was a way to gradually score points with the guild members.
‘I wonder how Jo Gi-man will react if Yeon-su gets elected as the representative.’
With the memories from my previous life, I knew Kang Yeon-su had lost by a significant margin, but this time since we had joined, things could be different.
Unlike other guilds where elders elected the guild leader through another round of voting, the White Knight Guild is a proper elected position determined solely by the votes of its members.
In an election where the winner is favored for being steady rather than leaning toward one side, Jo Gi-man still had a high chance of re-election over Yeon-su.
I know Jo Gi-man is a bit of an eccentric, but in society, he is a trustworthy figure without faults.
But if we can cultivate public sentiment from the ground up, achieving a different outcome isn’t impossible.
‘For now, let’s give him a little light shove. Hehehe…’
While I was giggling to myself, putting my shoulders up, the executives, including Yeon-su, strode over to us.
I only tidied up my aura to not scatter, without hiding my strength. Trying to obscure my power against those monsters would be quickly discovered.
‘No… Given that I knocked Ko Hyuk out with one punch, wouldn’t they think that whatever I do now is already out of their mind…?’
I should have hidden even more strength, but delicate power control wasn’t easy.
However, I noticed that Park Jin-gon was missing among the approaching executives.
He seemed to be in such shock that he still hadn’t risen from the spectator seats prepared for the executives.
‘Seeing him so openly disappointed shows that he must have invested a lot. He probably spent a good amount of money too.’
– No way… is it true that an A-rank candidate was placed in a qualifier only C-ranks could enter… and that it failed? How can that be? Ugh—
Hearing Park Jin-gon mumble through my [Well-Hearing Ear], it sounded like he couldn’t accept that Ko Hyuk, who absorbed an evolved creature, had become nearly A-rank only to lose.
‘Thinking about it, it was indeed a fight he absolutely shouldn’t lose. The qualifier could only consist of C-ranks.’
On the flip side, this means I crushed an opponent of roughly A-rank, so all the high-ranking executives watching should have a grasp on the level of my strength.
Even if Ko Hyuk weren’t exhausted, the result wouldn’t have changed.
“Hello there. How are you?”
Yeon-hee didn’t know what to do when high-ranking guild members came to meet her, so she simply kept bowing politely.
“Alright now—first, let’s check on the other guild members besides the winner. Is Ko Hyuk still alive? Why isn’t he moving?”
One executive requested to attend to the fallen, including Ko Hyuk, and only then did the guild members begin to scatter one by one.
Since Ko Hyuk was already being looked after by the S-rank healer Gu Sang-min, there was no atmosphere of worry among them.
– Ko Hyuk is alive!! Eek?! His temporal bone is smashed.
– It’s amazing that he’s alive. What on earth is wrong with his body?
– Don’t worry; I gave him first aid, so let’s get him moved.
As Yeon-su glanced at Ko Hyuk’s condition with a grin, she shot a silent look at Gu Sang-min.
Gu Sang-min nodded after receiving Yeon-su’s gaze and began to infuse Ko Hyuk with magic power that had a different aura.
‘You can fool Yeon-su’s eyes, but you can’t fool Sang-min’s hands.’
With Gu Sang-min’s [Divine Hand], which sees through all past medical history through a minute of stimulation, it was highly likely that Ko Hyuk’s previous drug history would be revealed.
‘Park Jin-gon is doomed.’
While he wouldn’t be expelled outright for this, weakening the power of Park Jin-gon, who lines up with Jo Gi-man, would be a welcome development for us.
Yeon-su pointed with her finger to the other side and spoke.
“How about we move somewhere else? Since they’re treating the injured here, it seems a bit crowded.”
We moved with Yeon-su and a few key executives to what was labeled a reception room.
Though they called it a reception room, it was merely a space hastily set up due to Yeon-su’s tendency to not entertain unnecessary guests.
By Yeon-su’s consideration, Ah-rin and Joo-ah were able to join us too.
Of course, I too was part of the executives’ reactions, which were a bit wary toward me.
“Cough—”
“Hmm-hmm…”
Once we entered, the executives couldn’t stand the awkward air and started clearing their throats.
And the tension came from Park Jin-gon, who joined late, glaring at Seok Ryu-hwa, their energy intensely clashing.
“Well… now that there are kids around, how about you both stop? If it continues, we could clear the arena for them again.”
Both Park Jin-gon and Seok Ryu-hwa wanted to settle things once and for all, but with Yeon-su saying something like that, they couldn’t help but restrain themselves.
“I’m sorry…”
“I apologize.”
After accepting their apologies, Yeon-su flashed a smile at Yeon-hee and congratulated her.
Then, she had us sit down and gave a lengthy piece of advice.
She spoke about what it means to become the guild representative, the level of benefits the guild gains from achieving good results in the guild tournaments, which guilds to beware of, and so on.
“Depending on the number of viewers, the ads change accordingly, so I can’t promise exactly, but there will be a substantial monetary reward for Yeon-hee when she makes significant progress in ‘what she wants.’ So I hope you’ll give it your best. For the guild and for yourself.”
“Ah, yes, yes!”
‘What she wants refers to repaying the debt she was scammed by Jo Gi-man.’
What if Yeon-hee states during her interview that she would use the prize money from winning the guild tournament to repay her debts?
‘That’s a nice justification and perfectly fits.’
I didn’t know how much the prize money would be, even if it wasn’t in the hundreds of billions. It would still be a substantial help to us.
“···Do you understand?”
“Yes, yes!!”
Finally, Yeon-su’s lengthy advice concluded.
While it could have been a boring topic, I thought it was necessary to once again clarify the importance of what it meant to be thrust into the role of representative.
“Oh, and the qualification for entry is up to C-rank. Promotions will have to be postponed for a bit.”
“I understand.”
Throughout the long conversation, excluding Yeon-su, the other executives were completely preoccupied with studying Yeon-hee and me.
Rather than trying to restrain us after we were selected as representatives, it felt more like pure curiosity, especially with the significant interest shown in me.
‘Stop staring, you middle-aged guys.’
Being the focus of probing middle-aged men’s gazes wasn’t particularly pleasant.
As I pressed closely behind Yeon-hee to divert their attention, their eyes darted elsewhere.
“Um… if we’re done with the conversation, can I ask one thing? Is that friend really a skeleton soldier?”
This kicked off a barrage of questions directed toward the world’s only summoner.
Yeon-hee nearly broke a sweat answering, but luckily Yeon-su interrupted enough that we were finally able to escape the space.
*
“Haah— I think today was somewhat fun.”
“Thanks to you, we had fun too. But why are we going to the blacksmith? Isn’t it a bit soon since Il-wol just changed weapons?”
We headed out of the guild to meet with the blacksmith.
It was still afternoon, and I had something to drop off anyway.
“Oh! It’s nice to see you again. And this time, you’ve brought other guests! Hohoho. Come this way.”
“Huh? Ah, yes, yes.”
Each time we visited, the enthusiasm of the blacksmith welcoming us seemed to increase.
I heard recently that Yeon-hee’s system messages had been popping up, indicating her reputation was rising, and I figured this must be the influence.
“I’ve been hearing about your recent exploits. In that spirit, I’ll make sure to offer you a special discount today.”
The blacksmith was delivering some NPC-ish lines.
Not knowing his name, I even began to wonder if he was just a character who had been set up.
But even so, getting a discount because of his fame must mean his reputation score was genuinely useful.
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