“Seriously, that’s a really amazing ability. Is it something like a camouflage?”
Noh Ha-yoon wasn’t transparent; it was a doppelgänger-style stealth that blended into her surroundings. When I got closer, the mottled colors were pretty obvious.
Thud—
Noh Ha-yoon collapsed after taking a hit to her neck.
I gently wrapped my arms around her shoulders to lay her down on the floor, so her head wouldn’t hit.
I felt Yeon-hee’s sharp gaze, but it was the kind of situation that she would probably overlook.
Soon, cheers of “Wow—” started to fill the arena.
Certainly, as I carried the fainted Noh Ha-yoon out from the blizzard with Yeon-hee in the sky beside me, the audience was momentarily perplexed but soon erupted into applause and shouts.
The sorceress with genius talent showcased her family’s vision without reservation, and the summoner, with her unique class, demonstrated most of her capabilities.
There were plenty of elements to delight the eyes, so it was a satisfactory debut.
‘With this, the witch wouldn’t say much, right?’
If we dashed directly to victory like this, Noh Ha-yoon’s position, who fought the hardest, would be reevaluated.
Straight away, the Vision guild members came out to take care of Noh Ha-yoon with warmth.
I could see some of those who had been to the base of the Ilseom Guild as well.
One of them even gave us a thumbs up.
Returning to the waiting room, Yeon-hee finally let out a deep sigh.
“Phew— Ha-yoon is really strong! It felt a bit dangerous, though?”
‘That’s a lie.’
“Hehe— that’s not quite true, is it?”
Yeon-hee did her best, but what ‘best’ means can vary depending on the situation.
She did her best against a teammate, but she didn’t even show 70% of her abilities.
Even without me, it was the same.
Rattle—
“Good job, Yeon-hee. Was our Il-wol okay too?”
“Clap, Clap, Clap.”
The one who entered the waiting room was Kang Yeon-su.
As soon as she entered, she brought up Jo Gi-man before the match they just had.
“I have no idea where he went, just abandoning his clones.”
“Where did he go, I wonder?”
Since I had already informed Yeon-hee that Jo Gi-man’s clone was loitering in the office, she asked about the whereabouts of the main body without surprise.
“…You knew too? As for where he went… Well, I’ve heard he went to Jeju Island, and there’s also talk of him going overseas.
Once he starts doing things his way, it’s endless; I don’t even know. I hope he doesn’t come back before the vote. That’d just be tiring.”
According to Yeon-su, there was no one left in the White Knight Guild who didn’t know about Jo Gi-man’s clone.
I wasn’t sure if someone had intentionally spread that rumor, but that the guild master wandered around outside without keeping his post was not a good thing in many ways.
“Well, that’s good for us. Haha. For a while, this is my world. It’s quite fun going around preaching to those who latched onto Jo Gi-man, you know?”
She laughed heartily and started to massage Yeon-hee’s shoulders.
“Fighting while moderately balancing the lines was a great idea. If it’s Vision’s Noh Ha-yoon, they’d surely recognize the talent surpassing the ‘Witch.’ Quite easy to toy with, huh?”
Yeon-su seemed thoroughly pleased with Yeon-hee’s impressive performance against the ‘Witch’s daughter, her laughter never ceasing.
“That’s not quite the level… And I heard from Ha-yoon. I’ve been told that those with bloodline who took Vision’s advanced course from a young age tend to have a steep growth rate as time goes on.”
“Ah— true. I’ve also heard that there’s a slow starter trait in Vision. It’s kind of scary~ the hunters of this generation.”
Kang Yeon-su referred to the hunters below her as the next generation, so for her to recognize Noh Ha-yoon’s talents was something she could be proud of.
Anyway, Kang Yeon-su was among the strongest beings that have tested their strength against the ‘Witch.’ Of course, she lost back then because she was less mature, but if they fought again now, the outcome would be uncertain.
“Do you know who our next opponent is?”
“Huh? The match is still—”
“It just finished. Apparently, he’s a promising candidate from the Guardian Guild.”
“The Guardian Guild… that won’t be easy.”
As soon as I heard the name of the guild, an uneasy feeling settled in.
‘The Guardian Guild? That idiot Han Eul-min is there. Is he really going to pop up out of nowhere?’
It was such a cliché scenario that I almost burst out laughing. Of course, I wasn’t in the mood to laugh.
“He’s quite adept at magic. It seems the only spell he can actually use is Magic Missile, but its firing speed and destructiveness are quite decent.”
“Ah— okay! Got it. I’ll do my best again this time!”
“Oh, just take it easy. Il-wol didn’t even fight.”
“Hehe… if Il-wol gets involved, it’ll end way too easily.”
“Right. If you can keep doing that, we’ll be grateful. Our job has some overlap with entertainers, so it’s good to show some degree of showmanship.”
Kang Yeon-su preached to Yeon-hee about the mindset of a hunter.
But more than that, I hoped that the feeling of uneasiness wouldn’t manifest into reality.
‘Magic Missile… Just what I wanted to avoid.’
I didn’t want to see that filthy face again on a good day.
And not long after that.
In the afternoon, we went out for the second match in the quarterfinals.
On the opposing side stood a pale-faced man who seemed ready to kill us.
He was one-armed, but he had an artificial arm where his severed limb used to be.
‘Hah… no smile is coming out of me.’
“Ugh- I saw the matchup and hoped it wasn’t true, but here we are.”
“Clap, Clap… ….”
The opponent we faced in the quarterfinals was the eternal loser of the Guardian Guild, Han Eul-min.
‘I’m tired of this. Seriously. This was only the third time in this life I’d seen him, yet it’s too much. Just the sight of him disgusts me.’
During the dungeon break for Gu Chang-ro, Han Eul-min lost one arm to ‘Tooth’ and then lost the other arm while messing around at Helen’s shop.
‘Looks like they reattached the arm that was cut off at Helen’s shop right away. No matter how you slice it, it should be challenging to recover original performance after losing a limb, right?’
It was surprising that Han Eul-min represented this tournament. A guy who should be struggling at the level of a low-ranking hunter somehow made it here.
‘How predictable.’
Now, it felt meaningless to say that using an evolved creature was a workaround.
‘Evolved creature’s scent is vibrating… just how much did he consume? Han Eul-min. You’ve crossed a river you shouldn’t have.’
The quality of the aura emanating was different from the one I sensed fighting ‘Ko Hyuk’ in the representative selection.
It was rough, ferocious, and an unrefined wild scent.
‘Tsk tsk… it’s not a doping era. What in the world is going on with society?’
Beep—
The match started, but Han Eul-min merely showed us a sinister smile.
“Kekekekeke… the heavens have favored me. They gift me such a present on the path to victory.”
“W-What do you mean?”
“I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to tear you apart in this place. Hahaha!”
“I haven’t done anything, so why are you hostile against me?”
“You haven’t done anything…? Are you saying that after cutting off my arm?”
“W-What?!”
‘That was your fault for getting too cocky and getting cut by Noh Ha-yoon’s bodyguard, right?’
Yeon-hee was at a loss for words against Han Eul-min’s absurd logic, and I came to a conclusion after sensing his aura to a certain degree.
‘The evolved creature he consumed isn’t related to physical abilities. Has his magical power increased massively?’
Since he was originally a mage who mainly fought with Magic Missiles, it wasn’t particularly surprising. However, the magical barrier that currently protected his body sturdily was not something easily breached.
The magical barrier is a fundamental ability that an Awakened One can utilize with a little effort.
But his barrier was at a level that should be placed much higher.
‘He must have awakened a new trait. It wouldn’t be easy to harm him with common attacks.’
Of course, that was from a general perspective; in my case, I could still cut through him like soft tofu.
“I’ll show you. My power—”
Han Eul-min started his incantation grandly, forming the sign of the beast.
Why is he connecting those complicated signs as if he’s a ninja? This was a part I’ve always been curious about.
‘Forget it!’
I rushed in at once.
Swish— CRACK—
“—?!!”
Boom───!!
I simply slapped his head with my palm.
There was no need for stealth concerning his movements, so I ran in and slapped his head straight into the stone wall where the audience was seated.
“Ugh······.”
Han Eul-min, buried in the collapsed wall, soon lost consciousness.
A sudden silence fell over the arena.
It was truly overwhelming.
I tried to hand the next turn over to Yeon-hee, but in that moment, I couldn’t hold back my anger.
‘Seriously, can that guy just keep his mouth shut and attack right away?’
Of course, just because he fell with my one blow doesn’t mean Han Eul-min is weak.
He was a powerful guy who even represented a large guild, and a place like the Guardian Guild would have likely put them through a representative selection like us.
Of course, that was a result that utilized excessive shortcuts.
‘To ruin your body for this kind of tournament. What’s the hurry?’
Winning this tournament wouldn’t magically regrow his lost arms.
“Wow— my vision can’t keep up with this.”
Yeon-hee pretended to wipe her brow, seeming to barely keep up with my movements.
But then.
The fallen Han Eul-min suddenly sprang up and began to slowly float towards the arena!
‘Only you would use the Levitation Rune for show-off.’
I suddenly remembered him giving a long lecture about how a mage should fly.
“Are you planning to continue?”
“Clap, Clap.”
There weren’t any outside regions, and he hadn’t declared a withdrawal, nor had the referee announced a defeat, so the match would likely continue.
‘Because I didn’t smash his head into pieces, did he think to keep going? Tsk—’
– What is he doing? That guy Han Eul-min still keeps trying?
– The guy who got slammed into the wall is shameless.
– Is that the same idiot who got cut off by his father for being reckless? Seems to play as he looks.
– With those skills, it doesn’t seem like he should come here, right? He’s probably still being sheltered. Cutting ties with blood relations is quite difficult.
It seemed that there were quite a few audience members whispering about Han Eul-min, who was famous for his reckless antics.
The sub-guild leader who virtually leads the Guardian Guild is Han Eul-min’s father, and it seems he bore the pain of cutting ties with his only son.
‘So there was a rush. He wanted to prove something to his father, didn’t he?’
“Will you all just keep your mouths shut!!”
Han Eul-min shouted at the audience with his magical power and thickened his magical barrier while collecting all his energy inside.
‘Hmm… Looks like he’s planning to bombard us with [Magic Missile].’
I knew about his weapon from when I saw it in my previous life.
Since he relied solely on Magic Missile, he was quite skilled in that field. Looking at the absolute amount of his magical power and various factors, what he was trying to execute was predictable.
“Clap, Clap.”
“Huh? Got it.”
Rumbling—
Yeon-hee gracefully stepped into the space within the golem she had summoned earlier.
At that moment, it was essentially the only chance to inflict damage on Yeon-hee, but Han Eul-min was wasting time solely gathering his own power.
‘Let’s see how tough you think you are. Can you break through this?’
I could have easily rushed in and sliced space with my sword, but I was a bit curious.
What kind of power can a hunter who’s heavily doped with evolved creature power have without thinking of the future.
“Wouldn’t it have been great if you just listened to me—!!”
With an unknown cry, about fifteen emerald-green spheres rose up behind Han Eul-min’s shoulder. If it was that much, it could likely devastate a couple of low-rank orc warriors.
‘Are you trying to ignite your last flame here? Such a waste.’
Wouldn’t it have been much better to die fighting against Orc Legion Commander or something? As always, he was selfish.
Soon, the spheres began to fire in short bursts like a salvos of missiles.
It felt like watching a multiple rocket launcher.
Swish──!
As the Magic Missiles blackened the sky while soaring above, Castle, who was protecting Yeon-hee, hunched down tight.
Boom, boom, boom!!
Dozens of Magic Missiles crashed sharply into his left face and shoulder.
‘Wow— that’s quite the finishing move.’
Each Magic Missile packed quite a punch, and the control to focus them on one point was amazing. In terms of pure damage, Han Eul-min dealt more than Noh Ha-yoon’s spell.
‘This guy definitely doesn’t lack talent. Tsk—’
“Uwaaaaa!! Die!! Die already!! Die—”
Scrunch—!
“Huh?!”
I leapt lightly towards Han Eul-min and cut off both his arms and legs, then kicked his torso, slamming him back into the wall.
Boom──!
‘I need to make sure he can’t move outside.’
Looking into his deranged eyes, it seemed he was going to create a bigger problem later on.
‘It would be clean to just kill him, but there are too many witnesses.’
I threw Han Eul-min’s arms and legs into the space and stared blankly at the referee.
[The winner is the Summoner Lee Yeon-hee!]
The arena erupted in a cheering explosion.
As soon as the victory was decided, over a hundred drones buzzed around us, capturing the moments of me and Yeon-hee.
– Healer!! Aagh, this looks bad.
– The cut is clean; it shouldn’t be a problem to stitch it up!
Healing-type hunters rushed to Han Eul-min and reached towards me for his severed arms and legs.
But I shook my head resolutely.
“Clap, Clap, Clap!!”
– Damn, this monster doesn’t understand! Ask Hunter Lee Yeon-hee for help.
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