Chapter 139

〈 Chapter 140 〉 Chapter 139 – VS Namgoong Hyung and Hwasanpa Younger Brother (2)

*

The long sword I threw was sharply flying towards Namgoong Hyung’s right arm.

At this rate, it would at least injure Namgoong Hyung’s arm.

However.

“I’ll protect Namgoong Hyung!”

“No!! Honey!!”

Hwasanpa Younger Brother, who was nestled in Namgoong Hyung’s arms, caught my long sword with his remaining right arm.

A collective gasp arose from the audience.

“No! This is truly tragic!”

“Don’t interrupt their love!”

“The atmosphere was perfect just now!”

“Shut your mouths, you f*ers!!!”

Meanwhile, as Hwasanpa Younger Brother became unable to use his remaining right arm, Namgoong Hyung scowled at me and shouted.

“I won’t go easy on you anymore, you cute little thing!”

“Please stop with the nonsense!!”

In the blink of an eye, Namgoong Hyung regained his composure, pushing Hwasanpa Younger Brother back as he aimed an arrow at me.

It was an unavoidable distance.

I quickly condensed magical power in my right hand and shot towards the incoming arrow.

Thwoosh!!

Namgoong Hyung’s Jeawangong Technique and my Cheonma Repulsor collided, causing a small explosion.

At that moment, Jeong Ahyeon joined me.

“Master! Leave Hwasanpa Younger Brother to me!”

“Please!”

And I quickly closed the distance to Namgoong Hyung.

The gap between us was just three steps.

In that moment, Namgoong Hyung grinned and spoke leisurely.

“Hehehe! I knew it! I learned a new martial arts technique from Maegal!”

Namgoong Hyung took a deep breath, his thighs bulging even thicker than usual.

“Cheongeunchu!”

“F*.”

In an instant, Namgoong Hyung widened the distance between us.

Then he nocked an arrow to his bow.

Now, in a life-or-death situation without a shield.

I had to dodge the arrow relying solely on prediction, which was quite dangerous.

“This is the end! Jeawangong—”

At that moment, Elcia, munching on food from the bench, lit up with realization.

She pointed at Namgoong Hyung and shouted loudly.

“No! That technique is 1322.77 pounds!!”

Namgoong Hyung, about to shoot the arrow, paused and glanced at Elcia.

It seemed she couldn’t resist the inch-pound conversion.

“Get it right!!! Use SI units at least!!”

“Hmph! Don’t pull that nonsensical argument!”

“How can you call a fundamental Chinese martial arts technique by yard-pounds!!”

Elcia stood up from the bench, hands on her hips.

At that move, her chest, thanks to the 풍유환, bounced vigorously, larger than her head.

“The only legitimate China now is the United States ‘China’! So follow the great yard-pound system!”

“……Is that… true?”

In that instant, Namgoong Hyung’s thought process stopped.

And I wasn’t going to miss that opportunity.

“Are you seriously distracted right now, you f*ing piece of trash.”

“No, how dare you ambush me! You cowardly bastard!”

“Well, who told you to fall for the nonsense?”

Any action taken now was entirely Namgoong Hyung’s fault.

The evidence? The broadcasting professor was doing nothing to stop it.

While Namgoong Hyung momentarily hesitated, I had already reached right in front of him.

With my left hand, I grabbed his bow and channeled magical power as much as I could into it.

“Don’t use Cheongeunchu; just search for Regression in Nopia!”

The magical power I injected caused Namgoong Hyung’s bow to explode.

As the bow exploded, Namgoong Hyung shut his eyes, unable to collect himself.

And that was his downfall.

“And shove some sht since the prologue, you fing idiot!”

“NO!!!!”

Once again, magical power started to condense in my right hand.

I thrust my right hand, unleashing the Cheonma Repulsor near Namgoong Hyung’s solar plexus.

Kaboom!!

With that, Namgoong Hyung flew far away and fainted.

Thinking Jeong Ahyeon would have taken care of Hwasanpa Younger Brother, I leisurely turned back, but it was far from my expectations.

“Hahahaha!!”

“Ugh… ugh…”

Hwasanpa Younger Brother had managed to create a massive fire, way bigger than before.

Jeong Ahyeon’s summoned beast was engulfed in flames as soon as it was summoned and perished immediately.

Jeong Ahyeon, seemingly exhausted, was kneeling on one knee, breathing heavily.

“Hey, Jeong Ahyeon. Are you okay?”

“Master… it’s a bit dangerous.”

Jeong Ahyeon was sweating profusely, fixated on Hwasanpa Younger Brother in front of her.

I wondered how he could create fire even with his arm incapacitated, observing his condition.

I quickly found out the reason.

Blood was pouring from his severed left arm and trickling from the stab wound in his right arm.

“Thanks to you guys, I’ve evolved anew!”

Hwasanpa Younger Brother laughed maniacally, blood splattering everywhere.

And the scattered blood ignited, bursting into flames quickly.

“This is the new ultimate of Hwasanpa! Maehyeolhwasan (Blood Fire Mountain!)”

“I’m going insane, seriously.”

The flames, possessing the properties of blood, spread across the sparring ground like blood flowing everywhere.

It seemed that his ability had changed suddenly in a crisis.

But the important thing was that it was an incredibly dangerous ability.

Jeong Ahyeon’s summoned beast was also set on fire immediately upon summoning.

Without a Defensive Coat, if I rushed into that fire, I’d be roasted like a crispy roasted piece of meat.

While contemplating how to overcome the situation, I noticed something on the ground where Namgoong Hyung had been.

It was a small remote control with a switch on it.

Isn’t it human instinct to press a button when there’s one?

Curious, I pressed the switch.

Click.

“Ughhh—!!!!”

Hwasanpa Younger Brother slumped down on the ground.

“……”

“……”

[……]

While we were trying to process the sudden situation, out of curiosity, I turned the switch off.

Hwasanpa Younger Brother, breathing harshly, slowly started to stand up with a delighted face.

“How dare you activate Namgoong Hyung’s gift—”

Click.

“Um, no way!”

Once again, Hwasanpa Younger Brother collapsed to the ground.

As silence fell between Jeong Ahyeon and me, a buzzing vibration echoed somewhere.

Yes.

It was coming from Hwasanpa Younger Brother.

I couldn’t hold back my frustration and sighed, swearing under my breath.

“F*… this is a bit too much…”

“……You’re right, Master. There’s not a decent human being among martial artists.”

[Stop reducing my SAN, please…]

A remote control with a switch.

And Hwasanpa Younger Brother suddenly collapses upon switching it on.

There was something obvious we could infer from this, but I didn’t want to say it out loud.

I hoped that it wouldn’t be understood even if we lost.

But reality is cruel.

We had already learned the truth.

As a result, our eyes instantaneously lost their sparkle.

Jeong Ahyeon and I slowly approached Hwasanpa Younger Brother, who was sitting blankly.

The flames caused by Hwasanpa Younger Brother’s distraction had long extinguished.

As we approached, Hwasanpa Younger Brother barely lifted his head, suppressing a moan.

“Ugh!… Ah!… You’re… going to mishandle me…”

Thwack!

“AAAHH!! Kyaah!!”

I had already manifested a two-handed sword in my left hand, stabbing Hwasanpa Younger Brother.

At the same time, I manifested a two-handed sword in my right hand and passed it to Jeong Ahyeon, who naturally accepted it.

We mercilessly stabbed Hwasanpa Younger Brother, still trembling.

Thwack!

Thwack!

“Ahhh! No! Don’t go there! Aghhh!”

Thwack!

[Please refrain from using the word ‘thwack’ excessively.]

“Ah, right. I’ll be careful.”

Thus, like machines, we continuously stabbed Hwasanpa Younger Brother.

No matter what he said or how he reacted, we remained expressionless, simply repeating stabbing motions in perfect harmony.

Eventually, Hwasanpa Younger Brother writhed in pleasure and agony before drawing his last breath.

Just to check, I rummaged through Hwasanpa Younger Brother’s pockets.

It was just simple curiosity.

But isn’t curiosity said to have killed the cat?

Out came another remote control, identical in appearance, from Hwasanpa Younger Brother’s pocket.

I prayed it wouldn’t be that.

Desperately wishing for it to be nothing, I pressed the switch.

However, against my hopes, the moment I pressed the switch, the Namgoong Hyung who had fainted earlier suddenly twitched.

Now our eyes had transitioned from dead to completely hollow.

I didn’t say a word and hurled the two-handed sword straight at Namgoong Hyung.

Jeong Ahyeon seemed to share my feelings, summoning her beast to stab Namgoong Hyung with the blade.

With that, the sparring system came to an end.

The broadcasting professor, in a hesitant voice, announced the winner.

【The winner is Team!!】

Only a little applause arose from the audience, yet everyone maintained silence.

The situation was too awkward and hard to digest in our minds.

We felt extremely disturbed witnessing it firsthand.

We won, but there was no hint of joy whatsoever.

Thoughts about the tournament and everything else vanished entirely.

I just wanted to throw it all away.

Jeong Ahyeon and I still gazed at each other with hollow eyes.

And we simultaneously spoke the same opinion.

“F*, this sucks…”

“This really f*ing sucks…”

[It indeed sucks…]

We won, but it was a victory stained too deeply.

That day, Jeong Ahyeon and I grew a little more mature.

*