Chapter 175
When he was a highschool student. Lee Junho only believed in his fist, and tormented children weaker than him. Mental and physical abuse were basic, and he also extorted money. In school, he was the king.
No one could resist and had to obey him. One of the tormented was Shin Youngwoo. He would shiver when frightened and would become grumpy if his pride was trampled on. Youngwoo was the same, even after going to university and the military.
Lee Junho mocked him every time they met at the alumni meeting. But what was this? The person who appeared at this year’s reunion was significantly different. He was economically successful and confident.
On the other hand, Lee Junho hadn’t changed from his school days. He couldn’t abandon his gangster mentality and couldn’t adapt to society. He was in his late 20’s and could only find part time jobs.
Lee Junho became ashamed of himself. He got off the throne he was sitting on and faced reality.
‘I need to change, like Youngwoo.’
Lee Junho was determined. Like Youngwoo, he tried to overcome his past self in order to achieve a new and successful life.
First of all, he abandoned his futile pride. He worked hard to find jobs at gas stations, convenience stores, PC Cafes and construction sites. He didn’t boast. He didn’t spend much money. He saved one penny, two pennies, and eventually realized something.
How wasteful was it to rob others of money with violence? He also realized it every time he was ignored by the customers for being a part-time worker. He believed that the act of ignoring the weak was a sin that shouldn’t be forgiven.
‘…I’m sorry, Shin Youngwoo.’
On his way back home after his part time job. Lee Junho was smoking in a smoking booth and apologized to Youngwoo in his mind. There was a bitter smile on his face.
“If I could have an opportunity to apologize to you, I will never show up in front of you again.”
The Satisfy National Competition was relayed on billboards on skyscrapers. He was able to see Youngwoo’s appearance there. Now he was a person in a completely different world.
Many people stopped along the way and looked up at Youngwoo on the billboard. Among the crowd was Youngwoo’s sister, Sehee.
“Cool.”
Yerim was with Sehee and sincerely admired him. She was completely fascinated by Youngwoo, who appeared to save Yura and overwhelm the foreign teams.
“He is capable, strong and overflowing with confidence. Your brother is really the best man.”
“The game and reality are different. I admire my brother, but he isn’t the best man.”
Sehee tried to return Yerim to reality, but it was useless.
“Aren’t you aware that Satisfy isn’t a simple game? Satisfy is already another reality. He is the best man in that reality.”
Yerim knew it more accurately than Sehee. She had a more mature appearance than her age and proclaimed with a giggle, “I will surely have your brother.”
Gulp.
The men starting around them were attracted to Yerim and lost their souls. There was the sound of gulping here and there. Several men who looked like gangsters were already approaching. Sehee glared at them and asserted to Yerim.
“You don’t fit Oppa’s taste.”
“Huh?” Yerim’s eyes widened. She looked at Sehee’s sulky expression and laughed. “Sorry, sorry. Sehee, I forgot how much you love your brother. I’m sorry for making you jealous.”
“I’m not just saying this. You really don’t fit Oppa’s taste.”
“Ye~? What man would dislike me?”
Yerim was considered the best queen of South Korea’s high school system along with Sehee, so her self-esteem was very high. Sehee explained the reason for her confident words.
“Oppa likes busty girls.”
Yerim tilted her head to one side.
“Aren’t I pretty big?”
“You need to at least have a D cup.”
On the billboard, Youngwoo was saving Jishuka from Hurent. It was natural to save Yura because she was a Korean, but wasn’t Jishuka a representative of another country? Why did he save her? Yerim confirmed Jishuka’s large chest and pouted.
“Really, that’s his taste?”
“He’s a dog in rut.”
Sehee was furious. She was annoyed to see that woman hanging onto her brother.
“I’m going.”
In the end, Sehee turned away from the electronic billboard and moved towards the library. Yerim wanted to see more of the broadcast, but was forced to follow Sehee. Then she thought.
‘I’m not even 20 years old yet, so should I try for a D cup?’
She was seriously considering it.
***
Hurent gazed at Jishuka and Grid.
He took a health potion and an antidote before speaking.
“This isn’t a common antidote… The poison arrows are quite awful.”
He checked the scoreboard.
‘Korea has 131 points, the US has 82 points, Brazil has 73 points, the United Kingdom has 60 points and Spain has 0.’
Now there were only five countries left. Spain was ruled out. The Spanish team’s Med was on the verge of being logged out by Regas. Hurent understood the battlefield and sent a whisper to Lauel in the rear.
–Get out of battle and focus on handling the targets. We have given up on the gold medal, but we need to take the silver medal.
—Isn’t the damage pretty big? Can you afford to go against Pagma’s Descendant in that state?
The seven golden blades were still moving by themselves and destroying the targets. Hurent confirmed the scene and smiled darkly.
–Why not?
Ttadak.
Hurent looked at Grid.
“Since the situation is like this, shall I enjoy it a little?”
It was an obvious provocation! The confident Grid wasn’t going to fall for that provocation.
“Stop fooling around.”
The 1st ranked Kraugel. The 2nd ranked Zibal. The 3rd ranked Chris. The 7th ranked Agnus. The 8th ranked Hurent. The 11th ranked Bondre. Finally, the 14th ranked Hao. Yura had called them the seven people stronger than her.
Grid distinctly remembered it. However, he wasn’t nervous at all, despite Hurent being one of them. He was someone who raided the strongest boss monsters alone! He was confident that he could beat high rankers with his stats, skills and items.
“Jishuka, leave him to me and concentrate on the targets. Don’t you want the silver medal?”
“Yes…! Thank you!”
Jishuka thanked Grid and disappeared into the forest with Samuel. Once Grid was alone with Hurent, he immediately unfolded his sword dance.
“Pagma’s Swordsmanship!”
The moment Grid moved two steps.
Puok!
A 5m long red blade emerged from Hurent’s fingertip and pierced Grid’s chest.
[You have suffered 4,600 damage.]
‘Eh?’
Hurent attacked with timing that couldn’t be coped with, because Grid was busy with his sword dance. The damage was considerable.
‘I suffered that much damage despite my legendary armor set?’
Or was it the default damage of aura? Grid was confused but his best skill was already being used.
“Kill!”
Kuooooh!
The giant blue greatsword filled with hatred roared as it headed for Hurent.
Kwarururung!
The trees in the area vibrated due to the overwhelming waves of energy coming from it. Grid had planned to blow Hurent away. However…
Hurent moved sideways at the correct timing and avoided Kill. Then he moved back to Grid and aimed his aura blades at the gap exposed by the greatsword swing.
[You have suffered 4,600 damage.]
[You have suffered 4,600 damage.]
‘It’s constant damage. Aura, does it ignore defense and deal a fixed damage?’
Grid frowned as he belatedly understood. The energy of Kill pierced empty air and faded. Hurent clicked his tongue. “In order to hit with a non-targeted skill, you first have to restrain your opponent’s movements. If that isn’t possible, you should predict their movements. Isn’t that part of the basics?”
Grid took a potion to restore his health and asked, “Are you attempting to teach me right now?”
“Teach? Hahat! Nonsense. Is there any reason to do that type of favor for you? I’m simply disappointed. You have the strongest class and this is the extent of your skills~? Don’t you have any combat experience?”
Grid snapped at him.
“Of course I have combat experience…! You can’t imagine how many bosses I’ve raided alone so far!”
Hurent chuckled.
“Is your combat experience limited to boss raids? Kukuk, of course, bosses are strong. But don’t they just fight with strength or with a fixed pattern? They don’t fight cleverly. Yes, just like you. Can’t you see that the difference in our combat experience is too big?”
“Talking nonsense just because you avoided my skill once.”
The heated Grid moved his sword like butterflies dancing. This time, he was going to hit Hurent’s cheeky face. But Pagma’s Swordsmanship had a weakness. In order to activate the skill, the name must be said. This took a minimum of 0.8 to 2 seconds before the skill was activated.
Obviously, some people would feel that this was a short amount of time. In fact, none of the players, monsters and bosses Grid met had touched him during this time. But didn’t Yura counter in 0.5 seconds when facing a Crusher? Furthermore, Hurent was much better than her.
Teook!
The moment that Grid took the first step of his sword dance.
Puuok!
[You have suffered 4,600 damage.]
[You have suffered 4,600 damage.]
Hurent hit Grid twice during that time. At the same time, he escaped to the rear, opening up a distance.
“Kuk!”
Grid checked the distance and decided it was impossible, cancelling his activation of Link.
‘It stinks.’
He admitted that Hurent was strong. It was accepted compared to the bosses he had faced so far. The aura’s fixed damage and ability to freely transform its shape was quite annoying, but the vulnerable part was that he couldn’t use a skill.
Certainly, Grid had experience fighting. However, he perceived it after two skills became useless.
“Are you going to use a skill haphazardly again? Do you have no learning ability?”
Hurent sighed as if Grid was pathetic. In the end, Grid rushed to him.
“Okay! I can just swing my sword instead of using skills. Then will you be able to avoid it? Eh? Blacksmith’s Rage!”
Jjejeong!
The +9 Failure clashed with the aura blades.
‘Strong.’
Hurent confirmed that his aura shook like a fire in front of wind and clicked his tongue. He tried to open a distance with Grid, but his basic movement speed wasn’t enough.
Jjejeong! Jjang!
Grid persistently stuck to Hurent and swung his sword. Hurent barely managed to defend and confirmed that the cooldown of his Escape skill was over.
“Escape.”
Peeng!
This close-range distance skill was something that all warrior classes possessed. Hurent managed to get 5m away from Grid and shifted some of his aura to his lower half.
[Attack power is reduced by 30%.]
[Movement speed has increased by 30%.]
‘Faster?’
Grid was no longer able to narrow down the distance to Hurent, who was running away like a coward. In the end, he swapped out to the Ideal Dagger, used Quick Movements and shouted at Hurent.
“Let’s finish this game.”
Pepepepeok!
Hurent leaped towards where there were a lot of targets and released his aura all around him. There was an explosion and the US team’s score quickly updated.
『 The United States has 109 points! Really amazing! After logging out the representatives from France, China and Japan, Hurent destroyed 16 targets in a single strike while running from Pagma’s Descendant! 』
“What are you trying to do?”
Grid wanted to help Jishuka and Regas. He wanted their countries to win the silver and bronze medals. Therefore, he chased after Hurent to stop him. Thanks to his high persistence, Grid’s stamina remained steady while Hurent gradually became exhausted.
‘I thought he invested most of his stats into strength, then some into agility and stamina. But now I see that his stats are high overall. Indeed, a blacksmith can increase their stats dramatically through the production of items.’
Over time, Hurent could grasp more about Grid. But his breathing was becoming labored and he was slowing down.
‘I almost caught up!’
Grid’s eyes sparkled. This was the end. He would soon catch that annoying guy.
Grid was filled with pleasure, but there was a problem.
『 South Korean team-! 150 points! Victoryyy! 』
“What…?”
Grid noticed his mistake. He forgot about the presence of Yura and the pavranium. He didn’t tell Yura that he wanted to beat the US team, and he didn’t recall the target destruction order that he gave to the pavranium. Yura and the pavranium kept destroying the targets while he pursued Hurent, eventually leading to this.
“Bye-bye~?”
Hurent laughed, as he had predicted this situation from the beginning. Grid was forced to log out. It was a rule that the team who achieved the quota could no longer remain on the battlefield.
After that.
The United States were the next to reach 150 points after South Korea and achieved the silver medal. Britain and Brazil was left behind to compete for third place, and Britain eventually became the winner.
Jishuka’s ability to destroy targets was much better than Natasha, but her partner was the problem. Samuel was too lacking and couldn’t protect Jishuka from Regas. In the end, hundreds of thousands of spectators watched as the Korean, United States, and United Kingdom team got on the podium.
“It was enjoyable, newbie.”
“Dammit…!”
A funny scene was produced. Grid won the gold medal and was scowling from the top of the podium, while Hurent received the silver medal next to him and was laughing loudly. Looking at the atmosphere of the two men, it was like the US had won.