I Became an Illegal Cheat User – Chapter 14

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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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“As I said before, don’t worry about fatal injuries and fight as best as you can.”

At Kang Cheol-su’s words, Lee Seo-yeon and Asuka nodded their heads.

“Then I will start the match now, so take your stances.”

Lee Seo-yeon grasped the handle of her sword while maintaining her noble posture.

On the other hand, Asuka slightly extended her right foot forward, lowered her stance, and crossed her hands, placing them on the handles of her two swords.

After checking if they were ready by looking at the two alternately, Kang Cheol-su nodded his head and opened his mouth.

“Match start.”

At the same time as those words, Lee Seo-yeon drew her sword with elegance.

And Asuka…

“Wh-what… her aura suddenly…”

“…She seems like a completely different person.”

The moment she grasped the handles of her swords, as if she had never been cheerful, Asuka’s expression completely changed.

Asuka, had on a cold expression no less than Lee Seo-yeon’s.

The spectators showed reactions as if they were seeing a completely different person at Asuka’s sudden transformation.

Seeing those reactions, I wanted to tell them.

Such a change is merely trivial.

‘That ‘talent’ Asuka possesses is good, but…’

Its drawback is that it changed a person too much, like having a split personality.

Still, since her opponent was Lee Seo-yeon, there wouldn’t be any major problems.

That was how strong Lee Seo-yeon was.

I had no doubt that Lee Seo-yeon would easily resolve Asuka’s rampage.

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Shink!

“…!”

The moment Asuka drew her swords, Lee Seo-yeon’s eyes slightly widened in surprise at the sharp aura bursting out.

Lee Seo-yeon, who hadn’t been particularly surprised by the transformation of someone she thought was purely lively, couldn’t help but be surprised this time.

Zap, zap.

An aura she hadn’t felt even from Arthur, whom she faced in the third exam.

It tingled as if electricity was running through her body.

‘…Fighting spirit?’

No.

Lee Seo-yeon immediately denied it.

This aura was not the type of aura she was familiar with.

‘This aura is…’

…The aura of a predator.

The ferocious energy of a beast when it targets its prey.

When she was young, she had hunted beasts as part of her training.

At that time, the aura of the beast she encountered was exactly the same as the aura Asuka was emitting.

However, while the aura was the same, Asuka’s aura was even more ferocious than the beast’s at that time.

And the only emotion she felt was a murderous intent to kill her.

‘…Talent?’

Lee Seo-yeon immediately understood Asuka’s condition.

Asuka couldn’t control her talent right now.

Far from controlling it, she was being swayed by her talent.

‘Then…’

For her sake as well, there was no choice but to go all out.

Lee Seo-yeon’s eyes sank deeply.

“…!”

Asuka flinched in surprise.

The moment she drew her swords, even though her reason had sunk and only instincts remained due to being consumed by her talent, she shrank back at the aura emitted by Lee Seo-yeon.

Rather, it was because only instincts remained that she reacted more sensitively.

But that was only for a moment.

Tap!

As if even more enraged by the fact that she shrank back like a beast, Asuka kicked the ground and charged at Lee Seo-yeon.

In response to Asuka’s reckless charge, Lee Seo-yeon remained in place without moving and raised her sword.

And they clashed.

Clang─!

Asuka’s twin swords struck Lee Seo-yeon’s sword.

The sharp noise of metal against metal spread from the arena to the spectator seats.

Screech…!

Following the sharp noise, the sound of metal being cut continuously resounded.

Asuka was pushing with force while clashing swords.

But Lee Seo-yeon didn’t budge at all, maintaining her standing posture.

Rather, she was overpowering Asuka.

And with just one hand, not both.

Chang!

Perhaps realizing that she was no match in terms of strength, Asuka deflected Lee Seo-yeon’s sword.

Then, with her eyes shining in a bloody red color instead of pink, she began to wield her twin swords in earnest.

Clang!

The sword in her left hand, from top to bottom.

Clang!

The sword in her right hand, from bottom to top.

Chang, clang!

From left to right.

From right to left.

Clang!

From diagonal to diagonal.

Clang!

Thrusting with her left hand, swinging horizontally with her right.

Gradually, Asuka’s breathing became rough like a beast and her hand movements became faster.

From a strong sword to a flowing sword.

From a flowing sword to a heavy sword.

From a heavy sword to a switching sword.

From a switching sword to a transforming sword.

With the unconventionally changing sword paths, quick sword was added, making it seem like we were watching a storm.

However, despite such a storm-like sword strike,

Clang clang clang clang clang!

Lee Seo-yeon’s feet didn’t budge an inch.

She blocked Asuka’s sword strikes without a single margin of error, maintaining her noble standing posture.

Against strong sword with strong sword.

Against flowing sword with flowing sword.

Drawing the same sword path, she clashed swords.

“…Huff, huff.”

“…”

Asuka’s breathing became rough.

In contrast, Lee Seo-yeon’s breathing was as calm as ever.

Like the serene eye of a storm.

An insurmountable wall blocked Asuka’s path.

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It was over.

Lee Seo-yeon’s sword had completely grasped Asuka’s sword.

With the difference in their abilities, and even her sword path being grasped, all that remained for Asuka now was defeat.

‘In the first place, her opponent was wrong.’

Lee Seo-yeon possessed an S-grade talent called ‘Sword Prodigy’.

That talent gave an insane boost limited to ‘sword’.

Even if you held a sword for the first time, if you had the ‘Sword Prodigy’ talent, you could wield it skillfully like a swordsman who had trained for a long time.

And you could grasp anyone’s sword-wielding just by watching how they wield it and what problems they had.

Just by crossing swords, you would analyze and interpret the opponent’s sword and create a better sword path.

Just like what we were seeing now.

Clang clang clang clang clang!

“…?!”

Asuka’s sword began to be pushed back.

And gradually, wounds began to appear on her.

Even though only her instincts remained, Asuka’s confusion could be seen.

It was clearly the same sword path.

Although the stance was different, they were clashing while drawing the same sword path.

But if you looked closely, you could see that Lee Seo-yeon’s sword path was gradually changing.

Gradually, little by little, she drew a better sword path than Asuka’s.

And before long,

Clang!

Asuka’s right-hand sword shattered.

The sword she swung with a strong sword attack shattered against a strong sword attack.

And then, the sword in her left hand also shattered.

“…Ah.”

As the swords shattered, Asuka, who regained her reason, let out a sigh.

At Asuka’s state, Lee Seo-yeon swung her sword again.

Towards Asuka’s hands that were still gripping the swords.

Smack, smack!

“…Ack!”

Although she hit them with the back of the blade, not the edge, it was strong enough to forcefully make Asuka drop the sword hilts from her hands, so Asuka cried out in pain.

“Ow, it hurts.”

Asuka held her hands with a tearful face.

Lee Seo-yeon looked at Asuka like that.

She checked her eyes that had changed since grasping the swords.

Pink eyes resembling cherry blossoms, not blood-red eyes.

After confirming that her eyes had returned to her own, Lee Seo-yeon sheathed the sword she was holding.

Since her opponent’s beast-like aura had completely disappeared, there was no need to hold her sword any longer.

“Group B’s winner is Lee Seo-yeon.”

As Kang Cheol-su said that and manipulated his smartwatch,

Ding.

[B]

[03][Lee Seo-yeon][Win]

[04][Shuhei Asuka][Loss]

The result of Group B’s matchup arrived.

Kang Cheol-su approached Asuka and said,

“I saw your skills well, Shuhei Asuka. Indeed, it was swordsmanship worthy of the Twin Sword Dragon’s successor.”

However, Kang Cheol-su added,

He looked at Asuka with a serious face and continued,

“You couldn’t control your talent. And rather, it seemed like you were consumed by it, right?”

“…Yes.”

Asuka lowered her head with a gloomy face.

At Asuka’s state, Kang Cheol-su scratched the scar on his forehead and continued,

“For superhumans like us, talent is akin to identity. If you can’t control that identity, the only thing awaiting a superhuman is destruction. So, Shuhei Asuka. Unless you give up that talent, you must learn to control it. If you can’t, you will also become a Fallen One someday.”

At Kang Cheol-su’s words, not only Asuka but the atmosphere of all the kids in the spectator seats sank heavily.

If you want to become a hero, there is one thing you must avoid.

That is being consumed by your talent and becoming a Fallen One.

Becoming a Fallen One was difficult yet easy.

You just needed to be completely devoured by your talent.

In the beginning, even if you were consumed by your talent, like Asuka, if you let go of the subject that manifested your talent, you could regain your sanity to some extent.

However, as that keeps repeating and you gradually become devoured by your talent, your inclination becomes twisted and you turn into a villain.

And if you become a villain and are not reformed, but become completely devoured, you eventually become a Fallen One.

Once you become a Fallen One, that person can no longer return to their original self.

It’s as if their soul has changed, becoming a completely different person.

Once you become a Fallen One like that, your talent changes to the opposite effect.

And beyond having a twisted inclination, you become evil itself, feeling pleasure and joy in doing things that should not be done as a human, and gain power from it.

That’s why Fallen Ones are public enemies of humanity to the point that they should be destroyed on sight.

“…I will try.”

“Shuhei Asuka, trying is not enough. You must control it. Understand?”

“…Yes.”

At Kang Cheol-su’s earnest advice, Asuka nodded her head with difficulty.

Seeing that, I thought it was truly pitiful.

Although it was in the game, as someone who knew Asuka well, I knew why she was so discouraged.

In fact, Asuka’s lively appearance was akin to a defense mechanism.

It was because of the talent she possessed, ‘Berserk Dragon Blood’.

That talent was an S-grade talent and a curse that had been passed down for generations in the Shuhei family of Japan.

There was a secret swordsmanship that had been handed down in her family, and the name of that swordsmanship was ‘Dragon-Slaying Sword’, literally a swordsmanship to kill dragons.

But why does a family that practices a swordsmanship to kill dragons have the bloodline of a dragon passed down?

If you raise Asuka’s favorability to around 80%, you can find out why the ‘Berserk Dragon Blood’ talent has been passed down for generations.

To put it briefly, a very long time ago, the Shuhei family created the Dragon-Slaying Sword and killed the Guardian Dragon, who was the family’s guardian, and due to the curse left by the Guardian Dragon as it died, the curse and talent of ‘Berserk Dragon Blood’ had been passed down through the generations.

As time passed like that, the Berserk Dragon Blood was passed down to Asuka, and due to the curse, the moment she draws her sword, her reason sinks and only ferocious instincts remain.

So, since she was young, Asuka received harsh training from her father, Shuhei Kento, and tried to control the Berserk Dragon Blood, but she still can’t properly control it.

It was because of her mental fear of losing herself every time she fails to control it.

Because of that fear, Asuka always appears bright as a mental defense mechanism.

‘I want to help her right away, but…’

I can’t do that.

Maybe later, but it was impossible right now.

The way to control Asuka’s Berserk Dragon Blood.

There were only three ways.

First, become a transcendent like Asuka’s father, Shuhei Kento, and break free from the shackles of the curse.

Second, consume the heart of a dragon and replace your own heart with the dragon’s heart.

Third, receive the curse-breaking from the Great Saintess Gloria.

As such, it was extremely difficult to the point of being almost impossible.

The quickest solution among them was the third one, receiving the curse-breaking from the Great Saintess.

If it was the ability of Gloria, a 1st generation transcendent and a woman called the daughter of God to the extent of receiving God’s favor, it could be sufficiently cured.

However, unless it was a significant matter, she didn’t come out of the Great Temple in the United States.

But there was a way to make her come out.

That was none other than becoming close with her son, Noah.

Although it was a bit difficult to raise his favorability since he was a man, if you raise Noah’s favorability to a certain level, around the Duel Season held in the latter half of the 1st semester, he sends a letter to Gloria saying he wants to introduce his good friend, me.

Then, you can see Gloria in the spectator seats when the Duel Season begins, and after Noah’s match ends, you can have a conversation with Gloria in the form of an event.

So, I’ll aim for that time.

First, becoming close with Noah was the priority, but since I knew most of what Noah liked, raising his favorability wouldn’t be difficult.

‘If this method doesn’t work…’

I’ll either catch a dragon or obtain a dragon’s heart for her.

While I was making such plans, Lee Seo-yeon and Asuka returned to the spectator seats.

Asuka, who came up the stairs powerlessly with heavy steps, plopped down next to me.

“…I lost.”

Asuka sniffled and sobbed.

Seeing Asuka making a tearful face as if she would cry at any moment, I tried to offer words of comfort but stopped.

She was disappointed and depressed not because she was defeated or because she received bitter advice from Kang Cheol-su.

It was because she was struggling with the agony of not being able to properly control her own talent.

I couldn’t dare say it was okay.

So I just…

Pat pat.

“…Eek.”

I patted her head.

Then Asuka looked at me with a blank face.

“…Eek, eek.”

She short-circuited.

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