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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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There was an event that occurred when Lee Seo-yeon’s affection started to rise.
It was her followers, who admired or revered Lee Seo-yeon, coming to threaten the player.
The reason these followers came to threaten the player was simple.
They were jealous.
While they, as followers, couldn’t even speak to Lee Seo-yeon and could only watch from afar, the player was able to converse easily with Lee Seo-yeon, which displeased them.
The second event that occurred was the interference of Lee Seo-yeon’s father, the Sword Star Lee Jung-baek.
The achievement condition for the Sword Star event was very simple.
It was to build enough affection to be able to converse with Lee Seo-yeon.
But since Lee Seo-yeon had approached and spoken to me first, the event condition had been met and surpassed long ago.
‘Ah, honestly, I feel wronged.’
From the moment I first saw Lee Seo-yeon, I tried to delay raising her affection as much as possible.
No, I tried to avoid encountering her as much as possible.
But contrary to my resolve, Lee Seo-yeon approached me first and spoke to me first.
And furthermore, she started using guns on her own without me even recommending it.
But to the followers and the Sword Star, from their perspective, I was the one who approached Lee Seo-yeon first.
Perhaps because of this, the seniors who came to find me didn’t seem to believe my words at all.
“Ha, I looked into everything. They say you’re the only one who uses firearms in the academy. Are you lying by saying it wasn’t you?”
“That’s right! You’re the only one who could have taught Lee Seo-yeon about guns!”
“And they say you took down a high-tier Fallen alone? Is that true? Did you do something to the article? How could a freshman who just entered……”
I wondered what these people were trying to say.
They seemed desperate to put me down.
“So, tell the truth. You taught Lee Seo-yeon about guns, right? Huh?!”
The representative of the senior group standing in front of me… I’ll just call him Senior A because it’s annoying to call him the representative.
Anyway, Senior A pointed his finger at me with an angry expression and said,
“Are you making fun of us? Huh?!”
Suddenly he asked if I’m making fun of them?
I let out a hollow laugh at the absurdity.
At this, not only Senior A but also the seniors watching from behind intensified their killing intent.
It seemed they had taken my hollow laugh as affirmation.
‘Even so, to emit such strong killing intent?’
And for 2nd years to do this to a freshman who just entered?
‘Have they all gone mad?’
It wasn’t just me who thought that, as the students who were training looked over with expressions that said this was ridiculous.
The main and supporting characters were the same, and Lee Seo-yeon was among them.
I gestured for Lee Seo-yeon to come over.
“What’s going on here?”
Lee Seo-yeon asked about the situation as soon as she came to me.
I was about to explain the current situation, but Senior A, excited that the person he admired had come close, interrupted my words.
“L-Lee Seo-yeon! D-do you remember me?”
“…Who are you?”
“I-I’m Pa-Park……”
But Senior A’s self-introduction didn’t continue to the end.
“Excuse me, but I don’t know who you are, nor do I want to know.”
Lee Seo-yeon cut off his words with a cold expression.
Seeing this, I remembered a fact I had forgotten until now.
That originally, Lee Seo-yeon was so cold to people around her that she was called the ‘Ice Princess’.
And that she had only shown an exceptional attitude towards me.
“And I asked Lee Yu-jin, not you.”
“……”
At the cold voice that seemed to contain frost, Senior A closed his mouth.
Only then did Lee Seo-yeon turn her head back to me and asked.
“So what’s the situation here?”
A completely different voice from just before.
As if changing from a cold wind to a warm breeze, when Lee Seo-yeon’s tone changed, not only Senior A but also the seniors watching from behind glared at me.
I met those seniors’ sharp gazes with a sneer and explained the current situation to Lee Seo-yeon.
After hearing my explanation of the situation, Lee Seo-yeon looked at Senior A.
“…Ugh!”
Senior A took a step back.
He was shocked by Lee Seo-yeon’s gaze, which was filled with hostility beyond coldness.
“You’re asking if I learned about guns from Lee Yu-jin? No, I haven’t learned about guns from him yet.”
“……”
“You’re asking if Lee Yu-jin approached me? No, I approached him first. I spoke to him first.”
“……”
“Have all your questions been answered now?”
Senior A couldn’t answer Lee Seo-yeon’s words.
The same was true for the seniors behind him.
The heavy and sharp aura emanating from Lee Seo-yeon.
They couldn’t open their mouths, crushed by that aura.
“But…, why were you curious about those things?”
[Lee Seo-yeon’s talent, “Sword-Gun Prodigy (S+)”, says it’s angry.]
“…?”
I was surprised by the sudden system message.
To be precise, I was surprised by the content the message showed.
‘No, what is this?’
Why is Lee Seo-yeon’s talent suddenly acting up?
I looked alternately at the system message and Lee Seo-yeon with surprised eyes.
“Who do you think you are?”
Lee Seo-yeon’s right hand moved towards her sword.
[Lee Seo-yeon’s talent, “Sword-Gun Prodigy (S+)”, says it wants to cut them!]
“Who are you to…?”
Lee Seo-yeon’s left hand moved towards her gun.
[Lee Seo-yeon’s talent, “Sword-Gun Prodigy (S+)”, says it wants to shoot them!!]
“You……”
Lee Seo-yeon raised her sword and gun…
[Lee Seo-yeon’s talent, “Sword-Gun Prodigy (S+)”, says……]
Wait, wait! That’s enough!!
I hurriedly grabbed Lee Seo-yeon’s shoulder and pulled her back.
“Lee Seo-yeon, calm down.”
Lee Seo-yeon looked at my hand on her shoulder with a blank face.
And as she moved her gaze towards my face,
“…Ah.”
With a short gasp, she stopped her actions.
Lee Seo-yeon lowered her head to look at the weapons she was holding.
A sword surrounded by sword energy and a gun with its safety off.
Seeing the murderous intent contained in those two weapons, Lee Seo-yeon let out another gasp and put away her weapons.
Then she raised her head and looked ahead.
Tremble tremble.
Senior A, who had been standing, was now sitting on the ground, trembling.
Behind that senior, the other seniors were looking at her with fearful faces.
Only then did Lee Seo-yeon realize.
That she had failed to control her talent.
“…Lee Yu-jin.”
I could feel Lee Seo-yeon’s voice trembling as she called me.
“I…, I couldn’t control my talent, right?”
“……”
And at the fear felt in her voice, I couldn’t open my mouth.
The same was true for Asuka, who was nearby.
“Seo-yeon…”
Asuka looked at Lee Seo-yeon with a complicated expression.
The fear of not being able to control one’s talent.
Because Asuka knew that very well, she felt sorry for Lee Seo-yeon.
I let out a deep sigh looking at the two women.
What had just happened to Lee Seo-yeon was not assimilation with her talent, but erosion by her talent.
She had nearly been devoured by her talent and become a Fallen.
With that thought, I looked at Lee Seo-yeon with complicated eyes.
‘Damn…, I thought it would be okay since no problems occurred then…’
As expected, she couldn’t handle the talent.
Usually, an ‘S+’ grade talent could only be obtained after reaching the highest tier.
In other words, it meant she shouldn’t be able to obtain it with her current level.
But strangely, she achieved the evolution of her talent while in contact with me and obtained an S+ grade talent.
In other words, her current state was like a vessel overflowing with water, on the verge of breaking.
“Lee Yu-jin, tell me…. I can’t control my talent anymore, right?”
Now beyond fear and reaching sadness, I nodded my head with a deep sigh at her voice.
“…That’s right. You couldn’t control your talent. And it will be difficult to control.”
“……”
At my confirmation, Lee Seo-yeon’s face darkened.
“Lee Seo-yeon, you must have felt it too. That with your current level, you can’t handle the talent. Right?”
Lee Seo-yeon nodded her head.
To such a Lee Seo-yeon, I told her the terrible reality.
“In that state, it probably won’t even take a few weeks.”
And you’ll change.
Into a Fallen.
“Lee Yu-jin!”
Asuka looked at me with a surprised face.
As if she didn’t expect me to say such a thing, her voice conveyed bewilderment.
But I continued speaking without paying attention to that.
“So, hang in there.”
“…Huh?”
“…Eh?”
Lee Seo-yeon, who had been becoming tinged with sadness and despair, looked at me with puzzlement.
As a bonus, Asuka, who was about to get angry, looked at me with a dumbfounded face.
Yeah, Asuka. This is something you need to hear too.
I put my hands on both their shoulders and said.
“I’ll somehow solve this for you.”
“…H-how?”
“That’s right…, how?”
Lee Seo-yeon and Asuka’s faces showed a bit of hope along with doubt.
I grinned at the two of them and said.
“Somehow.”
“……”
“……”
At my words that contained no answer at all, Lee Seo-yeon and Asuka stared at me blankly.
Then soon, they nodded their heads.
I patted their shoulders at their trust.
“Ah, right. Asuka.”
“Yes?”
“It seems you’ll take a little longer than Lee Seo-yeon, is that okay?”
“……”
Asuka blinked silently.
And after a moment, she smiled brightly and said.
“Top student, give me back my emotion.”
I also smiled and said.
“Nope, I won’t give it back.”
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“…So you want me to let you see the Chairman?”
Kang Cheol-su, who had put down a coffee cup in front of me, said with an incredulous face.
“How am I supposed to let you see the Chairman? No, more than that, why do you want to see the Chairman?”
To that question, I lifted the coffee cup and said.
“I thought Instructor Kang Cheol-su could sufficiently arrange for me to meet the Chairman. And…”
I took a sip of the coffee in the cup.
Oh… this taste is coffee 1, sugar 2.5, creamer 2? It’s delicious.
“I think the Chairman might have the elixir I’ve thought of.”
“……”
“Instructor, you make really good coffee? Can I come again next time?”
At my praise that wasn’t praise but a threat saying ‘If you don’t let me meet the Chairman, I’ll keep coming’, Kang Cheol-su looked at me as if he couldn’t believe it.
Then soon, he grinned and,
“No way, kid. This coffee is expensive.”
He snatched my coffee cup and downed it himself.
Then he got up from his chair and said,
“Alright, I’ll let you meet her. But only this once. Don’t you dare come barging in like this again. You’ll get a flick on the forehead. Got it?”
“…If I get flicked by you, Instructor, I’ll die, you know?”
“I said, got it?”
“…Yes.”
At my affirmation, Kang Cheol-su nodded his head and left the instructor’s office.
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“We’re here.”
Kang Cheol-su stopped at an elevator.
Then he held his staff ID to the keypad next to the elevator.
Clunk.
The elevator opened as if it had been waiting.
Kang Cheol-su pointed at the elevator and said.
“Get in.”
“What about you, Instructor?”
“The one who wanted to see the Chairman was you, not me.”
“…Still, aren’t you coming with me?”
“It’s not that I’m not going with you, I can’t go.”
Kang Cheol-su stretched his foot towards the inside of the elevator.
Then with a ‘zap’, some kind of barrier pushed back Kang Cheol-su’s foot.
“As you can see, to meet the Chairman, you need permission. But I haven’t received permission.”
Saying that, Kang Cheol-su pushed me into the elevator.
This time, I entered naturally without any resistance from the barrier.
“You’ve received permission. So, go and come back well.”
Ding.
[Going up.]
As the elevator’s guidance sound was heard, the door closed.
And after feeling like I was going up for a moment.
Ding.
[The door is opening.]
The guidance sound was heard again, and the closed door opened.
A space where nothing could be seen welcomed me.
But I knew this was an illusion created by the Grand Wizard.
So I stepped out of the elevator without hesitation.
Then, as if that was the correct answer, the space tore and,
“…Wow.”
An interior so grand and spacious, yet classic and splendid that I couldn’t help but exclaim, appeared.
And in the center of such an interior, a woman was sitting cross-legged on a huge chair.
Deep black hair.
Eyes like obsidian, yet with a red tinge.
A white shirt with black pants, and a black coat worn over them.
The transcendent who had maintained the position of the absolute being for several hundred years in this world of extreme difficulty.
The Martial God Baek Yu-hwa.
That absolute being looked at me with her chin resting on her hand.
I approached her and bowed my head deeply.
Then she smiled and said to me,
“So, for what reason did you wish to see me?”
Wooooong….
Despite her speaking lightly, this huge space resonated.
But even so, my ears didn’t hurt at all.
It was her consideration for me.
I spoke straightforwardly to her.
“I came to make a deal.”
At those words, the Martial God’s eyes sparkled as if interested.
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PEAK
PEAK