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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: JayM
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The reason I wanted to exclude Lilac and Cheon Yoo-hak from this incident was simple.
The energy of this dragon vein wouldn’t be of much help to the two protagonists’ growth.
Once Lilac awakened, all energy other than the Holy Sword’s power would be purified and disappear. Cheon Yoo-hak was already almost at his limit in terms of the magical power he could accumulate.
Actually, in Cheon Yoo-hak’s case, if he used the dragon vein properly, he might be able to increase his capacity, but the problem was that he was the eldest son of the Cheon-hwa Group.
Even if Cheon Yoo-hak didn’t covet the dragon vein, his father certainly would.
Of course, he wouldn’t seize it by force. He would probably build a better orphanage elsewhere. But for Professor Park Ah-ram’s sake, I wanted to minimize the possibility of the orphanage disappearing.
Above all, none of the organizations involved in this incident were particularly dangerous.
The Twelve Zodiacs, who would have normally caused chaos, had been incapacitated, and I could handle the remaining three without the protagonists’ help.
The only thing I had to be wary of was the narrative intervention.
Although it was just my guess, there was a high probability that ‘he’ couldn’t use significant narrative changes yet.
It was the same at the entrance ceremony and in the other episodes.
He always intervened at crucial moments and never interfered with the story consecutively.
It meant that he wasn’t an absolute being in this world.
Of course, I wasn’t just making assumptions.
The void squirming in my heart was giving me certainty.
“…There really shouldn’t be any problems this time.”
I had prepared plenty of safety measures. It should be fine.
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Arcadia.
They were nominally classified as villains, but they didn’t regularly commit acts of terror or cause incidents. In fact, they didn’t act at all unless it was something that piqued their interest, so their threat level was considered low among the villains.
Of course, that didn’t mean that they were good people.
Every member was obsessed with a different field and wouldn’t hesitate to eliminate anyone who interfered with their work.
So far, they had dealt with other villains far more often and hadn’t harmed civilians yet, but that was only because the other villains had been more of an obstacle to their goals.
And among them, the one with the most troublesome obsession was the man currently writhing in boredom on their floating island headquarters.
Seo Tae-ho, the Fighting Demon.
He was a battle maniac who was obsessed with combat.
“Ah, I want to spar. I want to have a bloody, fierce fight to the death…”
He sealed his own talent and tested the body and characteristics he obtained solely through training.
He was a battle maniac who felt alive only in the midst of flesh-ripping, blood-splattering battles. As such, he was in a state of slight frustration today.
“Why are there only spineless bastards here?”
He deliberately picked fights by raiding other villain hideouts, but the so-called bosses abandoned their comrades and ran away, and the underlings were busy bowing their heads to survive instead.
Those who surrendered before even fighting were unqualified in his eyes so he broke their backs, but since he wanted to fight and not necessarily kill, his desire was building up instead of being satisfied.
“But I can’t pick fights with high-ranking guys without the boss’ permission.”
Ah, if he had thoroughly tested that brat that day, it wouldn’t be so bad. Or it would have been fun to fight that masked guy to the end.
“Kuhh… Will he ever appear again?”
As he smacked his lips while reminiscing about the past, a sharp girl’s voice rang out from nearby.
“Hey, Seo Tae-ho, are you crazy?”
“Ahem, can’t you see I’m lamenting the lack of worthy opponents in this world? Don’t interrupt me while I’m reviewing my battles with formidable foes.”
“You ate it.”
“…What are you talking about?”
“My rum raisin ice cream. The one I was saving. You kept saying you wanted to try it.”
“Ahem, I was just curious about the taste, so I took a bite.”
“…Yeah, a bite for your size.”
“Hmm, the taste wasn’t that great. Vanilla is better.”
“You elementary school palate bastard! Then why did you eat it?!”
“Because the ice cream was there.”
“You’re dead…!”
Hmm, fighting between members wasn’t strictly forbidden, but the boss wouldn’t like it.
It was an adult’s role to apologize to an immature child.
Thinking so, he stood up and uttered an apology.
“The taste wasn’t great, but I’ll buy you another one, so calm down.”
Of course, no one would accept such an apology.
“You…!”
“What’s going on?”
‘Oh dear, the commotion brought the boss out.’
“Seo Tae-ho ate my ice cream again!”
How petty, tattling to the boss like a little girl. Ah, she was a little girl.
“Boss, it’s not like that…”
“…I sometimes forget this isn’t a daycare center. I like that everyone hasn’t changed since we first met, but it’s tiring sometimes.”
“My apologies.”
“If you’re sorry, then do some work.”
“Hmm? A request?”
“Yes, the pay is good, so buy some rum raisin as a token of apology.”
“Hmm, I tried it, and vanilla or chocolate is better. Can’t I buy those instead?”
“Eat something that suits your size!”
“Ahem, aren’t I talking to the boss? I’ll deal with you later, so wait.”
“You crazy bastard…!”
“Anyway, what’s the request?”
“Stop bothering Cho-hong. Anyway, it’s a request for cooperation. It seems like they’re planning something big against the Yoo-sung Group.”
Yoo-sung. The moment he heard that name, his previously uninterested and languid eyes lit up.
“Yoo-sung!? You mean the Yoo-sung Group, one of Korea’s top five corporations!?”
“Yes. Originally, they weren’t planning an all-out war, but it seems like the resistance from Yoo-sung is stronger than expected, so they need support.”
“Huh, those bastards are manly. The Yoo-sung Group’s private soldiers are supposed to be quite skilled. What are they fighting about?”
“They said they found an undiscovered dungeon, and the Yoo-sung Group interfered while they were checking each other out.”
“…Does that make sense? What do they think they’ll find in a mere undiscovered dungeon to do something so crazy?”
“Why are you talking so sensibly? I thought you’d rush over as soon as you hear something interesting.”
“As expected, the boss knows me well! Let’s go!”
“…Haah, ah. They’ll probably hide their main force and send their collaborators to fight first. I think there will be internal conflict between them in the end… Are you listening?”
“Well, there’s nothing to listen to. I can just go and blow them all away, right?”
“…It’s formally a request, so don’t attack first.”
“Ah, who do you think I am? Don’t worry!”
“…Would Cho-hong like to go instead?”
“How much is it?”
“200 million.”
“Send that idiot. Who else would antagonize the Yoo-sung Group for 200 million besides that battle maniac?”
“…Right?”
“Haha! This will be fun!”
“Ah, if you have the chance, check out that so-called undiscovered dungeon.”
“Got it…!”
Excited by the scent of a decent fight after a long while, the Fighting Demon rushed out.
“…He left without even hearing the location?”
“…He has a knack for finding fights, so he’ll find his way there. He never shows up late, even though he does this every time.”
“Is that bastard really human?”
“…Don’t say that about our colleague, Cho-hong.”
But even as she said that, Callea couldn’t deny it herself.
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It would be nice if it happened, but villains didn’t exactly stick to weekends for their fights, so how was I planning to get involved?
The answer was simple.
Our company’s guard team was in charge of security, so I just submitted a field trip application to join them.
As a transmigrator, I knew the date of the attack.
The academy was quite lenient in these matters.
Of course, my father vehemently opposed it, but after recalling the dragon vein underground, he allowed it in the end while telling me to focus on recovery as we provided support from the rear.
But I’m sorry, I wasn’t planning to do that.
“Young master.”
“…I’m really sorry, but can you address me in any other way?”
“Little master.”
“I’m sorry. One should be humble. I’ve been very arrogant. If it has to be one of those two, ‘young master’ is better.”
He must have his own difficulties. He probably felt awkward bowing to someone much younger than him, so he couldn’t keep nitpicking about titles.
“There might be a fight here soon. Could you please retreat to the rear?”
“Hey, I can’t do that. I have to submit a field trip report to the academy.”
Of course, it was a lie. The academy field trip system was meant for students to gain experience in the field, not to throw them into battle.
“Is that so…?”
But how would a guard who had never been to the academy know that?
He seemed to consider me a troublesome burden, but it would be much better if we were there.
Most of the guards here were ordinary people using anti-superhuman equipment. Without Ha-ni and me, there might not be any deaths, but there would be quite a few injuries.
“Wow, this is what the field is like. It’s like a battlefield.”
Ah, I had forced Ha-ni to join under the pretense of experiencing our company’s guard team.
“Well, it’s not always like this, but it does get this intense in an open war.”
“Hey, why didn’t you bring the others? They’ll be very upset, you know.”
“They should focus on their own training sometimes without worrying about me. And you were very upset last time.”
“…When was that?”
“You were super sulky back then when you asked me if Lilac and Cheon Yoo-hak were my only friends.”
“Ah, really. That’s not what I meant~ Then why did you leave Yoo-na out?”
“Yoo-na? She wouldn’t come without Lilac.”
“Ah, yeah. That’s probably true. And you left Ga-eul out because it’s dangerous?”
“Yeah, she’s not suited for actual combat.”
“You pretend not to care, but you really do look after them.”
“What are you talking about? You’ll thank me after today.”
“Why, is there honey here or something?”
“No, but there is something better than honey.”
“Huh?”
Our conversation was devoid of any tension, but we weren’t neglecting our surroundings.
The subtle silence before the fight began, the stillness that enveloped the area, created an ominous atmosphere, an uncomfortable premonition.
We started to sense the presence of villains in the distance.
Ha-ni and I would each take on a B-rank villain, the only ones who could be considered big shots among them, and the guards would handle the rest.
“I’ll take the right.”
“Then I’ll take the left.”
Without hesitation, we ran towards our respective opponents.
As I reached the villain, he smirked at me.
Oh, I knew what he was going to say.
One hundred percent, he’d say something like, ‘Haha, what’s this, a kid?’ Physiognomy was a science.
“Haha, what’s this? Does Yoo-sung even deploy kids like you?”
“Ah, too bad. You almost got it right.”
“What?”
I glanced over to see that Ha-ni had already subdued the villain at the front of the group with a single draw of her sword.
Good. I was worried that she might be nervous in actual combat, but it seemed like I didn’t need to worry.
“What, is your friend stronger than you? Are you going to ask for help?”
“Hey.”
“Huh? This brat keeps talking down to me…”
“You’ve already used that line a lot, so get lost.”
Actually, I wanted to test myself too. Thanks to the numerous opportunities and elixirs I’ve gotten, I had finally reached a level where I could call myself a superhuman.
I should be able to take out extras in one shot, shouldn’t I?
“Grow.”
“Huh…?”
“Ruyi.”
The lightly thrown knife instantly regained its original form and enlarged.
“Crazy…!?”
The villains screamed as they were crushed by the immense mass.
Ah, this was a massacre.
…What? You’re saying Ruyi is the strong one, not me? Am I the only superhuman here then? They’re superhumans too, so how am I supposed to win otherwise?
Direct combat was still premature for me.
But one of them who had managed to escape in time charged at me.
“Who drops their weapon in the middle of a fight…! Get that thing out of the way…!?”
Of course, I didn’t actually drop it.
I took a stance and stomped hard on the approaching villain’s foot.
“Argh…!?”
“I can handle you one-on-one now.”
And then, a punch to the jaw.
His eyes rolled back, so it landed properly.
It was touching that when I punched someone now, they got hurt more than my fist did.
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T/N – Oh, the fighting maniac from that one villain group is coming. Can’t wait to see Ha-ni and the MC fight him.
Also, I’m so proud of the MC. He’s come a long way from almost popping his shoulders from trying to lift a 5kg dumbbell.
If you find any mistakes, feel free to point them out in the comments.
