SWNOVELXO Chapter 247: Mirror Treatment (2)
“Ugh!”
But Kang Chang-ho’s next attempt went awry.
He aimed to grab the blonde hair and deliver an extra blow while the enemy’s center of gravity was disrupted.
However, before his large hand could even grasp the hair, someone stood in his way with all their strength.
“Wait a moment!”
It was Jeong Ha-seong’s intervention.
Moreover, since this hero was also an S-Class Hunter, just holding his arm created tremendous resistance.
“Stop it.”
“Stop?”
Kang Chang-ho’s lips curled up in disbelief.
He chuckled a few times as if he found it amusing, then said calmly,
“Hunter Jeong Ha-seong. There’s a misunderstanding here. You heard everything we were talking about, didn’t you? Just let go for a second. It’s not a matter of someone barging in…”
“Calm down.”
“Haha. No, whether I should calm down or not. I’m the one being scammed here!”
The young man with black hair looked flustered, yet he didn’t let go of his grip, causing Kang Chang-ho’s laughter to grow louder.
“This is really troublesome. Why is a famous Hunter, who should be a role model, blatantly siding with a bad guy like this?”
“What did you say?”
“This side is the victim. If you’re going to restrain someone, you should catch that shameless guy over there who’s been scamming others, not me—”
The S-Class Hunter with the Dragon’s Eye lightly tussled with his opponent.
At that moment, someone ignited the boiling oil.
“The victim, my ass. Anyone listening would think you didn’t do anything wrong at all.”
“Mr. Kim Hunter?”
“Oh, when did this little bastard ever ask permission before stalking? Thankfully, I revealed my intention to sign the contract midway, or you would have tried to turn me into a sacrificial candidate by setting traps all over. And now you’re acting all wronged?”
“Haha.”
“Chang-ho. Just because you beat up a reporter doesn’t mean all that crap goes away. Do you think human behavior can be divided like addition and subtraction?”
The unique roughness of his speech displayed when stress and the threat to life are applied simultaneously.
Kim Gi-ryeo, with a baseline magic value of 15Aw, naively stirred up the opponent’s temper.
Jeong Ha-seong was, at least on the surface, flustered by the argument between these monster-level beings.
“Hey, Hunter Jeong. They are insulting someone with such lowly expressions over there, and I’m just supposed to listen quietly?”
Yet, he still did not remove his hand from Kang Chang-ho.
“Sorry to say, but I actually agree a bit with what Mr. Kim Gi-ryeo said.”
“…….”
“Considering the flow of conversation so far, it seems that Hunter Kang Chang-ho… likely has a skill like [Theft]….”
“Keep talking.”
“Normally, remuneration for donations in hospitals is absolutely not approved. That’s just how the rules of the world work. No matter what kind of compensation you promised, a contract that puts someone’s life at stake shouldn’t even constitute.”
The number one ranked Hunter tried to carefully navigate the situation with his words.
“But since it seems like Mr. Kim Hunter has also broken some promises, I think it would be better for you both to have a calm conversation… Ugh!”
Thud!
But the young man’s voice was abruptly cut off by a dull thud.
Kang Chang-ho forcefully pulled his arm free and began to glare at the schemer in question.
The massive life force energy coursing through his S-Class body began to transform into a heavier, more menacing aura.
He had indeed kept the sacrificial candidates alive for the sake of breaking the monotony of life, but he never expected such a large stimulus to arise, like being hit by a great fire.
No matter how much of an S-Class Hunter he was, breaking the Knight’s Pact was out of the question.
Kang Chang-ho had already ‘proven’ this premise before.
Though he couldn’t blindly trust the limited experiences he had, logically thinking, there was something about this situation that felt…
“Strange.”
S-Class Hunters were simply those who were a few steps ahead of others, despite the exaggeration surrounding their terms.
Evolution generally occurs gradually and gently.
So how could a mutation that surpasses them not only occur but do so at such a high probability so shortly after the introduction of the S-Class?
“Siren, Knight’s Pact…”
Kang Chang-ho began to list nonsensical words.
“Even with the Guild Master of the Korean Magic Tower clearly present, how bold were you to linger around an A-Class twin Red Gate… and [Unknown Cave].”
He finally grasped something.
The properties of Kim Gi-ryeo who ignored the Knight’s Pact.
If Kang Chang-ho had truly been someone lacking knowledge as a great mage said, it would have been easy to conclude that the opponent was just very lucky to have awakened supremely.
Yet he was aware of far more probable scenarios than that flimsy assumption.
“…It wasn’t just a simple slap in the face.”
His face rarely devoid of laughter now.
“There’s something fundamentally wrong with the whole situation. Right? Kim Gi-ryeo, don’t you think this is way too strange…?”
Following this, he quickly mumbled in a low voice, his demeanor showing signs of irritation.
Kang Chang-ho rushed towards the contractual partner again.
“Calm down!”
Thud!
But Jeong Ha-seong, who had been carefully observing the opponent’s actions, stepped in first to prevent the violence again.
It was a poor choice.
What kind of character was Kang Chang-ho? He maintained polite manners in most situations as a mammal of modern society, but once things went a little awry, his nature tended to surface.
“Ha, I swear…”
A bored remark that barely resembled a warning.
“You’re utterly useless, yet I kept you alive all this time…”
Immediately after, a speed attack began that an F-Class physique could hardly even recognize.
Kang Chang-ho twisted his expression into a crooked smile as he changed targets to attack Jeong Ha-seong. Seeing this, Kim Gi-ryeo quickly strengthened his sight with magic.
Bang!
In the momentary enhanced vision captured, only within a few seconds, the fierce combat between two S-Classes unfolded.
Jeong Ha-seong, unlike anyone else, had overall superior body functions and successfully countered Kang Chang-ho’s initial assault.
Crash! The punch aimed at his face was blocked by the Legendary weapon’s blade that Ha-seong swiftly brandished, slipping into the air.
As realized from the experience in the Beast incident.
Unlike dealing with the low-intelligence dungeon creatures, there was no time for analysis in battles between Awakened ones.
Whoosh!
Heat suddenly surged.
Although he never imagined he would need to use it in such a situation, thanks to training forcibly injected by some alien, Jeong Ha-seong could execute a counterattack without showing any significant opening.
Due to the urgency of the flames, the initial red flames bore an imperfect hue.
However, for some reason, from afar, it was an overwhelming image, fully engulfing the sandy beach in brilliant flames.
It was strange. Gilyeo, watching their fight, felt incredibly alarmed.
“Ugh!?”
That’s because Kang Chang-ho charged right through that fire without a scratch.
Jeong Ha-seong couldn’t dodge the high kick that slammed in through the barrier of fire and ended up exposing his head.
Though he raised his shoulder and arm in a hurry to block, the impact was unavoidable, bringing a throbbing pain to his jaw and cheekbone.
Like being hit by a truck—one heavy with loads or a body of water.
When referring to a born Awakened with such enormous strength, Jeong Ha-seong’s name was always mentioned alongside Brooklyn Morgan.
Heavy energy, by its nature, is inherently difficult to control.
Visualize how a one-ton truck speeding down the road would spill its massive weight upon sudden braking; one could immediately understand the dangers and anxieties they felt.
So, from Earth’s primitive standards, having massive magical power was hardly a blessing.
Here, in this space, there was a spellcaster who had characteristics that exactly contrasted with Jeong Ha-seong.
Kang Chang-ho possessed an Awakening level slightly below the S-Class average.
Yet, surprisingly, the most outstanding ability often displayed by someone with such a large and imposing physique was restraint and delicacy.
The results from the new PIXY tester ranked him at the very bottom among South Korean S-Class Hunters with a low Aw rating.
Was it because of the lighter energy he carried?
This quarter blood Awakened named Kang Chang-ho seemed completely free from the problems that those with ‘heavy’ talents like Jeong Ha-seong and Brooklyn faced.
He had no wasted energy values when activating skills classified as ‘blurring’ and could apply the range of enhancement magic down to a fingertip if he wanted.
And even his innate spells.
Without a priority image, the probability for Earthlings to awaken his unique attribute was fairly common. Physical enhancement was notably a magic-efficient category as well.
In simpler terms, it meant it was economical.
The collective physical mana volume was not lacking for an S-Class.
Additionally, the spellcaster’s innate delicate sensation.
And when using the same amount of fuel, it yielded a higher destructive power compared to other categories of spells.
A disadvantage.
Kang Chang-ho was fortunate to be endowed with a few coincidences that complemented his strengths. Despite being a mere underdog on paper, he managed to maintain arrogance.
Crash!
The sound of bones and skin colliding wasn’t believable.
Kang Chang-ho pushed his skin to the limit, ignoring most of the shallow flames conjured by the feeble hero.
Despite his valiant efforts in channeling his blue flame, nothing changed.
The speed at which this modern-day monster moved was several dozen times amplified, making it challenging even for an S-Class to fully track his movements.
Just as a shadow grazed past, the next strike loomed right at his face.
Bang!
“Jeong Ha-seong!”
However, only three or four seconds had passed since they began fighting.
Suddenly, a desperate cry echoed from one side of the beach…
“Stop! Run away!”
Jeong Ha-seong, guided by someone else’s voice, turned his head abruptly but did not create a simple scenario of being hit by an attack as he failed to notice.
He merely heard Kim Gi-ryeo’s advice through his ears and followed it with his body. As the opponent yelled so loudly, he widened the distance out of curiosity.
Kang Chang-ho, his adversary, also hesitated for a moment, as if considering listening to what was being said.
“I can’t be of any help in a fight against an S-Class.”
“Excuse me?”
“Right now, I have no power left to do that… This isn’t a 2:1 fight.”
After countless rounds of contemplation, he finally exposed his vulnerabilities.
From the hero’s perspective, Kim Gi-ryeo was a powerful figure who taught magic studies.
The number one ranked Hunter would likely regard the blonde at the rear as a serious threat. Yet, the reality was he was merely an utterly useless F-Class Hunter, so they shouldn’t continue a fight before something terrible happened.
“Ha-seong, you should back off from this. Just go call the police…!”
Gi-ryeo shouted to halt the battle, but he could not finish his sentence.
He also failed to accomplish what he intended.
Huh!
Kang Chang-ho suddenly shifted his thinking and charged towards Kim Gi-ryeo.
His low kick was about to shatter the last [Protection] barrier left around the great mage.
The black-haired spellcaster ultimately disregarded his master’s advice for the first time.
Flame!
Jeong Ha-seong shouted as he created a wall of searing fire between them.
“I’m fine! In that situation, it would be best if you, Hunter Kim Gi-ryeo, backed off and called for support! Thanks to your care, I can now manage a 1:1 with S-Class…”
“Think you can handle it?”
At that moment, the towering figure of the enhanced one returned in the blink of an eye.
Darkness suddenly descended.
Kang Chang-ho fully spread his hands as if to tear Jeong Ha-seong’s face apart but quickly aimed for a kick from an angle while his opponent’s field of vision was obstructed.
Using centrifugal force, he executed a spinning kick that targeted the torso unshielded by a defensive position. Despite being blocked conventionally, damage still remained.
This was the situation Gi-ryeo had feared.
If the National Hero felt confident they would win, the great mage’s side wouldn’t have revealed their vulnerabilities so recklessly.
But the actual situation was just as evident.
“Ugh?!”
Talent or not, Jeong Ha-seong found himself again on the defensive.
There was another deadly gap between the two S-Class Hunters.
There’s nothing as healthy for stress relief as sports. I used to kickbox for quite a while back in school…
Damn it!
No matter how strong someone was born, it was never easy to overcome a skilled martial artist solely with talent.
Kang Chang-ho was a seasoned practitioner.
He had steadily engaged in training since his days as an ordinary person and accumulated considerable experience in hand-to-hand combat.
Moreover, even before awakening, his skills could easily qualify him as a semi-professional.
Understanding how to move body weight. Knowing where to strike for maximum pain.
With every piece of information learned, his combat power as someone who awakened to S-Class was, of course, formidable.
Whoosh!
It was a fight that couldn’t be won in the first place.
In fact, on Planet Alphauri, those like Kang Chang-ho who fought up close using their body energy were termed as “氣士” (Qi Masters).
Back when the efficiency of magic had yet to be perfected, the magical spells that enhanced local concepts were remarkable for their low magical consumption, and for some reason, once initiated, they could be sustained throughout the battle. This led to a brief period where these Qi Masters overwhelmed the mages at the Academic Hall.
However, the golden age of melee superiority did not last long.
It was soon realized that the maximum combat power of professional Qi Masters and mages became roughly equal, which led to this saying in the other world:
【In front of a sword, ten steps; in front of a pen, fifty steps.】
If a mage and a professional Qi Master faced off.
If the distance at which they began their fight was less than ten steps, about nine out of ten times, the professional Qi Master would win.
If the distance was over fifty steps, barring any natural disasters, the intellectual would almost always dominate.
Yet the distance between the two S-Class Hunters just as they openly displayed their hostility was—
Less than two.
“……!”
Before long, the fire mage would pay dearly for failing to adjust the distance.
Kang Chang-ho unleashed magic towards the distant Kim Gi-ryeo.
As Jeong Ha-seong fell for the feint and diverted his gaze, Kang Chang-ho seized the moment to step closer.
A foreboding sound of wind whooshed past.
Kang Chang-ho bent his upper body and struck Jeong Ha-seong’s torso, which was not in a defensive posture.
Specifically, he aimed for the liver and the ribs, which do not have protective measures like other viscera.
Crack!
A liver blow hit hard, leaving Jeong Ha-seong unable to catch his breath.
He tried to right himself somehow, but oddly, no matter how much strength he attempted to muster, his body began to tilt to one side.
“Ugh…!”
A blinding pain surged, turning everything in front of him to white.
The human liver is closely tied to the autonomic nervous system; thus, a great shock causes all blood vessels to dilate momentarily.
Blood pressure plummeting. Losing control, his lower body falters.
“Ugh!”
The situation solidified.
As Jeong Ha-seong panicked over his body acting against his will, the true cold-hearted being of Earth took advantage of the distraction to strike another blow towards the head.