âThere are things you can say, and there are things you canât say. Do you understand, Hunter Yum Ra-Du?â
Ji-Cheokâs voice was rather lower than usual, and he spoke slowly. Ra-Du wondered why. Still, the goosebumps didnât go away. However, if he was going to back off now, he wouldnât have started it in the first place.
âShut the fuck up! Iâm going to kill yoââ
Boom!
In that instant, Ra-Du lost sight of Ji-Cheok. Only when Ji-Cheok split the waves of flame and appeared a meter away from him, Ra-Du regained his senses and tried to quickly move the flame power he had gathered. Fortunately, he had finished stacking all the flames and the power had started to really kick in.
âI won!â
Ra-Du deliberately screamed loudly.
âSun Explosion!â
He used the skill with all his might, maybe because he felt a sense of urgency. As the name of the skill suggested, the condensed power of flame exploded out of his body with tremendous momentum. It was like a nuclear blastânot just pure heat, but quite literally explosive. It pulverized everything around it and burned the particles to ashes.
Booom!!!
âThis is the last skill youâll ever see. You will pay the price for disrespecting the power of the sun!â
However, Ra-Du saw something unbelievable happening right in front of him.
It was just a line at first, but then countless lines intersected at an incredible speed, and then merged to become one surface. It was a hemispherical barrier created by the Sword Qi.
âWhat was that called again? Ah, yes. It was called the Sword Qi Veil. Damn it. But isnât that skill used by cultivators at level 100 and higher?â
Ji-Cheok was approaching him, under the protection of the Sword Veil. He simply tore apart the Sun Explosion and stabbed Ra-Du with his sword.
Slash!
âARGGHHH!!!â
The sword covered in Sword Qi pierced right through Ra-Duâs shoulder. Not only did it go through the shoulder as if it was tofu, but it also left two entrance and two exit holes instead of one. Ji-Cheok had activated his Double Strike!
Ra-Du tried to step back, screaming in pain, but another sword stabbed him out of nowhere. This one pierced through his left thigh, also resulting in two tunnel-like holes.
âIT HURTS!!!!â
Yum Ra-Du rolled on the ground in pain. Since he had been raised without any hardship and rarely suffered any kind of wound, he now had to endure pain the likes of which he had never felt before.
âHmm⊠Hunter Yum Ra-Du. How can you complain so much about this little pain? Just a minute ago, I was being burned alive.â
Ra-Du could hear his low whisper. Without pulling out the sword, Ji-Cheok crouched down and showed his face to Ra-Du. The latter could hear a sizzling sound, and as he struggled to pull himself back, he groaned again in pain, because his body was being skewered by Ji-Cheok's swords.
âAh⊠You crazy bastard⊠YouâŠyour faceâŠ.â Ra-Du stuttered.
âAh, this? Itâs okay. It hurts like hell, but itâs going to be fine. I donât know if you know, but thereâs a skill which grants you a trollâs regenerative power, and this ring Iâm wearing grants me precisely that skill. Burns or otherwise, theyâll be healed soon enough.â
Half of Ji-Cheokâs face was distorted by the severe burn. His skin was red and swollen, and there was even a sizzling sound. However, just as Ji-Cheok said, the skin started to wiggle as it visibly regenerated.
âMy face is very important to me, so⊠itâs a bit troublesome. Itâs okay though, donât worry. I mean, there is no need for you to be worried, is there? When we get out of here, our bodies will be back to normal anyway.â
Ji-Cheok smiled creepily.
âAlso, it was you, Hunter Yum Ra-Du, who made my face like this. Out of all people, you shouldnât be surprised.â
While saying that, Ji-Cheok pulled out the sword from Ra-Duâs shoulder. The pain made Ra-Du scream once more as the sword left his body.
âAHHHH!! YOU BITCH!! STOP IT!!â
âI donât knowâŠ. Iâve been thinking about it, Hunter Yum Ra-Du. I donât think my problem is going to be fixed by cutting your throat here and winning the fight. What did you say earlier? About my brother?â
âYou⊠You little⊠AH!â
Ji-Cheok put his finger right in front of Ra-Duâs eyes.
âIâve been thinking about how I should teach you a lesson. Even if the wound heals, the pain will remain with you forever. You see, I just felt what itâs like to be burned alive, and I think I will remember that for the rest of my life.â
Ji-Cheokâs white hand brushed Ra-Duâs eyes.
âIf you had your eyeballs plucked out, how would you feel? It would be okay, though, I mean⊠everything is going to be back to normal as soon as we leave [The Arena].â
âYou⊠You crazy bastardâŠâ
âYou never should have talked about my family.â
Ra-Du closed his eyes so tight they almost hurt. He tried to struggle, but before he knew it, another hand was holding his neck. He didnât know why, but he couldnât move.
âItâs called Qi Point. I just pressed an acupuncture point on one of your energy meridians and made you kinda paralyzed. And when I say âkinda,â what I mean is that you canât move. As for pain and such, you can certainly feel every bit. Okay, thenâŠâ
Ji-Cheok gently pressed down on Ra-Duâs eyeballs.
Ra-Du burst into tears and started crying obscenely. Then, Ji-Cheok moved his fingers away.
âHahaha. Iâm just joking. I canât do that! Iâm streaming right now! But let me be clearâŠâ
Ji-Cheok brought his mouth close to the ear of the paralyzed Ra-Du.
â...even if itâs not in a dungeon, I can find you and dig out your eyes whenever I want to. So try not to provoke me next time. Got it, Mr. Yum?â
Fear and pain took over Ra-Duâs whole body. Just like that, he fainted on the spot.
* * *
Streamer Choco was at a loss for words.
He hadnât expected the match to turn out like this. The chat also went silent for a while. But eventually, the comments started to come up.
-What the fuck? What did I just see?
-Holy shit, he is so charismatic.
-I knew it. I thought he was a sociopath, but he was actually a psychopath!
âłOkay. I hope you donât do anything when someone is threatening your family.
âłAnd Ra-Du burned him alive too.
-Honestly, I thought Ra-Du crossed the line by bringing up his family, I was so relieved when Ji-Cheok beat the crap out of him.
-Iâm sure he said that because he had his grandpa and parents backing him. You will never set foot in Korea? Who wouldnât go mad after hearing that?
-Thatâs it. In conclusion, Ra-Du was pettier than we thought, and Ji-Cheok was stronger than we thought.
And these were comments from people who werenât his fans.
-UMJI!!!!!
âłOur Umji!!!
âłStrongest Umji!!!!
-Did he just use the Sword Curtain?
âłYupp. I saw Li Wu use it before.
âłWhen you say Li Wu, do you mean that level 100 cultivator from China?
âłYeah, he is the most famous cultivation Hunter.
-Thatâs so crazy! Itâs been less than a year since Umji became a Hunter, but he is already at that level. How did he get so strong so quickly?
âłMost Super Rookies become strong really quickly. It only takes them a few years to reach a high level.
âłThatâs not true. There are tiers between Hunters too depending on their job and skills. Even becoming a Super Rookie requires good basics and strong determinationâŠ
-Umji, you work really hard. T_T T_T You fought well without being intimated. Bbbbbb
-Umji, you are always full of surprises!! T_T
-Do not threaten Umji and his brother ever again! T_T Or Iâll be the one to gauge out your eyes.
âThe chat is pretty crazy, donât you think, Cheok-Liang? I feel like Iâve made a mistake.â
«Hunters eventually return to the law of power. It was always about âwinner takes all.â If Ra-Du had won, what he said about your family would also be forgotten by the public.»
âThe chat would be all like âwhy are you being so sensitive about what Ra-Du saidâ?â
«Yes, Master. As long as you are the winner, no one can question your actions. Also, you did not really gauge out his eyeballs anyway.»
Search bit.ly/3iBfjkV for the original.
âThatâs true. At that moment, I wasn't thinking straight. If he hadnât fainted, I might have really plucked them out.â
«The pain of the burns combined with your anger could have led to momentary cultivation deviation. I have no words to say other than that it was thanks to your superhuman self-control that you found your composure.»
âYou think so? I guess I was lucky. If he hadnât fainted, I might have been a bit dangerous too. So cultivators have to live with the risk of cultivation deviation, right?â
«Yes, Master. That is exactly it. But usually, there are not many cases where you end up actually burning while spewing out your bloodlust to your enemy. »
âDo you think I taught him a lesson?â
«It is going to be a lifelong trauma for Ra-Du.»
âNext time, Iâm really going to pluck his eyeballs.â
«Yes, Master. You did warn him.»
âThis is such a crazy world. Am I weird? Or is it the world thatâs weird? Or maybe dungeons and the Awakening are driving people crazy. I dunno.â
«Looking at that little manâs temper, I do not think he will bother you in the future, butâŠÂ»
âBut what?â
«The problem is with his family. A family is, after all, a group, and can be considered a small country in a sense. If they want to, they can continue to be a nuisance to you. So, you need to turn their attention elsewhere. In the meantime, Master, you should come up with a plan for yourself.»
âTurn their attention? How? And what kind of plan should I come up with?
«First you need to play them off against someone else. With the help of Jung Ji-Han, you can try and cause a dispute between the Jungha Group and Yum Family.»
âWouldnât that just be acting arrogantly through borrowed authority? Like an ass in a lionâs skin.â
«There is a difference, Master. The Jungha Group is the faction that Master currently belongs to, but they are not one hundred percent your ally, are they?»
âI guess so. I mean Ji-Han is friendly to me, but that doesnât mean that his whole family and I are close.â
«The answer is your skills, Master. There will be times when, in case of an emergency, you will have to cut off social attention and slaughter your enemies. It would be helpful to have skills related to communication blocking and stealth.»
âSo you want me to be the ultimate jack of all trades? Great, letâs do that. First, letâs finish the stream. Look, the final announcement is coming out.â
[Participant Um Ji-Cheok: Victory]
[The fight ends.]
Just like he had heard, [The Arena] closed without any hassle. He couldnât see anything in front of him, then in an instant, he saw the familiar surroundings. He had jumped out of [The Arena]. The injuries on his face were gone, and he didnât feel any pain. This was the power of the God.
[[Heart_of_a_warmonger] has shown interest in you.]
[The Gods have shown interest in you.]
[You have received 1,100 Likes!]
[You have received 1,100 Likes!]
[You have received 1,100âŠ]
They were the Likes sent by the Gods. It was clear that Godsâ fake names were being exposed more often than before. He had been able to feel the System window changing little by little ever since he had been contacted by the [He_who_denies_death].
«Itâs because the System is also evolving.»
âIf you look at how the messages have been simplified, you can see how the System is evolving. Also, even if you donât look at the simplified messages, you can feel the System is upgrading on its own. Do you think I can know each and every fake name of the Gods who give me Likes? Perhaps the day will come when the real name of the Gods will be revealed.â