Chapter 100: The Crack
Chapter 100: The Crack
There was no particular reason why Ji-woo decided to let Yu-jin join the training. If one needed to become nitpicky, it was because the practice wouldn’t last long. He was a person who had no Mana, and his knowledge of it was also limited. Teaching them one or two ways wasn’t too hard. After all, they wouldn’t bother him much since he was the one who arranged their meeting schedule later.
“Magic of Fire, Phoenix spirits!”
Yu-jin spread her arms, and three phoenix-shaped flames appeared above her head. She then threw it at Ji-woo in a hurry. She didn’t stop with that and used another magic spell.
“Magic of Fire, God’s Arrow!”
Yu-jin’s palms clapped forward. Her hands shone, and a big fiery arrow appeared, enveloping them. She shot three fire arrows in succession behind the Phoenix spirit.
The magic spells were enough to send heat all the way to Dong-hyun, who was some distance away from Ji-woo and Yu-jin.
However, Ji-woo casually used both hands to dispel those magic spells effortlessly. The magic spells vanished without traces the moment it had contact with him.
Yu-jin narrowed her eyes while Dong-hyun had an ‘as expected’ expression on his face.
She wanted to open his mouth to ask how Ji-woo could do that. However, she gave up her intention and tried another magic spell that she was good at.
The result remained the same. Ji-woo completely obliterated the magic spells without breaking a sweat.
Yu-jin didn’t understand what was going on. No matter what kind of magic she used, they were all useless. What really confused her was the way Ji-woo got rid of all the magic. The method was much different from what Dong-hyun did before.
‘How could he do that?!’
Dong-hyun neutralized Yu-jin’s magic by using the same element like that. But, Ji-woo didn’t do that at all. Even Mana could not be felt from him, whether he was doing a parry or just standing still.
It was Yu-jin’s first time dealing with Ji-woo so closely. Previously, she was not focused on what Ji-woo was doing because she was too irritated by his cowardly running attitude. The truth about the tier-3 Portal Gate didn’t necessarily make her recognize Ji-woo.
Yet, she couldn’t do anything to Ji-woo in the slightest. On second thought, her challenge to a duel in the previous Battle Royale seemed like a joke. Maybe she couldn’t win at all, seeing all her magic not working.
She then gritted her teeth and insisted on the last resort.
“Magic of Fire, Supernova!”
Yu-jin trembled, and her eyes turned to illuminate golden color. Her skin was like a stone burning by high-temperature flames, and she began to hover above the ground. Her entire body turned into a searing sun that scorched the surroundings and radiated intense heat over a large area.
Dong-hyun couldn’t stand the scorching heat, quickly retreated, and moved away from Yu-jin.
On the other hand, Ji-woo jumped into action and closed the gap with Yu-jin. He couldn’t let the magic finish its channeling. Not only would the surroundings get affected, but his clothes would also end up burned.
Ji-woo hit Yu-jin in the stomach hard enough, enough to knock her out.
Dong-hyun, who saw that occurrence, showed his dissatisfaction.
“Wow! Totally heartless. Hitting a woman mercilessly like that.”
“Make up your mind. Didn’t you say before I had discrimination when letting her join the training? And now you’re saying I’m heartless!?
“You seem even more presumptuous even though you’ve seen me kill those hunters before.”
Dong-hyun jolted at those words from Ji-woo. He immediately shrank his back and lowered his head.
“Come here. Pick her up, and lean her against the tree.”
“Yes~~~,” Dong-hyun answered languidly. He moved his body like he was pulling a heavy object.
The purpose of that brief exchange was to show Ji-woo’s strength was undeniable. He had to confer his dominance. He knew Yu-jin still looked down on him even though she knew the story about the Demon Apes dungeon.
Only then would Yu-jin really listen to what he had to say. It would also make it easier to teach her a little about magic and Mana.
Ji-woo and Dong-hyun then continue training. He pointed out the shortcomings of the short burst technique utilized by Dong-hyun.
Mana usage was still inefficient. Another problem was, retracting and restoring Mana still took a bit longer than it should have.
After that, Dong-hyun got forced to have a spar with Ji-woo. He reluctantly did so, as he also had no choice.
Dong-hyun lost, battered, and pitifully. He massaged the part of his body that got bruised from Ji-woo’s beating.
Ji-woo originally wanted to tell Dong-hyun to deliver the golden spear along with the set of golden armor to Ma-no. But, he changed his mind because of Yu-jin.
He then assigned Dong-hyun to stay with Yu-jin until she woke up and left both of them behind.
Dong-hyun was more obedient now that he had got beaten by Ji-woo. His mouth wasn’t as chatty as before.
A few minutes after Ji-woo left, Yu-jin woke up from her dream. She was bewildered after remembering what was happen to her. She looked at Dong-hyun with a face demanding an explanation of what happened after she passed out. How could she wake up under the tree alone with him?
Dong-hyun recounted what happened while massaging his neck and shoulders due to the lingering pain all over his body.
“How could he do that? Did I lose in just one hit? Is he an S-ranker!?”
Dong shrugged at Yu-jin’s question. He didn’t know how Ji-woo could dispel their magic spells. He also didn’t ask more because Ji-woo didn’t tell him either.
Yu-jin couldn’t gauge how strong Ji-woo was. She knew that she was no match for Ji-woo, but losing so quickly was beyond her expectations. Even an A-ranked would have to go to great lengths to beat her. If it was that easy, shouldn’t Ji-woo be an S-rank hunter?
Yu-jin admitted the truth of Ji-woo’s power. She felt perfectly subdued and lost her will to doubt him. Now, she didn’t want to get taught just a trick or two. She hoped to get guided to get strong like Ji-woo.
“You better get a hold of yourself. Don’t bother Ji-woo hyung anymore because he’s already willing to accept you in this training. Keep everything between us a secret. One more thing, don’t talk about hunters in front of the hyung’s family.”
Yu-jin just stared at Dong-hyun. She didn’t understand why the rules were like that. Anyway, she didn’t want to bother with it and only thought about training.
“Ji-woo hyung is scary. Scarier than magic.”
Elsewhere, Ji-woo arrived at the front door of the artifact item and weapon shop on the 13th floor of the Hunter Association’s headquarters. He took out the two things and handed them to Ji-hye since Ma-no was not there.
He had already informed Ma-no before he came. And the deal was the same as before, a dividend of 90% to him and 10% to the shop. He also got told by Ma-no that the sales might not be as fantastic as before due to regulations regarding auction procurement.
Ji-woo didn’t mind it and let Ma-no handle everything. He strolled inside the shop, looking for armor items. He knew the material wouldn’t suit him, but he didn’t have much choice. He needed it to enter the next Portal Gates.
He bought one tier-3 Portal Gate and two tier-2 Portal Gates. It cost him 345 million won for those three Portal Gates.
And now, he had just bought a leather armor item of almost the same quality as Dong-hyun’s Kevlar vest for 30 million won.
That left Ji-woo with only 37 million won in his account. Those three Portal Gates were better off having a lot of loot that could return his investment more than the initial cost.
The next day, Ji-woo got summoned to the Demigod guild headquarters. The summons was not the same as before where they entered the three tier-3 Portal Gates. The hunters there were only about 40 to 50 people. Yu-jin and Dong-hyun were also there.
Ji-woo became a spectacle because of the two hunters. If it was just Dong-hyun, they still understand since he was the lowest in the guild. But, Yu-jin? She was a D-rank hunter. Why follow an E-rank hunter? That didn’t make sense!
He also didn’t expect that Yu-jin would act almost the same way as Dong-hyun. The only difference was the attitude. One was busy looking for attention, and the other looked indifferent as if she didn’t care.
The guild planned to train all those present hunters in preparation for entering the tier-4 Portal Gate. And there would also be a test to join the team that would enter the tier-5 Portal Gate.
The reactions were mixed. Some hunters were happy. Some were worried and scared because the top-tier Portal Gates was extremely dangerous for those C-ranks and below.
And there was Ji-woo, who didn’t care at all. He dropped a bomb that made all hunters’ eyes fall on him.
“Can I ask for a vacation or maybe skip this training?”