Chapter 62. Forgive Your Enemy (7)
The story Jo Yoon told him was completely out of left field, but Jeonghyeon held his tongue because she kept slipping in lines like, "You must already know all this, sir…."
After finishing the meal, Jeonghyeon headed out of the building himself to see Jo Jeonghu.
"Let's see how well that bastard's been living without lifting a finger."
"I doubt you'll see the kind of spectacle you're hoping for."
Every time Jo Yoon brought up Jo Jeonghu, she bowed her head. Sympathy and pity filled her face.
"The Jo family... they treat collateral branches who prove their worth better than direct descendants who can't cut it."
"Oh? So it's equal opportunity?"
He figured a family clan like that would be even better than some corporation.
"The problem is, the direct line has sky-high expectations. They have to accomplish that much more to measure up."
It wasn't long before Jeonghyeon arrived at where Jo Jeonghu was holed up.
It was too pathetic to call a house. Just a pile of scrap materials dumped in a completely ruined playground in an abandoned neighborhood.
"No way this is it?"
"...Yes."
Jo Yoon walked past a dumbfounded Jeonghyeon—who was equal parts baffled and incredulous—and called out to Jo Jeonghu amid the heap of debris.
"Jeonghu-nim. He's here."
After a long silence, Jo Jeonghu emerged from between the scraps, looking utterly wretched.
His body was skin and bones, like a rat soaked in the rain. It was questionable if he could even hold a gauntlet, let alone fight with one.
"You... came... sir...."
Jeonghyeon had felt like punching him on sight, but seeing him like this killed even that impulse.
"You're... Codename Lude, right?"
Lude? What the hell is that?
Jeonghyeon paused at the unfamiliar name, shooting a subtle glare at the drone instead.
Ah, ah! No way... Are you planning a proxy fight?!
"A drone that knows its stuff. Yeah. We've been gathering underground fighters from all over for proxy battles in the west."
The quick-on-the-uptake drone picked up on Jeonghyeon's glance and asked first. Jo Yoon praised it and spilled the details freely.
Proxy fights? What the hell was going on?
"Is that even allowed?"
"As long as it proves your ability, using a proxy is fine. Of course... plenty of people won't accept it."
"Then you do it."
"I can't. By the rules of Jo family infighting, only fellow direct descendants or total outsiders qualify."
What kind of ridiculous rules were these? Might as well make it a proper arena.
"Please have Lude-nim join the ranking battles and stop the competition."
"How the hell do I do that?"
"Didn't you come here knowing...?"
"Knowing what?"
Jo Yoon continued, looking incredulous.
"We paid you the deposit, and you agreed to pass the qualifiers... then die, right?"
"...What?"
***
These bastards kidnap people and throw them into arenas. They stuff hunters into dungeons and force them to fight. Now they're hiring proxies to die in Jo Jeonghu's place.
He knew they were crazy to some degree, but this was next-level insanity.
"Ha."
Pity welled up seeing the poor guy's state, but the thought of sacrificing others' lives to save that worthless one made his blood boil again.
"Hold on... I thought Codename Lude had a build similar to Jeonghu-nim?"
Jo Yoon eyed him suspiciously, sensing he wasn't the guy she'd expected.
"Never said I did."
No point hiding his identity anymore.
"You son of a...! Then...!"
Jo Yoon belatedly channeled mana into her gauntlets, now shifted to glove form. Jeonghyeon raised a finger to stop her.
"But you've piqued my interest."
The same oppressive aura from the arena radiated from Jeonghyeon. Having seen what happened to Jo Minjun, Jo Yoon froze, only watching as he approached Jo Jeonghu.
"How about this?"
Standing before Jo Jeonghu, Jeonghyeon clapped a hand on his shoulder.
Then he turned to Jo Yoon.
"You've seen what I can do. I can show you more if you want."
Jeonghyeon had no intention of fighting as a bare-knuckle brawler himself. Even at his peak, taking on the Jo family—who'd honed nothing but fistfighting—would be too tall an order. It'd take too much time.
And dying in his place? Absurd.
But Jeonghyeon had a method tailored perfectly to him.
Not thrilled about it... but it's an opportunity.
"Follow me."
Grabbing the back of Jo Jeonghu's neck like a hostage, Jeonghyeon dragged him to a corner of the playground.
"You. You don't wanna keep fighting for rankings in a dump like this, right?"
"Y-Yes...?"
Jo Jeonghu stumbled along helplessly in Jeonghyeon's grip.
"Your brothers and sisters must've tormented you nonstop."
"Yes...."
"Then swear loyalty to me. I'll get you out of the Jo family."
"Even if... they'll chase me to the ends of the earth."
"Nah, I can collapse the whole thing anytime."
"No. I... "
"I can do it. I'll make you strong."
"No. I can't... Whether you're Lude or not, you won't help me... Just...."
"Fuck. Can't listen to this anymore."
Thwack!
Jeonghyeon seized Jo Jeonghu's throat and fixed him with a glare brimming with raw disgust and hatred—the kind he'd never shown another soul.
"Shut that stammering trap and listen up. I hate your guts. But I'm helping you anyway. So if you whine one more time... then...."
"...Guhk... guk."
Part of him wanted to end it right there, but that wouldn't change a thing. It'd just look like bullying a trembling weakling.
How was that any different from monsters?
"Then I won't hold back...."
Sudden emptiness washed over him. Jeonghyeon dropped Jo Jeonghu with a thud and sighed deeply.
"Ha."
He poured mana into his Demon King's Eye and snapped his fingers.
Attempting to dominate Jo Jeonghu. Executing domination via contract.
If the subject accepts the contract, domination is established regardless of loyalty.
A status window appeared before Jeonghyeon. Jo Jeonghu, kneeling and staring blankly upward, had red demonic energy swirling in his eyes—his own window must have popped up too.
"What... is this?"
"Your lifeline out of the gutter."
Jeonghyeon squatted to meet his gaze.
"Your choice. Hiring a proxy to die for you? Means you've seen it all."
All or nothing. Jeonghyeon rummaged his inventory, dropping a mana stone weapon in front of him.
"Th-this...!"
What...? This overflowing mana? Mana stone weapons are real?!
"You can sense mana too? Nosy drone."
The thing knew everything.
"Yeah. Mana stone weapon, like the drone said. One of a kind worldwide. Trust me now?"
"...."
Jo Jeonghu silently reached out and pressed the air firmly.
Subject: Jo Jeonghu
Hunter Rank: A
Dragon: Storm Dragon Mirtus
Skills: One Strike (F)
Loyalty: Lv. 1 (EXP debuff active due to low loyalty)
Forgive Your Enemy
Reward: Searching... Conditions not met!
Standing by until conditions are satisfied.
Quest cleared, but no reward. Maybe it'd come when conditions were met, but it was random anyway. No point getting hopes up.
Domination via contract, so not fully my limb yet.
Perhaps true submission would trigger the reward.
Still disappointing.
"Low. Pathetic. Trash among trash."
"Ugh...."
Even so, his hunter rank was A. Clearly forced by goons like Jo Yoon.
Explained why he'd been a nuisance in the tower.
"Alright. I'm your master now."
"M-Master...?"
Jeonghyeon stood, brushing himself off.
"Hey, Jo Yoon."
"Y-Yes!"
She responded blankly to his call.
"How long till the ranking war?"
"A little under two weeks!"
"Good. You come too."
"Where to?"
She sensed he was strong, hoped good things for her charge Jeonghu... but dread crept in at the unknown.
Her face paled at his answer.
"The arena."
Jeonghyeon planned to throw Jo Jeonghu into the arena.
***
This is insane! You're really... Can I fall in love with you just once?!
"I'm gonna kill you. Smash you to bits."
Jeonghyeon threatened the chattering drone indifferently.
In the arena locker room, he was slipping gloves onto Jo Jeonghu's hands.
"Wait, is this right?"
He equipped the mana stone weapon himself.
No point letting the guy use it—he couldn't unleash its power anyway. Better to build liberation gauge now for epic evolution later.
"Yeah. Perfect fit. Time to start?"
Prep OK! Heading out first!
The drone went ahead to hype the crowd.
Jeonghyeon placed a hand on Jo Jeonghu's shoulder, staring down coldly.
"You won't die. Even if it hurts like hell. And you'll win. So don't act like a loser before it starts."
Jo Jeonghu followed Jeonghyeon's back out, as if entranced, walking on his own feet for the first time.
The drone's voice alone nearly burst with joy.
Fair enough. Viewer count's crushing it.
Splat!
A man descended from above, twirling curved daggers in flashy acrobatics.
Tight clothes, high-heeled shoes. Weirdly bent daggers in both hands.
Like a circus acrobat.
Experience sharing activated.
Sharing EXP with Philip and Jeonghu. No further sharing possible.
Jeonghyeon activated two skills at once.
First: Mirror Learning, boosting ability just by watching him fight. Second: Experience Sharing, turning Jeonghu's gains into his own EXP currency.
He fights, Jeonghu grows. Convert domination EXP to points, invest in stats, repeat.
Jeonghyeon's rule.
"Skill'll burn it into you even if you hate it, but don't miss a thing."
He hadn't noticed with Philip, but sharing had another perk.
Skills the subject bodily mastered transferred back.
Right now, Jo family martial arts were etched into Jeonghyeon's body.
"Name's too childish to say."
Jeonghyeon circulated mana and assumed stance. Leo spun his daggers to warm up.
"Heh heh heh... I'll kill you so dead you won't know it happened. Then join the Jo family!"
"Storm Dragon Fist...."
As the drone signaled start, Jeonghyeon punched with space-piercing speed.
"One Strike."