The Pyromaniac's Ignited Envy
Lee Siwoo stared in silence with a cold, inscrutable gaze at the shattered training sword lying on the ground.
It had been neatly cleaved in half with a single strike, rolling across the earth like an ordinary lump of metal.
It was a sturdy weapon made specifically for hero academy students.
And yet Lee Jinhyuk had shattered it in one effortless blow.
*That was sword qi projection, wasn't it?*
Sword qi projection.
One of the advanced techniques of the sword dao.
Talented individuals without exceptional abilities rarely mastered it no matter how long they trained.
Even those with talent had to dedicate endless years to perfecting their swordsmanship before they could wield it.
Among the prodigies who received the best nutrition, strict curricula, and massive support since childhood, only an extremely small number could use it at Lee Siwoo's age.
It was that difficult a skill.
*Among my peers, only a handful could use sword qi projection.*
Even in the Union, where countless prodigies gathered, the number of students who dared wield it was miniscule.
As far as Lee Siwoo knew, it was probably only a few dozen at best.
He never imagined that Lee Jinhyuk could use it too.
Moreover, Jinhyuk's sword qi projection was exceptionally powerful. If Lee Siwoo hadn't deflected it, he might have been in serious danger.
Its power was so great that Lee Siwoo would have to say it was slightly stronger than his own.
If Lee Siwoo had taken the blow head-on without defending, his personal sword qi barrier would have shattered into pieces.
Ah, of course. Jinhyuk's sword qi projection had been so strong because Lee Siwoo had absorbed part of his power, granting it even greater force.
Of course, Lee Siwoo had no idea of this fact.
*Using the bow must have been a lie.*
There was no other explanation.
Jinhyuk's archery had been average at best.
Not bad, but hardly exceptional. It wouldn't be enough for admission to the Union.
And yet Jinhyuk was also a master who could use sword qi projection.
Even a once-in-a-generation genius couldn't train both bow and sword at the same time without one suffering.
The sword was the real deal, and the bow had to be the act.
*Then why hide the ability to use sword qi projection?*
A question.
A faint doubt stirred.
Lee Siwoo could not understand why Jinhyuk had hidden this all along.
*No, it's not just that.*
The more Lee Siwoo thought about it, the stranger Jinhyuk became.
Not using sword qi projection, suddenly erasing Lee Siwoo's qi in an instant, triggering some mysterious anomaly ability that made the ground crack beneath him...
*He had always seemed to be hiding something.*
But how much was he hiding?
It felt like he was concealing an unknown anomaly ability, yet Lee Siwoo could sense nothing definite about it.
An instant force dispersion or ground-cracking anomaly.
Of course, it might not be an anomaly at all. Maybe it was an artifact.
The variety of artifacts and their abilities was endless.
If Jinhyuk had used one, Lee Siwoo could have accepted it.
*Artifact... hmm.*
Lee Siwoo briefly pondered, then suddenly shook his head inside.
No, that couldn't be.
Logically, no one who held something as precious as an artifact would keep it hidden from Lee Jinhyuk.
The SL Group, the Heogyeong Clan, and the Gaonuri bloodlines possessed artifacts but had never even seen one in person.
People who owned artifacts were already extremely rare.
Those who owned useful ones in actual combat were even fewer.
It was far more realistic to believe Jinhyuk was hiding a strange anomaly ability than to assume he possessed a powerful, practical artifact strong enough for real-world use.
There were indeed many hero aspirants who hid their abilities.
Usually it was either because they possessed something they couldn't tell others about, or because using the ability was inconvenient.
*Regardless, two things about Jinhyuk were certain.*
He was a man with many secrets.
And he was quite strong.
Because he hid things so tightly, it was hard to gauge his true power.
Yet he had used sword qi projection.
He couldn't be weak.
...Surely it wasn't the only ability he could use.
*Sigh. My head hurts.*
At first it had only been a mild annoyance because Jinhyuk stayed close to Soyeon.
But here they were, fighting.
Even as his ex-boyfriend, Jinhyuk's constant proximity to Soyeon made Lee Siwoo feel vaguely uneasy.
He wasn't actually jealous or disgusted.
But every time he saw Jinhyuk and Soyeon laughing together, an uneasy feeling crept in.
They hadn't actually broken up, had they?
He knew they had been childhood friends for over ten years, but watching them act as if it were nothing felt oddly unsettling.
Jinhyuk and Jin Soyeon had supposedly decided to remain friends because they weren't romantically involved.
Yet their behavior had a strange undercurrent.
Whenever Lee Siwoo stared, it was hard to tell if they were truly just friends.
Moreover, the looks Jin Soyeon occasionally gave Jinhyuk were far from friendly.
She would glance at him whenever he was with another girl, showing a mix of irritation and something darker.
Jinhyuk seemed to want to create distance.
But Jin Soyeon, on the contrary, seemed determined to stay close.
Watching them, Lee Siwoo felt...
What was it?
*Ah. Yeah.*
Suddenly Lee Siwoo smiled bitterly inside.
*Jealousy, is it...?*
Admitting the ugly feeling that had been simmering inside him felt strangely embarrassing.
It was like admitting his own raw, unfiltered emotion.
He had gone out of his way to approach Jinhyuk and ask if he was suitable for Soyeon's company, all driven by that petty jealousy.
But Jinhyuk had calmly shattered Lee Siwoo's sword as if proving his strength and position.
*The way he swung the blade looked sloppy, but if that was all a feint to lure in carelessness...*
Truly, Jinhyuk was something else.
Lee Siwoo unconsciously tightened his grip on the broken sword hilt.
It was no longer a vague sense of jealousy or envy.
As a swordsman, Lee Siwoo's competitive spirit flared.
Because he couldn't read Jinhyuk's real strength, curiosity and rivalry burned even hotter.
He had deliberately enrolled in the Union Academy nearly last, hiding his abilities.
His unknown anomaly ability was also unsettling.
*If he doesn't give up now and wants to fight again, what will happen?*
The sword was already broken.
Lee Siwoo had no idea what else Jinhyuk was hiding.
Challenging him again was basically suicidal.
Yet the pressure in his fist kept growing.
The urge to test the opponent's strength by clashing swords had almost never come over him before except against Baek Yurin or Kang Daehan.
But right now...
"No, I feel like you're hiding a lot more than I thought, Jinhyuk."
"......"
"You don't want to tell me properly, do you? Fine. Doesn't matter."
"......"
What are you thinking right now, Jinhyuk?
Lee Siwoo slowly parted his lips while staring at Jinhyuk's expressionless face.
"Lee Jinhyuk, I..."
At that moment.
"Ehehe, cute little guys. Want to have a fight with each other?"
A mysterious male voice slipped into Lee Siwoo's and Jinhyuk's ears from somewhere in the distance.
Lee Siwoo's eyebrows furrowed slightly.
He had been focusing on Jinhyuk and hadn't noticed the approach.
Who was this man?
He looked like an adult.
He could have been a test instructor or security guard, but his words, actions, and clothing ruled out anyone from the academy.
He wore shabby, worn clothes and a lopsided burnt-rabbit mask.
His boisterous laughter screamed delinquent or troublemaker.
"...Who are you?"
This forest was managed by the academy.
Countless security personnel and instructors had been placed to block access by the media and unknown outsiders.
A barrier had been erected so that even ordinary people couldn't enter.
In other words, this man was no ordinary lost hiker.
"Me? Hah, well..."
The man in his early thirties to mid-thirties shrugged nonchalantly.
"Just some pyromaniac. Pyromaniac."
Thud. Thud.
Several footsteps approached from beyond the bushes.
Soon two people emerged from the thicket.
Both were adults. Their clothes and demeanor made it clear they were anything but ordinary.
"Seen on the news a few times, you know."
With a disgruntled laugh, the burnt-rabbit mask was adjusted.
Lee Siwoo frowned. That lopsided burnt-rabbit mask—the identity of the man.
He had seen it somewhere before.
Where?
It was definitely from an old television...
"Siwoo! That guy's a pyromaniac—Kim Hwasung! Ha Jungsan Buitora!"
"......!"
"Hah! There's a junior who remembers me!"
With Jinhyuk's shout, Kim Hwasung summoned a glowing ball of flame and hurled it toward Lee Siwoo and Jinhyuk.