Chapter 132
Chapter 132
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 132
Chapter Title: Black Sight Onslaught
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Kang Jae-hyeok had enrolled in Lion's Castle purely for safety reasons.
He preferred the school's protection over facing assassination threats even at home.
Yes, all he wanted was to survive first and foremost.
‘But why does it always end up like this?’
Stab!
[Black Sight]
A needle-thin, razor-sharp arrow of mana pierced through Jae-hyeok's right earlobe.
The professors.
They were the pillars of the school.
All A-rank players, excelling in both combat prowess and academic achievements, they held a position of great respect in society.
They were on an entirely different level from the low-tier assassins who had targeted Jae-hyeok until now.
Unlike the president of Daeyang Shipping, who had only recently become A-rank, there were no weaknesses here.
‘A specialist.’
Professor Woo Kyohwan, now his enemy, was close to the ideal player Jae-hyeok had imagined.
The moment he let his guard down, disaster would strike.
“Hoo.”
Jae-hyeok took a deep breath. He maximized his concentration to utilize every stat he had gained from killing and leveling up the beastmen.
“You couldn’t react. Should I lower the speed a bit more?”
Woo Kyohwan lightly bent his long index finger.
Screeech—!
A second Black Sight shot out simultaneously.
It pierced through Jae-hyeok's left earlobe.
“…You didn’t dodge.”
Woo Kyohwan's tone remained calm.
But inwardly, he was impressed.
His first skill, Black Sight, was stealthy and fast.
When used in small quantities, the chances of the opponent detecting the movement were low.
Yet Jae-hyeok's gaze had accurately tracked Black Sight twice.
And he hadn’t dodged either time.
It was a series of surprises.
Originally, Woo Kyohwan had planned to exploit the blind spot in Jae-hyeok's vision the moment he dodged and launch a follow-up attack.
‘How did he know I’d avoid the vitals?’
Did he react after seeing the trajectory change mid-flight?
‘No way.’
Even with the aid of a detection-type artifact, it would be impossible.
Black Sight changed its trajectory when it was only 30 centimeters from Jae-hyeok's eyes.
There wasn’t enough time for him to observe and react until the end.
‘This kid trusted our positions.’
Teacher and student.
Jae-hyeok must have held the naive belief that a teacher wouldn’t harm a student.
‘So innocent.’
Tactics.
To devise strategies and countermeasures for victory in war, it was crucial to gauge the opponent’s level and psychology.
As a professor of tactics, Woo Kyohwan quickly read Jae-hyeok's mind.
He devised a plan to easily gain the upper hand by exploiting the boy's psychology in reverse.
‘I’ll teach you that with that mindset, you can’t protect Jo Seong-hyeon.’
Bang!
Two shots of Black Sight flew toward Jae-hyeok's eyes.
This time, he truly intended to blind him.
Wounds could be healed with potions anyway, and this was a place that sold them, so there was no hesitation.
‘Abandon the delusion that all professors are benevolent toward students.’
Regret and despair in a darkened world, let it seep into his bones.
That was what Woo Kyohwan desired.
Twitch.
Jae-hyeok's shoulder jerked, and a sword gleam faintly slashed diagonally.
He had drawn his sword from its sheath while standing ramrod straight.
It happened just before Black Sight reached his eyes.
Slash!
A sharp cutting sound rang out.
The shattered fragments of Black Sight orbited around Jae-hyeok's sword like satellites.
‘He was observing and reacting all this time?’
Chills ran down Woo Kyohwan's skin.
For a strategist like him, encountering a variable beyond his predictions was a profoundly shocking experience.
“…I had judged that you protected Jo Seong-hyeon thanks to cooperating with a hidden master in Jae-kyung. My misjudgment. It might have been purely your own skill.”
Woo Kyohwan gauged Jae-hyeok's level and stats.
‘The sword was drawn and swung when Black Sight was just 30 centimeters away. Considering that Black Sight's power was limited to 30 percent and the inherent performance of Kang Family Iaido, he’s at the upper D-rank level.’
…Is that even possible?
It meant the boy, who was only level 10 during the entrance re-examination, had reached level 30 or higher in less than three months?
‘Such growth isn’t possible within the academy. It seems the artifact he possesses is more powerful than I thought. Perhaps even legendary grade…’
Woo Kyohwan had hit the mark for the first time.
But only halfway.
It was true that Jae-hyeok possessed multiple legendary items, but he wasn’t using them right now.
‘Is the probing over?’
Jae-hyeok sheathed his sword and lowered his upper body.
He wanted to charge at Woo Kyohwan right away.
It was only natural for a swordsman to close the distance against a ranged dealer.
But Woo Kyohwan was a master of tactics.
He judged that approaching recklessly would likely lead to a trap.
‘Especially that briefcase.’
He had easily blocked the High Inquisitor Alus's Dagger that Jae-hyeok had thrown with all his might.
It was a bag made of metal with high mana conductivity.
Being a specially made bag, it undoubtedly contained something special.
The sight of the boy not taking a single step from his spot impressed Woo Kyohwan once more.
‘It feels like I’m facing a veteran, not a student.’
Jae-hyeok was a swordsman.
He would naturally try to close the distance.
That’s why he had prepared traps, yet the boy showed no sign of approaching…
‘He’s reading my thoughts plainly?’
Clench.
As Woo Kyohwan curled his five fingers, five shots of Black Sight generated beneath his palm.
‘But what does it matter? If he doesn’t close the distance, he can’t overcome the crisis.’
Screeeeeeeeech!
A faint sound, like a small insect moving at high speed, barely reached Woo Kyohwan's ears.
It was a sound Jae-hyeok would only hear after being hit.
“50 percent.”
Jae-hyeok's both shoulders, thighs, and the back of his right hand gripping the sword hilt.
The five Black Sights flew along different trajectories.
“That’s the power of this Black Sight.”
Even if Jae-hyeok detected the approaching Black Sights by some chance, the structure ensured he would take damage.
Click!
Woo Kyohwan unlocked the briefcase.
He planned to subdue him in one go the moment Jae-hyeok was wounded.
But…
[Two Sickles Halting the Cart]
With a single swing of his sword drawing three sword gleams, Jae-hyeok sliced through all five Black Sights at once.
“…?”
Woo Kyohwan's eyes widened in bewilderment,
Boom!
And Jae-hyeok didn’t miss that split-second opening.
He finally stepped forward.
Putting full force into his big toe as if to uproot the ground, he thrust one foot forward with all his might and straightened his upper body.
The dark blade drawn from below upward dug under Woo Kyohwan's chin.
“…!”
Woo Kyohwan's eyes bulged as he jerked his head back to dodge the blade and swung the briefcase with full force.
‘Oh no!’
Woo Kyohwan's pupils shook.
Having instinctively sensed the threat, he had reflexively counterattacked.
At full power, no less!
KABOOOOOM!!
The briefcase struck Jae-hyeok's body and burst open.
What poured out was none other than hundreds of Black Sights.
The ‘real’ Black Sights that Woo Kyohwan had prepared bit by bit.
He had intended to take out just one for intimidation…!
Urk!
Blood poured from Woo Kyohwan's nose and mouth.
In his haste to control the Black Sights pouring toward Jae-hyeok, whom he had momentarily recognized as an ‘enemy,’ he had suffered internal injuries from overexerting his mana.
Even so, half the Black Sights escaped his control.
They shot toward Jae-hyeok, who had been knocked out by the briefcase strike, with the intent to turn him into a porcupine and kill him.
“That wretched bastard…!”
The pharmacist elder, who had been dazedly watching the sudden battle, snapped to his senses and threw a potion vial.
It was a specially brewed poison.
Hae-rin unleashed Sword Dance.
But both instinctively knew they were too late.
From the moment the Black Sights swarmed out like a bee horde toward Jae-hyeok, despair had set in.
There was no way he’d come out unscathed…
As everyone present imagined Jae-hyeok's gruesome end,
RUMBLECRASH!!
A brilliant yellow lightning bolt fell from the sky.
Toward Jae-hyeok.
Resembling a thunder tribulation, it incinerated all the Black Sights just before they pierced him.
Jae-hyeok took a heavy blow from the lightning as well, but his lightning resistance was quite high.
[Knightly Virtue of Valor and Honor, He Who Cleaves Lightning] granted 30 percent lightning resistance, and [Trace of Thunder Tribulation] added another 10 percent.
He could withstand a direct hit from real thunder tribulation at least once, so there was no way he’d fall to this fake one.
“…?”
What just happened?
Woo Kyohwan stared at Jae-hyeok with a half-dazed expression.
He had no time to feel the loss of the Black Sights incinerated by the lightning.
Crackle! Crackle!!
Jae-hyeok approached, enveloped in the remnants of the lightning, his face so demonic that Woo Kyohwan could focus on nothing else.
“From mentioning Jo Seong-hyeon, I take it you’re the one who sent the tamed monster too?”
“No…”
“Trying to kill me means you’re prepared to be killed yourself.”
“Wai…”
Woo Kyohwan tried to defend himself, but Kang Family Iaido was several times faster than his words.
CLAAAAANG!!
Struck by the iaido, Woo Kyohwan flew back and crashed into the far wall.
If he hadn’t hastily summoned Black Sight to protect his neck, he would have been decapitated.
‘What is this…’
Jae-hyeok was no mere D-rank player.
Judging by the power in that sword,
“A-rank?”
Woo Kyohwan shuddered.
It was structurally impossible for a student who was level 10 just three months ago to have already surpassed level 80.
Yet his physical abilities were A-rank.
There was only one implication.
“National Treasure Candidate…!”
Those who had awakened overwhelming skills, qualifying them to become National Treasures.
Even searching the entire world, they were an extremely rare few, not to be judged by common standards.
They possessed tremendous power regardless of their current level or rank.