Chapter 14
Chapter 14
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 14
Chapter Title: Senior's Challenge
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“One thing I want to ask.”
It was a situation where throwing a punch right away would’ve been fine. But Yi Gi-buk calmly posed his question first. His eyes gleamed with curiosity he couldn’t hold back.
“Why did you pretend to be a senior? What’s a freshman’s motive for posing as an upperclassman?”
“Huh.”
Baek Do-jin reacted. He knew Kang Jae-hyeok was crazy, but he hadn’t expected it to be to this extent. His face twisted in disbelief.
“I never did that.”
“Denying it now? You didn’t correct me when I called you senior.”
“Oh, that? I figured it was just a respectful title since I obviously look stronger.”
This guy’s completely nuts.
Having sized up Jae-hyeok, Yi Gi-buk started rolling his shoulders.
“And you keep using informal speech because you’re stronger than me, right?”
“Nope. Don’t students always talk casually to each other?”
“...?”
“Right? Everyone in my class uses informal speech with each other.”
Lion’s Castle was, strictly speaking, a military institution.
Skill training and martial techniques, tactical classes and terrain adaptation drills, monster hunts and low-level raid expeditions.
It taught lethal skills directly and made students apply them.
Compared to any conventional military organization, the intensity of killing intent was far higher. The training itself was treated as an emergency situation, simplifying communication between classes.
In simple terms, classmates bantered casually with each other.
Age ranges were so diverse that trying to enforce a strict hierarchy of older brothers, sisters, and younger siblings would never end.
Frankly, Lion’s Castle encouraged streamlined communication even between seniors and juniors.
Training often overlapped across grades.
Especially in team drills and competitions, grade levels meant nothing.
But this was South Korea.
Haunted for centuries by Confucian education, students obsessed over senior-junior hierarchies.
The significant skill gaps between grades naturally bred respect for seniors.
“You know, you’re right. What’s the big deal about students using informal speech?”
Having thoroughly treated Jae-hyeok like a madman, Baek Do-jin changed his tune. Jae-hyeok using informal speech with other students was no issue at all.
“Still, impersonating a third-year is kinda... insane?”
“Why are you flip-flopping like that? I didn’t impersonate anyone.”
“Then we’re done here. We’ll be going.”
Thud thud.
The moment Do-jin, having passed judgment, tried to drag Jae-hyeok away.
“Even so, there has to be a hierarchy between seniors and juniors. We’ve been polite to our seniors all year, and now the first decent junior shows up acting like this? That’s a problem.”
Yi Gi-buk grabbed Jae-hyeok’s shoulder to stop him.
He’d enrolled in his mid-thirties already.
He’d treated kids half his age like seniors, and now it was his turn to not get that respect?
It didn’t sit well.
“Tradition must be upheld.”
“Tradition my ass. Were you polite to seniors because of tradition? You were just scared of getting beaten and humiliated by someone way younger.”
“...Baek Do-jin, you’ve always been hostile toward me.”
“Yeah, I really hate your guts. You act all straightforward on the outside, but you’re sly as hell. I despise two-faced guys.”
“I thought you were just jealous of my height.”
“Bullshit. Give me your age, and I’ll grow way taller than you.”
“Doubt it.”
“Impossible. Taller than you would be at least two meters, right? How’s fifty centimeters gonna sprout overnight?”
“Kyaack!”
As the second-years sneaked in sly remarks, Baek Do-jin flipped out.
Jae-hyeok grabbed the nape of his neck, stopping his flailing short limbs, and made a proposal to Yi Gi-buk.
“Let’s call it quits. If Turtle Bro ever seems worthy of senior treatment, I’ll give it to you later. Got it?”
“Wrong. That’s not it.”
Boom.
Yi Gi-buk’s already thick forearm swelled even more.
He’d dreamed of becoming a Player since he came of age. Maybe even before that.
Over twenty years of ascetic training for one dream, entering Lion’s Castle and steadily gaining levels—his stats ranked high even among second-years.
“I have no intention of accepting you as a junior. From now on, you’ll tremble and bow your head every time you see me.”
A declaration from the strong becomes an unchangeable prophecy.
Yi Gi-buk’s waist bent dramatically.
The stronger the beast, the more seriously it hunts.
Thwack—!
Fast and precise, Yi Gi-buk’s punch slammed into Jae-hyeok’s side.
The force was so immense that the frames and potted plants decorating the hallway trembled faintly.
“Gasp.”
To think he’d seriously hit a freshman.
Sure, he’d done something punch-worthy, but could he die?
While the shocked students worried.
“His freakout means you hit a nerve.”
Baek Do-jin’s reaction was nonchalant.
‘Of all things.’
Yi Gi-buk clicked his tongue inwardly.
His ambush, packed with considerable power, had been blocked by something.
A scabbard.
Hidden beneath a thin coat.
“Lucky break.”
Of all places, a scabbard right there.
Yi Gi-buk chuckled and swung his fist again.
It would take maybe a second to reach the target.
“...?”
In that brief moment, goosebumps prickled across Yi Gi-buk’s skin.
He’d been captivated by Kang Jae-hyeok’s eyes.
Boredom, irritation, ennui.
Those pitch-black pupils, which had looked just like a moody teenager’s, now writhed with something new.
What was that...?
‘Ah.’
That’s what I’ve always wanted.
Presence. Dignity.
The gaze of one who stands above—the boy already possessed it.
‘House Kang.’
The boy’s name finally surfaced in his mind.
Kang Jae-hyeok.
Born noble.
Even the shadow of a fallen house couldn’t hide that shining bloodline.
Thud!
Realizing this, Yi Gi-buk’s fist was blocked by the scabbard again.
“That’s it.”
The scabbard slowly pushed the fist away and touched Yi Gi-buk’s chin.
But Yi Gi-buk didn’t notice.
He simply stared vacantly at the gaze he’d longed for all these years.
“That’s the expression you should have when looking at me.”
Jae-hyeok’s whispering voice was deep and firm.
Firm enough to take root in Yi Gi-buk’s heart.
“Remember that. I spared you.”
He could’ve smashed his head for that attitude. But he liked the sudden change in those eyes.
Shrugging, Jae-hyeok glanced at Yi Gi-buk and urged Baek Do-jin on.
“Enough. Let’s go eat. I’m starving to death.”
“Race you to see who gets there first.”
“Childish.”
“Hey! Kang Jae-hyeok! You cheater!!”
Jae-hyeok dashed ahead with a clatter, Baek Do-jin scrambling after him in a huff.
Silence lingered in the hallway they’d swept through.
Yi Gi-buk was half-dazed, the other students baffled and unsure.
To ordinary second-years, the clash just now hadn’t even been a fight.
Yi Gi-buk had simply struck Jae-hyeok’s scabbard twice. It looked more like an older senior gently disciplining a cheeky young junior without laying a hand on him.
“Gi-buk hyung? You okay?”
“...What’s bad about it? What are you all standing around for? Go eat.”
Dismissing the students, Yi Gi-buk wiped the cold sweat trickling down his chin. His sleeve soaked through.
Could he win in a real fight?
Of course—at this point, he had the edge.
Whatever Jae-hyeok’s skills were, he was just a freshman.
Yi Gi-buk’s level was over 20, and the skills earned through long hardship packed serious power.
His mana measurement wasn’t red for nothing.
Yi Gi-buk had the potential to become an A-rank Player.
He had the bare minimum qualifications to lead a guild.
That’s why he’d planned to rise to the top—and executed it.
‘But...’
Yi Gi-buk realized his dream was just a small pond.
He was swept by a desire to throw himself into the vast ocean he’d just glimpsed.
***
“Isn’t it ridiculous?”
On the way to the training grounds after eating.
Jae-hyeok checked his phone, hoping for a reply from Butler Hwang, and grumbled.
“Why do calls only work in the dorms?”
“I heard the magic-engineering transmission towers are super expensive. So they only installed them in safe zones?”
“That’s what’s ridiculous. Emergencies happen in dangerous zones, not safe ones. If they’re gonna build towers, put them in training areas or monster respawn spots. They waste taxes no matter what. And it’s all taxes my dad earned.”
“Don’t nobles pay much tax?”
“Without the gates and cities Dad defended, overall tax revenue would’ve tanked. I shouldn’t have to spell it out like this when one mention should imply ten.”
“I don’t care about that crap, so explain the training plan.”
“That crap? That crap?! These days’ kids don’t even appreciate Duke Kang Dae-guk’s grace. Ugh, damn it. I’m going nuts.”
While Jae-hyeok grumbled nonstop to himself.
The boys arrived at Training Ground 3.
Despite it being the weekend, students diligently training filled the place.
They were all dead serious.
Not a single one slacked off.
That fervent energy lifted Jae-hyeok’s spirits.
‘Glad I enrolled.’
He liked Lion’s Castle more and more.
Especially, he couldn’t take his eyes off a green-haired boy.
He’d thought the dye job was flashy, but the features suggested a foreigner.
“...Why’s a foreigner here?”
Now they’re wasting tax money on foreigners too?
The moment Jae-hyeok frowned.
The green-haired boy sensed the gaze, turned, and looked at Jae-hyeok.
‘Huh?’
Jae-hyeok flinched,
“Loren...?”
And Baek Do-jin looked like he’d seen a ghost.
The green-haired boy’s eyes reached him.
“Long time no see, Do-jin.”
“You, you fucking bastard...!”
“Your parents are doing well in my care. No need to get so heated.”
“Loooreeeen!!”
Before Jae-hyeok could grasp the situation, Baek Do-jin charged at Loren.
Gripping a greatsword bigger than himself.
With clear intent to kill.