Chapter 31
Chapter 31
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 31
Chapter Title: Unnecessary Reassessment
-----------------------------------------------------------------
“Do we really need to do this reexamination?”
The audience’s reaction was lukewarm.
Kang Jae-hyeok was a 100% fraudulent enrollee.
It was impossible for a mere level 1 with no First Skill to have shone in a C-grade Raid.
But what could they do?
The people didn’t want Kang Jae-hyeok expelled.
They had witnessed his talent.
They supported the boy who might one day be of great help to Korea.
But the Association officials were adamant.
“With fraudulent enrollment confirmed, what nonsense is this? Lion’s Castle, conduct the reexamination immediately and expel Kang Jae-hyeok!”
“Exactly! We’ll handle the rest!”
This wasn’t the time to worry about public opinion—it was time to remove Kang Jae-hyeok right in front of the people.
As they threw their tantrum with quick judgment, Jae-hyeok snatched the mic from the host.
“But here’s the thing.”
“?”
“I didn’t commit fraud.”
Name: Kang Jae-hyeok
Level: 10
He summoned a system window in mid-air and resolved the situation effortlessly.
He had shared part of his status window info.
“Huh…? Wh-what?”
“What’s going on here?”
Level 10.
An exquisitely perfect number.
If a level 1 had claimed 20% contribution in a C-grade Raid, level 10 would fit exactly.
“A mere level 1 with no First Skill shone in a C-grade Raid? That doesn’t make sense…”
“He conquered the Lightning Tribulation. His swordsmanship has reached mastery—plenty possible.”
“True, Leech King is famous for being slow and simple. Tricking it with skill isn’t impossible. If Kang Jae-hyeok hadn’t stepped up, that girl Chae Da-hee would’ve cleared the Raid on her own.”
The mood shifted to acceptance.
Even those who had openly shown hostility toward Jae-hyeok now shut their mouths.
‘So this is the power of civilization.’
Life’s quality had changed since awakening.
One status share felt like clearing decades of pent-up frustration.
Jae-hyeok grinned brightly and revealed the full truth while he was at it.
“Actually, I just awakened.”
“Hmm… Quite the braggart.”
“Personality like Kang Hyeon-ah’s.”
“Wasn’t his Raid performance exaggerated too?”
“True, that Lightning Tribulation just now only struck once. I heard normal ones hit fifteen times or more…”
“…….”
Not quite the reaction he wanted.
In any case, news about Kang Jae-hyeok was flooding in.
For the first time in eight years, House Kang was mentioned positively.
A change wrought the moment this young boy stepped onto the world stage.
***
Boom!
A desk made of otherworldly timber harder than steel split in two.
“House Kang…!”
Association Chairman Ji Cheon-myeong gnashed his teeth, eyes bloodshot.
The board he’d carefully set up to utterly destroy House Kang had backfired catastrophically. Fury boiled over.
Kang Jae-hyeok.
Until moments ago, the news screens had looped footage of him.
A cinematic shot of the boy standing amid crashing Lightning Tribulation waves, where House Kang’s honor should have plummeted.
Without Association pressure, the news would’ve fixated on him all day.
“Those damn pests!!”
First Kang Dae-seong, who kept popping up unannounced and fraying his nerves—now this kid poking at his temper too?
Prestigious houses.
Truly tenacious groups.
They transcended common sense with unyielding pride, never crumbling easily.
Kang Jae-hyeok was living proof of a noble house’s potential.
A mere boy of sixteen.
He’d grown up alone in a mansion surrounded by citizen groups hating and cursing House Kang and the Yaksha.
Abandoned by siblings before he could even mature, he’d quietly tended his blind father.
Ji Cheon-myeong knew.
The past eight years for Kang Jae-hyeok had been hell even an adult couldn’t endure.
Yet the boy endured.
In that hell, he never lost pride or conviction, honing himself until talent bloomed. He’d given House Kang a lifeline.
“Haa… haa… Seol Sua…”
You dug this trap perfectly.
‘I admit defeat this time. I was too hasty. But you’ll lose something too.’
Kang Jae-hyeok was too conspicuous.
Ji Cheon-myeong was certain he’d exceeded even Seol Sua’s intentions.
‘They won’t protect him.’
Hordes of jackals eyeing the boy trained in House Kang’s swordsmanship and mana operation would turn their gaze to Lion’s Castle.
Lion’s Castle was jointly managed by multiple factions from the start.
Not just the Association and government—guilds everywhere had eyes and ears planted.
A sneer curled Ji Cheon-myeong’s lips.
‘House Kang and Kang Jae-hyeok are on borrowed time.’
***
“Didn’t expect you to play the unawakened card even there. What’s your concept anyway?”
Eujin clutched his stomach laughing.
Jae-hyeok had overwhelmed the audience with aura and skill, only to ruin the mood with an absurd finish. Hilarious.
“It’s not a concept—it’s real.”
Were all humans just living lies?
Do-jin offered congratulations as Jae-hyeok frowned.
“Congrats on the bloodline skill.”
The world interpreted it as Jae-hyeok awakening a bloodline skill.
The light pillar had been too dense.
Plus, his eyes reflecting light and Lightning Tribulation had briefly gleamed gold—easy to mistake.
“Thanks.”
Jae-hyeok let the misunderstanding stand.
‘No reason to reveal my hand.’
Not distrusting Do-jin, but cautioning against others’ eyes.
‘I’ve only taken my first step. Until I grow enough, I need to be careful.’
Raised exposed to enmity for eight years, he understood his position.
“You’ve proven no fraud in the entrance exam and reclaimed your house’s honor with a bloodline skill—now it’s smooth sailing ahead!”
Da-hee rejoiced as if it were her own victory.
Her usual straight-gazing violet eyes shone with sincerity.
“Yeah, let’s do well together.”
This wouldn’t fully restore the house’s honor, but Jae-hyeok decided to enjoy today.
***
Parting from the group, Jae-hyeok walked a remote path.
Pushing through untouched thickets rising like reeds, crossing river and hills, he reached ruined castle grounds.
‘They were out for blood.’
Always a serene spot.
Facing the gate embossed with a lion’s head, his expression chilled.
Those seated in a row in the audience.
The ones fervently wishing House Kang’s fall had openly sent hostility and killing intent his way.
Unbelievable.
What right did they have to hate him?
‘As expected…’
Those desiring House Kang’s ruin were likely directly tied to the incident eight years ago.
Like how China and Japan created conditions during the Gate Exchange to harm his father.
‘They hate House Kang as a thorn because they have plenty to hide. Otherwise, the attitude doesn’t add up.’
He needed power.
Power to unearth hidden truths and punish them.
Unleashing long-suppressed killing intent, Jae-hyeok began swinging his sword.
Awakening and unlocking the system meant training wouldn’t raise stats.
But to wield his stats properly, he needed perfect mastery and control of his body.
Techniques demanded lifelong refinement regardless.
No reason for a Player to slack on training.
‘Let’s check the skills.’
Blending House Kang iaido and swordsmanship to adapt his body, Jae-hyeok activated [Two Sickles to Halt the Cart].
Slash!
The dark blade drawn from its sheath traced twin trajectories.
“Oh?”
The name suggested sickles, but it split one strike into two.
Not illusory segmented speed—the aura materialized, splitting into two streams.
It carried nearly twice the power of Jae-hyeok’s full swing.
‘No wonder people obsess over skills.’
Power realizing the physically impossible.
Comprehending the skill’s essence, Jae-hyeok’s quick draw blade wrapped in bright yellow lightning.
This was Thunderblade’s effect.
Unlike the high-attack Two Sickles, it matched Jae-hyeok’s stats precisely.
As a passive, no mana cost was its big advantage.
‘Against living things, it’d add electrocution too.’
Best of all, no forced motion.
Two Sickles enforced a skill animation on activation, but Thunderblade shadowed his attacks.
‘Low proc rate and no timing control, but I prefer it over Two Sickles.’
Forced-motion active skills weren’t his taste.
Unpleasant losing control of his honed body, and easy for enemies to read.
‘Better not expose Two Sickles in public. Wait…?’
Forced motion could be an advantage too?
Slash-!
Mid-quick draw, he tested triggering the skill.
His straight-extending arm abruptly curved mid-path, forcing the skill motion.
“Ugh!”
Excruciating pain surged, like his arm might snap.
But a thick smile spread on Jae-hyeok’s lips.
Confirming the twin auras flanking the quick draw’s trajectory.
‘I get how to use the skill now.’
Training continued through the night.
He didn’t stop swinging until fully adapted to his stat-boosted body and mastered skill usage.
During a sheathe-to-draw transition deploying Two Sickles—
Crack!
His arm broke.
“Urgh… Been a while for training injuries.”
He’d devised a exquisite counter-piercing move, but his body couldn’t handle the recoil.
Strength and agility needed at least +30 for muscles and bones tough and flexible enough to pull it off injury-free once.
‘Save it as a finisher until then. Huh?’
[Grueling training breaks the body’s limits.]
[Grueling training breaks the mind’s limits.]
[Grueling training deepens technique.]
[You are breaking body and mind limits for 2,968 consecutive days.]
[Maintain current state 32 more days to awaken hidden skill.]
‘So that’s how it was.’
Nodding at the clear system message, Jae-hyeok grasped why his pre-awakening self grew fast: daily limit-breaking.
‘But does awakening a hidden skill even matter?’
Second and third slots only took skillbook skills, right?
Tearing his clothes to roughly splint his broken arm, he turned.
“Alright then… Shall we chat? Lion head.”
A presence he’d vaguely felt pre-awakening.
Now he pinpointed its source exactly.
-Young human. This is the 135th time I’ve asked how you broke my curse. Hm? Were you just talking to me?
The Lion Statue had been chattering noisily for a while.