Chapter 99
Chapter 99
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 99
Chapter Title: Jo Sung-hyun's Awakening
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“What the…? Ugh!”
Jo Sung-hyun slowly opened his eyes, tilting his head in confusion before his face drained of color.
An immense pain throbbed from his abdomen.
Only after downing a potion and taking several deep breaths did he calm himself enough to look around.
No one was there.
Neither the ogre with the utility pole-like club slung over its shoulder, nor the orc mages hurling fireballs, nor the screaming orcs, nor the terrified staff members.
The area was silent, everything gone.
‘What the hell happened?’
He had wanted to buy the staff time to escape.
To draw the ogre’s attention, he had challenged it—only to suddenly take a blow.
That was where Jo Sung-hyun’s memory cut off.
“Ugh….”
He brushed the dirt caked all over his body and let out a sigh.
This wasn’t the forest.
The scenery around him had completely changed.
“No way, was that all a dream…? Ah!”
As he realized his ribs were fractured, a memory surfaced.
Kang Jae-hyeok.
The legitimate heir to House Kang, and my benefactor.
That young boy I wanted to serve as my master had…
‘…smashed me with his scabbard!’
He vaguely understood the intent.
He must have wanted to save me from dying a dog’s death at the ogre’s hands.
‘So he launched me all the way out here…?’
What was I, a baseball?
He double-checked and confirmed that aside from the few broken ribs, he had no major external injuries, clicking his tongue in amazement.
All he could do was marvel at Jae-hyeok’s absurdly high strength and the skill to control it with such precision.
‘If I master the Kang Family forms, someday I will…!’
Fired up with determination, Jo Sung-hyun hurried on his way.
Toward the battlefield where Jae-hyeok and the staff were likely still holding out.
He wasn’t particularly worried about them.
It was trust in Jae-hyeok.
Having experienced his skill firsthand while getting pummeled, Jo Sung-hyun had a vague belief that even an ogre couldn’t handle him.
‘No, that can’t be right.’
At this point, it was serious.
He was starting to show signs of becoming a fanatic.
He shook his head vigorously and broke into a full sprint.
No matter how talented and skilled Jae-hyeok was, how could a mere 16-year-old boy deal with an ogre?
Let alone one backed by multiple orc mages.
Even if Manager Gu and the team leaders combined forces, it would be a tough fight.
‘Please!’
Witnessing the eastern sky stained gray, Jo Sung-hyun picked up even more speed.
Thanks to the Revolutionary Pharmaceuticals’ potion that was perfect for fractures, his ribs were nearly fully healed.
How much longer did he run?
Just as his breath reached his throat.
“You, Sung-hyun?”
A familiar voice seeped into his ears.
Had he worried so much he was starting to hallucinate?
Wearing a dazed expression, Jo Sung-hyun gradually slowed and turned to the side.
A girl with white cream smeared around her mouth was staring at him blankly.
“Professor!”
Jo Sung-hyun’s face lit up.
Grandmaster Yi So-young.
One of the two mentors he had greatly relied on during his student days.
“On your way to the fire site too, Professor? Ah! I hope you’ve been well?”
“No? I’ve been doing terribly. It’s been years since I found a new disciple! You should’ve been my student! Why does a talentless guy insist on the warrior’s path for no reason…? It’s all your fault!”
“…….”
Yi So-young puffed out her cheeks hugely and stomped her feet in a huff.
Each time, the long uniform draped over her shoulders dragged on the ground, getting dirty.
‘She’s always been like this.’
Recalling memories he hadn’t thought of in a while, Jo Sung-hyun gave an awkward smile and soothed her.
“You’re right. It’s all my fault. As atonement, I’ll buy you a cream puff and come visit. There’s this popular place called Haengsim-dang these days—sound good?”
“If you’re truly sorry, sure.”
“Thank you for forgiving me. How about we talk while we move?”
Yi So-young deflated her cheeks and shook her head.
“That situation’s already over, so no need to worry. Follow me.”
Mentor.
Jo Sung-hyun couldn’t doubt Yi So-young.
He took the small hand she offered as if entranced.
***
“What the hell are these pig bastards?”
Squeeeeal!!
The remnants of the orc horde, fleeing the monster that had single-handedly crushed their legion, were slaughtered in an instant.
They had the bad luck of running into the Lion’s Castle Martial Force.
Raid Squad 2.
Among the Martial Force, they were exceptionally skilled and a nightmare even for upper-tier boss monsters.
Especially Team 3—they were classified as Raid Squad 2’s core strength.
Even if the orcs had maintained their full legion formation, they wouldn’t have lasted even minutes against them.
“Now we’re wasting stamina on trash like orcs? We’re already struggling to keep up with Teams 1 and 2’s records, getting shafted for it, and this is what we do?”
“Quit grumbling. We’re almost at the site… Hm, Squad Leader?”
The senior squad member, sensing something, called to his superior.
Squad Leader Hyeok-pil happened to be glaring at the orc corpses as well.
“Tamed monsters.”
“See? I told you it was kids fighting! Some idiot must’ve succeeded in taming an orc warrior, got cocky, and beat up the school bully who used to mess with him!”
“While burning down the forest?”
“I said it earlier. Kids these days are scary, right?”
“You…”
Shut up already.
As the senior was about to scold him, Hyeok-pil spoke up.
“This magic circle wasn’t inscribed directly by the tamer. It’s <Chain>. A higher entity tamed by the tamer then tamed the lower ones.”
“An orc mage?”
“Yeah, this isn’t kids’ play. With most third-years out on dispatch, there aren’t many students capable of taming an orc mage.”
“Let’s hurry. The Reda Lake near the fire zone worries me.”
“Wait.”
The squad leader’s eyes sharpened.
Boom!
He kicked off the ground, landing dozens of meters ahead in the brush, narrowing his eyes as he examined the traces left behind.
‘Someone was spying on us.’
From the clues around, it seemed they’d spotted us and left immediately.
But even so, they must have lingered a few seconds—how did I miss their presence?
‘It can’t be the orc mage tamer.’
If the tamer had been nearby, the orcs wouldn’t have fled headlong. They would’ve turned back toward their master.
‘…Must be the one who took out the orc mage.’
Why had the orc legion burned the forest, and who wiped them out?
Whatever the circumstances, another Martial Force unit must have subjugated the orcs.
But their rat-like flight nagged at him.
‘These bastards, did they find something here?’
Harboring suspicions, the squad leader urged his team on.
“Let’s go. We need to investigate the site thoroughly.”
***
‘Too bad.’
Jae-hyeok had planned to backtrack the tamed monsters to their owner.
But the orcs ahead had run into the Martial Force by chance and been massacred, ruining his plan.
‘It was a chance to find out who was targeting Jo Sung-hyun.’
Still, it wasn’t a total loss.
He had witnessed the much-rumored Martial Force in action.
‘Strong. Especially that constant aura detection—the focus is impressive.’
When people evaluated players, rank was the top priority.
Higher rank meant higher level, and higher level meant higher stats.
But Jae-hyeok himself proved rank wasn’t everything.
The Martial Force was a similar breed.
They seemed capable of overwhelming peers of the same rank.
‘A group assembled from combat-specialized players—makes sense.’
Anyway, getting involved with them now wouldn’t help.
Running into them would mean explaining too much.
‘Gotta hurry.’
Borrowing the power of his wind spirit boots, Jae-hyeok sprinted at full speed.
But a variable arose.
By the time Jae-hyeok reached the site…
“You must be the Revolutionary Pharmaceuticals staff? Glad you’re all safe. But who targeted you, and who helped you?”
The Martial Force that had massacred the orcs was confronting the Revolutionary Pharmaceuticals staff.
They had arrived at the scene just ahead of Jae-hyeok.
‘Someone with a movement-specialized skill.’
Not unusual.
Just as Jae-hyeok had sought a supporter when gathering his team, a group like the Martial Force would consider all factors in party composition.
‘No helping it.’
He had judged that hiding his abilities would prevent risks and allow a peaceful school life, but it seemed that ended here.
Regrettable, but what could he do?
From the moment he massacred the orcs in front of people, he had accepted the consequences.
‘No regrets.’
He had protected people—that was enough…
Seeing Manager Gu, nearly recovered and standing on both legs, Jae-hyeok took comfort as he prepared to approach the scene.
“We have no idea.”
Manager Gu shook his head.
“We were suddenly attacked by monsters, fled, got surrounded, and fought with death staring us down… I took a critical hit and blacked out, then woke up to find it all over.”
Manager Gu didn’t mention Jae-hyeok’s name.
Neither did the other staff or Song Se-young.
They all nodded along, backing him up.
The Martial Force members frowned.
“Is that so…? Help arrived exactly when you were injured just enough to lose consciousness but not die?”
“There were casualties.”
As Manager Gu’s face fell, the staff brought over two bodies.
Corpses of team leaders recovered by some of those who had gone looking for Jo Sung-hyun.
“Plus, Young Master Jo Sung-hyun and another student went missing.”
“Jo Sung-hyun… Chairman Jo’s son.”
Realizing Revolutionary Pharmaceuticals’ losses were worse than expected, the Martial Force nodded without further suspicion.
“Understood. We’ll request a search team for now, so let’s find the missing first. We’ll uncover the tamed monsters’ owner too.”
Revolutionary Pharmaceuticals was one of Lion’s Castle’s most vital clients.
All the potions the Martial Force used came from them.
Even Raid Squad 2, indifferent to school matters, recognized the severity of this incident.
“Thank you.”
Things wrapped up neatly.
After asking Song Se-young to guide them to the infirmary, the Martial Force left.
Even after they were gone, Jae-hyeok—who had suppressed his presence from afar for a good while—didn’t rejoin the group until several more minutes passed.
“Glad you’re back safe.”
“We were so worried!”
The others welcomed him with bright faces.