Chapter 24
Chapter 24
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 24
Chapter Title: It's My Turn
-----------------------------------------------------------------
No one could have anticipated what happened next.
Kang Geohan, known as the laziest trainee in the camp, began smashing through the others one by one—trainees who had been diligently training all along.
Having breezed through the preliminary round, Kang Geohan shot up through the tournament-style endurance match at a blistering pace.
"Even I... there's no way I'd lose to a punk like you!"
A serf-born trainee shouted those words as he slammed his fist into Kang Geohan's cockpit.
At that moment,
*Kiririk!*
The armor plates running from Pectoralis's waist to its chest aligned tightly as if cinching in, then *chiiik!*—steam burst out.
The instant the opponent's fist touched the chest, sparks flew with a *clang! Kaga!*—a shallow collision sound—and the fist slid away. Kang Geohan was unscathed.
"Your center of gravity is off, so your punch is weak."
Having taken one hit, it was now Kang Geohan's turn.
Kang Geohan tensed and drove his fist straight into the opponent's cockpit.
His waist twisted naturally, and *jjeoeoeong!*—a deep resonance exploded.
"Guh!"
As the shockwave echoed through the cockpit two or three times, the trainee's Gigant staggered back three steps. It dropped to one knee.
Kang Geohan looked down at him and said,
"It's because your core is weak."
And with that, the round of 32 ended anticlimactically.
The round of 16 wasn't much different.
"You've got skill...! But your grit is rotten!"
Another serf-born trainee said that. But his fist, too, bounced off with a *kakagang!* without penetrating Pectoralis's chest.
"That's how you get injured—screaming about grit while training."
*Bwaaoeong!*
Pectoralis's fist pushed the opponent back two steps.
Unstoppable.
No one could block Kang Geohan. The trainees' pride shattered before him.
* * *
"...He still has his old flair, huh?"
"Hmph. Doesn't matter. I don't know how he grew his mana so quickly, but that'll only last until he faces the freemen."
"The freemen have more mana anyway—they won't lose."
The instructors and assistants watched Kang Geohan's string of victories with cold eyes.
No, the better he did, the chillier their gazes grew.
He had that much potential but hadn't taken training seriously—there was no way they could view him favorably.
Rapal suddenly felt stifled. He sidled over to Kaltz and asked casually,
"Instructor. How far do you think Kang Geohan can go?"
Kaltz pondered for a moment before replying.
"Logically speaking... fourth or fifth place?"
Rapal was startled.
"That far? Kang Geohan's growth is impressive, but the top ten trainees have at least five years of mana training under their belts. Isn't the mana gap too wide?"
Bitterness tinged Rapal's words.
No matter what anyone said, this evaluation favored the freemen.
Trading punches like this, serf-born trainees with just a month of mana training couldn't beat freemen with years of it.
Kaltz stared at Rapal blankly.
"Kang Geohan once tossed you aside, and your mana gap was even wider."
"Th-that was..."
Rapal's face flushed red. He wanted to make excuses, but that would only make him look more ridiculous. It was that absurd. Kang Geohan toppling Rapal.
Kaltz turned his gaze forward again and said calmly,
"Kang Geohan, who's always exceeded expectations. And the excellence of that machine called Pectoralis. Considering those two factors... that's my most optimistic judgment. Fourth, fifth... He's impressive, sure, but in an evaluation this straightforward, clashing raw power against raw power... he can't handle Helena, Gerot, Loen, and the like."
They weren't just years ahead in training—they had genius-level talent.
The mana gap went without saying, and their combat skills were superior too.
Rapal glanced at Kang Geohan.
Just then, Kang Geohan was facing off against a freeman trainee.
*Kwam!*
Kang Geohan's punch.
*Kakang!*
The trainee's punch.
"Why the hell does the sound have to be different! Picking a good Gigant by luck...!"
The freeman trainee cried out in frustration.
It was the same pattern as before.
Kang Geohan's fist created a drum-like boom, while the opponent's felt limp, like striking a shield.
Rapal watched closely and thought,
'It's not because of the Gigant.'
The machine Kang Geohan named Pectoralis was excellent, but in terms of output and safety—not some absurd durability beyond common sense.
The reason Kang Geohan endured so well was his masterful riding skill, tightening each armor plate to brace for impact.
'But how...?'
How could he control it so delicately?
Of course, it wasn't anything amazing. The assistants and instructors could do it easily.
But that was something you picked up naturally after riding Gigants for years—not something a newbie with less than a month could consciously pull off.
'And he's only hardening the defense at the exact moment of impact. That's... not easy.'
Rapal looked around at the assistants and instructors. But no one seemed to notice Kang Geohan's skill.
Maybe it was a technique everyone eventually mastered—too familiar to even register as skill.
Or perhaps their ill will toward Kang Geohan ran too deep to care.
Because he hadn't followed their training program.
They firmly believed that if he'd followed it, he'd have shown even better results.
So, his current impressive performance only stirred regret and irritation.
But what if...
'What if he can do that precisely because he didn't follow the training program?'
Rapal felt stifled again.
He sighed and said to Kaltz,
"Fourth. Fifth... Yeah, he might actually pull it off. He's that kind of guy. But in the end... Kang Geohan will be expelled. The commandant is like that. Kang Geohan... should have followed the rules here."
Kaltz glanced at Rapal and muttered,
"Fourth, fifth... we'll see..."
"Pardon?"
"Nothing. Ah, the match is over."
Just then, Kang Geohan's blow brought the freeman trainee to his knees. The ground shook with a *thud!*.
Unlike the quick knockouts against serf-born trainees, this had taken a full seven punch exchanges.
* * *
It took longer, but Kang Geohan kept winning against the freemen too.
Two groups of 32 trainees each.
Kang Geohan reached the finals in one. His opponent: Gerot Yellow. In the other group, Helena and Loen made the finals.
Gerot's voice came over the dedicated line.
"Today, your true skill gets exposed."
What a childish ego, piercing the heavens.
'But... objectively, Gerot is way stronger than I can beat.'
[Gerot Yellow]
Height: 173cm
Weight: 60kg
Willpower: 52/59
Strength: 64/64
Mana: 67.8/67.8
Fat Mass: 6.14kg
Muscle Mass (Skeletal Muscle): 23.18kg
Mana Capacity: 675 pindem
Gerot had gained only 6 pindem in the last three weeks.
But maintaining that much mana through hellish training and a light-mana-heavy diet without any loss was impressive in itself.
He had talent, and he was strong.
'Strength is double mine. Mana capacity more than double... and combat skills overwhelming.'
Thinking of fighting Gerot felt like shouldering an impossibly heavy barbell—heart pounding, nape tingling.
But there are times you must challenge.
1RM.
The weight you can lift just once, with everything you've got.
To see beyond, you challenge what you couldn't lift before—what seems impossible.
Kang Geohan gritted his teeth.
'I'll win somehow.'
Kang Geohan wasn't looking at Gerot.
'This place... this moment... this is where my life begins.'
Life.
What Kang Geohan sought was life itself.
'I don't know why I can recall my past life memories. All that matters is forging this life with my own strength.'
Why did he remember his past life? It felt too vague, like 'Why was I born?' or 'What's the meaning of life?'—unknowable questions.
He was simply born. He remembered his past life. That was enough—he'd live this world maximizing his potential.
Kang Geohan sensed the trainees, assistants, and instructors lined up behind Gerot.
They were his life.
Born a serf, with only Uncle Davis as a thin thread to cling to—now this new foundation. The soil where Kang Geohan could take root anew.
He wanted to carve out his place among them, in his own way.
Live his life,
And astonish them.
To astonish others, you challenge your limits.
"Overclock."
The cockpit lit up bright, and the world grew heavy.
"Take this."
Gerot's lowered voice pierced through.
*Koong!*
The Gigant took a heavy step forward. Gerot's stance was unlike any other trainee's from the start.
*Kiririk!*
*Chiiiik—!*
The armor plates around Gerot's Gigant contracted, spewing steam. Power density enabled by overwhelming mana capacity. Fluid Gigant riding honed since childhood.
The giant's fist flew like a shell and struck home.
*Kwaaaang—!*
A shock utterly unlike before swept through Kang Geohan's cockpit.
"Kuh..."
Like being smacked dead-on by a giant's palm. Fear of bursting into pulp. Shockwaves wracking his body three, four times, barking like thunder.
Kang Geohan endured it all. Bracing his core tight.
Pectoralis held, retreating just half a step.
'He withstood that...?'
'When his mana is way less than half?'
'That was a perfect straight punch?'
The commotion over the public line crumbled like sand in his ears.
"Fuuuuh..."
Kang Geohan exhaled, shaking off the pain gnawing his body. He glared at Gerot's Gigant and said,
"Now it's my turn."
The cockpit glowed even brighter than before.
An unbearable weight pressed his shoulders, but Kang Geohan mobilized every bit of his body's mana to rise.
His total mana couldn't compare to Gerot's.
His combat skills couldn't beat Gerot's either.
'But the mana I can mobilize in a single instant... that'll be greater than his.'
The full-body mirror ability amplified that mana efficiency further.
Kang Geohan stared into his limbs' mana with his eyes, wringing it out like twisting a rag.
With Overclock doubling output, he inhaled deep to fill his abdomen, pushed until his vision blackened.
*Kwaduduk!*
All that power converged in his fist. Like challenging 1RM—the weight for one max lift—Kang Geohan poured everything to shove that colossal force forward.
*Kuuuwoong!*
Pectoralis's iron fist crashed down atop Gerot's cockpit.