The Unyielding Bluff
Hura smirked, his lips curling in a pouty grin as he spoke. The words that came out of his mouth were a shock in themselves.
"What if I say no?"
The air stirred uneasily. The rankers' overwhelming auras flickered like candles in the wind. Gasps echoed from here and there.
But no one was more flustered than Napaladin, who faced Hura's disdainful gaze head-on and witnessed his mocking sneer up close.
She was utterly choked by his baseless confidence. Ripples spread across her usually composed face. Surrounded by dozens of top rankers layered in encirclement. With all escape routes already sealed. Trapped in a situation where no one could budge.
Where the hell does that leisure come from?
Only someone like Cheon-gong could pull off this level of bravado.
...Just empty posturing?
Napaladin hardened her expression and said, "Hura-nim. It seems you haven't understood my words."
"I understand perfectly."
"We hold no ill will toward you, Hura-nim."
"Probably because there's no ranking of mine to steal."
"This is the best proposal we can offer."
"You want me to abandon my comrade and run away like a coward?"
"We don't want to harm you, Hura-nim."
"Who's harming whom, exactly?"
Hura crossed his arms and tilted his head slightly. He took a heavy step forward.
"Pardon?"
"Th-that..."
Napaladin faltered, instinctively stepping back without realizing it. A chilling energy crawled up her spine. This was no mere bluff.
"...!"
The rankers watching the scene went wide-eyed. Towering Napaladin had been pushed back in a battle of auras. She wasn't the type to cower before anyone. Yet dozens of elite top rankers had been overwhelmed by a single Hura in an instant.
The momentum had shifted. The tide turned in a flash. They were the ones encircling him, but it felt dizzyingly like they'd thrust their heads into the gaping maw of a tiger.
Truly, who was surrounding whom?
...Gulp.
Napaladin quickly steadied her mind. I let my guard down. One wrong move, and we'll be swallowed whole.
He was tougher than expected. No wonder Baek Bal Baek Jung stuck by him.
Don't fall for that momentum. We hold the advantage.
Napaladin regulated her breathing and spoke again. "Hura-nim. You're not understanding."
The man before her stood with arms crossed, as if daring her to speak, gazing at her obliquely. His arrogant eyes were icy as frost.
"Let me say it once more."
But Napaladin was one of Pangwol's strongest, having clawed her way here through countless trials. She met his gaze squarely without flinching and continued.
"If we fight, you die for sure."
"..."
"Even knowing the end, you'll still choose battle?"
A cold sneer twisted Hura's lips.
"...!"
Napaladin's eyes widened at the sight.
"You're the one who doesn't understand, Napaladin-nim."
Hura stared at her intently.
"Sure, Baek Bal Baek Jung-nim and I would definitely die."
His lips, laced with cynicism, formed the words.
"But."
His voice was frigid as ice.
"You'd take heavy losses too."
One corner of his mouth quirked up.
"Got the guts for that?"
"...!"
A shiver ran down her spine. Her body stiffened at his chilling words. Had she ever been so utterly dominated by anyone? It felt like facing the Blue Witch, Geogi Seora.
"Besides, if we're ready to die, what can't we do?"
"...!"
With that, Hura let out a low chuckle—huhu. Napaladin's eyes shook wildly as she stared at him. His smile, his gaze—they were so ominously unsettling.
"I'm unranked, so I've got nothing to lose. You'd only drop Baek Bal Baek Jung-nim one spot."
Hura stated calmly.
"But you?"
He lifted his head, scanning the rankers encircling them. Locking eyes with each one, he pressed on.
"You know what happens if a ranker loses to a non-ranker, right?"
"...!"
Of course, Hura didn't actually know. Losing to a lower-ranked player just meant getting demoted a spot. But what if you lost to someone completely unranked?
He could only guess it came with even greater penalties. And that guess hit close enough to the mark to send shockwaves through them.
The atmosphere roiled. Their mighty auras tangled and flickered like candles. They flinched and averted their eyes from Hura's sweeping gaze.
"Think it over carefully."
"..."
"Why not just go our separate ways?"
"..."
"No need to fight, no one gets hurt, no one loses anything."
"..."
"I hold no grudges against you all. This is my best offer, made out of respect."
"..."
Napaladin's face twisted as her own words were thrown back at her.
"I refuse."
She cut Hura's proposal short. Miss this chance, and she might never catch Baek Bal Baek Jung. Even heavy losses were worth it. The other rankers, fully aware, stayed put without a single departure.
"Then...?"
"We'll have to fight."
The air shifted. The taut tension turned ferociously savage, swelling in size. The mood soured viciously.
Swish—Napaladin glanced at the rankers. They all nodded.
Thud! She slammed her shield into the ground. A declaration of war.
"...You insist on seeing this through?"
"That's what I should be saying."
The rankers gripped their weapons, poised to charge. Like a bowstring drawn taut.
"...I see."
Hura gave a faint smile. His lips curved like a crescent moon.
"Really, no choice then."
...Smiling?
Napaladin's eyebrow twitched. In this situation?
"In that case, nothing stopping me."
Whoosh—thick darkness erupted from Hura.
"...!"
The darkness flowed from him like heat haze, undulating. He'd activated the skill Dark Chef.
Of course, it only amplified his cooking skills, but it was plenty threatening visually.
To think it's this potent...!
Unaware of that, Napaladin couldn't hide her shock. Hura, grinning amid the shadows as if delighted, looked like a demon incarnate.
"Kuhuhu..."
The shell of courtesy that had restrained him shattered, leaving raw savagery. Perhaps from long suppression, the glistening ferocity was all the more brutal. A single beast starved for blood leered at her. His eyes flashed with terrifying killing intent.
He planned to fight from the start!
All those words were just building justification for battle.
'For my comrade'? Just a pretty excuse to fight!
Not fighting for Baek Bal Baek Jung, but a battle-thirsty demon.
"What're you waiting for?"
The demon cloaked in ominous darkness said.
"Come at me."
"...!"
The demon laughed wildly, seemingly in genuine glee. Of course, it was merely the side effect of Dark Chef. Hura was tempering the surging darkness just enough, cleverly leveraging the drawback at the perfect moment—but they had no way of knowing.
To them, he was just a ravenous demon.
The rankers, including Napaladin, flinched for a moment, but it wasn't enough to break their resolve. Defiant, they surged their own energies.
Rumble—mighty auras clashed, whipping up fierce winds that tousled Napaladin and Hura's hair wildly.
Rumble rumble—their gazes locked, confirming the murder in each other's eyes. Confirmation complete; now just compare execution.
In that hair-trigger instant, Baek Bal Baek Jung shouted.
"Stop!"
His cry echoed thunderously between the two mountain-like presences. The boiling hostility scattered in a blink.
"Stop this!"
Baek Bal Baek Jung declared to them.
"Hura-nim will withdraw quietly without fighting."
"Baek Bal Baek Jung-nim!"
Baek Bal Baek Jung whipped around to the protesting Hura and bellowed loudly for all to hear.
"Hura-nim! This is my affair. It has nothing to do with you!"
"But Baek Bal Baek Jung-nim..."
Hura deactivated Dark Chef, and the roiling darkness folded back into him.
"This is my fight to finish. Please stop here!"
"...But."
"Hura-nim!"
Baek Bal Baek Jung gripped Hura's shoulder and snapped sharply.
"..."
Hura bowed his head.
"...Understood."
He reverted to his polite self, turning to Napaladin.
"Then, may I have a moment for farewells?"
"...Of course."
Napaladin stepped back a few paces, and the other rankers followed suit, opening a path. As they retreated, she let out a secret sigh of relief.
...Hate to imagine if it'd gone down like that.
* * *
With the space cleared for private talk, Hura and Baek Bal Baek Jung faced each other. They whispered.
"Whew... Thought my heart would explode."
"Haha, really? You didn't look fazed at all."
"Did I? Good."
"Never seen Napal look that rattled. It landed perfectly."
"Thank goodness. Your timing was spot-on too, Baek Bal Baek Jung-nim. Great acting."
"You too, Hura-nim. I almost bought it myself."
Before opening his mouth, Hura had used the whisper function—visible only to registered friends—to tip off Baek Bal Baek Jung in advance.
He'd never expected them to let both go easily. He figured at least one could escape unscathed.
"Here, take this."
Hura offered a handshake. Baek Bal Baek Jung clasped it, naturally receiving the item in Hura's palm.
"This is...?"
It was a silver coin edged with a blue band—the artifact from Ptah that Baek Bal Baek Jung had once wanted to try.
"Yes. I mentioned it before. An artifact that teleports to Shin-dong Village."
"But... the mages have already laid anti-teleport magic circles. Return scrolls won't work, nor any spatial artifacts."
Hura shook his head.
"As far as I know, magic and magitech operate on different principles. Right?"
"Yes... that's true?"
"This coin runs on magitech, not magic."
"...!"
Baek Bal Baek Jung's eyes bulged.
"Really?"
"Yes. I hear it's a finely crafted magitech device."
"This precious thing...! Thank you. I'll return it for sure."
"Of course."
Baek Bal Baek Jung stared blankly at Hura for a moment.
"...? What's up?"
"Hura-nim."
"Yes?"
"When did you take off the turban?"
"Oh, it was hot earlier."
"..."
"Anyway, not the point right now, is it? Focus."
"Ah, sorry."
"Flick it into the air to activate. Takes about 3 seconds to fully trigger."
Baek Bal Baek Jung nodded.
"Got it."
But they wouldn't kindly wait those 3 seconds. To these monster rankers, 3 seconds meant dozens of exchanges. And dozens of them, perfectly encircling.
In other words, he'd have to buy those 3 seconds himself.
"Baek Bal Baek Jung-nim."
Hura peered earnestly into his eyes.
"Got the confidence?"
His worried tone echoed what he'd said to Napaladin, but the feel was worlds apart. Baek Bal Baek Jung smiled leisurely.
"You call that a question? I'm Baek Bal Baek Jung. Of course I do. See you soon."
"Yes. Take care."
They patted each other's backs in farewell.
With the talk done, Hura strode confidently toward Napaladin.
"..."
She stepped aside, clearing the path. Those behind her parted left and right, revealing a straight road ahead.
As he moved to take it, Napaladin spoke.
"...Thank you for understanding."
She dipped her head slightly. Hura nodded curtly in return and asked flatly.
"Gonna say 'see you again' this time too?"
"...At least not as enemies."
As he brushed past her, Hura said, "Same here."
"..."
Hura walked steadily down the path through the crowd. Leaving his comrade behind, yet no one could mistake it for flight—his stride was pure dignity.
They might sigh in relief at his compliant retreat, but none would dare chase him now.
"..."
The rankers watched him go with varied gazes: curiosity, fear, doubt, relief, awe, suspicion, hostility. Some even nodded in salute.
Even after breaking the encirclement, Hura didn't look back, just kept walking.
"..."
After a long trek, a massive explosion roared from behind.
BOOM!!
"Ahh..."
Only then did the tension drain from Hura's shoulders like a deflating balloon, his legs buckling. He slumped against a nearby rock and gazed at the sky.
"Thought my heart would burst."
The sky behind was streaked with colors from the colossal battle. But he didn't turn around.
Hura sighed, hauling himself up.
Step step—he didn't stop walking. Didn't look back.
"Well, he said he was confident."
With that, Hura hurried toward the village.