Chapter 73
Chapter 73
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 73
Chapter Title: A Horrifying Weapon
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#73.
It was horrifying.
It was at least several times larger than a normal hammer, and the metal head was splattered with bloodstains of unknown origin.
‘How is that a magic wand?!’
It was a blunt weapon.
And one that was vicious beyond compare!
Wasn’t its name even Mjolnir?
Seo Woo-jin tensed up slightly.
It wasn’t just the appearance...
‘I can feel the mana.’
As befitting something called a ‘magic wand,’ a fragrance of mana wafted from the hammer.
And quite intensely at that.
‘It’s not on the level of Baek Si-woo’s sword, but among the weapons I’ve seen, it looks like the strongest.’
Even most heroes would struggle to block an attack from that hammer.
Seo Woo-jin glanced at his own black sword.
‘Can it hold up?’
If he used his full-powered aura, he thought he could probably withstand it somehow.
But he wasn’t confident about blocking Goo Dong-hwan’s hammer empowered by a skill.
‘This is why you need a good sword.’
Craftsmen don’t blame their tools, or so they say?
Seo Woo-jin didn’t agree.
The reason they didn’t obsess over tools was because they already had good ones.
And since Seo Woo-jin wasn’t even a craftsman, he had all the more reason to covet a superior sword.
“Now I’m coming for real!”
Idle thoughts ended there.
With that warning, Goo Dong-hwan swung his ‘magic wand’ and charged like a gale.
‘Fast.’
It was swift movement that didn’t match his bulk.
‘Probably the effect of “Transformation.”’
It seemed possible thanks to his explosively enhanced physical abilities.
But Seo Woo-jin wasn’t all that surprised.
In terms of physical prowess, he far surpassed Goo Dong-hwan.
With dynamic vision sharp enough to break down incoming bullets frame by frame, he captured the metal head swinging toward his face.
‘Keep movements small.’
He took one step back.
Large movements inevitably created openings.
Seo Woo-jin planned to dodge with minimal motion and exploit that gap.
But then—
“Girls First Kiss Maximum Full Swing!”
“What?”
Whoooosh-!
The hammer enveloped in sparkling light came at him with speed incomparable to before.
Startled, Seo Woo-jin urgently tilted his head back.
A destructively gruesome noise and wind pressure that could tear his face passed by.
‘Crazy!’
It was a skill.
The first skill he’d seen from Goo Dong-hwan, excluding “Transformation.”
Having barely dodged the attack, Seo Woo-jin felt a chill run down his spine.
Gulp-
If he’d taken that head-on, standing unscathed would’ve been impossible.
But separately from his shock, Seo Woo-jin reflexively closed into Goo Dong-hwan’s guard and thrust his sword upward.
The target was his armpit.
Aura rose from the black sword, heading toward the precise spot without a millimeter’s error.
But...
“Girls Prism Protection!”
“What?”
Seo Woo-jin’s eyes widened.
A rainbow of seven colors materialized around Goo Dong-hwan.
Caught off guard by the unexpected situation, his body froze, and the hammer came flying again.
‘Damn it!’
Pushing aside his regret, Seo Woo-jin dodged.
“Impressive.”
The constant “Girls” in the skill names was a bit off-putting, but the power and effects were undeniably potent.
It had even made Seo Woo-jin flinch for a moment.
But the surprise wasn’t one-sided.
Goo Dong-hwan also looked shocked by Seo Woo-jin’s movements, his eyes wide.
“I knew you were strong, but not to this extent...”
His evaluation of Seo Woo-jin had changed greatly from before.
Given what he’d shown so far, it would’ve been stranger if it hadn’t.
Even so, the D-rank label led to underestimating him.
It planted the thought, ‘He’s strong, but I’m stronger.’
Of course, not everyone was like that, but most without direct ties to Seo Woo-jin thought so.
Goo Dong-hwan had been one of them.
So it was only natural he was shocked at exceeding his expectations.
“Is that so?”
Calming his startled mind, Seo Woo-jin looked at Goo Dong-hwan.
A short yellow dress that swayed.
Puffy shoulders made of ballooning material.
A massive ribbon adornment covering his pectorals.
A large blue heart gem right in the center.
And the hammer.
‘I underestimated him too easily.’
It was true he’d somewhat looked down on him due to the distracting appearance.
Even the ‘Magical Girl’ job sounded like a joke.
But contrary to the ridiculous look, Goo Dong-hwan was truly strong.
Excluding his elite friends, he was probably top three.
‘Maybe even the strongest.’
“Uhahaha! Now we can have a real fight. It was too easy until now and no fun, but I’m glad!”
Goo Dong-hwan laughed heartily.
But...
Seo Woo-jin decided not to take Goo Dong-hwan lightly anymore.
That meant he’d go all out.
“Coming again.”
He drew up his mana.
Unprecedented, terrifying mana instantly wrapped around Seo Woo-jin’s body and began to circulate.
Thud-
He lightly stomped his foot.
Seo Woo-jin’s figure vanished.
“Huh?”
Goo Dong-hwan’s eyes widened.
It was like teleportation; his form disappeared in an instant, a natural reaction.
And in that fleeting moment, Seo Woo-jin was already swinging his sword from behind.
Roooar-!
Thanks to drawing up mana?
A radiant aura incomparable to before blazed forth.
“Hup!”
Instinctively, Goo Dong-hwan swung the hammer backward.
With no time for skills, he planned to block purely with mana and strength.
But it was futile against Seo Woo-jin’s aura.
The vicious blunt weapon that seemed capable of destroying everything was sliced through like thread.
“What in the...!”
Craaaack- Pop-!
It wasn’t just the hammer that split.
A clean line appeared on Goo Dong-hwan’s steel-like body, blood spurting out.
Thanks to the shock absorption magic, he avoided being bisected, but it was far from a light wound.
Goo Dong-hwan looked down at his body.
Blood streaming down.
“Haha-”
He laughed with an expression of utter disbelief.
“You’re truly amazing.”
With those final words, he lost consciousness and collapsed.
Seo Woo-jin sheathed his sword.
“Whew.”
He took a small deep breath.
‘Controlling my strength is harder.’
Surprised by the sword’s far greater power than expected, Seo Woo-jin hurriedly withdrew his mana.
Fortunately, he’d succeeded just before it touched Goo Dong-hwan; otherwise, it could’ve been disastrous.
‘He wouldn’t have died thanks to the shock absorption magic, but...’
Having forcibly halted the mana circulation, his internals were churning.
“Seo Woo-jin’s victory.”
“Wow, insane. He beat that guy?”
“Didn’t they say that dude’s D-rank? How’d he beat an A-rank perv, er, hero?”
“I thought he was no ordinary troll from the start.”
With Ludein’s victory declaration, murmurs from the heroes reached his ears.
The fight Seo Woo-jin had just shown far exceeded their imaginations.
It was shocking for those who’d been trying to downplay his skills.
“Good work.”
Returning to the waiting area, Ailin greeted him with a smile.
“Wow, mister! You seem even stronger than before. What happened?”
In contrast, Lee Ji-ah looked blatantly shocked.
Just as she’d said, Seo Woo-jin seemed much stronger than before.
Beating that monster-like perv without even using special skills!
Admiration shone in Lee Ji-ah’s eyes.
“I’ve been leveling up too.”
Seo Woo-jin explained his growth as due to leveling up.
He couldn’t say he’d absorbed mana from Rossi Ruby’s gem.
“Well, yeah. When I first saw you, you were level 10... now you’re already 23?”
It hadn’t been long since being summoned to the academy, yet he’d gained 13 levels.
Even if Seo Woo-jin started lower than other heroes, it was too fast.
The others, including Lee Ji-ah, had only gained 1-3 levels.
“Well, a lot happened.”
He’d gone through chunks of experiences others hadn’t.
Plus, his aptitude was ‘Immeasurable,’ presumed higher than Baek Si-woo’s SSS-grade...
‘Fast leveling is only natural.’
If he’d bus-ed from Massive Guardian onward, he’d be higher level than Baek Si-woo.
Of course, Seo Woo-jin had no regrets.
Thanks to Ban Slain, he’d grown far stronger than other heroes.
Seo Woo-jin turned around.
In the distance, Goo Dong-hwan was receiving treatment.
With “Transformation” released, he was back in normal clothes, still unconscious.
‘Hm...’
Goo Dong-hwan was strong.
If he hadn’t grown close to evolution, he might not have won with ordinary skills.
He felt chills anew at the heroes’ growth speed.
‘There might be others like Goo Dong-hwan among them.’
With 100 people, remembering each one was hard.
‘Still, I should check them out.’
And if possible, befriend them.
For who knows when.
“Ah, my turn! I’ll go win!”
Lee Ji-ah saluted Seo Woo-jin and dashed to the arena.
“Win!”
Cheering from behind, she waved her massive gauntlets in response.
Soon, Lee Ji-ah’s match began.
And she lost.
“Don’t be too down. Your opponent was just too strong.”
Seo Woo-jin comforted the dazed Lee Ji-ah.
But she showed no reaction, as if she heard nothing.
“The shock of defeat must be huge.”
Ailin whispered quietly.
‘Can’t be helped.’
Lee Ji-ah’s opponent was an A-rank woman with the job ‘Straw Doll.’
Same A-rank heroes, so either winning was plausible.
Yet the reason she was out of it was one.
‘It was one hit.’
Just a single punch.
That’s how Lee Ji-ah lost.
As a ‘Fist Master,’ the shock was inevitable.
She’d trained with Seo Woo-jin and taken pride in her skills, only to lose so anticlimactically...
“Gyesuji, was it?”
The unique name made it easy to remember.
Like Goo Dong-hwan, Gyesuji boasted tremendous skill.
Lee Ji-ah had passed out without even knowing how she lost.
“I’d like to spar with her once.”
Seeing from afar was less accurate than exchanging blows directly.
But it seemed impossible in this training session.
‘Next opponent is Baek Si-woo.’
No matter how strong she was, beating him would be tough.
At this point, he was the acknowledged strongest hero.
“Would you like to spar then?”
Startled by the sudden voice, Seo Woo-jin turned.
Gyesuji stared at him with heavy, sunken eyes.