Chapter 48
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 48
Chapter Title: Modern (5)
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Seeing his sword shatter into pieces, Speedman muttered dumbly.
"Sword aura?"
If it was sword aura, the ability of a B-rank hunter, then maybe. But there was nothing coating the opponent's blade.
"Fuck, they give me this piece-of-shit sword and tell me to win."
The sword in Speedman's hand had shattered, leaving only the hilt.
In his shock, Speedman tried to surrender right away, but before he could even open his mouth, stars exploded in his vision.
Slap!
He got smacked across the face with the flat of the blade. He could feel what it meant to see stars as something dripped down with a patter.
"Urk...! W-Wait a sec!"
"This punk's just playing around. Weren't you gonna beat him one-sidedly?"
Thud!
A punch to the solar plexus knocked the wind out of him. Something welled up, forcing his mouth open.
"Wheek...! Ack!"
Speedman felt his jaw nearly split as his mouth was forcibly shut amid the agony.
He couldn't pull himself together at all. With barely any intact teeth left, Speedman regretted it amid his fading vision.
"Fuck... I should've paid the 500 million."
Clap! Clap!
Just as he was about to pass out, Speedman's senses snapped back. He didn't even know where the slaps had landed, but his foggy mind cleared.
Which meant the pain hit him crystal clear, too.
"Aaaagh! Sur... urk!"
Siwoo slapped the mouth of the guy trying to surrender.
If he let it end half-assed, the punk might come seeking revenge later. So he stomped on his lower abdomen, shattering his dantian.
"Gaaargh..."
Speedman clutched his gut and collapsed, retching.
If he lacked the skills to repair his shattered dantian, he'd revert to a non-awakener soon enough.
The question was whether this guy, stripped of his powers and saddled with all the grudges he'd racked up, could even survive. He'd humiliated and beaten plenty of other awakeners, after all.
Crack!
Siwoo finished with one last strike to the jaw, knocking him out cold.
A chilling silence blanketed the arena. The unexpected outcome left the commentator and everyone else speechless.
"Hm..."
Siwoo liked the quiet.
The commentator belatedly snapped out of it and started yelling something, but no one listened. Everyone just stared in a daze.
A hunter who'd just hit C-rank picked up his fragrant coffee and snapped a selfie.
Posing so his luxury foreign car and sleek new gear were visible in the shot.
Especially the Dragon Head Sword he'd bought recently. Some ignorant idiots called it a dragon-head sword, but the official name was Dragon Head Sword.
"Kuh... Isn't this just too cool?"
He took another shot, emphasizing the dragon head gleaming in the sunlight.
"Kya! Perfect. Should I post it?"
-[Photo]
-Gotta have a coffee before heading into the rift, right?
He kept refreshing, but no change. No reactions today, of all days.
"Tch..."
Swallowing his disappointment, he approached his party members.
The group he'd agreed to enter a C-rank rift with.
He strode up with shoulders squared and a grin, subtly tapping the main sword at his waist.
"Yo, you made it?"
"Hye-ji here yet?"
One party member yawned as he spoke.
"Nah. She's always fucking late, pissing me off... Shit, probably doing her makeup again."
"Probably. But she's hot, right? Makes it hard in the rift."
"Exactly, fuck. Last time, I nearly died staring at her ass. The way she sways it subtly."
"Kukuku..."
As they chatted, the man casually stroked his sword and glanced at his waist, but the oblivious guy didn't bite.
He finally spoke up.
"See this?"
He tapped the sword at his waist.
"Huh...? New sword? Dragon Head?"
"Hey! Dragon Head Sword. Whaddya think? Nice sheen, right?"
The party member who would've eyed it enviously before wore a strange expression.
"..."
Seeing the ambiguous look, the man's mood soured a bit.
"What? Something wrong?"
"Well..."
"Spit it out. Ugh, fuck! Fine, since it's you, I'll hook you up. Normally no way, but with my intro, you get 30% off too..."
"No, that's not it..."
The guy's face looked like he was holding back laughter—or maybe pity—which frustrated him.
"Don't beat around the bush! Just say it."
The other finally spoke.
"You haven't seen this?"
The man skimmed the video handed to him. What the hell...
"Fuck?"
It was a one-minute clip of the Dragon Head Sword he'd bought shattering against an SH Smith blade.
"F-Fuck, the opponent's just strong, right? Shit, you can tell he's fucking skilled. That guy's B-rank, no?"
But no sword aura was visible in the video.
"Nah, opponent's also fresh C-rank. Barely awakened. Hmm... Still fights well, though. Speedman was decent too, but he got wrecked this time. Quitting broadcasting, holed up in the hospital. Kekeke, serves him right."
The guy was usually an asshole, so it felt good, but the sword mattered more. He'd scraped together cash and gone into installments for this.
The videos didn't end there. Before the duel, Speedman was on screen, trash-talking to draw aggro.
-Give me 100 million, and I'll go easy.
Saying crap like that before getting one-sidedly pummeled—the views were skyrocketing.
Speedman's fans were desperately tarnishing the Dragon Head Sword's image in response.
-The sword's trash. Our Speedman fought well.
Provoked, tons of people uploaded test videos.
The challenge of clashing same-grade swords was trending.
"Holy shit?"
"That 200-million Dragon Head's on par with a 2,000-won rice soup sword. Something about the new White Lotus Sword? Can't even compare."
"Wh-What the fuck? How much?"
The sword he'd snagged for 140 million at 30% off—what? On par with a 2,000-won one?
The comments were insane.
-Kangjin Ironworks weapons are all luck of the draw. Mine's fine.
-Luck my ass. Lol Same materials, why luck?
-Nah, they swap materials like crazy. Mine was fine, but my party member's had wolf bone shards. Had to commission analysis for refund. But the fucker took hush money sweet. Jealous.
-Fuck lol, we can talk here?
-Not my payout, who cares lol
Gritting his teeth, he bolted to his car.
"Hey, fuck, where you going? The rift?!"
Ignoring the shout, he floored the accelerator. He had somewhere to be now.
No way could he enter a rift and use this sword.
Vrooom—
Ignoring signals, he sped desperately toward Hunter Market.
Screech!
"Fuck. Why so crowded?"
Even on a weekday morning, it was packed. All hunters geared up with equipment and swords.
"Move! Get outta the way!"
He shoved through the murmuring crowd and finally entered the store.
It was worse inside.
The official Kangjin Ironworks outlet where he'd bought his sword was jammed.
"Fuck! Refund this shit!!"
"C-Customer, sorry, but special deals aren't refundable...!"
"F-Fuck! Never even used it once, and no refund? That make sense?"
"We're sorry. Please check the terms..."
"Fuck that! Refund me!"
An unknown hunter dejectedly set down his sword.
"Fuck..."
Jang Ye-hwa smiled happily. Her eyes on Siwoo dripped with honey.
"Thanks to you, results are better than expected."
This time, they'd aggressively snatched market share from Kangjin Ironworks. At this rate, the company's growth was visible.
"Plus, Kangjin Ironworks is properly fucked."
Especially Kangjin Ironworks, which had picked a fight with her company—they were hit hard.
They'd been straining to maintain a premium image despite low performance, so the exposure was fatal.
Beyond the affiliate, Kangjin Group's stocks were plummeting.
Jang Ye-hwa was gobbling up the market gap left by their collapse.
The sword-shattering challenge. Thanks to the buzz on video platforms, low-end gear rankings were solidifying.
Even real-combat tests that some companies tried to block with lawsuits.
"Well, we're confident. We've been subtly fanning the flames from behind, so let's lock in this opportunity."
Her goal: C-to-B-rank hunter market. Looked achievable now.
"Anyway, I want to repay you."
As Jang Ye-hwa spoke with expectation, Siwoo replied.
"Hm... 1 billion plus ongoing gear sponsorship for my clan members? We'll discuss the term later."
He caught her subtly sulking at that.
'What, not even this?'
It reminded him of Dang Hwa-rin with her pout. Seeing Jang Ye-hwa's lips jutting out, Siwoo smirked faintly.
He slid over to her sofa and asked.
"What? Don't wanna give that either?"
"N-No, that's not it—we should give that much. It's actually too little. Eep...!"
As she rambled incoherently, she stiffened when Siwoo stroked her thigh.
"So this counts as compensation too?"
"N-Not here."
He grabbed Jang Ye-hwa as she tried to flee in a fluster. Couldn't let her escape again.
Smack!
"Mmph...!"
Siwoo covered her mouth with his.