Chapter 24
I’m translating the chapter and converting every system-style passage into the required HTML blocks. Next I’ll preserve the pacing and make sure the title line and all in-universe notices are formatted correctly.CHAPTER_TITLE: Chapter 24
How brazen.
That was the only word that came to mind.
How brazen.
“Even though I’m here…?”
And yet terrorists had come and started moving anyway? At Baek Hyeonho’s words, Irene laughed.
It was pure scorn.
“...You’re getting on my nerves.”
Mana seeped into her voice. The wavering pressure in the air made the lines of Baek Hyeonho’s face deepen slightly.
Her emotions were soaked through with it.
Crack.
With the sensation of the air being crushed, Baek Hyeonho made an uneasy gesture.
“Please calm yourself.”
“Calm down?”
Her sharp gaze turned on him instead.
The fortunate thing was that she was looking at him with only a slight easing of her anger.
“Three days from now, we verify Lee Jinwoo’s rank. That day is the turning point.”
“So... you want me to handle things then?”
“Correct.”
“...Tsk.”
Irene clicked her tongue. If it had been something trivial, she might have just complained. Unfortunately, it wasn’t.
Still, she chose to think positively.
If things went well.
She could root them all out and take care of them in one sweep. The job Baek Hyeonho had handed her seemed likely to be comparatively easy.
“Fine...”
As disappointing as it was, this gate would have to wait.
Snap!
With a light flick of her fingers, the barrier spread around them vanished in an instant.
“...Thanks for the information.”
She didn’t ask what she needed to do. Baek Hyeonho didn’t explain it either.
They both already knew.
“I’ll catch them.”
She said it with confidence.
“Those insects.”
At her flat, emotionless words, Baek Hyeonho gave a bitter smile.
“Yes. I’d appreciate it.”
At his thanks, the warped space gradually began to smooth out.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
■ The master of the Colosseum has won the duel.
■ The ancestor of the fishing boat has won the duel.
■ The moonlit spear master has forfeited...
As time passed, system messages kept appearing one after another. They were words I’d already grown used to. While I was staring at them, I looked toward the waiting room.
The seats that had once been packed with participants were now mostly empty.
There were plenty of people who had been eliminated, and plenty who had given up.
...More than I expected.
It was taking far too long. Some of those who couldn’t endure it had forfeited.
I raised my head and looked at the screen.
Crash—!!!
The impact exploded, sending fragments flying in every direction. It was a breathtaking sight. It had always been like that, but S-class superhumans really did seem to live on a different level.
Mm...
They were strong.
And I understood something else too.
Even if I’ve become stronger in the gate thanks to rank adjustment...
Could I really go head-to-head with them? I wasn’t sure.
In the first place...
What kind of level was I at right now? For all that the EX rank sounded absurd, I still couldn’t tell how strong I really was in reality.
The only thing I knew for certain was this.
I’m weaker than I should be for my rank.
Maybe not inside the gate, but in reality that was how it felt.
Was it because my synchronization rate was low?
...Hmm.
I didn’t know. It was definitely higher than SS-class, but something about it felt off. Was it really because of synchronization?
I’ve heard of that.
The higher the rank, the slower the synchronization rate rose.
Synchronization rate was a measure of how close one had come to one’s past life, and naturally, the higher the synchronization, the greater the power.
That was why I’d heard it was incredibly difficult for high-ranked awakeners to raise their synchronization.
So that’s it, then.
For all I’d done here and there, my synchronization rate still wasn’t even at ten percent.
Maybe that was why the power I wanted wasn’t coming out.
Hmm.
I slowly clenched my fist. Even so, I didn’t feel discouraged.
...Then I’ll just do it.
It was better than not being able to do it at all.
The important thing was that the possibility existed.
If synchronization is the problem,
Then I just had to find a way to raise it as quickly as possible.
Just as I was making that vow,
■ The first round of the Colosseum duel has ended.
■ The master of the Colosseum admires the level of the superhumans.
■ The master of the Colosseum grants a blessing to the victors.
■ You have received a blessing.
■ Luck has increased.
■ The master of the Colosseum says he looks forward to the next duel.
■ The first round of S-class Gate Colosseum has ended.
■ The gate is closing.
“What?”
“...The gate is closing?”
“Just like that?”
They were saying the gate was ending because the first round was over. The superhumans were thrown into confusion. Of course, so was I.
What the hell? That’s it?
Unlike what I’d expected, the gate was ending after everyone had only fought once?
That wasn’t in the explanation. And even more than that—
The first round means there’s another one.
It meant we could duel again after this, but was there any need for that? Everyone was still staring at the gate’s message in confusion, but...
■ Congratulations. The gate has been cleared.
As if the opinions of those superhumans mattered at all, the gate shut down on its own.
Then, just as it began to fade and the superhumans started disappearing one by one...
■ I inform the God of War.
■ The master of the Colosseum is looking for you.
■ He says it would be an honor to meet your face and greet the exalted one in person.
■ To that, would you accep-
Before the system alert could even finish—
Chiiizzzzt-!!!!
Crash.
Noisy static shredded the message as the system was crushed outright.
“That is...?”
I stared at the system in shock, but by then my body had already begun turning translucent.
And when I finally realized what was happening,
my consciousness had already returned to the real world.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
“...”
I blinked my eyes open. As I pushed myself up, my head felt vaguely foggy.
It was always like this when I came out of a gate.
I shook my head, enduring the faint headache that began to pulse there.
“...Ugh.”
I looked utterly drained.
Something rose before my half-open eyes.
■ You have cleared the gate.
■ You have won in the Colosseum.
■ You obtain a reward.
■ Following the law of victory in the Colosseum, you take something important from your duel opponent.
“What?”
It was taking something important from the opponent? Was there such a rule?
...If my opponent was...
That would be the mad dog Wei Ajun, wouldn’t it? The moment I thought of him, something dropped from the air with a soft thud.
A bracelet.
“And this is...?”
The instant I picked up the bracelet,
◈ An item left behind by the Three-Eyed Dragon.
◈ The wearer becomes immune to all poisons.
◈ If poison is consumed, abilities rise for a set period of time.
◈ Cursed by the Demon Dragon.
◈ The lost Demon Dragon continues searching for the bracelet.
“...Huh.”
I widened my eyes the moment I saw it. The Bracelet of the Demon Dragon?
“It’s S-rank.”
What in the world was this absurd item? If Wei Ajun had been carrying this, then it meant this was the kind of thing a nation would keep under its control.
In other words,
...This definitely wasn’t something that should’ve come to me, was it?
Unless Wei Ajun had been hiding it, this meant China itself would have been managing an item of this rank.
And even if that wasn’t the case—
...If he lost something like this,
Then Wei Ajun’s reaction right now probably wasn’t going to be pretty.
“Wow.”
This is insane. Ah, but...
...Wouldn’t it be fine if he doesn’t know?
It’s not like the item has a location tracker on it, and as long as Wei Ajun didn’t know I was the God of War...
...That means I can just keep it hidden.
Whether I tucked it away or carried it with me, there wouldn’t be a problem.
When I thought of it that way, maybe it wasn’t so bad after all.
Nodding to myself, I was just about to slip the bracelet into my clothes when—
Beep.
As if puncturing my situation, an alert appeared.
■ The reward for completing the God of War quest has arrived.
“Ah.”
I’d forgotten about it. I had cleared a quest during my fight with Wei Ajun.
■ Reward distribution in progress.
■ God of War’s Vault (EX) has been opened.
Swish—!!!
A space appeared before me. It was pitch black, deep and dark, with nothing visible inside.
A vault?
If it was a vault, then that meant there was something inside, but I couldn’t see anything at all.
They’d said I could obtain one item from here, but...
What are you trying to give me?
As I watched the opening with a puzzled look,
thud—!
An item dropped from the hole. It was similar to the bracelet, but different. Much larger.
The moment I saw its shape, I knew what it was.
“It looks like a sword.”
It was a sword.
A sword lodged in a worn old scabbard. What kind of blade had suddenly come flying out of a vault?
“...This is the reward?”
They were just handing me a sword out of nowhere? I was confused. What was I even supposed to do with this?
I reached for the hilt, trying to lift it.
Thud.
“...Whoa.”
It was surprisingly heavy. My body had grown stronger after awakening, and even so, how could it possibly be this heavy?
How many kilos is this?
For a simple sword, it felt absurdly heavy. With a frown, I lifted it again.
■ The nature of the weapon is being analyzed.
■ Rusted Dark Iron Sword (C)
The sword’s identity was revealed. It was a C-rank iron sword.
“Hmm...”
I gave an awkward smile. For something that came out of the vault, wasn’t this a bit too much like an antique?
Just as that thought crossed my mind,
Beep—!
■ The illusion of Korka detects the true value of the iron sword.
■ The illusion of Korka has identified the iron sword’s true worth.
■ The sword’s hidden power is revealed.
■ Heavenly Demon Divine Sword (SSS)
■ It was once used by the leader of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.
■ Infused with the power of the Heavenly Demon, it can cleave through all things and draw upon his strength.
■ The Heavenly Demon is searching for his lost divine weapon.
...
I swallowed hard.
“...This rusted-looking sword is SS-rank?”
On the outside, it looked like a blade whose edge had long since been worn away, even rusted through, and yet it was SS-rank.
At this point, maybe the illusion of Korka really was a cheat.
Still...
What was I even supposed to do with this sword?
Isn’t the God of War someone who fights with his fists...?
That had been true of every skill I’d received so far. They’d all been techniques that used fists or feet, so my past life didn’t seem like someone who wielded a sword.
A sword, huh.
Why had this been dropped from the vault?
The vault had clearly said...
It would give me what I needed.
Was this the thing I needed?
No matter how I looked at it, that didn’t seem likely.
As I stared at the sword with a complicated expression,
ring-ring-ring—!!
My phone rang. Startled, I checked the screen and saw it was Jeon Yuseon.
“I’m answering.”
—Hunter Lee Jinwoo. Are you awake?
“Yes... I just got up.”
—Understood. Then I shall send a car at once. You remember today’s schedule, yes?
“Ah, yes.”
Of course I remembered.
...Rank measurement.
It was the day I was supposed to measure my proper rank before joining the Knight Order. I didn’t know much else, but if I wanted to belong to the Association, it was a necessary step.
Come to think of it...
I couldn’t let them discover that I was EX-rank.
What was I supposed to do about that...?
Just as the problem started to become a headache,
Wooooong!
“Huh?”
Suddenly, the sword in my hand began to hum.
Why was it doing that? I stared at it in surprise.
Wooooong—!!!
The sword’s vibration stopped. Then—
■ The power of the Heavenly Demon Divine Sword has been applied.
■ The soul of the God of War has been temporarily overlaid.
■ Your rank has been reapplied.
■ God of War (EX) → Heavenly Demon (??) has been changed. The effect remains while you possess the sword.
■ Rank measurement is required. The system is identifying the Heavenly Demon’s level. (1%... 3%...)
...Wow.
I covered my mouth with my hand at the words that appeared.
It had hidden the rank of the God of War and overwritten it with something else. That was the power of the divine sword.
...So it really was the thing I needed?
It had said it would give me what I needed, and it really had.
With this alone, I could conceal the identity of the God of War.
And by some stroke of luck, too.