Chapter 86
Chapter 86
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 86
Chapter Title: People Should Live Kindly
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I stared blankly at Shin Chae-yeon's demonstration match, lost in thought. This is pure malice.
This summons reeks of malice. Midterms: failed. Ranking: 762nd. Personality: trash.
Who the hell makes a guy like that do a demo match?
Hmm. Something's off. No matter how I look at it, it's weird, right?
"I can feel the malice."
"Me too."
Thud. Raphael jabbed my head with her chin from the slightly higher back seat.
"How do you show someone like that teaching others? The moment he gets hit, he'll counterattack because it hurts."
"Hey now."
I raised my hand and smacked her on the head. She knew I wasn't hitting hard, so she didn't dodge.
"Malice. Yeah, probably."
Why's she saying it so gravely? It's making me anxious. Sophia looked at me.
"But it'll be fine. Don't win—just toy with him a bit and surrender."
Where's this confidence coming from? This trust?
I'm weak, you know? No exaggeration—I'm so weak I couldn't even take a random passerby.
"Does this guy look like he can do that? If the opponent glares, he'll beat them to death for glaring."
What the hell? I don't do that. Sure, I have priors, but I'm not the type to just swing wildly.
I only do it to people weaker than me. Against strong ones, I can't even compete. And that guy's stronger than me.
Yeah. End of story.
"I want to see Seong-hoon get beat up."
"Probably will. I feel like I'll get hit."
She rubbed my crown hard with her chin. It hurt like hell. Even pinching her cheek didn't stop her.
Right now, I'm sitting between Sophia and Isia. They seemed to be fighting, so I sat in the middle to mediate.
Raphael, whose spot I stole, was doing this from the back seat. And being sandwiched between them made their glares sting.
I'll move aside, so glare at each other.
That's what I thought as I shifted away, but the glares landed on me.
Was it always me?!
Is this that thing? The enemy of my enemy is my friend? Am I the common enemy?!
Physical attacks from above, eye-beam attacks from the sides—before I knew it, it was my turn.
"Lee Seong-hoon, step forward!!"
I thanked the blue-haired guy for calling me at a good time and walked ahead.
"Seong-hoon. I liked that pose where you got launched by Shin Ga-yeon last time. Lose like that."
"Don't win. Play around a bit and lose!!"
"Don't fly off just because you're mad!!"
So noisy. I ignored all the voices and walked out. But won't they fight if I'm gone?
I turned back with that thought. What I saw was the three of them chatting amiably.
What? Why are they getting along? Weren't they glaring like they wanted to kill each other earlier? I pondered as I climbed into the arena.
The common factor when those girls get mad: me in the middle. And the rings. Hmm. No idea.
"Wait, is this it? Peak popularity?"
[Tsk.]
What? Don't click your tongue—tell me. For a moment, I thought maybe they like me, but memories quickly debunked that.
"...."
"............."
I lifted my head. Calming my trembling eyes with effort, I took the issued sword.
"Lachesis."
[Nya?]
"It seems people should live kindly."
[Yeah, you should, nya.]
Easier said than done.
"Fight like it's real combat."
"Yessir."
My curt reply annoyed the blue-haired man, who furrowed his brow. But what can I do? Even in real combat, I'm weak.
If he yelled [Is this all you've got?! Give it your all!!], I could honestly say yes, this is my all.
I'm not some shonen manga protagonist.
Truth is, fighting has a lot of conditions for me.
First off, I can't fight without a scythe-type weapon. My current sword stance looks awkward even to me.
I can't fight without Raphael or Levatein either. My physical stats are like a normal person's. Thanks to mana, at least I won't lose to a random 5-year-old.
With the sword drawn and stance set, Mana Eye and Hyper Sense activated, but they're useless here.
Mana Eye only works on magic-related stuff, and Hyper Sense boosts Scythe Mastery and buffs—pointless now.
What does that mean?
"Can I just surrender?"
I'd lose to a normal person too. Even in a fistfight. And no runes or items allowed.
This is the moment my gearscore, buff-stacked, skill-boosted gilding peels off.
I felt like crying looking at Shin Hak-cheol shaking his head. Damn. Guess I have to play around and lose.
I gripped the sword. Taking an awkward stance awkwardly, the man before me glared.
"Do it properly?"
"This is properly."
"You messing around?"
I'm serious. This is so unfair. His piercing glare made me readjust my grip a few times, but the intensity didn't fade.
With the shout, the man charged at me. Thanks to the recent Demon God elixir and Shin Ga-yeon's training?
I successfully dodged the onslaught. But that's it. Nothing else I can do.
"Should I swing the sword?"
[Can you even? Nya?]
Hmm. Maybe? I swung before he recovered from his downward slash, but the awkward stance put no power behind it.
Thud.
"Ah."
"...What was that?"
My swing lightly tapped his shoulder and ended. A chill instantly swept the arena. My nape prickled.
That uncle's glaring at me hard too. Makes sense—he cares about the family.
The guy Shin Ga-yeon wants as her husband (my claim) acting like this? He'd want to kill me.
But what can I do? This is my best.
The man stood. I saw strength enter his gripping hand. Ah. He's pissed now.
I-I know, okay? You don't show your back in sparring.
"This is my best!!"
No choice. It'll hurt if I get hit. Surrender not allowed. My body is fragile!!!
"Showing your back mid-spar? Stay right there!"
The man pursues, swinging his sword. Hyper Sense tells me exactly how far he is. If I keep running, it'll take time to catch me.
The sharp sensation from behind gave me chills. What is this? It's not a real sword, right? Wooden?
Can't keep playing tag till time's up. Here, I'll turn once—
Suddenly, goosebumps erupted all over.
My Hyper Sense-amped senses screamed warnings. Skin tingling, ears catching sharp tones.
My nose caught the scent of death. Turning at the rising hackles—
"Huh?"
The man who met my eyes rolled his back. Foam bubbled from his mouth. My brain froze at the incomprehensible scene, but instinct spat out words.
"Total scrub."
Dunno what happened, but a win's a win.
You bet. Obviously.
The man took great pride in his blue hair. Thus, becoming a merciless killer for his family was, in a way, inevitable.
A murder machine always at the ready—that was his position in the family.
That's why he stood here.
Killing in front of young students tugged at his conscience, but he wouldn't stop for that.
'If unqualified, execute immediately.'
He drew his sword. A bladeless wooden one, but with his skill, he could end it painlessly in one stroke.
"Do it right."
"Yessir."
Didn't sit well. Holding the sword like a monkey, that response—none of it pleased him.
Normally, he'd kill on the spot, but this was the lady's chosen man. Something must be up. With that thought, he launched the first attack.
He expected the dodge. It was meant to be dodged. The problem came after.
An attack even an elementary kid wouldn't pull. A strike that barely seemed to connect froze the mood. If only that.
Then the vulgar words and fleeing antics.
None befitted the family. No way such a one could join—and if he did, it'd be ruin.
The man gripped his sword. Circulating mana as he chased the pathetically fleeing black-haired guy.
He didn't reveal killing intent. A seasoned assassin.
He showed it only in that instant—when swinging the blade.
"Uoooooh!!"
Aiming for the fleeing man's back with a bizarre roar. What needed doing: bisect.
Infuse mana into the sword. Tense the gripping hand. Draw and cleave in one.
Reveal killing intent in that instant. A split-second. Within 1-3 seconds.
Truly a fleeting moment. Five seconds to the slash.
With 6-8 seconds total, he could kill anyone.
However.
'Huh?'
The moment he released killing intent, another smothered him.
His body froze. The drawing hand halted. His uneasy eyes fixed on the boy's back.
But it wasn't the boy he saw. From empty space: something purple. Eyes, or reptilian.
Merely a hallucination he conjured—what it was called didn't matter.
Instinct told him: this wasn't killing intent. Something beyond, a warning from a higher-dimensional existence.
A warning not to cross that line.
But the world is relative. A warning to one isn't to another.
In that sub-second terror, ample to faint him. The moment his eyes met the turning black pupils.
The man's eyes rolled back. Foam dripped from his mouth. Consciousness fled elsewhere.
Benia muttered from her haughty perch on the chair. Humans these days are too frail.
Ah, because he's pure-blooded? Then yeah, her mistake. But what now that he's out?
If not for her, the kid would've died.
Levatein tilted her head like she didn't get it, but Benia just patted her head.
Won't even get proper sleep. Benia gave a wry smile.
The purple-haired kid in maid attire was dragged by the hand to where the toys were.