Chapter 138
Chapter 138
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Translator: True Detective
Chapter: 138
Chapter Title: Se-kyung Walker (4)
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Unlike the others, who were thrown into utter chaos by the sudden turn of events, Yuri had a firm grasp on what was unfolding.
He knew exactly who that wildly rampaging dwarf was.
He knew why he was here causing this ruckus.
No one knew better than Yuri.
Which made the whole thing even more absurd.
"Whoa..."
It was true that Yuri himself had told Yulia, "Just make him want to meet me. He'll probably come looking for you first."
But...
'...It actually worked?'
He hadn't actually thought it would.
Yuri never imagined the situation would play out exactly like that.
What he'd said to Yulia was just a roundabout way of saying, "I'll try poking him hard enough that he wants to meet me!"
He figured he'd get back some profanity-laced reply at most.
'But for him to show up in person...'
Scratching his cheek, he scanned the shattered remnants of the wooden palisade.
'And how the hell did he smash that?'
Yuri's question didn't linger long before it was answered.
"Finally, you slimy bastard crawled out!"
The booming voice echoed again.
In the dim dawn light, piercing blue eyes locked onto Yuri.
"Eek!"
"I'm hungry!"
"...?!"
Se-kyung Walker's glare was so ferocious that the people around Yuri flinched and stumbled back in terror.
And in that moment, they saw it.
The berserk dwarf slinging something over his shoulder.
'What the hell is that?'
Yuri peered closely at the object on Se-kyung's shoulder.
It was a metallic cylinder about 110 cm long.
Roughly 15 cm in diameter, hollow inside, with a tarnished greenish hue.
"Hmm?"
"What is that thing?"
No matter how they looked at it, Yuri and his friends couldn't figure out what it was for, tilting their heads in confusion.
As they stood there dumbfounded.
"Die nicely, you fuck!"
With a savage curse, thunder cracked.
Boom!
The cylinder spat a short, sharp explosion.
From what they'd thought was empty, sparks flew alongside a black sphere.
The recoil was so strong it shoved Se-kyung's body backward.
"...?!"
The moment he saw the black sphere hurtling toward him at terrifying speed, chills raced up Yuri's spine.
It was his instinct screaming a warning.
'That's... dangerous!'
Reacting instantly to the danger, Yuri lunged forward.
Without a second's hesitation, he swung his sword at the incoming sphere.
Swoosh—clink!
Just as the blade was about to meet it, Yuri subtly shifted his sword.
The sphere glanced off the flat of the blade, its trajectory twisting.
The straight-flying orb veered off at a 20-degree angle from Yuri.
Whoosh—.
Time seemed to slow.
—Vrrrrm!
Arin, Poppi, and Theresia turned to follow the black sphere flying past them.
The moment it slammed into the palisade behind them, time snapped back to normal.
KABOOM!
A massive explosion erupted, shredding the huge wooden structure and sending debris flying everywhere.
"Eek!"
"W-What the hell was that?!"
"I'm hungry!"
The black sphere wasn't just a lump of metal.
It was a powerful explosive in its own right.
Rumble rumble.
Everything within a 3-meter radius of the blast was reduced to rubble.
The aftershocks rippling through the ground made Yuri's group realize just how devastating the explosion had been.
They also now knew exactly what had woken them at this ungodly hour.
Yuri's face hardened instantly.
'One single blast wiped out that much area?!'
If his instincts had been a split second slower.
If he'd tried to slice through the sphere instead of deflecting it.
Scattering everywhere right now wouldn't be wooden shards.
It would've been pieces of his own guts.
Gulp.
As Yuri swallowed dryly, those blue eyes flickered again.
"Oh? You blocked it?"
Se-kyung Walker cocked his head at an odd angle.
A cruel smile curled his lips as he pulled another black sphere from his pocket and loaded it into the cylinder.
Then.
"Try blocking this one too!"
Boom!
The cylinder roared with fire and thunder once more.
Now fully aware of the sphere's destructive power, Yuri was even more cautious.
'Here it comes!'
One wrong move, and he'd be blown to bits with no corpse left to bury.
Swoosh—clink!
Another sphere veered off its path in a beautiful sword arc, smashing into the palisade behind him.
And that was just the beginning.
KABOOM!
Boom! Crackle!
The cursed cylinder belched thunder repeatedly.
Theresia, Arin, and Poppi behind Yuri could only tremble as black spheres whistled past them nonstop.
KABOOM!
Then an explosion a bit too close made Arin smack Poppi's arm repeatedly, yelling.
"Shield! Raise your shield! That's what it's for, blocking shit like this! Hurry!"
"I'm hungry!"
"You're a walking mountain, what do you have to be scared of!"
"I'm hungry!"
"Damn it! If you're gonna whine about breaking your arm blocking this, then quit strength training from now on, you muscle pig! Eat half rations too!"
"I-I'm hungry!"
"What's there to feel wronged about!"
While Arin and Poppi bickered, Theresia slyly slipped behind them.
In an instant, she'd turned her two juniors into meat shields.
A crisis response truly worthy of a Cradle senior.
Meanwhile, Se-kyung raged at Yuri.
"Argh! Just die already!"
"You're insane! The moment it hits, you're meat chunks!"
"That's what I want!"
Se-kyung did his part.
Yuri did his.
Each gave their all from their positions.
Explosions rocked the northern sector without end.
Every boom eroded the foundations of the fortress Yuri and his friends had built over weeks.
Boom!
By the time most of the palisade behind Yuri was gone.
In other words, when half their painstakingly crafted barrier had been obliterated, the thunder finally stopped.
"Huff, huff."
Se-kyung panted heavily.
"You... fucking bastard."
After catching his breath for a while, he glared at Yuri with a warning.
"If you spout any more bullshit, I won't let it slide like today!"
"...No matter how you look at it, this wasn't exactly letting it slide, was it?"
"Pah!"
Se-kyung spat a thick glob of phlegm at Yuri's incredulous muttering.
A chill wind whipped around him as he turned and walked away.
The biting cold froze even Yuri, who didn't dare try to stop him.
Yuri stared blankly at Se-kyung's retreating back, then turned around.
The sight that greeted him left him speechless once more.
"......"
The palisade they'd slaved over for days had vanished completely.
Beyond the empty space stood a dense forest.
The realization that all their hard work had crumbled in moments drew a deep sigh from him.
Then Theresia, Arin, and Poppi approached.
Theresia glanced in the direction Se-kyung had gone and asked.
"Who was that guy?"
"...The one I submitted the lecture request for."
"Lecture request? But why the hell was he acting like that?"
Yuri scratched his cheek and answered honestly at her baffled tone.
"Uh... well... I figured a plain request wouldn't cut it, so I spiced up the reason a bit."
Arin chimed in abruptly.
"What'd you write? Insult his parents or something?"
Yuri shot her a look of contempt the second she said it.
"Hey, even I'm not that rude. I know where to draw the line. You think I'm some lowlife trash?"
As Yuri fumed, Arin realized she'd gone too far and apologized first.
"...Sorry."
"Whatever. Just don't do it again."
"Yeah. So what did you write?"
"Nothing much. Just that a shut-in loser like him shouldn't waste his remaining days on nothing and come learn from me quick when I offer. That kinda thing."
"......"
"And that since he could drop dead anytime, he should focus on training successors early, and I'd be his last disciple."
"......"
"Oh, and that even if I tried, I could probably do better than him, so hand over the core tech and retire..."
"What? Why's everyone looking at me like that?"
Yuri protested as he got back the exact same contemptuous stares he'd given Arin.
"No, I mean the intent was like that, but I didn't write it that way! I packaged it all nicely with polite, pretty words!"
Despite his excuses, the trash-like glares didn't soften.
If anything, they intensified.
"...That demonic bastard."
"Thinks wrapping shit in pretty words doesn't piss people off."
"I'm hungry."
From Arin to Theresia to Poppi.
Having gained full empathy for the dwarf who'd thrown the tantrum, the three all piled on.
And at Poppi's final "I'm hungry," Yuri's eyebrow twitched.
"Hey, Poppi. Did you just curse at me? That feels really offensive somehow."
Poppi placed a hand on Yuri's shoulder with a serious look and said.
"I'm hungry."
Arin translated.
"He's saying now you get how the other guy feels, right?"
"......"
As Yuri clamped his mouth shut, Poppi patted his shoulder a few times and walked off.
As if telling him to think it over.
Not to be outdone, Arin and Theresia silently patted Yuri's shoulder too before following Poppi.
Left alone, Yuri muttered with a truly wronged expression.
"I really... tried my best to word it nicely."
If they knew how much effort he'd put into prettying up his words, they wouldn't say that.
So thought Yuri.
* * *
The day after the mad dawn incident.
Yuri tapped the table with his index finger, deep in thought.
Next to the finger was a [Non-Refusable Lecture Request Form].
That was the source of his dilemma.
'When should I use this?'
First off, Se-kyung Walker was confirmed as the Golgoth he was looking for.
All he had to do was fill out the [Non-Refusable Lecture Request Form].
But after yesterday's chaos, using it now felt like it'd end badly.
'Hmm... Do I need something to sweeten the deal?'
A carrot always made the stick work better.
Yuri felt the need for something to soothe Se-kyung Walker.
He felt it, but...
"Ah, screw it! Why am I even agonizing over this crap!"
Yuri suddenly snapped in frustration.
'Since when do I kiss ass to match someone's mood?'
Sure, carrot and stick together was effective.
Made taming easier.
But that wasn't his style.
His way was swinging the stick until they got used to the pain.
"Alright."
Yuri reached for the pen to fill out the [Non-Refusable Enrollment Form].
In that instant, a cold glint flashed in his eyes.
The hand about to grab the pen yanked back and snatched the sword at his side instead.
Clang—.
At the same time, a killing intent-laden object flying at his chest ricocheted away.
Vrrr—.
Yuri's face hardened at the sword's faint vibration.
'An intruder!'