The Power of a Forehead Flick

"What? Why should I?" Gyojin sneered, deliberately provoking him further. "At best, she's a C-rank. And the absolute bottom of the barrel at that—a literal mayfly scraping by day to day. I only spoke the truth. Why should I apologize for telling the truth?"

When Yunjae came to a halt, silent, Mari spoke up. Though she was deeply hurt and resentful, she didn't want him starting a fight on her account. "...Don't... don't pay attention to him! Just ignore him!"

"Miss Mari is an honest and good person," Yunjae said quietly. "She is a far better human being than someone like me, who wasted more than half his life on a video game."

Why is he still bringing up that stupid game right now?! Mari thought, a lump rising in her throat as she stared at his back. "...Yunjae."

"So? Are you saying you're a C-rank too?" Gyojin mocked. It seemed he didn't want a half-hearted test like Akemi's; he wanted a real fight. "Then again, looking at your face and hearing your pathetic way of speaking, it makes sense you'd flock together."

It was clear Gyojin simply despised Yunjae's very existence. Seeing Mari bite her lip in silent frustration, unable to find the words to fight back, Yunjae took a deep breath.

"Do you really want to rank people by class that badly?"

Gyojin chuckled. "It's not about wanting to. Trash must be sorted."

"Gyojin!" Even his own guildmates, Akemi and Suyeon, grimaced at his harsh words.

Then, Yunjae looked at him. His expression had turned remarkably calm, a stark contrast to his usual timid self.

"If you're going to rank people like that... then all of you are beneath me."

"What?"

Looking Gyojin straight in the eye, Yunjae added, "Because I am max level."

"My god..."

To declare that not just Gyojin, but the entire Blast Guild was beneath him!

"Hahaha!"

"Today is just full of clowns!"

"First Demian, and now this weirdo takes the crown!"

As they scoffed in sheer disbelief, Yunjae spoke again.

"Normally, I would have just ignored it and moved on. I don't care if you look down on me. But you must apologize to Miss Mari. She is not someone who deserves to be belittled and mocked just because she is different from you!"

Strictly speaking, they hadn't even known each other for very long. Yet here he was, fiercely taking her side. Though she was bewildered, seeing his unusually stern, angry face made her chest swell.

"Yunjae..." she called out softly, almost to herself. Had she ever experienced anything like this in her entire life? No, never. Not once since she lost her father at the age of thirteen.

"If you apologize right now, I won't do anything to you."

"Wow, this guy is seriously out of his mind," Gyojin muttered, shaking his head. "You really don't know your place, do you?"

On the outside, Yunjae looked like a fragile game character. He was so slender that the name Slender Forearms fit him perfectly, and his delicate, pretty features made him look like a frail teenage girl. It was almost pitiful to watch.

Do I really have to do this? Feeling a bit uncomfortable, Gyojin glanced back at Taejun, his face asking if this test was truly necessary.

Do it anyway. Demian and Akemi wouldn't have made empty boasts. Taejun was equally taken aback, but he knew there had to be a reason Demian was so desperate to find this youth. And no matter how eccentric Akemi was, she wouldn't lie about something like this. Either way, they couldn't stop now. They had to find out why Demian was trying so hard to recruit him.

"Don't blame me, then!"

Whoosh! With those words, Gyojin lunged forward at a speed so blinding he almost looked like Akemi teleporting.

Crash!

In that exact instant, the charging Gyojin was struck by something unseen, sent flying backward, and slammed violently into the wall of the Blast Guild headquarters.

"...What?"

Amidst the bewildered faces of the onlookers, who hadn't even seen the attack land, Gyojin stumbled to his feet, coughing up blood as if he had taken massive damage. "Cough! Y-you bastard!"

...Yunjae? Mari stared in shock. She knew he was strong, but this strong? To reduce a formidable physical combat specialist like Gyojin to a battered mess with a single strike!

"Don't worry, Miss Mari. I will make sure he apologizes," Yunjae said, taking another step forward. For all his extreme introversion and social anxiety, he possessed a stubborn streak. He was determined to get that apology.

"I'm warning you in advance, it will be very painful if you don't apologize. I really dislike people who look down on and ignore others just because they are different. Why do you act like you know everything and that you're always right when you don't know anything at all?"

"Shut up!"

Gyojin roared. The test no longer mattered. The damage to his body was nothing compared to the wound to his pride.

"Hyaaaah!"

As Gyojin recklessly lunged again, Yunjae blurred forward. Whoosh!

"Wh-what?!"

"What is that?!"

Closing the distance as fast as Akemi's teleportation, Yunjae flicked his finger right against Gyojin's forehead. Crack!

"Aaargh!"

Boom!

Once again, Gyojin was sent hurtling through the air, crashing back into the Blast Guild building.

"Cough..." The impact was far more devastating than the first.

"N-no way?!" Had he really just sent him flying with a simple forehead flick?

"Ah! I'm so sorry! A critical hit landed just now, so it probably hurt a lot more! I can't control when critical hits trigger, so..." Yunjae apologized, genuinely distressed that he had hit him harder than intended.

"Aaargh!" Gyojin's forehead was split open, blood pouring down his face as if he had been shot. He coughed up more blood, suffering severe internal injuries. He looked like he was on the verge of death.

Wh-what on earth is this power?! Gyojin stared at Yunjae in utter disbelief.

"In any case, please apologize," Yunjae said, his stubbornness showing no signs of wavering. He quietly raised his finger again, as if to say he would strike once more if Gyojin refused to apologize to Mari.

"Y-you bastard!" Gyojin was battered to the point of feeling like two more flicks would kill him, but his pride simply wouldn't allow him to yield. "I'll never forgive you! Never!"

Even among the notoriously unstable awakened, Gyojin was known for having one of the worst tempers. As Gyojin squeezed out every ounce of his remaining strength to lunge once more, Taejun, realizing the gravity of the situation, intervened. "Stop!"

To think he was this powerful!

"I'll say it again: if you apologize to Miss Mari, I will stop," Yunjae replied first. He clearly had no desire to keep attacking Gyojin. He only wanted the apology. But his casual, indifferent attitude only bruised Gyojin's ego further.

"You son of a bitch!" To be looked down on like this! Me, one of the world's strongest hunters!

Completely losing his mind, Gyojin charged, channeling all the energy in his body into his fists. Dragon-Subduing Eighteen Palms! If he didn't land this ultimate blow, his rage would never be appeased.

"Hyaaaah!"

The Dragon-Subduing Eighteen Palms was one of Gyojin's secret techniques. It gathered the energy of his entire body into his hands, delivering eighteen rapid-fire strikes to the target's vital points in the blink of an eye.

Yet all he felt was the empty sensation of striking thin air eighteen times.

"What is this?!" Every single one of his ultimate strikes had missed!

"H-how?!" Gyojin's eyes shook with extreme panic.

Yunjae stepped forward. As ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Gyojin stood frozen in shock, Yunjae readied his finger once more.

"Please apologize."

His tone suggested that if Gyojin apologized now, he wouldn't strike again. Gyojin began to tremble, caught in a desperate hesitation. Those two forehead flicks had nearly killed him. He was already severely injured, and his mental state was completely shattered after his Dragon-Subduing Eighteen Palms had completely failed to connect. Could he survive another hit? He genuinely felt like the next strike would kill him, but...

"I... I won't!" His pride simply wouldn't allow him to yield.

"Huh?"

Flash! In that instant, a brilliant light enveloped Gyojin's body.

"Wh-what?!"

"What is that?!"

Gyojin and the members of the Blast Guild gasped in confusion.

"He's healed!"

To their utter astonishment, not only had Gyojin's wounds vanished, but even his pain was completely gone.

"Th-this is..."

"My god!"

To think he could use healing abilities as well! Of course, for Yunjae, who possessed the Holy Knight class, this was easier than breathing, but to everyone else, it was a mind-blowing shock. Healers were incredibly rare, after all!

"Please apologize," Yunjae said, completely unfazed. Crack! He flicked the fully healed Gyojin once more.

"Aaaaaargh!"

Boom!

It hurts! It hurts so much! It was a healing spell, but because it was being used as a tool to keep beating him, it was a living nightmare for the victim.

"Cough!" Gyojin rolled across the ground after bouncing off the building, having taken an even more devastating blow than the previous critical hit. He coughed up blood, wishing he could just die. Even if his wounds were healed, the pain of being struck remained fully intact. "Uuugh..."

And that wasn't even his full power! Groaning in agony, Gyojin realized the terrifying truth: Yunjae was holding back.

"Ah! Another critical hit! But I will keep going until you apologize! I was fired from my ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠part-time job, so I have plenty of time!"

As Yunjae revealed his surprisingly stubborn side, everyone stared at him in sheer horror.

"He's completely crushing Gyojin."

"...This is insane! How is he doing that to Gyojin with just a finger?!"

Gyojin's partner, Pim, looked particularly shell-shocked. Pim wondered if they should intervene, but doing so would turn this from a test into an all-out war.

I don't even think we could win. That was the most terrifying realization. Even if the entire guild attacked at once, they didn't stand a chance against this monster. Gyojin, the pinnacle of physical combat, had missed every single strike of his Dragon-Subduing Eighteen Palms, only to be brought to the brink of death by mere forehead flicks.

At this moment, even the ridiculous username Slender Forearms didn't seem funny at all. This was like a grown man casually crushing an ant with his finger.

He's a monster! When Yunjae said they were all beneath him, it hadn't been an empty boast or arrogance. It was a simple, objective fact. There wasn't a single percent of bluffing in his words. If Yunjae had actually intended to kill him, Gyojin would already be a corpse.

"Ugh..." Gyojin, hovering on the edge of consciousness after just three flicks, realized this better than anyone.

As Yunjae stepped closer, Gyojin recoiled in instinctual terror. "Wh-what... stay back!"

In the face of such overwhelming power, his pride was utterly shattered. If he hits me again, I'll die! He was consumed by the absolute fear of death.

"Don't worry," Yunjae said gently. "I'll keep healing you."

What made it truly terrifying was that Yunjae had no intention of killing him. He was simply going to break him, over and over, until he apologized.

"Yunjae! Stop, that's enough!" Deeply moved that he was getting so angry on her behalf, Mari grabbed his arm, her eyes brimming with tears.

"Ah! But he hasn't apologized yet."

"...It's fine. I don't need an apology from a guy like him. Even if he did, he wouldn't mean it. So ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠don't push yourself!" She thought he was forcing himself to act out of character. "An apology like that is meaningless anyway."

Yunjae was the type of person who would always apologize and back down, even when he had done nothing wrong. "So just stop. I'm really okay." He was always passive about his own mistreatment, but he couldn't stand by when it happened to someone else. "This isn't like you at all!"

"Ah... okay, Miss Mari."

Truthfully, she was incredibly touched. Someone was actually standing up for ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠her—a mere "mayfly," as Gyojin had put it. But she was worried Yunjae would make an enemy of the Blast Guild. No matter how strong he was, making an enemy of the world's top guild would make his life incredibly difficult.

"Yes, yes, I get it..." Holding his right hand to stop him from striking again, she gave him a pleading look. Yunjae nodded and lowered his hand.

"Um..." Yunjae looked at the still-terrified Gyojin.

"Eek!" To Gyojin, Yunjae's very existence must have felt like cosmic horror. As Gyojin shrank back in sheer terror, Yunjae offered a bright, innocent smile.

"This won't negatively affect my interview for the office job, right? Ah! If it does, should I apologize in advance?"

Thud.

Gyojin collapsed to the ground, his soul leaving his body at the realization that this monster was still dreaming of a mundane office job.

"What do you mean, office job?! You dummy! There was never an office job to begin with!"

"Ah! But I've been practicing my interview answers this whole time!" Since Mari had chosen to let it go, Yunjae had no intention of tormenting Gyojin any further.

"When did you even do that?!"

"Actually, I started preparing them in the taxi, but you kept talking to me, Miss Mari, completely oblivious..."

"Hey! Are you calling me oblivious?!"

"Ah! I didn't mean it like that! I'm sorry! Miss Mari!"

Seeing him instantly revert to his usual timid, socially anxious self, Mari burst into laughter, shaking her head at his hopeless antics.