Hero vs. Sunghyun

On his way to the training grounds, Sunghyun checked his status window.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

Compared to before, his status window had gotten quite flashy.

"Hmm… I've piled up a decent amount of coins."

At Sunghyun's muttered remark, Armin's eyes lit up.

"Those coins you always talk about — what are they, exactly? You said you bought that space we were in last time with coins, too."

Did I never explain this?

"Coins, huh… From what I can tell, they're like a currency the gods use? Something along those lines."

"What?"

"How do I put this so you'll get it easily… Okay, this should work. Armin, what do merchants set up to sell goods or services?"

"A shop? A trading company? Something like that?"

"Exactly. Coins are the gold of this world. The only difference is the scale of the merchants and trading houses is a whole lot bigger. The merchants are gods, the trading houses are dimensions, and the marketplace is the entire universe."

"Whoa… Then does that mean you're a god too, Sunghyun?"

A god, huh… What even is a god?

People commonly believed gods were omnipotent and all-knowing. But was that really true?

From what Sunghyun had confirmed, a god — in the macroscopic sense of the dimensional order — was simply someone who owned one or more dimensions. A dimension's size was determined by coins, and that size reflected its master's divine rank. In short, a dimension was a business, and a god was its CEO.

This planet was probably one of Hermes's ventures. Looking at the shop listings, Sunghyun could roughly guess what was being sold.

So how should he answer the question of whether he was a god?

"No."

Not yet. Not a god — not yet. Right now was a time for waiting.

Instead—

"I probably will be soon, though."

After the battle with the dragons, he had gathered all the capital he needed. Now it was time to grow it. The moment he acquired a single dimension for himself, he would become a god — and in that instant, he had a feeling something essential about him would change.

So for now, he would focus on figuring out how to accumulate coins more efficiently.

The smell of sweat was starting to drift in from nearby. Ahh… that sour, tangy scent.

"Let's go see what this Hero is made of."

Sunghyun wore a vicious smile as he tightly sealed away every scrap of his mana.

"You really are a troublemaker, Sunghyun."

He gave a light laugh.

"How am I supposed to hold back when there are this many juicy newbies around?"

The appearance of the man and woman drew every gaze in the training grounds. A few recognized Sunghyun and flinched.

"Huh?! Mr. Kim Sunghyun — you're alive!"

"Haha. Detective, you're here too."

The detective was holding a wooden practice sword slick with sweat. Well, 'you're alive'… I did almost die, to be fair.

Looking around, everyone who had been in that alley back then was here. Ah — two faces were missing. The bully and the kid who'd been getting bullied.

"What happened to that delinquent from back then?"

The moment Natsume's name came up, the air grew a little heavier.

What, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠did he die?

If so, that would have been his fate.

"Ah, a few days ago he got kicked out of the palace. No idea what happened after that."

So that was it. Sunghyun didn't need to see it to know how it had gone down. When the person you'd been bullying suddenly became stronger than you, most people couldn't handle it. That was the nature of weaklings. Pathetic.

"Well, forget about a guy like that. He'll figure it out on his own. Where's the Hero?"

"Ah, if you're looking for Hayato, he's in that room over there, receiving personal instruction from the Knight Commander."

The place mana had been leaking from this whole time. Over there, then?

Sunghyun concealed his mana even more perfectly than before and stepped inside.

Clang—! Clang—!

A heavily muscled man covered in scars and a boy were crossing blades.

"Hmm……."

Honestly? Below standard. He'd expected something from a Hero and a Knight Commander, but these two looked like they couldn't even take down a single earth giant from the forest. Which meant they were weaker than Armin had been the first time he'd met her.

Sunghyun said it out loud.

"Pathetic."

The sound of clashing blades stopped at once. The Knight Commander rounded on Sunghyun, eyes wide.

"Did you just call us pathetic? Who do you think you are, saying something like that? I can't even sense any mana from you — though I suppose if you're that far below our level, you wouldn't even be able to see our swords. Is that how you came to that conclusion?"

Hayato said nothing, but he was cursing Sunghyun on the inside.

I'm pretty sure that's the guy from the alley back then. Where's he been, and why is he showing up now just to talk like that?

Lately, Hayato had been praised by everyone. His growth rate had been extremely steep. But that praise was sweet enough to rust his resolve.

And so Hayato picked up the wooden sword beside him.

"If you're so confident, how about a spar with me?"

Sunghyun was thoroughly enjoying this.

So this is why people hide their power!

The thrill was enough to make every hair on his body stand on end. A rank-one player walking into a beginner village, pretending to be a newbie — and the actual newbies treating him ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠like he was even greener than they were!

What should I do? Throw a few matches and milk it longer, or just crush him flat?

Sunghyun's mouth twitched. Armin whispered in his ear.

"Please don't go too hard, Sunghyun… If you do, there's a high chance he'll break. You are just… so…"

Strong. Stronger than anyone.

Seeing Armin pressed close to Sunghyun only made Hayato angrier. He hadn't been able to play around at all — just train all day long — and this guy had been out gallivanting with a beauty like that?!

Sunghyun's smile deepened at the sight.

Ah. This kid's thinking something weird. From my perspective, you're the one who has it easy, training comfortably in here — and that ticks me off more.

Decision made. Time to cool that kid's head off.

"Hey, brat. If you're not gonna give me a sword, I'll just fight barehanded."

At that, Hayato threw a sword at Sunghyun — not to hand it over, but to hit him with it. The blade seemed to fly straight at Sunghyun's head, then settled gently into his hand.

Coincidence…?

"Hey! Brat, what the hell was that? I'll let it slide once and call it a mistake."

One. That was the number of times Sunghyun had forgiven Hayato. At his words, Hayato's pupils trembled. How?

"I can tell a hotheaded high schooler like you just by looking. Quit yapping and come at me."

Sunghyun planted one foot on the ground and gave the wooden sword a little wag.

"I… was going to come at you anyway."

Hayato set his stance, fully intending to charge in earnest.

Boom—!

He poured mana into the soles of his feet and launched himself forward. Watching the approaching Hayato, Sunghyun thought:

Slow.

So slow he felt like he might die of boredom. He calmly tracked Hayato's trajectory — then tapped the boy's wooden sword a few times and reduced all of its force to nothing.

"What the—!"

Hayato's eyes went wide at the inexplicable maneuver. Sunghyun looked at him and pulled one corner of his mouth up.

"Ah. I get your level now. So boring I want to die."

The words set Hayato's blood boiling. He loaded mana into his wooden sword and leaped at Sunghyun again.

Ordinarily, someone not using mana should lose to someone who was.

"What, your whole mindset is just 'dump all your mana into it and call it a day'? And they made a Hero out of this?"

Sunghyun sighed as he watched how Hayato handled his mana. He thrust his sword upward — and Hayato's blade flew free of his hand, sailing across the training grounds.

The Knight Commander shot up from his seat at the sight, but that was none of Sunghyun's concern. Right now, he had only one interest: which absolute bastard had taught this garbage dump-and-pray style of mana control? A brat's mana was not meant to be used like that.

"Hey, brat. You're the Hero, right? Go on — show me everything you've got as a Hero."

As if entranced, Hayato drew the Holy Sword.

Hah.

Sunghyun sighed at the sight of it. Pearls before swine. The Holy Sword was clearly an extraordinary blade — automatic attack functions, pure mana amplification, physical enhancement, and more. But so what? The specs of the guy wielding it were trash.

Sunghyun drew up a modest amount of mana. The Knight Commander went rigid. That density of mana was something he himself could only produce by releasing everything he had in a desperate all-out effort. And this man had raised it as easily as breathing. The Knight Commander's eyes nearly bulged from his skull, but Sunghyun paid him no mind.

"Hey, brat. Come at me."

He was simply angry at that garbage mana circuit.

Golden mana wrapped around Hayato's body. He spoke to Sunghyun with full confidence.

"I won't be responsible if you get hurt. With the Holy Sword unleashed, I can even beat the Knight Commander."

"Ha! 'A newborn puppy doesn't know to fear the tiger' — that fits you perfectly. Shut up and come at me, puppy."

Hayato ground his teeth hard and charged. There was a limit to how much disrespect a person should take.

"I am the Hero! Hyaaaaah!"

Watch closely. This is the power of a Hero.

Hayato swung his sword with the force to cleave Sunghyun in two. The blade was about to reach Sunghyun's forehead — and then, somehow, their swords were already locked.

In a single exchange, every scrap of Hayato's mana scattered into empty air. What Sunghyun had done was almost absurdly simple: he had just targeted the focal point where the mana was gathering.

When his decisive strike was blocked so effortlessly, Hayato's hands began to tremble.

How?

"What, something not working out?"

Giving nothing but the stick wasn't ideal either.

"Watch carefully, kid."

This is the path your sword is meant to take.

Sunghyun lifted his blade lightly toward the empty air. The moment the tip touched the sky, he became one with the sword.

Unity of Body and Blade.

In Hayato's eyes, Sunghyun looked like a colossal sword.

……Beautiful.

It was so beautiful that Hayato's mouth fell open on its own. Sunghyun thrust. Wind stirred through the quiet training grounds — a gentle breeze at the start of the swing, a typhoon the instant the blade connected.

Shaaaaa—.

Sunghyun's sword cut through empty air, yet it had clearly severed something. Hayato's stubborn pride, perhaps — or something else entirely. The wooden sword in Sunghyun's hand ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠crumbled to powder without a trace.

Hayato stared blankly at him for several seconds afterward. Sunghyun walked over and flicked his fingers.

"See that? That's the starting point of the path you need to walk. Go on — work hard."

"Yes, sir! Thank you!"

Hayato nodded rapidly, eyes sparkling. With a single demonstration, everyone in the training grounds — save one — craned their necks to stare at Sunghyun.

"…I told you to go easy. You really have no concept of 'moderate,' do you…"

Armin rubbed her temples as if nursing a headache. The Knight Commander finally seemed to come back to his senses. He shook his head, then carefully addressed Sunghyun.

"Wh… who exactly are you?"

Sunghyun stroked his chin for a moment at the question.

"Hmm… an investor?"