Chapter 123
Chapter 123
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ace
Chapter: 123
Chapter Title: Part 40. Proof of Life (2)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Alright. It went in clean.
Judging that, Yeoreum pulled back, creating distance.
The battle had passed its peak. The tension in her body eased.
Memories flashed through her mind again—of the clumsy times walking hand-in-hand with Yoo Ji-tae. 'You're going to walk from now on.' That's exactly what he'd said back then.
The words "you're going to walk from now on" implied she hadn't been able to before. At the time, Yeoreum had wondered what the big deal was about that bastard's walking, why he had to make such a fuss.
But now she got it.
The "walking" he meant was something this incredible.
Until now, she'd been hiding her power based on Sophia's advice, so this was her first time going all-out against a living, breathing opponent in real combat.
Vivid power surged through her entire body. Even after the fight ended, her dragon heart was still pounding.
The first thought that came to mind was Yoo Ji-tae.
Yoo Ji-tae.
He was one strange human.
One moment he'd pretend to be a kidnapper, now he was acting like a guardian.
One moment he'd act human, then train like he was the Red Dragon herself.
One moment he'd feign interest in being her teacher when he clearly wasn't, and now here he was, genuinely playing the part.
She'd wondered why he was doing all this. But now she was certain. His training was right on the money. He really was her teacher.
She'd just proven it with her own body moments ago.
"Hey! Yoo Yeoreum!"
Sophia came rushing over in a panic, shoving a potion into Yeoreum's mouth. Her own shoulder was pierced, dark red blood pouring out.
Yeoreum took the potion and drank. Sophia exploded.
"Yoo Yeoreum, are you insane?!"
"Aww, why again."
"What the hell were you thinking?!"
"We won."
"Won what? It's not over! Why the fuck did you start this on your own? We almost all died here!"
"We're not dying, right? Just getting a death penalty."
"If that happened, I'd kill you myself!"
Sophia, flushed with excitement, let out a furious yell full of irritation.
"Why the hell do you pull shit like this without a heads-up?"
"Don't have one."
"I'm not kidding. I'm seriously pissed."
Why am I doing this?
Yeoreum went blank-faced and turned her head away. Sophia yelled something else, but Yeoreum ignored her, rummaging in her pocket for a small chocolate bar.
Far off, something glowing blue rose from the shattered, burned corpse of the giant spider.
"Anyway, it's come to this. Save the yelling for prep time."
Yeoreum popped the chocolate Yoo Ji-tae had given her into her mouth.
The sweetness wasn't to her taste. A cigarette would've been better.
Petrovich.
No, not just Petrovich—most superhumans from the Great War era tended to look down on the new generation's supers.
Petrovich always thought:
Back in my day.
If I died fighting a monster, my mother would die.
The woman who'd lost her husband to a monster in my youth, raising me and my little sibling alone—her life hung on these two shoulders of mine.
But do these kids today even get that?
These days' lot.
They're half-assed.
No desperation. No sense of crisis. No urgency. The fierce drive to grow stronger staking your life on it has faded. Munching on grass watered and grown in safe fields—they can't know the feeling of choking down desert weeds roots and all, covered in dust.
Thinking superhumans are like sports players or something.
Genius existed in every era. Some, like Yong Tae-ha, were jaw-droppingly talented. But that's where it ended.
They avoid danger. Pass the buck to each other. No young ones ripping into their own flesh to kill monsters anymore.
Of course, it's not the cadets' fault. The era turned out that way. Just... regrettable.
That had been the case.
Petrovich clenched his fists tight.
Here, the superhumans of that era were alive.
Young, green faces. Clumsy combat, but carrying their families' lives on their shoulders like back then. Forced to realize weakness was a sin in their misery. Those young soldiers from that time were right there.
"Oh, you damn bastard! Driving me nuts!!"
The moment Yoo Yeoreum charged dozens of meters and struck the boss. Petrovich unwittingly swung his fist, smashing the shelf. Books tumbled down, but he ignored them.
"Everyone, stay sharp! It's not over yet!"
The middle-aged retired soldier shouted excitedly.
"As I've said many times, when facing monsters in a rift, you always need to understand the monster!"
"Why would a spider boss have a human torso attached?"
No sooner had Petrovich finished than the boss fight entered phase 2.
Flame mana exploded. The spider's flesh caught in the massive blaze burned or burst apart. As with arthropod monsters, it was vulnerable to fire.
But the human body clinging to its exoskeleton was different. Even with its head severed, it began to move.
Boom boom boom!
At the same time, the entrance to the boss room that Yeoreum had blocked was breached. A swarm of cadets came charging in, cursing. Nearly thirty of them.
Grind... grrrrind...
The phase 2 body emerged from the exoskeleton. The upper body resembled a woman's, but the protruding part had four pairs of wings, like a flying insect.
Witch.
A monster resembling a human, wielding magic.
Petrovich grimaced, focusing on the screen. This was where the wall of reality hit—no amount of momentary desperation riding the mood would do.
Desperation couldn't be fleeting. It had to be everyday life.
According to the info, the underground dungeon raid had four days allotted. How well they'd prepared would show.
Forgetting to commentate, Petrovich focused on what came next. With dozens of cadets piling in, victory or defeat didn't matter much.
"Viewers and probably even the cadets won't know the exact judging criteria."
Hundreds of chats scrolling by.
All valid points. Valid, but what Lair valued in evaluation was a bit different.
"The key is which team adapts to the 'abnormal status' first and engages in combat."
Proof of prep time.
How much better they'd prepared the strategy over the past three days.
How well-equipped they were to prepare.
That was the core of the evaluation.
"It's starting. Gravity's coming down!"
Suddenly, immense pressure poured over the cadets and Yeoreum's team. Roughly 20 times normal gravity.
"The cadets will be in chaos!"
Even with adaptation training, these young cadets couldn't respond instantly to hypergravity—only veteran supers could.
"Dropping heavy weapons suddenly weighed down, collapsing under their own weight!!"
Petrovich's words became reality. Half the cadets dropped their weapons, four-fifths staggered to their knees. Those with two-handed greatswords or sniper muskets even got pinned under them.
The witch floated into the air, zipping around chaotically, firing ice arrows and lightning bolts.
The fallen cadets were sitting ducks. Unless they were front-guard supers, they had no answer to the witch's powerful magic. Protective necklaces shattered in one hit, deploying barriers.
One by one, they regained their senses.
"Watch closely! Right now!"
The team that adapted to the excessive gravity first and charged into phase 2.
It was none other than Yeoreum's team.
Petrovich felt blood boiling from deep in his gut.
Not just half-assed getting up to fight. Yeoreum and Sophia leaped forward as befitted front-line fighters.
The two sharp shooters in the back grabbed their weapons without hesitation and attacked.
"Summer and the Dummies" had prepared even their prep thoroughly.
"HOLY SHIT!"
The retired soldier screamed in ecstasy.
Right after, the Yong family, Erpan Guild, Noblesse School, and others rose around the same time.
With so many cadets, the witch couldn't cope as attacks poured in. Seconds later, gravity released.
Swarming and pounding it down—what chance did it have?
The witch was slaughtered. The raid ended.
1. Summer and the Dummies: 20
2. Noblesse: 8
3. Team Erpan: 7
4. Squad ‘Dragon’: 6
...
An overwhelming victory for Yeoreum's team.
"That concludes today's commentary."
Petrovich clapped with a satisfied smile.
The Lair PR video ended.
"Today was a joyous day. I glimpsed new possibilities. Until the next PR video. This is the Balkan Peninsula, WOO Serbia Branch. Petrovich signing off."
But even after the stream cut, Petrovich couldn't shake "Summer and the Dummies" from his mind.
Really, how long since he'd felt this exhilaration?
Many cadets talked a big game about fighting desperately. Some could mimic the actions. But from the eyes, the vibe, the aura—evoking those old soldiers? Almost none.
Sophia Borcova. And two cadets whose names he'd never heard.
These three were amazing.
But Yoo Yeoreum, leading them and directing the fight.
She was... a once-in-a-lifetime find.
That night, Petrovich secretly searched for Yeoreum's fan cafe and found the most active one in Korea.
The cafe was named "Crazy for Summer."
On the other hand, a question arose.
What in this peaceful era forged young Yoo Yeoreum like that?
What circumstances?
Even cadets from deadly places like Jung-gong or RIL don't fight that desperately. Becoming a cadet meant you'd already secured a position safe enough.
Either way, it wasn't Petrovich's business. He left a greeting post with a smile.
PV: Hi guys! New kid on the block here!
It auto-translated.
PV: Hi hi! Accept the newbie!
After the raid ended.
When Yeoreum stepped out, she looked around, scanning the surroundings.
As if searching for something.
Then, as a group of people approached, she frowned.