Chapter 95
Chapter 95
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 95
Chapter Title: 25. Yongsan Park (5)
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Jeong Hyun-sik04, 52-year-old male.
He was the sole survivor of the Taewon Group family, which ranked third in the nation's business world, and also the current Gangnam First Sword.
Even in a world where every First Sword saw themselves as the protagonist, Jeong Hyun-sik was a special figure.
He even had a novel-like backstory of waiting for his brothers, who had become dragons, to return.
In the First Sword society, where 'prestige' was everything, that background was an incredible halo.
He had been part of the ruling class even in the pre-Reset world.
In other words, while other First Swords from the general public were like blue bloods, Jeong Hyun-sik was pure royal blood.
With a position like that, the Reset hadn't really felt like a disaster to him.
At least until yesterday.
But now, having lost his son overnight...
“…….”
Finally, Jeong Hyun-sik stood before the outsider.
*Clack.*
His first disaster had arrived.
Jeong Hyun-sik carefully examined the outsider's bizarre title, Iron Horse Negig, and Golden Goblin before signaling with his hand to the Taewon Group employees waiting at the back of the meeting hall.
As he did, he said to the outsider,
“Take a seat for a moment.”
“Yes……?”
The outsider, who had been tensely on edge without realizing it, let out a dazed sound.
The distance between the two was a mere five or six meters.
It was so close that either one could slit the other's throat in the blink of an eye, so the outsider had expected a sudden attack.
*Tatat!*
Soon, men in black suits rushed over, each holding something in hand.
It was none other than.
*Thud!*
Folding chairs.
Folding chairs with artificial leather cushions attached.
One chair each was set up near Jeong Hyun-sik and the outsider, and soon Jeong Hyun-sik sat down first.
“Sit.”
When he ordered him to sit again, the outsider awkwardly lowered himself onto the chair.
Jeong Hyun-sik, who had been staring intently at the sight, gave a wry smile and said,
“You look like a total kid. You're really the one who killed my son...?”
The outsider couldn't help but respond.
“Your son wasn't exactly ordinary either. Why else would I kill him knowing who his father was?”
As soon as the outsider finished speaking, a grinding sound came from Jeong Hyun-sik's side.
“You little shit. Watch your mouth.”
“You came here to kill me in the first place, didn't you? I don't know what kind of conversation you want.”
As the outsider spoke, Jeong Hyun-sik swung his finger through the air, pointing at something.
*Whoosh!*
It was the hearse he had brought.
“My son's in there right now. Hasn't even been embalmed—still exactly as he was when first found. Can you imagine what state he's in?”
At the time of the incident, the outsider had beheaded Jeong Gyu-sang.
So, as Jeong Hyun-sik said, his son was likely lying in the coffin with head and body separated.
“I regret your loss. But I think it was unavoidable.”
“…What?”
“Your son swung his sword first. Sure, since he was the son of someone important, I could have held back and let him live...”
Grammatically, a conclusion was coming next.
From Jeong Hyun-sik's perspective, this was the moment the killer's motive would be revealed, so he held back.
The urge to tear apart the 'kid' in front of him.
And finally, the outsider finished his thought.
“But that's only if it was a forgivable level of overstepping. When someone's trying to kill you, isn't it right to cut them down before they can murder again?”
“…You killed my son for something as trivial as that?”
*As trivial as that.*
Even the outsider started to get angry at Jeong Hyun-sik's words.
“You're the one mourning your son's death, and you're calling it 'trivial'...?”
“You don't seem to get it, but I've saved hundreds—no, thousands—more people than my son has killed. Without me, this meeting wouldn't exist, and neither would all this talk of rotations.”
Of course, it was a reasonable point.
“So don't I have the qualifications? To keep one son who occasionally causes problems alive.”
But this was sophistry.
“What are you talking about? Then should we give doctors murder licenses since they save lives every day? Who decides those qualifications anyway?”
As the outsider furrowed his brow and spoke, Jeong Hyun-sik answered matter-of-factly.
“Who? Obviously, people like us decide that.”
*People like us.* He meant the powerhouses of the First Sword meeting.
“Ah.”
At that, the outsider was at a loss for words.
Sure enough, this was a place where disputes were settled by duels if opinions didn't align.
And in reality, their words and thoughts were the law.
“…In my opinion, the only qualification you have is to avenge your son's death.”
The outsider let out a deep sigh.
“But since I'm the perpetrator here, I know I don't have the right to say more. So let's settle it with a duel, by the laws of this place.”
No sooner had the outsider finished than the meeting hall across the way stirred.
They had all been pretending not to notice, quietly eavesdropping on the conversation.
“I knew words wouldn't cut it.”
“You weren't going to forgive me just for begging, were you?”
“Ha, you pathetic little shit.”
In the end, talks broke down.
With that, Jeong Hyun-sik's eyes turned golden.
*Whoosh!*
He unleashed the prestige of a First Sword.
“Let's see if you say the same after your limbs are hacked off...!”
For the outsider, with his high regeneration, it was a chilling line.
Theoretically, he could be tortured semi-permanently.
But contrary to Jeong Hyun-sik's terrifying words, the prestige he emitted had no effect on the outsider.
On the other hand, the outsider's prestige...
*Shiii!*
Was purple instead of golden, for one.
“Ugh……!”
It gripped the heart of Gangnam First Sword Jeong Hyun-sik fiercely.
“What... what is this?”
It was clearly an evil aura—no matter who saw it—and even the outsider was surprised, but soon Jeong Hyun-sik released his prestige and opened the battle.
「Sensory stat temporarily increased from 700 to 2,476.」
The first clash began as a golden flash stole an enormous amount of sensory perception.
*'2476? Then how much sensory did it steal?'*
Before he could be shocked, a purple hologram appeared before the outsider's eyes.
*'Huh...?'*
A color and vibe he'd never seen before.
It was the interface provided by the legendary sword art 'Floor of Roum'.
*Shii!*
The hologram was already charging at Jeong Hyun-sik, so the outsider moved without hesitation.
*Tat!*
Jeong Hyun-sik, who had just been drawing his sword from his belt, widened his eyes.
“……!”
The opponent's movement was far faster than expected, and the distance was closing too much.
Normally, when combat began, the distance between sides would open at least the length of a sword blade.
You needed space to swing your sword and block the opponent's.
But the distance between these two First Swords now...
*'What, closing in this close?'*
Even the attacker, the outsider, was taken aback—thirty centimeters.
Then, the outsider's upper body dropped low like it was gliding along the ground, wrapping both arms around Jeong Hyun-sik's ankles and yanking them up.
“Eek?”
In Earth terms, it was a wrestling tackle.
*Whoosh!*
In an instant, Jeong Hyun-sik's feet lifted into the air, losing his balance, and right on cue, the outsider shoved his head and shoulder into the opponent's hips.
“You fucking...!”
With both hands at his belt for drawing his sword, Jeong Hyun-sik was helpless.
And so, in the end...
*Boom!*
He tumbled to the ground in the blink of an eye.
“Gasp?”
“Whoa……!”
To the other First Swords watching from ten meters away, it was a shocking scene.
They'd never seen such a... what to call it... barbaric duel opener.
Of course, the one most shocked by this 'barbaric' first clash was naturally the victim himself, Jeong Hyun-sik.
“You goddamn bastard!”
He was still pinned to the ground, sword undrawn.
Even he thought this was an extremely disadvantageous position.
And into his view soon...
*Shiii!*
Came the sight of his son's killer swinging his elbow like a blade.
“Guh!”
He hiccuped from extreme tension.
But even in that moment, Hyun-sik followed the hologram's guidance, twisting his head to the right and shrugging his left shoulder.
Then, the outsider's elbow strike—with a strength stat of 2,800—slammed into the side of Hyun-sik's head and shoulder at once.
*Bam!*
Such a massive blow that the impact echoed to the meeting hall over there.
But the damage was dispersed enough for Hyun-sik to endure, and in that interval, Gangnam Swordsmanship found a path to pull its user from the brink of death.
「Self-destructive move」 - Mutated Bracelet
【Causes a strong explosion.】
【Durability increased by 300.】
It was telling him to use the suicide gear he had.
A hologram recreating the explosion already blazed vividly before Hyun-sik's eyes, and convinced there was no other way, he made the call before the next attack could snap his neck.
“Fuck.”
“……?”
*Kaboom!*
A high-pressure explosion with flames erupted between Hyun-sik and the outsider, allowing Hyun-sik to bounce back five or six meters from the spot.
He had escaped the mad First Sword's clutches.
“Hah, huff.”
But the situation wasn't optimistic.
He'd suffered severe burns on his skin from the blast, causing intense pain, and his left shoulder that blocked the earlier elbow wasn't in great shape either.
However.
*'That bastard's probably half-dead too. And from now on, I can use my sword.'*
Jeong Hyun-sik sharpened his gaze fiercely. He keenly felt the opponent was no ordinary foe.
Moreover, if he lost this fight, he wouldn't just fail revenge—he couldn't even properly hold his son's funeral.
*'I will... I will win.'*
The moment Jeong Hyun-sik gritted his teeth and drew his sword from his belt, he saw the outsider across from him, who had been thrown down, rising to his feet.
“What…….”
Jeong Hyun-sik's gaze shifted, mesmerized, through the lingering embers.
There, Gyeongbuk First Sword stepped forward, trampling the charred grass.
*Rustle...*
His burned skin rapidly regenerating from the burns.