Chapter 146: The First District (3)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 146: The First District (3)
“Oh, never mind.”
The rose-tinted glasses, created by her elegant form and fluid movements, lasted for exactly five seconds before shattering.
My restored, cold judgment instantly drove my previous thought to the edge of a cliff and pushed it off.
“She’s actually lacking in a lot of ways.”
Her judgment is good, her minimal movements to evade are good, and her sharp, piercing attacks are good, but at the same time, they’re all disappointing.
The woman fighting the tentacled monster is what you would call a genius.
The kind whose talent is so exceptional that she solves everything with it alone.
The kind that makes ordinary people feel an insurmountable wall, that makes them realize to their very bones how unfair birth is. She’s a mistake of the heavens, one who would stand out even in a room full of other geniuses.
They all have one thing in common.
They don’t know how to properly wield the talent they hold in their hands; instead, they are wielded by it.
The woman before me is a textbook example.
Watching the fight, which at first glance seems to be proceeding smoothly, made me feel frustrated.
“At this rate, it’s going to take forever.”
Looking only at how things were unfolding, it was true that the woman had an extreme advantage.
Not a single one of the monster’s prized tentacles could touch her; on the contrary, every tentacle that reached for her was promptly sliced apart by her sword.
It wouldn’t have been strange if the tentacle monster’s head had been lopped off long ago.
However, the creature possessed a physical trait that nullified the woman’s advantage.
“Whew, that regeneration speed is insane.”
A marvelous regeneration speed that allowed its severed tentacles to grow back in less than ten seconds.
That’s what was creating the current stalemate.
By the time the woman cut through all the tentacles and advanced to strike the main body, newly grown tentacles would pour down on her from all directions, closing the distance.
“Kuk…!”
Feeling the pressure, the woman would be forced to retreat, repeating the cycle.
There were two ways to break this stalemate.
Either overwhelm the beast with absolute power, or take a risk when feeling pressured, push forward, and slice through its main body.
If the former were possible, she would have done it already. As for the latter… it’s harder to choose than one might think.
Because the elegant folk known as geniuses rarely come up with drastic measures like sacrificing flesh to cut bone.
“What a waste, such a waste.”
Tsk, tsk.
The more I watched, the more I couldn't help but think what a shame it was.
No, if you have that much talent, you should be thinking about honing it. Why on earth would you try to use it in its rough, uncut form?
“I really don’t get it.”
But that was just my perspective. Theirs could be different.
To be honest, with that level of talent, I could see how one might become endlessly arrogant.
She could probably master in one or two tries what takes others hundreds of repetitions. Then people around her would praise her as a genius of the century or whatever, and she’d get high on that.
Receiving the adoration of others is a scarier thing than you’d think.
Sometimes, it provides a pleasure and addiction stronger than any drug.
Do you think people who obsess over fame and honor just appear out of nowhere?
It’s all for that reason.
“If I just taught her for two years, I could turn her into a real masterpiece…”
Watching her, I found myself licking my lips unconsciously.
Seriously, if I could just keep her by my side and teach her for two years, I felt like I could create a monster that would devour all the existing Hunters.
“Well, that’s not going to happen.”
I had these thoughts because her wasted talent was a shame, but there was no way I would actually teach her.
Couldn’t I tell just from the dress and mask she wore at the welcoming ceremony?
The fact that she was my competitor.
Teaching someone who might one day become my enemy? Now that would be insane.
“Looking at it that way, maybe this is for the best…”
Her struggling now with her unrefined talent was actually a boon for me.
It meant I could politely offer her my cooperation instead of becoming a cowardly kill-stealer.
Our eyes met as she occasionally glanced this way, her gaze full of vigilance amidst the battle.
“Hey.”
“……?”
“I’m offering you my cooperation.”
I proposed it in the coldest, most uncharacteristic tone I could manage.
Normally, I’d engage in a silent battle of wills until my opponent tired out and made the offer first, but given the circumstances…
“No.”
I was rejected.
…Well, that’s fine.
I expected as much.
If she was going to be this uncooperative, I had no choice.
“Hmph… You’re the one who refused an offer made in good faith. So don’t blame me.”
I’ll just have to switch partners.
「Fire Missile.」 x10
After creating ten Fire Missiles, I immediately launched them toward the woman who was busy playing with the tentacles.
“Hah!?”
Oh, her talent really is good.
The woman, who effortlessly dodged the ten surprise magic missiles, glared at me sharply and demanded.
“What do you think you’re doing?”
It seemed she still hadn’t grasped the situation.
“I’ve decided to join forces with the tentacle monster to eliminate you.”
“……”
You’re not the only one I can join hands with, you know.
Normally, teaming up with a monster would be absurd, but it was possible now.
Why?
Because that woman was drawing all of the monster’s aggro.
All I had to do was stand behind the creature and subtly add to the attack with my magic.
「Ice Missile.」 x20
Just as I was about to fire twenty Ice Missiles, double the previous amount.
“W-Wait.”
This time, she initiated the request for a conversation.
I ignored her and threw the twenty Ice Missiles anyway.
“Ugh…!”
Her elegant form faltered.
The woman, still in her beautiful dress, managed to dodge the attacks by what looked like tap dancing.
This was a little surprising.
I thought twenty Ice Missiles combined with the tentacles of my friend Squishy would be enough, but to think she’d dodge them all.
It seems her talent exceeds my expectations.
If that’s the case, I have no choice.
“Then this time, I’ll make it 30…”
“W-Wait! Let’s talk for a moment!”
At her urgent tone and gesture, I stopped manifesting the magic.
“You rejected me so coldly before, and now you suddenly want to talk…”
As I stroked my chin as if in thought, the woman quickly continued.
“I-I apologize for what happened earlier.”
Well, since she’s apologizing, I suppose I can let it go at this for now.
“So, what is it you wanted to say?”
A window for dialogue had barely opened.
The woman leisurely cut down all the tentacles, caught her breath, and then spoke to me.
“…I’m offering you my cooperation.”
The exact words I had said to her were returned to me.
“Wrong.”
She still hasn’t learned her lesson.
I completed the manifestation of the magic I had put on hold.
「Fire Missile.」 x30
Fwoosh!
“Wh-What do you mean, wrong? You were the one who offered first…”
“And you were the one who refused.”
Back then, the initiative was split fifty-fifty. Now, it’s clearly shifted to me. How dare you try to act like my equal?
Don’t you know how important the upper hand is in human relationships, huh?!
Annoyed by her audacity, I mercilessly fired the spells.
“Ugh!”
Her posture crumbled with every flicker of flame in the air.
A desperate performance art began right before my eyes.
“Oh.”
I couldn’t help but be impressed as she painstakingly dodged the attacks that seemed to graze her at every turn.
Usually, when one’s posture breaks, their concentration follows, creating an opening. But she wasn’t allowing even the smallest of openings.
That was a feat only possible when extreme concentration was layered on top of outstanding talent.
To think I’d meet someone here who, if I’d met her as Son Si-woo, I would have recruited with a ten-billion-won signing bonus.
After finally dodging all thirty Fire Missiles, the woman stared at me with a murderous gaze.
“What is your game here?”
“Who knows.”
How should I describe this?
“Wouldn’t ‘a slightly forceful negotiation’ be an appropriate term?”
The woman flinched at the word “forceful” before her tone softened.
“…State your terms.”
The woman bowed her head, but only by a minuscule amount.
But that wasn’t enough.
“In a situation like this, if anyone wants something, I think it would be you, not me.”
The eyes behind the mask contorted.
It seemed she finally realized what I wanted.
“Ha. You plan to use this situation to force me to bow my head, but that will never…!”
“Ah, is that so.”
If she was going to keep acting like that, I had no choice but to move to the final stage of negotiations.
「Fire Ball.」 x50
As my negotiation tool, I arrayed a countless number of basic spells behind me instead of a single, powerful high-level spell.
When it comes to intimidating people, nothing beats sheer numbers.
Though they were only basic magic, the fifty-odd Fire Balls possessed a destructive power that couldn’t be ignored.
Seeing them, the sword held tightly in her grip faltered for a moment.
I asked one last time.
“Will you bow, or will you die?”
You’ll bow now, won’t you?