House Owner Authority (EX-Rank) (2)
(EX-Rank) [House Owner Exclusive Ability]
House Owner Authority (EX-Rank)
When an intruder enters the residence, the house owner gains absolute authority over the space.
The moment Baek Gung-hyuk locked eyes with Kang Jinseong—who was glaring at him while cradling Baek Ji-an in his arms—his expression hardened. His instincts were screaming at him to get out of this space immediately.
He couldn't make sense of the situation at all. The man standing before him now, Kang Jinseong, had been less than a bug when they'd met in his office. A nobody he could kill with a flick of his finger, utterly insignificant in Baek Gung-hyuk's eyes. Just a convenient hostage to control his niece Baek Ji-an without any hassle. That was all Kang Jinseong had been.
What the hell is this...?
The Kang Jinseong he faced now looked dangerously different. Just meeting his gaze made Baek Gung-hyuk's mouth go dry—an inexplicable presence. The aura leaking from him was barely C-rank bottom-tier at best, but the sense of danger was far beyond that. A premonition that he'd need to go all-out prickled the back of his neck.
For the first time since taking the position of acting family head, Baek Gung-hyuk felt a crisis he'd never experienced before.
Gulp.
In the suffocating silence, as Baek Gung-hyuk unconsciously swallowed dryly—
"Hey, I've got a shit-ton to say to you."
Kang Jinseong's closed mouth finally opened. Only then did Baek Gung-hyuk realize one crucial fact.
Me... I didn't even think to speak until this punk opened his mouth first?
He'd been robbed of control over the situation. The one who spoke first held the initiative—and that privilege had always been Baek Gung-hyuk's, both within his family and beyond. As the acting head of the Baek family, it was only natural.
Yet now, he'd lost it to this D-rank hunter punk, a mere insect.
"Y-You insolent brat!"
The blow to his pride was immense. Baek Gung-hyuk thrust out his rigid fingertip, unleashing a bolt of red lightning.
Red Thunder (赤雷).
The crimson lightning, usable only by the chosen elite of the Baek family's red lineage, surged toward Kang Jinseong.
Krarung!
The red thunder struck like actual lightning, charring its target black before the sound even followed. That had been the unbreakable rule for decades—Baek Gung-hyuk took the thunderclap as confirmation of a hit. It was his ironclad law, his pride as an S-rank hunter.
Pajik— Pajijik— Jijik...
"...The Red Thunder... stopped?"
But that law, that pride, shattered before his eyes right then. The Red Thunder that should have sliced through the air, incinerating the worthless punk and Baek Ji-an in his arms, hung frozen in midair.
Lightning stopping in midair? It defied all common sense.
As his mind blanked in confusion, Kang Jinseong tilted his chin and spoke.
"I've got a lot to say to you, but first—take off your shoes."
"What?"
"If you're coming into someone else's house, take your damn shoes off first. Even a kindergartener in the Sun Class knows that. Don't you? You look like you've lived a long-ass life—what the hell have you been doing all this time?"
"Kuh?!"
Being called worse than a kindergartener just for not taking off his shoes? It was an insult Baek Gung-hyuk had never heard in his life.
Grinding his teeth, he charged both hands with Red Thunder this time.
Pajijijik!
The crimson energy dyed his fists red—far more powerful than the sneak attack he'd just fired.
Baek Family Secret Art – Twin Thunder Fists (双雷拳).
A close-combat technique channeling Red Thunder into both fists.
If ranged attacks don't work, just close the distance!
Recalling how his previous bolt had frozen midair, Baek Gung-hyuk switched to melee. He didn't prefer close quarters, but he wasn't clumsy at it either. As the veteran acting head of one of Korea's top three guilds, the Baekga, for twenty years, the Dragon Subduer had no weaknesses.
"I'll kill you, you worthless punk!"
The instant he kicked off the ground toward Kang Jinseong's face in the living room—
Whiric!
Kwajik!
"Guhk?!"
Baek Gung-hyuk's face slammed into the hallway floor at the exact speed he'd launched himself.
What the—?! The floor rose up? No, that's not it. I could've dodged that. I would've sensed such a simple attack. So what was it? Why the hell did my face hit the floor?
Both the frozen Red Thunder and smashing face-first into the floor defied Baek Gung-hyuk's common sense.
What the hell is it? Wasn't his ability just rescuing endangered allies? How can it stop my Red Thunder midair and slam my face into the ground without me even noticing?
Utterly inexplicable.
His mind filled with questions amid the chain of impossibilities. Then Kang Jinseong's voice seeped into his ears.
"Should I take your shoes off for you? Hmm, nah. Too much hassle. Guess I'll just cut your legs off."
A chilling declaration: too lazy to remove the shoes, so lop off the legs instead.
The moment he heard it, cold sweat drenched Baek Gung-hyuk as he unleashed his trump card.
Pajijijik!
Red Thunder Transformation (赤雷化).
The Baek family's secret ultimate technique, converting blood, flesh, and bone into red lightning. It guzzled mana and couldn't be sustained long, but its advantage far outweighed that.
All techniques evolved one rank higher in power.
"Your body's turned to lightning, huh."
"That's right! As you said, I am the Red Thunder itself now! Lightning remains lightning even if torn or pierced! Physical force doesn't work on the laws of nature!"
It nullified physical attacks by becoming lightning.
Using Red Thunder Transformation meant the user faced one of two scenarios.
"I can't even remember the last time I used Red Thunder Transformation. This pinnacle of the Baek family's secrets—witnessing it with your own eyes is an honor, punk!"
One: when you absolutely had to kill the enemy before you, no matter what.
And the other:
"Then we'll settle this later!"
When you had to flee from an unwinnable foe.
Pajijijik—!!!
Baek Gung-hyuk's lightning body moved at true thunder speed. He bolted toward the front door.
His fingertip Red Thunder, his Twin Thunder Fists—none had worked. Both his prized ranged and melee arts had been nullified, without even knowing how.
Fighting an inexplicable foe who casually dismantled his techniques from standstill was suicide.
Baek Gung-hyuk's pride pierced the heavens countless times, but his life mattered more.
Going all-out against this inexplicable punk right now is the worst of the worst options. I don't even fully grasp his ability yet. Retreat for now—I'll repay this humiliation later!
Vowing revenge, he sprinted down the hallway at full speed.
Pajijijijik!!!
The hallway, less than 10 meters long—he charged at thunderous speed.
Run, run, kick the ground, kick again.
Yet...
"...W-What the hell?"
No matter how much he ran, the distance to the front door didn't shrink.
The realization hit him like a bolt: he finally understood Kang Jinseong's ability that had toyed with him.
Freezing lightning midair, slamming my face into the floor mid-kick, keeping me from reaching the door no matter how fast I run...
He thought he grasped the inexplicable power.
But that understanding only brought despair.
"N-No way..."
"Yeah, you figured it out, huh?"
Right now, inside this house, Kang Jinseong was an untouchable absolute powerhouse.
"You get it? Then come here."
Baek Gung-hyuk was just a moron who'd shoved his head into a starving tiger's jaws.
Juuuuk—!
With a tilt of Kang Jinseong's chin, the space between them folded, forcibly dragging Baek Gung-hyuk toward him.
"Ku, kuaaaak!"
Pajik!
Baek Gung-hyuk flailed his fist in desperation, but it predictably sliced only air. Against a space dominator like Kang Jinseong, he couldn't touch him no matter what.
"Mister, I've got a ton to say to you."
And naturally, Kang Jinseong could reach him at will.
Kwajik!
"Ku, aaaaak!"
No matter if his body was lightning—even crushing him through space brought agony.
Kang Jinseong stomped Baek Gung-hyuk's gut along with the surrounding space, then whispered,
"So don't die until you've heard me out."