Chapter 79
Chapter 79
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 79
Chapter Title: The Genius Awakened's Stream (8)
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“Huh? I-It’s real?”
Ha-eun looked down at her chest with wide eyes.
The Stigma of Draco, etched over her left breast.
It was blazing with a brilliant light.
“No way…”
There was only one reason for a Stigma to continue shining even after a battle had ended and the mana had been withdrawn.
“Ugh!! Aaargh!! It hurts so damn much!!”
Ha-eun’s face contorted as she clutched her left breast.
A dense flame engulfed her body.
But only for a moment.
The flames, which had erupted like an explosion, began to be slowly absorbed into her body.
“Ah…”
As if in disbelief, Ha-eun lightly clenched her fist.
*Fwoosh!*
With that simple motion, three fire dragons materialized, coiling around her forearm.
“Whoa.”
The heat radiating from these dragons was far more intense than when she had fought the Hydra just moments ago.
There was only one explanation for such a sudden increase in a Stigma’s power.
“Oh, Oh-jin!!! I-I-I’m an 8-star!!”
Ha-eun shouted with an ecstatic expression and rushed toward Oh-jin.
“Kyahahaha!!”
Overjoyed, she hugged him tightly and planted eight kisses on his cheek.
“Hehe! I get it, so calm down.”
“How can I be calm?! An 8-star! I’m an 8-star, you punk!!!”
It was certainly something to be excited about.
The higher the ‘Star,’ the greater the gap between each level.
‘And 8-star is the highest realm a ‘human’ can reach.’
A stage beyond human limits.
Those at 9-star or higher, often called ‘High-Ranked Awakened,’ were an extremely small minority among the countless Awakened.
8-star was the stage just one step away from becoming a High-Ranked Awakened, a being considered post-human.
It was an achievement worthy of her showering him with kisses in excitement.
As much as he wanted to share in her joy…
[Hmph. Have you no shame, doing this in front of so many people?]
Vega narrowed her eyes, glaring at Ha-eun.
Just as she said.
There were many eyes on them right now.
“H-How did just two of them take down a Hydra…?”
“Both Thunder Wolf and that woman are insane.”
“Wow… 8-star? Did she say 8-star?”
“So Thunder Wolf has a girlfriend… I’m jealous.”
He could see the Awakened who had been huddled at the entrance staring their way, exclaiming in awe.
“Ah.”
[Hmph! You are a child with no sense of shame.]
Vega, looking quite displeased, hopped onto Oh-jin’s head and began swinging her legs back and forth.
With every swing, the heel of her shoe poked him in the forehead.
“I-I just forgot, that’s all!”
[There are things one forgets, and things one does not! And I find that skinship a bit excessive for siblings!]
“Hah. Anyone would think we’re actual siblings from the way you talk.”
[Are you not practically siblings, bonded by everything but blood?]
“No, we’re not!”
Ha-eun and Vega began to snarl and bicker with each other.
“Whoa, whoa, both of you, calm down.”
After placating Ha-eun and Vega, he approached the Hydra’s corpse.
He shortened his spear and deftly carved into the body.
‘Just as I thought.’
Inside were two Sacred Stones emitting a blue light.
Each was the size of a soccer ball.
Considering the amount of light they were radiating, they were top-grade Sacred Stones easily worth hundreds of millions.
‘Heh! Nice!’
With these and the thousand-plus Sacred Stones he’d extorted from JerryKim, completing the Black Heaven’s quest wouldn’t be difficult.
“We’ll clean up later. Let’s get out of here for now.”
Not only was he exhausted from using Exceed, but his mana was also nearly depleted.
‘Thunderflame is powerful, but its mana consumption is a huge problem.’
He’d only been able to sustain it because his mana reserves were abnormally large. Any other Awakened would have struggled to maintain it for even a minute.
“Ugh. Right. I want to get back and shower, too. I’m so sweaty.”
“I call dibs on the shower first.”
“Where do you think you’re going? Of course your big sis goes first, right?”
“If you don’t like it, you can join me.”
“Oh? You think I wouldn’t dare?”
In the midst of his usual playful banter with Ha-eun.
“Um… M-Mr. Oh-jin!”
JerryKim approached them.
“Thank you for saving us! I’m truly grateful!”
He bowed deeply and offered a small business card.
“This is my contact information. Please, just say the word anytime, and I will be sure to repay this debt! And… I apologize for my initial behavior.”
He was likely referring to the bet he’d made to try and put him in his place.
“Well, it’s fine.”
His initial intentions certainly weren’t good.
But thanks to him, he had easily acquired Sacred Stones and a huge sum of money, so in the end, it wasn’t such a bad encounter.
Exchanging contact info and making a connection couldn’t hurt.
‘And more importantly.’
JerryKim was a man of considerable use.
The influence of a broadcast watched by hundreds of thousands simultaneously needed no explanation.
“Th-Then, to wrap up the broadcast, would you be willing to say a word to the viewers?”
“Of course.”
It wasn’t a difficult request.
Oh-jin gave a light wave to the camera.
“It was fun participating in the broadcast today. I’ll stop by again if I get the chance.”
-Thunder Wolf oppaaaaaaa!! You were so coooooool!! (jiggle jiggle)
-Lady, give me Thunder Wolf!! Lady, give me Thunder Wolf!!
-O-B (Oh-jin Bye)!!!
-Taking down the Hydra was so awesome! I’ll be rooting for you!
-LOL, honestly, I thought he was just some talented punk with a bad attitude from the articles, but this was so unexpected.
The viewers’ reactions were mostly positive.
It was safe to say he’d gotten everything he could out of this collaboration.
“Well then, let’s head ba—”
“You… you bastard!!”
A fierce voice came from behind.
Turning his head, he saw the man he had used as ‘bait’ earlier, glaring at him and panting heavily.
“This was your doing, wasn’t it?!”
“What are you talking about?”
“Don’t play dumb, you bastard!!”
The man ground his teeth and shouted.
“You’re the one who made me run toward the Hydra earlier!”
“Ha. I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
As he feigned ignorance with a sly grin, the man strode up to Oh-jin and roughly grabbed him by the collar.
“You think I’m just going to let this go? Huh?”
The man continued, his face twisted in a snarl.
“Everything that happened here! What you did! I’m going to file a formal complaint with the Association about all of it!”
“Ah, yes. Do as you please.”
Oh-jin let out a smirk and grabbed the man’s wrist, which was still clutching his collar.
“By the way.”
*Crack!*
“Aaargh!!”
“Don’t touch me so freely, you son of a bitch.”
Who does this prick think he is?
“Let’s go.”
Leaving the man, who was now crouched over and clutching his wrist, he headed for home.
***
He had initially planned to go straight home.
But his body was screaming in fatigue, so they decided to check into a hotel near the gate first.
Ha-eun and Oh-jin took quick showers and then gathered in a room.
“Alright, then!!!”
Ha-eun raised the beer can in her hand high.
“To commemorate this big sis’s promotion to 8-star and our successful hunt!”
On the table, a mouth-watering spread of chicken displayed its noble form.
“Cheeeeeeeeeers!”
“Cheers.”
They lightly clinked their beer cans.
“Gulp, gulp.”
Ha-eun chugged the beer.
“Kyahhhhhh!!! This is what I live for!!”
She sounded like an office worker exhausted from overtime.
[What is it that you are drinking?]
“Beer. Wanna try some, my lady Goddess?”
[Hmph. Let me have a taste.]
Vega fluttered over and took a sip of the beer that had been poured into a small glass.
[Ugh! Is it not bitter!]
“Kyahaha!! My lady Goddess doesn’t know the taste of life! Life is bitter, so alcohol is bitter too!”
Looks like Manager Song is in a very good mood today.
“Then try this, Vega.”
He offered her another glass.
[What is this?]
“Fruit soju. It’s sweet, you should find it palatable.”
[Let us see then.]
Vega took a drink from the glass of fruit soju.
[Oh, ooh!!!]
Her golden eyes sparkled.
[Delicious!! This is truly a sweet fruit wine!]
She seemed to take a liking to the fruit soju, humming a little tune as she gulped it down.
After downing about three consecutive glasses…
[Fufufufu. You are my child, after all. You know well what I like.]
Vega flew over with a little *pyorong* and stroked his hair.
[There, there~ Such a good child.]
…Is she drunk?
‘Nah, no way a Constellation would get drunk.’
That was absurd.
[Ehehehe. I’m soo~ sorry~ that I couldn’t be of more help~]
“She’s really drunk.”
[Hng?]
She tilted her head and tugged at his hair.
[What do you mean~ by drunk~? I am the Constellation of Lyra! I would never get drunk….]
Her face flushed red as she staggered.
He caught Vega as she was about to fall off his head and let out a hollow laugh.
“Riak. Can a Constellation even get drunk?”
“Hmm. It seems to be because her physical body is weakened due to the restrictions.”
Riak also looked at Vega with a troubled expression.
“The time she can remain manifested is short anyway. Just let her be drunk for a little while.”
“I guess so.”
Leaving the tipsy Vega to her antics, he took a big bite of chicken.
“By the way, Oh-jin.”
“Yeah?”
“That… that guy from before. Is it going to be okay?”
*Pssh!*
Ha-eun asked as she opened a new can of beer.
“I didn’t get a good look, but you did something to him, right?”
“I did.”
“That was broadcasted, so it could get messy if he complains.”
True.
He had blatantly provoked him first, but if it came out that he was used as bait, public opinion would surely turn sour.
“I have a way to handle it, so don’t worry and just eat.”
Oh-jin smirked and held out his glass to her.
“Kyahaha! Then I’m counting on you! Alright! Cheers again!!”
About an hour into their enjoyable drinking session…
“Hehehe… Oh-jiiin~ Your big sis is an 8-star nooow~?”
[My child~ Come here! Let me pat your head!]
Damn it.
“Riak! Riak, where the hell did you go, you bastard!”
“A true warrior sleeps early to prepare for the next day’s training.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me.”
***
“Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!!!”
A man with a scruffy beard cursed, his face contorted in anger.
“Thunder Wolf… that bastard. I won’t let him get away with this.”
His face filled with rage, he began to type a long post.
It was an article detailing how Thunder Wolf had attacked him and used him as bait.
“Hehehe. If I attach the video from back then to this…”
He could deal a major blow to Thunder Wolf’s image.
No, would it only be a blow to his image?
Intentionally drawing a monster’s attention and leading it to someone else was a clear crime.
People would not spare their criticism for a member of the Association—an organization that, more than any other, was supposed to uphold the law—committing such a malicious crime.
“Heheheh! You should have been more careful about who you messed with.”
The man filmed a video exposing Thunder Wolf’s wrongdoing and then went online.
“Hmm?”
He saw his own face in the ‘Trending Videos’ section.
“Huh? What the?”
He hadn’t even uploaded the video he’d made yet.
“Why is there already a video up?”
He clicked on the video titled ‘I Apologize.’
[First, I would like to offer my sincerest apologies to the nation for the great discomfort my actions during the broadcast have caused.]
When he played the video, a man who looked exactly like him was bowing his head, dressed in a suit.
“Wh-What? What the hell is going on?”
It was none other than…
Why was ‘he’ in the video?
[I would like to explain my actions when I screamed and ran toward the Hydra.]
“…Huh?”
[At that moment, terrified, I thought the only way to get Thunder Wolf and JerryKim to move was to draw the monster’s aggro. I was well aware that it was a clear criminal act… but I had no other choice.]
“Huh? Wh-What? What kind of bullshit is this guy spouting!!!”
The man frantically grabbed the monitor and cried out.
[I publicly apologize for this incident and promise to humbly accept any punishment.]
But the video’s view count had already soared past one million.