Chapter 110
Chapter 110
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 110
Chapter Title: 20. Showcase (5)
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It was a thicket of killing intent.
Chills ran down his spine from the murderous pressure raining down from all directions, impossible to dodge or predict.
Can't avoid it.
Right behind him.
Im Chan-young was there.
No matter their bad blood, to clear the trial, he had to send the guy back without a single scratch. There was no hesitation. Kang San stared straight into the tangled web of killing intent and slipped through the one gap that revealed itself.
Whoosh.
Krunch, krunch.
The savage clash of teeth echoed from every side.
It was by a hair's breadth.
He dodged the attack, then reacted to the next wave of killing intent surging in sequence.
Right side.
Kyaaack!
The hellhound lunged.
Kang San raised his shield just before the beast could build momentum with its hind legs, blocking off its approach.
Thung—
The damage was reduced.
Without enough distance to leap, the attack lost its power. Kang San's senses picked up the next intents to rip out his throat one after another. Any normal human's head would spin in this chaos. The killing intents crashed in so densely and rapidly that prioritizing them would be impossible, but Kang San never lost the flow.
The past six months.
Or more precisely, 900 days.
Kang San had lived in another time.
At first, there had been a clear goal: stats. But the repeating patterns offered no real gains.
In the end.
He needed senses.
Experience.
That time, that effort, had seeped into his body.
Kang San's unwavering eyes accurately read the patterns of intertwining killing intent.
Whoosh—
He dodged the attack.
One step ahead in movement, one beat quicker in reaction.
When needed, he activated Iron Body to offer up his flesh; if the sheer numbers threatened to overwhelm and push him back, he unhesitatingly used Shield of Trials. Dozens of monsters. A crashing wave. The sight of one man holding it back was awe-inspiring. Though only about one or two minutes had passed in reality, Im Chan-young—who had been frozen in fear amid the fierce exchange—finally made his presence known.
"Inferno."
Boom!
Roooarrrrr.
Flames erupted wildly.
The blaze spewed like a flamethrower, forcing the wraiths and hellhounds to scream and stagger back.
"...Keep holding out like that."
Im Chan-young had grasped the reality too.
This situation.
It was nothing like a standard test.
If it was this dangerous, proctors should have shown up by now—but no help came from anywhere. That left two hypotheses: they saw this as part of the test's crisis, or some variable had arisen preventing aid. Either way, they had to solve it themselves. Realizing he could die standing there dazed, Im Chan-young unleashed his full talent.
"Memorize, Inferno."
Fwoosh.
Roooarrrrr!
He cast the spell repeatedly.
His eyes glowing red, spewing explosive flames—it was an impressive sight.
A confined space.
A mage's dream advantage.
No room to escape was a drawback, but if the front line held, area magic could sweep the entire field. Honestly, Im Chan-young was genuinely shocked right now. The Kang San in his memory had already defied reality in the test's early stages. And now, blocking this insane monster rush had completely rewritten his view of the man.
An F-Rank arrow sponge.
And the Kang San before him.
They were entirely different beings.
He could feel it even now.
As Im Chan-young snapped to and cast his spells, Kang San timely cleared space for him.
Pop.
Yelp, yelp, yelp!
He lured the monsters.
Deliberately drawing them in, opening paths to expose them all to the flames at once.
"Inferno."
Fwoosh.
Roooarrrrr!
The boiling flames engulfed the monsters wholesale.
It gave him goosebumps.
Managing dozens alone should have him reeling, yet their coordination was seamless, unchanged from the start. Unbelievable. What on earth had happened to Kang San in the meantime? What life had this man lived to catch up from that worthless F-Rank existence right to his doorstep? Just moments ago, Kang San had let a hellhound bite his leg—only to smash its head in the same instant.
Trust solidified.
A tanker who threw himself forward before allies.
Wasn't teaming with someone like that every mage's dream?
Hope reignited.
They could hold.
If they endured long enough, they could solve this absurd crisis. He believed it.
But then.
Screeeee—
Splat!
Something tore through the air.
The moment Im Chan-young spotted it, Kang San's body—already airborne— was pierced straight through the torso.
In that split second.
Kang San saw it.
A devastating strike cleaving the air.
Judging it impossible to block normally, he hurled himself forward without hesitation.
Splat!
Crash!
"K-Kang San!"
He tumbled across the floor.
Im Chan-young, who had been disrespecting him until now, switched to honorifics, his face drained pale.
"Ngh."
Kang San grimaced.
He had blocked the shield from piercing vitals, but the attack had torn a massive chunk from his side. He activated Aura of Recovery. Even as he did, he raised his shield, peering beyond the writhing monsters.
There.
Something lurked.
The one who threw the spear was also hidden in the darkness beyond.
Unlike Kang San, who had assessed the situation, Im Chan-young stared at him with teary eyes.
"...Why, why for me..."
It made no sense to him.
If the test was this deadly, normal protocol was to abandon allies and save yourself.
Public backlash?
Survival came first.
If their positions were reversed, with their bad history, he would have ditched Im Chan-young long ago—left him here and plotted his own escape. But Kang San hadn't. Was it zeal for the test, or basic human decency? Whatever the reason, without that sacrifice, that spear would have pulverized his skull.
Kang San didn't even check on Im Chan-young.
Taking his safety for granted, he snapped irritably.
"Shut up with the nonsense and focus forward. It's about to get worse."
No time for sentiment.
What Im Chan-young thought didn't matter to him.
He had kept him alive as part of the trial—nothing more. No intent to build bridges now.
Just.
Facing reality.
He had to save Im Chan-young.
An unknown monster loomed ahead.
And Kang San knew this whole sequence was being broadcast outside.
Somehow turned into a life-or-death showcase.
Grind.
He clenched his teeth.
An S-Rank outbreak?
This was worse.
If he balked at this level, he was as good as dead already.
Then.
Thud, thud.
From the darkness.
The presence Kang San watched took a step forward.
As shadows parted, a ghostly pale face bared savage fangs.
Vampire.
The monster appeared before Kang San's eyes.
At that moment.
Chaos erupted outside too.
When the vampire's attack struck Kang San, Jung Hye-mi went pale.
"...!"
She was stunned.
Tanker's duty or not, she never imagined he'd throw himself to protect Im Chan-young.
Kim Min-young's article had been spot-on.
True to the piece about his hidden heroism, Kang San chose sacrifice without hesitation in the clutch. What an idiot. From her brief time with him, she'd pegged him as someone who looked out for his own plate—but now he seemed like a hopeless fool.
She couldn't just stand by.
Heavenly Firmament recruitment aside, she didn't want to watch someone like Kang San die in a test.
She hurried her steps.
To urge the proctors—but someone was already there, raising hell.
"No, does that even make sense? A problem with the gate?!"
Daeyang's team leader.
Koo Jun-ho.
Watching Kang San's sacrifice, Koo Jun-ho reached a different conclusion than Jung Hye-mi.
Kang San is the real deal. A tanker who truly risks his life will one day pay dividends.
Same scene.
Different thoughts.
Koo Jun-ho saw himself as cold-blooded.
Even as Kang San staked his life, he was calculating the manager's value.
Regardless, the two team leaders aligned.
As Jung Hye-mi joined, the proctor looked troubled.
"We're doing everything to rescue the testers as fast as possible, but the internal proctors on standby are delayed by monster attacks. And deploying new personnel—the gate passage isn't responding. We're truly sorry. But please wait just a bit; we're giving it our all."
As Im Chan-young predicted.
A variable.
No one's help. B-Rank test applicants had to resolve it solo.
"Damn."
"Haa."
Koo Jun-ho and Jung Hye-mi.
They sighed in unison, eyes glued to the screen as if by agreement.
The vampire's emergence.
Unable to do more than watch—it filled them with helpless dread.
The vampire's eyes shifted.
Passing Kang San, fixing on Im Chan-young beyond.
"...What?"
Kang San narrowed his eyes.
An incomprehensible statement.
Even from an intelligent monster, he never expected that.
Im Chan-young's ragged breathing came from behind.
Sudden demand to forfeit his life—his teeth chattered in terror.
Kang San couldn't allow it.
Im Chan-young's death meant the collapse of all he'd built.
Kang San snarled back.
"Bullshit. Even if I die, that won't happen."
Swish.
The monsters parted.
Red eyes at its back, the vampire advanced slowly.
Then.
Bam—
It kicked off the ground.
By the time Kang San registered the motion, the vampire was already upon him.
Boom—!
Splat.
He slammed into the wall.
The vampire ignored Im Chan-young, glanced his way, then stuck to Kang San. Plan: eliminate him first. Amid the dust cloud, Kang San sensed the killing intent early and raised his shield.
Boom—!
Clang, clang, clang!
The sword came crashing down.
The vampire's slender white hand unleashed absurd destructive power in repeated strikes.
Not a normal B-Rank.
Top-tier B-Rank.
Too much for Kang San to handle.
Despite secluded training and boosted stats, his average still fell short of B-Rank. With buffs like Guardian's Will or Glory Aura, he barely scraped low B-Rank. Facing a top B-Rank monster, he was steadily pushed back by the onslaught.
Flash.
Slash—!
His forearm sliced open.
His eyes met Im Chan-young's.
In this chaos, the mage hesitated to cast, fearing stray fire.
Pathetic.
To think this guy was once the object of his inferiority complex.
Boom—!
Shrrrr.
He was shoved back.
Kang San spat rough breaths, eyeing the slowly approaching vampire.
"...Fucking difficulty."
After the tenth trial.
Azmun's trials showed no mercy.
Whenever it could kill him, it hurled insane difficulty his way without regard for context.
He regulated his breathing.
No confidence in winning.
But if he had to.
No thought of fleeing.
Gripping his sword tight, Kang San recalled that one moment honed through endless repetition.
Back then, all I could gain was experience. But it didn't have to be limited to my own.
900 days.
The shift in his repeating routine stemmed from one question.
Back then.
Kang San had thought.
If I'm using the same Blood Demon Art as my past life, couldn't I learn by observing my past self's version?
Past life and present.
For the first time, Kang San blurred the line between them.