Chapter 149
Chapter 149
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 149
Chapter Title: 27. Controversy (5)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
A series of events.
The martial artist from the North Hebei Peng Clan, Kwak Un-chan, twisted his face.
'Tch, poor bastard.'
Crackle.
Crackle, crackle-crackle.
Fires erupted here and there throughout the village.
Just earlier in the day, this village had been brimming with dreams and hopes. Now, it had plunged into the depths of hell. Seo Mun-ho groveled on the ground like a worm. Terrified that he might have somehow offended Peng Mu-jeong, even witnessing the villagers' deaths, he kept bowing his head.
It was truly heartbreaking.
Seo Mun-ho had done nothing wrong.
They had investigated thoroughly and knew he was a good man who had never committed a single illegal act.
But what did that matter?
Peng Mu-jeong, hailed as the future of the North Hebei Peng Clan, had chosen them.
'...People have no idea who Peng Mu-jeong really is. The rising star who's been called the greatest talent in the martial world since his younger days, the one who's soon to inherit the North Hebei Peng Clan. If you get on his bad side, your family could end up massacred just like these villagers. I saw nothing, heard nothing.'
He turned a blind eye to reality.
Inside and outside the clan.
Peng Mu-jeong's reputation was worlds apart.
Outsiders saw him as aggressive but a fitting talent for the righteous martial world. Inside the clan, many viewed him as a vicious demon. The image of him flogging a servant girl until her clothes were soaked red in blood for accidentally dropping a dish was vivid. The faint groans of pain leaking from the hidden chambers made it impossible to refuse his orders.
Shh.
He averted his gaze.
Toward the place where Seo Mun-ho's wife had been dragged.
Kwak Un-chan adjusted his crotch, showing a hint of regret.
'She would've been fun.'
Still, it was fine.
Peng Mu-jeong might be cruel and inhuman, but the reason so many in the clan followed him was clear.
The rewards were guaranteed.
To those who waded into the filth with him.
To those who willingly stained their hands with blood.
Peng Mu-jeong took them into his fold and granted them riches and glory they could never dream of otherwise.
He'd get a hefty reward after this mission.
"Heh heh."
Thinking of that made Kwak Un-chan chuckle, regardless of Seo Mun-ho.
Whoosh—
The memory sucked him in.
Seeing Kang San pull back mid-attack on Im Chan-young, Ryu Seung-ryeol and the others bellowed.
"Now!"
"Attack!"
Whoosh.
Boom—!
He instinctively raised his shield to block.
The frantic exchange left no room for thought, but even as Kang San was pushed back repeatedly, he couldn't escape Im Chan-young's memory. To be precise, it wasn't Im Chan-young's memory—it was his past life. The issue was that in the instant captured in Seo Mun-ho's memory, one of the martial artists looking down at him was Im Chan-young.
A fateful grudge.
There was good reason for the repeated connection with Im Chan-young.
'If Im Chan-young's past life was a martial artist serving Peng Mu-jeong, this isn't something I can take lightly.'
Thinking back.
Even after experiencing his own past life, Kang San hadn't considered that others might have 'past lives' too. Sure, they probably existed. But he'd never heard of anyone in the world aware of theirs, so he kept Seo Mun-ho's memory to himself. Only now, facing Kwak Un-chan's past life, did a hypothesis form in Kang San's mind.
Peng Mu-jeong, Mo Yong-cheon.
The reincarnations of those whom Seo Mun-ho had ground his teeth in vengeance against—they might exist in this era too.
Stagger.
Boom—!
Lost in thought, a gap opened in his defense.
Blood sprayed from Ryu Seung-ryeol's brutal strike, but Kang San responded mechanically. He couldn't break free from the 'prison of thought.' If the hypothesis was true, how should he act? Just reliving Im Chan-young's past life had his killing intent boiling. The thought that Peng Mu-jeong and Mo Yong-cheon's reincarnations might be alive somewhere ignited not Kang San's thoughts, but Seo Mun-ho's.
Honestly, he couldn't understand.
Luca Bellino had said.
He was clearly resolving the karma of his past life.
Yet if his nemeses from that life existed in this era, what did that mean?
"Steel Strike—!"
Boom—!
He tumbled across the ground.
Kang San dazedly lifted his head amid the relentless combo attack.
Then, suddenly.
He looked to the sky.
Where only drifting clouds should be, Luca Bellino stood out unnaturally.
Her lips moved faintly.
The shape of her mouth.
Seared clearly into his vision.
It was unmistakably.
"You can... kill... him."
Words that should never have been spoken in this situation.
Thump-thump.
His heart pounded.
His blood boiled.
Luca Bellino, who had forced past life's karma upon him, now lifted the restriction on killing.
The moment the thought "it's okay" hit, uncontrollable killing intent flooded Kang San's mind.
'She would've been fun.'
Im Chan-young slumped on the ground.
Kwak Un-chan's face overlapped with his.
Gazing at a building while fondling himself, to Seo Mun-ho, he was no different from Peng Mu-jeong.
A villain.
A target for vengeance.
As killing intent consumed his mind, a familiar voice rang out.
"Enough of you!"
Whoosh-whoosh-whoosh.
Right on cue.
Ryu Seung-ryeol charged in.
Leading four A-Rank Hunters leaping at once, Kang San's vision pierced the killing-intent-twisted space, revealing the perfect response. It was Seo Mun-ho's instinct. And with stats boosted 100%, movements once impossible became reality.
Step.
He advanced.
Without any special technique.
He deflected the lethal incoming strikes.
A slight tilt of the head and shift of body made all four attacks whiff harmlessly into empty air.
"...What the—!"
Ryu Seung-ryeol's eyes bulged.
He met Kang San's gaze.
The moment he locked eyes with those vacant pupils—unlike before—he knew something was wrong.
"Blood Demon Sword Art, First Form: Blade Kill."
Boom—!
Ryu Seung-ryeol flew back.
Kang San pursued instantly.
The others tried ranged attacks, but relentlessly targeting Ryu Seung-ryeol, they were pushed back chaotically. At first, Ryu Seung-ryeol couldn't accept it. When he'd received Drake Master's order to humiliate Kang San, when he'd rewatched Kang San's B-Rank test footage endlessly. Never had he imagined facing this against just one man.
'With this potential... Accepting Im Chan-young and rejecting Kang San was a mistake.'
Whoosh.
He closed in right before his face.
Busting through the priest's defense, Kang San's sword finally slashed Ryu Seung-ryeol.
Flash.
"Arrrgh!"
Blood sprayed.
Ryu Seung-ryeol collapsed.
Unlike Jo Dong-jae, the leader Ryu Seung-ryeol's fall was shocking.
Silence descended.
While the others froze, only Im Chan-young screamed in terror.
"Block him! Block that bastard!"
Kang San stepped forward.
Toward Im Chan-young.
His desperate spell detonated, but against Kang San's stats surpassing A-Rank, Im Chan-young's magic fizzled. The distance closed helplessly. Seeing Im Chan-young slump in despair, Kang San raised his sword.
And.
Stab.
Thrust it straight in.
The final blow.
Instinct screamed.
Kill him.
The villain who massacred a village and slaughtered his family deserved death.
Kang San suppressed his killing intent.
Even thrusting per instinct, he held back to spare his life.
"...Urk."
Im Chan-young crumpled.
Unable to fight further, Kang San had shattered his magic circles—the most vital part for a mage hunter. As far as Kang San knew, destroyed circles meant no more magic. Ever. Something potentially more precious than life, he pierced without hesitation before witnesses.
People's stares?
He didn't care.
In a world where test deaths were commonplace, there was no punishment for brutality.
Then.
Messages flooded in.
A bewildering situation.
Even if Luca Bellino permitted it, this was Kang San's first time acting cruelly, not sacrificing for others. It was surely a sin. His understanding of karma shouldn't allow such actions—yet instead of penalties, he received rewards.
What.
Was going on?
Looking up into the void for Luca Bellino, she was already gone.
Immortal's Will.
A tremendous skill with the penalty of guaranteed stamina drop, but Guardian's Will left only the buffs. Glory Aura ended soon after. Yet with Eirin’s prayer stat boost and mindset granting 100% stats, Kang San was stronger than before.
"...Fuck."
"What do we do now?"
He turned his gaze.
Drake guild members hesitated.
Out to condemn Kang San, with Ryu Seung-ryeol and two others down, their morale shattered.
Cameras kept rolling.
Having reached this point, Kang San needed a clear resolution.
"What do you mean?"
Stagger.
He stepped forward.
His movements unsteady, but his eyes burned with fierce will.
"Put an end to it. For good."
This test.
Jeong Mun-cheol had his own plan.
'In Korea, nothing stirs emotions like anti-Japanese sentiment. If Kang San fails to prove himself in the S-Rank test, it bolsters my hypothesis of his ties to Japanese politics. Perfect. By stripping away Kang San's good-guy mask he's maintained, I'll earn recognition as a journalist.'
It seemed solid.
Plus, Drake was dead serious.
Putting Im Chan-young and Project A forward meant they were staking their name on it.
He believed.
The desired outcome would come.
To miss no moment, he'd brought over ten cameras.
But now.
"No... way."
When Jo Dong-jae fell?
He'd sneered.
All that bravado about showing him up, only for Project A to lose to Kang San's Project B—proving nothing. But when Ryu Seung-ryeol collapsed? The gravity sank in. And seeing Im Chan-young's circles shattered, he realized Kang San wasn't the soft touch he'd thought.
Regret came too late.
He shouldn't have escalated like this.
"...This is beyond calculation."
Bodies littered the stage.
Kang San stood alone.
His face smeared with blood and irritation. The referee shouted.
"All testers judged combat-ineffective! Kang San wins this match!"
Kang San's victory.
Jeong Mun-cheol wanted to smash the cameras capturing it all. Right then.