Chapter 360
Chapter 360
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 361
Chapter Title: Clash with Yoo Sung-jin
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My words made a vein bulge on Yoo Sung-jin's forehead.
Then he glared at me with eyes full of murderous intent.
If it had been any other S-Rank villain, I might have felt a bit shaken, but the current Yoo Sung-jin wasn't quite there yet, so it didn't faze me.
"......Hey. Are you really begging to die like a lunatic?"
A cold voice laced with deep fury.
I smirked at him once more.
"If you wanna kill me, go ahead and try. Or did I say something wrong? Your score is lower than mine, isn't it?"
"You little......"
Crackle—!
Sparks flew from Yoo Sung-jin's body, and faint electric mana began to flow.
At the same time, his hair stood on end from the current.
An immense amount of mana that was hard to believe came from a 21-year-old.
I was impressed the moment I saw it.
Is this what happens when someone with talent on par with Yoo Ah-ra is raised as a weapon?
"But you do know where we are, right?"
I asked out of curiosity.
This was the grounds of the Seoul Wizards Association.
There was no upside to causing a scene here.
Especially for a guy connected to criminals like Jaun.
Yoo Sung-jin seemed lost in thought for a moment at my words.
Even someone as reckless as him would have to face reality in front of the Association.
......Or so I thought.
"You think I care about that?"
Yoo Sung-jin scoffed and manifested electric thorns, firing them like a barrage.
Crackle!
The deeply compressed mana thorns shot out like lightning.
I immediately deployed a barrier to block his attack.
The moment I did.
The guy, who had been far away just seconds ago, appeared right in front of me.
His movement was like a bolt of lightning.
I activated [Instant Acceleration] to match his speed.
Time seemed to slow down, allowing me to track his movements.
Whoosh!
I dodged his surprise attack with minimal movement.
His hand, charged with powerful electric mana, swung through empty air, and at the same time, I manifested a neutral magic sphere above my palm.
Just as I was about to slam the magic sphere into his gut.
Whoosh!
A sword appeared by my side, swinging toward Yoo Sung-jin.
It was Lee Seo-jun's sword.
Yoo Sung-jin's body flashed and vanished, retreating in an instant.
"You......"
Yoo Sung-jin glared at me with a stiff expression.
I wondered if he'd attack again, but he seemed to abandon the fight, withdrawing the electric mana from his body.
A wise choice.
If he caused more of a commotion here, things could really spiral out of control.
He glared at me and said.
"......If this weren't the Association, you'd already be dead by my hand."
I gave a small smile at his words.
"That's what I wanted to say."
His expression hardened briefly at that. Then, as if lost in thought, he muttered softly.
"......You. You're interesting. I wasn't paying much attention before."
Yoo Sung-jin gave a chilling smile.
"Kim Sun-woo. I remember your face now. See you at the next pro exam."
With that, Yoo Sung-jin turned and disappeared somewhere.
I stared blankly at where he'd vanished, then turned to look up at the Association building.
"......What a shame."
Late evening.
Having finished his business at the Association, Yoo Sung-jin walked alone down a deserted alley.
The brief encounter with Kim Sun-woo replayed in his mind.
"......Damn."
An incredulous laugh escaped him.
A rapid approach using attribute transformation.
An attack infused with his 'true intent,' fast enough that most S-Rank wizards couldn't dodge.
Yet Kim Sun-woo evaded it with unbelievably quick and concise movements.
And then Lee Seo-jun's sword strike followed.
The intense killing intent forced Yoo Sung-jin to retreat easily.
But the problem came after.
The moment he retreated, the first thing he saw was the magic sphere manifested above Kim Sun-woo's hand.
"......I didn't notice."
For a wizard, 'perception' is the most important thing.
Predicting the opponent's next move through successive attacks and killing intent in battle.
This is why 'experience' is valued more than mana capacity or talent in the wizard world.
The more experience you have, the better you predict movements.
But at that moment, Yoo Sung-jin hadn't anticipated Kim Sun-woo's counterattack.
He'd expected 'evasion' as Kim Sun-woo's next move.
"......If Lee Seo-jun hadn't intervened."
He might have taken a big hit from the counter.
A chill ran down his spine.
"......Is that guy really 19?"
It was a short exchange, but it felt like clashing with a veteran who'd survived dozens of life-or-death battles.
As his mind filled with doubts about Kim Sun-woo.
"Good work."
A woman stepped out from the alley. Yoo Sung-jin opened his mouth upon seeing her.
"Natasha."
She was his long-time mentor, Natasha.
It had been two years since they'd parted ways to build specs for the pro wizard license exam.
"How'd the exam go?"
"Got 1st Grade on everything except spell dispelling."
"Good job. You didn't cause any trouble, did you?"
When Yoo Sung-jin fell silent, Natasha narrowed her eyes.
"You did cause trouble. You didn't kill someone, did you?"
"No. Just a little argument."
"Sigh. You really......"
Natasha sighed and pressed her hand to her throbbing forehead.
"Well, as long as it wasn't a big fuss, it's fine. Come on, let's eat. Jin and Baek Eun-seong are there too."
"Uh...... Yeah."
As Yoo Sung-jin nodded, Natasha started walking somewhere.
Yoo Sung-jin watched her back and called out.
"Natasha."
"Yeah?"
Natasha stopped and turned around.
"Do you know anything about Kim Sun-woo?"
"......Kim Sun-woo?"
Natasha's expression hardened instantly.
Seeing her face, Yoo Sung-jin realized there was some secret between Jaun and Kim Sun-woo that he didn't know.
"Why?"
"No, I saw him at the exam hall today, and his skills were pretty impressive. Surprised me."
Natasha looked him straight in the eye and said.
"I'm warning you—don't get involved with that guy."
It was a firm tone unlike her usual self.
Her voice even carried a faint killing intent.
What could it be? It was the first time he'd seen Natasha emit killing intent toward someone.
Yoo Sung-jin wanted to ask more but nodded, sensing it was best not to push.
"Got it."
Natasha relaxed her stiff expression, smiled, and resumed walking.
Yoo Sung-jin stared blankly at her retreating figure before following.
Then, their final exchange replayed in his mind.
—If this weren't the Association, you'd already be dead by my hand.
—That's what I wanted to say.
Kim Sun-woo's words weren't mere bravado.
If it hadn't been in front of the Association, he really would have tried to kill me.
The 'magic rank' exam, one of the heavy burdens for 3rd-year students, had ended, and the results spread quickly through the media.
Even the few who had underestimated 'Kim Sun-woo' until the end began to acknowledge him, and the existing fans—who'd been called 'vicious' for praising me—were excitedly proclaiming the birth of a once-in-a-generation genius everywhere based on this exam result.
[Star50's 19-Year-Old Prospects World Ranking]
1. Lee Seo-jun, Kim Sun-woo
2. Yoo Ah-ra
3. Luke Fallon
4. Lily Rose
And after the rank exam, I rocketed up alongside Lee Seo-jun to joint 1st place in the global prospects ranking.
It was a meaningless metric since my job was practically guaranteed anyway, aside from the honor......
['Prospects World Ranking 1st Place' achievement unlocked.]
[Obtained 5,000 points as reward.]
Thanks to that, I got points too, so I'd think of it positively.
Anyway, the exam was over, and Thursday arrived.
Even after the magic rank exam, hellish schedules like the '2nd midterm,' 'resume writing,' 'spec building,' 'internships,' and 'final exams' remained, so dark shadows still lingered on the students' faces.
Lunchtime at the Wizard Academy.
"......Whoa. Crazy. I'm getting chills right now."
Shin Young-jun, peering at his smart student handbook in the campus cafe where the main characters had gathered, suddenly said something out of left field.
It was a seriousness unlike his usual self, so everyone looked puzzled.
"What's up all of a sudden?"
At Lee Seo-jun's question, Shin Young-jun turned to me.
"Kim Sun-woo. Last year, this guy was dead last in the whole school."
"......Huh? What?"
Everyone wore shocked expressions at Shin Young-jun's bombshell(?).
"......Yeah? Kim Sun-woo was last place last year, right?"
"Whoa...... I'm getting chills."
Yoon Ha-young rubbed her arms and looked at me.
Her gaze was like she was staring at a monster. Feeling absurd, I said to her.
"What? You were in the lower ranks last year too."
"......I was mid-tier, okay? Like 82nd or 86th."
"Anything below 75th isn't mid-tier; it's lower-mid."
"That's still mid-tier!"
Yoon Ha-young shouted indignantly.
Then Choi Seo-yoon, who had a strange expression, said to me.
"But, sunbae. I suddenly got curious—did you intentionally come in last place school-wide?"
"......That? Uh......"
Truth be told, there was an unfair backstory to me ending up dead last that I couldn't tell others.
Who could've predicted that kind of accident would happen during the ranking evaluation exam, which carried as much weight as the midterms?
And my 1st-year grades being low was part of the setting; there was nothing I could do about it.
Then Shin Young-jun chimed in.
"Obviously he did it on purpose. Does it make sense for someone from dead last to show this kind of growth?"
Yoo Ah-ra, who had been quiet, nodded slightly in agreement.
"He must've had a reason to come in last. I don't know what it was, though."
"A reason...... Now that you mention it, Kim Sun-woo's past is super intriguing. What kind of guy are you?"
Everyone looked at me with suspicious expressions. I met their gazes blankly, feeling flustered.
No, that's not it.
I'd worked hard to get into the top 5 from the first exam.
As I said nothing, Shin Young-jun shook his head.
"Sigh. Whatever. Anyway, the 2nd exam is right around the corner. Time flies, huh?"
Lee Seo-jun nodded in agreement.
"But at least they say the 2nd exam will be light, so that's a relief."
"......True, but thinking about the license exam is a bit scary."
"Yeah, from what the sunbaes said in their reviews, it's brutal. They suffered for three days straight......"
Lee Seo-jun smirked and said.
"But when's the pro wizard license exam?"
Choi Seo-yoon cut in with a question. Lee Seo-jun thought for a moment before answering.
"Probably before finals this year."
"Before finals......"
Choi Seo-yun pondered, then turned to me.
"Right, sunbae got 1st Grade on everything except one, right? So B-Grade is basically guaranteed?"
"Uh...... Probably."
Unless I bombed it badly, with my base specs, at least B-Grade was certain.
"With your skills, sunbae, you could aim for A-Rank too......"
"Yeah, that's what I'm going for this time."
Achieving A-Rank from the start is like reaching for the stars, but I'm pretty confident right now.
Then I turned to Lee Seo-jun.
"And you should aim for A-Rank too."
"......Me?"
Lee Seo-jun thought for a moment, then smirked.
"Yeah, I should."
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