Chapter 73
Chapter 73
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 73
Chapter Title: Jang Ye's End
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I looked at Jang Ye's figure again.
As the drone stopped, Jang Ye was visibly flustered.
Now it begins. I pulled out the mana elixir from my pocket and dumped it straight into my mouth.
“Ugh.”
The unique fishy taste of the mana elixir filled my mouth as mana surged through my body. Then, I chugged the high-grade mana concealment potion I'd bought from the point shop in advance.
Now, even if I used magic, no one would notice.
Swoosh.
I manifested a light-attribute magic orb above my hand.
A round magic orb that brightly illuminated the darkness floated clearly into existence.
With my trait of short combat duration, I couldn't afford any mistakes.
On top of that, Jang Ye's mana output was A-Rank.
I had to assassinate her with the fastest, most calculated movements possible.
*This is tense.*
Wooong!
The mana hovering above my hand swirled violently, emitting a loud hum.
I extended my hand toward Jang Ye and took aim.
I steadied the tremor in my fingertips and focused my mind.
Fwaaaaaang!
A massive shockwave ripped through the air with a deafening roar.
The backlash pushed my body back hard.
The magic orb left my hand and shot toward Jang Ye at high speed.
Fwoosh.
Kwaaaaaang—!
“Gaaahhh!”
Jang Ye's scream echoed through the rising black dust and smoke.
The attack had hit.
I immediately activated Air Walk and charged toward her while triggering Heart of Great Nature.
[Activating effect: 'Heart of Great Nature.']
[Mana recovery speed increases by 1000% for 1 minute.]
Thump!
As I rushed at Jang Ye, I manifested three small spells above my hand. Then, I unleashed them all into the invisible smoke.
The spells drew the wind toward the smoke. A fierce gust blew, sweeping the smoke away and revealing Jang Ye's hidden form.
Half her body was gone, and she writhed in agony. Due to the light attribute's effect, her regeneration was slowed.
I prepared my next attack without delay.
Wooong!
Once more, five light-attribute magic orbs rose above my body.
“……Grrgh!”
Jang Ye's ferocious eyes locked onto me.
I ignored her and unleashed the magic.
Shooooong!
The magic orbs flew swiftly.
At the same time, Jang Ye's eyes turned pitch black as she went berserk.
“Gaaahhh!”
Powerful mana exploded from her body. The blast swallowed the magic I'd fired.
I took a step back from her for a moment.
“As expected of an A-Rank. Not dying easily.”
“……Kim Sun-woo.”
Her disheveled hair burned red. And the half-vaporized parts of her body were regenerating at a slow pace.
If the light-attribute magic hadn't suppressed her regeneration, things would've gotten messy.
She would've recovered her body in an instant and returned to normal, like a true A-Rank demon.
It was a stroke of pure luck that I could wield light-attribute magic.
With no intention of giving her time to regenerate, I manifested more light-attribute magic and fired it at her.
Boom!
Boom!
Kwaang!
“Urgh!”
Jang Ye desperately erected a mana barrier to withstand the attacks. But no matter how much of an A-Rank demon she was, activating regeneration made her extremely vulnerable to defense.
Strike first, strike to win.
In the end, under my relentless assault, Jang Ye weakly dropped to one knee. The other soon followed.
I pulled out a monster summon scroll from my sub-space and summoned the snake. It swiftly flew at Jang Ye and coiled around her.
“Urk!”
I approached her. Once again, I compressed the maximum mana I could muster into one spot.
A silver magic orb flickered above my hand.
The situation was over.
With Jang Ye securely bound, all that was left was to blow her head off.
“......You.”
Jang Ye looked up at me and asked. It was a short question, but it carried intense rage.
“What.”
“Kim Jin-woo.”
I gazed down at her with cold eyes. Jang Ye glared at me with half-rolled-back eyes.
“Now I get it. The reason you first approached me. Your suspiciously blank past. Your eyes that saw through demons. Your low ranking despite the skills you showed in the exam. And that eerily identical appearance.”
She muttered to herself and bit her lip hard.
“You're Kim Jin-woo.”
“Yeah. I'm Kim Jin-woo.”
“You bastard…… Fucking bastard……”
Tears welled up in her blackened eyes. They soon streamed down her cheeks.
I hadn't shown it outwardly, but the sight shocked me.
A demon's tears.
Something not even touched on in the original story.
“You were right in front of me……! And I never realized……”
Jang Ye kept muttering to herself, full of resentment.
“I won't forgive you…… You killed my dad……! I'll kill you!”
Seeing her like this stirred a bit of pity.
Demons had human-like emotions and familial bonds too.
Aside from eating humans to survive, they weren't all that different.
But demons were undeniably harmful to humanity.
Dozens had died by her hand alone.
Just as she'd lost her father.
She'd taken someone else's family too.
I couldn't let personal feelings sway me.
I didn't hesitate.
Kwaang—!
Another magical explosion rang out.
Black demon blood splattered the ground.
Jang Ye's body thudded lifelessly to the floor. The snake constricting her turned to dust and vanished.
[A-Rank villain, 'Jang Ye,' has been soloed.]
[A minor story change has been detected.]
[Karma increases by 0.85.]
[Successfully defeated an A-Rank demon using light attribute.]
[Light attribute proficiency increases by 23%.]
One incident resolved.
I should've felt joy, but it didn't sit right.
Her final words lingered in my mind.
As I descended the mountain, the mana elixir's side effect—mana exhaustion—hit me.
My whole body went limp, and my breathing grew ragged.
I scanned my surroundings for a place to rest. No, not just rest—I needed somewhere to hide.
The sky had already darkened. At night, monsters grew even more ferocious.
- Grrooooow.
Then, a monster's howl echoed from somewhere nearby. Not too far. Sounded like a beast-type.
Tension coursed through me. Beast-types were fiercer than others, always starving and pouncing at prey on sight.
*Are they after me?* My body began to tremble. I moved slowly. If they heard my footsteps, I was done.
Rustle.
The sound of stepping on fallen leaves echoed through the forest.
At the same time, rapid footsteps approached from somewhere.
— Kyaaang!
A small wolf with three eyes burst from the bushes. I swung my paralysis dagger from my waist and reacted instantly.
Kaaang!
The wolf took a shallow cut from my dagger and recoiled. It then circled me warily, slowly.
I lowered my stance, bracing for its next attack.
“Whew.”
This was going south fast. Without mana, I had no chance against this wolf.
Anxiety made my heart pound wildly.
Side effects would last 28 minutes.
No, the potion's properties shortened it—about 18 minutes……
Could I hold out that long?
That's when it happened.
Powerful mana flared nearby. A white-glowing ice spear sliced through the bushes and pierced the wolf's head precisely.
— Kyeeeek!
“Huh? Senior?”
Choi Seo-yoon emerged from the bushes.
Her face was smeared with dirt, but her lovely appearance remained.
No, in this moment, she looked prettier than anyone.
“Uh, uh. Hi. Nice to see you. Really.”
“Hello. Oh, sorry. I didn't know this monster was the one you were after.”
She seemed to think I'd been targeting the wolf in front of us.
“But since I caught it, I can't yield the mana stone.”
Choi Seo-yoon said firmly. I nodded.
“……Yeah. Take it.”
At my response, she smiled and manifested an ice blade on her hand. With skilled motions, she sliced open the wolf's belly and extracted a small, glowing red mana stone.
“Hmm. Smaller than I thought.”
Choi Seo-yoon muttered disappointingly. She stood, stretched languidly.
“Euuu! Senior, have you collected any mana stones?”
“Nah. Barely any.”
“Huh? What have you been doing this whole time?”
“……Hunting monsters.”
“Oh, bad luck, huh. You must've just found this wolf, and I stole it—sorry, what now?”
“It's fine. Don't worry about it.”
She nodded at my answer.
“Then I'll be off. Good luck, senior.”
With that, Choi Seo-yoon turned away.
“Hey, wait!”
She turned back at my urgent voice.
“Yes?”
“Just stay by my side for 20 minutes.”
“Why?”
“……Need someone to talk to.”
Choi Seo-yoon furrowed her brows. Even she, who always wore a fake smile, could make that face—I'd never known.
“I'm busy? Do you know how hard it is to hold onto 1st in 1st Year? If I don't, my family will flip…… Sigh, shouldn't have said that.”
“Let's make a deal.”
Her eyes blinked at my words.
“What deal? You need company that bad you'd bargain?”
“Yeah. Absolutely.”
In mana exhaustion, who knew what crisis might hit.
But Choi Seo-yoon shook her head.
“Sorry. Nothing's more important than 1st place for me.”
“Six low-grade mana stones, one mid-grade.”
“Huh?”
“Isn't that good?”
It'd take at least three hours scouring the forest for these.
Invest 20 minutes with me, save three hours.
Even she couldn't refuse.
Choi Seo-yoon eyed me suspiciously.
“……Feels like I'm getting scammed. You didn't take orders from Jeon Min-gi, did you?”
Jeon Min-gi, 1st Year #2.
“Nope. Don't worry.”
“Then pay upfront, and I'll do it.”
I nodded and pulled seven mana stones from my pocket.
All I had.
Choi Seo-yoon grinned and said brightly.
“What should we talk about?”
Crackle, crackle.
A campfire burned in the forest. A chilling wind swept the fallen leaves on the ground.
Choi Seo-yoon and Kim Sun-woo sat blankly before it.
“So, what did you want to talk about? Why no words since earlier.”
“Truth is, nothing specific.”
“Then why pay mana stones just for company?”
Choi Seo-yoon asked in a baffled tone.
“It's a thing.”
“……Suspicious.”
Muttering to herself, she glanced at Kim Sun-woo.
He stared at the campfire with distant eyes.
Unlike usual, his gaze held emptiness. Maybe his body looked drained too.
Paying mana stones for company screamed he needed to vent worries.
*'Worries, huh. What could it be?'*
With mana stones in hand, she'd play companion properly.
But his silence meant he hesitated to share.
Then she had to draw it out.
That's when Park Min-ye came to mind.
From months of watching, Kim Sun-woo always kept eyes on her.
But with perfect guy Lee Seo-jun by her side, he couldn't approach—just watched from afar.
It was heartbreaking even for her, the watcher.
Love like that didn't exist in the world.
But Choi Seo-yoon thought it a bit cool. And felt a twinge of envy for Park Min-ye, receiving such love.