Chapter 166
Chapter 166
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 166
Chapter Title: Shattering Illusion
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Kurrrr-.
Rain poured from the dark clouds. Thicker and faster than before.
Shoooo-.
It felt just like a single scene from a movie. At least, that's how Cha Min-woo felt right now.
Lee Soo-hyuk stood before his eyes. Though fake, merely a streamer imitating him, Cha Min-woo's emotions were different now.
Two rooftops of similar height.
Cha Min-woo stared at the Soo-hyuk waiting for him on the opposite rooftop.
'It looks just like the real thing.'
His rain-soaked hair. His gaze. The mask covering most of his face.
Everything felt strangely familiar. Clearly different, yet he came across to Cha Min-woo as if he were the genuine article.
That was why. The burning desire to fight him had grown this intense.
'Only right now.'
The delusion that Lee Soo-hyuk had come back to life.
He knew it couldn't possibly be true, but Cha Min-woo had no desire to escape this pleasant illusion.
Thus, while even a shred of this illusion lingered, he wanted to clash with him. To savor the thrill of facing the real Lee Soo-hyuk in battle and emerging victorious.
'Right now, I can win.'
He knew it was shameful.
Separate from skill or talent, he was well aware of how brief his career as a Player had been.
But that was precisely why it was only now.
Before long, he'd soar to heights far beyond Cha Min-woo's reach.
Step-.
Cha Min-woo's hand already gripped a sword drawn from its sheath, after subduing no small number of Players on the way here.
"You really look just like the person I admired."
Forgetting even that the man before him was a streaming streamer, Cha Min-woo laid bare his heart and shared his feelings.
"And someday, you'll surely become that. You have the talent for it."
It was a well-known fact among those who knew Cha Min-woo that he was a huge fan of Lee Soo-hyuk.
As such, his words now were praise beyond measure for the man.
"So, I look forward to it. Please don't disappoint."
"......Yes."
Soo-hyuk listened to him while gazing at the rain pouring from the sky.
"Probably not."
Kurrr-.
As if to hype up their fight, the weather grew even worse. Crackle—lightning flashed across the sky, followed by thunder.
In that instant.
Flash-!
Cha Min-woo's sword tip gleamed as the building where Soo-hyuk stood split wide open.
Kurrr-.
The diagonally severed structure slid along the cut. Cha Min-woo rolled his eyes, searching for Soo-hyuk on the rooftop.
'Where'd he go?'
Something had flashed in place for a moment before vanishing. So fast that he'd lost sight of his opponent in an instant.
His eyes spun rapidly to locate him.
In the span of a single blink, he scanned his surroundings and spotted his foe at a distance.
A towering spire stretching to the heavens.
Soo-hyuk was scaling its pillar.
"Creating distance?"
It didn't look like fleeing. Likely a maneuver to secure a range favorable to him.
It was unexpected.
The Lee Soo-hyuk he'd seen on streams had never once fought by widening the gap.
Except for exactly one time.
'Trying to throw a spear?'
He'd seen it in footage uploaded to the broadcast channel.
In the Lightning Trial, to take down the final boss, Soo-hyuk had hurled a lightning spear from afar.
Though the giant had closed in quickly, causing it to strike at close range.
Even if the distance hadn't narrowed, the outcome wouldn't have changed.
'No chance.'
Whirr-.
Mana gathered at Cha Min-woo's feet. Wings unfurled beneath him, his speed exploding in an instant.
Like an arrow loosed from a bow, Cha Min-woo shot forward and bounded wildly up the spire. The gap to Soo-hyuk closed, and soon he caught up right behind him.
'Got….'
The very moment that thought crossed his mind.
Swipe-.
Thud-.
Soo-hyuk's hand made contact with Cha Min-woo's chest.
'…Huh?'
Craaaack-!
Blue lightning burst from the palm, repelling his chest.
Reeling from the numbing shock, Cha Min-woo tumbled downward, hurriedly swinging his hand.
Kwagagak-.
Ggggrit-.
He jammed his sword into the spire's wall to halt his fall. The pain in his chest suggested a few cracked ribs.
Grasping the situation was simple.
It wasn't the opponent's speed.
'He turned my speed against me.'
He'd been the one overexerting to catch up belatedly.
The instant the distance closed, Lee Soo-hyuk had smoothly pivoted and extended his hand.
In other words, it was a battle of timing.
Would Soo-hyuk's hand strike first at point-blank range, or would his own sword pierce the back first?
The problem was that he should have had the overwhelming advantage in that timing duel.
Crunch-.
It was just an instant, but in that alone, he'd been utterly outclassed in technique.
Soo-hyuk stood on the spire's wall face.
Literally. Not clinging, but standing sideways on the wall.
As if defying gravity itself.
"Pushing with technician skills?"
Standing on a wall wasn't particularly amazing.
Simply concentrate mana on your soles to support your body, and standing on a wall was easy.
But fighting in that state was another matter entirely.
Maintaining balance with irregular foot placements was hard enough, but the real challenge was swinging a weapon while devoting all focus and mana to your feet.
It was like drawing a circle with one hand and a star with the other simultaneously.
Doing two entirely different tasks at once wasn't just twice as hard—it was exponentially more difficult.
And yet.
"As if I can't."
Cha Min-woo didn't shy from the provocation.
Plant-.
He planted his feet on the wall and stood. He yanked his sword free and slowly advanced toward Lee Soo-hyuk.
Judging the stage complete, the man no longer fled.
"Do you think fighting like this favors you?"
Cha Min-woo was confident in his technician skills too.
"If you can do it, so can I. What do you take me for?"
He admitted his technician shortcomings. But it wasn't a hopeless situation.
Proof: he'd caught up to Lee Soo-hyuk from behind.
Catching the one who'd fled using lightning meant he held the edge in physical ability and mana, at least.
'Lee Soo-hyuk's weakness is his low level.'
No matter how genius, some things couldn't be overcome.
Time, namely.
"Not much time left."
Soo-hyuk was conscious of time too.
"Sorry, but I can't play around for long."
"That's not for you to decide…."
Mid-sentence.
Thud-.
Soo-hyuk's foot advanced a step toward Cha Min-woo.
For the first time, he was closing the distance. Tension mounted as golden lightning emanated from Soo-hyuk's body.
Boom—thunder roared. The real sound of lightning, heard properly for the first time, not from a video.
But there was no leisure to savor it.
Zzzzz-!
"……!"
His opponent had closed in before he knew it. No—shot forward.
His body moved before his head, sword blocking. The clash of steel was drowned out by thunder.
'When…?'
Zzzt-.
Again.
The opponent vanished from view. Fortunately, he'd caught the direction this time.
He'd glimpsed the direction of his foe's toe at the last moment.
'Left….'
But.
Craaack-!
The impact to his right side sent Cha Min-woo's body reeling. Wrong direction, but since he'd braced, he wasn't sent flying like before.
Definitely left?
Similar events kept occurring after.
Thought up, but down. Thought down, but from above.
Having fixated on the feet, Cha Min-woo belatedly realized his mistake.
'It's not the feet.'
If it were mere footwork, he wouldn't have been wrong.
But their battlefield wasn't flat ground—it was the face of a spire.
'He's using the height.'
Accelerating speed with the force of falling downward.
Pretending to leap upward with his feet, he'd drop behind.
Now, Cha Min-woo had even more to track.
Was Lee Soo-hyuk running or falling? Leaping up or faking ascent while stationary?
Predicting attacks amid all that was several times harder than fighting on flat ground.
"This is ridiculous."
It didn't feel like a fight—it was like watching an acrobatic stunt. Soo-hyuk was exploiting visual blind spots to conjure illusions like a magician.
Sense of direction faded. Just moments ago it'd seemed right, but he couldn't trust his judgment anymore.
Chaos.
Not a battle, but like a shell game.
'Where now?'
He strained his eyes to track the opponent, whose attacks had paused. There was a reason for the lull.
Zzzzz-!
This time from behind.
Immense mana pulsed from higher up the spire. Even at a distance, the high-output lightning made his skin prickle.
He whipped his head around, confirming with his eyes.
Ten bolts of lightning conjured by Lee Soo-hyuk.
They rained down on Cha Min-woo's body all at once.
Rumble-!
A downpour of lightning over his form.
No room to dodge. His only option was to unleash his strongest skill to block.
Whirr-.
Vibration hummed at Cha Min-woo's sword tip.
The sword wailed as if splitting, the vibration converging on the sharp edge. Swinging with all his might, it clashed with the lightning, producing a deafening roar and shockwave that tore at the ears.
Craaack-!
Whirrrr-, zzt-.
Residual lightning scraps enveloped his body. But he could endure that much.
The real problem came next.
Tssst-.
Yet more lightning hovering in the sky above.
Having shown his tricks, now crushing with raw power? The bolts poured endlessly.
'What is this?'
Clearly, the opponent should be straining.
Even this flawless-looking Lee Soo-hyuk lacked time, and thus should be underleveled. Inevitably, stat deficiencies would show.
So what was this?
'I can't compete.'
In this exchange lasting less than five minutes, the fight was decided.
Be it technique or power.
He couldn't match in anything.
"I've shown everything I meant to."
So keep the promise. That was what Soo-hyuk's eyes, visible beyond the mask, conveyed.
In that instant, a dreadful thought flashed through Cha Min-woo's mind.
Perhaps this was Lee Soo-hyuk's showmanship, just humoring him.
'That I might win?'
Puke-.
A chilling sound rang clearly in his ears.
His chest felt the cold-yet-hot touch of metal.
A sword blade piercing his heart came into view. A small, sharp dagger hurled by Lee Soo-hyuk, hidden amid the barrage of lightning.
Staring at it, Cha Min-woo thought.
'…Snap out of it.'