Chapter 22
Chapter 22
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 22
Chapter Title: Impossible
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That can't be right. Isaac shook his head.
The guy who had crawled at his feet throughout the entire academy training.
To think that he had obtained Lightning and was the same person as the streamer Lee Soo-hyuk, who Hawk's Eye had evaluated as having talent surpassing Lee Soo-hyuk at his prime.
"Something's wrong..."
Crackle, crackle...
He tried to deny it desperately.
"Th-that..."
Golden lightning sparkling so brightly it hurt his eyes.
Even he couldn't create a bolt of lightning this size with such perfect seams.
And that mask.
It was a cheap mask anyone could buy on the street, but what were the odds that this guy happened to have it?
'What the hell is going on?'
Isaac wasn't stupid.
He wasn't oblivious either, and at this point, even he had figured it out.
The Lee Soo-hyuk standing before him now was the same person as the streamer Lee Soo-hyuk he had seen that morning.
He knew that.
But...
"This doesn't make any sense..."
He just didn't want to accept it.
Step.
Soo-hyuk took another step closer to Isaac, who was lost in denial.
"No."
Crackle.
He thought it was just one step.
"It does."
The moment that thought crossed his mind, Soo-hyuk was already right in front of Isaac.
Clang!
Krunch.
With an explosion of lightning, Soo-hyuk's fist slammed into Isaac's chest.
It buried right into him.
For a split second, Isaac felt as if his chest had been pierced by a spear, not a fist.
"...!!!"
Boom!
His body floated up into the air before flying backward. Defying gravity, it crashed back-first onto the ground and rolled several times.
The moment he braced himself with his hands to regain his balance...
"Gaaack!"
His ribs stabbed into his lungs, his stomach flipped inside out, and vomit poured from his mouth.
After heaving up blood-mixed bile for a while, he lifted his head.
Soo-hyuk had closed the distance he had flown back, approaching with leisurely steps. As he did, he removed the mask from his face.
As if to say, Look at my face properly again.
"Why do you think it doesn't make sense? Because I've been taking beatings from you all this time?"
"You... how the hell..."
"Never crossed your mind that I might surpass you someday?"
Clutching his shattered ribs, Isaac barely managed to stand.
Fwoosh.
Flames gathered once more at the fingertips of the hand he had hidden behind his back. Gritting his teeth and pooling his mana, he prepared a counterattack.
"Y-you... you're... Lee Soo-hyuk?"
Instead of answering, Soo-hyuk stared into Isaac's eyes.
This guy was tough, no doubt about it.
Even with his ribs shattered and guts churning, his eyes still burned with defiance.
His father, Reinhardt, had lost to Soo-hyuk as well, but he was still a top ranker with considerable skill.
"Lightning... ain't shit. If a loser like you... got it..."
He hypnotized himself to muster courage.
Telling himself the opponent wasn't the new master of Lightning.
Just the pathetic worm who had groveled at his feet throughout training.
"You think... just 'cause you got that... you can take me?"
"Of course—"
The moment he started to reply.
"Take this!"
Isaac, who had been waiting for an opening, swung his hidden hand forward.
"E-eat this!"
Fwoosh!
Five fireballs launched from his fingertips.
At knife-range distance. Magic fired from that close.
No chance to react, barely time to even see it coming—a perfect ambush.
'Got him.'
Isaac smirked triumphantly.
He was absolutely certain Soo-hyuk couldn't dodge his spell from this range.
But.
Flash!
Boom boom boom!
A single yellow line slashed through the air.
Connecting the five fireballs he had launched.
Explosions erupted simultaneously, sending thick smoke billowing upward. The acrid stench of burning pierced his nose, making his lungs burn and triggering a cough.
As Isaac blinked in confusion, wondering what had happened...
"Interrupting an adult while he's talking? How rude."
Fizzle.
The smoke cleared, revealing Soo-hyuk unscathed.
The intercepted fire fell to the ground below. Isaac's eyes wavered as he coughed.
"H-how?!"
How.
Muttering the question to himself, Isaac racked his brain for the answer.
'Dodged? No, blocked it? Or...'
Then he recalled that single yellow line.
And the sword in Soo-hyuk's hand. Isaac's face twisted in horror.
"You... slashed them?"
Not one, but all five.
From this close, they would have reached him in an instant.
Yet he had sliced them all with one swing. Perfect timing, precision, reflexes—all flawless.
"Purely in terms of control, better than prime Lee Soo-hyuk?"
Hawk's Eye's evaluation flashed through his mind.
'Is that true?'
Talent surpassing prime Lee Soo-hyuk.
Staring at the falling ash, Isaac's face went blank with despair.
If that was true...
Was there any way he could survive this?
Crack.
Soo-hyuk's leg swept Isaac's supporting leg.
Snap.
"Urk!"
With the sound of breaking bone, Isaac collapsed face-first.
The moment he tried to push up with his other leg...
Soo-hyuk stomped it down.
Crunch.
"Gaaaaah!"
"Anyway, whatever."
A calm voice that didn't fit the forest echoing with screams.
Soo-hyuk looked down at Isaac and continued.
"Just feeling a bit pissed."
Crunch.
Normally, he would have just cleanly severed his neck.
There was only one reason he hadn't.
"Seeing trash like you insult those guys."
Venting.
For insulting the comrades who died to save their friends.
Venting on the damn brat who had ruined his mood.
Thud.
"Throw your tantrums at your daddy. Right?"
He pinned Isaac's shoulder as he screamed from his shattered legs.
The moment Isaac's eyes widened in shock amid his agony, lightning poured from Soo-hyuk's hand.
Crackle crackle crackle!
"...!!!"
His mouth gaped wide for a bigger scream, but no sound came out.
After shuddering in convulsions for a while, Isaac collapsed forward.
Charred black skin and a paralyzed body. He wasn't dead yet, but he sensed death approaching.
"S-save..."
Lifting his head to meet Soo-hyuk's eyes, Isaac changed his plea.
"M-my dad... if he finds out... he won't... let this..."
Begging hadn't worked; he saw it in Soo-hyuk's eyes. Now it was threats.
But.
"You said it earlier, right? Asking if I'm that Lee Soo-hyuk."
No matter how great the ranker, it wasn't enough to threaten Soo-hyuk.
"I am Lee Soo-hyuk. But you're wrong."
Reinhardt.
Threatening him with that name?
The world had changed a lot.
"Think about it. Is the Lee Soo-hyuk you know really just one guy?"
He was the ranker who had been defeated in one strike by Soo-hyuk, earning the humiliating title of "One-Sword Loser."
"What nonsense... is that..."
Isaac's eyes widened as Soo-hyuk's words felt like nonsense.
He thought there couldn't be more surprises, but an absurd idea hit him.
"Interrupting an adult while he's talking? How rude."
Adult.
Now that he thought about it, that wasn't something a same-age academy peer would say.
He hadn't registered it properly amid the pain of his legs shattering.
"Just feeling a bit pissed."
"Seeing trash like you insult those guys."
Putting it together with what followed, and if that absurd hypothesis was true, it made sense.
The academy loser Lee Soo-hyuk.
The masked one who claimed Lightning on stream.
And one more.
"No way!"
The Lee Soo-hyuk from the past who defeated his father Reinhardt in one strike.
All of them, one person.
"This... doesn't make sense..."
Even more than when he first saw the Lightning.
He denied reality.
It was that unbelievable.
But.
"Smart kid."
Instead of denying it as he hoped, Soo-hyuk nodded.
"Y-you're really...?"
In normal circumstances, he never would have believed it.
But Isaac remembered clearly.
The face and eyes of Lee Soo-hyuk who had been beaten, humiliated, and extorted of points by him throughout the academy.
Yet right now, instead of rage at that past, he was angry about the Blue Eyes insult.
As if.
He had forgotten the bullying entirely, like a completely different person.
'He really changed—'
The thought flashed through his mind.
Slash.
With it, Soo-hyuk severed his neck.
Thud, roll.
Isaac's head tumbled across the ground.
Crackle...
The lingering lightning around them faded slowly.
Soo-hyuk shook the blood from his sword and let out a long breath.
"...Got worked up."
He had talked too much.
He could have just cut his throat right away, but he hadn't.
"You always get chatty when you're mad."
Ye-ryeong's offhand comment from long ago came to mind.
Soo-hyuk was usually the silent type, but when angry, he talked more.
Anger clouded emotions, dulling movements.
Talking was his habit to rein it in.
Grip.
He tightened his hold on the sword. Looking up at the sky, he muttered.
"...He's still alive, right?"
Shower.
Back at the dorm, Soo-hyuk washed up first.
After a long hot shower and a simple meal, his mood improved.
With a full stomach, he checked the time.
'Almost time for the meeting.'
Before the next trial.
He had scheduled a meeting with someone from Baehae Entertainment.
There were issues from the last stream, and he wanted to handle annoyances quickly.
"What's with that guy?"
"A mask? Cosplay?"
"Isn't he streaming?"
After eating, Soo-hyuk entered a nearby cafe still wearing the mask.
Not just during streams, but he planned to hide his face from everyone who knew his identity if possible.
'For the future, having streamer Lee Soo-hyuk's face known won't help.'
Staring at the steaming coffee, Soo-hyuk thought.
'The fact that they don't know my face is a bigger weapon than I thought.'
Someday, he'd have to face Blue Zone and Kim Il-su.
An unknown face was like an assassin's advantage; he needed to maximize it now.
"..."
Even so, it was inconvenient not being able to eat with the mask on.
He resolved to make one with a mouth opening next time.
Just then...
"Kyaa! Sorry to keep you waiting!"
A bubbly voice approached his table, along with his guest.
Baehae's manager, Unhyang, with black hair and a tall, slender build, greeted him.
"Hello! I'm Unhyang!"