Chapter 90
Chapter 90
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 90
Chapter Title: The Bewitching Curse
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Flash-!
A blinding flash stabbed into his eyes.
Reflexively covering his eyes with one hand, Jeong Yu-han drew his weapon from his inventory with the other.
And at that moment.
Clang-!
Crackle-!
The two swords collided, sparks of lightning flying off them.
Like countless Players from Earth, Jeong Yu-han also wielded a sword as his main weapon.
But.
"Coming in close wasn't a smart choice."
His real weapon wasn't some sword.
"That just makes it easier to hear."
A skill triggered through voice alone. For a curse-type skill, the activation difficulty was ridiculously low.
Bewitching Curse.
This skill, at 80% proficiency, was what had made Jeong Yu-han who he was today. The Bewitching Curse didn't discriminate between humans and monsters.
'The moment it hits, it's over. Senses numb, gripped by fear...'
At that instant.
Crackle-!
A net of yellow lightning spread out around Jeong Yu-han.
"What the-."
Boom-!
The net suddenly ramped up its output and tightened. Jeong Yu-han swung his sword, releasing mana.
A simple, inefficient mana waste in the heat of crisis.
Sizzle-.
Thanks to his sky-high stats, though, tearing through the net wasn't hard.
But in that brief moment, Jeong Yu-han realized Soo-hyuk, who had been close by, had vanished.
'This guy's gone where now...'
That instant.
Flash-!
Light erupted before his eyes, and something threatening grazed past Jeong Yu-han's head.
'A spear?'
He couldn't make out the shape clearly.
No time to even try.
Before he could identify it, Jeong Yu-han ducked.
Questions kept swirling in his mind.
Creating and throwing a lightning spear that fast?
But he couldn't keep questioning. Jeong Yu-han turned to face Soo-hyuk charging in again.
'His movements aren't fast enough to track...'
The thought cut off midway.
An odd sense of wrongness.
The sword that should have been in Soo-hyuk's hand wasn't there.
Where'd it go?
'No way, the thing he just threw?'
If his realization had been even a fraction slower—just a fraction—Jeong Yu-han's life would have ended right there.
His head whipped back. There, the sword he'd mistaken for a spear was flying straight at him.
"Gasp!"
He ducked again with a sharp intake of breath. The sword, riding a magnetic field back to Soo-hyuk's hand, was gripped tightly once more.
Toward Jeong Yu-han, who had ducked to evade the returning blade.
Whoosh-.
Soo-hyuk swung down with all his might, lightning-charged sword and all.
Boom-!
The moment the sword touched Jeong Yu-han, an explosion erupted. A massive pillar of lightning shot up, brightening the plaza in an instant.
Sounds around them vanished. Soo-hyuk didn't stop there, swinging his sword again.
He knew this wouldn't take Jeong Yu-han down.
And he was right.
Splurt-.
A hand shot out from beyond the lightning pillar.
Soo-hyuk leaped back to evade it, catching sight of Jeong Yu-han—face charred black.
'A bit weak, huh.'
It needed more power. To bridge the stat gap, he needed an unpredictable twist.
And that twist had worked.
The pity was the finisher. Not enough guaranteed damage to sever the opponent's breath in one blow.
"Cough, hack."
Jeong Yu-han exhaled raggedly, chest tight.
His neck felt numb. He glared at Soo-hyuk with fury-twisted eyes.
'This crazy bastard...'
His pride was shattered. Shattered beyond repair, leaving him unable to show his face.
No matter how he looked at it, he was being pushed back by a 4th-floor Player. And the fight had turned this way due to nothing but a one-sided battle of wits.
"Pure control-wise, he's better than prime Lee Soo-hyuk?"
Streamer Hawk's Eye's take on Lee Soo-hyuk.
He'd even said a few times that, talent alone, this Lee Soo-hyuk outshone Blue Eyes' own.
Jeong Yu-han hadn't bought it.
Just streamer banter, nonsense.
Yet.
'No way it was true.'
Lee Soo-hyuk, wrapped in lightning, was no 4th-floor Player to scoff at.
Fast and powerful. Above all, his lightning proficiency was astonishing.
'Making a net out of lightning?'
Crafting a weapon from a single element wasn't easy.
Unlike simple discharge, it demanded intense focus and precise control.
Maintaining that in combat was several times harder.
Yet this guy had formed a net—not even a standard weapon.
Jeong Yu-han, a quasi-ranker himself, couldn't even grasp how.
And moreover.
'Magnetic fields to freely manipulate weapon position. Throwing the sword was a ploy to make me think it was a spear.'
Top-tier skill sense, plus mind games exploiting misperceptions.
How many techniques had he shown in this short exchange?
His talent could overturn the class difference.
"Unbelievable bastard."
Steadying his breath, Jeong Yu-han stood.
His face was a bit singed, but no fatal wounds. He locked eyes with Soo-hyuk again, regaining composure.
"Still..."
Roooar-.
Mana rose from his toes as he eyed Soo-hyuk, whose face was growing pale.
"The curse hasn't worn off."
Bewitching Curse.
From the fight's start to now, it had steadily eroded Soo-hyuk's mind.
Clang-!
The swords clashed, sending Soo-hyuk flying back. He quickly regained balance, sparks crackling from his body as he soared upward again.
Pushed back, Soo-hyuk charged at Jeong Yu-han once more.
All around, orbs of lightning Soo-hyuk had conjured floated lazily.
'Why?'
Jeong Yu-han parried Soo-hyuk's sword without dodging.
Clang-!
Again, Soo-hyuk was the one pushed back.
'In his eyes, I must look like a terrifying monster. My sword swings must feel like a giant's club—heavy and crushing.'
This fight was unfair from the start.
Under Bewitching Curse, senses dulled, gripped by fear—the victim fought their worst nightmare.
Like battling with iron bars strapped to their limbs.
Yet Soo-hyuk's momentum hadn't flagged from start to now.
Boom-.
Thunder roared as he charged relentlessly again.
Irritation and subtle pressure hit Jeong Yu-han simultaneously.
'Why...'
And soon.
He realized the source of that irritation.
'Why does he seem to be getting stronger?'
From the beginning, Soo-hyuk had been speeding up, powering up steadily.
Lightning use should drain his stamina, weakening him.
Like a high-performance engine warming up, Soo-hyuk was ramping up output.
Thwack-!
This time, Jeong Yu-han didn't parry—he kicked. Soo-hyuk staggered back, shoulder throbbing from the impact.
"Fuck... Can't even kill this guy for real..."
His muttered frustration widened Jeong Yu-han's eyes.
No way.
'He knows?'
Stagger-.
Kicked flying, Soo-hyuk hastily balanced himself.
Raising his head, he eyed the dragon-headed giant he took for Jeong Yu-han.
'Annoying skill.'
That was definitely Jeong Yu-han.
No doubt, unless he was dreaming—Jeong Yu-han wouldn't suddenly turn into a dragon.
Bewitching Curse.
From the moment it hit, Soo-hyuk saw Jeong Yu-han as a 5-meter-tall giant with a dragon's head.
He'd been fighting that the whole time.
But.
'He'll probably try to capture me alive.'
That didn't mean he'd forgotten the truth.
Every sense screamed "dragon-headed giant," but it was just the skill.
The guy was unmistakably Jeong Yu-han.
'So...'
The goal was capture.
Exploit that to the max.
'No rush.'
Thump, thump-thump-.
His heart pounded. The Lightning Heart's beats quickened, boosting output.
At first, trading blows was tough.
But as time passed, clashing with the giant felt manageable.
Sizzle-.
Lightning flowed from his heart to his fingertips.
Perfect—the kick had created just the right distance.
Crackle-!
A lightning spear began forming in his hand.
Sensing danger, Jeong Yu-han charged. Before it fully formed, Soo-hyuk hurled it.
Thwack-!
Boom-!
The lightning spear streaked toward Jeong Yu-han's head.
A black curtain unfurled from Jeong Yu-han's sword tip. The spear shattered it, reaching right before his nose.
Boom-!
It exploded, sweeping the area.
Power weakened, but damage was solid. Jeong Yu-han gritted his teeth, body twisting.
'Can't win like this.'
The need to capture alive was holding him back.
No.
He knew now from fighting.
Even without that, this opponent wasn't easy.
'Have to kill him.'
Letting him escape here would be disastrous.
The guild's mission stressed secrecy above all.
Especially when force was needed.
But the plan had gone awry.
The "big rat" he'd underestimated was a ferocious beast.
'He's snapped out of it.'
Soo-hyuk sensed the shift in Jeong Yu-han's aura—his mindset had changed.
He'd hoped it'd stay capture-focused.
Now, he had to switch tactics too.
'Can I do it here...?'
Soo-hyuk's strongest card was Master of Lightning.
Activating it turned him into a spec monster.
But usable time left: barely 10 seconds.
Overtime meant deadly penalties.
'Finish in that window?'
A gamble.
Not Soo-hyuk's style. He always sought sure wins.
But no time for that now.
'Let's go.'
Sizzle-.
Just as.
Soo-hyuk was about to activate Master of Lightning.
Riiip-.
Jeong Yu-han's wide-area silence skill tore apart.
Sounds returned. Someone had entered.
Soo-hyuk and Jeong Yu-han's heads turned simultaneously.