Chapter 64
Chapter 64
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 64
Chapter Title: Those Who Intertwine (4)
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*Swoosh!*
The path traced by the sword turned black.
Like ink spreading on drawing paper, the jet-black color slowly expanded.
As I closed the distance with each passing moment, a deep tension filled Hwang Chan-jin's gaze.
Snow Moon Flower was akin to a sword dance.
It was a skill where you continuously swung your sword to attack for its duration.
Since it involved repeating a set of actions, it wasn't difficult to counter if you knew the pattern of that 'repeated action'.
That brief moment between one move and the next.
There were times when that specific moment was longer than others.
To counter Snow Moon Flower head-on, that was the moment to aim for.
'Now.'
The moment I saw the movement just before that instant, I swung my sword without hesitation.
"......!?"
A flustered Hwang Chan-jin hurriedly transitioned to the next move.
The recoil from forcing the quick transition threw his posture off balance.
The ice fragments from Snow Moon Flower were neither strong nor sharp.
The darkness I'd gathered coiled like a viper and struck that opening.
For several seconds, our movements froze, long enough for me to clearly see the cold sweat trickling down Hwang Chan-jin's jawline as he tried to block my assault from his awkward stance. But it was Hwang Chan-jin who was gradually being pushed back.
This wasn't a battle of strength or agility.
Since we'd clashed using our enhanced abilities, the one with superior mana would win.
"Kuh...!"
In the end, perhaps judging that a power struggle was hopeless, Hwang Chan-jin changed his strategy.
*Kwoooosh!*
Just as I noticed the number of Snow Moon Flower's petals decreasing, some of them spread across the floor, reaching for my legs.
They lay flat for now, but they were in a formation that could rise and pierce an enemy at any moment.
Was he trying to take me down with him?
Hwang Chan-jin's cold, hardened gaze pricked my skin.
Hwang Chan-jin was telling me to choose.
Whether we both self-destruct and perish, or I back off a little and we fight again.
The latter just meant we'd go back to trading blows. Dragging it out would put me at a disadvantage.
But the former was a completely different story.
It could lead to death or a serious injury, which would cause severe problems for my progress later on.
It basically meant I wouldn't be able to clear this game.
A dry laugh escaped me.
I just couldn't understand why he would go this far.
If that's how he wanted to play, I'd have to respond in kind.
"Don't try any tricks. I'm not stopping."
"Kim Se-hyeon...!!"
As long as I didn't die, I had ways to recover.
It would be a painful expense to use them here, but if I had to, I would.
*Fwoosh!*
The moment I was about to create a sword in my other hand, a stream of fire pierced through the petals of ice.
The impact sent not only me but also Hwang Chan-jin flying back, leaving us both with bewildered expressions.
A flame so compressed and refined it seemed to draw a line in the air.
There was only one person who could use an ability like this.
"Are you okay?"
"...Han Hyeok-jun?"
What was he doing here?
That thought was clearly reflected in my voice.
Han Hyeok-jun chuckled and walked up beside me.
"Looks like you're still in one piece."
He briefly checked my condition, then turned his head toward Hwang Chan-jin.
Hwang Chan-jin, too, was looking at Han Hyeok-jun with a complicated expression.
"Han Hyeok-jun..."
"What? You know me too?"
Hwang Chan-jin slowly nodded.
At that, Han Hyeok-jun let out a dry laugh.
"So many people know me when I've never even seen them before. I don't know when I became such a celebrity."
Han Hyeok-jun's muttering left both me and Hwang Chan-jin speechless.
"That aside. You picked a fight with the wrong person."
"Han Hyeok-jun. I have no intention of fighting you."
"You might not, but I do. Did you think you could mess with my friend and get away with it?"
"...Friend?"
Hwang Chan-jin glared at me fiercely.
It was as if he was asking how I'd managed it.
He seemed to find it hard to believe I'd already formed such a relationship with Han Hyeok-jun at this stage.
I shrugged.
Becoming friends this early was basically a successful gamble, so there wasn't much I could say.
"An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth."
Han Hyeok-jun drew his sword.
A scorching, suffocating heat, different from Hwang Chan-jin's cold, biting chill.
Unlike Hwang Chan-jin, whose expression stiffened, I was cheering inwardly.
Hwang Chan-jin must know it too.
Nothing good would come from being on bad terms with Han Hyeok-jun.
But Hwang Chan-jin had messed with me, Han Hyeok-jun's friend.
And Han Hyeok-jun had seen it.
A feeling of dislike for Hwang Chan-jin was already budding in Han Hyeok-jun's heart.
Trying to fight me more in this situation?
That was absurd. It was the same as giving up on progressing through the story.
[The duration of the item 'Showdown' has ended.]
[The 'Conqueror' trait has been reactivated.]
Particles of light gathered from all directions, forming a crown.
Even Hwang Chan-jin's trump card was gone.
*What are you going to do?*
From behind Han Hyeok-jun, I sent Hwang Chan-jin such a look.
He was biting his lip, contemplating, but I knew it wouldn't last long.
Hwang Chan-jin wasn't that stupid. A psycho, maybe, but not stupid.
"I..."
"Just how far did you run? It was hard to find you... huh?"
In a tense situation where a fight could break out at any moment, a new person appeared.
It was none other than Jun Bo-ra.
Jun Bo-ra saw Hwang Chan-jin facing off against me and Han Hyeok-jun, her eyes went wide, and she pointed a finger, stammering.
"You, you... What are you doing here?"
"......"
"What is this? Why are you acting against our original agreement!?"
"Because you're an imposter of the Strategy King. There's no way I'd fully trust or follow an imposter's words. I judged that I had more to gain this way. That's all."
"I'm not an imposter! I'm the Strategy King!"
"Only those around you fall for such lies. I don't believe you."
...An imposter of the Strategy King?
I narrowed my eyes and watched the two of them bicker.
Hwang Chan-jin was convinced that Jun Bo-ra wasn't the real Strategy King.
Why?
As I watched in silence, Han Hyeok-jun, showing his displeasure, cut into the conversation.
"Strategy King imposter or whatever. I don't know what you're talking about, but she is also my partner. Would you mind stopping with the rude remarks?"
What a mess.
The moment Han Hyeok-jun said that, I was certain.
This was a twisted and tangled relationship.
As if his head was throbbing, Hwang Chan-jin lowered his sword and rubbed his forehead with his other hand.
"This liar is your partner?"
"Yes."
I'd wondered before if someone had already resolved Han Hyeok-jun's issue.
So it was Jun Bo-ra.
It was an answer that came easily with a little thought.
The incident that needed to be resolved to help Han Hyeok-jun took place in the east, and if Jun Bo-ra started there, she would naturally have tried to solve it first.
"By the way, Han Hyeok-jun. Why are you here?"
"Me? I came to help my friend, Kim Se-hyeon."
"What? Friend!? Why!?"
"I don't see why that's so questionable. What's your relationship with Kim Se-hyeon?"
"No, I'm not really..."
The gazes of the four of us intertwined.
Each of us only knew a part of the others, while hiding a great deal.
But I could be certain of one thing.
The best course of action for those gathered here now was to cooperate.
The other three probably felt the same way.
"Hwang Chan-jin."
"...What is it?"
"Do you still want to fight?"
"No, I don't. The next chapter is about to start anyway."
Hwang Chan-jin shook his head and sheathed his sword.
Han Hyeok-jun also relaxed and lowered his sword.
The hostility hadn't completely vanished, but it was clear they had no will to fight right now.
I immediately asked the question I was curious about.
"I just want to ask one thing."
Without a reply, only a look asking 'what is it?' came back.
He seemed reluctant to talk to me, but I ignored it and continued my question.
"That 'Showdown' item. Did you get it from the start with this purpose in mind?"
"...There were two plans. This was one of them."
It was a blunt answer, but it was enough.
As I thought, Hwang Chan-jin was certain I would become the Conqueror.
It wouldn't have been hard to predict.
After all, I was replicating the Strategy King's playthrough almost perfectly.
Since I am the Strategy King himself, it was only natural, in a way.
To be precise, you could say I was playing even more befitting of the name 'Strategy King' than in my original run.
"The other was a plan in case you, Kim Se-hyeon, couldn't defeat the other Rulers. In the end, you did well as expected, so there was no need to use it."
"So you intended to use 'Showdown' to defeat the Rulers and become the Conqueror."
"Right? To be exact, as a diversion. I would move to hit the other, practically empty places, while Hwang Chan-jin would buy some time, gather rebels in the north for guerrilla warfare, and then after I arrived in the north, we'd wipe them out. Perfect, right?"
I recalled that Jun Bo-ra's main ability was teleportation.
A strategy only possible because of teleportation.
Was the reason she got teleportation for that purpose from the beginning?
Or she might have come up with the strategy because she got teleportation, but either way, it was a pretty plausible strategy, so I nodded.
"I get the gist of it. But it seems like it would've been tough for him alone to handle the other Rulers who were receiving the Ruler buff, right? Even with guerrilla tactics, and that 'Showdown' thing? From what I hear, it seems to temporarily nullify the Ruler effect, but even using it, a 1-on-3 fight would be..."
Han Hyeok-jun, who had been listening quietly, cautiously interjected.
Hwang Chan-jin kept his mouth firmly shut, and once again, Jun Bo-ra explained.
"If I conquered all the other places, the Rulers would get anxious. Plus, since they'd only have one-third of the territory left, the effect of their Ruler trait would be weaker, making guerrilla tactics viable. We'd planned to use 'Showdown' after I joined up, so a 2-on-3 would be more than manageable."
"I see."
Han Hyeok-jun was an important character in the story.
However, he was barely involved in the early story.
His whereabouts were unknown during the Ruler arc, and it was only during the 'Disaster' arc that he temporarily joined your party when certain conditions were met.
His true importance only became apparent much later, so it couldn't be helped.
Recalling that, his appearance here at such a perfect time was so strange that I couldn't help but let out a disbelieving laugh.
"Why are you laughing all of a sudden?"
"It's nothing."
Anyway, becoming friends with Han Hyeok-jun so quickly was a good decision.
From now on, whenever I needed his strength, I'd be able to ask for his help easily.
Of course, I'd end up helping Han Hyeok-jun a lot too, but that was fine.
There would be plenty of side benefits for me in the process.
"I came because it seemed like an unusual fight was happening, and I was right."
Just as the situation was mostly settled, a familiar voice was heard.
Kim Ji-hyeon, who had left saying she had something to investigate.
It wasn't just her.
Beside her was Lee Seon-yul, from whom I'd been separated for quite a while.
"It's been a while, Se-hyeon-nim."
Lee Seon-yul greeted me with a happy smile and a nod.
Kim Ji-hyeon focused more on Hwang Chan-jin than me, narrowing her brow.
"Hwang Chan-jin. I told you to deliver information, not to fight Kim Se-hyeon."
"......"
He shut his mouth and quietly sheathed his sword.
The fact that he was taking orders from Kim Ji-hyeon... Don't tell me he joined the Jamryong Guild.
He probably encountered Kim Ji-hyeon, who left here while on a solo route.
A surprising choice. There shouldn't have been any reason for him to make such a choice.
Seeing Jun Bo-ra's eyes widen, it seemed he did this on his own without telling her.
It looked like Jun Bo-ra thought they had a real cooperative relationship, but Hwang Chan-jin apparently didn't.
"It seems all the key players are gathered, so I'll get straight to the point."
Kim Ji-hyeon's words broke me out of my thoughts.
At her voice, which sounded as if it were sunk in deep sorrow, everyone present focused all their attention on her words.
"An unusual gate has been discovered."