All-Master (5)

Where is he?

Ever since the lecture began, Park Sung-chan had been hunting for Lee Tae-hyun without giving a second thought to the first-come-first-served rule of the exercise.

The headmaster's carefully designed one-on-one duel environment hadn't materialized, which was annoying — but then again, method didn't matter as long as he could break the man in two.

Besides, no matter how the fight played out, his victory was a foregone conclusion. The headmaster had told him not to do too much damage, but surely one eye would be acceptable. That much would be fair payment for the aggravation Tae-hyun had caused him over the past few days.

Park Sung-chan scoured the forest, packed with its variety of simulated environments, searching for a target. All he could find were students half-buried in swamps, scorched earth, and snow —

"It... it was Lee Tae-hyun! He came out of nowhere and swept the whole place clean...!"

Nothing but the wreckage of ground Lee Tae-hyun had already passed through.

"……."

Just as the fury was beginning to boil over, a voice cut in.

"There you are."

Someone had appeared in front of Park Sung-chan. Unfortunately, it wasn't Lee Tae-hyun — just a far more ordinary, fresh-faced young man.

"Who are you supposed to be?"

"Figures you wouldn't remember."

Shin Min-woo. He planted himself squarely in Park Sung-chan's path.

"Sorry, but I don't usually go around memorizing everyone's faces."

They all looked the same to him anyway. Nobody memorized the faces and names of a few thousand ants, did they?

"Anyway, could you move? I'm really not in the mood to deal with bugs like you right now..."

"No. I won't move."

"...What did you say?"

A vein bulged on Park Sung-chan's forehead. It felt like a worm he'd magnanimously released sinking its teeth into his finger.

"I'm not moving until you answer me."

But Shin Min-woo stood his ground and pressed on.

"Do you remember the name Shin Yeon-hee?"

"...?"

"Don't you dare tell me you don't."

A question mark spread across Park Sung-chan's face. No matter how hard he searched his memory, not a single trace of that name remained.

"Kgh...!"

The moment it became clear the man genuinely didn't know, Shin Min-woo's face twisted with rage.

"You really don't?! The name of the girl you turned into a paraplegic last year?!"

Shin Yeon-hee. A student of the Korean Hunter Academy's A-Class — and Shin Min-woo's older sister.

"Your blade caught her in the back and shattered her spine! You swung that sword after she was already subdued — just because you wanted to hear her scream!"

Bloodshot veins crawled across Shin Min-woo's eyes. A torrent of rage surged up from somewhere deep inside him.

The day the siblings had awakened together, he could still see his sister leaping for joy. Awakened, and not just that — A-rank! And I'm only B-rank!

She had always been frail, so the physical recovery that came with awakening had felt like a miracle. She had longed her whole life to be strong like the hunters she admired, and after awakening, she was drunk on the knowledge that she could finally become one of them.

Min-woo, your big sister is happiest right now, you know that?

She had lost their parents early and raised him in their place, sacrificing everything, body and wallet alike. Just being able to watch her happiness from beside her had been enough for Shin Min-woo.

Until that day.

Gyaaaaaagh...! Agh, hnngh...!

Until the blade tore her legs apart completely.

I'm sorry, but this is as far as she'll go.

Shin Yeon-hee had been sacrificed to the S-Class's "hunt." Before any proper rules had been established between the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠classes, in the days when those hunts were still crude and lawless, she had lost the use of her lower body.

I'm... fine, Min-woo. Really. So don't you dare go after revenge for my sake. Understood?

And naturally, they — no, Park Sung-chan — went unpunished. Even as he crippled student after student under the tidy excuse of "accidents."

The world worshipped him. Media outlets scrambled to bury his atrocities and spotlight only his brilliance, while the pebbles crushed beneath his feet went entirely unnoticed.

My sister had real talent.

Unlike his own talentless self, Shin Yeon-hee had possessed an unmistakable strength — position-finding built on fast legs, precise and devastating archery. If she'd been allowed to nurture that gift, she could have joined the guild she'd dreamed of all her life and lived as a true hunter.

Had the man standing before him not stolen every last bit of it away.

"That day, you killed the both of us."

"Agh, you're so loud. Seriously."

Park Sung-chan scowled as if he could barely stand to listen.

"So what do you want me to do about it?"

"What... do I want...?"

"All you lost was one worthless A-rank or B-rank nobody's career, and you're carrying on like this. Did you actually expect me to apologize?"

Human beings kill countless lives without ever thinking about it. They trample grass and crush the insects underfoot. And yet they never feel sorry for it, never apologize for a single one. The reason is obvious — that is how they were made. Born as a species that reigns above all other things, dominates, and exploits. A species engineered so that the smallest motion snuffs out the insignificant.

This was no different.

"I don't even remember a woman by that name."

Myself. Park Sung-chan had been made and designed that way.

S-rank. Sword Star. The hunter destined to fell Gwon-wang and claim the number one ranking. And that was precisely why he ruled.

"Why should I have to remember the names of vermin?"

"So that's... how it is... then..."

Shin Min-woo hung his head, jaw clenched so tight it creaked.

Honestly, he had been prepared to forgive. His sister hadn't wanted revenge, after all. And Shin Min-woo wasn't the kind of person who hurt others lightly. If only — in that one moment, when he had spoken her name — the man had apologized with even a shred of sincerity, he had planned to abandon his revenge entirely.

"I'm done waiting. I've endured as long as I can."

"What are you even saying? Get out of my way before I get bored..."

"You're going to feel that pain yourself. I'm going to make you experience it exactly as she did."

Clack!

Shin Min-woo slid the gauntlets he'd prepared onto both hands.

"For my sister!"

The instant the declaration left his lips, a swarm of thin, thread-like shapes came ripping toward where Park Sung-chan stood.

Shshshshk!

He barely dodged, and the ground and trees where he'd been standing a heartbeat earlier were shredded into splinters.

"What was that?"

Without answering, Shin Min-woo swept his arm through the empty air.

Shshk!

Again. Razor-thin threads like spider silk wove together and came hunting for him.

"...Interesting."

This wasn't the same tiresome ambush on repeat — it was an attack pattern he had never once seen before.

Swish!

Park Sung-chan drew his sword and cleaved through all of it in a single stroke. Only then did he realize what he was looking at.

"Threads?"

A barrage of hair-thin, razor-sharp strands — one of the skills Lee Tae-hyun had gifted to Shin Min-woo.

A skill that allowed its user to draw out and manipulate threads woven from pure mana. Depending on the wielder's choices, it could serve an endless variety of purposes — one of the most versatile skill types in existence.

A moment ago, Shin Min-woo had drawn the threads thin and sharp to use them as weapons. But drawn thick and dense instead —

Fwooom!

— they could be used to move.

Winding his threads of mana around a tree branch, Shin Min-woo launched himself upward in a single bound.

"You don't actually think you can beat me with that, do you?"

Park Sung-chan wreathed his blade in mana. The edge glowed burning yellow, and brilliant starlight spread outward from his body in a wide halo.

The blade, charged with monstrous power, came sweeping down. The ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠sword strike split the air and shot straight toward Shin Min-woo.

"Hoo..."

Letting out a short breath, Shin Min-woo drew threads from both hands and bounded nimbly through the forest, deftly evading every attack that came his way.

"Crawling around like a proper little bug, aren't you!"

Sneering, Park Sung-chan hurled sword strikes wildly in every direction.

"You think running away is going to win you this fight?"

"No. I can't beat you with this."

Starlight Sword was overwhelming. It carried no special effects for an S-rank skill — in exchange, it boasted absurd, absolute raw power. Taking even one of those strikes would mean a devastating injury.

"Which means... I have to throw everything I've got at you!"

Bang!

After darting here and there across the field, Shin Min-woo crossed his arms and —

criiiiing...

— yanked the threads he had prepared taut.

Dozens of tree trunks were severed at ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the base all at once, losing their balance and plunging downward.

"Oh no...!"

Every last one of them — directly toward Park Sung-chan.

"You think a few pathetic trees can—!"

The starlit blade flashed, and the falling timber was cleared away in the blink of an eye. The wreckage crashed to the ground, kicking up clouds of dirt and a shuddering tremor.

Where is he?!

Park Sung-chan swept the dust aside with his hand and scanned his surroundings. The little rat was surely off somewhere weaving another thread-based trick. The moment he found him, he intended to close the distance and put him down for good.

"Where are you hiding—!"

In that instant, he felt pressure at his back.

Shin Min-woo was standing atop his own shadow.

A skill that shifted the user behind an opponent's back in an instant.

Blinding me with obstacles, then closing in from behind! It was the very foundation of tactical combat — and yet.

You stupid little brat!

Closing the distance had only ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠worked against Shin Min-woo. The boy fought with threads in a tactical, caster-style approach — and now he was attempting close combat against a warrior-type like himself?

"A bug really is just a bug!"

The moment Park Sung-chan brought his sword down to crush him —

"I never once said I was a mage."

It entered his field of vision. Shin Min-woo's fist, blazing with golden light.

An unmistakably warrior-type skill, unleashed from the hand of a "mage"-type hunter.

"HRAAAAAAH!"

BOOOM!

Heaven-Sundering Fist slammed squarely into Park Sung-chan's side.

"GRUOOOOGH!"

Park Sung-chan was hurled back several meters and hammered into the ground. Shin Min-woo's fist trembled violently.

"Hkk...! Just like Hyung said, S-rank skills really do have one hell of a kickback...!"

That single blow had drained a good eighty percent of his mana.

So that's why he wouldn't let me learn any magic-based S-rank skills. If even a body-reliant warrior skill left him like this, a pure mana-based S-rank skill would have dropped him cold the moment he cast it.

"Hyung really is something else..."

Their connection barely spanned a single week — but even that was more than enough to glimpse a part of who Lee Tae-hyun was.

He knew the man's reputation had been terrible in the past. But watching his recent trajectory, Shin Min-woo had found himself drawn to him. An F-rank who proved himself to the whole world anyway. Looking at him, Shin Min-woo had started to believe that maybe, just maybe, he too could rise above the S-ranks someday.

And after meeting him in person, he had changed.

Only days ago, Park Sung-chan had cornered him and nearly blown his eyeball apart. Now he had knocked the man flat on his back.

Just trust Hyung. Got it?

It was all thanks to Lee Tae-hyun. A debt like this could never be repaid in a lifetime, not even if he tried —

CRUNCH!

"GUAAAAAH!"

A sword strike came flying out of nowhere. Shin Min-woo collapsed where he stood, his shoulder carved deep.

"Khohhk... holy shit, that scared the hell out of me..."

Lurching toward him head-on was Park Sung-chan, vomiting blood.

He took an S-rank skill dead-on and didn't even pass out?!

And that spot — it was one of the vital points Lee Tae-hyun had taught him. When you punch a man, aim for the liver, kid. That's how you put him down in one hit.

The liver. Even Park Sung-chan shouldn't have been able to stay conscious through that kind of pain.

"Hkk... how the hell...?"

Even as Shin Min-woo gaped inwardly in disbelief, Park Sung-chan clutched his side, grimacing in agony — and yet the corners of his mouth curled up in a vicious smirk.

"Hurts like a bitch... you vermin piece of shit."

One of the skills Park Sung-chan had been born with.

"What... are you...? You're not a mage... not a warrior either..."

"……."

"Whatever... doesn't matter..."

Because either way —

"You're about to die, so what's the point."

A worm that gnaws human flesh must never be left alive. It has to be exterminated. Burned to ash. No matter what tiresome consequences came crawling after, this creature's roots had to be severed here and now.

"Die!"

Park Sung-chan's sword came crashing down, aimed straight for the crown of Shin Min-woo's skull.