Why Are These Damn Kids So Weak? (2)
Seriously, Kim Hyeon-oh thought his life was total shit.
This wasn't just whining—objectively speaking, his life had been a nonstop gauntlet of hardship.
No flowery bullshit: he'd suffered every goddamn trial life threw at him and now he was about to die like a dog.
"Ahh, that was a good fight."
"Shove your 'good fight' up your ass, you bastard!"
Crack!
He smashed his foot into the face of Barche, the Tower Lord of the Tower of Destruction, who was trying to wrap up the utterly one-sided beatdown with some cool parting words—like there was anything left to wrap up. Kim Hyeon-oh plopped down with an irritated scowl.
And with that, the system window popped up.
You have defeated the Tower Lord of the Tower of Destruction, 'Barche'.
The world's destruction, accelerated by the Tower of Destruction, has halted!
Rumble rumble rumble—!
The moment the window appeared, the Tower of Destruction began collapsing in an instant.
But Kim Hyeon-oh still didn't budge, sitting in front of Barche's headless corpse.
Or more precisely, he couldn't move.
"Hah."
A massive hole gaped through his solar plexus.
A gaping wound no mortal could possibly fill.
Any normal person would've died on the spot from shock the instant it happened. Escaping the Tower of Destruction in that state was damn near impossible.
And even if he made it out, survival odds were slim to none.
"Hah... And just when I thought I'd finally get to live the sweet life."
Kim Hyeon-oh felt genuinely wronged.
He'd slaved away his whole life, from childhood hardships to monster-slaying gigs just to scrape by as an adult.
Finally, he'd saved up cash, earned some fame, secured retirement funds—set up for a comfy life. Then boom, the goddamn Tower of Destruction wrecked it all.
Rumble rumble rumble—!
'You fucking prick...!'
Feeling the tower crumble faster by the second, he glared at Barche, the root of all this bullshit.
But knowing the so-called Destruction King was already dead from his kick, he averted his gaze.
"Hah, what a shitty life."
Watching the tower fully disintegrate—not just crumbling but shattering—he suddenly thought of his disciples.
The ones he'd meticulously trained stitch by stitch, the ones he trusted to fund his retirement.
'...Should've brought 'em to the top floor after all.'
He recalled sending them back from a lower floor for safety, but shook his head.
Shitty or not, Barche had been freakishly overpowered. His disciples would've just died pointless deaths.
So, shoving aside the weird regret, he closed his eyes as the tower exploded into rubble.
Yeah. That was the end.
Kim Hyeon-oh's life—known to the world as the Sword God—ended there.
Or so he thought.
But.
"......"
Kim Hyeon-oh reincarnated.
Into the body of a 17-year-old punk named Kim Joo-hyuk.
'Well... honestly.'
Up to here? Fine.
Even reincarnating exactly 300 years after his death was confusing but understandable.
After all, with 300 years passed, the everyday knowledge lingering in this body let him research and adapt. The world wasn't that harsh.
Monsters existed, and hunters—no, now called Contractors—hunted them.
Yeah, that was plenty for Kim Hyeon-oh.
This body was pathetically weak, sure, but his reincarnated brain held all the knowledge that earned him cringey titles like Sword God or Tyrant King.
In short, he welcomed reincarnation.
Adapt, and he could live the "sweet-sucking-honey life" he craved.
Except—
In 5 years, the Tower of Destruction will appear! Prepare accordingly!
"Fuck."
—That translucent window floating before his eyes was enough to make him curse.
'Does this bastard have a personal grudge or what?'
Kim Joo-hyuk had reincarnated after 300 years.
300 goddamn years!
And just when he'd lucked out with his memories intact, ready to finally live sweet... the Tower of Destruction pops up right on schedule with his rebirth?
'What kinda bullshit is this...'
Kim Hyeon-oh—no, Kim Joo-hyuk—genuinely regretted not stomping Barche's entire body into paste before dying.
'Shit, should've dunked him in the lava on floor 4.'
Too late now.
He was already in Kim Joo-hyuk's body.
The system warned of the Tower in 5 years.
So, one thing to do.
'Stop the Tower.'
Not out of humanity, honor, or side benefits.
Just one reason.
'Trying to ruin my life again? Not this time.'
Kim Joo-hyuk wanted the sweet life.
And for that, the world couldn't end.
No apocalypse, no "do-nothing lazy paradise."
So, stop it.
'Anyway, next time I see it, I'll quarter the limbs Exodia-style so it never respawns.'
With that resolve, he pondered his next move.
'First, enroll in Valhalla.'
Priority one: Get into Valhalla.
Not blindly—he'd spent days researching basics.
Valhalla: the world's top Contractor training academy.
Nothing special there for him; zilch to learn.
But he had a reason.
Find the Divine Weapon and Memories.
Valhalla Constellation Room, Basement Level 3, Fifth Room on the Right.
📍 [■■■ ■■■■■ ■■■■■ ■■ ■]
📍 [■■■■■■ ■■■ ■■■■■ ■■ ■■■]
'Divine Weapon and memories, huh...'
He could guess Divine Weapon, but "memories"? No clue.
Still, instinct screamed it tied to his reincarnation.
'Well, aside from that, there's something else...'
After double-checking maps, he knew Valhalla's vast grounds held something for him.
'Dunno if it's still there, but I'll check after enrolling.'
Smirking at the thought—
"Day 4 TOP 10 Selection Matches begin! Contestants, please head to the arena!"
—he stood as the announcer's voice boomed.
####
Valhalla's entrance ranking battles on Day 4 were a big deal in the Contractor world.
TOP 10 picks often produced scoutable freshmen—excluding the Five Great Families' heirs with preset paths.
Plus, those heirs drew media buzz and public crowds.
Naturally, TOP 10 became massive events.
But Lee Sang-cheol had never seen this many people for one.
'Insane turnout.'
Two hot issues this year.
First: All Five Great Families' heirs in the freshmen class.
Rare for them to align ages and enroll together.
Second: The freshman now atop the sole remaining central arena.
Opposite him stood Oh Se-hyeok, Oseon Family heir.
But the buzz was the "freshman"—not Oh Se-hyeok, but unremarkable Kim Joo-hyuk facing him.
[30]
Lee Sang-cheol eyed the arena, all eyes on it, with under 30 seconds left.
***
Oh Se-hyeok, Oseon Family firstborn, had been called a genius since childhood.
Some dismissed it as family hype, but no—it was real.
He sucked at academics, strategy, even the family's famed fist arts (merely above average for his age).
So what made him a genius?
His body.
Yeah, his physique.
Pure, innate—no effort required.
His body was beyond "talent"—insanely overpowered.
He pulled off mana-requiring feats barehanded, got jacked with minimal training.
Like some game character.
That absurd body made him arrogant, lax on training—no one called him out.
Oseon heir + legit freak = untouchable.
So he smirked at his first "victim" for his flashy career.
A bland freshman.
But word was, this guy KO'd Yoo So-yeon Day 1 and one-shot everyone since—huge buzz.
Oh Se-hyeok wasn't scared.
Hell, he loved it.
Crushing a hype machine? Perfect launchpad.
"Gonna obliterate you."
Kim Joo-hyuk, who'd been staring, gave a weird look.
"Obliterate? What's that?"
"......"
Oh Se-hyeok looked dumbfounded, then smirked.
[5]
"Means I'll smash you gruesomely."
[4]
"Ah~ Like slang, huh?"
[3]
"Yeah."
[2]
"Then I'm 'shutthefuckup'."
[1]
"What?"
[Match Begins.]
"Shut the fuck up, retard."
Kim Joo-hyuk smirked, flipping him off with his gauntlet-clad middle finger.