Chapter 81
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 81
Chapter Title: Breaking Habits
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Borsippa dormitory parking lot.
On the weekend, the interior felt even more desolate than usual when a golden sports car pulled up smoothly. Lee Se-hun and Jake stepped out from inside.
"Thank you for the ride."
In response to Lee Se-hun's gratitude, Miles, who was in the driver's seat, waved it off.
"No, no. After pulling that stupid stunt, this is the least I could do. I'm really sorry about earlier."
Miles kept apologizing profusely for grabbing his shoulder earlier. Lee Se-hun shook his head in amazement at how polite he was being—enough to make him wonder if this was really the Mad Dog he knew.
"It's fine. Honestly, even I'd look suspicious in my position."
"Right? Exactly..."
"Uncle."
At Jake's low call, Miles flinched and quickly composed his loosened expression.
"Ahem. No. It was definitely my fault. If anything goes wrong with your shoulder later, tell Jake. I'll take full responsibility."
"Understood."
"Oh, right. About the inheritance ceremony earlier..."
Seeing Miles glance around cautiously, Lee Se-hun guessed the topic and spoke first.
"As for keeping it quiet, I've already talked to Aria sunbae, so no need to worry."
"Good. Well, Aria's quick at handling that sort of thing..."
Miles nodded as if convinced, then scratched his head awkwardly.
"Since it's unprecedented, the family will look into it, and depending on the situation, they might ask for your cooperation. We'll make sure to compensate you properly, so keep an open mind when that happens."
"If you give me the chance, I'll give it my all."
Miles looked pleased at Lee Se-hun's earnest reply.
"Thanks. If I had more time, we'd grab a drink, but the little bro... no, the family head is nagging me to hurry back."
Miles let out a weary sigh and extended his left hand to Lee Se-hun.
"Catch you later when you've got time."
"Yes. Looking forward to it."
A bond has been established with target 'Miles Myers'.
'Oh...'
A bond that hadn't existed before his regression. Before releasing his hand, Lee Se-hun swiftly extracted it.
Extracting bond from target 'Miles Myers'.
Bond with creator 'Lee Se-hun' is Lv. 1.
"Then I'm off. See you, Jake!"
Vroom!
Miles finished the handshake and sped away in the sports car in an instant. Jake watched him go and let out a deep sigh.
"Sorry. Got you dragged into something annoying."
"Yeah."
Even while talking to Aria, he'd thought it was just a quirky incident, but his chat with Miles had shifted his perspective a bit.
'Aria's inheritance ceremony result was a secret even within the family.'
Come to think of it, if Miles had known, he wouldn't have been so shocked.
'A secret unknown even to the family head's own brother... Feels like I've stepped into something deep.'
Put positively, it meant building deeper ties. Put negatively, it could mean his head rolling depending on the circumstances.
'The Myers family has been relatively clean so far... but I still need to stay cautious.'
No matter the group, you could never drop your guard against them as an individual. He'd learned that the hard way before his regression, which was why he hadn't cooperated with the alliance.
'To manage that... I need to sort this guy out first.'
Lee Se-hun looked at the sheepish Jake and asked calmly.
"Jake."
"Yeah? What?"
"Do you know why I smashed the Radiant Sword with a hammer?"
"That..."
Jake hesitated at the question before sighing deeply and answering.
"Because I couldn't forge the Radiant Sword properly."
"The reason?"
"My skill handling sword energy is immature. The blade cracking at the end..."
The pathetic sight of not even being able to control his own sword energy. As Jake recalled that moment and flushed with shame,
"Wrong."
Lee Se-hun shook his head firmly.
"...Wrong?"
"If it was an issue with handling sword energy, there would've been problems right from receiving Origin's sword energy. The real cause is something else."
"Real cause..."
Jake stared in bewilderment, unable to even guess. Lee Se-hun explained matter-of-factly.
"Force control."
"...Force control?"
"Right. When forming the Radiant Sword's blade, you unconsciously eased your grip, resulting in an incomplete product."
"N-No way..."
He was sure he'd gripped the hilt with full strength, but unconsciously relaxed? It was hard to accept, yet he couldn't outright deny it.
Either way, the Radiant Sword had come out incomplete, and Lee Se-hun had spotted and fixed it on the spot.
'If that's really the cause in me...'
Staring down at his hand, Jake looked up at Lee Se-hun with resolve.
"Is there a way to fix it?"
"A few."
It seemed tricky since it was unconscious, but it was ultimately a ingrained habit in his body.
A 'simple' shock could erase that habit and rebuild it, making it entirely solvable.
"Let's see. Put in a vegetative state for a week to heighten senses, sensory deprivation in a cave, reverse all mana flow temporarily..."
"W-Wait!"
Jake paled at the horrifying methods spilling from Lee Se-hun's mouth.
"Those are really possible?"
"Totally. I haven't... tried them myself, but I've seen the effects."
These were tips straight from high-rank heroes he'd dealt with before regression—risky, sure, but undeniably effective.
'And I've tried every one.'
Normally hair-raisingly dangerous, where one slip could kill, but with proper calibration, they could proceed 'relatively' safely.
Jake watched the confident Lee Se-hun and asked.
"Where'd you see them?"
"...Video site?"
"..."
"..."
Sudden awkward silence descended.
Lee Se-hun narrowed his eyes at Jake's dubious stare.
'Giving away know-how you couldn't buy for money, and he's skeptical...'
Before, he'd have just told him to figure it out himself, but given the situation, it was understandable to doubt. Deciding to show more consideration,
'With his personality, he wouldn't back out if it looked tough... It just needs to seem legit.'
As he sifted through methods in his head, a memory from the past flickered in his ear.
'If your body is fine but won't move as you think, it means you're not using it right. Don't worry. I'll drill it into you from head to toe.'
The first lesson under his master. Just recalling it made his teeth grind, but nothing fit Jake better right now.
"Then I'll teach you a technique that's useful for your current situation."
"Not from a video, right?"
"Nah, man. It's one I use all the time, so no worries."
"...Really?"
Jake's suspicion melted away, replaced by eager curiosity.
Lee Se-hun's go-to technique, the one behind all his outlandish feats—how could it not pique interest?
"But it's no easier than those methods. There'll be moments you doubt if you're doing it right. Still, can you trust me and learn?"
"...Of course."
If it meant properly wielding his sword and that blue sword energy, he could do anything.
"Teach me whatever. I'll master it."
Jake's resolute expression overlapped with Lee Se-hun's past self for a moment.
'So that's how it was...'
His master, wearing that strange smile while eyeing his determined face.
He hadn't understood the smugness back then, but now he got it.
'He was looking forward to seeing how long that resolve would last.'
What a nasty old coot. Still, Lee Se-hun decided not to begrudge his master too much.
"Good."
He was looking forward to it himself.
Martial Combat Department corridor.
Ma Gwang-su, returning from the principal's office after ages, chugged the large vodka bottle in his hand while letting out a satisfied belch.
"Huuu..."
The lingering taste of alcohol and mana in his mouth. Grimacing at the rising buzz, he muttered.
"Ludwig, you son of a bitch..."
A curse that would make anyone at Babel break into cold sweats if overheard. But Ma Gwang-su yelled it down the corridor as if daring someone to hear.
"Friends could just let it slide... Stingy bastard with all that money...!"
For days, he'd racked his brain to make Lee Se-hun his disciple, ultimately seeking help from his old friend and boss, Ludwig.
He could've used promised support for negotiations or leveraged the principal position to force him under his wing.
'But would he learn properly that way? Go convince him.'
Against expectations, Ludwig had smiled and shot it down flat, leaving him to return empty-handed full of regrets.
'The guy who used to push me to teach Thousand Insect Sword to total nobodies... Now he freaks if I want to teach.'
Maybe he shouldn't have let slip that Lee had picked up Thousand Insect Sword by eye.
Recalling Ludwig's sleazy face, Ma Gwang-su inwardly cursed up a storm and took another swig of vodka.
"Huu... What the hell am I supposed to use to convince him..."
Materials he could get without going through him, and no way to lure a Thousand Insect Sword refuser with other techniques.
Tempted to threaten a failing grade, but knowing the kid, he'd storm out before bowing his head.
'Only thing that might hook him... Night Heaven, maybe.'
Ma Gwang-su seriously pondered his beloved sword 'Night Heaven'.
A legendary armament famous worldwide, one every artisan dreamed of examining at least once.
Irresistible to any blacksmith, yet it worried him too.
'Anyone else, fine, but that kid might squeeze even more Thousand Insect secrets just from looking.'
Night Heaven was a sword, but also like a manual for Thousand Insect Sword.
Not something you'd grasp easily from a glance, but with a guy who'd eye-copied Thousand Insect Sword...
After agonizing awhile, Ma Gwang-su reflected on his own attitude and scowled.
"No. Why am I debasing myself this much?"
Talent or not, was there reason to bare his trade secrets and beg him to learn Thousand Insect Sword?
Realizing he'd gone too low, Ma Gwang-su steeled himself.
'Can't learn this? His loss, not mine.'
How many had begged to learn Thousand Insect Sword? Seeing Lee act oblivious to its worth, Ma Gwang-su smirked.
'He doesn't realize the fortune he's kicking away yet—that's why the nonsense. Teach a few applications, and he'll beg on his own... Damn it.'
Pathetic, him scheming ways to lure Lee Se-hun. Ma Gwang-su sighed.
"This damn booze is the problem..."
Sober, he wouldn't spout such drivel.
Feeling skeptical of alcohol yet pulling out a fresh vodka as he entered the classroom—
"—Give it!"
A faint voice from the training ground.
Ma Gwang-su's eyes sharpened at the earnest scream, his body kicking open the training ground door and charging in.
Boom!
The door flew open with a thunderous crash.
Ma Gwang-su assumed a hand-blade stance and swiftly scanned the training ground whence the voice came.
"You're gonna die! Die!!"
Jake, upper body drenched in blood, holding a handstand.
"Keep that up and you will die! Draw the blood in now! Do it again and I'll smash this thing and never forge it again?!"
Lee Se-hun, poised as if ready to pulverize the blue cross with a hammer, issued his threat.
Ma Gwang-su blankly stared at the bizarre scene.
'...Gotta cut back on the booze.'
Fearful of the hallucinations it caused, he stowed the vodka in his subspace pocket.
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