Chapter 95: How to Win a Heart
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 95: How to Win a Heart
"So, the essence of this move really is vibration?"
In the middle of the wreckage-strewn corridor, Muen sat atop a piece of debris that had fallen from a shattered wall, observing the movements of his own palm.
His five fingers curled and extended, mimicking various forms of beast claws. Though the forms changed constantly, the principle remained the same: as his palm swept through the air, the surrounding atmosphere hummed with a faint, trembling resonance.
Thunder Roar LV2!
Looking at the entry in the Black Book, Muen couldn't help but break into a grin.
After being brutalized hundreds of times by Eluka’s husband—that powerful adventurer—he had finally reached the entry level for this technique.
Compared to Shadow Step, which could only be used for displacement, or the Dagger Combat Technique, which was more of a skill than a true martial art, this move was clearly more versatile.
It could be considered the first offensive martial technique Muen had truly mastered.
Furthermore, it possessed such impressive power at only LV2; Muen hardly dared to imagine how terrifying it would become once its proficiency reached higher levels.
Of course, because of this, the difficulty of learning this move was several tiers higher than Shadow Step.
"But now that I've reached the entry level, further progress will be much easier."
When learning martial arts through life-and-death combat without a teacher's guidance, the hardest part was always the beginning.
However, once the threshold was crossed, high-intensity training made subsequent improvements much more straightforward.
Take his Dagger Combat Technique, for instance, which had already reached LV8.
In terms of pure dagger-handling skill, Muen felt he was no longer inferior to that maid assassin from before.
Of course, he still had no hope of winning a duel against her within the Black Book, as the gap in realm and overall physical attributes remained a chasm he could not yet leap.
"Still need to keep working hard."
Muen withdrew his gaze and looked to his side.
Ryan lay on the ground, covered in blood. His body trembled slightly as low, guttural moans escaped his throat.
Ryan opened his eyes, his gaze filled with confusion.
"Are you awake, Ryan?"
"I... what happened..."
Feeling the agonizing pain tearing at his sanity, Ryan painstakingly turned his head to look at his own body.
His right hand was pinned to the floor by a common fruit knife, the blade driven through his palm all the way to the hilt. His other limbs were twisted at various grotesque angles. Ryan tried to move, but found that other than the pain searing his nerves, his body gave no response.
"Sorry. You were a bit too scary just now, so I temporarily deprived you of your mobility," Muen said softly. "Do you remember what happened?"
"I..."
Ryan’s expression was vacant. His lips, cracked from blood loss, quivered.
Of course he remembered what had happened.
He had invited wolves into the house, leading a group of evil cultists into the dormitory to find Muen.
He had fought Muen Campbell and been beaten into this state.
And...
Before that, he had been constantly stealing other boys' underwear from their dorms, hoarding them like precious treasures, even going so far as to put over a dozen locks on a plain wardrobe.
But the problem was...
Why did he do that?
Why did he want to hurt his classmates?
Why did he become one of those evil cultists?
And...
Why did he do something so perverted?
He had always yearned for a pretty girl to be his girlfriend.
He wasn't gay!
"It seems you've finally come to your senses."
Muen stared into Ryan's eyes. Seeing that the previous murderous rage and distorted fury had vanished, he let out a long sigh of relief.
"But I'm sorry, I can't set you free just yet. I can't be sure if the Evil God's influence is still lingering."
"I'm sorry... Muen..."
As the weight of his actions sank in, Ryan began to tremble and sob.
Infinite regret flooded his heart. Though he didn't understand why he had done those things, he knew they were wrong.
"It's fine. I don't mind."
Muen smiled. His handsome, perfectly proportioned face seemed to shimmer in the light shining in from outside.
"Do you remember when you started becoming like this?"
"When?"
Ryan fell into thought.
"Probably... before the start of the semester... I was wandering the streets when I saw someone handing out flyers... The flyer said they could make you popular, that they could help you find your true love... So... I went. I don't remember exactly where it was. After I arrived, there was that High Priest. He said something to me... and then... then I felt like... since I couldn't find a girlfriend anyway... maybe liking men... wasn't so bad? By the time I snapped out of it, I was already back at the Academy. Usually, I didn't feel like anything was wrong. I thought it was just a weird dream, but every night, I couldn't control myself. I just had to do those things... And before... when those people appeared in front of me, I was in a daze... it was like... I wasn't myself anymore. Even when I fought you... the rage in my chest felt like it was going to explode, as if the things you said to me... were defiling my love."
"As I thought."
Muen sighed upon hearing this, but he couldn't help but offer a relieved smile.
"The silver lining in all this is that you were merely being controlled. You weren't truly corrupted by the Evil God—or rather, the corruption wasn't deep."
Take Eluka or the High Priest, for example. A prominent feature of those corrupted by the Love God was that when they lost control of their emotions or were driven into a corner, they would transform into those disgusting, hideous monsters.
That was the external manifestation of their completely twisted hearts, a sign that the Evil God's power had seeped into their very marrow.
But Ryan hadn't. His previous physical transformation seemed more like a specific martial technique or an innate talent.
The fact that he could regain his senses proved he wasn't beyond saving.
"I'm really sorry. I just... I just wanted a cute girlfriend."
Ryan continued to apologize, snot and tears mixing with the blood on his face in a pathetic display.
Now that the Evil God's influence had receded, his true nature was revealed to Muen.
He wasn't a short-tempered pervert, nor was he a psychologically twisted deviant.
He was just an ordinary, troubled teenager who desperately wanted to be liked by cute girls.
"I see. In that case, as the Academy's famous playboy, I'll teach you how to win a cute girl's heart," Muen said suddenly.
"Eh?"
Before Ryan could process Muen's words, he saw the other boy stand up and look out the corridor window.
Illuminated by several searchlight-like beams of piercing light, a massive, twisted monster was roaring incessantly at the base of the dormitory building.
It was the High Priest.
After being driven to a dead end by Ariel and the other Student Council elites who had rushed to help, the High Priest had followed Eluka's example, devouring the other muscular men to transform into this gargantuan, repulsive beast.
But this was different from the situation with Eluka.
This was St. Maria Academy, a place world-renowned for magic.
A body that size was nothing more than a giant target.
Under a fierce barrage of area-of-effect magic, no matter how fast the High Priest's regeneration was, his flesh was quickly torn apart, revealing a weakness.
The source of the corruption—that thick, heavy codex—was bobbing within the mass of flesh.
As if possessed by a consciousness of its own, it dodged the magical attacks.
But now that the source had been exposed, there was no reason to let it go.
Muen leaned down, picked up the massive horse-slaying blade from the floor, and walked toward the shattered window.
"Ah, right."
Just before jumping, Muen seemed to remember something. He turned back to Ryan and gestured toward his own ear.
"The cut on your ear is very clean. I think if you get magic treatment in time, it can still be saved. So, don't worry about your looks affecting your popularity in the future."
"Muen..."
"So, watch closely."
Muen smiled, then turned and leaped from the floor without hesitation, plummeting toward the monster.
"Rule Number One for winning a cute girl's heart:
—Never miss a chance to show off!"