Chapter 43
Chapter 43
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 44
Chapter Title: The End of Incompetence (6)
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For several days straight, Cha Su-ho holed himself up in his room. To be precise, it wasn't the room but the bathroom—meaning he had to be on-site.
Min Gi-uk found it odd that Su-ho, who had been exercising diligently, suddenly shut himself away like this. He asked several times with suspicious glances if everything was okay. Each time, Su-ho reassured him that he was just doing some solo workouts.
He couldn't let anyone find out. Not that he was heading to the site every day through the bathtub.
"Huff... huff..."
Today, too, Su-ho collapsed onto the ground after training on-site. Jin Seong-hyeok wouldn't stop until the skin on Su-ho's hands had peeled away completely.
He even ended up wiping out Evil Zone monsters without meaning to. Since the boss-grades had been cleared out at Branch 1 last time, the remaining monsters were manageable for Su-ho to handle. That is, assuming there was only one at a time.
He had to be careful not to get spotted by other Helpers or Hunters, but it seemed they weren't poking around too thoroughly anymore, figuring the Evil Zone monsters had just thinned out.
If anything, it worked in Su-ho's favor. He got to unleash his abilities freely and train at the same time.
'Still, he's gotten pretty handy with the whip now.'
Laughter burst from Su-ho's lips at Jin Seong-hyeok's words.
'Gotta improve when all I'm doing day in, day out is eat and train.'
'Regeneration's done. On your feet.'
'...How do you not let me rest even a second?'
'Long road ahead. Up.'
Sighing deeply at Jin Seong-hyeok's chiding, Su-ho stood. His hands were perfectly regenerated, good as new.
As Su-ho focused on the tip of his index finger once more, Jin Seong-hyeok called out to him.
'Cha Su-ho.'
'Yes.'
'You seem to have some control over your power now. Time to try the chains.'
Chains. Su-ho's eyes lit up at the word.
The energy balls and whips Su-ho had been using weren't Jin Seong-hyeok's unique techniques. They were skills anyone with electricity or telekinesis could pull off.
But the Flame Chains were different. They were the signature move among Jin Seong-hyeok's vast arsenal.
'M-me? Use the red chains?'
'You've done it before.'
'I have?!'
Su-ho naturally had no memory of it. The chains had erupted on their own, hijacked by Jin Seong-hyeok's overpowering force.
Too much hassle to explain, apparently—Jin Seong-hyeok brushed it off and continued.
'The key is fire. Electricity tingles. Fire burns. Imagine drawing that searing heat out from your chest.'
Jin Seong-hyeok made it sound simple, but to Su-ho, it was anything but.
From his chest outward? Searing heat?
He couldn't even sense any heat to begin with. How was he supposed to draw it out?
'Remember. What it felt like right before you rampaged.'
Before the rampage. He didn't want to dwell on it, but if he wanted the chains, he had to.
Su-ho slowly closed his eyes and recalled the day Won Tae-il died. His gut twisted. The image of the Betdead stomping on Tae-il's face while he watched helplessly—Su-ho clenched his fists tight.
Blood surged in reverse. The pit of his chest grew scorching.
'Ah.'
This was it. The sensation of something bubbling up from deep within his chest.
Su-ho took a shallow breath and concentrated. Channeling those rising hot emotions to burst outward.
Something fiery swirled in his chest, then spread from head to toe.
His body wasn't just warm—it was blazing. Amid the roaring heat, Su-ho slowly opened his eyes. Chains filled his vision.
'Ch-chains?!'
The flames were weaker than Jin Seong-hyeok's, but unmistakable.
'Jin Seong-hyeok-ssi!'
'Success.'
Jin Seong-hyeok replied calmly, as if he'd known Su-ho could do it all along, then continued.
'Now move them. Like the whip.'
He meant control them like the crackling blue whip flowing with current.
Electricity he could direct with his fingers, so it obeyed his every whim. But the Flame Chains? No visible link.
How? He thought it, waved his hands—nothing. The chains didn't budge.
'Cha Su-ho.'
Jin Seong-hyeok spoke up, as if seeing it wasn't working.
'Feel the heat.'
'Heat?'
The air was already scorching from the chains. More heat?
'Not that. The heat inside you, idiot.'
Su-ho furrowed his brow at Jin Seong-hyeok's words. Heat inside him. Come to think of it, ever since summoning the chains, his chest felt heavy... burning. Like it was squeezed tight.
Su-ho's eyes widened in realization. It felt bound. Like someone had tied off his heart.
'Not bound. Connected.'
Jin Seong-hyeok's voice rang in his mind.
'Your heart to the Flame Chains.'
Connected?
Su-ho got it now—why fingers and thoughts failed. He had to move them with his heart.
Closing his eyes once more, Su-ho focused on the chains coiling hotly around his chest.
Zeroing in on his heart, he froze. He could see them. Not with eyes, but through pure sensation—like vision. Chains wrapped around his heart.
Su-ho exhaled slowly. Feeling his heart's throb, the resonance, the chains in full—he opened his eyes.
Whish—.
The Flame Chains' heat enveloping his body felt intimately close now.
'Good.'
Su-ho let out a ragged breath at Jin Seong-hyeok's approval.
"Ha..."
The flickering Flame Chains obeyed his will, rippling at his command.
Whish, whirl—.
As Su-ho marveled, swinging the chains this way and that, Jin Seong-hyeok spoke.
'Let's test it for real.'
A breeze picked up right then. Su-ho wrinkled his nose at the stench it carried. Revolting. Monster reek.
Following the smell, his gaze landed on it: a moth-like monster the size of an adult torso.
Perched atop the monster Su-ho had just killed, it worked its grotesque maw.
"Ugh..."
Closer inspection revealed it wasn't the mouth. Larva-like things clustered around it, gnawing at the corpse.
Disgust welled up—and the Flame Chains reacted first. They'd been circling Su-ho; now they reared up like cobras poised to strike.
'Kill it.'
Jin Seong-hyeok's command lit the fuse. Su-ho's eyes flashed. The chains shot out in a blink, tracing a perfect circle.
The monster cleaved clean in two. The halves thudded to the ground.
Su-ho remembered. The day he first met Jin Seong-hyeok.
One sweep of the Flame Chains, and monsters' heads rolled.
He'd never dreamed it possible. Himself wielding Jin's signature move.
Size and power fell short of Jin's version, sure—but he could build it up over time.
'Jin Seong-hyeok-ssi.'
'What.'
'I'll keep pushing harder.'
No trace left of the old him, crippled by inferiority as an F-grade Helper. Su-ho was transforming before his own eyes.
Unlike Su-ho swallowing his surging emotions, Jin Seong-hyeok remained serene.
'More effort needed. You're still miles off.'
Su-ho laughed outright at the harsh critique.
'Just you wait. I'll match your Flame Chains.'
'Looking forward to it.'
Jin Seong-hyeok's tone carried a rare hint of delight.
'Training time, then?'
'...Isn't today done? Been here hours already...'
'Nitpick time like that, you'll be stuck with flames forever.'
Su-ho's expression darkened. He looked ready to slaughter every monster in sight.
'I'll do it. More.'
As he scanned for targets, the Flame Chains undulated around him.
'One thing, Cha Su-ho.'
He spotted a small monster and bisected it with the chains in a flash before replying.
'Yes, Jin Seong-hyeok-ssi.'
'Got a question.'
'Question?'
Su-ho halted.
'My power flows in, and suddenly F-grade you hits A-grade? Makes sense?'
'Huh? What do you—'
'Hunter skills and Helper skills are worlds apart. Not only can you wield my Hunter tech, your Helper rank shot up too.'
Jin Seong-hyeok pressed on, baffled.
'I'm no Helper myself. How's a Helper getting stronger off me?'
Come to think of it, it was weird. Jin's Hunter power aside—his own Helper grade had climbed too.
'Uh... maybe 'cause your power's just that massive?'
'My power too massive?'
'Yeah. Huge influx all at once—boosted my Helper grade right along with it.'
Jin Seong-hyeok's response was tepid.
'Maybe.'
'Anyway, I'll always be grateful to you, Jin Seong-hyeok-ssi, for this new—'
'Spare me the mush from some guy.'
Jin Seong-hyeok snorted.
'Train. You took my power—uphold the legend.'
'Naturally.'
Su-ho snapped his head up, brimming with confidence.
'I'll wipe 'em all out.'
Whatever they were.
The Flame Chains whirling overhead were poised to lash out again.
Ding—.
The watch on Su-ho's wrist chimed. Min Gi-uk calling. He glanced around—no monsters—then picked up.
"Cha Su-ho Helper-nim."
Gi-uk jumped right in as the call connected.
"You haven't left the Helper lounge today either?"
"Ah, y-yeah. Easier to work out there, so I just... haha."
Su-ho chuckled awkwardly. Gi-uk pressed on.
"You're in the lounge right now."
What? In the lounge right now?
"Knocked, no answer. Tried the door—rude, I know—but it was locked. That's why I called. No response this time, and I'd have forced it to check for emergencies."
Su-ho spun on instinct, bolting for the gate to the tub.
"Cha Su-ho Helper-nim. You are in there, right?"
"Of course! Been working out nonstop, then sudden stomach cramp... hit the bathroom!"
"...I see."
"S-secretary-nim. It hurts bad."
A long sigh came through from Gi-uk.
"Got it. Urgent business—hurry out. Change into your Helper uniform first."
"Yes!"
"I'll wait downstairs."
Su-ho ended the call and sprinted for the gate like a madman.
Praying he wasn't too late.