Chapter 87
Chapter 87
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 90
Chapter Title: The Difference in Power (5)
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A week had passed since Cha Su-ho began shattering glass cups in the arena. Everyone was full of questions about Su-ho, who only broke glass cups, but no one dared ask him outright.
Su-ho was so intensely focused on breaking the glass cups that they couldn't bring themselves to interrupt. The one silver lining was Takahiro, who visited every day to watch. Once he learned from Su-ho's secretary, Min Gi-uk, that it was a form of training, he started showing up even more often.
"Su-ho still breaking glass cups in the arena?"
An Ji-young's question drew a nod from Kwon O.
"What the heck is he even doing?"
"According to Hunter Takahiro, it's training."
"Training? What kind of training? Last time I checked, he was just staring at the glass cups."
Kwon O chuckled in response.
"It's not just staring."
"Then what?"
"The glass cups shatter."
"What?"
"I happened to see it yesterday. Su-ho snapped his fingers, and the glass cup shattered."
Snap his fingers and it shatters? An Ji-young only knew one person who could pull off a trick like that.
"...Isn't that Jin Seong-hyeok's technique?"
"That's what everyone says. They say it's Jin Seong-hyeok Hunter's technique. Apparently, when Jin Seong-hyeok Hunter snaps his fingers, monsters explode."
"It wasn't just monsters that exploded."
Kwon O tilted his head in confusion.
"Pardon?"
"That bastard... He shattered one of my prized liquor bottles too. Do you know how rare that stuff is? Ah, I should've smacked him upside the head before he died."
Even as Kwon O and An Ji-young heatedly chatted on their way to the cafeteria, Su-ho continued his silent training in the arena.
'Someone must be talking about me.'
'Huh? Why? Itchy ears?'
'Yeah.'
Jin Seong-hyeok's gruff response made Su-ho chuckle softly before turning his gaze back to the glass cup in front of him.
Snap. The moment he precisely flicked his finger, the glass cup shattered with a sharp crack. It had taken a full week of training in the arena, but Su-ho had finally mastered breaking glass cups like Jin Seong-hyeok.
'Whew, all that eating and practicing paid off.'
'Yeah. You picked it up faster than I expected.'
The arena floor was littered with shards of glass. Crunch. Min Gi-uk approached, stepping through the fragments that crunched like snow underfoot, and spoke to Su-ho.
"There are no more glass cups left."
"Already?"
They had stacked boxes full of glass cups in one corner of the arena, but they were all gone?
Su-ho checked where the boxes had been, and sure enough, only empty boxes remained.
'Good enough. Time to switch from glass cups to something else.'
Following Jin Seong-hyeok's words, Su-ho turned to Min Gi-uk.
"I don't think we'll need any more glass cups."
'Let's try something bigger and tougher this time.'
'Like what?'
Su-ho had been hoping for a chance to test it on a monster, but Jin Seong-hyeok's follow-up dashed his expectations.
'Balls. Balls would be good. Baseball, basketball, soccer balls.'
An hour later, new boxes arrived in the arena. And once again, rumors began circulating among the Hunters and Helpers.
Su-ho was now bursting balls instead of glass cups.
Louder than the tinkling of shattering glass came the sharp pop! of exploding balls, one after another.
Growing accustomed to Su-ho now popping balls instead of glass, Min Gi-uk impassively set down another one the instant a pop! echoed through the arena.
Takahiro, who had been clocking in daily alongside Min Gi-uk, stopped coming. Just as Su-ho was starting to tire of the training, Jin Seong-hyeok spoke up.
'That should be enough for your body to remember it.'
'...It's not just my body. Feels like it's carved into my bones.'
Without regeneration, Su-ho's thumb and middle finger probably would've been worn away.
'Alright, that's enough of that. Call Lee Eun-woo to loosen up these stiff muscles.'
'Lee Eun-woo Hunter out of nowhere?'
'Yeah. Matching the vibration of a nimbly moving opponent is even harder. Especially if it's a Deadlock.'
If the opponent was a Deadlock, even syncing the vibrations would be tough. As Jin Seong-hyeok said, not only did they move swiftly, but they'd attack relentlessly in that state, leaving no room to dodge.
'Learn from Lee Eun-woo. Spar with him, pick up some swordsmanship. Watch his timing for pauses and movements.'
Deadlocks wielded swords just like Eun-woo. To face one, Su-ho needed sword knowledge, and Eun-woo— who knew nothing about swords—would be the perfect practice partner.
'Got it.'
His body was stiff from standing and flicking his fingers nonstop. Eager for a chance to stretch, Su-ho did some light stretches.
"Shall I bring more balls?"
Quick on the uptake, Min Gi-uk asked Su-ho, as if confirming whether the training was over.
"No. Time for a different kind of training."
"A different training?"
"Yeah. Do you happen to know where Lee Eun-woo Hunter is?"
"Lee Eun-woo Hunter..."
Min Gi-uk pulled out the tablet he always carried like an extension of himself.
"Looks like he's at the cafeteria with Helper Airin right now. It's mealtime anyway—why don't you join them for a bite, Hunter Cha Su-ho?"
"Sounds good. You come too, Secretary."
Su-ho headed to the cafeteria with Min Gi-uk. The moment he stepped inside, An Ji-young and Kwon O—who were eating with Center 2's Hunters and Helpers: Kai Qing, Liu Xian, Xiao Li, Axiang, and Mei—looked up in surprise.
"You done with training already?"
"Ah, yeah."
Su-ho gave an awkward smile to his comrades, whom he hadn't seen in a while.
"What... You spent a whole week shattering glass cups, and now you're popping balls?"
"Yeah. Someone told me to try something bigger and tougher."
"Huh? Who?"
"Jin..."
Su-ho almost blurted out Jin Seong-hyeok's name but caught himself.
"Jin... I figured Seong-hyeok would've said the same... Haha. Anyway, where's Lee Eun-woo Hunter?"
"Eun-woo? He's over there with Airin."
An Ji-young nodded toward them. Sure enough. Su-ho marveled at how they stuck together without tiring of each other.
"But why Eun-woo?"
"Ah... I want to learn a bit more about swordsmanship."
"Swordsmanship? Out of the blue?"
Not just An Ji-young—Center 2's Hunters all turned to stare at Su-ho. Everyone seemed curious about what the SSS-grade Su-ho was up to.
"I heard Deadlocks use swords, so I thought it'd be smart to brush up. I sparred with Lee Eun-woo Hunter once..."
"You sparred with Eun-woo?!"
An Ji-young's eyes widened at the mention of sparring with Eun-woo.
"Yeah. Though it was more like I was just getting schooled one-sidedly. Lee Eun-woo Hunter's incredible."
"Eun-woo's the real deal, yeah. Probably the fastest in Center 1 when it comes to agility."
Kai Qing, sitting beside An Ji-young, chimed in.
["Ji-young, you're not praising another guy right in front of me, are you?"]
"...Hah."
An Ji-young shook her head as if to say forget it and turned back to Su-ho.
"So, when's the spar?"
"With Lee Eun-woo Hunter?"
"Yeah. I wanna watch."
"Not sure. Depends on when he has time."
Su-ho turned toward Eun-woo. He approached the pair, who were lost in their own little world.
"Oh. Hi?"
Airin spotted Su-ho and beamed. Eun-woo, annoyed at the interruption, looked up with a frown.
"Sorry to interrupt. I have a favor to ask Lee Eun-woo Hunter."
But upon seeing it was Su-ho, Eun-woo's expression softened.
"If it's a favor, you mean sword training?"
"Ah, yeah. Would it be okay to spar sometime when you're free?"
"Sure."
Eun-woo agreed more readily than expected.
"Sparring with you sounds pretty fun, Hunter Cha Su-ho."
Airin, sitting beside him, looked worried.
"But don't go beating him up like last time. Last time, Eun-woo was bleeding and everything..."
Su-ho felt a pang of guilt at Airin's words. He remembered Eun-woo getting cut by the electric threads and felt even heavier-hearted.
"Getting hurt sparring beats getting mauled by monsters, Airin."
"Eun-woo..."
"It's how I get stronger. Wounds from sparring with Hunter Cha Su-ho heal with regeneration anyway."
Eun-woo spoke to Airin with a tenderness no one else ever saw.
'...Can I even be here?'
Jin Seong-hyeok's words made Su-ho seriously consider it.
'Should I back off a bit?'
'Nah, watching them kiss ain't bad. You can't even do it yourself.'
'It's not that I can't— I just don't.'
'Exactly. 'Cause you got no girl.'
As Su-ho and Jin Seong-hyeok bickered over nonsense, Eun-woo and Airin remained immersed in their own world.
"Airin."
"Eun-woo..."
Just as Su-ho thought he should slip away before their lips met, An Ji-young appeared, leaning her face against his arm.
"Hmph, you and Eun-woo are gonna spar?"
"Can we watch?"
"...We?"
"Yeah. We."
An Ji-young glanced back. Su-ho saw Center 2's group with sparkling eyes and Kwon O. He gave an awkward smile.
"Uh... It won't be that exciting. It's not really a spar— more like me getting one-sidedly taught..."
"We still wanna see."
Eun-woo nodded at Su-ho's reluctant agreement.
"How about after lunch, then?"
"After lunch?"
An Ji-young glanced at her watch.
"It's 1 PM now, so 2 o'clock?"
Eun-woo checked with Airin.
"2 o'clock good for you?"
"Yeah, if you're okay with it, I'm good."
Jin Seong-hyeok muttered in disbelief.
'Why even check the time? Lee Eun-woo's whipped.'
'...I think he likes being whipped.'
'Dude's crazy in love.'
'Well, it's nice to watch.'
'Nice where? Don't tell me you'd turn into that if you got a girlfriend.'
Suddenly struck by a thought, Jin Seong-hyeok snickered.
'Oh right. You've never even dated.'
'...Any way to block memory sharing?'
'Poor kid. Big bro here will teach you personally...'
Jin Seong-hyeok kept going, but Su-ho tuned him out.
"Alright, meet at the arena at 2."
Su-ho nodded at Eun-woo's words.
"Sounds good."
By exactly 2 PM, the arena chairs were packed. It wasn't just Center 2. Word of Su-ho and Eun-woo's spar had drawn Center 3's Masa and Takahiro, and even hunters from the 5th Branch.
["Man! I'm betting a box of protein bars on Su-ho!"]
["Whoa, Ronnie. Just one box? Make it ten! What do you say, Yu?"]
Ronnie and Larry were even placing bets.
"You guys starting now?!"
An Ji-young asked excitedly, somehow holding a bag of popcorn.
'Bro... this is...'
'A festival.'
The spar—no, the festival—was about to begin.