The Demon of the In-Seoul Retake Class

EP 5 The Demon of the In-Seoul Retake Class

The floor of the arena cracked from the collision of the two women, filling the air with thick dust. The arena became temporarily obscured. The stats displayed on the scoreboard changed.

The tiger avatar watching the arena posted a message.

Nokjeong Pharmaceuticals’ clinical staff are employees responsible for testing new drugs. Their base monthly salary is 30 million won, and with incentives and bonuses, their annual income reaches 500 million won. The zebra avatar beside them replied.

Construction workers are also known for high incomes. A veteran construction technician can earn 5 million won per day, exceeding 100 million won a month. Samjin Construction continued.

A robot-like avatar interrupted between the two.

A logistics girl refers to an employee who transports cargo via large trucks.

According to cargo transportation laws, the loading limit for cargo trucks is set at 30 tons.

Of course, the limit of the cargo truck and the cargo loading limit are separate matters. This is because the transportable weight varies depending on the mage’s level. The modern trend in cargo transportation is to use spatial expansion formations to turn the inside of the truck into a massive warehouse, then load cargo temporarily lightened with the weight halving method.

Daesung Logistics’ president recalled her younger days. Right after graduating university, she became a logistics driver. However, having only mastered the Weight Halving Method among the visions of the Department of Logistics Transportation, she used to stack cargo layer upon layer on a 20-ton truck, creating a 7-meter cargo tower to transport. Spring came to her in the form of her current husband. After marriage, her cargo tower grew even taller. Eventually, she stacked cargo up to 14 meters, getting reported multiple times by nearby local governments and being expelled from the cargo association with curses like “Fuck, don’t you know that thing will kill everyone if it falls? Take it easy, you crazy bitch,” but with a mindset like the horn of a rhinoceros—“As long as you make money, that’s all that matters”—she rose to become the president of the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠third-largest logistics company in the country. Her current realm is the Sacred Lotus Realm. She transports 800 tons of cargo with a 30-ton standard cargo truck, a giant of logistics generating overwhelming profits. Those profits even overwhelm the fines for illegal overloading.

Everyone agreed with that statement itself. Money born from overwhelming magic even twists and kills the rule of law. This is why magic is called the rice of industry.

The dust cleared, revealing the arena. Blood flowed from Lee Se-rin’s arm. Enormous damage had been inflicted on the arm itself, but that was the only injury. Baek Seol was covered in blood from head to toe. Sprawled on the floor, panting, she looked no different from ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a loser. Horang spoke.

“Baek Seol! Your remaining stamina is only 1.94. Will you surrender? If this continues, you might really die!”

Baek Seol remained still. Without answering, covered in blood, she looked at Lee Se-rin. Lee Se-rin leaned her back against the barrier wall, waiting for Baek Seol’s surrender.

“No. I can still do more.”

Baek Seol opened her mouth and took something out from inside. A black lump. When she unfolded it and swung it over her body, it clung tightly to her. Like skin, it adhered to Baek Seol’s shoulders and back. The stats on the scoreboard changed.

The air in the arena shifted.

Baek Seol stood up from her spot. Her upper body and shoulders covered in the artificial skin gleamed as if wearing a latex suit. More importantly, the side effects and rank caught his attention.

‘So the Nokjeong Pill that the manager sold also had similar side effects and rank.’

‘...Baek Seol’s real Noble Phantasm isn’t the Wind Demon Fist Armor or the High-Speed Recovery Artificial Skin, but something that crafts new Noble Phantasms from inside her body... that kind of Noble Phantasm, perhaps.’

‘...Does something like that exist?’

‘But the Wind Demon Fist Armor she spat out just now didn’t generate that kind of text.’

There were several possibilities, but the most fitting one was this.

‘The managers of the In-Seoul class possessed Noble Phantasms that “create something.” Through them, they had been secretly selling degraded copies of the pharmaceutical company’s drugs, and this time they lent that Noble Phantasm to Baek Seol, telling her to use it.’

‘As a result of recovering and checking the students’ Nokjeong Pills, 7 out of 10 had that kind of rank and side effects. They must have made an enormous amount of money.’

‘Seeing that combat-use Noble Phantasms don’t have degradation or side effects, perhaps it was originally intended for crafting combat weapons.’

‘And that Noble Phantasm is a secret item that must not be shown to anyone. That’s why Baek Seol hides it inside her body and occasionally crafts Noble Phantasms to use.’

“...In the end, it’s just speculation.”

He clenched his fists and lowered his stance. He had no choice but to make her vomit it out to find out. Baek Seol’s stamina changed again.

‘When her stamina is low, her recovery speed is faster.’

Baek Seol kicked off the ground and charged at him again, throwing a punch. As he tried to dodge, a cramp seized his leg. In this state, he couldn’t use the high-speed evasion of the Taeguk Four Divine Steps. It happened in an instant. A fist mixing golden and red light was fired at him from right in front of his eyes. He barely managed to deflect and block it with his arms. One, two, three—Baek Seol’s continuous punches accelerated further and launched. Barrage after barrage after barrage. Before he knew it, the arms of the red tracksuit were completely torn, and the muscles throughout his body screamed. It was because Baek Seol’s High-Speed Recovery Artificial Skin was recovering her arms beyond their limits, allowing her to keep moving.

‘This is getting dangerous.’

Baek Seol launched a front kick toward his abdomen. At the center of the spiral drawn by golden and red light, a white leg extended like a cannon shell. He abandoned defense and reached out with both hands toward Baek Seol’s torso. At that moment—

BOOM!!!

“Kuhk.”

Blood spurted from his mouth. It hurt. His entire body’s bones tingled and ached. Baek Seol stopped her attack. Lying on the floor, he looked up at Baek Seol, but there was no light in her eyes.

‘...Side effect, huh.’

Still lying prone on the floor, he pretended to be dead and looked ahead. [Enhance Possible] appeared. As expected, even if only partially removed, it still worked. He attached the High-Speed Recovery Artificial Skin torn from Baek Seol to his stomach and touched the window with his tongue.

The pain subsided, and strength returned to his arms and legs.

‘I’m alive.’

He rolled to dodge Baek Seol’s belatedly descending axe kick. Then, once again, he struck Baek Seol’s abdomen with all his might.

THUD!

Baek Seol instinctively covered her mouth. As expected, it must not be shown. If he missed this chance now, it would be over. He struck her abdomen repeatedly. Grabbing Baek Seol’s torso, he slammed her into the barrier wall. Planting his feet, he clenched his fist and punched Baek Seol’s stomach.

BOOM BOOM BOOM.

The slender abdomen of her model-like figure. Above the vertical navel at its center. He struck that spot with his fist.

THUD!

Though the outside looked quite soft, the muscles inside were firm. He needed to hit harder. Hard enough for the impact to reach her internal organs. With the mindset of crushing Baek Seol’s abdomen, he drove his fist in. He punched until bruises formed. As he continued striking, tears welled up at the corners of Baek Seol’s eyes.

“Uup. Uuup. Kruup.”

But the hand covering her mouth remained firm. As expected, ordinary punches wouldn’t work. He needed a stronger blow. He planted his feet. With the resolve to break every bone in his body.

KUWOONG.

The entire colosseum vibrated slightly. Earlier, he had concentrated this repulsive force into his fist using ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠only his muscles. But the body’s organs aren’t just muscles. There are bones, internal organs, skin, and blood. If he used every part of his body to transmit all that force into his fist, there would be no loss. But letting the impact flow also came with that much pain. His recovering stamina dropped back into the 0 range. A white light starting from under his arm flowed along his skin and wrapped around his fist. He knew this. Those in the Refined Realm can only use magic internally or near the skin. It’s a sentence mages in the Refined Realm often hear. However, there is a considerable difference between the two. Generating magic from inside the body is the starting point of the Refined Realm, but generating magic at the boundary between the body and the outside is the pinnacle of the Refined Realm. Therefore, when speaking of the Refined Realm, these two domains are expressed separately. The Refined Realm and the Peak of the Refined Realm. Right now, he was using magic in the domain of the Peak of the Refined Realm. His fist wrapped in white light embedded itself into Baek Seol’s abdomen.

KUWOONG!

The ripple starting from her abdomen spread throughout her entire body like a wave. The impact from her abdomen struck her internal organs, then traveled along her bones toward her arms, legs, and head. Baek Seol’s entire body convulsed. A thunderous sound echoed from inside Baek Seol’s body, and her limbs split as if struck by lightning. An attack technique of the All Things Wave-Breaking Fist and Foot Method. All Things Thunderclap Strike. Staggering, Baek Seol vomited blood and collapsed on the spot.

Seeing that Baek Seol did not rise, Horang immediately shouted.

“The winner of the duel is Lee Se-rin!!!”

The barrier was released, and countless cheers and contract proposals appeared. But more than that, he was interested in what was inside Baek Seol’s body. Forcibly prying open Baek Seol’s mouth, he grabbed the black lump inside and pulled it out. It stretched out, as if firmly attached inside Baek Seol. But regardless, Hephaestus revealed its information.

Huh? It can’t be crafted or enhanced?

What the hell is this. The countless contract proposal notifications and cheers that had been appearing disappeared. Instead, other messages appeared.

Only after countless hooks were stamped did a proper sentence appear.

A mouth formed on the black lump that had come out of Baek Seol’s mouth.

“As expected, it’s stuffy inside. As expected, whether human or demon, one must live breathing fresh air. Nice to meet you. My name is Marbas.”

As he stared blankly at it, the lump continued speaking.

“What? It’s a greeting. A greeting. Greetings are basic for a first meeting, aren’t they?”