Chapter 117: The Winner is Me. Kim Min-su.
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 117: The Winner is Me. Kim Min-su.
"No, why don't you understand? I'm saying I'll give you power in advance because you might not be able to win otherwise."
"No, I mean, what kind of power do you even have that you're talking about whether I'll win or not? And I told you, I am going to win!"
"I'm telling you, you can't!"
Why is he so dense? Is he even human?
Park Byeong-cheol felt a profound sense of confusion during his conversation with Kim Min-su.
Just a few hours ago, the guy was greedily swallowing every bit of information handed to him. What happened all of a sudden?
If you were going to refuse, you should've done it from the start! Why are you being so selective?!
When he told Kim Min-su about the selection process, Min-su had been all for it.
He’d told him about Noble and given him information that others didn't have. Shouldn't that be enough to consider them on the same side?
But now, Kim Min-su was looking at him with an expression reserved for a complete stranger.
"I said, why do you keep saying I can't! I really can do it! And I know about Noble, and I'm grateful for the info! But I'm really not that desperate, you know?"
"Excuse me?"
What was he talking about now?
"I appreciate the information, but that’s just... honestly, they say we live in the information age... so I just thought of it as part of my own ability. You know how they say a magnet that attracts people is called 'charm'? I figured I just had that kind of thing going for me. But now you're acting all suspicious, talking about giving me power and making me win... it feels a bit like a cult. I only came here out of respect for how well you treated me... but I'm over it now."
"...?"
Kim Min-su felt that there wasn't a single flaw in what he had just said.
Perfect.
When Park Byeong-cheol first approached him with information, Min-su thought he was a good person.
From the existence of the selection matches to the format of the preliminaries and even the length of the break time.
When precious information that an ordinary person couldn't possibly know came pouring in, he thought he had gained a reliable ally.
But Park Byeong-cheol had made a massive mistake.
How dare he approach Baek Tae-yang...
It seemed highly likely that he had tried the same trick on that guy.
Objectively, I was superior, more handsome, more popular, sexier, more mainstream, and more of a real man—but that wasn't the subjective public opinion.
No matter how crazy Noble was for Innate Awakeners, someone like Baek Tae-yang, even if he was a late bloomer, would be worth providing information to.
Heh... my deduction must have shocked him.
Reading all those mystery novels back in the day had finally paid off.
Was his name Park Byeong-cheol? He seemed to be trying to play Baek Tae-yang and me against each other, but not on my watch.
I’ll just suck up the information and dump him.
And what about winning?
I can't do it? That was what annoyed him the most.
In fact, this was the biggest reason he rejected Park Byeong-cheol's offer.
The Indomitable Hero.
The Scholar's Spirit.
The Top Scorer of the State Exam.
Of course, I had to challenge it about six thousand times.
But the number of attempts wasn't what mattered.
What mattered was the 'result'—that he had achieved it.
It was as good as proving that he would eventually win if he just kept going until the end.
So what was this guy yapping about?
He was going to look favorably on them since they were a group that threw social parties with lots of pretty girls, but this was crossing the line.
"I will claim victory fairly with my own strength. Active Hunters? They're all rookies anyway. I've cleared S-Class Gates twice now."
"No, that was..."
Baek Tae-yang did almost all the work.
Park Byeong-cheol tried to argue, but Kim Min-su's expression was so confident that he couldn't find the words.
"The finals are already decided anyway. Baek Tae-yang and Kim Min-su. This won't change even if the world ends. And the winner is none other than me."
Kim Min-su.
Min-su spat out those words and struck a cool pose, spreading his arms wide.
There was no particular meaning to it; it was just a gesture he made while imagining how cool it would look if he had a cape fluttering behind him.
"Well then, I'll be going now."
"Wait, don't you even hate Baek Tae-yang? He left you with so many scars. Don't you want to crush him and win overwhelmingly?"
Park Byeong-cheol shouted one last time.
While the Noble leadership was wasting time debating whether to step in and deal with Baek Tae-yang themselves, he had to do something.
Baek Tae-yang is definitely dangerous.
He’d felt something unusual from their first meeting, and seeing him fight only made that intuition clearer.
The sight of him not just overpowering but practically slaughtering his opponents with violent force was still vivid in his mind.
The raw power of using a weapon case the size of a bed as a shield to block attacks while turning his enemies into meat paste with his bare fists.
There was a reason the rumor "If you get caught by Baek Tae-yang, you'll become a meat patty" was circulating in Gladire.
No matter how much they wanted to take over the Gladire tournament, they couldn't just steal Baek Tae-yang's skills in front of so many witnesses.
That was why he had tried to pour all their resources into Kim Min-su, who had the highest probability of defeating Baek Tae-yang.
I never dreamed he would refuse...
He had to make Kim Min-su accept the power, no matter what it took.
"You're right. I do want to win."
"Then all the more reason to use the power of our Noble...!"
"However, I refuse."
Baek Tae-yang? Yeah, he was practically a demon who had left me with deep scars.
He was also a piece of trash who stole my girlfriend and was now hitting on Melanie.
And finally, he was a thief who had stolen things that should have been mine—like being the representative powerhouse of the first-year class and the rising star of the Hunter world—just because he beat me a 'few' times.
But.
"He is my rival. I don't want to win like that."
That was that, and this was this.
Winning by getting some abnormal power-up wouldn't make him feel any better.
Only a victory achieved through blood and sweat could be considered a true victory.
"Well then, adios."
Min-su walked away, maintaining the most noble expression he could muster.
"The arena is that way..."
"Ahem."
He changed direction.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
"Hey, Kim Min-su! Where were you?"
"Ack! What the—let go before you talk!"
After searching the hotel for Kim Min-su to no avail, I was waiting at the arena when he showed up.
He walked toward the arena entrance at just the right time.
Seeing his face filled with a strange sense of confidence, it was clear he had some kind of contact with Noble.
I grabbed him by the collar first so he couldn't run away and pushed him back roughly.
"You've got something going on with Noble, don't you? There's no way you'd know about things like the selection matches otherwise."
"Baek Tae-yang!"
Whoa.
I’d forgotten because I hadn't dealt with Min-su's typical outbursts in a while.
When talking to Min-su, you had to maintain enough distance to avoid getting sprayed with spit.
"What."
"I am definitely going to win!"
Flail, flail.
Because of our height difference, Min-su, whose collar was held tight, declared his victory while kicking his legs in the air.
It seemed like his indirect way of asking to be let go, so I released his collar.
Seeing him say something so random, it didn't seem like he was actually in league with Noble.
"It's true that I received some information from Noble. However, that was merely the result of my own magnet-like... they call it 'charm,' don't they? It was just a result of that. It wasn't because of some shady alliance. Noble tried to pull some tricks, but I refused. Why? Because I am a Hero. Specifically, the He.ro. who will defeat a demon like you."
That was his answer.
Min-su said that and adjusted his crooked scholar's hat.
"So Noble really did approach you?"
"Yeah, was his name Park Byeong-cheol? That guy gave me all sorts of info."
"Park Byeong-cheol?"
That was the guy who spoke informally to me.
So he was Noble too.
Come to think of it, I wondered how someone with such a flighty personality survived the preliminaries, but if he was Noble, it made sense.
There was a high probability that he was a Skill Hunter.
Unlike Yu Min-hyeok, who had left a strong impression after just a few words, Park Byeong-cheol seemed far too pathetic.
For someone like that to successfully finish consecutive battles without any rest? It was logically impossible.
Should I take that guy out first?
I needed to set my priorities straight so things wouldn't get messy later.
The problem was that I couldn't pinpoint Park Byeong-cheol's location.
The only thing I could do right now was wait for him at the arena.
Min-su, oblivious to the atmosphere, kept rambling on.
I don't know why he kept talking to the guy who stole his girlfriend and took her virginity.
In a way, Kim Min-su was a remarkably broad-minded guy.
"Yeah, Park Byeong-cheol. But isn't it hilarious? He said he'd give me some kind of power. So I told him, 'I'm going to win with my own strength, so what kind of bullshit is this?' How about that?"
"He said he'd give you power?"
"Yeah, but I turned him down. Why? Because I'm going to take you down with my own strength alone. I think you're just barely qualified to be my rival. So don't you dare lose until then."
Pat, pat.
The guy patted my shoulder twice and walked past me.
Attention! This is an announcement from Gladire. The main tournament matches will begin shortly. All participants who are resting outside or deep within the Gate, please return to the location where you first entered the Gate! I repeat! This is an announcement from Gladire...
As if waiting for Min-su to finish talking, an announcement followed immediately.
This is ridiculous.
So, to summarize, Noble tried to use Kim Min-su to take me down?
But Kim Min-su refused?
...Does that mean Kim Min-su isn't working with Noble?
If you looked at it properly, you could even say Kim Min-su had unilaterally used Noble.
I wasn't sure if Kim Min-su had gotten smarter or if Noble was just stupid.
One thing was for sure: Noble was blatantly aiming for the win.
Then they'll probably reveal themselves properly once we reach the finals at the latest.
Having reached that conclusion, there was only one thing left to do.
Win the tournament without losing a single time.
Winning was the only way to kill two birds with one stone.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Inside the Gate.
As soon as all the Hunters participating in the main tournament gathered, the announcement proceeded with the matches as if it had been waiting.
Attention! The first match of the main tournament is Hunter Baek Tae-yang vs. Hunter Park Byeong-cheol. Would both Hunters please step up to the stage installed in the Gate!
The first match: Baek Tae-yang vs. Park Byeong-cheol.
The full-scale battle between Noble and Baek Tae-yang was about to begin.