Chapter 119: I Can't Tolerate Being Insulted.
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 119: I Can't Tolerate Being Insulted.
The winner is Hunter Baek Tae-yang!
'Easy.'
Aside from the fact that my opponent in the quarterfinals wasn't from Noble, there was nothing worth noting.
Having cleared S-Class Gates twice now, there were very few hunters in Gladire who could actually stand against me.
Among those few...
Ah! Incredible! Another swift victory! Hunter Max has once again KO'd his opponent with tremendous speed!
Max Beramichi, a presumed member of Noble.
Where does the source of this bizarre and mysterious power come from? Hunter Lee Ji-jun quickly suppresses his opponent!
Lee Ji-jun, also presumed to be from Noble.
The Indomitable Hero! The spirit of a scholar! The path of a true hero! Hunter Kim Min-su coolly overwhelms his opponent!
And finally, there was Kim Min-su, waving with a bright smile while dressed in his scholar's robes.
'Just as expected.'
Exactly the guys I thought would make it have shown their faces in the semifinals.
'By the way, why is it that the announcements only lack modifiers when I win?'
Even if Noble had taken over the tournament, I didn't expect them to be this petty with their discrimination.
Everyone else gets "So-and-so wins with such-and-such," but for me, it's just "The winner is Baek Tae-yang!"
The way they discriminated was truly cheap and narrow-minded.
If they were going to give me a disadvantage, they should have done it boldly. This childishness of poking at me bit by bit because they were conscious of the audience...
It was exactly Chubby Ahn's level.
From the semifinals onward, matches will proceed sequentially rather than simultaneously. We will continue the main tournament after a brief break.
It certainly paid off to finish quickly.
Since the Gladire tournament was a high-speed rookie hunter competition that started and ended on the same day, managing one's stamina was extremely important.
If you tried to slack off to gauge an opponent's skill, you were likely to suffer for it.
In fact, all the hunters who advanced to the semifinals, including myself, had extremely short match times.
Seeing as no match lasted longer than two minutes, it was clear everyone had a solid grasp of how the Gladire tournament worked.
'Min-su...'
Noble probably told him.
"Hey, Baek Tae-yang. You won too? Well, I guess that's obvious."
"Yeah, sure..."
Speak of the devil—Kim Min-su must have heard me thinking about him, as he quickly approached me.
It seemed he would never fix his habit of clinging to people without any sense of personal space.
"I've been thinking about it, and I'm pretty sure Hunter Max Beramichi and Hunter Lee Ji-jun are from Noble. The way they looked at me... it was very fierce. Should I say I saw a hidden, ferocious beast inside them? Be careful. They don't seem like opponents you can take lightly. You might not be able to end the fight in a few minutes like before... Especially since I looked into it with my scholar's spirit, and it seems like some kind of trick is..."
Min-su looked genuinely nervous.
His voice wasn't filled with his usual pretentiousness and vanity; instead, it was trembling slightly.
Perhaps he had sensed something through that "protagonist's intuition" of his.
After all, he was the protagonist of this novel.
"...So, the bottom line is, don't you dare lose, Baek Tae-yang. Because I have to be the one to take you down."
"Yeah, I get it, so please keep your tongue in your mouth when you talk. You're spitting everywhere."
"...Sorry."
But if things go like this, will I really meet Kim Min-su in the finals?
'That's too anticlimactic.'
Kim Min-su hadn't made any dramatic growth since the Classic Masterpiece 「Chunhyangjeon」 Gate.
Furthermore, the only reason he had a brief advantage back then was that his Main Skill had been enhanced.
However, in Gladire, where Always-Active Main Skills couldn't be used, Kim Min-su didn't have a single advantage over me.
I could easily offset his Brush Sword with my Club of Greed, and my physical abilities were superior.
The only variable was how many sub-skills he had, but even then, I was bound to have the upper hand with my enhanced [Smite].
'In the end, no matter how many skills you have, it's quality over quantity.'
Assuming I won without any issues, the remaining problem was the Skill Hunter.
I had been periodically sending information about Noble to Jang Du-cheol, but I lacked clear evidence.
The most certain way would be to witness or record the moment a skill was stolen, but I hadn't had a proper opportunity.
'I need to do something...'
Time was too short.
Whenever I tried to do something, girls would come to cheer me on, and whenever I tried to go investigate, a match would start.
Ah! We will now begin the semifinals! The participants for the first semifinal match are Hunter Kim Min-su and Hunter Max Beramichi! Please come up to the stage immediately!
Just like now.
"I'll be waiting for you in the finals."
"Yeah, good luck."
I didn't think Kim Min-su would lose to Max Beramichi.
There was no way Chubby Ahn, who cherished Kim Min-su more than anyone, would allow the protagonist to lose in a place like this.
In my case, I was an exception because I had possessed a role that even Chubby Ahn didn't know about, but Noble wouldn't be like that.
'They must be a strictly organized group.'
Even if Chubby Ahn didn't interfere with everything, his fundamental stance of favoring Kim Min-su wouldn't change.
Therefore, I thought the outcome of this match was a foregone conclusion.
Kim Min-su was smiling brightly, naturally expecting victory, and Max Beramichi wore the exact same expression.
It was proof that they were both underestimating each other.
And that proof soon manifested as a sense of unease for me.
'Wait, is Noble not planning to throw the match?'
There was no way they'd give up on Kim Min-su.
Max Beramichi had a look on his face that suggested he looked down on Kim Min-su significantly.
A smile filled with excessive confidence in his skills and fists packed with power.
Could it be?
Now then, let the match begiiiiiiiiiiiiin!!!
"Aaaagh!"
My unease turned into reality.
As soon as the announcement ending the start of the match finished, Kim Min-su was driven into a one-sided defensive position.
"Hahahaha! I guess the Indomitable Hero isn't much after all!"
Every time Max swung his fists while shouting boisterously, Kim Min-su was sent flying.
Even when he swung his Brush Sword, the attacks didn't land properly, and calling out his summoned beasts by shouting "Dragon! Dragon!" was of little use.
An overwhelming difference in martial power.
Every time a fist that seemed capable of crushing a mountain was swung, Min-su was busy just trying to block.
When a fist struck the flat of his blade, his body shook; when Max advanced with a heavy step, Min-su had to focus all his energy just on maintaining his balance.
Without his Main Skill [Indomitable Hero], Min-su was far too weak in a full-scale power struggle.
It was a moment that showed just how miserably a hero could lose when they couldn't exert a hero's power.
'Wow, this is...'
Actually quite entertaining.
Yes, this is what a novel should be like.
I had been getting lax because of the boredom of participating in a tournament with a predictable conclusion.
Min-su has a strong mental state, so he'll recover quickly even after getting beaten like that.
Everything was fine.
Everything was fine, but one thing kept bothering me.
'Why does this feel so unpleasant?'
Kim Min-su is the epitome of a loser and the result of Chubby Ahn's self-insert favoritism.
But why did it annoy me so much to see him getting hit?
'Is it pity? Sympathy? Anger?'
It was far from those emotions.
It was more like...
'The feeling when someone insults my younger brother?'
It felt like seeing a guy that only I should be allowed to tease getting beaten up by some nobody.
If anyone's going to beat him, it should be me; if anyone's going to teach him a lesson, it should be me; and giving him crap should be my role too.
It felt strangely like my role had been stolen.
To think someone would coolly beat up Kim Min-su right in front of his designated bully.
'I can beat him up much better than that.'
The guy was such a novice that he couldn't even make Kim Min-su squeal like a stuck pig.
When dealing with Min-su, you have to start by slapping him across the face to make him let out a five-second "Squeeeeeak!"
"I, Max Beramichi, will crush every single Victory Academy cadet today and show you exactly how high the wall of a real hunter is!"
"Guh! I haven't lost yet!"
Contrary to Min-su's words, the match was practically decided.
Max was perfectly fine without a single scratch, but Min-su was in a truly wretched state.
Blood was trickling from his forehead as if he'd been hit in the head, and his legs were trembling uncontrollably.
In this situation where defeat was clearly imminent...
Max smiled deeply at the sight of the unyielding Min-su and raised his fist high.
Light began to gather around his fist, forming a massive sphere of radiance.
'That's bright.'
It had the brightness and heat of a condensed sun.
If it hit directly, it looked like even Kim Min-su wouldn't come out unscathed.
"Go to the hospital ward first. That guy Baek Tae-yang will be following you soon anyway!"
"I told you, I haven't lost yet!"
"You're all talk."
Did he figure Kim Min-su out that much in such a short time?
'He's not an easy opponent.'
I couldn't underestimate him.
"Farewell!"
The moment Max's fist was about to touch Kim Min-su's cheek.
An announcement rang out.
Match stop! That is enough! The winner is Max Beramichi!
Whoosh.
Max stopped his fist the moment he heard the announcement.
It was exactly right before it touched the cheek, but even though the fist didn't connect, Min-su was blown out of the arena.
Min-su, who was already a wreck, couldn't steady himself and crashed straight into the wall.
"Hahaha! Seeing Kim Min-su's state, I expect you'll be the same, Baek Tae-yang!"
As soon as the match ended, Max turned his gaze toward me and spoke.
Even without a microphone, his voice was so booming that it made the nearby trees shake.
"This is the difference between a cadet and a real hunter. And Baek Tae-yang! You and I..."
There's an even bigger difference between an Innate Awakened and a Late Bloomer.
Judging by how he only mouthed the last part, it seemed Noble still had no intention of fully revealing themselves to the public.
'I can tolerate him teasing and beating Kim Min-su to some extent, but...'
I couldn't tolerate him insulting me.
We will begin the next match shortly! Hunter Baek Tae-yang and Hunter Lee Ji-jun, please come up to the stage!
I'll beat up Lee Ji-jun first, then I'll beat up Max.
I tightened my grip on the club.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Now, we will begin the second semifinal match!
Just as I was about to rush toward Lee Ji-jun as soon as the announcement ended...
Lee Ji-jun suddenly spread his palm wide and spoke.
"Baek Tae-yang, you are too arrogant."
"What?"
"From now on, I will show you that there is always a sky above the sky."
A black veil began to emerge from Lee Ji-jun's outstretched hand, rapidly expanding in size.
It looked like something significant, so I tried to prepare myself, but there wasn't even time for that.
The rapidly growing black veil swallowed the entire arena in an instant.
"This is... one of the authorities granted to me by Noble... From now on, no one will know what happens here until the match is decided."
You will lose all your skills here and be cast out in weakness.
Lee Ji-jun's firm words.
To anyone watching, he seemed dead serious.
Furthermore, given that he mentioned taking my skills, he was likely the Skill Hunter.
But there was something more important.
"So you're saying no one can see from the outside?"
"That's right. Are you scared? You will disappear from here lonely, without anyone's help."
So no one can see.
[Demonization activated! Maintaining this for a long time will put a strain on your body. Please be careful!]
"I've got quite a few guys to beat up today."
I was so grateful that he revealed his identity like this first.
There was no need for complicated deductions or investigations; I just had to beat him to a pulp, right?
It was time to smash one of Noble's pillars.